This week's installment of Fan-made Gems features an art that I deeply love: photography. It's not just that I practice it myself, it's that photographs are a versatile type of art - your imagination can just take over and you can do so much with them!
My usual news source, the AV Club, revealed today that Gorge Lucas has sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 Billion. Disney is already moving on this, slating a Star Wars VII film for 2015.
Nice ass-kissing, interviewer!
There is no telling how dumbfounded my dumbfound-ness is. SW is now free from Lucas, which I actually asked for at the start of September. This deal could be used to flood audiences with more and more products and toys and whatnot - but it could also bear a whole lot of productive, gratifying, fan-ingratiating fruit. At the same time, this news makes me think that maybe I had a heart attack in the shower, and this is just one last happy hallucination before my brain finally dies.
Another year, another Halloween. I said I wouldn't do anything special for it, but I lied. It's a great holiday, one which I support... In fact, I'm wearing my costume now, because blogging is more fun when it looks like you're crazy. In any case, I wanted to give you something to help you enjoy the season cinematically.
Like, for example, this 12 minute, 20 second vid of horror movie quotes. The video, compiled by Harry Hanrahan, and posted on pajiba.com by Dustin Rowles, is put together pretty well. Best of all, it shifts back and forth over films from every era - all the classic lines are here, and some are from pictures like Blue Velvet. Hanrahan recognizes the tension of horror even when it's outside the genre...
I have to point out, however, that this fine video is missing one of my favorite horror scenes. Its absence stands out, since the Evil Dead 2 picture is the cover-photo for the Youtube upload. Yes, of course, I mean this:
I'd include ED2's "Dead by dawn!" scene, but those videos were taken down, sadly... Or, moving, you can get some ideas by checking out the Horror tag here. That'll keep you focused on those specific posts, as will the Slasher and Thriller tags. You can also check out my MRQ Halloween reviews from 2010 and 2011, the latter of which has my list of Halloween rental recommendations.
And, as I've reminded everyone twice this month already, there's still the Red Letter Media horror film that's available free until the end of tomorrow.
There's also this nice post from Flavorwire, listing 10 Halloween cartoons that you can watch in full on Youtube. This awesome collection of embedded videos is very, very gratifying, and includes:
As I've said - now twice before - I avoid getting political here because, simply: who cares about real-life politics when you're talking about movies? We're usually not discussing a realistic, much less, average situation. And only some period piece films discuss the actual politics or societal beliefs of any era. Best to save it for when you need it, right?
Just as importantly, I have artistic principles, and one of them is that an artist (unless they're happy where they are) should be able to work in any style, with any purpose in mind. No one should stick to slapstick comedy - if you're great at it, then fine, but also use other types of humor... And writers shouldn't just stick to one genre - in private or public, if you're not experimenting every so often, then you'll just sink.
WHATEVER: I can post this here because it's movie-related: Joss Whedon is credited as "Filmmaker," and this video also fits in just fine with what I've learned from cinema. Special praise goes to the end-blurb, and paying attention to the crucial difference between George A. Romero zombies and 28 Days Later zombies.
Yes, somehow, I'm all a-twitter with Joss Whedon's endorsement of Mitt Romney for the Prez office:
It's so rare that I feel this way. I don't know what to do, so I'll take a bath while NYC still has power. Just remember: a New York native tends to look up at the sky and say, "what the f--k is your problem?" If you're stuck in this insane weather pattern, brave readers - do the same. Do the same.
For which movies would I want or support a Hollywood remake?
I sometimes gripe so strongly about Hollywood's remakes/reboots that's it's become a pet topic on this site; it has its own tag and everything. However, I figured that instead of just sitting back and jeering, I'd show that I can also be a constructive critic. As such, here's a good example of a remake I could get behind:
This Redband trailer is fine; the original team is behind it.
Evil Dead came out ages ago, and it did what it had to: cemented Raimi's career and led to Evil Dead 2. I'd hate to hear of an ED 2 remake, but the original? That's just fine, as it was an imperfect debut. In any case, the involvement of Raimi and Campbell, with all their talent and experience, circumvents my usual worry: that the new project is a cheap money grab.
Want another example? Both sequels to The Matrix. This might be unfair, as I'd pay anything to avoid that disappointment again, even giving a pass to two remakes of a franchise that should've stopped with film #1. No price is too high.
The main issue I've had with remakes is that they're a symptom of the real problem: execs believing that you can guarantee an audience for a picture solely because it's named after something popular. My What's in a Name post is all about the excessive reliance on "names" and "brands." In our case, we get remakes of successful or cult films - it's why a new Red Dawn is coming out, Logan's Run is in development, and a second trilogy of Dragon Tattoo, though the first did the job just fine.
