Archive for July, 2009
July 31st, 2009
Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge a movie by its poster. However, if a poster has some wit and imagination, there’s a decent chance the movie itself will, too.
And that goes double for Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming film, THE INFORMANT!, which so far has had two clever posters hyping its arrival. First, there was this image of a wide-eyed Matt Damon…
And now there’s this new version, which is more graphically sophisticated, but still a lot of fun…
I also love the fact that the exclamation point is officially part of the title.
July 30th, 2009
Here, courtesy of Cinematical, is a very imaginative fake trailer for the (never made) version of GHOSTBUSTERS from 1954. It’s a very clever collection of well-chosen clips featuring Bob Hope (in the Bill Murray role), Dean Martin (ala Dan Aykroyd) and Fred MacMurray (ala Harold Ramis).
If they really had made a GHOSTBUSTERS way back then, it probably would’ve looked almost exactly like this…
July 30th, 2009
Today must be the day for eagerly anticipated trailers of movies by my favorite directors. Earlier, I posted the preview of the Coen Brothers’ A SERIOUS MAN, and now here’s the preview for Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animated epic, THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX…
I really like the low-tech, storybook feel of the thing. It’s a refreshing change from all the slicker-than-slick computer animated films out there. (In a few scenes, I think I can detect the fur moving from the animators touching it, ala the original KING KONG.) And George Clooney seems to have a voice made for animation — it has just the right bigger-than-life feeling.
What do you think?
July 30th, 2009
I had this same poster hanging over my bed in college. No kidding.
Juliet Wayne wants to see a statue in Philadelphia that honors a genuine local icon, and she makes a strong case. Here’s the beginning of her impassioned argument:
Philadelphia has a problem with its statuary: we build lavish monuments to to the wrong people while letting the right ones go unmarked. We have statues of people who polarized us (Frank Rizzo), who could have cared less about us (Charles Dickens) or who never existed (Rocky Balboa). Meanwhile, we overlook people who logged real time here and did great things.
This problem has a solution: put a big-ass statue of the title character from the movie ERASERHEAD, directed by former Philadelphia resident David Lynch, at the corner of 13th and Wood.
That’s where Lynch lived for several years in the 1970s as an unhappy undergraduate at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. But if you’ve seen any of his films, particularly ERASERHEAD, it is obvious that the city deeply inspired him, which he recalls through “vivid images—plastic curtains held together with Band-Aids, rags stuffed in broken windows, walking through the morgue en-route to a hamburger joint.”
I couldn’t agree more. In fact, if such a statue were erected, I would make a pilgrimage to Philadelphia to see it. Right there, that’s a couple of hundred tourist dollars in the city coffers.
Here’s the rest of Wayne’s essay, which has the straightforward title “David Lynch Must Be Honored in Philadelphia with a Giant Monument to the Guy From Eraserhead. For Real.
That guy, incidentally, was named “Henry.” He was played by the late Jack Nance, who also had roles in other Lynch projects, including TWIN PEAKS and BLUE VELVET.
July 30th, 2009
We haven’t heard much about the latest movie from Joel and Ethan Coen, A SERIOUS MAN. It makes its world debut in September at the Toronto Film Festival, then opens in theaters a month later.
But until then, we’ve got the trailer. And it’s strange. Wonderfully, maddeningly, gloriously strange. I’m not sure what the heck the movie is about (except for the bare-bones plot — “Jewish academi has academic and spiritual problems,” as the Onion says), but now I can’t wait to see it.
July 29th, 2009
Here’s the video version of this week’s MAD MEN review. I realize gazing up my image is no great thrill, but at least you can get a glimpse of the show’s amazing art direction. Also, there’s footage of Joan (Christina Hendricks, above) and Don Draper. That’s so that’s gotta be worth a click, right?
July 29th, 2009
Over at SERGIO LEONE AND THE INFIELD FLY RULE, blogger Dennis Cozzalio interviews Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com’s senior film critic. It’s a lively, entertaining chat, punctuated by amusing moments like this one:
DC: I remember having to work very hard to talk my mother into taking me to see DIRTY HARRY at a drive-in when I was 11.
(SZ laughs)
DC: But that tactic backfired on me several times. I fooled my parents into taking me to see DELIVERANCE
SZ: Oh, my God.
DC: “Look, Dad, they’re carrying a canoe. It’s a nature movie! This’ll be fun!” I even knew what was coming, and so I ended up sitting between them as the movie is starting and then I realize, “Oh, no. What have I done?” And they weren’t too happy with me afterward. (Both laugh) Yeah, I saw the movie, but at what price?!
Read the whole thing here.
