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movies filterMay 13 Bring Me The Head Of Blockbuster Video
So I'm out in the desert for a long time. I really want/need a copy of Sam Peckinpah's "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" for enjoyment and a good 100th re-watch for a story. Now, had I been smart, I would have grabbed my copy and brought it along my two and a half week sojourn (I nabbed Monte Hellman's "Cockfighter" instead" -- which is great -- and yes, I have to bring a Warren Oates movie with me everywhere I go). Anyway, silly me for believing I could find "Bring Me the Head" anywhere in Morongo Valley. I was at a Hollywood Video and thought, oh what the hell, I'll ask the clerk if she has any Peckinpah. Since she couldn't cross reference via director, I listed titles. Not a one. Not even "The Wild Bunch"! Anyway, after the older man who ran the video store that was finally crossing from VHS to DVD (and no, he didn't have a copy of "Bring Me the Head" but at least he knew what I was talking about)...after he told me that I could go online and access this thing called Amazon or Netflix (he was so damn nice I played along...."Really"?) I realized what relics these video stores are. Which is why this Onion video piece sent to me by a friend (thanks Brian) was such perfect timing. Enjoy:
--posted by Kim
May 12 Indiana Jones Review Leaks Bad reviews for the new Indy movie?
From the New York Times:
"Mr. Spielberg is unusually fastidious when it comes to protecting his films from advance word that can diminish excitement or muddy a message planted by months of carefully orchestrated publicity and expensive promotions (including, in this case, a February cover article in Vanity Fair, complete with Annie Leibovitz photos of the cast, and leather bullwhips delivered weeks ago to newsrooms).
"Mr. Spielberg customarily avoids leaky test screenings. Even Marvin Levy, his publicist of more than 30 years, said he had not yet seen the new movie.
"Still, there it was, at 6:42 a.m. on Thursday: a harshly critical review on aintitcoolnews.com, from a poster who identified himself as 'ShogunMaster.' Rife with details from the film, the review said, 'This is the Indiana Movie that you were dreading.'”
Read the entire story here.
--posted by Kim
'Speed Racer' In The Dust Did you take your mother to see "Speed Racer?" Probably not.
If I had kids, I'd rather see "Iron Man" too. Not sure why, but I just know this to be true.
Here's the top five movies over the weekend:
1. "Iron Man," $50.5 million.
2. "Speed Racer," $20.2 million.
3. "What Happens in Vegas," $20 million.
4. "Made of Honor," $7.6 million.
5. "Baby Mama," $5.8 million.
--posted by Kim
May 09 Go Or No Go Speed Racer! Reviews for "Speed Racer" (opening today) are, to use driving terms, all over the map.
The Good: Time's Richard Corliss: "'Speed Racer' announces the arrival of the virtual movie. If you watch the film overwhelmed by the assault of seductive visual information and wonder what you're seeing, here's the happy answer: the future of movies." [Actually that sounds kind of scary]
The Bad: Onion AV Club's Scott Tobias: "Borderline-experimental in the way it challenges the limits of perception. It's forward-thinking, visionary, and much of the time unwatchable."
The Ugly: San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle: "If this action extravaganza represents the future of movies, it's going to be a sad, dead and awful future."
The Ugliest: Salon's Stephanie Zacharek: "This isn't a picture filled with wonder and a sense of fun; it's so jaded and crass that I almost wonder if it's a highly unscientific experiment designed to gauge how little audiences will settle for these days. Manic and multicolored, Speed Racer is an excess of nothingness."
Read more reviews at MetaCritic.
--posted by Kim Bloodsucking Biography Finally. A biography of eccentric (and that's a vast understatement) German actor Max Schreck, the greatest vampire ever put to celluloid in F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent "Nosferatu." Though the gorgeously shot "Shadow of the Vampire" featured an inspired performance by Willem Dafoe as Schreck, I wanted to know more about this impressive, yet bizarre actor.
From Galley Cat:
"'Whoever hopes to discover a vampire will be disappointed, but they will find an actor of real skill and versatility,' biographer Stefan Eickhoff tells Reuters. 'Yet he himself remains somewhat shrouded in mystery.' Max Schreck—Gespenstertheater ('Ghost Theater') will be published in Germany later this year. There's no mention of any American interest yet, but you translate this into English and it seems like it might be of a kind with the early Hollywood biographies the University Press of Kentucky has been doing regularly for the past few years..."
--posted by Kim May 08 Blonde Moms...Of Death! I love it when film writer/cultural philosopher/blonde booster Erik Kuersten preaches from his singular mountaintop -- this time championing/quivering in fear over cinematic blonde moms of death (just in time for Mother's Day).
