Linkspam

Tori Amos is writing a musical. This is fabulous. (However, I like this performance here. And this one. And this one. Right. Stopping now.)

The Faces Behind Facebook.

If The King's Speech Gets Re-Edited to PG-13, It Doesn't Deserve the Oscar. Well, it doesn't deserve the Oscar anyway, but...

In honor of Sundance.... 10 Great Scenes from Sundance History. (Includes the fabulous note; "If film bloggers were dolphins, hype would be their echolocation.")

And Sundance actors to watch. And another crop.

What do the SAG awards have against Rooney Mara?

10 Reasons to Watch Archer instead of 30 Rock.

Truthful Best Picture Posters.

The history of hip hop.

This answers my questions about Inception's editing snub. Kinda.

Car chases, Whee!

The writer of An American Tail and Land Before Time died. Land Before Time was my second-favorite film growing up. "That's MY Hopper!" Excuse me, I've got something in my eye....

Here is my worry about the reality show about the Giants; (mostly, the more I can watch them, the happier I am. But...) Brian Wilson might start coming to practice dressed as Chuck Norris. And I really want the focus to stay on winning.

And speaking of the Giants.

Um, WHAT.

Bits and bobs

I'm supposed to be unpacking today, but unable to get in touch with my ride. Which is a pity, because I had hoped to be done in time to go to a double feature of Hitchcock at the Castro this evening. C'est la vie.

Here are a few things that have caught my eye recently:

I want an iPhone.

I know what I'm seeing this week. Then again, I am a 27 year old single girl.

Good Movies: When a Critic is Off Duty. It doesn't matter how brilliant Black Swan is, or how much my mother loves ballet, she'll never go see it. It doesn't matter that the Social Network has won something like 18 best picture awards, my father will never go see that Facebook movie. And I can shout till I'm blue in the face about how fantastic Winter's Bone is, and maybe 1 or 2 people will check it out. Not that I'm a critic. But I like her take on a lot of these films, particularly the King's Speech.

Are American TV Execs as Crass as Episodes Makes Them Out to Be? No one else seems to find it as funny as I do that Shameless and Episodes are premiering on the same night.

THIS. Is amazing. They got JEREMY IRONS to narrate. There's no way to watch it without starting to hum this.

Which Oscar Contended Do You Vehemently Refuse to See? Let's see; this year it is shaping up to be the Kids Are All Right.
2000 - Gladiator. I should have stuck by that - I saw it years later. God, the Greatest Show on Earth might be a better Oscar winner.
2001 - A Beautiful Mind. Stuck by that. Still haven't seen it.
2002 - The Pianist. It was never open near me. I still haven't seen it, but I'd like to.
2003 - Master and Commander. Despite my love for Peter Weir, there's that little issue of Russell Crowe.
2004 - almost all of them. What a weird year for movies.
2006 - Letters from Iwo Jima. Although I'd really like to see it and unsee Babel.
2008 - Benjamin Button. Despite my love for David Fincher, it just looked soooo loooong.
2009 - Blind Side. I mean, are you kidding me?

And finally, did you know that if you go to Rotten Tomatoes and look up an actor, it will give you their highest and lowest rated films? For instance;
Guy Pearce: LA Confidential (99%), Factory Girl (19%)
Christian Bale: Henry V (100%), Captain Corelli's Mandolin (29%)
Ben Whishaw: Bright Star (82%), Stoned (15%)
Sam Rockwell: Light Sleeper (94%), Strictly Business (11%) [Ed. note - I have never heard of either of these. Rotten Tomatoes should maybe not include early bit parts?]
Cillian Murphy: The Dark Knight (94%), Disco Pigs (20%)
Nick Stahl: In the Bedroom (93%), Kalamity (0%).

Wait, what? 0%? What the hell?

Apparently it is a total crap thriller, and then this review on the page caught my eye. "Any writer-director lucky enough to snare Nick Stahl for a lead should, if nothing else, be smart enough to make good use of him. Instead, the gifted Stahl is stuck blankly responding to the operatic overacting of co-star Jonathan Jackson. As longtime friends, both guys are going through bad breakups. For Stahl's Billy, this means moping around a lot. For Jackson's Stan, it means pulling out a gun and stalking every woman in sight.

