Tuesday, March 30, 2004

More Trailers!

Apple.com has the trailer for Dodgeball up in a pristine, non-TV ripped format (oh, goodie) and an exlusive clip.
Not enough for ya? How's about the French teaser for Kill Bill Vol. 2? Or The Day After Tomorrow? Or Monster? Maybe the trailer to Almodovar's Bad Education would be more to your liking? Of the teaser to Garden State?
If clips are more to your liking, there's a whole mess of clips from Walking Tall over at Latino Review.
And, if you're feeing ambitious, there's 20 seconds of footage from the international trailer for Spider-Man 2 over at the official site.

Monday, March 29, 2004

A New Week, Some New Trailers

Wanna see something scary? Then click here for the Catwoman trailer. Ain't It Cool News is so useful for getting good trailer links, isn't it?
Try here or here for a bootleg Spidey trailer from Showest. Or check here to see what Dodgeball is all about.
There's a new trailer for Appleseed up at the official site in Windows Media.

Sunday, March 28, 2004

Howard Shore is a Sexy Bitch and Other Tales from the Symphony

Columbus seems to want to take over as geek capital of the world.
Why else would they get the superwonderful US premiere of Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings Symphony, conducted by Shore himself?
Yes, this is the town that produced the Mark Edward Heuck, the Movie Geek from Beat the Geeks. But he's small potatoes. This event is tantamount to getting the first screening ever of Hellboy, except cooler (Eat that, Austin!). Considering I've never thought of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra as anything but well-meaning semi-pros, this concert came off like a Mud Hens sweeping the Yanks in the World Series.
While he composed the scores for the three movies that make up the Lord of the Rings, Shore concurrently worked on condensing and compiling the twelve hours of music into a six movement symphony to be performed by orchestra (in this case, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra), chorus (The Otterbein College Concert Camerata Choir and Concert Choir), children's chorus (The Columbus Children's Whour New World Singers) and a soloist (Norwegian hottie Sissel...meeeeeeeeooow).
With a backdrop of conceptual art by Alan Lee and John Howe, the CSO brought every key moment of the trilogy to vibrant life. The sound was crisp and clear and wondrous and I often found myself closing my eyes to remember favorite moments from the films as they unfolded to my ears. Truth to tell, the concert went by too fast. The two hours seemed like 20 minutes and the ten minute standing ovation didn't seem quite enough.
My guess? Everyone seemed to be having too much fun. The musicians wore ear to ear grins, Shore looked about to burst with joy and Sissel just sat and looked gorgeous until time came for her to sing.

Here's the track listing for the symphony:

Part One: The Fellowship of the Ring

Movement One

The Prophecy - Concerning Hobbits - The Shadow of the Past - A Short Cut to Mushrooms - The Old Forest - A Knife in the Dark

Movement Two
Many Meetings - The Ring Goes South - A Journey in the Dark - The Bridge of Kazad-dum - Lothloriem - Gandalf's Lament - Farewell to Lorien - The Great River - The Breaking of the Fellowship

Part Two: The Two Towers

Movement Three

Foundations of Stone - The Taming of Smeagol - The Riders of Rohan - The Black Gate is Closed - Evenstar - The White Rider - Treebeard - The Forbidden Pool

Movement Four
The Hornburg - Forth Eorlingas - Isengard Unleashed - Gollum's Song

Part Three: The Return of the King

Movement Five

Hope and Memory - The White Tree - The Steward of Gondor - Cirith Ungol - Anduril

Movement Six
The End of All Things - The Return of the King - The Grey Havens - Into the West

If the lineup seems overly heavy on material from FOTR, that's definitely the case. But, since a good portion of the themes established in Fellowship continue on into the subsequent movies, it's really unnecessary to revisit them in the symphony format.
If you have a love of fine music or great movies, you simply MUST see this concert. It's a once in a lifetime event, and only playing in a few more locations: Antwerp, Belgium; London, England; Atlanta, Georgia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; Ottawa, Ontario; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a just added show in Los Angeles, California. As word gets out, those tix will disappear folks. Don't miss out.

