One Of God's Own Prototypes

I believe in Edgar Wright.

2009-12-16T18:46:23Z

Short 'n' sweet

2009-12-14T21:39:44Z

Here are some quick thoughts about some movies I've seen recently for your reading pleasure.

Armored
Saw this with my dad on Friday because there was nothing else playing in our immediate vicinity that both of us really wanted to see. For some reason, he's decided he doesn't really care to see Fantastic Mr. Fox. I don't know why. So we went to see this. It wasn't bad. It was exactly what you'd expect. It's pretty by-the-numbers. Nothing special. I would rather have stayed home and watched a DVD, but it wasn't bad.

Coffy
I was pretty amazed to see this was playing on HDNet and I've been wanting to see some of Pam Grier's older stuff for ever now, so I made sure to sit and wait for this to come on. And I am REEEEEEEEALLY glad I did. I loved it. Pam Grier was badass. The movie was hilarious. And bad ass. Not hard to see why Quentin Tarantino is such a big fan. Blaxploitation is a genre I'm embarassingly deficient in (obviously, since I only just recently saw this), but now I'm eager to fix that.

The Road
Just as bleak, depressing, intense and gorgeous as I'd hoped. I think Viggo Mortensen deserves a nomination or two for various acting awards, but I'm not holding my breath that he'll get them. Really didn't mind them giving Charlize Theron's character more story time, either, as I thought it worked pretty well. I don't know if I will, but I would really like to see it again.

Fitzcarraldo
I am slowly but surely making my way through the Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski: A Film Legacy boxset I bought for myself a while ago. This is the 4th I've watched and I think it's probably my favorite. Maybe. I just love Herzog's style and his willingness to do the things he does, including actually having his crew drag a steamboat up the side of a mountain. The location shooting. It's just awesome. I'm actually really eager to get to the 6th and final film in the set, the documentary My Best Fiend about Herzog and Kinski's fighting on the sets of their films, but I want to watch all the films first.

Teeth
Very funny movie about a girl whose vagina contains something that most others do not. I really liked how they didn't shy away from showing certain things that you would think most guys would not want to see. Mostly because it was really funny.

Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans
I don't know what it is about this franchise, but for some reason I kind of enjoy it. I guess it's almost something of a guilty pleasure. I originally just attributed it to the Kate Beckinsale factor, but this one has Rhona Mitra in it and she's pretty hot, but she's not Kate Beckinsale, so I was forced to wonder why I enjoy these movies. They're kind of like the tacos at Burger King. I know they're not very good, but dammit, I just like them. I imagine the blu-ish tint also has something to do with it. I've always liked that for some reason. Anyway, if you liked the first two, you'll like this. I feel like I shouldn't, but I do. I wouldn't buy any of them, but if they're on TV, I might leave it on.

Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans
I was really excited to see this ever since I saw the first trailer for it because it looked totally nutso. And it was. In thinking about this movie, I'm beginning to wonder if everyone needs to re-examine the career of Nicolas Cage. Maybe his choice of roles and acting (in some of them) is intentional? I don't know. I really liked his performance in this, but I'm not sure if I liked it because it was so bad it was good or because it was good. Maybe I should watch it again.

Sister Street Fighter & Sister Street Fighter 2: Hanging By A Thread
I don't know why, but this Blu-Ray double feature is the cheapest Blu-Ray disc I've ever purchased. This is crazy because these movies are so awesome. I don't understand it. Etsuko Shihomi kicks so much ass. It's a shame she got married and retired. Probably not for her, but for the rest of us. The movies are very B movie-ish with sound effects when she jumps over a fence and fake blood and all that, but they're also really cool because she actually knows how to do the martial arts and use fucking nun-chucks. The opening credit sequences for both movies are just her standing in front of mirrors, practicing with all kinds of different weapons and it's pretty impressive. She's just badass. That's all there is to it. Plan to watch the 3rd and 4th movies soon (not on Blu-Ray, though).

A decade later.

2009-12-07T23:15:07Z

So a lot of blogs and website are doing things to mark the passing of this decade and one of the cooler things I've seen thus far is Movieline re-publishing interviews for great movies. The two I've seen and thoroughly enjoyed thus far are Wong Kar Wai on In The Mood For Love and Christopher Nolan on Memento.

