May 9th, 2008 04:54pm
Will Pfeifer
Here, to get your weekend started on the right note, is a nifty little compilation of the movies of one of my favorite directors, Wes Anderson.
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In related Wes Anderson news, Criterion (the DVD collector’s best friend) announced it will be releasing Anderson’s debut film, BOTTLE ROCKET, later this year (let’s hope it includes his original student-film version). Â And what’s more, it’s going to be part of Criterion’s first wave of Blu-Ray DVDs. Yowza!Â
May 9th, 2008 03:32pm
Will Pfeifer
Josh Brolin had a heck of a year in 2007, with strong performances in AMERICAN GANGSTER, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, GRINDHOUSE and IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH. But have you seen what he has planned for 2009?
 
Yes, that’s Brolin as none other than our president. Brolin has the title role in Oliver Stone’s new movie, W, which also stars Elizabeth Banks as Laura. I’d say in Brolin’s case, the resemblance is pretty strong, though Banks looks a little young to play Laura. (She’s 27 years younger than the real First Lady.)
What do you think? With Oliver Stone behind the camera — his flag-waving 2006 movie WORLD TRADE CENTER aside – anything is possible. Though his output in recent years has been a bit lackluster, I’m a big fan of both JFK and NIXON. Be interesting to see him apply his talents to another U.S. President.
May 8th, 2008 04:39pm
Will Pfeifer
Want to see the first seven minutes of SPEED RACER? Click here.
 Two observations:
1. It looks amazing. Like no other movie I’ve ever seen. Candy-colored, crystal-clear and the closest a live-action movie has ever come to capturing the visual craziness of a cartoon.
2. I’m not sure I could withstand 2 hours and 9 minutes of this — especially considering this is the (comparatively) quiet part.
May 7th, 2008 09:47am
Will Pfeifer
If you missed your chance to see FIRST BLOOD on the big screen back in 1982 and have been kicking yourself for the past 26 years, I have good news. The movie that introduced the world to John Rambo will be back in theaters next week. Here’s what the press release says…
“On Thursday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m. local time, Sylvester Stallone explodes back into more than 430 movie theaters nationwide as John Rambo in a one night special event presentation of the original FIRST BLOOD– fully digitally remastered and in high-definition”
But wait — there’s more!
“After the movie, fans will also experience the alternate ending that could have changed Rambo’s theatrical history forever presented for the first time in movie theaters.”
In case you’re busy at 7:30 on May 15, here’s that ending:
Shocking, eh? On the plus side, no RAMBO III. On the negative side, no RAMBO, which is by all accounts a crazy, violent, waaaaaay over-the-top return to form for the franchise. It also hits DVD May 27, and is the reason for this whole promotional FIRST BLOOD-back-in-theaters event.
Even if you know the ending, FIRST BLOOD is a real thriller, tense and tight in the way later Rambo movies were not. Stallone seems to be playing a real character instead of a cartoon, and though the stunts are unbelievable, they’re not too unbelievable. The press release says it will screen at ShowPlace 16, so if you can make it to the theater, it’s probably worth the trip. This is a heck of a movie to see with a crowd.
May 5th, 2008 08:04am
Will Pfeifer
IRON MAN earned a whopping $104 million domestically in its opening weekend (and it was a real weekend, not one of those artifically stretched out holiday weekends, either). If you count the foreign bucks, the Marvel Comics movie snagged $201 million dollars, Euros, yen and other bits of cash. In other words, it can be considered a success.
The critics seemed to like it too, praising Robert Downey Jr.’s performance (like the character of Iron Man, he’s had a few well-publicized substance-abuse issues, too) and Jon Favreau’s direction (hard to believe he was the shy schmuck from Swingers).
 I didn’t get a chance to see it this weekend, with child and lawn care taking top priority. But I’m sure some of you did. So…what did you think?
May 2nd, 2008 09:23am
Will Pfeifer
It’s almost the weekend, so here’s a little You Tube clip to kick things off. It’s director Spike Jonze’s Nike ad that ran right around Jan. 1, 2000. Remember? Everyone was worried about a little thing called Y2k?
 The giraffe, by the way, is a brilliant touch.
May 1st, 2008 09:45am
Will Pfeifer
Right here.
 So what do you think? Strong cast, lots of action, pretty decent computer effects. One thing they don’t show is the reported cameo by Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark (aka Iron Man’s alter ego). That short scene hints that Marvel wants to create a shared universe in its movies just like in its comic books. Maybe that’ll pave the way for the long-rumored AVENGERS film one of these years.
It’s a great time to be a comic book geek, isn’t it?