Stahl should have had a career similar to Sam Rockwell's, blending thoughtful indies with fun popcorn flicks. Instead, he's spinning his wheels in junk like this. Calamitous indeed. [Ed: bold mine]"

*sigh* That's sad, but astute.

Linkspam

The Kalamity trailer. The write up of which includes this line; "And what do you think of Nick Stahl Investigating Murders Possibly Committed by His Friends movies in general?" Is that a genre now?

You remember that film I was talking about? Red, White and Blue? Trailer's up. You should watch it (both the trailer and the film).

Also also - I never went to see Robin Hood, because I'm pretty sure I would have stood up and screamed this in the theater (this comes courtesy of the lovely Cleolinda): "'Robin Hood' Star Kevin Durand Has Heard Sequel 'Rumblings.' OH WELL WILL IT NOT BE A PREQUEL THIS TIME? DAMN. I am possibly the only person on this journal right now who saw that movie, and the more I think about it, the more I WANT MY MONEY BACK. They tried to get King John to sign the Magna Carta (!) and he SET IT ON FIRE and then, THEN, THEN they went to hide out in Sherwood Forest in THE LAST THIRTY SECONDS OF THE MOVIE. Before that the movie was all about the Crusades and pretending to be Cate Blanchett's husband because it suddenly went all Martin Guerre up in there and the Sheriff of Nottingham did NOTHING and then there was A BATTLE ON THE BEACH because WHAT? BEACH? JUST MAKE YOUR GODDAMN MOVIE ABOUT A GODDAMN GUY COMING BACK FROM THE CRUSADES AND DON'T CALL IT "ROBIN HOOD," GODDAMN." (Previously here and here)

Tidbits and linkspam

I cannot, cannot wait for Never Let Me Go, which is getting rave reviews out of Telluride. But I have no idea why it is being released in September. It seems like such a December movie.

Early Screenplay picks

Women rule the art house

The rise of self-awareness in film

DIY Labor day fest

Trailers!

I love Charlie Day. I'd almost consider seeing Going the Distance for him alone.

10 things the fall fests should say about the awards race

An article about the expansion of VOD

Guess the Lionsgate Horror Film (I get - 1- Saw 5, 4- Saw 3, 5 - The Last Exorcism, 6- Saw 2, 8- Captivity, 9- A Haunting in Connecticut, 10-Skinwalkers, 11- Daybreakers, 12-The Descent, 13- My Bloody Valentine. Which leaves 2- Hostel 2, 3- Saw, 7 - Saw 6, 14 - Hostel 2 as guesses. 11/14, mostly mixing up the various Saws...)


This is my favorite thing of the week: Now we'll just paint a happy little spartan over here.

Cirque and linkspam

I like circuses. Like, a LOT. I like everything about them, even the parts that don't exist anymore, like barkers.

"Step right up! You won't believe your eyes! Hurry hurry hurry! You've never seen anything like it!"

It isn't often you actually don't believe your eyes. But there was a slack rope act in Ovo that I saw yesterday that I literally do not understand. The physics didn't make sense. The girl sitting next me actually said, "that's not possible" out loud. Go see it for yourself.

The show overall wasn't Cirque's best, but it was mostly good. There was a great hand-balancing act, good juggling from a bunch of Chinese girls, good contortionists /acro-sporters, a totally cool dancing slinky thing that I don't understand, a fantastic Spanish web act (I love arialists) and the tumbling finale, which was absolutely spectacular. The diabolos act wasn't particularly good, nor was the trapeze. Something actually went wrong there. In addition to one girl falling, it became rapidly apparent that there was supposed to be more to the act and that they cut it short. It was weird.

Linkspam!

More on that hideous blue dress.