If you're just gonna do a different stage dressing of Stieg Larrson's work, you might as well have had Craig and Rooney put on a production of Our Town. They're both fine actors, and I'm sure Fincher would just crush the material.
I'm snarky and picky because a lot of these remakes don't even carry much effort or quality or invention - it's like showing up on a date in a really nice suit, but talking like a jerk the whole time. You can make the image of a movie look great, and you can give it a familiar label to make it appealing through familiarity, but that's simply not enough. And if what someone brings to the table seems weak or quite sloppy - and it's their damned job and it involves millions of dollars - then they've made a very bad impression.
I recently watched and reviewed Love of Beer, an indie documentary about women who are in the beer-brewing industry.
I liked LoB quite a bit; it knew exactly how to approach its topic and make it relevant to anyone who has an interest in kicking back with a good beer. Read my review over at Man, I Love Films, if you want to find out what made this documentary so enjoyable.
[UPDATE: The link will come up early this morning, after the post goes live]
Sometimes, I want more posts to show on my homepage. The current limit, 7, doesn't make the site load slowly, but it is easier for a post to go out of sight, out of mind. I guess it's my own fault, too, because I always include enough text on each post's homepage snippet to lure you in.
Long story short: Red Letter Media's horror movie is still available to watch online, free through Halloween. This week's movie review hasn't been written yet (again, Looper must wait a bit, but you already have my brief reaction), but once I post it, my promotion of RLM's work will be a little harder to find.
But besides making sure you can take advantage of Red Letter Media's generosity, I wanted to prepare everyone for a few changes:
You'll be getting more than four posts per week here, and pretty soon at that. Some of those extra posts will be links to my work in different formats (like... maybe a podcast), as well as new, regular written entries on other sites. I'll try it 'til the end of 2012, and decide if I need to post less often here or elsewhere. Be warned, paying work comes first...
A co-worker, Josh, wanted to talk about Inception for a few minutes. He told me that he watched it and it made him feel dumb. This guy's an attorney, so understanding complicated rules and such is not something he sucks at.
Add on top of that, he said it felt kind of pretentious - that Nolan was riding on the success of Memento to get away with a story that made no sense.
After he gave me his opinion, he asked me for my own, and I admitted that I really enjoyed it. Then I told him my secret trick for enjoying the picture: I turned my brain off part-way through. What a new and genius approach, right?
But I wasn't going to stop being critical. It wouldn't be fair to me, and Nolan films are worth wearing your thinking cap. I just chose to give a very wide berth to the rules in this picture. It's like when you decide to argue against someone's points instead of making a different, but better, argument. I was going to let the writer/director have his points. Inception was made so well and entertainingly that I didn't want to waste time worrying about it. All I could do was stop caring about holding the filmmakers to logic. And Josh came right back to say that it's even harder to do that when a film is done in realistic style. I agreed!
If I took it easy on a movie's plots and overall story, I still held Nolan's pic up to good story-telling rules. So why did I give it a break?
For one thing, I trust the pedigree of the cast and crew. It's a slippery slope, but Nolan, Wally Pfister, and Zimmer (along with J G-L and Murphy and the rest of the cast) have earned my trust and patience. If I see the work of these people, it would have to make a lot of mistakes for me to start to judge it harshly.
Just a quick news post today, one which I could've easily called Great Moments in Bill Murray's Real Life. So last week, I read something incredibly funny about everybody's main man, Bill Murray. Like many people, I've loved Bill Murray's work in a great number of films since I was just a wee child: Mad Dog and Glory, Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters, Lost in Translation, Rushmore, Quick Change...
And, as for so many others, my first taste of Murray was Carl Spackler in Caddyshack.
So last week, I noticed this first through my usual news source, AV Club. Three days later, my friend Scott G. pointed out the same news, repeated on the New York Post's site - a paper that New Yorkers either despise or read. I say if you buy the Post, you should then buy an adult magazine and use that magazine to hide the Post, because that's more shameful. Despite my feelings, I just had to follow the link to confirm.
I'm not f--king around today. Life's too short for that, and I have so much work to do. And me being brief fits today's Fan-made Gem like a glove. I've seen the best death ever.
I'm not talking about
the best dramatic death, or
the best scifi/horror/fantasy/comedy death, or
the best documentary death,
No, this tasty little Gem is the best cinematic death ever. Observe, and weep that you lived to see this moment:
I just watched Dick Night, an indie comedy/horror about a woman who wants sex so she can get over her fiance, the men that pursue her, and her quest for a new roommate; also vampires. It had its flaws, but was well-made and great fun, regardless. And the timing for Halloween is perfect, as I needed to review a scary pic in time for the holiday formerly known as Samhain.
