quick list: five really relevant filmmakers working now
With a look at balancing brains and appeal and impact, here are the filmmakers who are driving what we watch, how we talk about it, and what’s to come.
Dinner for Schmucks (review)
It’s not so much *Dinner for Schmucks* as it is *Waiting for Dinner for Schmucks.* You know, like *Waiting for Godot,* only in reverse. Because the schmucks start showing up right as the damn movie starts, and they never go away.
trailer break: ‘Smash His Camera’
Take a break from work: watch a trailer… Someone had to be the first papparazzo. If it wasn’t this guy, Ron Galella, he was close. Smash His Camera opens in New York on July 30; no Canadian or U.K. release dates have been announced.
question of the day: Is the shutdown of the UK Film Council good or bad for British film?
This week the British government announced the shutdown the UK Film Council. Is the decision tragically naive, or is there reason not to despair?
watch it: “Acting With James Franco Episode 1: ‘Sense Memory’”
I love that Franco is so playful about his own image: Acting With James Franco Episode 1: “Sense Memory” from James Franco
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Complete Book 1 Collection (review)
At the behest of several readers who appear to believe they know my taste better than I know it, and also in an attempt to figure out just what the hell M. Night Shyamalan was thinking with his The Last Airbender, I watched the entire first season of Nickelodeon’s pseudo-anime series Avatar: The Last Airbender.
quick list: five terrible spy movies
As a followup to yesterday’s five great spy movies, herewith five really terrible ones… and I find it interesting that the spy movie seems to go so wrong when comedy is attempted. Given the ubiquitousness of terrible movies, this list is far from comprehensive, so please do chime with more really awful spy movies. The … more…
‘Doctor Who’ thing of the day: “Lost In The Dark Dimension” fan trailer
So apparently there were some mad plans for a 1993 30th-anniversary special that never panned out, involving a story about Tom Baker’s Doctor not regenerating into Peter Davison and so all the universe is in trouble or something. It never happened, of course, but since when would that stop fans from fantasizing about it? “Castrovalva” … more…
calling bullshit on: ‘Toy Story 3’s miraculous seven-day U.K. “opening weekend”
Jesus could make a couple of loaves of bread and a few fish feed a crowd. But only Hollywood can make a weekend last seven days. Recently I wrote a piece for Film.com about Wednesday openings for films, what the purpose of them is, and if they make sense. The context was: Why move Knight … more…
you’re not helping: M. Night Shyamalan la-la-la can’t hear you…
…you people who hate his films more and more with each passing release. At least that’s how it sounds from a bizarre exchange at a recent press conference to promote The Last Airbender, as reported by Chicago Now’s Marcus Leshock. First came the question from a journalist: You had a very strong start of your … more…
