Yeah, see, that's irony. What I said was ironic...

So first up; I saw Prince Caspian (well, a week ago now - I'm really going to work on getting back into the swing of posting regularly. One hopes.) I enjoyed it. It isn't quite as good as Iron Man, but I was pretty impressed overall. I was never very interested in Narnia; I only saw the first one because someone else was buying the ticket. I went out of that one thinking they did a good job with the special effects, but still not thinking the plot was all that engaging. Prince Caspian, for me, was much more fun because it is much more action based, a bit darker, and a bit less Christian allegory. Aside from Lucy - get thee to a nunnery, girl! Anyways, a few thoughts;

- The plot is a bit all over the place. It felt as if they had to keep cutting things down for length and some continuity got lost. I wasn't always sure where they were going. Overall, it just didn't feel as if the scenes built upon each other in a logical fashion.

- Eddie Izzard as Reepicheep and Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin rocked. And provided a nice change of pace from the court intrigue/ battles that occupy most of the movie.

- The cinematography is super gorgeous. God, New Zealand is beautiful. The flight of Caspian in the beginning is particularly well done.

- I enjoyed the battles. They were oddly bloodless (hello PG rating!), but I thought they were shot well.

- The costumes were kind of odd. I really wish I had a picture of Caspian's final outfit. It's this totally bizarre dress/gauchos thing. I nearly laughed out loud.

- I thought the largest problem were the kids. Not that the actors were bad, necessarily, just that they are incredibly one-dimensional characters. Lucy mopes around for Aslan for the entire thing, Susan doesn't do much aside from a few smoldering glances at Caspian (and one very kickass archery scene), and Peter spends the entire movie more or less being an ass. The writers occasionally give them some nice sibling interaction to work with, but a lot of the time they are just very stilted. I did think Edmund was a huge improvement from the first film and he seemed the most at ease throughout the whole film. And he's supposed to be back in the third installment, right? So that's good.

- Why did they pick a Spanish accent for the Telmarines? You have a boy on a quest to revenge his father's death. Who in the audience isn't going to think, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya..."

- The accent aside, I thought Ben Barnes did a good job. He also has a bit more going on emotionally; being tempted by the white witch, learning about his father, watching his soldiers die, confronting his uncle. And he is very good looking. I remember wondering in Stardust why he wasn't cast as the lead (not that Charlie Cox didn't do a great job, but he doesn't have the same Marquee looks).

Overall, I enjoyed it. It's a good summer blockbuster, and I wouldn't be averse to seeing it again on the big screen.

And linkspam:

Not movie related, but I love it: The new Discovery Channel ad. Mythbusters rocks my world.

Also not in movies: 17 enduring Lost mysteries. Aw. I kinda miss Mr. Eko. Also; some more theorizing in advance of the finale.

Australia trailer The photo they have up for it cracks me up. "Can I pet the pretty blond lady? She's all thoft and furry..." As for the trailer, I really like it. The cinematography, music, and fonts are all appropriately epic. I also love that Hugh Jackman gets 2 words.


Badass Russian Wanted trailer



Trailer for the Go-Getter



Sony's new Hot Ticket The important part of this article? The final performance of RENT will be broadcast live in September. Which I will buy a ticket to as soon as they'll let me. I happen to own a copy of the Angel cast's final SF performance and I watch that far more often than the movie (stupid Chris Columbus!). I hope they have a good cast together for that final show. The last time I saw RENT was in NY, and the cast was a bit meh. Still, that was also a Tuesday, and I'm sure the final night will be amazing. It'll be the last time to see Michael Grief's direction live (or live-ish). I still can't believe it's actually closing.

Anyways, as for the discussion into movie theaters turning more and more to live-ish entertainment for revenue, that's a whole other discussion.

Cannes review: Synecdoche, New York I CAN'T WAIT.

Cannes review: The Changeling ditto.

Cannes prizes



David Fincher's potential masterpiece and the Spanish trailer Oh, right. That's the Curious Case of Benjamin Button they're refering to.

Gladys Knight auditions for Pips Robert Downey Jr. is awesome. His absence is funnier than either of the other guys.