Dick (snicker) also has a title straight out of an adult film, and I have to say, also boasts the best title & poster combination I've ever seen. I usually don't post the cover picture for the films I review for other sites, but I couldn't help myself this time.
Just look to your right: smart, funny, and cheap. Lovely.
I enjoyed DN. It wasn't as much of a horror film as I expected, but I liked it and also got a chance to refer to the Bechdel Test (again). Read my review at Man, I Love Films if you want to learn more.
In 1997, like millions of other people, I went to the theater to see James Cameron's Titanic. I was hesistant to join my friend, Maria G., for the movie - mostly because of the reports that the film was insanely expensive, that the production was riddled with set-backs, and that Cameron described the picture as his $190 Million Chick Flick. I feared that those were bad signs...
The last bit was especially annoying to me, since it sounded kind of glib. I don't give one g-d whether a movie is about or targeted to men or women. I only care if it's a good movie, if it's entertaining, or if it's well-made; preferably all three.
I liked Titanic. It was a well-made pic, even though it had tons and tons of flaws. To be sure, Titanic had
a moronic, semi-offensive(?) depiction of the Irish.
ham-fisted/OTT/simplistic depictions of "class issues."
a ridiculously OTT villain - I may like Billy Zane a lot, but his role has the depth of... cardboard.
And, like so many others, I had a massive issue with the final scenes between Rose and Jack.
I'm used to making sacrifices for people I genuinely care about. I was raised with old-fashioned manners, even if I don't think in old-fashioned ways. And I don't have much of a choice in a situation where I have to sacrifice myself to save someone I love.
BUT - the closing moments between these two lovers just threw me for a loop. I couldn't possibly understand how a woman would have no problem with letting her lover freeze to death in front of her. She's blithely talking away while he's dying.
For starters: I can't do a Bane impression, but imitating Batman's voice is still fun as hell. Seriously, try it and just talk birth control or whether the Cards can go all the way this year or imagine hiring people for your kids' party ("does it have to be a donkey? Or do you have... ponies?..."). Imagine Batman talking to his cat. I'm laughing just typing this.
Obviously, the film was kind of divisive; some loved it, but many people hated the logic flaws and didn't like some sequences and story/plot aspects. In fact, let's be blunt: what made TDKR a tough ride for audiences were certain story elements and logic out of The Twilight Zone - as well as bloat, to the detriment of people like the title character, and Kitty Goggles.
Please, god, we wanted more kitty goggles.
It's not like the script was bad, or the acting was bad, or the action wasn't any good, or the score and cinematography were weak... Nope. It was more or less the opposite of that. There were too many extra characters (Matthew Modine?), Bale's storyline more or less just happens to him more than it made sense as a realistic sequence of events (that's what Nolan goes for). And, damn, some of this material was forced...
And I think Batman getting his back broken and then coming back from it is f--king insane and stupid, and apparently this was originally a plot in the comic books. So I guess the guys who thought up that for the comic book should be slapped - that was stupid "extreme" hacktastic bulls--t and you can go s---w yourselves for showing that to kids, much less teens and adults.
And yet The Dark Knight Rises is still pretty damn good.
I've decided that this Double Dip will be on the brief side; brief-ish. As such, there's no essay-style openings and whatnot. I'm gonna lay out the basic problems here - I'm going to explain what I think was the disconnect between Nolan's work and the reactions of some viewers. My opinions and commentary will be included. After the jump break (the link to the rest of this article), I'm going to quickly run through a few things that are problematic even if you understand the difficulties of making a pic like Rises.
It's important to remember and give credit to the people that you respect, people that inspire you. I try to give the names of whoever's pointed me to a fun fact or video, as well as the folks that make all the videos I've embedded or linked to here.
I like to promote Red Letter Media whenever I can. They're not just one of the few sites that I've linked here repeatedly - they have really been mentioned on this site very often; very often, indeed. They're more than just high-quality, skilled, hard-working filmmakers, tho - more even than just smart reviewers or good comedians... They're also pretty classy.
Jay and Mike, the two main faces of RLM
As such, they've made one of their indie films available for free for the month of October. It's called The Recovered, and it's a 90-minute horror film, andyou should check it out here. I haven't watched it yet, but I have seen several of their short films (and Half in the Bag, and Plinkett's reviews), so I'm certain it has the same quality and intelligence as the rest of their work. It may be a little less funny than usual, judging by the description.