Summer 2010. Well - I still need to catch up on the tail end of things, but it's about that time to wrap up and move on. And, I think we can all agree, not a moment too soon. The best of this summer were mostly the smaller indie flicks, and fall will bring many more of those. In terms of studio flicks? Iron Man 2 was okay, I might have enjoyed Prince of Persia for being campy, but I missed it, Splice got enough mixed reviews that I may check it out on DVD, I was sad that both the A Team and Jonah Hex reportedly sucked, Predators was awesome, Inception was brilliant, Salt was alright, and I have yet to see Scott Pilgrim or the Last Exorcism.

Oscars may move to Monday. Not that I see that it makes much of a difference. Either one is a week night, so guests don't drink much and leave early. I guess a Monday means less food prep time.

The 33 must see fall films I'm most excited for Tree of Life (please come out... please come out...), Black Swan, Blue Valentine, the Illusionist, Never Let Me Go (why isn't this coming out later?), The Tempest, Buried, possibly Let Me In. Hey! Where's Conviction?

Ha! I've already seen Tiny Furniture, I Love You Philip Morris and Marwencol. Marwencol is well worth seeing. Tiny Furniture is good if you're a recent college grad. I Love You Philip Morris is odd, but pretty good. A DVD wait maybe.

Oh, look. It's my life.

Test your geek knowledge.

Scrollover geeking: [Ed note - crap! With my new design I can't hide text anymore. Don't peek if you want to test your own abilities first.]

I get Star Wars/ Blade Runner & Battlestar Galactica/ Clockwork Orange & _____ & Tron/ Gattacca & ____ & _____ & _____/ _____ & Avatar & Matrix & _____ & _____
From here on out, I see Star Trek, Stargate, Buffy, ET, A different Star Trek?, TMNT, I thought that hawk thing was Serenity?, Jurassic Park, Metropolis. Ah no - the thing is from Quake. Oh shit - it's not Gattacca, it's Terminator. That's right. What - no Lost or Farscape?

Linkspam roundup

The Trailer Tragedy of Alice Creed. I'm so glad someone wrote this up. I've been reading a number of interesting interviews with Gemma Arterton, but I feel as if I already know what happens in the movie because of the trailer. It killed any interest in the film for me. It isn't quite as gratuitous as The Town, but it is close.

So, remember how I was talking about long delays for films being released? I recently saw the trailer for Colin Fitz Lives! and thought it looked interesting. Yeah, it turns out it premiered at Sundance in 1997. It currently available On Demand. (Not quite as long, but a film due to premiere the week after 9/11 finally showed up on tv).

Step Up 3-D. Is it wrong that I kind of want to see this? I figure it must be like Avatar; crap story but fun to watch. (2 articles about the film; a leap forward for musicals and an interview with the director). Plus - bonus Home and Away connection!

Is it wrong that these make me excited for Captain America? My favorite one.

*sigh* I'm going to miss Doc Jensen. I mean, I miss Lost more....

Speaking of which.... (although I'd like to go on record here and say that I was a huge fan of how it all wrapped up and the series as a whole. Although it always could have used more Desmond. Yes, I'm a big fan of his post S2 finale essay (#4).)

I love that they picked the transbay terminal design with the park on top. It is going to be gorgeous. I liked one of the other tower designs better, but at least we won't end up with the hideous red orange spiky thing.

Modern rom-coms are neither.

Fun trailers here. I really like the one for Amer.

Wooooo Sam Rockwell! Ummm, maybe? Please don't let this be another Gentleman Broncos.

Cillian Murphy in talks for I'm.mortal. Does this mean I have to go see something with Justin Timberlake in it?

Lipless zombie girl!

No. No, no, NO. I'm sorry, but if she doesn't "possess a visible understanding of what it means to be homeless, penniless, strung out, and dying of a terrifying disease" then she doesn't work as Mimi.

Hey, it's me.

