Tag: movies

movies

Iron Downey

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I heard a few weeks ago that the Iron Man movie (due to debut on 5/2/08) cast Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Mr. Iron Man himself, and at first I was pissed. “What the hell were they thinking?” ran through my head. After Cable & Batman, Iron Man may very well be my third favorite superhero so I am concerned that the movie will be more “FF” and “DD” than “BB” (Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Batman Begins).
Then I learned that Robby wanted the part so badly that he grew a beard and squared it off just like how Tony does in the comics. Then I pondered how a large part of Iron Man’s story centers around how his alcoholism. In the comics, Tony Stark lost control of his company [Stark Enterprises] due to his problem and is very open about it in the Marvel Universe. Like Iron Man, Robby’s had his fair share of problems. Then I read how Director John Favreau, someone I respect, said that he was the perfect choice for the role. So, I’ve gotten over my initial aprehension and am okay with the decision and even a bit excited by it. All in all, Downey is a fantastically talented actor and another bright star, Terrance Brennen (“Crash” and “Hustle & Flow”) has been cast as James Rhodes, aka War Machine, so things are looking up. As Yahoo! Movies wrote, “Here’s hoping this does for Downey what ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ did for Johnny Depp, allowing a tactile, clever actor the chance to reach a massive audience and cement his place as a box office dynamo.” Hear hear!
A good director, a good cast and a good budget all are a part of the equation which is a very good thing. This is the first film that Marvel is financing on its own – in the past their movies like “Spiderman” and “X-Men” have been partnerships with one of major studios – so its a financial gamble that I hope pays off. You never know with these comic movies but as Iron Man is one of my personal favorites, I am praying they do not screw this up.

ramblings

Siskel Versus Ebert

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Today, I was sent a link to a blog post that had a sort-of funny clip of Gene Siskel and Robert Ebert bickering with each other while taping a promo for their show a few years back. On that post however, which again was only sort-of funny, MC left a comment which pointed me to the longer and much better clip to which I have linked.
Hang in there until the 2 min mark because that is when things get Gibsony good and yes, I mean Mel Gibson because WASPs and Protestants get absolutely trashed, like when someone says, “G-d damn Protestants, biggest thing to happen for them on Sunday is a bake sale.” Ebert even mentions the “Fucking Jews” just like Mel, though he doesn’t blame the Jews for all the wars in the world.
In keeping with my established theme:
A) Siskel = bald
B) Ebert = fat
Via Neu

movies

The Joker Card Has Been Dealt

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Although I should have gone to bed over an hour ago, I couldn’t help but stay up and read a ton of news articles and low and behold I found out that not only is Christoper Nolan directing another Batman movie – pretty friggin sweet to know its 100% confirmed – and not only is it being named “The Dark Knight” – an homage to “The Dark Knight Returns” which, “along with Alan Moore’s ‘Watchmen’ and Art Spiegelman’s ‘Maus,’ helped to raise the medium to a more mature level of literature, and it ushered in the popularity of graphic novels as a form of literature that truly differs from “child-oriented comic books” – but that the new Joker character will be played by Heath Ledger. I also learned Bale (Batman) and Nolan are hooking up on a new movie called “The Prestige” which also stars Logan, aka Wolverine, aka Hugh Jackman. Talk about a cool Marvel/DC cross-over…
Okay, I am going to bed now because I’m defintely not going to find out anything better that this bit of news tonight. I might be dreaming of bats…and possibly Jack Nicholson, though I hope not…
(quote courtesey of Wikipedia – who else?)

movies

An Inconvient Truth

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An Inconvient Truth opens this coming Friday, 5/26 and I for one cannot wait to see it, even though it may very well be “the most terrifying film you will ever see” as its producers claim. Wired and other media outlets have written alot lately about how Al Gore, freed from politics, is focusing all of his energies on facing the looming environmental disaster the globe is facing (he is the narrator of this documentary). The movie is supposed to be awe-inspiring, damning, scary, eye opening and whole bunch of other adjectives. I have pledged to not only see this movie (the site has a counter which tracks pledges) but to bring 3 others with me. In a sense, environmentalists are treating this the same way that Christians treated “The Passion of the Christ” and I for one think that its a good move as this movie’s message needs to be spread to as many people as possible.
Check out the trailer below and please, for our planet’s sake and for the sake of our children, grand children and all future generations, go and see this film. In 5 years, Kilimanjaro will no longer have an snow and Hemingway’s masterpiece becomes a true anachronism. He might as well called it “Hanging with the Dodo.” Truly Scary shit.

