September 2009 - Izmovies - Watch Full New Movies movies Youtube

"Nightmare" trailer

Myspace has the HD trailer for Platinum Dunes' "Nightmare on Elm Street" remake up, here's the embedd:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=63620005

I have three immediate strong reactions to this, which I'm inclined to imagine will be shared by a great deal of the web-surfing horror-fan contingent:

#1: The apparent fidelity to the original film(s) is genuinely shocking: Not only do a bevy of the first installments most iconic scenes seem to have been preserved; but the composition, color-palette and even the lighting looks the same. The shot of the pool-party looks like a direct screengrab from "Freddy's Revenge." Hell, is that the same factory, even? Color me intrigued, since PD's previous 80s-horror revamps were both top-to-bottom overhauls.

#2: No really good look at the Freddy makeup yet, maybe they'll try to save that for opening night, but we do get to hear what is probably Jackie Earl Haley's "official" Freddy Voice. THIS part is definately NOT aping the originals... the usual malevolent, self-satisfied cackle seems absent from Freddy's disposition here. If nothing else, it shows that Haley has been granted room to move around in this.

#3: The opening moments of the trailer would seem to confirm the early rumors that there was going to be an added "wrinkle" to the story this time involving the presence of significant doubt as to whether or not Freddy was actually GUILTY of the crimes he was killed for. This will be controversial to fans, but I can understand the angle: A big part of the story in the original film is solving the mystery of just who Freddy Krueger actually is/was. Since the audience this time around can no longer be surprised by those revelations, it makes sense to stage new ones.

I remain fully skeptical that Michael Bay and his Dunes friends are capable of EVER producing a good film, but color me a lot less skeptical than I was ten minutes ago.

Polanski, Part II

Well, this didn't exactly take long even on a Sunday...

Predictably, L'Affaire Polanski ceased to be about the particulars of extraditing an ex-pat American from Zurich on 30 year-old bail-jumping and sexual misconduct charges before the door was closed on his cell; and is now officially a political hot-potato encompassing the entertainment biz, gender, class, family-values, culutre-clash and other "pet issues" of the Chattering Class. Being the weekend, the opinions of Mssrs. O'Reilly, Beck and Grace have yet to be heard from, but all edges of the Web are already well spoken-for. Let's see who's taking a swing:

First up, "Big Hollywood," Andrew Breitbart's nominally-conservative-psuedo-celebrity wildlife preserve. You probably know Breitbart most-recently as the guy shepherding the two kids from the ACORN Video through the media cycle. BH is basically a multi-contributor editorial blog wherein right-leaning movie people vent about their left-leaning industry, making it something of a kind of one-stop-shopping-spot for people you forgot existed doing their best Michael Savage impression. First reporting on the Polanski story from there fell to the site's Editor in Chief, John Nolte; previously launched to Internet Celebrity as "Dirty Harry" from the now-defunct Liberty Film Festival Blog. The site is literally CRAWLING with nutcases, but Nolte is a straight-shooter who can be counted on to be as fair as one can be while still writing what are fundamentally opinion-pieces. He comes down solidly on the "no excuses, bring him back, lets have the trial" side, but with characteristic lack of hyperbole:
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/09/27/polanski-may-finally-face-u-s-justice/

Pretty cut and dry, right? Okay, now just for fun, here's some samplings of the commentary that's been offered up in response by the site's readership:

"I predict that Obama will pardon him at the urging of Bill Clinton."

"Some days it really does seem that the counter revolution is finally happening."

"The degenerates of Hollywood finance the coalition of scum, slime, filth, vermin and manure that run the Democ-rat Party."

"Woody Allen, anyone?"

*Sigh.* This is the problem with people for whom political-leanings define their existance: Nothing is outside the realm of left-vs-right, everything MUST be made to benefit one end to the exclusion of another. The questions at hand are, from where I sit, transpolitical: Either he ought be punished or ought not be, either there are mitigating circumstances or there aren't. By cynically framing Polanski's supporters as automatic agents of "the left" and his probable conviction as a cause for "the right;" it cheapens the issue and serves only to score the minor "culture war" victory of forcing "the left" to defend him for fear of ALLOWING said victory.

