Archive for December, 2008
December 22nd, 2008
The Los Angeles Times has a fascinating article about the decline of the once mighty VHS tape…
Ryan J. Kugler is president and co-owner of Distribution Video Audio Inc., a company that pulls in annual revenue of $20 million with a proud nickel-and-dime approach to fading and faded pop culture. Whether it’s unwanted “Speed Racer” ball caps, unsold Danielle Steel novels or unappreciated David Hasselhoff albums, Kugler’s company pays pennies and sells for dimes. If the firm had a motto, it would be “Buy low, sell low.”
“It’s true, one man’s trash is another man’s gold,” Kugler said. “But we are not the graveyard. I’m like a heart surgeon — we keep things alive longer. Or maybe we’re more like the convalescence home right before the graveyard.”
Read the rest here.
December 22nd, 2008
Get ready for the big screen sensation of 2009….
Pretty amazing cast, eh?
December 22nd, 2008
This has been all over the Internet, but it’s so good I couldn’t resist posting it. Here are 40 inspirational speeches in two minutes…
Did you spot the young Christian Bale from NEWSIES?
December 19th, 2008
New York Times film critic A.O. Smith has seen Will Smith’s new drama SEVEN POUNDS, and — to put it mildly — he didn’t like what he saw. Due to studio prohibitations against spoilers, he can’t saw much about the plot, but he can say this…
“Frankly, though, I don’t see how any review could really spoil what may be among the most transcendently, eye-poppingly, call-your-friend-ranting-in-the-middle-of-the-night-just-to-go-over-it-one-more-time crazily awful motion pictures ever made. I would tell you to go out and see it for yourself, but you might take that as a recommendation rather than a plea for corroboration. Did I really see what I thought I saw?”
If you want to read the rest of Scott’s well-written slam, go here. And if you want to read the spoiler, if you want to know what the secret of SEVEN POUNDS really is, if you want to know what Scott saw, if you want to know why there’s a laminated card that says DO NOT TOUCH THE JELLYFISH! — if you’re sure you want all that information revealed, well then my friend, go here.
December 19th, 2008
Over at his animation blog, Cartoon Brew, historian Jerry Beck is trying to compile a list of the 100 greatest Looney Tunes (you know — Bug, Daffy, Elmer, those folks) for an upcoming book. And he wants your help:
I’m asking all participants to list their “greatest” nominees in the comments section below. You can list your top ten, twenty or fifty - but please, no more than that. List them in order of greatness, #1 being the most important. I’ll cull the final one hundred out of what titles we receive by January 9th. Please include your real name if you wish to be acknowledged in the book.
Want to pitch in? Click here.
Here’s one of my favorites, 1945’s THE GREAT PIGGY BANK ROBBERY, directed by the great Bob Clampett.
December 18th, 2008
The reviews for Frank Miller’s THE SPIRIT are starting to trickle in and, well, they’re not good.
From Justin Chang in VARIETY:
“There’s a lot going on here, but none of it sticks — not the shopworn plotting nor the arch, stilted dialogue. The actors often seem to be delivering their lines in ironic quote marks, suggesting a straight-faced sendup of noir and comicbook conventions that, whatever the intended effect, falls mostly flat.”
From El Gringo over at Ain’t It Cool News (a site where you’d think SPIRIT fans would dominate):
“the spirit could pass for ambitious (but it isn’t), and it lacks a lot of emotional commitment. i found it not so fun to watch, and quite painful to sit through. the lead character, even though bravely supported by actor gabriel macht, is so stupid it’s jaw-dropping (wait to see him get confused by evidence that would get a 5-year old to close the case). he’s absolutely unfathomable as a character, driven by nothing, attached to no-one but his so-called mother (a.k.a. his city).”
And this from JonDough over at Ain’t It Cool, who calls it the worst movie he’s ever seen. Here are his musings on how studio execs should’ve reacted to Miller:
“Didn’t they know that high school plays directed by a middle school teacher who’s only directing because he hates his life has better staging than this? They SHOULD have.”
Uh oh. As a longtime fan of THE SPIRIT comic books (and, actually, of most of Miller’s comic book work and SIN CITY), I thought THE SPIRIT looked like (a) something that completely missed the spirit (har har) of those original comics, and (b) the worst of Miller’s excesses all in one place. But even I didn’t think it looked this bad.
It opens on Christmas Day, opposite David Fincher’s THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON.
December 18th, 2008
According to the always-reliable British tabloid The Sun, Eddie Murphy is set to play the Riddler in the next Batman movie.
That’s right. The star of NUTTY PROFESSOR 2: THE KLUMPS, THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH, MEET DAVE and the Oscar-nominated NORBIT could have a major role in Christopher Nolan’s next Batman film. It’s one of the most popular, most critically acclaimed super-hero series ever, so naturally they’d want a hack of Murphy’s caliber to lend the franchise a touch of class. Maybe he could fart a lot, like he did in the KLUMPS.
Frankly, I don’t believe it. Nolan is too smart to make that sort of casting misstep, and the serious, dark tone of the movies has been a big moneymaker so far. I’m more inclined to believe the Johnny Depp-as Riddler rumors, but even that’s suspicious. My guess? No one’s been cast yet.
Also in Batman casting news, Shia LaBeouf is supposedly set to co-star as Robin, with Rachel Weisz playing Catwoman. LABeouf is the young star of the moment, so I’m not surprised his name is being tossed around. He’s not bad, but I hope there’s no Robin in the next movie. Stick to Batman and a single villain — don’t fall into the overcrowded trap of the earlier Batman movies. As for Weisz as Catwoman, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I could see that. She’s a good actress, and could convey the sexy/dangerous attitude of Catwoman.
But you know what they should really do if they use Catwoman in the next movie? Hire the last writer on the CATWOMAN comic book to work on the script. That would guarantee success.
December 17th, 2008
It’s amazing how old-fashioned it looks when you speed up the action just a tiny bit…
December 17th, 2008
Following up on yesterday’s worst list, the critics at the Onion AV Club reveal their picks for the best movies of 2008. Topping the list? A little movie about a lonely robot, a ruined Earth and a spaceship full of fat, dead-eyed humans.
Read the whole list — plus individual picks from the critics — here.
December 17th, 2008
According to this post at Cinematical, the computer-generated fantasy DELGO (which boasted the vocal talents of, among others Kelly Ripa, Burt Reynolds and Jennifer Love Hewitt) could possibly be the biggest major release bomb of all time.
“If you limit your scope to films released in over 2000 theaters — DELGO occupied 2,160 — then the raw numbers back up this claim: DELGO’s $237 weekend per-screen average and $511,920 gross easily top the chart of all-time worst openings in that category. On the other hand, just this September a quasi-documentary called Proud American opened on 750 screens and managed an even more impressive $128 per-screen average. And DELGO even has competition this December: just the week before, the Alan Rickman action comedy NOBEL SON opened on 893 screens to a comparable $374 per-screen average.”
Again, I ask — did anyone see this movie?
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