3-D v. 2-D

So... the 3-D on Clash of the Titans sucks. Apparently. You couldn't pay me to see it in 3-D. I actually wouldn't mind seeing it in 2-D (giant fucking scorpions! Release the giant fucking scorpions!) BUT - I am adamantly opposed to this half-assed conversion of blockbusters at the last minute to pull in extra money from 3-D screenings. Should you see Avatar or Coraline in 3-D? Absolutely. Those were filmed with special 3-D cameras and set up to be filmed in 3-D. Alice in Wonderland? No way. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? NO. Post-production 3-D. How to Train Your Dragon? Yes - made for 3-D. A converted Voyage of the Dawn Treader? Well, you get the idea.

Michael Bay has said he is refusing to do Transformers 3 in 3-D. I never thought I'd say this, but mad props to him. (Now, could you make better movies in 2-D?) When studios insist on poor, last-second 3-D conversion, they are only hurting themselves. Audiences will eventually stop shelling out for such awful product and using 3-D as a legitimate film-making tool will halt.

More: Clash of the Titans director thinks it looks like crap

The debate rages on

The NYTimes take

Ah, hope

The real problem here is that it gets to the point where the movie-goer has to research their films to figure out the best format in which to see something. This applies not only to 3-D, but to IMAX as well. Something like the Dark Knight which had sequences shot specifically for IMAX should be seen on an IMAX screen, but if it's just the regular movie projected slightly larger? Why shell out more when it won't be much different from your local multiplex. One article I read actually suggested that any film converted to 3-D should be labeled as "converted" on marketing materials or else it would run the risk of false advertising.


On a separate note (well, he mentions commerce winning out over creativity or artistic vision): the hilarious review of Attack of the Clones. More pizza rolls!

An interesting look at Inception (non-spoilerish)

Oh, good. Another time-waster.

Linkspam round up

Curled up on the couch, waiting out the rain and getting over a cold, so I thought I'd plow through my google reader and see what we have.

First up, AFI will be opening for Green Day in a summer tour. Punk boys from the east bay - oh hell yes. Be still my heart. Also - a new blaqk audio album is coming out this year. One song, Ill Lit Ships, has already been leaked.

Because we are masochists; the front-runners for next year's Oscars. Thrilled to see Betty Anne Waters and The Fighter on there, but y'all know how I feel about Robin Hood.

A bunch of cinematical columns I've been putting off:

What classics have you been meaning to see forever? Ah, yes, the 10-20 spots in my netflix queue. Along with Timecrimes, the 25th Hour, Half Nelson, Michael Clayton, Old Joy, Amores Perros, the Thin Red Line, and Lantana all live near the top of my queue. Hello boys.

Do you want romances to have a happy ending? Hell, no.Well, that's too harsh - generally not. Two of my all time favorite movies are Moulin Rouge and Shakespeare in Love, so I love a good sad ending. But I also like the Scarlet Pimpernel and Stardust, so a happy ending every once in a while is okay. [And how much better would the English Patient have been with the author's imagined ending?]

What should an Oscar-winner look like? Or why The White Ribbon should have won cinematography.

All of Hitchcock's cameos

Adam Shankman's best dance moments Not sure Heart and Souls qualifies, but I had totally forgotten that film! Every movie is better when set in San Francisco.

Action movies and the girl who loves them

That pesky foreign film Oscar

Like Best in Show. But real. And with rabbits.

Why I'll always like Angelina Jolie

How open are you, movie-wise? One of my co-workers derided me the other day for liking everything. To which I countered, I like anything that's done well. I enjoy a great horror film as much as a great drama (mostly). I don't understand people who will only go see rom-coms (for many reasons).

What it means to be a film critic in 2010

Not surprisingly, I love Lady Gaga's new video (product placement aside). Although I find it odd that it came out so much later than the single.

Related, and weird, and hey! That was Gwen Stefani, not Gaga! Gaga in Wonderland.

Hey, remember how I was talking about Suck? Now it has a trailer.

Film industry by the numbers

Ronald Searle's first interview in 35 years (scroll down)

At some point I need to write up the movies I've seen recently (Ratatouille, The Fountain, Fracture, The Anniversary Party) but I'm barely awake at the moment. I went downtown to check out Pride and then the subway stopped running and it took me more than 2 hours to get home and I'm completely knackered.