From the other side (in multiple senses) in this piece of Huffington Post; still struggling to find a reason for it's own existance in a world without the Bush Administration. Interestingly, this particular defense comes from the co-founder of Women Overseas for Equality - a potential irony not lost on a slew of the responders:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joan-z-shore/polanskis-arrest-shame-on_b_301134.html

And these are just the "amateurs"...

Wanted, Desired, Caught

In case you were nervous that 2009 was going to close without a big "Hollywood Values vs. Reg'ler Amrrrrc'n Values" dustup in the media, worry not. Roman Polanski has been arrested:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/27/zurich.roman.polanski.arrested/index.html

Short version, for the younger readers: Polanski plead guilty to a statutory rape charge in the 1970s (the girl in question was 13, drugs and alcohol were involved). So goes the story, he'd worked out a plea-agreement with the judge and prosecutors by which he'd recieve a time-served sentence for 1 charge of unlawful intercourse. Polanski claims to have discovered that the judge - who's since passed away and was the subject of ethical complaints relating to this case for decades - was apparently planning to "surprise" the media-sensation trial by reneging and hitting him with a much more serious sentence. The director's response was to skip bail and flee America for France, who's extradition treaties with the U.S. do not cover the laws he's accused of breaking. That was more than 30 years ago. Polanski has continued to work steadily, recieving an Oscar for "The Pianist" recently, and has sought return to the U.S. on several occasions either by requesting a mistrial or a dismissal. He's been joined in those requests by his then-victim, who has said she wants the ordeal to be done with. However, the Los Angeles prosecutor's office has remained steadfast in saying that if he enters the U.S. they plan to arrest him and put him on trail again, this time for fleeing the original sentence.

Yesterday, Polanski entered Switzerland - which evidently DOES have the proper extradition treaties with the U.S. - to attend a retrospective of his work at the Zurich Film Festival. Swiss police were waiting at the airport, having recieved a request for arrest from U.S. authorities to assist them, and arrested him for the outstanding charges. He is now detained, awaiting the outcome of extradition deliberations. He is allowed to appeal the arrest in Switzerland, but a likely outcome as of this moment is him being sent back to the U.S. to face whatever is waiting. The third player in this, France, is already coming to his defense and chastising the Swiss government.

Unless the French manage to "roll" the Swiss on this one, this becomes a BIG deal. People have been waiting to "have this one out" for a long time; and the image of a guilty statutory-rapist living luxuriously abroad (in France no less!!!) whilst The Industry largely campaigns for his release and rewards him with Oscars has made this case a favorite whipping-boy for the media-critic arm of the "values voters" contingent. Set aside, for a moment, your personal feelings about the case and just think about that particular firestorm-in-waiting. You think this event isn't a GODSEND to them? They get to "fight" 'liberal' Hollywood AND 'godless' Europe. Nancy Grace is salivating like a rapid bassett hound as we speak...

Should be interesting.

Escape to the Movies: "Surrogates"

Waylon Smithers to shit solid-gold brick

According to Variety, Universal has made a deal with Mattel for a live-action "Barbie" movie:
http://weblogs.variety.com/bfdealmemo/2009/09/u-turns-barbie-into-movie-star.html

No matter what else comes of it, this will almost certainly be the film with the widest gulf between how interesting it's development is versus how interesting it could ever be to watch. They never really felt the need to give this franchise a "narrative" (that I know of... ladies? Am I correct as to this?) so the question of "WTF is a movie of this even about?" is more paramount than even for also-optioned stuff like "Battleship" or "Monopoly."