movies

My Waiter The Assassin

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Last November, I flew out to LA for the weekend so that my dog Bingham could play with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law’s dog Jelly. Oh yeah, the human folk wanted to get together too. On Saturday night, Jessie, Amos, Ro and I were joined by Jaime and Michael, great friends of ours from NYC who had oddly enough planned a 7 day Cali vacation that started in LA at the same time we were there. So, before they left that smog filled city of sin to drive up the coast to hilly San Fran, we all went out to eat at Au Bar, a trendy spot off of the Sunset Strip.
Our waiter was named David and seemed like the most likable of fellows. Look how happy he looks below in a pic he took with us:
SirhanSirhan.jpg
We all were in high spirits and decided to play a game where we tried to guess his age and where he was from. We were all totally wrong (he was 24 and from Kansas and we thought he was older and from either New Hampshire, Virginia, Michigan or Arizona). We were all right about why he was in Cali though: he was trying to break into the acting biz. He was in a really good mood that night becaues it was actually his last night. He informed us that he had earned a role in “Bobby”, a new movie about the RFK assassination, and was leaving his job as a waiter to concentrate on his part. It was a huge break for him as the movie is being produced and directed by Emilio Estevez and the cast is full of heavyweights: Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Elijah Wood, Harry Belafonte, Emilio Estevez, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Shia LaBeouf, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy, Martin Sheen and Christian Slater to name a few. He seemed to be really excited, kind of humbled and a wee bit nervous about his first foray as an actor.
The following is a transcript of our exchange (transcribed almost verbatim) after he dropped his bit of news on us:
Jeff: What role are you playing?
David: Sirhan Sirhan.
Jeff: Ha ha ha. That’s funny.
David takes orders from the others at the table.
(Jeff to Jessie: I wonder what he is really playing?)
(Jessie to Jeff: He already said.)
(Jeff to Jessie: Are you serious? I thought he was joking…)
Jeff: You are seriously Sirhan Sirhan?
David: Yes.
Jeff: You kill Kennedy?
David: Yes.
Jeff: Really?
David: Yes.
Jeff: Come on. You kill Kennedy?
David: Yes.
Jeff: You seem way too nice…
David: Nope, I do it.
Jeff: You kill Kennedy dressed as a waiter…
David: Yes.
Jeff: …and you are our waiter.
David: Yes.
Jeff: You kill Kennedy in a kitchen…
David: Yes
Jeff: … a the kitchen is right there (me pointing towards the nearby kitchen).
David: Yes.
Jeff: You kill Kennedy in California…
David: Yes.
Jeff: …and we are in California.
David: Yes.
Jeff: Hmmm. Are you good shot?
David: I need to practice for the part.
Jeff: Oh, good. That’s funny. Hey, are you on IMBD?
David: No, not yet. It’s funny that you ask. I check almost constantly but its probably going to be a while, only the big names are listed right now because they were in a Variety article about the movie a little while back.
Jeff: Well, when you get on IMDB, I’m going to post about this evening on my blog, I’ll link to your profile and I’ll send you an email about it. It’ll be your first bit of press.
David: Cool! Thanks!
Jeff: You’re welcome. I’ll also have another vodka tonic.
David: Sounds good.
The rest of the evening went along swimmingly. The food was good, the company was great and we all had a blast hanging out. Now, a little less than 5 months later, it seems that David has finally made it into the Internet Movie Database.

David: I hope this counts as the first article written about your burgeoning acting career. Good luck, I can’t wait to see the movie and if I don’t absolutely love it, please don’t shoot me. I’m sure its someone else’s fault…
Photo courtesy of Jaime and Michael

ramblings

Miyazaki Thursdays on TCM

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All this month on Turner Classic Movies, Thursday nights have been devouted to Hayao Miyazaki, a man who has been hailed as the “Japanese Walt Disney.” The first Thursday of the month they aired Princess Mononoke (which I’ve seen many, many times and love) and Spirited Away (which I am in the process of watching). I missed the 2 films from last Thursday, 1 of which “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” is my friend Gil’s favorite by Miyazaki, because I didn’t know it was “Miyazaki Month” until I started to watch Spirited Away last night. I quicked grabbed my remote and have scheduled My Neighborhood Totoro and Porco Rosso for taping this Thursday. I cannot wait to watch these well. The following Thursday they are showing 2 movies, Only Yesterday and Pom Poko, he produced that were directed by Isao Takahata. I’ll tape and watch those as well.

