Big Picture: THE GWEN STACY PARADOX
Thanks to the slow, drawn-out receding of The American Empire, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 has already been out all over the world so you're probably going to get my review before Friday - as in later today, I think.
Until then, here's something else also about Spider-Man because that's what my week looks like:
Until then, here's something else also about Spider-Man because that's what my week looks like:
DRAGON DAY Trailer: "The Asians are coming! The Asians are coming!!!"
Wow. How'd we miss this one?
I get that there are folks who thought the Mandarin twist in IRON MAN 3 didn't work logically, didn't see the humor in it or just would've preferred to see the magic alien rings stuff play out closer to the source. I get that. What I'll never get are the people who can't grasp why a comics-perfect translation of a character whose entire shtick is "MYAH HA HA! I AM THE FACE OF EXOTIC AND EEEEEEEEEEVIL CHINA!!!!!" just doesn't fly anymore in a mainstream movie.
But, if xenophobic paranoia about those scaaaaaary Asians taking over America is your bag? Don't worry, cameras are now cheap enough for hack propagandists to get your back. Below, the trailer for DRAGON DAYS (which somehow escaped my notice to this point) a literal, honest to goodness, no-bullshit Yellow Peril movie somehow coming out in the 21st century. Wow...
I get that there are folks who thought the Mandarin twist in IRON MAN 3 didn't work logically, didn't see the humor in it or just would've preferred to see the magic alien rings stuff play out closer to the source. I get that. What I'll never get are the people who can't grasp why a comics-perfect translation of a character whose entire shtick is "MYAH HA HA! I AM THE FACE OF EXOTIC AND EEEEEEEEEEVIL CHINA!!!!!" just doesn't fly anymore in a mainstream movie.
But, if xenophobic paranoia about those scaaaaaary Asians taking over America is your bag? Don't worry, cameras are now cheap enough for hack propagandists to get your back. Below, the trailer for DRAGON DAYS (which somehow escaped my notice to this point) a literal, honest to goodness, no-bullshit Yellow Peril movie somehow coming out in the 21st century. Wow...
Clint Eastwood's "JERSEY BOYS" Trailer
Has enough time passed that the public has agreed to just let Clint Eastwood's weird "Invisible Obama" thing at the RNC fade from memory? I hope so, because he remains an interesting presence of the film landscape and appears to have decided that he's simply not going to stop making movies. His latest is a feature adaptation of the stage musical about Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons:
Big Picture: RANKING THE MARVEL MOVIES
"DOFP" Action Scene Has Mutant Power to Deflate Your Expectations
The emerging coolness of certain viral marketing sites had lulled me into a false sense of thinking that maybe X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST might be a better movie than it's looked like up to this point. So thank you, MTV Movie Awards, for debuting this actual scene from the film to bring me back down to Earth:
Aaaaah. People in interchangable black club-wear running through hazy underlit hallways. Bryan Singer, ladies and gentlemen: For some reason, we decided he was an action director.
Aaaaah. People in interchangable black club-wear running through hazy underlit hallways. Bryan Singer, ladies and gentlemen: For some reason, we decided he was an action director.
Here's Where To Find MOVIEBOB At PAXEast 2014
Hey guys!
I'll probably be out and about at PAX and surrounding areas starting around 1-2pm on Friday, so please feel free to stop, say hi, take a picture, buy a book, whatever. I'm also scheduled to appear on two panels, as follows:
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO END BILE AND HATRED IN GAMES CULTURE
Friday, 7:30pm in Albatross Theater
GAMES SO BAD THEY'RE GOOD
Saturday, 6:00pm in BumbleBee Theater
I'll also likely be tweeting likely the whole time, so if you're not already following @The_MovieBob you should probably start.
I'll probably be out and about at PAX and surrounding areas starting around 1-2pm on Friday, so please feel free to stop, say hi, take a picture, buy a book, whatever. I'm also scheduled to appear on two panels, as follows:
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO END BILE AND HATRED IN GAMES CULTURE
Friday, 7:30pm in Albatross Theater
GAMES SO BAD THEY'RE GOOD
Saturday, 6:00pm in BumbleBee Theater
I'll also likely be tweeting likely the whole time, so if you're not already following @The_MovieBob you should probably start.
Manic Pixie Dream God
"What would you do if something challenged your scientific beliefs?" Um... I dunno, maybe point out that there's no such thing as a "scientific belief?"