Good readin'.

Don't Hide It, Provide It. Adgy Mix #32.

2009-12-07T20:03:18Z

Been slack on this. The last one was almost three months ago. Looking at that mix's download numbers, though, I guess it's not a big deal. I wonder if I should change the format or something. Or maybe people just don't care about new music? I don't know. For those of you that do, though, this is for you.

Mission Statement
These mixes are collections of tracks that come up on random in my iTunes that I like and want to share. There is no theme or reason behind any particular track list, excepting that I try to avoid tracks by well known artists. The idea here is to expose people to new music that they might not otherwise hear. I doubt anyone is going to like all of them, but I'm hoping you find something you like by a band that you're not familiar with. The tracks vary in genre and style on purpose.

Ok?

Alright. Click on the link below to be directed to Megaupload, where you can download a zip file of the mp3s. I was using Mediafire, but the 100MB limit makes it hard to get a good number of tracks in these, so I changed hosts. If this is a problem for anyone, comment and I'll see what I can do.

ADGY MIX #32

Tracklisting (in no particular order):
Mount Vernon Arts Lab - "The Black Drop", from the album The Séance At Hobs Lane
Subheim - "Howl", from the album Approach
A Place To Bury Strangers - "Ego Death", from the album Exploding Head
Rafael Anton Irisarri - "Lumberton", from the album Daydreaming
Zola Jesus - "Dog", from the album New Amsterdam
Elm - "Silver Dust In Moonlight", from the album Nemcatacoa
Pocahaunted - "Dusk", from the album Passage
Three Mile Pilot - "Way Of The Ocean", from the album Another Desert, Another Sea
Cop Shoot Cop - "Surprise, Surprise", from the album Ask Questions Later
Danny Norbury - "From The Lookout", from the album Dusk
Asobi Seksu - "Familiar Light", from the album Hush
Torche - "King Beef", from the album Chapter Ahead Being Fake (w/ Boris)
Long Distance Calling - "I Know You, Stanley Milgram!", from the album Avoid The Light

And that is that. If anyone has any suggestions on other ways to do this, let me know. I was thinking maybe of posting each track individually and letting people stream it and then having the full file at the end, but I'm not going to bother with all the extra work unless I know it'll make a difference.

Anyway, all together, the playlist will fit on a CD-R if that's the route you choose. I try to keep all of them short enough to fit onto a CD-R, because that's the way I like to listen to things like this.

Once again, I hope that those of you that download this find something new to listen to. If you like, many of the previous mixes are still available to download. You can view all the entries tagged as mixes and download them.

I'm not aiming to become a shill for Amazon, but... damn.

2009-12-07T17:16:54Z

Today's "Gold Box" deal is the entire Arrested Development series, that's three seasons, for $28.99.

My favorite TV show of all time right there for less than $30. Hot shit.

Is this a movie by Rolling Stone?

2009-11-24T23:36:54Z

Have you seen this new poster for The Road?

Jeez. Really?

I don't know about you guys, but I am reeeeeeeeeeeeeally excited to see this. I believe it's got one of those gradual roll out things, where it starts in big cities tomorrow and expands from there. I'm considering going to see it tomorrow, but if I do, it'll have to be after I see Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans... hmm...

I should also mention that the full soundtrack for The Road by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis is going to be released digitally on January 12th. It doesn't look like there will be a physical release, though.

Definitely better than nothing, right?

It's right about that time of year. Black Friday.

2009-11-24T18:16:33Z

Black Friday has never been a big deal for me. I refuse to leave the house, usually. I don't dig that scene, you know? If you do, though, you may be interested in some of the deals happening. I imagine if you're hardcore about it, you know all of this already, but just in case I figured I'd share some links.

Cinematical has been making lists of the movies available, so that's where I'll point you to.

Walmart
Best Buy
Target
K-Mart & Sears

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure these deals are all in-store only. I assume so, I should say. I haven't actually bothered to look. There's some good shit on there, no doubt, but... nothing that makes me want to try and brave the crowds, traffic and smells.