Eagle Eye Trailer Meh. I kept expecting Hugo Weaving to show up.

Jake Gyllenhaal is the Prince of Persia Is that the game that had lots of jumping on ledges in dungeons? That was big when we were about in 5th grade. Oh hell YES. Wow.... I remember the spikes of impalement now. I also love the idea of an Oregon trail movie. But not with Emile Hirsch. And can we please call it "I just tried to ford the river and my fuckin' oxen died"?

A new book in praise of cinema's hellraisers

Boy A poster

Lear with Hopkins, Paltrow and Knightley I hated King Lear. And it's the only Shakespeare that I've read where I felt that way. Still, maybe a good cast would improve it for me. Although I think Derek Jacobi would be a better choice than Anthony Hopkins.

Fun movie shirts There are quite a few I like, but none of the ladies tees designs.

From page to screen: The Lovely Bones

Downey Jr to play Hugh Hefner?

Christian Bale signs on for the Terminator trilogie My first reaction to this story was, "Is he out of his mind?!?" Especially considering he isn't yet done with Batman. But here's my guess - this deal has got to set him up financially to keep making things like Rescue Dawn for years and years to come. Or maybe he just really loved the Terminator as a kid.

Awesome: 'Crystal Skull' annoys Russian Communists The one consistent theme I'm hearing from Indy is that Cate Blanchett is awesome, crap accent aside.

No, seriously John. What's up with that beard? At least Sam Mendes is directing- maybe that'll make that rat's nest worth it? Nah...

EEE!!

Ok; so I need to write a post about Prince Caspian, which I saw Monday night, but I had to first very quickly share the new poster for Choke. How incredibly fabulous is this? I think I may have to buy it, even given my dislike of pink.

And she's back!

Sorry to be MIA for awhile. I worked some insane number of hours last week to help out with all of Dr. Jane' s events. Luckily, I think the whole week went off very, very well, so I'm quite pleased. Plus Dr. Jane (and the wonderful Mary Lewis) came over to give me a hug at the end of the events for helping to put things together, so I was really touched by that.

In movie box office game news, I ranked 25th for the weekend of May 2nd, and 23rd for this last weekend. That brings me to 112th overall, and I think there are about 1400 players. One of these weekends I'm going to rock out and win the whole thing. I can totally do it.

I haven't seen any new films since Iron Man; I've been far too knackered. However, my brother and I got my mom a Tivo for mother's day/ early birthday, so I have a few things that are now being saved for me. Yay! (I did rewatch Velvet Goldmine, which I really enjoyed. I do think some of the music video sequences could have been edited a bit, but overall I think the visuals are just so much fun. It really made me anxious to see I'm Not There (Todd Haynes is the director for both). Plus, who doesn't love a movie about boys in makeup?)

Narnia seems to be getting good reviews. And as it has Ben Barnes, I think I'll go check it out this weekend.

Sorry most of the linkspam is all cinematical; I've been too busy to go for breadth in my movie news sites.

Cannes is on!! YAAAY!!! Blindness seems to be getting pretty good reviews. Learning that Gael Garcia Bernal is in it makes me way more interested; Mark Ruffalo might be a good actor, but Bernal is fascinating. Cinematical has a Cannes preview here. I'm most excited for the Changeling and Synecdoche, NY (I adore Charlie Kaufman).

Choke got pushed back to late September (according to cinematical)???? WTF?!?! I guess autumn might be a more appropriate time for it, given the subject matter, but dammit. I need my Sam fix!

Speed Racer Crashes and Burns. Mwahaha. Of course, I'm sure the Dark Knight will do fantastically (now that's how you run a campaign), but I'm kinda pleased that the Speed Racer fiasco hits the WB when they cut off Picturehouse and Warner Independent (that fabulous studio that released Snow Angels). As for Speed Racer, it looks like it has great visuals, but I'm saving my big screen funds for Iron Man and Prince Caspian; I never saw the show as a child, and I don't get the fuss over Emile Hirsch. I feel he's like Shia LaBouef; the studios are more convinced of his appeal than the general public (although I guess the returns for Disturbia counter that theory? Then again, it was a savvy release date; right in the doldrums of the movie release schedule).

