Monday, June 16, 2008

New Zealand - It's not part of Australia!

Oops. Sorry to have been away. Things have been a wee bit hectic around here. I'm probably missing a bunch of linkspam, but oh well. In my life, I got a massage on Friday which did wonders for my back; I'm not sure I even realized how tense I'd become. I'm volunteering at the SPCA tomorrow (kitties!). And between interviews, housework and working on the family finances, I've been plowing through a book every two days as well as watching a ton of stuff from the tivo and netflix. To wit, in addition to Flight of the Conchords (have I mentioned I passed by Brett in Wellington?) I've recently seen:

Ratatouille. Very cute. I particularly loved Will Arnett's character; "with theeese thumb."

The Fountain. I'm still so disappointed I never got to see this on the big screen. The visuals were really made to be seen on something larger than my tv. I enjoyed it. I thought Hugh Jackman does a fantastic job. Rachel Weisz doesn't get much to do as Tess; her character doesn't have a lot of progression. It makes sense, as she is close to death and the movie covers 3 stories, but she exists more as a motivator for Hugh Jackman rather than as her own person, I felt.

Fracture. Kinda fun and twisty, if a bit overblown. Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins both do alright and the way the murder is committed is interesting. I felt they spent too much time on Ryan's turnabout from corporate greed to activist. Plus, it has Cliff Curtis! I love it when he shows up in films.

The Anniversary Party. The jury's still out on this one. I can't decide if it's an interesting look at L.A. culture and relationships or a totally narcissistic and self-indulgent project.

Shoot Em Up. Whee! Clive Owen can kill a man.... with a carrot. Twice!

Breakfast on Pluto. I really liked this one. It stars Ireland (no, really. Think of an Irish actor. Got it? Trust me, he's in it.) Anyways, it actually stars Cillian Murphy as Patrick Kitten Braden, a transgender Irish youth growing up int he 1970s. Patty refuses to take things seriously, despite the Troubles, and the film is likewise fanciful and endearing. I think Cillian's golden globe nod was well-deserved.

The Incredible Hulk. No, it's not Iron Man (hi, Robert Downey Jr!). But I enjoyed it, much more than I thought I would. I think the main problem was that the film was sort of schizo. There were the Hulk action sequences, which were fun (explosions! whee!) and there was Edward Norton feeling maligned and angsting. Which he does very well. But there seemed to be no continuity between the two, Liv Tyler aside. Not being familiar with the comics, why was it the hulk bore no resemblance to Bruce Banner? Even Tim Roth's monster could talk and held onto aspects of his personality. So I enjoyed Edward Norton racing around trying to find a cure and I enjoyed the hulk smashing things, but they felt like two very different films. Can we put Edward Norton in a similarly angsty role that doesn't involve CGI (but is still big budget) and leave the action films to Wolverine and the Dark Knight? I feel like all of Edward Norton's films recently have been indie (Down in the Valley and the 25th Hour) or not marketed widely (hello, Painted Veil). I guess the Illusionist was big, but I felt it suffered compared to the Prestige. And you never saw his face in Kingdom of Heaven.

Also, Liv Tyler's breathy way of talking, while it worked in Empire Records and Lord of the Rings, really began to get on my nerves. Although I loved her quip about her lip gloss.

Sense & Sensibility. Okay - Masterpiece Theatre and not an actual film, but close enough. It was alright. I think the casting was pretty well done (hurrah for Dominic Cooper as Willoughby!) and I much preferred Dan Stevens to Hugh Grant as Edward. However, Kate Winslet made Marianne far more sympathetic and I think Emma Thompson's screenplay was better. Still, this version had sword fighting!

Linkspam:

First up, and most importantly, the first poster and image from Sam Rockwell's Moon. WHEEE! And no, I don't care if it is similar to another poster. Few posters are truly original these days.

Non-movie: Unless we get a superhero out of this who can fix the national economy and give me a pony, plutonium is bad! Also: Michael Ian Black tries to pick a fight with David Sedaris.

Also: I love these; haunting snow globes. They're very Edward Gorey. Personal faves here, here, and here.

Stan Winston passes away


Tyler Durden sings Also, Edward Norton's Fight Club PSA if you haven't already seen it.

Downey Jr. to play Cowboys and Aliens

Girls clamor for "pecked to within an inch of her life" Barbie

Oscar changes rules for foreign film, song Thank God. No more Disney medleys and hopefully we won't have a repeat of what happened in the foreign category last year.

New Joker poster It's a great poster, but a bit up close and personal I think, all things considered. I prefer the old one. And some more viral marketing. And Nestor Carbonell on LOST and the Dark Knight (ignore the headline). Yeah, didn't know he was in the Dark Knight.

Bolt poster reminds us...

New Burn After Reading Trailer Fantastic - what a great cast.

Liam Neeson in new Taken trailer

Full Mummy trailer hits I'm sorry, wasn't the last one full length?

Christian Bale as Robin Hood? Hmmm.... does casting Christian Bale cancel out Russell Crowe and Sienna Miller? Given that this is still a rumor, and Christian Bale is signed on in 2 major franchises, I think I'll stick with Jonas Armstrong and the boys for now.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is excited about GI Joe. No, really.

New Brideshead images. I'm torn between hating the story and thinking these images are fab. Also, isn't Aloysius supposed to be bigger?

New Mama Mia images Why hello there, Dominic Cooper.

The rest of the Spirit posters roll out I had no idea Sarah Paulson was in this.

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