For a wonderful article on the tour: check THIS out
...or, check HERE for a fan site with links to additional dates in the US

Thursday, March 25, 2004

The Dao of Jacob

Just because Jacob demands it...a direct link to the new trailer for Garfield.

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

New Harry Potter Trailer!

The full trailer for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has hit. Go get it!

In other trailer news, Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius has a trailer up, as if you care...

Saturday, March 20, 2004

Sand is over rated, but this movie isn't.

Hey. I saw Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind yesterday. What can I say about this movie, I really enjoyed it. I read the script a while back, and I was confused because with out visuals, I really couldn't tell what was going on, but I did like what I read. Jim Carey and Kate Winslet had very solid characters. They were opposites in my eyes, and they balanced each other out quite nicely. As far as Elijah Wood goes, well he doesn't. i felt like he just went in, did his lines and left..no character whatsoever..and he played the guy off wayyyyy too dumb..like he was a 15 year old girl worrying if everyone liked 'him' or not. Mark Ruffalo is super funny in this movie, I can't think of something off the top of my head that I have seen him in, But he did a good job in this film, though I could have done without that ass shot *at least he had a nice even tan*. Kirsten, kirsten... When I read this I thought Mary was a bit older, she was too young (in my mind). She wasn't the weakest link..but she came really close. And in the end there was Howard, played out well by Tom Wilkinson, who is great in EVERYTHING. I love him in The Full Monty, and In The Bedroom. He is such a good actor, he wasn't too hot, nor too cold, he was just right for this part. Oh I just realized that I spent all this time on characters. Ok so short analysis. The narration with the film was excellent, timing was right. This film was verrrrry different. It was shot with hand held cameras, well that's what it looked like to me, but I think it was actually a good idea. I mean for me it felt like Joel and Clementine's relationship was parallel with how the film was shot, shakey at times. The dialogue between characters was uncomfortable, especially with elijah wood's character. He was so dry. He had little screen time, so it didn't bother much, but it did enough to write about it. Overall I give this movie an steady (unlike the camera) 8 out of 10. I went in with high expectations, and this movie pretty much hit its mark *ruffalo*.

Friday, March 19, 2004

Trailer Bonanza!

New spots for Van Helsing, Shaolin Soccer (which still looks to be the absolutely shitty dub), Hellboy (and a wee little spot here), The Last Shot, The Notebook, Mr. 3000, Coffee and Cigarettes, Devilman, Kill Bill Volume 2, Otomo's Steamboy, Umizaru, God Diva aka Immortel (Ad Vitam) and the Japanese trailer for Cold Mountain.

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

Dawn of the Dead review!

So, a couple weeks ago, my friend Bryan (a great guy, I might add, since more people should kiss his ass) emailed me and asked me if I was interested in a sneak of the remake of Dawn of the Dead.
What? Like I turn down the chance to see a movie for free?
Keep in mind, that attitude got me in to watch Batman and Robin and Speed 2: Cruise Control in the same week. I've been burned before, but I'm too stupid NOT to go. As screening time approached, I was actually instructed to gather all of the faithful troops I could muster (which ended up being just me, my friend Dave and his son Gio) and meet Brian down at the AMC Lennox for the flick. Then, we're informed that they've sent out too many passes and that no one else will be admitted. Bad sign, right? Nah. My boy Bryan (remember, I'm out to kiss his ass?) takes the theater staff aside and says we're in. Gotta love him.

The movie opens rather innocently with a nurse named Ana (Sarah Polley) getting off her shift at the local hospital somewhere in Wisconsin. Things are weird, and there are people in intensive care from minor bite wounds.
Ana drives home and sees the neighbor girl out in the street. The two exchange suburban pleasantries and the little girl skates off. Ana boffs her boyfriend and misses a crucial special report on the news...BIG MISTAKE.
Of course, as morning arrives, so does the neighbor girl, who makes a meal out of the boyfriend. Boyfriend dies. Boyfriend gets up. BAD NEWS.