The new X-Files trailer I really enjoy how some people (often the same ones who whine about movie trailers giving too much away) are whining that it is cryptic. It's the X-Files. I'd be pissed if it weren't. Although can I mourn Scully's hair for a moment? I think it used to be so much prettier. The long cut doesn't seem to work on her.

Oh my god; I am loving this graphic over at the NYTimes. Wheee!

Unofficial Watchmen set report.

I know this is a few days old (I've been BUSY!) but here is the really negative Indy review. And here is a sorta more positive one. My mom keeps talking about how excited she is for this one. And it was theoretically "the most anticipated summer flick of 2008." I don't get it. I'm completely ambivalent over this. Harrison Ford is old, Shia La Bouef is annoying, and no one was really clamoring for a new one after all these years. Iron Man? Whee! Dark Knight? Can't wait. Wanted? Check. Choke... well I'm going to ignore it being pushed back. Those were the movies I was excited for. Speaking of previews, I like the Chronicle's Summer Movie Preview (I must've missed EW's this year). Here's their take on Indy;

"The big picture: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

Why you should care: Even at 108 years old (give or take), the hat still fits Harrison Ford. Karen Allen returns, and Steven Spielberg is once again running the show. The trailer looks fun, and any movie that features Cate Blanchett looking like a dominatrix can't be too bad. Assuming you didn't hate either of the other sequels, this one is pretty much airtight.

Why you shouldn't care: Considering how much time has passed, who will replace the Nazis as the main villain? The hippies? We're really bummed that neither Sean Connery nor John Rhys-Davies reprised their roles.

If you don't see this movie ... : Then you're a person who doesn't like filmmakers who call their movie "The Last Crusade" and then make another one anyway."

Australia Set to Screen series

George Clooney will 'Stare at Goats'.

David Cronenberg digging the Timecrimes remake? (I really enjoy the director at a Sundance party story). Timecrimes sounds like a really interesting film, although I wonder if it's ever going to be possible to see the original? It's gotten such great buzz, I'd be really interested to see it.

Top movies filmed in SF (mapped by location) I'm a little confused though. Wasn't the Maltese Falcon filmed there? Or did they film in SoCal even though it's set in SF? Doesn't part of the 2nd Thin Man happen in SF, too?

I Love You, Phillip Morris poster (and others). I find that image strangely hypnotic. Also, pastel polo shirts in prison?

Wanted goes viral.

Old Superheroes!

Trailers: The Edge of Love (yay Cillian Murphy!), City of Ember, Traitor, Waltz with Bashir, The Mummy teaser, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, August, and because I can't remember if I posted it before, Igor.

Cleolinda's thoughts on Twilight (you know, the sparkly vampire book adaptation?) make me really happy.

Also via Cleolinda; Scott Glenn to play Rumsfeld for Oliver Stone.

Audrey Tautou Still Adorable as Coco Chanel.

Stunning-looking ‘The Fall’ is totally illogical. [Ed: Looks purty.]

Deschanel, Gordon-Levitt join '500 Days of Summer.'

And: 'The Spirit' Moves to Prime Christmas Spot. "Hey! It's a Very Frank Miller Christmas! I know I can't wait for whores in my stocking."- cleolinda


OOOH! This just in; CA (re?)legalizes gay marriage! The CA Supreme Court voted to keep it! YAY!

Iron Man!

First up- trailers before last night's advance Iron Man Screening:
Indiana Jones, Prince Caspian, and Speed Racer (all scattered applause)
The Happening (groaning when M. Night Shyamalan's name came up on screen). Although I thought the teaser looked like it had potential; the eerie people jumping/falling off of roofs? But I'm not sure people are willing to give him another chance. And Mark Wahlberg was not impressing me so much in this trailer.
Incredible Hulk. Meh. And I really like Edward Norton and Tim Roth.
Don't Mess with the Zohan. Oh good god - WHY?
And the Dark Knight. Wild cheering. Very joker centric. Awesome. Speaking of the joker, this cracks me up. Best viral marketing ever. Someone was complaining that the movie doesn't come out until July, but I'm glad there's a bit more time for stuff like this.

