Recently in Sci-Fidelity Category

2012, As Told Via Twitter (Spoiler Alert!)

The disaster movie 2012 had a blockbuster opening weekend, with $65 million domestically, and over $160 million internationally, making the planned 2013 TV series a sure thing. For those of you who didn't see it, it ostensibly was about a scientist (Chiwetel Ejiofor) helping his boss (Oliver Platt) and the president (Danny Glover) put together a massive international effort to save the human race from a scientifically predicted apocalypse. But it mainly followed a divorced couple -- played by John Cusack and Amanda Peet -- as they tried to get their kids to safety, with help from a crazy conspiracy theorist (Woody Harrelson) and a Tibetan monk. Although it wasn't shown in the movie, everyone was Twittering like a fury even as civilization crumbled around them, and we've got a transcript below. Warning: Spoilers abound.

The Box: What's in the Box? Disappointment

There are certain movies that we can tell are going to be bad just by watching the trailers, but sometimes circumstances (an insistent date, limited options, writing a review, etc.) dictate that we go see these movies anyway. When that happens, things can go one of two ways: either the movie is pleasantly surprising, or it is worse than you could have ever possibly imagined. The Box is unfortunately the latter.

Gentlemen Broncos: It's Like Napoleon Dynamite With a Plot and Acting

Apparently, it is impossible for Netflix to predict if someone will like Napoleon Dynamite. The movie is so quirky and strange that there are no movies where somebody can click "I like this" and have that translate to being a good match for Napoleon. Which is understandable -- after all, the movie has few jokes, little physical comedy, and most of its humor comes from awkward scenarios where unknown or nonprofessional actors wear hideous outfits and don't speak much. That said, a lot of people find it hysterical, particularly the bizarre vocal inflections of its lead characters. Some have even shelled out for the talking action figures. Director Jared Hess' latest movie, Gentlemen Broncos, has no action figures, sadly, but it does have a lot of similarities with Napoleon. However, the addition of a plot -- and three dynamic, talented actors -- turns it into a completely different beast.

Surrogates: The Fake Bruce Willises We Know and Love

In Bruce Willis' new film, he plays a cop who has a robotic duplicate. But looking at the duplicate's goofy hair and stony expression, we have to wonder -- haven't we seen this robot before? Willis has gone through a lot of different looks and personalities in his movies, which makes us wonder how many of them were the real Bruce and how many were simply surrogates. Check out our handy guide to the many acting robots of Bruce Willis, and see exactly which model you've been cheering on all these years.

So You're Remaking Highlander? Here's What Not to Do

For many Highlander fans, there can be only one. The 1986 original, with its Queen soundtrack and Clancy Brown as the villainous Kurgen, is considered a classic, while its sequels... not so much. Besides being a blatant screed against global warming, Highlander 2 ridiculously gave the franchise a sci-fi twist and revived and rejuvenated its dead or aging characters, and the films went downhill from there. Now that Summit Entertainment is developing a remake with Fast and Furious director Justin Lin and Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, I feel an obligation to give them a few tips to prevent their new franchise from going down the same road as the original.

I Want My DVD: Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Depending on how you feel about security guards, Lyme disease, Matthew McConaughey, claymation, Avatar and the French, this is either a very good week for DVDs or the worst week ever.

I Want My DVD: Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Angela Lansbury, Jason Statham and Valentino Garavani walk into a bar. The bar explodes. End of joke. Start of the weirdest week in movies on DVD ever.

Gamer: If You Saw All About Steve Instead, You Lose

If you thought Neveldine and Taylor's previous film outings, Crank and Crank High Voltage, were like live-action video games, Gamer takes it to the logical next step. Imagine the kinetic violence and sex of Crank combined with that Chappelle's Show sketch where Dave goes on the Internet, a nondescript mall where Ron Jeremy shows you his junk and people give you free illegal movies, and you start to get an idea of what this movie is like.

Trailers Without Pity: Avatar

Who could have predicted that James Cameron's follow-up to Titanic would take 12 years to realize and would be entirely about blue aliens living on another planet? A lucky few got to see 20 minutes of preview footage in IMAX theaters across the country on Avatar Day, but the rest of you have had to content yourselves with the online trailer, which has a lot going on in it, a lot of which looks kinda familiar. Luckily, Omar G. and Pablo G. watched it as well, and they talk all about in in their latest video installment of "Trailers Without Pity"... or, rather, their blue, animated avatars talk about it, which makes the whole thing very derivative. Like Avatar! Check it out below!

Halloween 3 Will Be in 3-D, But What About These Other Threequels?

After Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 was defeated in its opening weekend by The Final Destination in 3-D, the producers of the Halloween franchise revealed that the just-announced Halloween 3 will actually be Halloween 3-D. While unsurprising, given the resurgence in 3-D's popularity, this particular 3-D-ification is a sly homage to the early 1980s, when it seemed like the third installment of a horror franchise -- Jaws 3-D, Amityville 3-D, Friday the 13th Part III -- was legally required to be watched through cardboard glasses. (The original Halloween 3, ironically, passed on the gimmick.) And that got us thinking -- what if all third installments of movies had to be released in 3-D? Some would be awesome, and some just plain ridiculous. Here's some quick takes.

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