Seriously: Turn off the "this is stupid" instinct for a minute and consider what the people who have to hammer a MOVIE out of this are in for. Is this a movie about this "character" as an actual person? In which case, is it actually a movie about a 5'9, 36-18-33 blonde with seemingly unlimited wealth and about 500 full-time careers? In which case... wouldn't the ONLY way that'd work be to make it something akin to a spoof? Even if so, Mattel isn't likely to let that be the direction - they guard the Barbie brand about as jealously as you'd guard an ACTUAL woman with those measurements. On the other hand, if it WAS a spoof it'd be an eerily perfect vehicle for Anna Faris (if it was a parody) or Jessica Simpson (if it was a comedy and they feel like going straight-to-DVD.)

That is, of course, assuming they want a major star - they might go looking for an unknown. Dear God, can you IMAGINE an open casting-call for "Barbie?" I picture a MASSIVE line of statuesque blonde women in wonderbras and heels wrapped around six blocks in downtown LA. And y'know what? People will be PAID to conduct those auditions. PAID!

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Sometimes I know a movie is going to be good right away. This is one of those times, impending-goodness being announced early on when a wonderfully "real"-sounding kindergartener responds to his father's awkward narrow-frame-of-reference advice with an exaseperated cry of "I DON'T UNDERSTAND FISHING METAPHORS!!!" After that, I knew my afternoon was not about to be wasted.

There's a justifiable trepidation among many filmgoers about stopping in for a CG-Animated movie NOT bearing the "Pixar" stamp... you just never know if you're going to get an "Ice Age" (the first one) or a "Shark Tale." Well, if my word counts for anything, I reccomend that fans of animated comedy (or comedy in general) set said trepidation aside and give "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs" a look. It's not aiming for the philosophical heft of a "Wall-E," but it's ALSO not wallowing in an ocean of cheap pop-culture-reference laughs. What we have here is a capital-F-Fun slapstick epic - a broad spoof of natural disaster blockbusters (particular the Roland Emmerich variety) bouncing around in the guise of an extraordinarily well-animated family comedy. I'm actually at a loss to describe the exact "type" of manic comedy on display, but the closest comparison I can think of is to opine that fans of the Spielberg-produced "big jokes for the kids, little jokes for the grownups" animated comedies of the 90s like Animaniacs and ESPECIALLY the late, lamented Freakazoid will feel RIGHT at home.

The whole enterprise is, technically, inspired by a well-regarded 1978 children's book; a good-natured morality-play in which the citizens of a town where food falls from the sky grow weary of culinary ease (plus the food is starting to get too big) and discover the greater joys of self-sufficiency. The FILM sets itself up mostly as a prequel, explaining how the phenomenon happened and why it ultimately stopped. Short version: Wacky inventor Flint Lockwood accidentally launches his miracle water-into-food converted into the stratosphere, resulting in periodic foodstorms that his struggling island town's corrupt mayor tries to turn into a publicity machine. Of course, things fly out of control and Flint and his friends are forced to undertake a dangerous mission to shut down the machine before mankind is wiped out by an apocalypse of oversized foodstuffs.

The plain fact is, it's just a well-made movie. The filmmakers wisely realize that the imaginatively-rendered "foodscapes" (an entire suburb burried in a "snowstorm" of ice cream scoops, a spaghetti tornado, a flotilla of sandwich-boats with pizza-slice sails, a massive fortune cookie crashing down on the Great Wall of China with a helpful prediction about the subsequent impact of a giant corn cob, etc.) are sufficient to generate visual interest and sight-gags without having to "stop for the jokes;" so we wind up with a lot of solidly-realized characters and well-explored relationships amid all the gorgeous tableaus. Flint's difficult relationship with his luddite dad and his creepy seduction by the town's oily Mayor (BRUCE CAMPBELL!!!) hit exactly the right notes; and his budding romance with a nerd-in-disguise weather girl is sweet in a way most live-action romcoms would kill to be.