Thankfully, though, Amazon has some deals going down, too. I highly recommend you keep your eyes on their Black Friday Deals page and check back daily, as there are a number of short-time deals to be had.

I notice they're selling Sergei Bodrov's Mongol on Blu-ray, starring Tadanobu Asano, for $10. That's definitely tempting. By the way, did you hear that Tadanobu Asano is apparently going to be in the Thor movie? Anyway, here's the Blu-Ray deal page, which is worth looking over. Lot of potential X-Mas presents in there.

I would also like to point you towards Black Friday Mp3 store deals because there's some good shit in there, too, and it's all over the map genre-wise. I was going to list out some of the highlights, but it would take too long.

You're welcome.

MEDIA

2009-11-24T00:13:21Z

My friends,

Due to the fact that it's been over 4 months since my last one of these, the amount of blog posts I intend to link to is far too large for LJ to handle. In fact, it is too large for even 3 separate LJ entries to handle.

Because of this, I have been forced to put the media post off-site. After some tinkering around, I was able to find a way to do this that was satisfactory and I feel comfortable posting the link.

MEDIA POST

It's far from perfect, but it'll do.

I once again encourage everyone interested to get brave and try out some new music you've never heard of.

Questions, comments, etc. are welcome.

WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?

2009-11-19T23:27:15Z

Amazon's Deal Of The Day

2009-11-17T17:11:34Z

My friends,

I would like to take a minute and inform you that today's Deal Of The Day from Amazon is actually something worthwhile. For what I assume is today only, Amazon is selling It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Seasons 1-4 for only $44.99.

If you have never seen this show before, or you know someone who hasn't, then now is the perfect time to rectify the situation and bring meaning into your heretofore plain, boring life. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia will add shine and bounce to your hair and your state of mind because it is very, very funny while at the same time being one of the most wrong shows I've seen. And I don't mean wrong as in incorrect, I mean it as in "that shit ain't right". Not for the easily offended, but if you or someone you know enjoys stuff like South Park, then you're on the right track.

I'm pretty new to this show myself, having only been introduced to it this summer, and I was lucky enough to get season 3 & 4 for my birthday from The Lady a couple of weeks ago. Otherwise, I'd be all over this.

Highly recommended.

Speak louder.

2009-11-16T20:04:55Z

I don't have much time, but I feel like sharing.

* Terry Gilliam shares his 26 Golden Rules of movie making. If every director was more like he was...

* I do love it when two things I love come together. Sonic Youth's top 12 favorite Criterion discs. I'm embarassed as shit to admit I've only seen one of them. So far.

* Speaking Of Sonic Youth, here's a cool interview with Thurston Moore.

* And speaking of interviews, here's one with Nick Frost in which he talks a bit about upcoming projects. it's short, but he's awesome.

* The company responsible for the upcoming Confucius film starring Chow Yun Fat just released NINETEEN different posters for the movie, most with Chow Yun Fat's face on them, showing different emotions. It gets kind of funny after a while.

* Jeffrey Wells, who writes Hollywood Elsewhere, recently had lunch with Kathryn Bigelow, director of the super awesome, hope it wins every award it's nominated for film The Hurt Locker. At the restauraunt, he asked random employees what they thought of the movie and none of them had even heard of it. :(

* Author Cormac McCarthy talks about The Road and the film adaptation of it.

* Do you want a Hausu t-shirt? I sure as fuck do.

* And lastly, I fucking LOVE Jon Stewart.

Start your holiday shopping now.

2009-11-11T22:15:51Z

Barnes & Noble.com is selling select Criterion DVDs for 50% off.

You're welcome.

Oh shi-

2009-11-06T20:55:48Z

For the first time ever, David Lapham, creator of the comic book Stray Bullets is selling original art.

Jesus, if I had a few hundred bucks to blow right now...

Stray Bullets, by the way, was/is an independently published black and white noir comic book that Lapham published, wrote and drew himself. He stopped publishing it (mid-storyline) in late 2005 because he wasn't making any money doing it and started having kids. Now, he mostly writes for Marvel and DC.