Looks like this might be a good year for the Smart Movies With Stupid Premises subgenre of science fiction. First up is Wally Pfister's "TRANSCENDENCE," which thus far looks like nothing so much as a preemptive anti-Singularity hit-piece ("Don't let the smart people become TOO smart!!! It might not work out so well for the normals!!!" Heaven forbid...)
Now we have the trailer for "I, ORIGINS" (just wait till you see how the title is actually a pun,) Mike Cahill's follow-up to "ANOTHER EARTH." It's yet another movie about a dorky, introverted nerd (Michael Pitt) whose life is turned upside-down for the better by a whirlwind romance with a quirky, flighty, spin-dancing-for-no-reason, Zooey-Deschanel-as-a-Portland-area-kindergarten-teacher dreamgirl (Astrid Berges-Frisbey.) The nominal twist this time? Instead of coaxing our dweeb hero out of his introversion or giving him the confidence to finally finish that novel/play/startup, Organic Food-Truck Tinkerbell cures him of atheism.
No, for real. That's apparently our premise this time: Pitt is an evolutionary biologist specializing in the human eye, who's grand ambition is to explode for once and for all the popular Creationist assertion that the complexities of the eye are evidence for Intelligent Design. But after getting good n' Garden-State'd by Burning Man Barbie ("Why are you working so hard to disprove God??"), he's chasing mystical albino peacocks to India because hey, maybe reincarnation is a thing.
Looks like this might be a good year for the Smart Movies With Stupid Premises subgenre of science fiction. First up is Wally Pfister's "TRANSCENDENCE," which thus far looks like nothing so much as a preemptive anti-Singularity hit-piece ("Don't let the smart people become TOO smart!!! It might not work out so well for the normals!!!" Heaven forbid...)
Now we have the trailer for "I, ORIGINS" (just wait till you see how the title is actually a pun,) Mike Cahill's follow-up to "ANOTHER EARTH." It's yet another movie about a dorky, introverted nerd (Michael Pitt) whose life is turned upside-down for the better by a whirlwind romance with a quirky, flighty, spin-dancing-for-no-reason, Zooey-Deschanel-as-a-Portland-area-kindergarten-teacher dreamgirl (Astrid Berges-Frisbey.) The nominal twist this time? Instead of coaxing our dweeb hero out of his introversion or giving him the confidence to finally finish that novel/play/startup, Organic Food-Truck Tinkerbell cures him of atheism.
No, for real. That's apparently our premise this time: Pitt is an evolutionary biologist specializing in the human eye, who's grand ambition is to explode for once and for all the popular Creationist assertion that the complexities of the eye are evidence for Intelligent Design. But after getting good n' Garden-State'd by Burning Man Barbie ("Why are you working so hard to disprove God??"), he's chasing mystical albino peacocks to India because hey, maybe reincarnation is a thing.
I'm On This Podcast So Watch This Podcast
ALSO: If you've noticed that there have been slightly less-frequent updates to this main blog this week, it's because I'm now part of The Escapist's news team; so a lot of movie-news and trailer stuff I might otherwise have been tossing up here have instead become news posts there. If you'd like to stay current, here's a handy link to ALL of my posts, shows and articles on the site.
In Case You Were Wondering, Janeway is STILL The Worst Captain (UPDATED)
There are two kinds of people in the world: Thinkers and Believers.
UPDATE: That is, in fact, Kate Mulgrew's voice narrating the pro-geocentrism documentary bankrolled by anti-semitic Holocaust-denying Christian Fundamentalist Robert Sungenis, but apparently she was mislead into the voiceover work.
\
Man, but that's sad. I know not everyone gets to have the post-Captain career of Shatner or Patrick Stewart, but GEEZ... you don't see Sisko doing this shit...
UPDATE: That is, in fact, Kate Mulgrew's voice narrating the pro-geocentrism documentary bankrolled by anti-semitic Holocaust-denying Christian Fundamentalist Robert Sungenis, but apparently she was mislead into the voiceover work.
\
Man, but that's sad. I know not everyone gets to have the post-Captain career of Shatner or Patrick Stewart, but GEEZ... you don't see Sisko doing this shit...
ANNOUNCEMENT: MovieBob Will Be At CONBRAVO 2014!
Yes, it's true - we're taking this circus to CANADA!
Details on panels, appearances, etc will be announced at a later date. Me, I'm just hoping modern Canada hasn't been over-sold to me :)
Details on panels, appearances, etc will be announced at a later date. Me, I'm just hoping modern Canada hasn't been over-sold to me :)