It also understands that the key to a successful SPOOF is not what you make fun of, but what you DON'T. Accepting and even CELEBRATING the genuine appeal of Bruckheimer-style action scenes is what helped Team America soar, while Young Frankenstein wears it's affection for the Universal Horrors it's mocking on it's sleeve. "Cloudy" has it's fun with disaster movie conventions (a weatherman glibly notes the "odd" circumstance of the foodstorm "attacking" the world's most recognizable monuments BEFORE everything else...) and general movie tropes (during the innevitable "mob attacks man in car but never tries to break a window" scene, a character helpfully calls out "Let's rock his car back and forth!!!") but it also takes pains to play it's action beats "straight"... at least as straight as you can in a movie about giant food falling from the sky. An extended bit where a policeman (a fantastic Mr. T) makes a superhuman dash through the foodstorm to rescue his wife and son is an unapologetic stand-up-and-cheer hero moment - giant Dorito and all - while Flint and company's assault on the (now self-aware) "eye" of the foodstorm is a legitimately thrilling combination "Death Star" air-raid and dungeon-crawl that any live action blockbuster ought to be envious of.

This movie, let's face it, wasn't exactly on any discerning cineastes "must see" list; but in terms of animated family-comedy it's almost a perfect example of the genre. I'm not saying you should skip "The Informant!" in favor of this, but if you find yourself in the position of watching it I can safely say I don't think you'll be dissapointed.

"The Blind Side"

Embedded below, the trailer for "The Blind Side," an upcoming Sandra Bullock vehicle which I'm informed is "based on an inspiring true story" and from the looks of things is primed-and-ready to be the White People Feeling Good About Themselves film of the year...

Yeesh. "True" or not, it literally looks like someone snatched up all the most maudlin and irritating parts of various disposable feel-good films from the last decade and slapped together a "movie." Going by the trailer, it's the story of homeless, emotionally-withdrawn, gargantuan black teenager (think John Coffey meets Antwone Fisher) who is able to right his life only after being scooped up off the side of the road (literally, like he's a stray puppy or something) by a family of rich white people overseen by Bullock as an all-additude matriarch in the Erin Brokovich vein. They teach him how to sleep in a bed, go to school and play football real good; he teaches them... life lessons... about... stuff. ("yer changin' that boy's life!" "No... he's changin' MINE." Are you FUCKING kidding me!!??)

Dontcha just LOVE that one bit with Bullock's character getting the "talking-to" about her adoptee being beyond help by the older black woman presumably of some relation to him? Arentcha just gonna LOVE the way the film will ultimately be about proving her wrong and vindicating Bullock's ability to "save" him with the simple application of all the extra money and time her higher social-standing have afforded her? And how about that bit with Bullock marching up to the scary gangbangers and "tellin' `em the score?"

I'm told this is a true story, and that the guy actually got drafted by the NFL this year. If so, good for him. Doesn't mean the movie doesn't look like crap ;)

spoiler of the year?

I'm largely prevented by various obligations from officially "reviewing" movies I see before they come out, but I'm pretty sure it's okay to just talk about various upcoming movies in nonspecific terms COMPLETELY unrelated to whether or not it's good.

In which case, please take note of the following: If someone begins to try and tell you about "the most awesomest thing EVER in 'Zombieland!!!," you should knock that person out with a shovel before they can finish that sentence. Just trust me on this one.

Escape to the Movies: "Jennifer's Body"

Be honest, you kinda saw this coming...

Incidentally, my screening was preceeded by a trailer for something called "Transylmania," which - despite what you may assume (as I did) from the evidence at hand - is apparently an actual thing:

So who exactly was it that was crying-out for "This Generation's Transylvania 6-5000?" A little research tells me this is apparently the third sequel to the direct-to-DVD "National Lampoon's Dorm Daze" franchise, which I guess has some sort of following I wasn't aware of?

What am I not getting here?

Is it wrong that I don't know WHY everyone is so horrified by the Kurt Cobain avatar in Guitar Hero 5? Or rather, more precisely, the fact that you can actually use it like ALL THE OTHER celebrity-rocker avatars in this series - i.e. to perform songs you'd never see them have done in reality?

