BLOGS
July 2008 Archives
So, you've probably been wondering what Alex Winter is up to. Winter exploded to superstardom as Bill S. Preston, Esquire, in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, as well as their subsequent bogus journey, and then created The Idiot Box for MTV and Freaked for circus/weed/Randy Quaid enthusiasts everywhere. Since then, he's been directing TV shows and music videos, and he's about to direct a follow-up to his smash-hit superhero movie from last year. ...You have no idea what movie we're talking about, do you?
As you've undoubtedly read by now, Christian Bale was arrested (and later released without charges) in London earlier this week after police responded to reports of verbal assault that were allegedly called in by Bale's sister and mom. WTF, Christian? Just because no one's singing your praises for being the straight man in the excellent-as-all-get-out new Batman flick doesn't mean you have to freak out on your mom and sister, dude. That old chestnut about all publicity being good publicity? Doesn't really extend to domestic abuse.
Time and experience has led me to extrapolate that the filmic offerings of Will Ferrell tend to go one of three ways: Funny But Forgettable (as in Talladega Nights), Surprisingly Hilarious (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy), or Pointlessly Heinous (Blades of Glory). It is a rare confluence of factors that produces a genuine comedic achievement like Anchorman and elevates it above the run-of-the-mill masturbatory poo he so frequently churns out. Sadly, Step Brothers most assuredly does not fall into this last category of insta-classic comedy. The jury is still out on which of the remaining two it ultimately belongs in, but after seeing a screening of it last night and feeling particularly generous after my twelfth caffeinated beverage of the day, I'm gonna vote on Funny But Forgettable.
Filming for Terminator Salvation is about half complete. Optimism has been cautiously building for this film since Christian Bale signed on late last year, and the impressive cast just keeps growing with additions like Josh Brolin and Helena Bonham Carter, along with rising star Sam Worthington. The main thing that's been keeping some franchise fans (myself included) from looking forward to this one with abandon is its director. Here's a guy who reimagined Charlie's Angels as an action-filled cheese-fest of fun, then followed it up with a sequel that was an action-filled snooze-fest of noise. Bigger and louder seemed to be the order of the day. Even with the well-received We Are Marshall now under his directorial belt, McG still wasn't winning a lot of converts. That may start to change, now, thanks to McG's own words, as written in the movie's official blog.
Sometimes movies are based on video games and sometimes video games are based on movies. Usually in the latter's case, the release of a game coincides with the movie's premiere, or precedes it a little to help generate interest in the film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Digital entertainment has decided to eschew convention by digging into its library of past movies that it will then adapt into "casual games." Just how far back are they digging? Try twenty-two years, for starters.
Ferocia stupenda! Christian Siriano is debuting his couture line in the forthcoming movie Eloise In Paris! Get all the pertinent deets over in the Telefile, mkah?
Calliope was the muse of epic poetry. Urania was the muse of astronomy. Terpsichore was the muse of song and dance. Val Kilmer was the muse of... Mike Myers? He didn't conspire to inspire Myers (hey, that rhymes! Thanks, Calliope!) to create The Love Guru -- we can thank Deepak Chopra for that pile of inspiration -- but he did inspire the former Saturday Night Live comedian in another of his creations. One of his smaller creations, in fact. A miniature, if you will. As Val Kilmer confessed to MTV recently, he was behind the creation of Mini-Me.
I know you've been really stressed about what to get me for Hannukah, being that it's a mere five months away. Well, you can relax. I got a gander at the schmancy tenth anniversary edition of The Big Lebowski and oh my god. Want. Need. Must have. Look at the prettiness of it! Not only does it house the best movie ever created, it provides instant interior decorating mojo. Stick that thing on your coffee table and presto change-o you have a sweet new centerpiece/conversation starter. Put it on top of your toilet to give your bathroom an air of classiness. Position it prominently in your bedroom and watch as it works its magnetic bowling ball magic. Screw the rug. This thing will really tie the room together.