Then again, the RLM guys don't just have to rely on their sense of humor to impress you. I hope I don't, either. Before this month ends, please follow the link and enjoy their work. Then check out the rest of their films; they deserve your interest and understanding. Actually, hell, I might review The Recovered later...
It's a little late, but I'm not obligated to blog for the working week alone; I just prefer it and I think it's better for site traffic, honestly. I have a great set of posts for the new week, but I've had so much work that this week's review had to be delayed. Hence, I'm posting on a Sunday.
I watched Cure for Pain: The Mark Sandman Story, an indie documentary about the band, Morphine, whose lead singer died on-stage in 1998 during a concert. Morphine was a great group - they had a fantastic, unique sound that really had an impact and fans and other musicians.
Watching the doc told me all sorts of things that I never knew about Sandman's life. Equally as impressive was learning that all this time, I had been entertained by nothing more than a two-string bass, a drummer, and a man playing two saxophones at once. As Ben Harper more or less says in an interview for CfP: what the hell kind of band is that? It's almost a random set of instruments.
I liked Cure for Paina lot. I think this pic will be a blessing for anyone who loves music, is interested in the life stories of musicians, or who loves the moody, primal sound of Morphine.
Don't worry, I still owe you a 4th post this week, but I wanted to share some news: last night, I went with my friend Ash to see Looper, Rian Johnson's latest picture; it stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis.
And he'll still make a new director's commentary for the home video release. Classy guy, right?
I'll try to get my Looper review ready soon, possibly this weekend. But, I have a lot of other work to do, along with my own chores and errands, as well as some much-needed rest. Gotta catch up on my sleep, y'know? If I can't shift my schedule and review it soon, this post will have to do.
There have been many fine poster taglines over the years. In fact, I have a Question post coming up that deals with my absolute favorite, but this entry is about a different time: the era of Walter Bruce "Bruno" Willis.
This edition of Great Moments In... is about his first real stumble after Hudson Hawk. See, following Die Hard, Bruce went on a pretty good tear, taking a diverse set of roles in a wide range of genres. Sure, he did the heroic badass a whole lot, but he also made good choices as an actor. Hawk was his first real failure.
Then 2 years later, along came a picture called Striking Distance. It was a thriller set in Pittsburgh, and featured a hot young starlet at the time, Sarah Jessica Parker, fresh off great performances in LA Story and Honeymoon in Vegas.
For the rest of my life, I will remember the incredibly dumb, awfully-worded tagline poster:
They shouldn't have put him in the water, if they didn't want him to make waves.
Isn't that just gloriously bad? Like Homer Simpson's "Mr. Plow" song, it's so bad it becomes entertaining. And it's not just awful use of a cliche - that's not how you use a comma!
SD was a flat-out failure. On a $30M budget, it took $24 Mil. The action and overall tone weren't thrilling enough, the mystery and ending weren't satisfying, and the characters weren't... memorable in a good way.
It was partly due to a mediocre script - lots of token troubled-cop stuff, people just curse at each other for a while... There was also poor characterization. We're supposed to like Bruce's role, but he's worse than a cop-on-the-edge, he's kind of a loser - : this detective-who-got-demoted down to being a waterboat cop, patrolling Pittsburgh's rivers, is an obviously angry and bitter drinker.
Several scenes make Bruce look out-of-control, not unpredictable, or unhinged instead of gritty. Only two relationships click here, and Bruce has a sex scene with SJP where she looks kinda scared...
Ladies and gents, I broke 70k hits yesterday! Quite a milestone - although Blogger didn't track my first 6 months of site traffic, I decided to treat its official count as my own. Either way, I'm happy and flattered to see this day;- well, "to have seen yesterday," but you know what I mean... Moving on:
[08:00 P.M. EST UPDATE: working at a steady pace, there's now a BLR treatment of the recent 2012 Debates. I've embedded it at the end of this article.]
Occasionally, I can't actually get the clip that I want, causing some long-standing gaps for potential Fan-made Gems and certain posts. I'm just Half a Film Student, and I guess I could do better if I went all the way - maybe I'd record a clip and deal with the eventual bs takedown notice. It just doesn't feel like I've done enough when I link to a video.
I was worried I'd never be able to add the clip, but in the weeks after it went live, the uploader allowed embedding. Finally, I can show you Bad Lip Reading's super-funny, absurdist "Edward and Bella" - it's sure to get you laughing, Twilight fan or no...
Damn, it's weird, but after you've seen a few more clips, this style of humor settles in nicely. If you need to be intellectual about it, you can think about the power of sound - the dub works perfectly and it genuinely starts to look like the overlaid voices are what's actually being said.