Sayeth colleague (and fellow Swede -- I hear you brother) Kuersten:
"It's mother's day and as I was watching MULHOLLAND DRIVE just now for the millionth time, it occured to me that my love for cinema would not be nearly so fierce if not for my own mother was not a natural blonde, Swedish to be precise, and if you don't know what that means, it's a mix of tenderness and disinterest, the teutonic fire that burns not out nor warm nor long... and it's what cinema is! For psychological subtext there's Hitchcock and Lynch - Naomi Watts, the mother of mirrors hallucinating in her dirty bathrobe while we hover as camera lens ghosts at her hem line, or Marnie in PSYCHO or Melanie in THE BIRDS, creating this sense of unfulfillable longing-- we can never please her so we spend our lives creating shadow plays to distract ourselves... stuffing birds... a curious hobby, and not as expensive as you'd think, until they attack everyone as manifestations of Jessica Tandy's ferocious id."
Read the rest of his story here. Covering moms from "Persona" to "Poison Ivy" -- this is good good stuff.
--posted by Kim Reel News --A first look at Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant's "Milk."
--James Brolin is replacing James Caan in David O. Russell's "Nailed." Guess he'll cough and choke on a cookie...
--It's like an indie-cute major talent explosion of crush-worthy actors: Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt together in the Marc Webb-helmed romantic comedy "500 Days of Summer." Wonder if she'll sing? Hope so.
--Classsics gone Blue-Ray. Criterion have announced thirteen titles from their collection to be released, beginning in October.
--"Beckett shmeckett." How can you not love Elaine Stritch?
--posted by Kim May 07 Pam Anderson's Garage Sale Grindhouse Pamela Anderson recently had a garage sale and while I can agree with most of the items she cleared out -- why sell your book on the history of Grindhouse cinema Pam? That's a keeper!
From the Daily Mail:
"Fans hoping for an insight into Pamela would be interested to see her book collection, including political pundit William J. Bennett's moral story book 'The Book Of Virtues', Eddie Muller and Daniel Faris's 'Grindhouse: The Forbidden World of "Adults Only" Cinema' and the pictorial 'Kiss Kiss' by Patrick McMullan."
I already own a copy of Muller and Faris's "Grindhouse" but I would have loved to have purchased Miss Anderson's. Or at least told her to hang on to it! And further, reminded her to track down a copy of Eddie Muller's "Dark City" or even better, "Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film Noir" -- a book she might relate to...or gain some new fashion tips from.
--posted by Kim Blockbuster Bombs MSN' Sean Nelson's blockbuster smackdown!
Summer is here, and with it blockbuster season at the movies. Big events this year include the return of Indiana Jones and "X-Files" agents Mulder and Scully, Hulk and Batman sequels, a film version of the '60s TV series "Get Smart," plus vehicles for funnymen Mike Myers, Will Smith, Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell, and a rash of other big budget extravaganzas. Odds are good that many of these pictures will prove popular with moviegoers, who, as we all know, will see just about anything a good ad campaign tells them to. Odds are even better that many, if not most, of these films will suck, hard. There are plenty of reasons movies conceived to be big moneymakers don't age well -- the cheap thrills, special effects and so-called "high concepts" associated with blockbusters tend to wear thin on repeated viewings, and once the marketing wears off all that's left is a dim memory of being pandered to for a couple of hours in a room full of strangers. You can't even really blame the filmmakers, except in some cases (see below). After all, the more people you have to please, the less you're able to say. In fairness, not all blockbusters are bad; take a stroll down the top 20 moneymakers of all time and you're likely to find several titles that qualify as legitimate classics. But as studios feel the pressure to put up bigger and bigger numbers, the bigger hits start feeling like bigger disappointments as years (and DVDs) go by. Here's a list of some of the box office's worst successes, with a couple of lifetime achievement awards included to dishonor two repeat offenders. "Star Wars" Episodes I, II, III (1999, 2002, 2005) Read his entire (dis) honor roll here. --posted by Kim
Ricci On Trixie
Aww...I don't like hearing about my beloved Christina Ricci crying -- ever if it was over a haircut. From Gregory Ellwood's Hollywood Hitlist: "Christina Ricci had been told for years she'd be the perfect actress to play Speed Racer's loyal girlfriend Trixie if a movie version of the classic 1960s cartoon was ever made. Unfortunately, she was pretty sure she'd blown it after auditioning for "Speed Racer" directors Andy and Larry Wachowski. "'I thought I gave a horrible audition, but at one point I caught Andy's eye and Andy looked at my sneakers and I looked at his and looked back up at him and sort of smiled,l Ricci says. 'I was like, 'Maybe the Chuck Taylors will work.' "And since she obviously landed the gig, it appears having the same fashion sense as your potential employer can do wonders in Hollywood these days. Where Ricci and the Wachowskis' style differed was on Trixie's trademark bob haircut. Ricci wanted to wear a wig, but the brothers behind 'The Matrix' insisted she cut her locks before filming began. "When you have long hair and then, all of a sudden, you get a really drastic haircut -- you know, us ladies, we cry,' Ricci jokes. 'But, other than that, she was a great character to play. She was amazing and fun and they dressed me up like a doll every day, but then I got to do all this action stuff and had a really good time.'" Whatever Christina. You know it was a lot more fun being chained to that radiator. --posted by Kim
May 06 He's So Money And He Totally Knows It Yes, I had to say it, but "Iron Man" director John Favreau is so money. As in literally. So. Money.
