7 Dollar Popcorn

I wanted to leave GoDaddy anyways

2012-01-26T20:27:00.002-05:00

There's no one to blame but myself.

You may have noticed that 7dollarpopcorn.com no longer gets you here. Apparently, everything went to shit with my account at GoDaddy and since the site was registered to an email I rarely check...I never got the notification that there was an issue.

Considering how little I do here any more, it's hard to say that the loss of the custom domain will hurt the blog itself much. Hell, I've done more damage over the past couple years than changing the URL ever could. No, the worst part is everything I had registered with an email linked to that domain. That's going to be something that takes a while to sort out.

Like I said, it's all my fault. So, for now (and probably the foreseeable future) 7 Dollar Popcorn will be located back here at 7dp.blogspot.com (like it used to be).

An open letter to Netflix

2011-09-20T10:33:00.000-04:00

Dear Netflix,

Hi. I'm sure you have no idea who I am. I'm just some guy who lives in Detroit and uses your service. I have for years actually. I've been a big fan since...well...2002 actually. That's a long time. Actually, I hadn't thought it was that long, but I suppose it has been. 2002 was my first free trial. I remember getting the snowboarding classic, Out Cold.

Sorry, I'm getting a warm wave of nostalgia here when I think about it.

Out Cold really has nothing to do with this though. What I'm getting at is that I'm a customer. I have been for years. Hell, 7dp has been fueled these past years by your service. And while 7dp has gone a bit on the back burner for me of late, my use of Netflix has not.

About a year ago I switched my plan around. I went from 3 discs to 1 disc and streaming. The problem was, I found myself using my 1 disc more than the streaming. I kept finding that the things I wanted to watch (TV shows mostly of late) just weren't available for streaming. And if what I want isn't available, then it doesn't matter what you're charging, does it? It's not a good deal for me. So, when you made the pricing change over the summer, I dropped the streaming service (since I didn't use it) and went to the two disc plan. It's worked out fine for me.

But now, I'm not going to be a Netflix customer anymore. Not because I decided I didn't want to use your service anymore, but because you decided I wasn't the kind of customer you wanted. You spend years building up brand loyalty amongst your users and then...what? What the hell is Qwikster? Seriously. It's a nonsense word that means nothing in regards to the business itself. It sounds like the name of an internet start-up that failed by 2005.

When a radio station switches formats, they can't air any of the old commercials that they sold. The reason being that all of that money was spent to advertise based on the old format, demographics and ratings. The sales staff then has the unenviable job of having to go out and sell the new format without any ratings information. This is essentially what you're doing here. You've flipped the format. Netflix is a known entity. Qwikster is not. You can say it's just like Netflix...but you can't back that up yet.

Last week you had a company that offered two services that complimented each other. Today, you have two companies that people aren't sure of. The people who only use the streaming service, they're unaffected. Every other customer though is. And the people that this will affect most are the ones who paid for both services. Now they have to pay to two sites and maintain two queues.

This just seems like a big step backwards, not a step forward.

Sincerely,

smacdonn
7dollarpopcorn.com

Na Na Na Na Na Na Backlash!

2011-08-09T11:05:00.000-04:00

I couldn't help but laugh this article on io9 this morning:

So wait. Is there really a Dark Knight Rises backlash?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Wait, why am I laughing you ask?

As you may or may not recall, I've had mixed feelings when it comes to the previous Batman films. In fact, I think that at one point, I referred to The Dark Knight as my least favorite movie of 2008.

And now, here we are, it's 2011, Batman 3 has barely started filming, and won't even be released for another year, and the internet hate machine is already starting to turn against it. Hey, internet, what happened to your hard on for Christopher Nolan and his Batman? HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA

A Life in Movies Blogathon

2011-05-08T00:00:00.001-04:00

Last year, you may remember Fandango Groovers Movie Blog did a Desert Island DVD Blogathon, and I participated! Well, they're back with another Blogathon, A Life In Movies.

Following the unexpected popularity of the Desert Island DVDs blogathon I organized last year I am inviting fellow bloggers to tell us what their favourite* movies are from each year of their life so far. You can put as much or as little effort into you list as you wish. It could just be a list of movies, you may with to add a sentence or two about the movies or what they mean to you, you can brighten it up with images, posters or trailers. The choice is yours.

Well, hells bells, that sounds fun. Fun enough for me to take some time out from blatant self promotion and join in!

So, I was born in 1980, and haven't seen a single movie that came out in 2011 so far. So, that establishes our range. So...lets start:


Year	Title	Comments
Welcome to the 80's!
1980	The Empire Strikes Back	Like I would put something ELSE in here!
1981	Raiders of the Lost Ark	Tough one. I love Clash of the Titans and History of the World, Part 1...but I love Raiders just a little bit more!
1982	Blade Runner	Another tough one because The Thing was great, but Blade Runner has just had too big an impact on me.
1983	Return of the Jedi	Jedi. Done.
1984	Temple of Doom	Real tough one here. This is the first year where I start remembering seeing a lot of different movies. I'm giving the nod to Indy because it's one I still love to watch.
1985	Return of the Living Dead	Re-Animator is a close 2nd.
1986	Big Trouble in Little China	Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
1987	Evil Dead II	Jaws 4 is, and I'm not kidding, a very close 2nd.
1988	Young Guns	Did you see the size of that chicken?
1989	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	It's my favorite of the three in fact.
Onward to the 90's!
1990	Back to the Future: Part III	I might be the only person you know who says that this is their favorite of the 3.
1991	T2	Of course.
1992	Encino Man	It's Pauly Shore's best work and you know it.
1993	Jurassic Park	I don't even know what else came out this year.
1994	Clerks	Just for the sheer impact it had on me.
1995	Johnny Mnemonic	What? We all know I love this movie. And while some amazing movies came out this year, if you put all of them on DVD in front of me, I would end up watching Johnny Mnemonic. I know I would!
1996	Star Trek: First Contact/Trainspotting	It's a tie. One is my favorite Star Trek movie, the other my favorite Danny Boyle movie.