I both love and am utterly perplexed by the abject DISGUST people are registering at the idea of CGI-Kurt shown performing music that's somehow "beneath" Nirvana's mythic heights. Granted, yes, I was never a grunge fan or an especially big appreciator of Nirvana (I'm still actively hoping that by the time it's been long enough to matter Nirvana will end up being remembered as "Dave Grohl's first Band"); but even if I were I'd like to think I'd STILL be sick to death at this point of Cobain's special-status as the "last thing my generation was supposed to take seriously." Fuck that, at this point.

There are LOTS of dead people CGI'ing their way through the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, many of whom died more tragically and/or had more actual lasting influence on music than Cobain did. Hendrix has been in GH for what, 2 games now? 3? Johnny Cash is in this one as well, also recently-dead. Hell, there's TWO dead people out of FOUR in "Beatles: Rock Band," one of whom was assassinated as opposed to... well, you get the idea. Get over it, already.

Follow-up i.e. Kanye West

Original post: http://moviebob.blogspot.com/2009/09/this-wont-end-well.html

So... answer to the "which music and/or black political figure will be yanking Kanye's ass out of the fire" turns out to be "Jay-Z... kinda." Mr. Z and Kanye kept their pre-scheduled appointment on the Leno show debut, where Leno asked "the questions" and West reacted like six year-old who'd just been caught hiding cauliflour under his napkin. He stressed "taking time off," which means some upper-crust rehab facility already has a bed made for him.

Amazingly, I was RIGHT that someone was going to ask Obama about this but WRONG that it'd be a young turk... it was freaking TERRY MORAN, who "tweeted" The President's response (in which he called Kanye a "jackass") only to hurriedly delete it once informed that was supposed to be off the record. At least, so-reports NEWSWEEK: http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/09/15/obama-says-kanye-west-acted-like-jackass-at-the-vmas.aspx

About "Tea Party's"...

As much as I seem to do it, I'm actually pretty reluctant to overtly discuss politics outside the context of a relevant film or game topic on the blogosphere. When it comes to movies I'm an expert, I don't consider that bragging. When it comes to video-games I'm an extremely well-read, experienced fan. When it comes to politics... I'm just a guy who watches a lot of news, reads a lot of papers and feeds, listens to a lot of radio and reads a fair share of books on the subject. Not an expert, not a pro, just another blogger. I am, of course, also more reticent as of late now that my name(s) are "branded" in various places; and while no one has ASKED me in any way, shape or form to say the following preface I'm going to say it anyway of my own accord: Anything I've got to say in this post is being said by ME personally, and has no association with any entity for whom I contribute web content. So if you've got an issue, it ain't with them. It's with moi. SO...

There are two things about the "Tea Party" faux-nomenon that piss me off, neither one of them wholly related to the professed politics of (most of) the people attending. I LIKE a little chaos an incivility in political debate - it keeps things interesting. If EVERY politician in America was met by an... "enthusiastic gathering" of citizens upon the occasion of every major piece of legislation coming up, I think we'd have a better-functioning country. Elected officials were never meant to become complacent. So, let's be clear right off the bat: This isn't primarily about ideology.

THE FIRST THING in the "pisses me off" category is, however, ideological-INCONSISTENCY - both on behalf of the folks AT the "protest" and on behalf of some of the people NOT there. The "Tea Partiers" claim, in the broad strokes, that they are against "big government." They are against wasteful spending, expansion of the federal government and intrusion by The State into individual privacy. Now, ON PAPER, those are things I can get behind. I am, after all, a libertarian (please note the SMALL "l") at least to the extent that if you ask me what my thoughts are on the ideal way to manage a "society" I'm likely to reply "Natural Selection" and only be a little-bit 'kidding.'

So yeah, ON PAPER I'm inclined to be sympathetic... until I regain my grasp of recent history and am compelled to ask: WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU ALL BEEN!!?? If you're against "wasteful government spending," where were you for the last SIX YEARS during which the previous administration sunk BILLIONS of dollars and - more importantly - thousands of American and Iraqi LIVES into a worthless experiment in "Iraqi Democracy?" If you don't like "intrusion by The State into individual privacy," can I assume you were just as upset about the Patriot Act as you are about nationalized healthcare?