April 30th, 2008 04:02pm
Will Pfeifer
The whole point of the summer movie season is to make money (and yes, I realize the point of any movie season is to make money, but during the summer we’re talking about a lot of money), so here – before the first summer movies have even hit screens — are the predictions from Entertainment Weekly regarding the top earners. Drum roll, please…
1. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL: $355.9 million. As long as the movie doesn’t disappoint audiences and the word of mouth is good, this sounds right. It could run all summer long if it has half the wit and excitement of RAIDERS.
2. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN: $310.8 million. Really? I guess the first one was a hit, but I haven’t heard any buzz about this sequel.
3. HANCOCK: $280.4 million. If not more. I mean, I’m not really a Will Smith fan, but this dark comic take on superhero action looks pretty damn great to me, and plus it re-teams the ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT couple of Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron.
5. IRON MAN: $262.7 million. Heck, I’d go higher. Great buzz, solid reviews and the first would-be blockbuster out of the gate. I think this is more than a movie people want to see; it’s a movie they want to like. Guess we’ll known by Monday, eh?
The other five predictions – including THE DARK KNIGHT, a movie I can’t wait to see – can be found here.
April 28th, 2008 08:20am
Will Pfeifer
With SPEED RACER opening this weekend, IRON MAN out the next and INDIANA JONES following up on May 22, it’s obvious: Despite the snow in the skies of Rockford, the summer movie season is almost here.
With studios banking (literally) on making most of their profits during the next few months, it’s hard to believe that just a few short decades ago, the big movies came out in the spring (THE GODFATHER debuted in March) or near Christmas (TOWERING INFERNO arrived in December) with kid flicks and low-budget nonsense (as opposed to big budget nonsense) arriving while the kids were out of school. JAWS changed all that, of course, hitting theaters at the end of June 1975 and riding that summer wave of fear and excitement straight to the top of the all-time box office. It was a movie about a shark terrorizing the beach, which meant it was made for summer viewing, but the studios realized that young audiences with lots of free time would go see would-be blockbusters again and again, a theory proved two years later by a little art film called STAR WARS that knocked JAWS off the top of the box office stack and pretty much changed all the rules, including release dates.
STAR WARS, not so coincidentally, is the first movie on the Onion AV Club’s new list, “Part Hype, Part Art, All Movie: 18 Pretty Great Summer Blockbusters Not Directed by Steven Spielberg.” Also included are CON AIR, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, X-MEN 2, BATMAN BEGINS and a personal favorite, FACE/OFF (also the first movie I saw at Rockford’s ShowPlace 16, screened for a public preview of the then state-of-the-art stadium-style theater.) John Woo’s bravura direction, a big budget (that must’ve gone mostly toward ammunition, doves and slow-motion film stock and a pair of hilariously over-the-top performances by John Travolta and Nicolas Cage made it one of the craziest, biggest and strangely most personal action movies ever made. If you’ve never seen it, check it out — on the biggest screen you can find.
Another movie on the list proves how set-in-stone the summer release plan had become by 1984. GREMLINS, directed by Joe Dante, is actually set at Christmas, with snow, lights and the whole holiday bag (including Phoebe Cates’ dad getting stuck in a chimney dressed as Santa), but it was released in June. And it was a huge hit, too. Not even carols and candy canes could keep shorts-wearing moviegoers away.
Coming tomorrow: The big summer movies of this year, and my take. I expect all of you movie fans to toss in your two cents, too.
Bonus quiz: Can anyone tell me what movie (released during the summer, of course) had the title of this blog entry on its soundtrack?
April 18th, 2008 04:03pm
Will Pfeifer
Just because it’s Friday and I’ve always liked it, here’s Fiona Apple’s cover of the Beatles’ “Across the Universe,” which was released along with the 1998 movie PLEASANTVILLE (which is where the whole “smashing the malt shop” motif comes from):
I havent’ seen PLEASANTVILLE in a while, but I remember liking it quite a bit when I saw it in the theater. The story is intelligent and heartfelt, the special effects and cinematography are striking, and the cast — William H. Macy, Tobey Maguire, Joan Allen, Reese Witherspoon, the late great J.T. Walsh and even Don Knotts — is top notch. Check it out if you’ve never seen it.
Paul Thomas Anderson (BOOGIE NIGHTS, MAGNOLIA, THERE WILL BE BLOOD) directed the video, and it shows his pitch-perfect sense of pacing and drama. He didn’t direct the movie (Gary Ross did), but he was dating Apple at the time, which is probably why he got the gig. If you have the MAGNOLIA DVD, Apple shows up on the “Magnolia Diary” making of feature. There’s a fascinating — and weird — scene where she actually pretends to be the movie, and Anderson mockingly berates her for not being as loveable as BOOGIE NIGHTS.
Cameo alert: Keep an eye out for actor (and frequent P.T. Anderson collaborator) John C. Reilly as one of the malt-shop wreckers.
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