1997	Grosse Pointe Blank	This just as easily could have been Event Horizon or The Fifth Element or Cube or The Game. In fact, if I swapped GPB out for any of those others, I would be just as comfortable/conflicted with my choice.
1998	Zero Effect	I really had to fight not to say Armageddon, as bad as it is, I really do like it.
1999	Godzilla 2000	This was the Godzilla movie that really got me into the series. For that reason, it barely beats out The Matrix.
Into a new century
2000	Snatch	Though Battle Royale would have been just as acceptable.
2001	Session 9	While it could have (and probably SHOULD have) been something else, I really do love this movie.
2002	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	This is one of my favorite movies of ANY year.
2003	Oldboy	This would have been my first exposure to Korean movies
2004	Shaun of the Dead	I hate not having Kung Fu Hustle here, but I can't
2005	Serenity	It was almost Land of the Dead
2006	Pan's Labyrinth	I really REALLY wanted to put Slither here.
2007	Hot Fuzz	Nothing else even comes close.
2008	Let the Right One In	Hellboy 2 was here until I remembered that this one came out in 08 and I saw it in SLC.
2009	The Brothers Bloom	Once again, it's just a movie that I love, regardless of year. Nothing else from 09 was going to come close.
The twenty...teens?
2010	True Grit	I really didn't see many movies in 2010. I did see this, and enjoy it. Centurion would have been another good choice.
2011	Dead Woods	Ok, so it's the movie I was in. I know I said I'd get away from self promotion for the day...I lied. Oh well. http://www.deadwoodsmovie.com

* I was about to correct the spelling of favorite, but then it occurred to me that it must be a British site, and I will respect that particular cultural difference.

Want a FREE copy of Dead Woods?

2011-05-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

If you've been reading here (which if you're reading this, I'm just going to assuming...), or following me, or the blog, on Twitter, you may have heard that I was in a movie last year called Dead Woods. Well, that movie is finished, printed and ON SALE NOW.

That's not what I'm here about today though. I was very involved in this movie. I just can't be objective about it. I need someone who can be. So, I'm going to give away a copy of the movie*. That's right, I have a copy of Dead Woods that I want to mail to someone. So what do you need to do? Well, there's two things, 1) Have a movie blog and 2) send me a link to it before 11:59 on May 15t!. You can comment on this post, or you can send me and email at dreamrot @ 7dollarpopcorn.com! That's it! I'll pick a winner at random and
mail off a copy of the movie! It's a pretty simple little contest!

That's right. The copy I hold in my hand there could be YOURS!

*Right now, I only have one copy to give away, but if there are enough people who message me about it, I might try to get a couple more.

A Year in the Movies

2011-04-11T13:11:00.000-04:00

It was one year ago today that we started to film Dead Woods. April 11, 2010. I was a last minute addition to the cast. We had a party on Saturday, the 10th. This was a calculated decision, as the first day of filming was supposed to be the day after a big party out in the woods. It was decided somewhere along the way that the best way to look like everyone was hungover would be for everyone to actually BE hungover. It was at this party that I went from potential extra to character with lines.

Someone had to drop out. Tom (Director) was looking for someone to take on his role. I volunteered. As I said, we were at a party. The goal was to appear somewhat hungover. There was some drinking going on. My judgement may have been impaired when I agreed to help.

Trooper that I am, I remembered the next morning and drove out to Jeremy's (Cast member/Set homeowner). At this point, I barely knew most of these people. It was a strange and frightening experience. On top of that, I hadn't done much acting since high school! Sure, a bit of voice stuff for the radio, but that's completely different to me.

Day 1 was a complete debacle. No one was on time. Well, a couple of us were. I was, Jeremy was. Erik (Cast member) and Kelcie (Cast member) were. We spent all day there. We shot a lot of footage, and we also spent a lot of time not shooting anything (this would be a recurring theme). We didn't use much, if any, of the footage from day 1. I mean that. We spent 10 hours out there (well, those of us who arrived on time), and we did more that contributed to the gag reel than the actual movie. We set up tents. Not once is anyone in a tent in the end.

Largely though, we hung out. We talked, we joked around. A year later and the cast of Dead Woods includes some of my closest friends, and these are people I barely knew a year ago. As frustrating as it tended to be at times making the damned thing, I don't regret a minute of it.

Last night, on the anniversary of our pre-movie flip cup party, we got together to record a commentary. Like much of the movie, it was fueled by Miller High Life. Afterwards, we had a bit of a bonfire. The further removed I get from the movie, the more I like it. And the further away we get from shooting it, the more I miss that. I'd do another one right now if I could.

Dead Woods is a finished movie now. There's nothing left to do but make DVDs and try to find ways for people to see it. You'll never see me even TRY to review it here. There's no way I could be objective enough.

Song of the Day: High Hawk Season by The Mountain Goat

2011-04-08T08:27:00.000-04:00

For the record, I really like the new album, All Eternals Deck.

Today's phrase of the day: Bat-shit Wonderful.

2011-03-25T12:13:00.001-04:00

Look, if you describe a movie as 'bat-shit wonderful', you will pique my interest.

Needless to say, Rubber has my interest piqued. I want to see it. And it's playing here at the end of next month. I must make this happen.

An evening spent listening to some of the worst music I could imagine

2011-03-15T00:08:00.000-04:00

No, this wasn't even the worst I could imagine. I honestly never would have imagined anything as bad as some of this. The song titles were left out...mostly to prevent you from blaming me for hearing some of it. Hunt it down at your own peril.