Do they not have IRONY where you're from? You can't say you're FOR an ideological blanket-statement like "small government" and then suddenly turn AGAINST it once the party opposed to you is in power if you want people to take you seriously. If you're "against government expansion," that means you're against it no matter WHO'S doing the expanding. If that's the case, then just be honest: You're not against "expansion," you're against "expansion in THIS direction." In other words, what you're REALLY mad about is that President Obama is a Democrat. You're a partisan. And that's FINE! You've got a side! Own it! But don't abuse the language to make it sound like your dissent is coming from some untainted well of ideological purity when it's plainly NOT.

Egh. Deep breath....

The SECOND element is a bit less specific to the "Tea Parties," but thrown into sharp-relief by them: People, if you're going to co-opt icons, slogans or images from earlier historical "movements" in order to add the veneer of legitimacy to you and your "events;" at least try and develop a working UNDERSTANDING of what these images, icons or even PEOPLE actually believed in relation to what you're saying.

Let's start with that name "Tea Party." The obvious frame of reference being "The Boston Tea Party," a historical even that occured about a twenty-minute drive from my home. Folks... the "Boston Tea Party" was NOT a big show-offy "protest" event staged for the media - it was a gang of rowdy young proto-patriots costumed-for-effect as Indians committing an act of politically-symbolic vandalism under cover of darkness. The people at these rallies have about as much in common with the Sons of Liberty as Kanye West does with Crispus Attucks.

Then there's the ever-subtle Glenn Beck, using the "Don't Tread On Me" snake imagery as the icon for his assinine "9.12 Project." Right off the bat, he's mixing his metaphors (at least on his TV show graphics, I've not seen if he's since corrected it) - making the common error of conflating the original Ben Franklin "Snake In 13 Pieces" from the French & Indian War with the coiled "Don't Tread On Me" snake from Revolutionary War-era "Gasden's Flag," but to be fair people have been screwing that up for years...

Finally... Ayn Rand. I'm actually a little surprised to see her OR her philosophy coming up in this at all, since so much of the mythology of the "Tea Partiers" is framed as a battle of "the common folk" versus "the elites" and, let's face it: If there's one thing Objectivism AIN'T, it's "on the side of the common folk." (Shorthand descriptive of Objectivism: Did you play Bioshock? All that stuff Andrew Ryan keeps going on about, THAT'S Objectivism. SHORTER-hand: "Revenge of the Nerds.") But, though not in great numbers, you're starting to hear them bring it up. Now, to be sure, ON PAPER Objectivism, Rand and particularly her book "Atlas Shrugged" is an ideological fit; being that's it's the quintessential anti-nationalization tract. But I'm inclined to doubt that anything CLOSE to a majority of the "partiers" have read the damn thing or even known what it's about other than that it's a well-known book broadly on their "side." If they had, I'd gather we'd be hearing "Who is John Galt" being chanted instead of "You Lie," no? That'd be kind-of a no-brainer, right?

But what really both irks and amuses me is the inescapable fact that Rand is now being invoked by the disgraced and degarded remnants of a political movement that she would BARELY recognize as being political "conservatives" as she knew them. Objectivism - and it's founder - may be/have-been a wee bit on the "nutty" side, but at least they were consistent and would've BALKED at the strange alliance between so-called "conservatives" and Christian social-engineering that dominates the agenda of the Republican 'right' today. And, conversely, do you think that any of the "religious conservatives" among the "Tea Partiers" know that this person they're invoking had THIS to say their favorite pet issue:

Abortion is a moral right—which should be left to the sole discretion of the woman involved; morally, nothing other than her wish in the matter is to be considered. Who can conceivably have the right to dictate to her what disposition she is to make of the functions of her own body?
--Ayn Rand on abortion, 1968.

So... if I HAVE a point other than being annoyed here, it'd be that it's probably a good idea to form a working grasp of what you're ACTUALLY upset about and what you REALLY support before you start holding a "march." Otherwise, you end up looking kinda... well, stupid ;)

This won't end well...