Entertainment Weekly caught up with Favreau regarding his smash hit:
"ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How are you feeling today?
"JON FAVREAU: I am doing good. It's nice when it works out this way. It doesn't happen that often! [Laughs]
This is just the second time that a non-sequel has grossed this much on its opening weekend.
Yeah, you know it's amazing, it's the biggest thrill. I remember the first [time I felt like this] was when I got my Chevy commercial and I got in SAG. That was a big one back in Chicago. Then when 'Swingers' got bought, that was a huge changing moment for me. And then 'Elf' — when 'Elf' took off, I felt it more, and I didn't think I could feel this way again, but I do. I do now. And Robert and I are just very, very appreciative and humbled by the whole thing. It's been a really wonderful, wonderful experience." Read the entire interview here.
--posted by Kim Nicole Gets Dusty I'm a huge Dusty Springfield fan and a big Nicole Kidman booster and think the actress has shown brilliance in movies like "The Hours," "Dogville," and the oh-so-underrated "Birth."
But Nicole as the great Dusty Springfield? Nicole is super talented, can do just about anything but I dunno...
From New York Magazine:
"Writer Michael Cunningham knows from brilliant, troubled women...No wonder we were delighted when he told us last night, at the 2008 PEN gala at the Museum of Natural History, that he's writing the screenplay for a Fox 2000 biopic of brilliant, troubled sixties chanteuse Dusty Springfield, to be played by Nicole Kidman... So what was the essence of Dusty he was trying to get across?
"'She was a great artist who no one knew what to do with,' he said. "She was coming into her full powers at the same time the Beatles were,' he said, adding that she suddenly found herself the purveyor of a dying torchy genre. 'But she is clearly going into history with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.'"
He's right but again, I dunno...
--posted by Kim
May 05 Reel News --Scarlett off the Market. Sorry, Dave.
--New "The Dark Night" trailer. Still excited.
--"Anchoraman 2"? Really? Is this necessary?
--Is "Speed Racer" on a bad track?
--M. Night Shyamalan will receive a top honor in India. No surprise twist to this news. We think.
--posted by Kim
'Iron Man' Rakes It In
No surprise here, but "Iron Man"made a whole heck-uv-a-lot of money. "Fictional billionaire Tony Stark has made a fortune in Hollywood as the superhero adventure 'Iron Man' pulled in $98.6 million domestically in its first weekend. "That's about $2 million less than distributor Paramount estimated Sunday, but still good enough to put "Iron Man" in second-place behind the original "Spider-Man" on the list of best debuts among nonsequels. "Counting overseas receipts, 'Iron Man' already has taken in $200 million worldwide. "Marvel Studios announced Monday that it will have 'Iron Man 2' in theaters April 30, 2010." Of course they will. And...I bet Ozzy is happy. --posted by Kim
May 02 Friday Night At The Movies --"Iron Man" receives raves. I have high hopes. It's Robert Downey Jr. and he rarely lets me down, even in bad movies but, please "Iron Man" -- don't disapoint. Just don't.
--Whereas "Made of Honor" well...ouch. I like the new, er... "hot" Patrick Dempsey and all (OK, so I never watch "Grey's Anatomy" and I never will...) but anyway...maybe he should go back to his geeky "Can't Buy Me Love" days. Remember those times oldsters? When Dempsey was a dork?
--As for "Redbelt." I don't need reviews. David Mamet made a movie about ultimate fighting. I'm first in line.
--posted by Kim
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