Copied from Facebook. Formatting is a mess because I don't care enough to fix it.

smacdonn:
This might be the worst song/video I've ever heard/seen...and it's taking everything I have not to inflict it on everyone I know.
43 minutes ago · Friends Only; Except: Work Types, Family · LikeUnlike ·

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smacdonn: How can a video with dinosaurs and unicorns (whit LASER EYES) be this awful?
41 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: Seriously, it's like part rap, part Poison the Well...autotuned and full of Jesus.
39 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: New video. I'm not sure, but I think the 'chorus' in this dude's song is 'AAARRRGGGHH Come on, fuck a guy'. I'm not sure though.
33 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: ‎'i put mayonnaise on everything that's how i eat'
33 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: ‎'See that kid stealing? That was a thief'
32 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: New video. I never would have expected there to even be a market for autotuned screamo.
29 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: There is a dude in a pig costume. This still isn't worse than that first song. It needs more Jesus.
28 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: New video. Actual lyrics: Come and smile, don't be shy, touch my bum, this is life. I don't think I can do two more minutes of this one.
25 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: New video. Jesus fuck. I think the cast of Jersey Shore traveled back in time to 1998, became Canadian and started a boy band. Fuck. No.
23 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: Yup. Something to come out of Canada that I hate more than Nickelback. I kinda want to go back to the touch my bum song...this is awful. What was I thinking?
22 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: I tapped out. New video. Metal(ish) with autotuning and DDR? WHAT?
18 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: New video. WTF? You're seriously singing about whether to sit with your friends in the front seat of the car...or with your friends in the back seat? Fucking hell. Teen angst is a LOT different than when I was in high school
15 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: New video. Soulja Boy is terrible. There's nothing else I can say about this.
12 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: What's Hannenin? I'm moving on to something else. Seriously. What the crap? It sad that this is IMPROVEMENT.
10 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: I mean, this is almost listenable.
10 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: Almost. If you like listening to cds skip.
9 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: New video. Not sure, but I think I'm listening to people rap about mayonnaise. It's 20 pence more.
8 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: New video. Dear 'musicians' (and I use the term very lightly), not EVERYTHING sounds better autotuned all crazy.
5 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: Your rented Lamborghini does not impress me sir.
4 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: The 'rapper' reminds me of every upper middle class white kid I've ever seen trying to be hard core.
3 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: New video. MORE AUTOTUNE.
about a minute ago · LikeUnlike
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smacdonn: Autotuned singing about Hannah Montana wearing your jeans? Really? I'm done. I quit. I don't ever want to hear anything new again. Seriously. I'm locking down iTunes. I'm done. I quit.

Song of the Day - Winds of Change by Fitz & the Tantrums

2011-02-23T14:03:00.000-05:00

I've been 

I've been on a bit of a Fitz & the Tantrums kick the past couple of days. They played here in Detroit a couple of weeks ago. It was a free show, but I didn't go. I was actually downtown that night, just someplace else. I went to the Red Wings game (which we lost!). I could have gone to the show after the game, but a friend of mine said it was pretty packed and they may not have been letting people in at that point. So, sadly, I did not see them.

Song of the Day: Howlin for You by The Black Keys

2011-02-13T10:51:00.000-05:00

I wish this were a real movie.

Song of the Day - Adultery by The Extra Lens

2011-02-03T14:49:00.001-05:00

I picked up The Extra Lens - Undercard - on Amazon today. I'm not going to like, it's the best album you'll find for $3.99 today. By far!

On travel and breweries

2011-02-01T14:24:00.001-05:00

I really meant to write about this a couple weeks ago. Like, right around the time it happened. And really, only because it was something to talk about.

See, many people will tell you that popcorn goes best with movies. I tend to disagree. I am rather popcorn neutral. I am popcorn ambivalent. Simply stated, popcorn does nothing for me. I can take it or leave it. In fact, when I was at the Burton Theatre last week, I did leave it. And it would have been free! Of course, they had also just run out, and I would have had to wait 10 minutes and that's just too long to wait for a bag of popcorn.

This leads to the natural question, if I'm popcorn neutral, than what does go best with a movie? I'm glad you asked, see, there's one thing that just goes perfectly with movies in my world, beer. This is why I have lately taken the opportunity to talk more about beer around here. Beer and movies just go great together. Especially the kind of movies I like to watch. If you're watching something like Chupacabra Terror without a beer nearby, you're missing out on half the point.

Basically, all of this is to set up a story. See, I collect pint glasses. Most are from breweries and restaurants. One of the first glasses I picked up was on eBay.

Not my actual glass. Just a picture I stole from Amazon.

In fact, it would be years before I ever tried Arrogant Bastard Ale. I was at Slow's in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit when I first tried it. Since then, I've tried a few of Stone Brewery's beers. They're good, but I can't drink a lot of them. They tend to be pretty strong, both in flavor and alcohol content!

Back to the present. A couple weeks ago, I was heading out to an Indian Reservation outside of San Diego, CA. And what town would I be passing through? Escondido. And what's in Escondido? Stone Brewery and Stone World Bistro. On top of all that, it would be a Monday, and that means Meatless Monday's at the Bistro. I was in.

It was a beautiful Southern California day. The kind that they rub in the face of those of us living in places that get cold and snow. Sunny, 70ish degrees, not a cloud to be seen. If I had to describe it in a single word, perfect is the only one that comes to mind. The building itself is a bit off of the beaten path, and unmarked. There's little about it to tell you that this is the place you're looking for. There's no indication that there is a restaurant or brewpub here.

You have to take a chance and assume that that is the door you're looking for. Once inside, however, you're greeted by the brewery store where you can buy shirts and glasses and belt buckles and hats and...well, you get the idea.

Off to the side is the bistro. It's primarily outside seating. Which works in SoCal, I suppose. They asked me where I wanted to sit, I said I was from Detroit and it's so nice outside that it would be a shame to be indoors. They sat me outside at the bar.

I ordered the Levitation Ale. An amber that, as far as I can tell, is not readily available in my area. For my meal, I ordered the Mac 'n Beer Cheese.

Mac 'n Beer Cheese
Mike's Beer Cheese makes classic mac 'n cheese classier. And more importantly, much tastier. Made with Mike's Stone Smoked Porter & Garlic Beer Cheese with sun dried tomatoes, and basil.