Yessir, it's a zombie movie. But, these zombies are a wee bit more active than the old shambling dead. They growl. They run (at first). They take a bit of getting used to, since we're used to things more the Romero way.
Ana manages to get out before her boyfriend tears her a new one, gets in her car and tries desperately to get out of Dodge. No such luck. She gets in a car accident and wakes up to find a cop named Kenneth (Ving Rhames) standing over her. They then run into a few more survivors (Jake Weber, Mekhi Pfifer and Ina Korobkina) and hole up in a shopping mall, where they discover a trio of mallguards.
As soon as they're comfortable, they're joined by a few more survivors who arrive in a delivery truck. This group, however, contains two people who have been bitten by the zombies, and we know what that means...

The survivors also befriend Andy (Bruce Bohne), the owner of the gun store across the way, but can't get over to him because of the sea of undead in the parking lot. Yup, the zombies have come to the mall, perhaps guided by old memories...perhaps by hunger.
The intrepid mallrats come up with a plan to get out and take the slimy rich guy Steve's (Ty Burrell) boat out to some islands in hope of finding safe haven. They decide to rig up the malls parking shuttles all Mad Max like and bust their way out. Of course, the zombies have other ideas...
There are a couple cool cameos, including Tom Savini as a rural sheriff and Ken Foree as a preacher who gets to utter the immortal "When there's no more room in hell..." line. There's also quite a bit of humor in the film -- more than I expected -- but this might be because it's more an action movie than a horror movie. The emphasis on speed changes a lot of things. The zombies attack more fiercely, for one. But, the timetable seems more frenetic as well. Someone needs to get food to Andy, for instance.
There are a few little plot holes and some loose ends, but what's that matter? It's not like this is high art. It's a damn zombie movie. I could, however, have done without Mekhi Phifer's character and his girlfriend entirely. They're both annoying and they're just there to set up a nasty visual gag. The time they spent on screen could have given us a better chance to know some of the characters. There's not a lot of time for that, what with the size of the cast and the breakneck pace of the movie.
The new film isn't as smart as George Romero's classic. It doesn't have the original's satire or social commentary. If you're going expecting that, don't. You won't be happy. If you go just expecting to have fun, you'll do that. The remake isn't bad by a longshot. It's just not a classic.

New Cartoon from Matt and Trey!

Check out Princess from the creators of South Park! (WARNING: IS WHOLLY AND TOTALLY OBSCENE...BUT HILARIOUS)

Monday, March 15, 2004

What's Your Favorite Swearword?

Click here and think of your own favorite...

Kitchen Stories trailer...

Sure it says that it's in contention for the "upcoming Academy Awards, but this JUST came online...honest!

Bunnies! Possessed by the Devil!

It's the Exorcist in 30 Seconds!

All hail Kannibal for passing this one along.

Sunday, March 14, 2004

Some Utterly INSANE Stuff for Ya!

Check this guy out...
I don't care how in shape the guy is...you do not jump in between buildings for fun unless you're utterly nuts.
Someone used what I think if footage of the same guy for this fan trailer.

Movies You Really Should Own (and Don’t) Volume 4

May

(2003, directed by Lucky McKee)
Available on DVD from Lion's Gate Home Entertainment


May is the first certifiable horror classic of the 21st Century.
That's a bold assertion, but one I've made a number of times. Good horror, like good sci fi, tends to be less about scares and more about the human condition. This particular movie is one of the best depictions of the alienation of the awkward and uncomfortable I've ever seen. We've all been the odd man out some time. We've felt out of place. May is about a person who lives every day like that.

May Dove Canady (Angela Bettis) is lonesome and awkward and friendless. She has no one, no social skills and a lazy eye that skews her outlook on the world. She grew up sheltered and was never prepared for adulthood and its pressures. Like many women, she thinks of herself as ugly and imperfect.
The closest thing to a friend she has is a creepy China doll in a glass case that she receieved as a small child.
She lives alone with a collection of less malevolent dolls in her parents' old house. She has great skill as a seamstress, manufacturing her own clothes and sewing up injured animals. She tries to talk to people. She tries to reach out, but all her attempts fail.

