Pre-Nomination Thoughts

The PGA certainly threw a wrench in the Oscar proceedings by shining the spotlight on The King's Speech, even if the two match don't match as often as you might think.  Still with the PGA employing the same balloting system as Oscar it does give some great hope towards Tom Hooper's film.  Traditionally, The King's Speech is more of an Oscar film anyway and it really took Social Network winning every critic award imaginable to become the frontrunner.  However, there was always a push back from Social Network fans against those who still suggested other films had a chance to take the gold.

Yet, King's Speech seems to have positioned itself well by steadily building a release pattern and using word of mouth to keep buzz alive.  After my parent's pastor mentioned the movie in this weekend's homily I knew that it is becoming a film to be reckoned with.  More and more late Boomers seem to be discussing the movie and that will be a major factor in its favor to win the big one. Harvey Weinstein surely knows how to mount a campaign, whether he wins or loses.

Best Actress is another category that is very much in play as sentiment grows for the "overdue" Benning.  Portman still has the more dazzling role and the baby, but she also has the stinker No Strings Attached in the marketplace (remember Eddie Murphy and Norbit?)  Of course Norbit might be one of the worst movies of the last ten years, a strong statement even for Portman's film.  However, unlike Firth or other frontrunners of recent years there doesn't seem to be the feeling that Portman is the best actress of the year.  SAG will go a long way in deciding this race.

Lastly there is Hailee Steinfeld who is now very much in play for Best Actress, but she has less chance of winning in the lead category.  If she were to land in supporting she would have a terrific chance of winning in a fairly wide-open field.  Leo might be the frontrunner based on critic wins, but she hasn't shown complete love to take the prize.  In the end it feels like this might be the year for a supporting upset.  Much like Alan Arkin and Marcia Gay Harden.

As for my predictions - you'll need to head over to www.boxofficeprophets.com for those

Blockbuster

Kris Tapley over at In Contention did a nice brief wrap up of the bankruptcy of Blcokbuster.  I remember when Blockbuster's line stretch around the store on Friday nights.  I used spend countless minutes and hours scouring the shelves for hard to find movies or classics such as Alien, North by Northwest and Goodfellas.  Competition became tight when a Video Warehouse opened up and I could rent five movies for five dollars and keep the for days.  This is when I discoverd Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, The Seventh Seal, The Big Lebowski, The Godfather, Jaws and Rear Window among other movies.  Link to Tapley's article follows

Blockbuster

Movies You Missed

I'm over at Border's and looking through their section of movie books and see one from the NY Times about DVD's you missed, didn't hear of or forgot about.  I did a quick skim and saw Blue Velvet and had to laugh.  a)
You don't forget about a Lynch movie b)they may be indie but you hear of Lynch c)you don't miss a Lynch movie like you a miss a phone call, you either seek him out or avoid at all costs.

A Few Quick Thoughts on Scott Pilgrim

Scott Pilgrim's presence was very large at this year's comic-con.  Edgar Wright scheduled three separate viewings all of which were received with great enthusiasm.  Having sat in on a smaller panel with Wright I can say his personality went a long way in the large response for the film.  Yet, at the same time people just generally really liked this movie, and from what I hear it is quite the ride.  I have been skeptical about this project since the debut of the first trailer, as it looked like another teen movie.  Yet, the more the buzz picks up on this film the more I'm tempted to think it just may be one hell of a ride.  Now I'm wondering if perhaps Scott Pilgrim might lead the way in terms of box office come August 13th.  The Expendables was also warmly received, but that movie has its core audience and it doesn't expand much beyond that, it is also a hard R limiting box office potential.  Eat, Pray, Love has Julia Roberts, but the movie has quiet buzz and Julia Roberts hasn't exactly propelled a non-romantic comedy to the top spot a long time.  Scott Pilgrim though is a PG-13 movie that has the advantage of having broad appeal to the teen set, which hasn't had a movie targeted at them all summer, but is also building buzz among those twenty and thirty year olds as well.  Of course I might just be wrong about all of this and have bought too much into the comic-con buzz, but stranger things have happened.