It was as good as it sounds. Overall, it was a nice little excursion to a brewery I wouldn't normally get to visit. And it kind of brought everything full circle since it was a glass from Stone that started my pint glass collection. And no, I did not buy another glass while I was there.

You are tearing me apart, Lisa!

2011-01-30T00:55:00.000-05:00

As I previously mentioned, I went to the Burton Theatre on Friday to see The Room.

It was, without question, one of the greatest movie going experiences I've ever had.

To start with, the theatre itself is in the auditorium of an old school in Midtown Detroit. The school isn't really in use anymore, at least not as a full time school. It's worth noting here that I love Detroit. All those bad things you've heard? None of them came from me. This is, without question, my city. And if there's something interesting going on, I'm in. Though, I will admit that I skipped out of the chicken races last summer, and I'm still bummed about it, but that's a story for some other time.

It goes without saying that, thanks to the internet, I knew what The Room was. I'd seen clips and read reviews. My friends and I knew it would be bad. Needless to say, we decided drinking was going to be a good idea. We brought small bottles and flasks in an effort to be discrete. This effort was all for naught, however, as we watched many people bringing in fifths and six packs.

The Room itself was as awful as anticipated, but the real fun in a movie like this comes from the crowd you see it with. It's a movie meant to be watched with many people yelling at the screen. There's no way it would be an enjoyable experience sitting in your living room watching it. It's too awful for that. You need an audience of people yelling 'Who the hell are you?' at the people randomly making out on the couch. You need the people cheering on the pan across the Golden Gate Bridge. You need people throwing plastic spoons at the screen. Without that, you're just watching a bad movie.

Plan 9 From Outer Space is a bad movie. Death Bed: The Bed That Eats is a bad movie. The Room is a terrible movie that belongs in the discussion of Worst Movie Ever with the likes of Plan 9 and Death Bed. In the right setting though, The Room is a hell of a lot of fun.

Oh, hi Mark

2011-01-28T11:52:00.000-05:00

When you're sitting around later, wondering what I'm up to tonight (don't lie to yourself, we both know you will be), just think of two words: The Room

The acting, the writing, the unattributed quotes in the trailer...I can not be more excited about going to see this. Also noteworthy is that this will be my first excursion to the Burton Theatre in downtown Detroit. It used to be a school, now it's a theatre, how can you go wrong?

Song of the Day - Cameras by Matt and Kim

2011-01-21T18:58:00.000-05:00

I think I've done this as the song of the day before, but there's an actual video for it now. This isn't what I set out to post today, but it's all I've been able to do. It's been a long day. More after some sleep. Lots and lots of sleep (and possibly sake bombs).

5 years and I'm still here

2011-01-13T12:15:00.000-05:00

Imagine for a moment that it's three days ago. January 10th. Do you know what January 10th was? This is a fairly serious question. I don't expect you to know the answer, don't worry.

January 10th was 7dp's 5th birthday!

Wow. Thanks, Al. That's really nice of you.

Right. Of course you do.

Wow. All this time away and you can't even come up with new material. Thanks for stopping by though, Al. It was good seeing you. Kind of.

It's weird to think about, isn't it? 5 years. That's almost forever in internet time. Here I am though, still going. Sure, I'm not as prolific as I used to be. I can't imagine something like FILMuary happening again (though it was an amazing amount of fun! Seriously. 28 movies in 28 days and across multiple states!), but I'm still sad I didn't do Shark Week last year. I've participated in a few blogathons and even switched blogs with 1416 and Counting for a day (THAT was fun. I want to do something like that again.)

And, last year, despite the record low number of postings (and even lower number of actual movie related content), I thought was a fun year. I added the Song of the Day to the rotating list of infrequent features. There was the previously mentioned blog-switcheroo. I even proved to everyone that I can't draw! And on top of all that, I was in a fucking movie. Well, not a FUCKING movie. A horror movie! Dead Woods.

So what does 2011 hold? I don't know. I have some ideas. I want to bring Shark Week back for sure. I've been considering talking about beer and the brewing of more often (it's an interesting subject to me), this may lead to sort of a Brew & View type feature, but we'll see what happens. There will probably be more whoring for Dead Woods, especially once the DVD is done. I may even try to give away a few copies. Basically, I expect 2011 to be a lot like 2010. A few reviews, a lot of nonsense and generally expanding the focus some more.

Oh, and more shitty movies!

Song of the Day - Night by Night by Chromeo

2011-01-13T11:10:00.000-05:00

True Grit: A Christmas Story

2010-12-24T22:43:00.000-05:00

My family has some Christmas traditions. Most families do, I would assume. My friend Kate goes to Denny's every Christmas Eve. Your family has some sort of Christmas tradition, doesn't it? Of course it does. Well, for years, I've spent Christmas Eve with my dad. Some times ago...I don't know when, but probably close to 15 years ago, we started to go see a movie on Christmas Eve. The first one I remember was the Jean Claude Van Damme masterpiece Sudden Death. Star Trek:First Contact was another one. There have been many movies over many years. And, it started that the 6 of us went as a family to the same movie. Myself, my dad, my step mom, my brother, my half brother and my half sister. Over the years, this changed. We still go to the movies, but, like this year, we see different ones. My half brother went to see the new Tron, my step mom and half sister went to see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie, and my dad and I went to see True Grit.

It's worth noting a few things. 1) I don't generally care for westerns. No real reason other than they aren't my proverbial cup of tea. 2) I never saw the original True Grit. And it's likely that I never will. I don't care for John Wayne. The idea of sitting through one of his movies make me long for the dentist's chair. To the many John Wayne fans in the world: Sorry. That's just the way I feel. 3) My dad does like westerns, and he does like John Wayne. And while he would have been happy seeing Tron or something else, he was definitely excited when I mentioned that I'd like to see True Grit. It's more his kind of movie that mine.

In the end though, I kind of got the impression that I liked True Grit a bit more than he did. And while I can't speak for him, I can tell you a bit of what I thought about it.