Stray Bullets is probably one of my top 5 favorite comics of all time. If you've never read it, Lapham has the first 4 issues up on his website that you can read for free. I believe issue #4 is the one that got me hooked, but you should go ahead and read all of them.

On the other hand, you might not want to get too terribly attached because the trade paperbacks for what has been released are all out of print and hard to find. The first two are on eBay all the time, but the rest? Only occasionally and they sometimes get pretty expensive.

Still, though. I hold out hope that one day Lapham will either start Stray Bullets up on his own again, or maybe let someone else publish it. I just found out today that there's a Stray Bullets short story in the recently released Dark Horse Noir Anthology, so... who knows? You can read that story at the website, too, which makes me happy.

I actually have a sticker on the rear window of my car of Amy Racecar, one of the SB characters. It's been there so long it's faded into this cool reverse negative-looking thing.

If you read these and enjoy them, I would definitely recommend some of Lapham's Marvel & DC stuff. Especially the recently cancelled Vertigo series, The Young Liars. You can get the first trade for $9.99 on Amazon and you should because it gets my vote for the best thing he's done outside of SB. I also recommend Silverfish, a standalone noir graphic novel for Vertigo and Batman: City of Crime, which I really enjoyed. Or the first volume of Terror, Inc. which isn't noir-ish, but is really funny.

Either way, it looks like Lapham needs the money and I think he deserves all of it that can be thrown at him.

I don't remember what year this was taken, but this was after I had him sign my SB hardcover boxset that cost me $60 and was worth every penny. He signed and sketched in all three of the volumes it contained and it stands to this day as one of my favorite possessions.

That's the difference between us.

2009-11-02T22:33:44Z

This is a little late, as far as breaking news goes, but I've been busy and knowing you, you haven't been paying attention, anyway. So it'll be just like new!

A movie that I am very much looking forward to is Kirot, which I previously mentioned back in May. I am looking forward to this movie because it stars Olga Kurylenko, from Quantum Of Solace, as a female who is getting revenge and killing people. As you know, that sentence presses almost all of my cinematic fetish buttons, leaving out only things like plot and cinematography. But it hits all the good ones, so that's ok. It might even still hit those lesser ones, but I won't know until I see it. Early reviews after it's premier at the Toronto Film Festival a little bit ago indicate those buttons will remain unpressed, but I'll reserve that judgement for myself.

Anyway.

We've got ourselves a trailer.

And here are the posters.

All of which do nothing to lessen my desire to see this film.

No word on a release date that I've heard just yet.

Quick heads up.

2009-10-30T16:30:12Z

Luc Besson's ass kicking masterpiece Leon: The Professional is coming out on Blu-Ray on November 17th and you can pre-order it from Amazon for only $13.99.

DO WANT.

Oh good, RSS feeds aren't working again.

2009-10-26T16:56:13Z

Really, LJ? Again?!

Guess it's time to look for an alternative place to read my RSS feeds. Anyone have any suggestions? I'd hate to have to resort to getting an email or text message anytime one of the 5 million blogs I follow updates.

Things that are good.

2009-10-23T00:07:12Z

Haven't done one of these in a while. Since April, actually. Geez. Slackin'.

Anywhere, here's some things that I have been digging and that I recommend.

X-Force

The current X-Force comic book has nothing to do with any previous incarnation of the title or team, aside from it being affiliated with the X-men. X-Force is now the X-Men's black-ops team, tasked by Cyclops to use lethal force in dealing with certain enemies of mutantkind. As if to emphasize this even firther, they dress in silver and black uniforms. The team consists of Wolverine (of course), Archangel, Domino, Warpath, Wolfsbane, X-23 and Elixir.

When I first heard about this title, I wasn't really all that excited about it, although I liked the idea of X-Men finally deciding enough was enough and killing some people. Then I found out that Clayton Crain was doing the artwork, so I decided I'd give it a shot. The first issue came out in 2008, written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost.

And I liked it. And I've continued to buy it, even after cutting down on my monthly purchases substantially, I've hung on to this book. It's fun, it's violent and it's given me a whole new appreciation for the character of Domino who I had previously thought to be relatively lame. Now I think she's badass and awesome and cool. Supposedly, there's going to be a new mini-series about her and Wolverine by Kyle and Yost with art by Gabriele Dell'Otto, who is even more awesome than Clayton Crain. Can't wait. Similarly, this was my first introduction to the character of X-23, who is literally a younger, female version of Wolverine. Unoriginal, yes, but you know how I dig the women who have bad attitudes and like to kill people thing.