Djimon Hounsou made quite a stir back in March when he revealed that he was developing his "dream project," something that had to do with Conan comic books -- especially since a Conan movie is in the works without a cast attached. But rumors of Hounsou playing Conan were officially put to rest today with the announcement that he will play Thulsa Doom, a character from the Conan and Red Sonja comics, who was played by James Earl Jones in Conan the Barbarian.
Tobey Maguire loves his Pleasantville and Seabiscuit director, Gary Ross, so much that he's teaming up with him yet again for The Crusaders. It's not about the actual Crusaders, as in Christians who took part in the Crusades. It's about the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education. Maguire will play Jack Greenberg, a young idealist lawyer who helps the NAACP win the case that made segregation in schools illegal.
Blog Categories
A Festival for the Rest...ival
25 Entries
Accidents Do Happen
46 Entries
Adventures in Fakery
77 Entries
Animation Desensitization
80 Entries
Awards Schmawards
17 Entries
Box Office Tally
79 Entries
Burning Questions
6 Entries
Coming Soonish
9 Entries
Cool Nerds Guide
6 Entries
Director? I Hardly Knew Her!
156 Entries
DVDs Unwrapped
25 Entries
For Your Amusement (Park)
10 Entries
Foreign Relations
54 Entries
Galleries (and Other Picture Postcards)
23 Entries
Gangster's Paradise
5 Entries
Getting Dramatic
5 Entries
Girls on Film
80 Entries
Happy Anniversary
10 Entries
Hollywood To TWoP: Hello There!
40 Entries
I Voted for GORE!
103 Entries
I Want My DVD
236 Entries
I Want My VOD
24 Entries
I've Got Two Tickets to Merchandise
33 Entries
IMDb Fun Times
6 Entries
Indie Snapshot
57 Entries
Indie, Indie, Come Back Home
40 Entries
It Came From New York
7 Entries
It Came From San Diego
14 Entries
It's a Major Award!
75 Entries
Legal Eaglese
21 Entries
Let's Blame the Media!
49 Entries
Let's Go To The Video!
29 Entries
Letterbox of Recommendations
22 Entries
Lights, Camera... Action Jackson!
184 Entries
Little TV Shows That Done Hit the Big Time
71 Entries
Martial Artistry
11 Entries
Momentous Occasions
25 Entries
More On Movies
38 Entries
Movie Merchandise
4 Entries
Musicalifornication
48 Entries
Obituaries Without Pity
23 Entries
Oscars and Grouchery
11 Entries
Pros and Controversy
26 Entries
Read All About It
5 Entries
Real People, Fake Movies
25 Entries
Remakes R Us
8 Entries
Reviews of Movies We Haven't Seen Yet
43 Entries
Reviews of Movies We've Actually Seen
517 Entries
Scary Monsters & Super Creeps
105 Entries
Sci-Fidelity
151 Entries
Script From the Headlines!
56 Entries
Separate but Sequel
249 Entries
Sequelitis
24 Entries
Shameless Self-Promotion
27 Entries
Sports in Our Shorts
7 Entries
Strike Watch
14 Entries
Stupid Cinematic Celebrity Sayings
34 Entries
Sundance Sundance Revolution
13 Entries
Taste the Reading Rainbow
94 Entries
The Biz
122 Entries
The Casting Conch
192 Entries
The History, Booooyyyyy!
80 Entries
The Kongs of Comedy
206 Entries
Theatre With an "R" and an "E"
11 Entries
Trailer Trashing
73 Entries
Trailers Without Pity
37 Entries
Video Games Killed the Movie Star
23 Entries
We Call Do-Over
177 Entries
We Watches the Watchmen
33 Entries
What's Up, Documentary?
17 Entries
When Animal Movies Attack
14 Entries
You Got Comic Book in My Movie
251 Entries
You Know, For Kids!
132 Entries