I liked Jeff Bridges in it. I found his portrayal of Rooster to be gruff while still somewhat charming. I didn't particularly care for Matt Damon as Le Beouf. I just found him strangely unnatural as a Texas Ranger. Hailee Steinfeld, however, I found to be excellent as Mattie. My biggest problem with the movie, really, was the dialogue. It just felt so unnatural to me. I can't remember a single contraction. No 'didn't', no 'could've', it was 'did not' and 'could have', and people just don't talk that way. Outside of Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation everyone uses contractions. And I found this jarring at times. If that's my biggest complaint though, then I hardly have a complaint at all.

I know this isn't much of a review, and it isn't really meant to be. If you want a review, Alex over at Film Forager did a great job, and I'd recommend you read that. My intention was more to talk about my family's Christmas tradition. And on that note, Merry Christmas everyone!

A trailer on a Tuesday: Hanna

2010-12-21T11:14:00.003-05:00

I know this is making the rounds today, but it looks damn cool.

So...that was Centurion

2010-12-17T11:04:00.000-05:00

I'm going to preface this by telling you that I like Neil Marshall's movies. Dog Soldiers? Awesome. The Descent? Amazing. Doomsday? So much fun. So, going into the movie, good or not, I expected to like it.

It's also worth noting that I have more than a fleeting interest in Roman history. The Romans were, in a word, fascinating. Their history is littered with names and events that are recognizable to grade school kids; the wares with Carthage and Hannibal coming over the Alps, the rise of Julius Caesar and his assassination.Their history is full of heroes and villains that you wouldn't need to make anything up to keep an audience enthralled for a couple of hours.

Centurion is an almost entirely made up story. Things in the movie that are true: Titus Flavius Virilus actually existed and the 9th Legion was an actual legion that kind of sort of disappeared around 117 AD. Things in the movie that are made up: Pretty much everything else.

The movie starts in a Roman outpost. The outpost is attacked one night by Rome's enemy in what is today called Scotland, the Picts. The attacking Picts utterly annihilate the Roman troops in the outpost. One man, who happens to speak Pictish is taken prisoner. This man is Quintus Dias, the titular centurion.

The Roman response is to send in the 9th Legion. This is essentially the second century version of Shock and Awe. The assumption is that if they send in a full legion, the Picts will be put down forever.

Meanwhile, the Picts torture Quintus, hoping to get some idea of Rome's plans. Quintas, however, manages to escape his prison. He is found in the woods by the 9th Legion, which he promptly becomes a part of. After a brief stop, the 9th marches on only to be ambushed and decimated in the woods. And when I say decimated, I mean it. A legion could have 1000 soldiers in it! At the end of the battle, there are only 6 survivors among the soldier and the general of the legion, who has been taken prisoner by the Picts.

Quintus takes command of the 'legion' and leads them to try to rescue their general. However, in the process, they kill the Pictish king's son. This, naturally does not please the Pictish king. He sets their tracker, Etain, to hunt the soldiers down and kill them.

Now, I haven't mentioned Etain yet. So, let me tell you about her. Actually, wait a minute. Before I tell you about her, let's use an idea that I had almost two months ago. Consider this a warning:

Get it? Spoiler alert!

Etain is the tracker that the 9th Legion was given to lead them to the Picts to defeat them. However, she betrayed the Romans and led them into the ambush. She is the ultimate hunter and she HATES the Romans. See, when she was younger, the Romans attacked her village. They murdered her father, they raped her mother and they made her watch. Then, they raped her. Finally, they cut out her tongue. So, her hatred is understandable. It, however, does not change that she is the villain in this story.

Ultimately, Centurion is a chase movie. Quintus must try to lead his remaining troops home with Etain and the Picts trying to kill them. It's bloody, gory and very over the top. That's okay though. That's what you expect from a Neil Marshall film. If you pick this up off the shelf expecting an accurate historical drama, you'd be sadly mistaken.

There are problems with this movie. The characters are all paper thin. You understand Etain's motivations, but most of the characters just aren't very fleshed out. In fact, characters like Vortix and Aeron are not just undeveloped, but barely used. The actors themselves do a fine job with what little character they've been given to work with. Dominic West, Michael Fassbender and Olga Kurylenko are all fantastic in their roles and 28 Weeks Later's Imogen Poots was a nice addition to the cast.

Yes, it's a weak plot and has weaker characters, but that's not what you watch Neil Marshall's movies for. Frankly, it's a fun movie. It's entertaining. That has to count for something. Objectively, I would say it's not a very good movie, but subjectively it's pretty cool. I know I'll want to sit down and watch it again. Not to look for things I missed, or to look at it any differently, but to be entertained and enjoy watching a fun movie.

PS: If you're interested in learning more about Roman history, and you like podcasts, I cannot recommend The History of Rome podcast enough. Mike Duncan does an amazing job of putting together an excellent show each week.

In which I'm okay with Heimdall being black

2010-12-16T17:22:00.000-05:00

I've not watched the trailer for Thor yet. Not too worried about it, but I saw this article earlier:

'Thor' Early Buzz: Well, Racists Hate It - The Moviefone Blog:

"Elba, meanwhile, stated: 'There has been a big debate about it: Can a black man play a Nordic character? Hang about, Thor's mythical, right? Thor has a hammer that flies to him when he clicks his fingers. That's okay, but the colour of my skin is wrong?'"

Best.Quote.Ever.

Also, to the Council of Conservative Citizens: Fuck you.

And then Dead Woods had a trailer

2010-12-16T11:36:00.000-05:00

Now that Dead Woods has a website, I can finally start to share more info about it with you! Specifically, the trailer, which has been floating around Facebook for a while now, is on YouTube!

Keep an eye on this space...I'm hearing some rumors that there might be something special from Dead Woods for xmas!

Also, because I always find this sort of thing fun, some behind the scenes action:

Yeah...none of us actually got paid with anything besides beer. And we were always paid before we started shooting...first time director's mistake number 1.

Song of the Day - Sukie in the Graveyard by Belle & Sebastian

2010-12-14T11:19:00.000-05:00

No explanation for this one. I just like the song.