Ghostbusters

There seems to be a popular sentiment among the upper crust of moviegoers that somehow popular comedy is unfunny.  This sentiment hit me as I watched Ghostbusters the other night.  One of the most popular comedies of the last 30 years, Ghostbusters maintains a comic edge without dropping random pop culture references.  Still Bill Murray's greatest performance not to mention; Dan Ackroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis, Ghostbusters feature a terrific cast that know how to sell the story and humor.  Yet, some don't deem this as a great comedy in the way many film scholars might deem The Philadelphia Story, Bringing Up Baby and Some Like it Hot great comedies.  Maybe I'm still too close to the picture to see that newer younger film scholars will give Ghostbusters its proper credit.  This point was made even greater to me watching Luis Bunel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.  Even a film that satirizes the elitist classes is only truly enjoyed by the more elitist film watcher.  The movie is funny to be sure and brilliantly made, but it only helps to prove further while a movie like Ghostbusters, while vastly popular is often overlooked.

Yet, there seems to be a popular sentiment that an average audience is unable to comprehend a smart yet accessible comedy.  Yet, one look at the popularity of Inception and one sees that a film can be very intelligent and still be craved by the larger masses.  The most popular comedies anymore come with an R rating and involve men behaving badly.  I recently saw the new trailer for Little Fockers at Comic-Con and realized how far that franchise has fallen.  I often wonder what happened to the comedy an entire family could enjoy.  Ghostbusters contains definite adult material while remaining a safe option for your average child, yet today most comedies are either aimed directly at the 10 and under crowd, or at an adult crowd.  Rarely does a PG or a light PG-13 movie get made anymore that can truly be called a "family" film.  Not a family film in the sense that the entire family sees it together, but that neither does it feel like the film was made for the kiddies nor just for adults.  I suppose Pixar tugs this line very closely, and while being brilliant films the fact remains they are made with kids in mind first.   Yet, I'm to blame as much as the next person, I really dug The Hangover.  The movie was profane, boisterous and downright funny, easily one of the funniest R-rated films since Animal House.  Yet, I still hope for a movie that remains funny from its script and performances, without resorting to Wes Anderson type of quirky characters.

And one last thing, if someone asks if you're a God, "You say yes!"

Comic Con Wrap Up

I posted this over at Box Office Prophets also

I had planned to bring a couple of updates of Comic-Con for all of you throughout the last five days, but I quickly learned that a first time experience at Comic-Con can be overwhelming, especially when you approach from the perspective of a fan and as someone that is looking to bring that experience to other people.  Regardless of not being able to bring you a minute by minute blow of my experience, I will bring you my thoughts on the overall experience and then panels I did catch.  

From a total geek perspective this was a fantastic weekend, from seeing the San Diego Convention Center for the first time to seeing all sorts of fans, whether they are there for movie and tv panels, video games, comics or the entire experience it quickly becomes apparent that there is lots to process.  I would quickly find out that even it becomes easy to miss stuff when going after one panel, or looking for an autograph session or to looking to spend some time at a bar, it becomes easy to miss a smaller panel that features a larger star, special screening or cool parties.  Going into the convention much of the buzz was placed firmly on Tron: Legacy and the Marvel panel, but other panels ended up stealing the show (Scott Pilgrim and Cowboys and Aliens).

Tron: Legacy

If you’ve ever attended Comic-Con you know of the insanity of Hall H, an insanity I hadn’t quite prepared myself for.  Upon arriving at the convention center and registering, I quickly made my way to find Hall H to attend the Tron panel.  Needless to say the line was already long.  After waiting about 2 1/2 hours and staring at the Hall H doors for about 40 minutes, they let us in after the Megamind panel was cleared and finished.  Given the large presence Tron has had at Comic-Con over the last several years, I expected perhaps a slightly great reveal of footage, but the anticipation was heavy in the crowd.  After bringing out the cast and crew including Jeff Bridges, eight minutes of the film was debuted.  As someone who did really enjoy Tron, but not the avid fan that some are, I have to say the footage I saw was great.  It only makes sense that a film that was far ahead of the curve in terms of computer graphics be able to effectively use 3-4 technology to make the world of Tron seem far more realistic than it ever has.  The 3-D is easily the best I’ve seen since Avatar, and as many of have seen from the trailers, the costumes and the music are up to as par as well.  Fans are certainly ready to make a huge opening weekend for this film, and the I-MAX and 3-D screens should make for a large opening weekend.  Whether this movie break-out like other “geek” films, is more difficult to gauge.  The movie is firmly implanted in pop-culture, but that has more to do with movie’s uniqueness than anything, but with the marketing power of Disney the success of Tron should be interesting to track.  Following the Tron panel, Jack Sparrow made a surprise appearance via video, but I can’t get excited for another Pirates movie.  The real surprise came afterwards when Gulliermo del Toro came out to announce The Haunted Mansion, without Eddie Murphy.  Del Toro did a great job of explaining his love of the Disney ride, so combined with the popularity of the ride and del Toro’s unique vision, Haunted Mansion should be an interesting project to track.

