Archive for June, 2008
June 30th, 2008
Here’s the trailer for the new James Bond movie, QUANTUM OF SOLACE.
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It looks good, definitely follows in the footsteps of the last one, and has a certain BOURNE vibe, with M (Judi Densch) pursuing Bond (Daniel Craig), who’s apparently gone rogue. Nice to see Jeffrey Wright back as CIA agent Felix Leiter, too. It’ll be out Nov. 7.
And, in case you’ve forgotten how far we’ve come, here’s the original trailer for 1978’s MOONRAKER, one of the goofiest films in Bond history…
June 30th, 2008
Courtesy of dedicated reader Dan, here’s the classic chase from BULLITT linked to a Google map showing just where those cars are going. Nice!
 The moment when Steve McQueen finally guns the engine after all that build-up (at about the 2:50 mark on this clip) is one of the great moments in movie chase scenes. And what follows ain’t bad either!
June 25th, 2008
… I feel obligated to alert you to the fact that this Saturday, in honor of the late George Carlin, NBC will be re-running the very first episode of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, which was hosted by Carlin himself. It’ll air in the normal SNL time slot of 10:30 CST, but it’s a very different animal from the current version of the show. If you want a sneak preview, here’s a link to clips of his monologue.
Carlin, of course, starred in lots of movies, everything from CAR WASH to BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE to JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK. And my daughter, who’s not quite 3, only knows him as the voice of the hippie VW bus Fillmore in CARS.
Wait ’til she grows up and hears the “Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television” routine. It’s going to blow her mind.
June 25th, 2008
Not long ago, I posted a trailer for THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, the movie due out this Christmas that reunites director David Fincher with actor Brad Pitt (and, since they teamed up on both SEVEN and FIGHT CLUB, there’s reason to believe this could be something special). Now the official trailer has been released, and it’s pretty amazing. You get to see a lot more of Pitt in his old man/young man makeup, and the epic scope of the film becomes more obvious. Take a look:
June 25th, 2008
Via Hollywood Elsewhere
June 24th, 2008
Here’s a viewing tip: Turner Classic Movies, which usually focuses on black-and-white films of a more genteel nature, will be showing the 1975 cult classic DEATH RACE 2000 at 1 a.m. Saturday, June 28. It’s worth staying up for — and best viewed in the middle of the night, with eyes weary from lack of sleep — but if you can’t manage that, set your DVR or VCR now.
A dark comedy about a future (well, it was the future back then) cross country race where drivers get bonus points for collateral damange, DEATH RACE 2000 looks wonderfully cheap, moves incredibly fast and features a great cast of characters. David Carradine is Frankenstein, the reluctant hero; Sylvester Stallone (pre-ROCKY) is “Machine Gun” Joe Viturbo (that’s a description of him in the headline above), and Fred Grandy, future LOVE BOAT star and Iowa congressman, is Herman the German, assistant to the deadly racer Matilda the Hun.
There’s a semi-remake due later in August, by the way, starring Rochelle’s own Joan Allen. Here’s a link to the trailer.
June 23rd, 2008
In the latest issue of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY (the 1,000th), the magazine lists what it calls “the new classics” of movies, books, music, etc. This being a movie blog, we’ll focus on the cinematic list here. So, without further ado, the top 10 films of the last 25 years, according to EW. (The rest of the list, along with the other categories, can be found here.)
1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03)
3. Titanic (1997)
4. Blue Velvet (1986)
5. Toy Story (1995)
6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
9. Die Hard (1988)
10. Moulin Rouge (2001)
I was surprised SCHINDLER’S LIST didn’t make the top spot (or even the top 20), but PULP FICTION is, frankly, a better pick. For one thing, I think it has held up better than Spielberg’s Oscar winner, which looks like a movie from an earlier era (and that’s one of its strengths). PULP FICTION heralded a new era in movies, when the independent studios (whatever that means) grew to have real influence and movies about pop culture-obsessed killers dominated the screen. I saw it way back in 1994 on opening night, and I last watched it a couple of years ago on DVD — and it still holds up. The next time you watch it, focus on Samuel Jackson. It’s really his story, and it’s a great one.
I’m not going to comment on the whole list — I do have a day job — but I will say that it’s nice to see BLUE VELVET so high on the list. It’s a pretty amazing movie, and one that looks better (and stranger) every year. If you only know Dennis Hopper from those baby boomer retirement commercials, you really need to see him as Frank Booth. Hooo boy!
Also: TITANIC? Really?
And, in case you were wondering, I would’ve put GOODFELLAS in the top spot. BOOGIE NIGHTS, THE MATRIX, JFK, RUSHMORE, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, TOY STORY 2, MEMENTO, FIGHT CLUB, THE INCREDIBLES, CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND and BRAZIL also would’ve ranked high on my list.
And you?
June 23rd, 2008
Today, the Onion’s AV Club presents a list of great single-scene performances, ranging from Ned Beatty’s “You have tampered with the primal forces of nature!” speech in NETWORK to Chris Rock trying to order “one rib” in I’M GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA.
This being the age of You Tube, there are clips a-plenty to accompany the picks, but be warned: the language can get a little salty — especially in the first (and greatest) scene, Alec Baldwin’s unforgettable motivational speech in GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS.
Now that’s how you steal a movie.
June 20th, 2008
Mike Myers’ latest comic epic, THE LOVE GURU, is getting savaged by critics and has accumulated a whopping 16 percent score at Rotten Tomatoes. (To put things in perspective, that’s less than half the score of YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN, another critical darling.)
Having paid my penance by seeing THE HAPPENING (19 percent, three points higher than GURU) last week, I’m not hiring a babysitter just so I can suffer through another bad movie this weekend. But I’m dying to hear from someone who’s actually seen it. Is it really that bad? I pegged it as a lousy movie weeks ago, and I have the feeling I was right.
But you never know. If you see THE LOVE GURU this weekend, please swing by here and offer your thoughts. And thanks for taking a hit for the team.
June 20th, 2008
It strikes me that I haven’t been doing as much to hype obscure, oddball films on this site as I should, so here’s the trailer for a movie I’m really looking forward to seeing. It’s director Guy Maddin’s latest, MY WINNIPEG, and it looks to be his usual combination of twisted autobiography, surreal images and bits and pieces of old movie traditions. It’s playing the art theater circuit now, so it’s a toss-up whether or not it will actually show in Rockford, but it’s bound to be worth a look, whether on the big screen or DVD. If you’ve never seen a Guy Maddin movie before — and there’s a good chance you haven’t — here’s your introduction to his unique cinematic universe…
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Everything else he’s done is on DVD, so start Netflixing. I’d recommend starting with THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD, then moving onto either ARCHANGELÂ or (my personal favorite) COWARDS BEND THE KNEE. Heck, it’s all good. And it’s all strange. (His most recent movie, BRAND UPON THE BRAIN, arrives on DVD next month.)
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