So, I was in this movie

2010-12-14T00:34:00.000-05:00

You may remember me mentioning once or twice a movie I was in that my friend was directing, well, big news! There's finally an actual, sort of, website for it!

www.deadwoodsmovie.com

The website was my wrap/xmas gift to the director. There will be more coming to it soon (I would assume). There is also a twitter account for it @deadwoodsmovie

The Most Amazing Four Minutes of Nicolas Cage's Career

2010-11-23T17:06:00.000-05:00

Movie Sketch or What the Hell Was I Thinking? I Can't Draw!

2010-11-12T11:33:00.000-05:00

So, the other day, over on the twitter, Alex, of the awesome blog Film Forager, posted that she was having trouble coming up with something for this week's movie sketch (I guess it would be worth noting that she posts a weekly movie sketch). I look forward to this as she is a good artist as well as movie reviewer. I, however, am neither a good movie reviewer nor a good artist. Of course I volunteered to fill the movie sketch gap. And she accepted my offer! I have no idea why! She has seen one of my drawings!

This led to a bit of a problem. One bigger than my lack of talent. No, this lead to me A) not knowing what the hell to draw and 2) really wanting to do something good! I tried drawing William Powell from The Thin Man, but I can't draw faces, at all. So, then I was going to try a t-rex from Jurassic Park. That didn't work either. Next I thought that maybe I could draw the ship from Serenity (side note, as a kid, I *loved* drawing space ships!)...nuh uh. Finally, I fell back on Star Wars.

Yup, me, a pen and a highlighter came together to produce something that looks reasonably similar to a clone trooper's helmet. Overall, I'm fairly proud of it. I've certainly done worse (this is why I'm NOT posting what I scrapped). It's nothing near as good as anything you will EVER see as part of Alex's Movie Sketch Project, but I hope it helps fill the void this week.

Song of the Day - Black Sheep by Metric (Brie Larson version)

2010-11-11T13:18:00.000-05:00

I think that I may have to make a voyage to some sort of place where people can buy DVDs this weekend to pick up Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Where would one go to buy DVDs though?

Random Movie Line of the Day

2010-11-10T18:55:00.000-05:00

Bring wood and oil.

Song of the Day - Cameras by Matt and Kim

2010-11-08T20:15:00.000-05:00

I had no idea Matt and Kim had a new album coming out. None at all until today. Upon finding out though, I had to hear it. And it is pretty damned great. It's like when you put something amazing in your mouth and eat it...but for your ears.

Halloween!

2010-11-02T00:51:00.000-04:00

Halloween was yesterday, and I spent it travelling. However, on Saturday, I went to a Haloween party. And I wore a costume!

Then, I got tired of wearing a costume. So, I took it off. Then someone wrote on my shirt and it became my new costume.

I can't explain the helmet.

Who Would You Cast In The Remake Of My Man Godfrey

2010-10-22T11:00:00.001-04:00

As I was getting ready to write yesterday's post about remaking the brilliant 1934 file The Thin Man, I found this half finished post on a similar topic. I was working on writing this in June of 2009 and didn't finish it. I'm sure I got distracted by something much more important and interesting (not really, just lazy). So, I'm going to go ahead and try to finish it, a year and a half later. I'm not going to really change anything that was already done, so that's why a good chunk of it refers to things that happens last year as though they just happened to today. This is kind of like time travel. I'm not going to change the past, I don't want to be my own grandfather!

I don't know if you've ever seen My Man Godfrey. I saw it for the first time almost exactly one year ago. I was in a Los Angeles hotel room, unable to sleep and flipping through channels. I stumbled on a black and white movie starring William Powell. Now, that alone is enough to get me to stop flipping. William Powell was an amazing actor. And, I'll watch anything if he's in it. It was this silly comedy about a rich girl on a scavenger hunt looking for a 'forgotten man'. Someone who'd fallen through the cracks. It's set during the great depression and was a movie that was meant to show the divide between the two worlds. Rich vs poor. It's funny and amazing and I absolutely fell in love with this movie. The only problem was that I had no fucking clue what it was called!

It was two days later that I learned it was My Man Godfrey. I eventually bought the Criterion Collection DVD and have been listening to the commentary on it. It's really a wonderful movie that I just can't recommend enough. However, and I'm being honest here, I think it's ripe for a remake.

Credit where credit is due. It was Caitlin at 1,416 and Counting that left my mind open to this idea. She posted about remakes*, and I took a decidedly rational approach. I know, how dare I! This is the INTAWEBS! Look, I can be as petty and childish as anyone. There are blogs and bloggers that I just plain don't like, and I can be vocal about that. People can get me riled up. Politics can upset me. Remakes I'm okay with.

Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the original. It's a classic in every sense of the word. I think though, that it doesn't resonate in today's world. I think it could actually be remade successfully. You won't get an actor of Powell's caliber for it. And, I don't think you need it. Now, after some thought, I'd like to play a bit of a game. It's a game that I'm calling Who Would You Cast In The Remake? It's actually an old game that my friend and I used to play while watching Godzilla movies and drinking beers.

As you can see, all I really got to was the setup. So, let's pick it up from there.

Let me set the scene for how this all started. Back in the year 2003, my friend and I used to spend our Friday nights watching Godzilla movies. One night, we were watching Godzilla 2000 and noticed something strange. It was uncanny how much some of the actors could be Japanese doppelgangers for American actors.One actor looked like Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation, one looked like Bruce Campbell, and so on like that**.

Long story slightly less long, I thought it would be fun to try to cast a remake of My Man Godfrey. Now, I'm just going to go for the lead roles, Godfrey and Irene. Let's start, not with Godfrey, but with with Irene Bullock, originally played by the beautiful Carole Lombard. I'm going to try to go with my gut feeling here. I'm not sure she'd be perfect, and it might be a bit unconventional, but I think she could play spoiled brat well in a romantic/screwball comedy. I'm thinking of Kristen Bell.