However, this brilliance isn't restricted to just film. The BLR also makes dubbed versions of politicians' videos. If you're worried this is going to drop into party politics, just rest assured - he does them for Democrats as well as Republicans, and they're equally hysterical. Here's the latest political BLR, for VP candidate Mr. Ryan:
You can also check out the Bad Lip Reading take on The Hunger Games:
What actors and actresses would I like to see more of?
Honestly, I began this as a list of minority actors who should appear more. Then I looked at under-used actresses - but I realized that would start to seem kinda... pervy. It's Hollywood, after all, and it's not just the studio selection process, it's having top makeup artists on hand; 3 hours in a chair with a pro, & I'd look like Cary Grant.
My main point is that the media has combined with the film industry's natural habits so that only very few people receive attention. It's ridiculous and stupid, and I don't know what the media would've done without (e.g.) Nicole Kidman to plaster onto everything. I thought about it for a bit, and here's 40 people whose profile I want to see skyrocket, and soon...
I'll try to be fair in describing the situation and its problems: Hollywood greatly favors men over women, and non-minorities over minorities. White males get the most attention and range of offers and the most stories centered on them, every time. Some white males do make this list, but you now know how I got started on this, so:
Carla Gugino is not just a pretty face. She's done a lot of work in independent film, showing a care in picking her roles. She fills every part with intelligence, willpower, and a knowing sexiness that isn't cheap or a put-off. I loved her in Spy Kids, along with various roles here and there; I wish her part in Sin City were twice as long.
Cate Blanchett is uber-gifted, so watching her act is always something to look forward to. Anyone who's seen the Lord of the Rings films can tell you that she has freakishly beautiful eyes. She's also done a lot of indie work, takes a great range of roles, and seems to be incapable of failing or missing a beat. I love her cameo in Hot Fuzz.
I recently watched Third Star, a UK drama about 4 men going on a trip. It's really one last journey with their terminally ill friend, James who just turned 29 and won't live to see 30. The group hikes their way around the beautiful coast of Wales, James often moving around on a combination bicycle frame/adult-sized stroller.
What can I say? A competent French film director, a cast for a Fox/CW TV show, and a tongue-in-cheek but bloody sensibility - this should make for an easy-to-enjoy, fun little horror movie. But I knew the mindset for it was like... Porky's, and I have no interest in going backwards.
I couldn't believe I was going to watch this trashy, vapid pic, but I have such a history with horror... I figured: I should know what the genre's doing these days; and if it sucks, I'll enjoy laughing at it.
To my shock, it came closer to holding up than I ever expected, because it's just competent enough and just irreverent enough to earn some intellectual credit. Also, it spends the start of the movie doing a proper job of setting up a motion picture with a story.
What do people forget when they judge a movie or respond to a review of it?
Acting as if a movie's quality reflects on the actors in it. I've trashed every part of a film - performers, plots, stories, scores, and directors. You find serious flaws in a flick, unless you simply like to sit back and watch a bunch of pictures with sound; pix, both bad and decent, can have noticeably terrible roles, performances, effects, execution...
But simple reactions to one piece, one film - that's easy. If you know anything about the creative process, and how it meets with the real-world film industry, you know that it's more complicated than "this movie sucks, Ryan Reynolds must be a terrible actor." It's more likely that he chose a bad script, and perhaps even for good reasons.
I famously hate Alien 3, but Fincher's other work shows him to be a smart, gifted director. I can rip apart A3 as much as I want, but it doesn't define his whole career, or his work ethic.
And, at any or every level, a motion picture can just fall apart. Some movies have made me hateful - toward the characters and writers and directors involved. Certain film series disappoint time and again, while a few particular actors seem to be undermining their own legacies.
Two weeks ago, I found the coolest little fan-made gem on Yahoo's news scrawl: an artist mocked up vintage photos of gangsters with actual mug shots of Hollywood actors and actresses. The work of Michael Jason Enriquez is really impressive, and not just because I love sepia tone; truly, his Mughsot Doppelganger tubmlr deserves attention.
There's are reasons that I wanted Fan-made Gems to be a weekly entry on the site - not just to make writing this blog a little easier, but to highlight how Cinema folds in to so many other forms of art. I also wanted to give credit to all the people that are inspired by film, especially anyone who draws positive, creative inspiration from what we get on the big screen. These things matter to me.
And what kind of result do we get from Enriquez? It's freakishly cool: he took old mobster photos and used them to rework - actually, to class up - the booking photos of some of our most notoriously-arrested celebrities. Each of these shots looks like it was taken in 1920's Chicago or they're the poster shots for a new Untouchables movie.
This really looks like it's for his Sherlock Holmes pix.