Predicting the Tonys Can't WAIT!! I love the Tonys. Too bad Hugh Jackman isn't hosting.

nom nom nom nom nom

New Watchmen images Just oh so excited for this. And here's the flaming man stunt.

Get Smart beats Watchmen to DVD stunt marketing There's something so wrong about that sentence.

Wall*E has the cutest fetishes It's true.

Public Enemies images All the photos taken on Johnny's 45th birthday. We're all agreed he has a mangy portrait tucked up in an attic somewhere, yes? And why have the only photos from this set been of him? Share a little love to Christian Bale, already.

Speaking of which, Christian Bale is lovely. And kudos to the interviewer for having the guts to ask, "do you feel silly playing a man who dresses up as a bat?" Also, I may have mentioned this before, but all the designer suits are so very American Psycho, which works well for Bruce Wayne's character (why yes, I did just read the Dark Knight Returns).


How long you have to finish reading The Road

Defiance poster I like the description

Miracle at Santa Ana Trailer

Benjamin Button In English!

Morning Spoilers Browse at your own risk, but read LOST's because Jorge Garcia is awesome and more importantly, check out SHIRLEY!!! (Under the Sarah Connor Chronicles)

Why the Happening is terrible; or, all of it's plot, so you don't have to watch it, too I love it. TREES. (Can I mention that, given my background in all things environmental, I love it when trees fight back? See: The Two Towers, Narnia, and Princess Mononoke. Or, I guess it was just the spirit of the forest there.)

Also; "Oops, did I not mention the Happening is supposed to be bad?"


22 twisty endings (you can choose to reveal the ending or not)


Q&A with Angelina Jolie


Free Fox Searchlight films


Vanity Fair's Blogopticon Whee!

Bottle Shock trailer


Downey Jr. as Holmes? Bad idea, BAD IDEA!


Leo as Captain America? Um.... no.


Lionsgate apparently unaware of completely stupid tiger movie

Vanfire of the Bonities

*sigh* My mad box office skills are deteriorating. 253rd this week, for a total of 74 overall. I'll basically need to win next week to crack the top 50. But then the game restarts after 10 weeks for the second half of summer.

Checked out the Scooper bowl at government center. My belly is full of ice cream (Breyer's strawberry and Garelick/Gifford's Maine wild blueberry were the best).

My brother just wandered in with; "Past the rock that looks like a long neck and the mountains that burn." My family is so weird.

Here's a backlog of links. I still have more to look through, but it'll have to do for now.

Whoa. What happened to Cinematical?

Lostesness first: LOST: 4 Open questions, The pre-finale Doc Jensen, Season 4's best 15 moments

And tv: emmy nom wishlist, Castmates who click I'll second the Doctor and Rose, House and Wilon and Ben and Locke. Little Dorritt to be made into a 15 part miniseries. Supposedly the cast is brilliant. I recognize only Matthew Macfayden and Freema from Doctor Who.

And my favorite lolcat in a long time

Page to Screen: Prisoner of Azkaban

Very positive Hulk reviews pouring in. I had to read that sentence twice. Maybe Edward Norton's involvement actually did make a huge difference?

Should the blockbuster season be longer? And more on the subject

The Changeling gets a new release date

A rewrite on Jake Gyllenhaal's moon movie
Miracle at St. Anna poster
Hollywood is burning

New Spirit poster I like this one better than the last one, which was very X2 (fine, and all, but it's a good idea to try something different. Although is this a bit Rosario Dawson in Sin City?)

Liam Neeson in film about the Troubles

13 impressive movie dresses Oh, Atonement dress. You are so pretty.

Jaime Kennedy As someone who did not see Scream 3.... WHAT NOW???

New Dutchess trailer I think the Diana bit is ridiculously stupid, but I love all the new plot details. I can't wait for this one.

Vote Dent

Ask Dr. Clive I wrote in. We'll see if it makes it on.

A moment of silence, please.

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...

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!