There are currently two trade paperbacks available, with the 3rd set to come out early next year, as well as a crossover with Cable trade. If you still enjoy X-Men comics, then I do recommend checking it out.

Also, I can't help it, but for some reason I really, really, really like that cover image posted there. If you want to see a very large version of it, click here.

Volume 1 on Amazon - $10.87

By The Throat by Ben Frost

This is kind of cheating because this album hasn't actually been released yet, but I downloaded it the other day and I have been listening to it almost non-stop for the last two days. It's incredible. I first came across Ben Frost after reading a review of his previous album, Theory Of Machines, on a blog and seeing that he named a track "We Love You Michael Gira" and also sampled a Michael Gira song. So I downloaded the album and liked it quite a bit.

Then, the other day, I see he's got a new one that's leaked onto the internet. So I decide to download it and see if it's as good as the previous one and it turns out to be about 592 times better. We're talking possible Album Of The Year here. It's just that freaking awesome. The disc comes out on November 10th. That is the day I will own it.

Pre-order the CD from Amazon

Hausu

Hausu (or House) is a 1977 Japanese horror/comedy directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi and it is one of the craziest movies ever made. It's kind of like Evil Dead 2 if it had been directed by Takashi Miike in the 70's. I recently saw it on the big screen in Hollywood and had a fucking fantastic time. Janus Films, the company that own the distribution rights, is currently touring the film in the US and if it's coming anywhere near you, you MUST go and see it. I guarantee you will enjoy it if you like things that are funny and/or awesome. Failing that, bootlegs are available. I don't believe there is an official release of this anywhere just yet.

Janus Films' DVD releasing arm is Criterion and I'm hoping and praying that we might get a Criterion DVD release of this sometime in the near future. That would be completely perfect.

No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

I've finally started reading the book that the movie was based on and, hoo boy, is it awesome. It's so awesome, it's as good as the movie. Maybe even better. Actually, they're about the same. When the Coen Brothers adapted it, they didn't seem to make a whole hell of a lot of changes. Some things are shorter and some were cut out, but otherwise everything is as it was.

I do kind of wish I'd have read the novel before seeing the movie. I enjoyed the movie so much that it's almost interfering with my ability to notice how great the book is. For example, the scene in which Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem in the film, is in the gas station and telling the counterman to pick which end of the coin he's about to toss comes up. The scene is incredibly well written and intense and I almost didn't notice it because I was playing the movie in my head while I was reading it and the scene in the movie was well done and intense. Does that make sense? Hopefully.

I think this is the 5th or 6th Cormac McCarthy book I'll have read and of them all, I think this is the one I'd recommend most. It seems to be the most accessible and it might even be my favorite.

Order the book from Amazon

Your super awesome news of the day

2009-10-14T18:18:55Z

PJ Harvey and Nick Cave re-united on stage for a duet.

Just in case you're not a member of pjharvey for some odd reason.

Also, this awesome bit:

The reason why Nick Cave no longer sports that moustache: "My wife found my stash of rohypnol, drugged me and shaved it off."

Also, since I'm here, The Lady and I saw Mono last night and they fucking KILLED. If you weren't there, you should feel shame.

Paranormal Activity review

2009-10-12T18:59:17Z

I finally got to see Paranormal Activity on Friday night. Went to an 11:30pm showing because the 10:30pm was sold out. As soon as I got home, I decided I needed to write about it.

You can read the review at 24FramesPerSecond.

Short version? Loved it. Very, very creepy.

I say this all the time, but I'm going to say it again just in case:

If you can see this on the big screen, you should.

The experience of a movie like this just isn't going to be the same when you watch it at home.

It's playing in wide release and not just at midnight any longer. Here in SoCal, it's playing all over the place.

Go see it.

I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year.