Super

One of the nicest surprises of the Con for me, was the panel for this movie that has failed to find a distributor.  Yet, starring a great cast including, Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Nathan Fillion and Kevin Bacon and directed by James Gunn the movie is not short on talent.  The footage shown as well shows a definite black comedy that will fit its indie roots.  The crowd was certainly enthused by what it saw, so hopefully that will allow a distributor to take a chance on what appears to be a very funny film.  

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

Another project of Guillermo del Toro, is another horror remake.  However, del Toro seems very confident in this project and his director.  The movie certainly seems better than your average horror shockfest, but I’m not sold this will be one of the scariest movies you have ever seen.

Let Me In

I spent all of Saturday in the madness of Hall H, which included a stabbing and the return of trailer park to the Con.  The first of the panels I saw was Let Me In, a remake of the the new classic Let the Right One In.  This panel went a long way in assuaging my fears that this would be another pointless remake.  The entire cast seems very game for this picture and the director Matt Reeves looks to have effectively captured the tone of the Swedish masterpiece.  The clips shown show a great respect for the original film, and the second scene is a particularly tense scene that was very effective.  Reeves showed a great knowledge and respect of Hitchcock, so hopefully he can a bit more success here than he did with Cloverfield.  While I still don’t quite get the need to remake this soon, the panel showed that this might still be a very respectful remake.

Resident Evil:Afterlife

I’ll be honest, I have no interest in this movie.  I only stuck around so I wouldn’t have to re-enter the Hall H line again.  The clip they showed was pretty cool, but I still refuse to see this movie.  Still Milla Jovovich was very very excited.

Paul

Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are easily two of the funniest movies of the last decade.  Paul should be no exception.  This panel ended up being a tribute to Comic-Con and it’s hoard of fans.  The panel demonstrated a great love to the audience and the audience responded very well.  Needless to say the movie looks to be the duo’s attempt to kind of send up the American road trip movie.  The panel also included Sigourney Weaver, Bill Hader and Jason Bateman.  Simon and Nick are clearly very popular, and it should be good to have them have an American production.  The movie looks vulgar, crazy and a tribute to geeks and also one the funniest movies of next year.  

Cowboys and Aliens

Jon Favreau  has rocked Comic-Con in the past with Iron Man, and he really delivered with Cowboys and Aliens, complete with bring out geek god Harrison Ford, which resulted in the largest geekgasms ever recorded.  Hall H was certainly rocking at this point, and I can only wonder if the vibrations were felt in the exhibit hall.  Despite only having filmed for about a month, Favreau debuted some impressive footage, including an impressive action sequence involving an alien attack.  Favreau did what he does perfectly and start the buzz on a film that won’t be released for over an year.  Yet, in a summer that will be filled with superhero franchises, Cowboys and Aliens will be an original property that looks true to the roots of a western while infusing sci-fi elements.

Captain America

Needless to say Chris Evans as Captain America doesn’t do much for me, and the test footage of him in costume doesn’t make me feel much better.  However, the clip starring Hugo Weaving seems to be promising, but he refused to share his Red Skull voice.  I was guarded about this production before the panel and I remain just as guarded.

Thor

The only problem I see with Thor is the use of 3-D, other than that the extended trailer for Thor had me very excited.  Kenneth Branagh seems to fully know what he wanted to do with this film, while finding a great sense of adventure and action.  I have read some other guarded response for this film, but while Thor may not be the success of Iron Man, I expect many fanboys to be very happy with the end result.