I’ve been a huge Miyazaki fan ever since I saw Princess Mononoke but have ben lazy in renting and watching his other films. This past summer, the MoMA held a Miyazaki exhibition and all of his films were screened over a 4 day period. I was super psyched to go but unfortunately, the exhibition happened to exactly coincide with the end of my parents’ 30 or so year marriage. My sister was staying with me while my family imploded and needless to say, neither of us made it to the museum. Its funny; on top of all the other reasons I was upset that weekend, I was upset that I missed out on seeing all these flicks. Now, when its cold and gross and I don’t want to leave my apartment, I have some fantastic movies just sitting around waiting to be watched. I can’t wait!

movies

Aarman Studios, home of Wallace and Gromit, has burnt down

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Unfortunately, this is true: The roof and three interior walls of the Aardman Animations building in Bristol, west England collapsed after a blaze tore through the Victorian building. The company behind the new “Wallace and Gromit” film said Monday its “entire history” has been destroyed in a fire at a warehouse containing props and sets.

This is very sad news for a great company founded and run by some great artists. That being said, Wallace and Gromit’s creator, Nick Park, said the earthquake in South Asia helped put the loss into perspective. “Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn’t a big deal,” he said.

I would say that having your entire professional creative life wiped out is a big deal, earthquake or no earthquake. Its okay to be very upset, earthquake or no earthquake. What really matters is the proverbial “where do you go from here?” and it looks as if Mr. Park will not let this loss consume him which is good, especially for those who hope to see more W&G in the future.

ramblings

More Than Meets The Eye

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Mark your calendar now: July 4th, 2007 will the day that a new live-action “Transformers” movie hits the big screens, though right now I’m very wary of it.

First, the classic animated movie, though panned by many critics, is a cult classic and will be hard to improve upon. Orson Welles as the voice of Unicron? An inspired choice! Bah weep grah nah weep ninny bom!

Second, any live-action version of an animated anything is a troubling proposition. See Masters of the Universe (the He-man movie) and Super Mario Brothers as examples.

Third, this new movie is being directed by Michael Bay! In case you never saw “Team America: World Police,” here are all the lyrics to the song “The End of an Act” which was featured in the movie:

I miss you more than Michael Bay missed the mark, when he made Pearl Harbor.
I miss you more then that movie missed the point, and that’s an awful lot girl.
And now, now you’ve gone away, and all I’m trying to say,
Is Perl Harbor sucked and I miss you
I need you like Ben Affleck needs acting school, he was terrible in that film.
I need you like Cuba Gooding needed a bigger part, he’s way better then Ben Affleck.
And now all I can think about is your smile, and that shitty movie too,
Perl Harbor sucked and I miss you
(Interlude)
Why does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies.
I guess Perl Harbor sucked,
Just a little bit more then I miss you.

I mean, the entire song is about how shitty he is! The following are Michael Bay movies: Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, The Rock and Bad Boys. Great. Then again, Steven Spielberg is an executive producer so hopefully that will count for something and negate Mr. Bay bringing the balance back to zero and with not one single actor casted as of yet, who knows, maybe another Orson Welles is out there…

In more Transformers related news, a new web site went up Tuesday and Transformers: Cybertron, the latest animated series, launched this month on Cartoon Network. Burger King cooks up a monthlong action-figure promotion beginning in August. And this weekend in San Diego Comic-Con International, an 18-wheel truck touting the franchise’s considerable wares will be beached in the convention hall.

After the jump, read what E Online has to say about these developments.

From E Online:

By Joal Ryan Wed Jul 13, 8:35 PM ET

Optimus Prime has a prime release date: The Fourth of July.

Transformers, the long-planned, live-action movie based on the robot-morphing cartoon, comic and toy franchise, will roll into theaters July 4, 2007, DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures announced Wednesday. Michael Bay (The Island, The Rock) will direct; Steven Spielberg will executive produce.

Children of the 1980s likely will be champing at the tie-in lunchbox.