2009-10-09T00:20:17Z

The best thing about it is the weather. Summer is FINALLY ending. FINALLY. The heat has broken. I can go outside and not want to die. I can get in my car and still breathe. IT WAS ACTUALLY FOGGY THIS MORNING! It's a wonderful feeling. It kind of makes me want to move somewhere with a different climate where it's like this year round. I'm not sure a place like that really exists outside of my dreams, though.

The absolute bliss I get from walking outside, seeing the sun and NOT immediately melting is somewhat muddied by the fact that after summer is the time of year when about 5 trillion movies come out that I want to see. This is a problem because, as I get older, I seem to have less and less time for going to the movies, especially ones that are only screening in Los Angeles, which is currently about 50 miles away from where I live. For some strange reason, I seem to have incurred a growing list of responsibilities and Things That Need To Be Done over the last couple of years. I'm not sure how or why this happened, but I think it was done without my consent. Also, hockey season just started and that's going to eat up approximately 40 nights of my life over the next 6 months or so. At least.

So it's hard to make time for movies at this time. And that's bad because now is the time when all the good/cool movies are coming out. Of course. Part of that is award season. A bigger part is that for some reason, almost all of the film festivals that happen in or around LA just LOVE to happen all at the same goddamn time.

I know. Whaaaah whaaaah, poor baby. Too many good movies to choose from. Whatever will you do?

Shut up.

You don't know what it's like. You could never truly understand the pain and the frustration. The heartbreak and the heartache. It's crushing. Deafening. Debilitating. All that stuff.

Let's start with what's currently playing that I'm wanting to see, shall we? I think that will lend a sense of urgency. I've recently seen (and, to varying degrees, enjoyed) The Informant!, Zombieland and Whip It, but I'm still missing out on, in no particular order:

Gamer.
I've just about missed the boat on this one. It's still playing at a couple of theaters and I'm crossing my fingers and praying that it stays there just a little longer. If I don't get a chance to see it, it's not a huge loss, I guess. I only want to see it because it was directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the duo behind the Crank movies. It hasn't been getting half the awesome reviews that those movies got, though. I wonder how different that might have been if Jason Statham had been cast...

Paranormal Activity.
If you are unfamiliar with this movie, then you need to read this. I STILL have yet to see this, but it's been so successful that Paramount has actually extended it's release dates and cities and is now showing at regular times instead of midnight only. I don't know how much longer I have before I miss the boat on this, I only know this is one of the ones that I will kick myself forever about if I miss it. ~~I'll probably have to~~ I better find somewhere to squeeze it in next week. I've actually been seeing commercials for it on TV which is both surprising and heartening. EDIT: Just saw that this is playing not far from me right now. So I've got plans for after school tonight. AWESOME.

A Serious Man.
Well, it's a new Coen Brothers movie, so if I don't see this, I might as well consider my life a failure. Everything I've read about the movie so far has been exceedingly positive, too. Thankfully, this one only just came out, so I should have some time to try and fit it in somewhere.

Couples Retreat.
This comes out today. I mentioned the reasons I want to see it in the previous entry, but I'll summarize again: Jason Bateman. I fully expect this to last a few weeks and be playing just about everywhere, so I'm not too worried about missing it.

Toy Story & Toy Story 2 in 3D.
I'm actually seeing this this weekend, so that's cool.

An Education.
I only added this to my list just today after reading a couple of raving reviews of it. Most of the reviews up on Rotten Tomatoes are similarly high. Before today, I knew this movie was written by Nick Hornby and starred Peter Sarsgaard, but that was about it. Normally, that would be reason enough, but until I started hearing about how good it was, I just figured I wasn't going to have time for it. Now I need to try and make some time. EDIT: Just discovered that it's doing it's Oscar-run now and will actually be in more theaters in mid-November. So that takes some pressure off. Whew!

Bronson.
I wrote about being excited to see this already, so I'm not going to do it again. However, I do want to say: I AM REALLY EXCITED TO SEE THIS MOVIE. Opens today. Another one to try and fit in next week.

And here are the movies coming soon that are on my need to see list:

Antichrist.
This is going to be playing at The Nuart starting October 23rd. The Nuart is my favorite theater in the world, but it's also one of the farthest away. There's absolutely no chance that I will not catch this while it's there, though. NONE. Err, well, unless I find out about it playing somewhere closer before I go see it there. I've got two weeks to find time for it.