So - Iron Man! I thought it was really fantastic. I had so, so much fun. I think what impressed me most was how snappy Jon Favreau kept it. I feel like origin stories can occasionally drag, but this kept along at a perfect clip. It was a lot of fun. Robert Downey Jr. was completely perfect. My only teensy complaint was Gwenyth Paltrow, but I think that had to do more with her character's subservience than any fault on her part. I think one of my bigger worries was that that whenever Downey was in the suit, the movie wouldn't be as much fun (James Marsden's inability to act from behind Cyclops' visor comes to mind), but the graphics department really gave the suit a lot of character - enough so that it did seem like an extension of Tony Stark's character. Even Stark's robot helpers had spunk.

Now I want to see Wall*E. Anyways, if you are one of the 5 people who have yet to see it, go check it out. Very worth it.

This isn't the worst thing you've caught me doing

Favorite quote of the day. In reference to the Iron Man box office predictions (from cinematical):

"Why It Might Not Do Well: If every single person involved with this film went on network television tomorrow and shot a puppy, people would still flock to this one."

Hee. I have a ticket for the advance screening tonight!

Squirrels and toasters!

Sooo.... been a while, yeah?

Sorry about that. Things have been ABSOLUTELY INSANE. Quick rundown:

1) Still don't have a laptop. Working on it.
2) Spent a week in Ireland. Hung out with the best people on earth, had tons and tons of fun, stayed up waay too late, drank too much, and ate too many chips. It was fantastic. Plus we did Jameson and Kildare, which I hadn't before, so... awesome.
3) Went to book club, which was lots of fun. Had a great night. We had read the Ydiish Policemen's Union, and we're doing The History of Love next. Not that we spent more than half an hour on the book, but still...
4) Was in a car wreck. As in we were driving along, were slammed from the side, I couldn't get out of my door and the car might be totaled. Luckily, I escaped with only a few bruises and scrapes, and my neck cracks a bit more now. Whiplash - whee!
5) Played in the dirt on Earth Day.
6) Am absolutely slammed at work getting ready for Dr. Jane's visit to Boston. AHHH.

7) Finally, and most in my mind, saw Eddie Izzard last night at the Orpheum. (Right - on my birthday.) OH MY GOD. While the show was only in its second night, so not entirely polished, he was completely fantastic. Totally brilliant, so funny. I can't even begin to remember everything that had me doubled up with laughter. I think he is my favorite person alive right now. I can't wait to see how the act changes and gels by the time he gets to the Kodak and (I'm assuming) films it. I do wish there were a bootleg of last night's performance, though. And: he was like a fucking rock god walking on stage - the place didn't stop screaming and calm down for ages and ages. At one point he mentioned a topic that had been in... maybe Circle? I can't remember what it was now for the life of me. Maybe giraffes? Anyways, of course the crowd went nuts and he goes, "Jesus, I can't say a word I've ever said before" and goes off on that. At another point a woman in the front row put her purse on the stage and he went off on that. "Would you do that at Hamlet?" [Side note: most restless audience EVER. Long show+no intermission+beer = not a brilliant idea.]

Right. So. that's my life right now. I'll probably disappear for a bit again until after Dr. Jane is gone, but I am going to try really hard to be more punctual, despite the lack of internet.
Movie news? After 2 weeks, I'm 201/968 in the box office challenge (I'm behind because I couldn't get on the computer after the car wreck and had to direct my brother to submit my picks and Harold and Kumar wouldn't load and yada yada yada. I'll be in the top 50 soon!)