Scene from this weekend's (tonight's?) MTV Video Music Awards, which I was actually unaware they were still holding (do they still do the Movie Awards, too?):

(I should preface this by mentioning that, while I'm aware of Kanye West by reputation, I don't think I could name you a song either of these people sing with a GUN to my head and I have no idea what a Taylor Swift is. Wait... Kanye did that one awful song that sampled "Diamonds Are Forever," yes?)

SO... I was going to ask what the over-under is on how long it'll take for this to be made into a "racial" thing, but, that's kind of a foregone conclusion, yes? Teeny lil' blonde white country(?) singer accepts award, hyper-aggressive black musician jumps onstage, grabs mic, declares that award should have instead gone to black female competition... this is pretty much all-but-written, right?

So, instead, two automatic followups: Which "outraged" media "commentator" will be the first to step waaaaay over the line (don't everybody guess Glenn Beck all at once...)? And secondly, which sage-voice-of-reason black-community/music-industry leader will be enlisted to yank Kanye's ass out of the fire? Russell Simmons? Puffy? Jay-Z (who's already involved since Beyonce is his wife)? Or will it be serious enough to go all the way up to Sharpton and/or Jackson? Ooh! Just thought of a third one: Y'think one of the "youth outlet" reporters will try and make a name for himself by asking President Obama what he thinks?

Escape to the Movies: "9"

Ah, well...

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/924-9

Incidentally, one of the "non-Anime-mature-animated-films" briefly referenced in there was Rene Laloux's "Fantastic Planet." Today regarded as a classic of both the scifi and animation genres, it shares in common with other appreciated-in-the-US-later foriegn masterworks like some of the early Bergman pieces having been first brought before American eyes by prolific director/producer Roger Corman. Though most of his catalogue (especially the films he ALSO directed) are justly regarded as below-average B-movie schlock, the guy is probably the ultimate legend of American independent filmmaking; with an eye for young talent that launched the careers of Francis Ford Coppola, Brian DePalma, Johnathan Demme, James Cameron, Jack Nicholson and literally HUNDREDS of others. For these and other contributions, he will be recieving an honorary Academy Award this year. The director of "It Conquered The World" and "Teenage Caveman" holding an Oscar, THAT is a photo I want to see. Awesome.

True Grit countdown begins

According to "Variety," the Coen Bros. are looking to make a second film based on Charles Portis' western novel "True Grit" - it was filmmed once before in 1969 with John Wayne in the lead as one-eyed marshall Rooster Cogburn; the role for which he finally won an Academy Award. The Coen's supposedly want their "Big Lebowski" star Jeff Bridges to play Cogburn.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118008446.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Well, that's... interesting.

Today, the original "Grit" is mainly remembered for Wayne's Oscar win to the exclusion of anything else - it's a competent "transitional" Western mostly overshadowed by it's similarity to other, better films in the genre (most of them also starring Wayne.) But, of course, the concept of a remake will lead to a major rush to defend or at least reappraise it. For my part, allow me to add my "me too!" to the nigh-unanimous web response of "odd, but I trust the Coens."

Thing is, this stuff is wholly predictable, so I thought I'd start a little informal "countdown" of how long it takes the following things to happen:

1.) Statement from someone on the production on the lines that this "isn't a remake of the earlier film, but rather a closer approximation of the original book."

2.) Snarky "where are we now?" article about the 'decline' of movie heroes from "The Duke" to "The Dude."

3.) Conservative weblog having a pre-emptive COW over the notion of anyone remaking a John Wayne movie and wondering how "Hollywood Liberals" will "use it to trash Wayne's legacy."

tick tick tick tick...

New "OverThinker" at ScrewAttack

FYI, my other little venture "Game OverThinker" has it's newest episode up on ScrewAttack. Check it out here, if you like:

http://www.screwattack.com/TGO/WhoWillBeRemembered

Escape to the Movies: "Gamer"

SPOILER: It's not good.

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