Black Dynamite.
My dumbass missed a chance to see this at a festival early this year and I know regret it even more than I did before. Reviews on this have been fantastic and, shit, it just looks like FUN. Opens on October 15th in Hollywood, I believe.

Law Abiding Citizen.
Ok, this one really isn't a big deal, but it looks like it could be fun. And violent. We'll see.

Where The Wild Things Are.
I doubt this really needs any explanation. Opens October 15th.

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning.
I have this on (all region) DVD, but there's no chance I'm missing it on the big screen. Opens October 23rd.

The Men Who Stare At Goats.
Have you seen the trailer for this? Looks fucking awesome/hilarious/awesome again. Opens Nov 6th, I think.

Red Cliff.
November 13th. John Woo returns to the world of movies that aren't shitty. This is the 2 1/2 hour version, which is a condensing of the 4 hour international cut (that was actually split into two movies). I've heard people say that this shorter cut (which was either done by or approved by Woo) is actually better. I look forward to seeing this very much and then, if I like it, buying the 4 hour version on Blu-Ray. :D

Rashomon (Remastered).
I actually saw this when The Lady and I went to New York earlier this year, so if I miss it out here, I'll live. If the opportunity presents itself, though, I'm all over seeing it again. Newly remastered prints of the film are currently on tour through the US and you can check the website to see if it's coming near you. If it is, THEN GO AND SEE IT.

Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans.
Man, I hate that fucking poster, but the previously posted trailer had me almost literally pissing myself with awe. This looks so nuts, it could be the most awesome thing I see all year. Opens November 20th.

The Road.
Another one that I've previously written some about. The book is amazing. It's scored by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis. It's directed by John Hillcoat (The Proposition). It stars Viggo Mortenson. Expectations are very, very high.

Now. That's not all. As I said, this is also film festival season in LA. And in the next couple of months, we've got:

Screamfest LA
Week long horror film festival, Oct 16th-25th. I've been granted a press pass for this, so I'll definitely be going to as many screenings as I can fit in. Sadly, the two films playing that I most want to see, Macabre and Vampire Girl Vs Frankenstein Girl, are playing on a night I can't go. of course. Still, I should be able to at least see The Human Centipede, which I am very much looking forward to.

AFI Fest
LA's best annual film festival. Oct 30-Nov 7. The full line-up hasn't been announced yet, but some of the big names have been and they include: Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call, New Orleans, Bong Joon-Ho's Mother, the extremely well reviewed (so far) Red Riding Trilogy, Harmony Korine's Trash Humpers, Joe Dante's The Hole and Michael Stephenson's documentary Best Worst Movie (about Troll 2). And that's not even half of what all will be shown. Eagerly awaiting the full schedule over here. I applied for a press pass, but don't yet know if they'll give me one.

Hollywood Film Festival
Oct 21-26. The list of films was released yesterday. Includes Kim Tae-kyun's Crossing. Unlikely that I'll attend any screenings, but we'll see.

And I thiiiink that's it, aside from special one-time screenings of older movies that always happen at various theaters and stuff.

But, see... why does all of this shit have to be happening at the same time? And why didn't I just finish this entry yesterday when I was on a roll instead of saving it for today and now being out of my groove? And why do I keep forgetting to set my DVR to record It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia?

I don't know.

What does the the word manhole cover mean to you?

2009-10-08T16:47:37Z

I would like to apologize for not having much in the way of content lately (let alone meaningful content), but I just have not had the time.

And now, I link you to an interview with Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell about the upcoming film Couples Retreat because my mancrush on Jason Bateman grows steadily and daily and it's a relatively entertaining way to spend 3 minutes and 47 seconds. You also get to hear an update on the Arrested Development movie that sounds exactly the same as every other update you've ever read.

I don't know if Couples Retreat is going to be any good, but I do plan to see it. At this point, I'm willing to pay money to see just about anything Jason Bateman does. I also used to really like Vince Vaughn movies, but I don't think I've seen a single film he's been in since Wedding Crashers. However, the movie was written by him and Jon Favreau and has a handful of other likable cast members, so I plan to give it a try.