Of course, the most important role is Godfrey himself. Here you need someone who can exude the affable charm embodied by William Powell. This seems like it would be a tough choice. For some reason though, it's not. There's an actor out there whom I think would be ideal for the role. He's British, but does a perfect American accent and he's an excellent comedic actor. I'm talking about Hugh Laurie. Yeah, the guy who plays Dr. House.

The other great thing about My Man Godfrey is the excellent and eccentric supporting cast. So, play along! Who would YOU cast in these roles?

*Edited to update the link
**It's worth noting the Winona Ryder ALWAYS was always the leading lady.

Remaking The Thin Man

2010-10-21T12:52:00.000-04:00

I'm going to let you in on one of my worst kept secrets, I don't generally have a problem with remakes. I'm not a huge fan either. I'd say I'm mostly ambivalent about remakes. Occasionally, they give an interesting and fresh new take on an old idea, more often though, they're a quick way to grab for a little cash. Don't get me wrong, I'd still rather see an original idea than a rehash of something I've seen before, but I understand the desire to play it safe and stick with a known quantity.

I bring this up because I read something earlier:

Johnny Depp May Remake 'The Thin Man' with Rob Marshall - The Moviefone Blog

The film is the four-time Oscar nominated 'The Thin Man,' and according to the rumor mill, Johnny Depp wants to remake it with 'Pirates of the Caribbean 4' and 'Chicago' helmer Rob Marshall.

According to Vulture, Depp is "aggressively courting" Marshall to direct him in a remake of the film with Warner Bros. As of now, there's no script, but they claim that Depp is in full pursuit of making this passion a reality.

Ok. Depp is certainly a fine and interesting actor, but is he the type that could play Nick Charles properly? And who would play Nora Charles?

As a big fan of both Dashiell Hammet's novel and the movie The Thin Man. It's gotten me to thinking. Who in today's Hollywood could play these roles. And that's setting aside the more interesting question of how you could even make this movie in today's politically correct environment. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that that could be a whole post unto itself!

William Powell was, really, an almost perfect choice for the role of Nick Charles.In fact, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for the role! This is where you fall into the remake trap though, these were iconic roles. Both Powell and Myrna Loy were perfectly cast and had great chemistry together (the two were a staple in the 30s and early forties staring in all 6 Thin Man films and 8 other films as well). There is no way to remake a movie like this without inevitable (and probably harsh) comparison to the original.

This is getting away from me here though. What actor in Hollywood today could exude the wit and charm required for Nick Charles? We need someone about the right age, late 30s to early 40s. I'll refrain from saying Keanu Reeves (though I would certainly want to see him try!). Hugh Laurie I think could do it, though he's just outside the age range I'm thinking of. You know who I think would be very good in the role though? Nathan Fillion. Captain Tight Pants himself. I think this would be right in his wheelhouse.

That gets us halfway there. It also gets us to the harder question. Who on Earth could play Nora Charles? In this case we need someone...around let's say 30. Drew Barrymore would have the right look, and she's only 35...not a bad choice, but not the right choice. Zoe Saldana would make for an interesting choice. Katie Holmes perhaps as well, but...still, no. Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway or Rachel McAdams maybe? No. Rachel Weisz would be a good choice, but if I'm eliminating Barrymore based on age, then Weisz is out too (sadly, since she's a large part of what made The Brothers Bloom so fun and charming, IMO). No, I'm going to go with Zooey Deschanel here I think. I'm just playing a hunch here, but I really think she could come closest to pulling the role off.

The question I now pose to you is, how far off do you think I am? And, more interestingly, who would YOU chose for the roles of Nick and Nora Charles?

Beer and the bottling of.

2010-10-12T11:54:00.000-04:00

You may recall that a couple weeks ago, in this very spot, I was talking about making beer.

Well, last night it was time to bottle it. 48 bottles of beer plus a bit extra that I just put into a growler. I'm very excited about it. In about a week, I should be able to refrigerate it and drink my first ever beer made by me!

Star Wars 2D is fine by me

2010-09-30T12:46:00.000-04:00

I'd like to tell you how much money I've spent in my life to watch Star Wars. I'd LIKE to, but frankly, I'm too lazy and too embarrassed to do the math!

The first time I saw Star Wars was actually on TV. We actually may or may not have taped it off of TV. I had those tapes until I was 18 and bought the Special Editions on VHS.

Naturally, I saw all three Special Editions in the theater. Of course I did!

When Episode I came out, I waited in line a week ahead of time to get tickets. On opening day, I saw it twice. Back to back.

I saw Episode II twice as well, though I didn't camp out for it. I did, however, pay extra to make sure I saw it in an all digital theater.

Episode III I only saw once in the theater. To be honest, I was unimpressed with it at the time (it has since become a favorite).

I bought the deluxe VHS edition of Episode I that came with all sorts of neat bonus stuff like a book and a frame of the film. And that actually reminds me, I also bought and read the novelization of Episode I!

Unrelated to actually watching the movies, my 19th birthday was the day they released the action figures for Episode I. I was there at midnight with the other nerds buying them up. It's also worth noting here that I never hated Episode I as much as the rest of the world seemed to. Previous discussions can be found here and here.

I bought each prequel on DVD as they came out. When the original trilogy box set came out, I bought that. When they released the movies as individual two disc sets, I bought those. I had to! The second disc was the theatrical cut of each movie! Star Wars sans 25 years of meddling!

I'm done.

Why on earth do I need to spend one more dollar on these movies? Do I care about seeing them in 3D? No. Do I want to see them on Blu-Ray? I don't even want to get a Blu-Ray player!

I just cannot justify spending any more money on these movies. It doesn't mean that I like them any less, it just means that I've reached my limit. There's nothing else that can be added to these movies that will make me want to spend another dime to watch them.

I'm sorry, George. I just can't do this.