While in Ireland, Kristl, Saki and I went to see Pathology which was AMAZINGLY terrible. And yet, totally worth the price of admission. I was disappointed that they didn't focus more on the undetectable/interesting ways of killing people, which was a promising plot for a thriller. Instead, you got a lot of drug use (because I know so many med students who smoke crack), a token bisexual asian girl, an entire club of pathologists turned on by dead people, a girl who uses scalpels in sex play, one member of the group whose name YOU NEVER LEARN, and a ton of gaping plot points. On the other hand, you get lots of naked Milo Ventimiglia, so... worth the $9 euro, I'd say. And fair play to the director for going R, instead of some wimpy PG-13 route. We probably should have picked 21 instead, but we knew it would be trashy fun, so we had a good time. Particularly bashing it on the way home.

I also saw the 3:10 to Yuma, which I enjoyed, although I think the Assassination of Jesse James is a more interesting take on the Western genre, and Wordplay, which was quite cute.

I have a ton of newsy stuff to catch up on, but I'll do that in a separate entry.

I said 'ello.

Yeah, yeah. It's still not a blog yet. I know. I was hoping to get a new laptop soon, but it looks like its going to have to wait a little longer. Someday.

In the meantime, I saw Snow Angels, which was really wonderful. Sam Rockwell gives a really terrific performance. His character is a sometimes sober, born-again, recently-seperated trouble-attracting mostly mess and Sam tears into it. And while the character could have been pitiful, Sam gives him a sort of hopeful charm that keeps the audience wanting things to turn out well for him. Additionally, the really lovely budding relationship between Michael Angarano and Olivia Thirlby does a really nice job of balancing out the wreckage of Sam and Kate Beckinsale's separation. The movie is a drama, and tough at times (at least 1 couple left the theater I was in), but I found it realistic and very well done. Very worth seeing.

Speaking of which, why do you go see indies? And... the indies we love. (I loved Sunshine, too, btw. Although I thought that was more foreign than indie...)

I have also started reading Theater Hopper, which I'm finding fairly amusing. If you follow internet chatter about movies, it's worth a peek.

Ooh! I had no idea Choke was going to be at SXSW, but here's another look at it.

Cleolinda has a hilarious review of Vantage Point on her blog.

A few new trailers. I have no idea how the movie of Tropic Thunder will turn out, but the trailer made me laugh. (and, speaking of Mama Mia, I'm almost okay with being forced to see the new adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, as it has Dominic Cooper as Willoughby).

Speaking of Dominic Cooper... he replaces Orlando Bloom in An Education.

25 'I did it for the money' roles.

Easter Gallery; 12 Jesuses.

Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to star in 500 Days of Summer.

An endorsement for The Grand. Which I have not heard of.

I don't care if Deception looks low-rent, I'm going to see it!

Hugh Jackman will also soon be driving cars. Awesome.

Ummm... so confusing. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are undead.

Johnny Depp as John Dillinger. Johnny Depp and Christian Bale together? Even better casting than Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman.

Red band pathology trailer. Which may or may not eventually be released someday.

Stop Loss review. I actually liked the trailer for this (plus the director's pedigree and the inclusion of Joseph Gordon-Levitt). I think I'll wait on the rottentomatoes consensus before I decide on whether to see this. It might be a renter.

More raves for Assassination of a High School president. Which I am looking forward to.

Pretty My Blueberry Nights poster. Although - didn't this get panned at Cannes? I feel like it did.

Brad Bird doing 1906. Yay SF!

and SXSW movie spoof shorts.

Well, that's about a week's worth of movie news. I do feel like we are in the doldrums of movie gossip. No huge film fests or awards shows (there wasn't a ton coming out of SXSW that interested me). A lot of blah films at the box office. Maybe things will pick up soon. Although I do feel like movie studios might be holding back some material for 2009 - is it just me or is there not a quite as packed release schedule on the horizon?

In non-movie news, Shirley's duet with Eric Avery has been leaked. Check it out here. I can't wait till her own album comes out. Speaking of Garbage, I got the DVD this weekend, so I'll be checking out their documentary sometime this week. No other movie news - I've been catching up on season 1 of Robin Hood on Netflix. Read Bone, the Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, and I'm in the middle of the Meaning of Night, the Omnivore's Dilemna, and the 2nd Nevada Barr mystery. Good times.

Oh, and I recommend everyone check out the Go Fug Yourself March Madness tournament. It's been cracking me up.