May meets a man named Adam Stubbs (Jeremy Sisto) who has a fascination with the strange and unusual. May is strange and unusual, so there's a bit of a spark between the two. Thing is, May doesn't understand the mating dance, doesn't understand human relationships and truly is stranger than the fictions that Adam is enamored of. After a pathetic first date, Adam doesn't want anything to do with her, and May can't understand why.
Her flirtation with Adam is paralleled by a budding friendship with her coworker Polly (Anna Faris), a lesbian who mistakes May's naivetie as an invitation. Polly enjoys the danger of May's preoccupation with pain and death, and chooses May to look after her cat when she can no longer keep it at her apartment.

May doesn't understand rejection, and keeps looking for acceptance from someone...anyone. She volunteers at a school for the blind, hoping they will look past her exterior and love her. No dice. An attempt to introduce her class to her only other friend, her doll, ends with the doll and its case being damaged.

As the doll's condition deteriorates, so does May's. She obsesses over finding a friend to the point where she takes matters into her own hands and sets out to actually make herself a friend in the literal sense of making. The end result is, of course, both horrifying and tragic.
Still, you never lose sympathy for Bettis' broken outsider. You want to protect her. You want to help. But you know you can't. Bettis walks a thin line between strength and broken fragility, between love and madness. Her performance anchors the film and brings unexpected and wonderful pathos to what, in hands less skilled than hers, could have been just another rote horror role. Though she currently seems mired in horror typecasting (she previously played the lead in the TV miniseries adaptation of Steven King's novel Carrie and is the lead in Tobe Hooper's Toolbox Murders), I sincerely hope she gets her hands on some meatier scripts outside of genre film. She's got the chops for bigger things.
McKee's feature debut received only a token release in the theaters, as Lion's Gate opted to push Rob Zombie's crap opus House of 1000 Corpses instead. That's a shame. More people needed to see this movie in the theaters. Thankfully, because of DVD, more people can be exposed to it in the privacy of their own homes. If you haven't seen May yet, it's not just worth a rental. It's a worthy purchase.

Saturday, March 13, 2004

Spartan review!

Val Kilmer is on a roll, damn it.
After Salton Sea and Wonderland, you'd think that Kilmer would fuck up.
No such luck. This time out, he's working for ace writer/director David Mamet, so there's really no chance that this movie wouldn't NOT be good.

Well, it's great and I still didn't expect what I got. Spartan is the smartest American action movie since Ronin. It drops you straight into the story, doesn't tell you squat, and expects you to keep up. You meet Kilmer's character, find out he's some sort of government operative and find out the president's daughter is missing.
From there, the movie propels you forward at a rapid pace, through double and triple and quadruple crosses, plot twists and a cast of great character actors including Derek Luke, William H Macy and Ed O'Neil.

Nothing is as it seems. No one is totally innocent. And every corner you turn could kill you. Mamet's world is shadowy and dangerous, and Kilmer's unnamed agent is the perfect man to navigate its alleys and cul de sacs. He's a soldier...a weapon. Point him in a direction and he does his mission, no questions asked.

I'll say no more about the plot. Suffice it to say, it's worth the ride. Just see the damn movie, okay?

Thursday, March 11, 2004

Obligatory Trailer Posting #326

The lameass trailer for I, Robot is finally here. Wheee.
Along those same lines...the German sci-fi parody (T)Raumschiff Surprise: Periode 1 actually makes me almost want to see I, Robot instead.
We also have crappy Windows Media trailers for Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring and the anime videos Tenchi Muyo GXP - Vol. 1: Out of This World, Yu Yu Hakusho: Chapter Black Saga - Terrible Truths and Yu Yu Hakusho: Chapter Black Saga - The Seven . I hate Windows Media...

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Trailerama!