The Avengers

Not much to say, but this ended up being a photo-op.  Yet, it was exciting to hear Jeremy Renner cast as Hawkeye, and that great cast of talent assembled on one stage, including Robert Downey Jr taking the mic.  Each actor got a large response, save for Mark Ruffalo (but seriously is it really his fault Edward Norton got screwed over). This film has two years to build some very positive buzz and if it doesn’t capitalize it will be seen as a colossal failure.

That’s my brief wrap of this year’s comic-con, with Tron, Scott Pilgrim and Cowboys coming out as clear winners.  Scott Pilgrim used multiple screenings and a great exhibit in the Gaslamp to build its profile and was very successful at doing so.  Edgar Wright used the power of Twitter to build the buzz even further.  If you aren’t following him of Twitter you should do so now.  The Expendables also seemed to have a very popular panel, but will have to contend with the far more popular Scott Pilgrim.  I also took the time to attend a Chuck panel, and saw the great reveal that Linda Hamilton will be playing his mom.  I also found out that it looks as if an adaptation of Garth Ennis’ The Boys may be moving forward.  Disney also set up a mock Flynn’s arcade for a couple of apparently wicked parties, I was busy getting drunk elsewhere so I missed that.  Robert Rodriguez also served up some hot dogs and footage for Machete, a movie while with limited box office potential should become a wildly popular film among young men, and even Jackass 3-D debuted footage that apparently killed.  My first visit to Comic- Con ended up being very special and I hope to make this terrific trip yearly.  Next year I will have a better lay of the land, so hopefully I can bring you all more updated reports.

 




 

 

Comic Con

Sorry, for my leave of absence

Anyway I've doing some articles over at Box Office Prophets and lots of census work, but I should have more time to write again.  I'm heading out to San Diego for comic-con, so I hope to have many updates for you.

Alice in Wonderland

I've heard many negative things about this movie - so how is it making so much money at the box office?

What's Her Name - Parker Posey

Fans of Christopher Guest’s mockumentarys surely know how great Parker Posey can be, most notably in Waiting For Guffman and Best in Show. However, she has also starred in a number of early 90’s respected independent comedies, Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and Noah Baumbach’s Kicking and Screaming. In the late 90’s she finally received a number of supporting roles in more mainstream hits, You’ve Got Mail and Scream 3. Entering the 90’s she continued to be noticed to mainstream audiences in mid-level movies such as Josie and the Pussycats and Laws of Attractions. Finally she had a mostly thankless role in Superman Returns back in 2006. So her resume outside of Guest is mostly spotty, but she still maintains a presence in a number of average mainstream movies.




Notable Films:

Dazed and Confused (1993)
Kicking and Screaming (1995)
Waiting For Guffman (1997)
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
Scream 3 (2000)
Best in Show (2000)
The Anniversary Party (2001)
A Mighty Wind (2003)
Laws of Attraction (2003)
Blade Trinity (2004)
Superman Returns (2006)
For Your Consideration (2006)
The Eye (2008)

Big Lebowski Makes Ebert's Great Movies List

Roger Ebert has always done a pretty good job with his column highlighting great movies, some of which are well known (The Godfather, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) others are not.  His most recent addition was The Big Lebowski a movie he originally gave 3 stars.  Ebert has always wanted to be seen as hip, so his sudden acceptance of Big Lebowski isn't much of a surprise, and I'm glad to see it featured here.  Yet, the article just isn't very good, it never captures the essence of the movie.  Worst of all he refers to the Dude as Jeff Lebowski, and fan of the movie knows you don't call him Mr. Lebowski, he's The Dude and thats what you call him or His Dudeness, or Duder or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.  Not to mention some of his other menial observations that don't matter (the similarity of Brant and the Big Lebowski).  A movie like The Big Lebowski deserves such a better article but all of its little plot nuances that don't amount to anything (a check for .69 cents).  Worst off Ebert says the rug pulled the room together!!! How do you screw that line up! Seriously the rug really tied the room together, did it not?  Sadly Ebert continues to grow more detached from the world (Knowing and Lakeview Terrace are apparantly four star movies and The Proposal was a box office disappointment this summer), and his awful article about this classic film is just another example of how far he has fallen.

Roger Ebert on The Big Lebowski