And look... just like that, I actually took the time to write something!

On the past and future of independent film.

2009-10-02T15:55:00Z

If the subject interests you, you may find Bill Mechanic's keynote speech from the annual Independent Film & Television Alliance Production Conference an interesting read. I did.

RED

2009-09-29T17:58:09Z

Making sure to post about this right now because if I put it aside and then forget about it, The Lady will wag her finger at me.

It was announced back around April that Bruce Willis was in talks to star in a live action adaptation of the Warren Ellis/Cully Hamner comic book, Red.

Then, in July, it was reported that Morgan Freeman was in talks to co-star. And then that Robert Schwenke (The Time Traveler's Wife) was going to direct it.

That's cool, right? Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman in a movie based on something written by Warren Ellis? Sweet. I haven't read Red since it came out originally. It was a 3 issue mini-series for Image about a retired CIA agent "forced back into the game to gain revenge on the agency that trained him." I don't really remember much about it, to be honest, but I remember liking it.

The reason I post about it now is that I just noticed a review of the film's script up on Scriptshadow. I don't read the whole reviews of scripts they post there, to help avoid spoilers, but I do enjoy reading the bottom line of the reviews and the bottom line for Red stood out to me.

"Perhaps that’s what stayed with me so long after reading Red. It’s really a throwback to an earlier era/age/style of screenwriting. It has action, but it doesn’t call attention to itself like today’s product. The sequences moves at a nice clip, but it’s totally devoid of any look-at-me-as-I-cleverly-off-someone-with-a-bednob-or-a-broomstick-or-something-else-you’ve-never-seen-before. We’re totally invested in these characters and I found myself getting gleeful as they miraculously pull their mission impossible off.

Red is different because it’s so refreshingly underwritten. You won’t get a jolt or a rush or a headache after putting it down. There’s an old showbiz axiom that admonishes to “Always leave them wanting more.” The Brothers Hoeber have deftly pulled that off. When I closed the file, I was already looking forward to Frank’s next adventure."

Awesome.

There's a link there at Scriptshadow to download the script yourself if you want to read it. I have no desire to do so myself (spoilers), but it's there if you want it. If you'd like to check out the comic for yourself, there's a neat, affordable trade paperback available.

Did you see (500) Days Of Summer?

2009-09-25T21:24:02Z

I just saw it recently.

I would first like to mention how awesome it is that an indie-type movie released in July is still in theaters. It seems like that almost never happens any more, unless, maybe, there's a bunch of Oscar buzz. This one's still out there, though. Good thing, too, since I only just got to see it on Monday night.

I thought it was great.

What I actually came here to post, though, was the link to this interview that Movieline did with the screenwriters. If you've seen the movie, then you should probably go ahead and read it. It's good readin'. See, because the movie is based on a true story about one of the screenwriters and an ex girlfriend. This is made plain the first minute of the film, when the ex is named and then called a "bitch." The interview goes into this story some and sheds a little light on the thoughts and point of the film.

If you haven't seen the movie, I do recommend it. It's very funny in (a lot of) places, despite not being a cheery movie in any way, shape or form.

If it's still playing somewhere nearby, give it a look.

In the hopefully not too distant future.

2009-09-22T20:01:20Z

Saw a couple of things today that needed posting. The first was the trailer for the upcoming British film Harry Brown, which features the mighty return of the ass-kicking version of Michael Caine.

The film comes out in the UK in November. No word on a US release, as far as I know. I think that's really all there is to say about that one, but you can check out a recap of the film's premier in Toronto just recently, which includes more of Michael Caine being awesome.

Second is a Thai action movie called Vanquisher, which hits theaters in Thailand in November.

You probably don't need me to tell you what I like about this movie so far. WiseKwai's plot summary:

The star is Sophita Sribanchean, who plays Genja, a CIA agent who completes covert mission in southern Thailand but then has to fight off rival operatives from within the agency who've been ordered to "take her out at all costs." She survives and bides her time until two years later in Bangkok, she faces her old foes and a plot to detonate a bomb in the city.

Yup. I think that says it all.