Bunch of new stuff...the trailer for The Whole Ten Yards is up over at apple.com (direct link here), but you've already got that, right?
Better news...the UK trailer for Thunderbirds is up! It looks like the same old trailer they've had up in the UK for ages with the goofy frame around it...except there's a little something extra tacked on the end...
We also have a trailer for United States of Leland and a direct link of yesterday's Aliens vs Predator internet trailer. What the hell, here's a link to the original teaser as well.
Happy watching, folks.

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

NEW GODZILLA TEASER!!!


That's right -- the teaser for Godzilla: Final Wars is up at the official site.

Also...a new internet exclusive trailer for Aliens vs Predator.

Sunday, March 07, 2004

Trailer Hunting

A couple new trailers I should point out. First off are Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself and Carandiru over at apple.com. Then, in case you missed it the first time, the trailers for Agents Secrets over at cinemovies.fr, just because it opens in France at the end of the month and stars power couple Vincent Cassell and Monica Bellucci.

Thursday, March 04, 2004

Yay. It's a Disaster Movie (Yawn)

New trailer for The Day After Tomorrow. Wake me when it's over.

Here's the link for the American version of that new Troy trailer, too.

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

Three New Trailers

Trailers for Maestro and Soul Plane up on apple.com. And, courtesy of Fishbulb...the Shaun of the Dead teaser. And, thanks to Ain't It Cool, a French teaser and trailer for Ong-Bak.

Oh, a tiny thing I forgot to mention.
VICTORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Ok so that's all, yay LORD OF THE RINGS! I knew it. No one listened when I said LOTR: ROTK would sweep, but hey, who listens to me. WEEEEEEEE.

Hello cinephiles. I bet you missed me, or did you even notice my absence? I would like to apologize..now your citadel is back, rejoice. Well that’s all..

Oh wait I saw Chasing Liberty, but it wasn’t worth it for me to even mention, in fact I forgot about it up to now, and the only funny thing I heard was the line “You knockin’ my air Jesus(es)?” refrerring to a lively little brit who was completely hyperbolized..and exaggerated, like I expected him to grab a broom and start yelling “Aye GOVNAH” and then I laughed because I pictured him doing a tiny british jig..haha well that’s it, Mandy Mediocre was moore, woops Mandy Moore was mediocre..either way, it fits right?

Also, I’d like to give a ‘word up’ to Cliff Carson, who I’ll be telling you a bit more about soon, after I watch his film that he asked me to review.

Later PO-TA-TOES

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

Trailers, Trailers, Trailers...

Apple.com finally has a quicktime trailer up for Mean Girls. Also a wee clip from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (with an alternate site to download it here), Distant, the original teaser for The Machinist (took a bit of looking to find it) and a quicktime version of the trailer for Saved!.

Bit of news from cinemovies.fr:

Leonardo DiCaprio could reteam with Martin Scorsese

published Tuesday March 02, 2004

Indeed, after Gangs of New York and The Aviator, Leonardo DiCaprio could work again with Martin Scorsese. The star is in negotiations to star in Infernal Affairs, a film which Scorsese will direct for Warner Bros.
Based on the Hong Kong trilogy of the same name ("Wu jian CAD" in Chinese) directed by Alan Mak Siu-Fai and Andrew Lau Wai-Keung, the project will be produced by Scorsese, with Brad Grey, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt via their company of production Plan B. It is even whispered as Brad Pitt may hold one of the roles of film!...
...William Monahan wrote the American adaptation. He is also the author of the script for Kingdom of Heaven, which currently Ridley Scott is currently attached to, Mazar E Sharif for Columbia, Tripoli for Fox, and Jurassic Park IV for Universal. In short, he's not unemployed!
Leonardo DiCaprio, who has just finished The Aviator, should join soon the cast of The Good Shepherd, the new directorial effort of Robert De Niro. He will find then reteam with the director of Romeo+Juliet, Baz Luhrmann, for Alexander the Great.

For the entire article (in French), click here...