“The diehard fans will like it as long as it stays true to Transformers roots and doesn’t stray too far from the ideals that we grew up with,” Brendan Reilly, co-Webmaster of The Transformers Archive (www.tfarchive.com), said in an email interview about the movie announcement. “The casual or un-familar fan will need to see something awesome to win them over, although a 40-foot robot is usually pretty cool.”

Cool-looking robots who convert themselves into battle tanks and other vehicles in order blow up things real good are at the mechanical heart of the Transformers, the classic tale of good automaton (the Autobots) versus evil automaton (the Decepticons) in a battle for control of Earth. Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots; Megatron, the dark lord of the Decepticons. Both Autobots and Decepticons hail from the planet Cybertron. All this backstory and more was revealed in Transformers, the syndicated cartoon series launched in 1984 with the help of toy-maker Hasbro, which simultaneously–and savvily–launched a still-thriving merchandise line.

No less savvy today, the makers of the new Transformers movie have already begun a full-scale offensive. The new official Website (www.transformers.com) went up Tuesday. Transformers: Cybertron, the latest animated series, launched this month on Cartoon Network. Burger King cooks up a monthlong action-figure promotion beginning in August. And this weekend in San Diego, on the occasion of Comic-Con International, the geek world’s largest annual gawkfest, an 18-wheel truck touting the franchise’s considerable wares will be beached in the convention hall.
In theory then, this thing ain’t going to be Transformers: The Movie.

Transformers: The Movie was the little-loved 1986 animated feature that gave Optimus Prime, Megatron, et al., their first crack at the silver screen. Much as Fox is planning to right past cinematic wrongs with an all-new, A-list take on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, another 1980s cartoon/toy phenomenon that spawned a cheeseball 1980s film, the new Transformers crew is looking to take its property upscale.

In a message board Monday post on his personal Website (www.donmurphy.net), Don Murphy, a Transformers co-executive producer, said Spielberg, DreamWorks and Hasbro are committed to making a film that is no less than “GREAT” (the capital letters are all his).

“It will be GREAT,” Murphy continued, “and then we will make sequel after sequel. There is no doubt that this is true.”

With excellence promised, the powers that be now need only to lock in actors and writers–none were announced Wednesday–and start cameras rolling. Time, after all, is of the essence. In publicly staking claim to July 4, 2007, DreamWorks and Paramount become the first studios to reserve that holiday date for their own. Currently, the only other release on the 2007 calendar is Spider-Man 3, set for May 4 of that year.

Until Transformers debuts in theaters, and after Comic-Con wraps, its considerable fandom can busy itself with BotCon (www.transformersclub.com/conventions/frisco/), described by organizer Brian Savage as being “like a giant group hug for everyone who enjoys Transformers.”

Scheduled for Sept. 22-25 in Frisco, Texas, the latest edition of BotCon–the event is more than 10 years old–is expected to draw as many as 5,000 devotees of the shape-changing robots. “The whole movie announcement just adds more fire and fuel,” said Savage, director of Hasbro’s official Transformers Collectors Club.

The way Savage sees it, the unlikely secret to the Transformers’ success is: Personality. Anyone, he said, can make a transforming robot.

“But guess what? It’s not Optimus Prime.”

movies

Nolan Nails It

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I cannot begin to say enough good things about Batman Begins and its stellar director Christopher Nolan. This movie was everything that Revenge of the Sith should have been: a well written, cohesive and engaging story acted out by a superb cast that has been given stellar direction.

Simply put, Batman Begins in now my all-time favorite comic book movie. It has suplanted Batman (1989) in the top slot and pushed X-Men to third. I went to the 11:00 PM showing on Wednesday night with a bunch of co-workers (showing true geek dedication) and found it breathtaking and awe-inspiring. Walking out of the theatre, you ask, “What the hell am I doing with my life? I should be protecting the city from evil!”

The best part is that we saw it on the Loews Lincoln Center IMAX screen which made it flat-out intense. I highly suggest seeing this movie in this manner – it is totally worth it. I had seen Apollo-13 on this screen but it was not as good because it wasn’t specially formatted for the IMAX screen – it was too big in many ways to enjoy. Batman however was specially formatted – it was letterboxed – and it looked fantastic.

On the strength of 3 movies – Memento, Insomnia and Batman Begins – Christopher Nolan has now gained a place of esteem on my list of top directors, which basically means I will now go see any Christopher Nolan film in the future.

Go and see this movie ASAP. Bat-time? Whenever you want. Bat-channel? Your local theatre.