PS — I had my mom take me to see BLADE RUNNER at the age of 14 (and, expecting something along the lines of STAR WARS, I didn’t even like it much — though I love it now) and somehow my now 4-year-old daughter has seen both JAWS and JURASSIC PARK. But it’ll be a long time before I show her my DVD of DELIVERANCE. A long time.
July 29th, 2009
The second installment of our Monday Movie Recap podcast has been posted and can be downloaded here.
Running about 15 minutes, it features me and fellow Register Star staffers Billy Kulpa and Chris Soprych (this week’s extra-special guest) chatting about the movies we watched the past weekend. Topics include Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS, the Charlton Heston sci-fi flick SOYLENT GREEN, and, in a brief digression from the future to the past, the AMC series MAD MEN. If you’re looking to kill a little time at work and you love movies, I recommend giving it a listen.
By the way, I realize it’s Wednesday. We recorded the podcast Monday afternoon — I apologize for the delay.
July 28th, 2009
Ten years ago, Jake Lloyd played a young Darth Vader in the first of the STAR WARS prequels, THE PHANTOM MENACE. Ever wonder what happened to him?
Well, here he is to catch you up on what he’s been doing. Take it away, Jake….
July 27th, 2009
Ten years ago this December, I compiled the following list of my favorite movies of the 1990s. Though I stand by most of the picks and still think GOODFELLAS deserves the top spot, in retrospect I’d probably replace TOY STORY with TOY STORY 2 (a better, richer movie) and leave off, believe it or not, SCHINDLER’S LIST, which frankly doesn’t seem as good as it did 10 years ago. (Schinder’s final speech is way too over the top, and destroys much of the subtle power of what came before.) What would I replace it with? Maybe, believe it or not, the documentary AMERICAN MOVIE, which is one of the best films I’ve ever seen about life in modern America that I’ve ever seen. Spielberg’s “masterpiece” for a horror movie making-of? Hey, It’s my list. I can do whatever I want.
Here’s that list, just as it originally appeared on Dec. 26, 1999, with all my decade-old, cringe-inducing writing left intact.
1. GOODFELLAS — The best movie of the decade finds America’s finest director at the top of his game. In telling the life story of gangster Henry Hill, Martin Scorsese uses scenes and shots like tiny, overlapping brushstrokes that gradually form a fascinating portrait not just of Hill, but of an entire era in American history. (1990)
2. FIGHT CLUB — Director David Fincher’s “Seven” held this spot until October, but his most recent movie, which opened that month, is even better. A bold script, revolutionary visuals and bracing performances from Brad Pitt and Edward Norton make this provocative, funny film striking in every sense of the word. It demands repeat viewing. (1999)
3. RUSHMORE — The best comedy of the decade. Writer/director Wes Anderson crafts this movie like a Swiss watch, and each piece - acting, music, cinematography, script - works in perfect synchronization with the rest. At its calm center spins Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzmann), one of the most memorable characters of the decade. (1998)
4. SLING BLADE — No special effects and no stars, just a heartbreakingly human story about loss and redemption. Billy Bob Thornton writes and directs “Sling Blade,” but his greatest achievement is the creation of Karl Childers, a good-hearted man who will go to any length to protect the innocent. (1996)
5. SCHINDLER’S LIST — Director Steven Spielberg leaves the sharks and aliens behind for this harrowing look at the Holocaust. Brilliantly shot in black and white and featuring a trio of great performances (from Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley), “Schindler’s List” manages to explore the 20th century’s darkest moment and somehow end on a hopeful note. (1993)
6. PULP FICTION — The noble hitman. The femme fatale. The proud boxer. Cliches one and all, but Quentin Tarantino makes them fresh by infusing the story with a dose of humor and shocking bursts of violence. It revived the career of John Travolta, jolted the career of Samuel Jackson and reminded us that Bruce Willis really can act. (1994)
7. BOOGIE NIGHTS — Director Paul Thomas Anderson reveals his love of cinema in every frame of this sprawling epic about the ’70s porn world. And, for a movie about such a seamy subject, what shines through is the film’s striking sense of compassion for its characters. (1997)
8. THE MATRIX — Hard science-fiction, Hong Kong fight scenes and mind-blowing special effects unite in this invigorating thriller. The Wachowski brothers demonstrate that an action flick actually can be about something, which, of course, makes it even more exciting. (1999)
9. TOY STORY — Proving that a computer-generated movie can have humanity, this revolutionary animated film also has humor, rich characters and nail-biting suspense. This year’s sequel is just as good, but I’m listing “Toy Story” because it came first. (1995)
10. JFK — Oliver Stone takes the Kennedy assassination, shatters it into a million pieces, then examines the conspiracy behind each one. Stone’s theory about what happened is a little nutty, but he conveys the impending chaos lurking behind the shiny curtain of Camelot. (1991)
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