Song of The Day - Fireplace by Lost in the Trees

2010-09-28T11:58:00.000-04:00

Today I learned that Lost In The Trees was recently featured as part of NPR's Tiny Desk Concert Series. Sadly, they didn't do Fireplace, which may be my favorite song from the new cd All Alone In An Empty House. I had the opportunity to see Lost In The Trees this past summer. It was the most intimate show that I could imagine a band playing. I can't say that there were more than two dozen people there to see them. They played upstairs at the Crofoot in Pontiac, MI after CocoRosie had played downstairs. Almost everyone left, but my friends and I stuck around to check them out. Sadly, I was getting tired and wanted to go home, so I did not enjoy the show as much as I could have. I did, however, buy the cd and quickly fell in love with it.

Way off topic, kind of, but BEER!

2010-09-20T22:57:00.000-04:00

Well, maybe not. I mean, you drink beer when you watch movies, right? I do. Hell, that may be part of my ultimate goal! By Halloween, I could actually be drinking a beer I made while watching a movie that I'm in!

One of the things I've wanted to do for...well, as long as I can remember, is brew my own beer. I like beer. I'm no beer snob, but I enjoy a good beer. As I've learned to do more and more things, acquiring more and more 'homemaking' skills (canning, preserving food, that sort of thing), home brewing has always been the endgame. It's been the goal. Everything has built up to it.

Today, I took the second step in realizing this goal (the first step was on Saturday when I bought all the equipment). Today I made a batch of wort (unfermented beer). Ultimately, in a couple weeks, it should become actual beer. Of course, I could have screwed the whole thing up and may need to start over. I have no idea. I've never done this before!

I kept everything as sanitary and sterile as I could, which is the biggest thing. And it's just a malt extract beer. Both of these should ensure some level of success. In my mind though, I will fear that this whole endeavor will be a failure until I bottle. And even then, it'll be a while after that before I'm 100% that I've made a drinkable beer. So, fingers crossed. If all goes well, I should have a nice amber wheat beer in about a month!

My kitchen...not a mess! (for a change)

I have Electric Six running through my head, which has NOTHING to do with this post.

2010-09-20T17:22:00.000-04:00

It wasn't that long ago, only a couple of years now, that the channel formerly known as SciFi debuted a show called The Dresden Files. You may not remember it since it didn't last very long. I, however, do remember it, kind of. If I scour the recesses of my memory, I can recall watching an episode or two during it's original run. The idea of a mystery solving wizard is fairly appealing, as it should be. Especially a wizard who uses a drumstick for a wand and a hockey stick as a staff.

A mystery solving wizard is the basis for the show. Harry Dresden lives in a world of magic known to most as Chicago. Here, the magic is hidden from most people. Besides running a business as a wizard for hire, Harry is also a consultant for the Chicago police department, helping out when cases get weird.

I recently rented the first (and only!) season from Netflix. It's only 12 episodes, and the set itself is fairly devoid of any special features. The show itself was fairly weak in the early episodes (which never helps when you're trying to find an audience), though everything got much better near the end of it's run. By the end, all I wanted was for there to be a few more episodes. Does Morgan begin to trust (and maybe even like) Harry? What becomes of Harry and Lt Murphy? Does their relationship continue to progress?

The series was based on a series of books written by Jim Butcher. I've only read the first one so far, and it shows some promise as an interesting series of books. From what I understand, the TV series only loosely had anything to do with the books, basically being an alternate universe with some of the same characters.

I would really like to see them do more with the premise and the characters, but I know that's a lost cause at this point. Still, it was an interesting show, and I'm excited to read more in the books!

I swear it seemed like a good idea at the time.

2010-09-10T13:49:00.000-04:00

I've seen so many great movie related drawings and artwork over the years. I really have. And, I felt inspired the other night to contribute some of my own artwork. So, I decided that I would draw something. I wanted to draw something awesome. Something like the t-rex from Jurassic Park fighting the shark from Jaws. That would be pretty epic (at least by Syfy movie standards). When I finished, it felt like it was missing something, so I added a comet striking the Earth.

Sadly, since I can't draw, it looks like Barney is fighting a penis with teeth and there's a muffin top flying through the background.

I title the piece "Exhibit A in why I didn't pursue a career in art".

Song of the Day - Banditos by The Refreshments

2010-09-08T07:44:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I forget how much I love this song.

Song of the Day - Home Sweet Home by Those Dancing Days

2010-08-31T09:55:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I was putting together a playlist in iTunes. Inevitably, when I do this, I stumble down a rabbit hole of songs I love but haven't listened to for some time. This time it was Those Dancing Days, one of my favorite Swedish bands (Yes, I listen to enough Swedish bands to have a favorite that is NOT ABBA (if anyone tells you they don't like ABBA, they are most likely lying to you)). So, I went over to the YouTube, and I never knew that Those Dancing Days made a video for any of their songs, let alone four videos! I picked Home Sweet Home for a couple of reasons. Mostly because it's a good song and a fun video, but also because there's a shout out to the airport I spend so much time in, Detroit Metropolitan Airport!

I really wish I could find some recent news on the band. I'd really love for them to make another album. Linnea Jönsson has such a great voice that I'd love to hear more.

Song of the Day - Talk on Indolence by The Avett Brothers

2010-08-20T23:32:00.000-04:00

Here's the thing, Talk on Indolence is not my favorite Avett Brothers song. I like it, it's a good song, it's just not my favorite. It is however the one I would most enjoy singing at karaoke.

I have karaoke on the brain. Karaoke and goats.

Song of the Day - Black Sheep by Metric

2010-08-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

This is mostly as a follow up to yesterday's Scott Pilgrim post.

Black Sheep was provided by Metric to be the song played by the fictional band The Clash at Demonhead in the movie. I might add, the under utilized fictional band.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World is the best movie I've seen in the theater this year*!

2010-08-13T16:14:00.000-04:00

It had to happen eventually, Scott Pilgrim vs The World has finally been released. I've been eagerly awaiting this for some time now. So, since I had the day more or less off of work, I went to go see it.

A few things you should know about the movie.
-It's the oldest story: Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy must defeat girl's 7 evil exes. I know, it's been done to death.
-The movie is based on a collection of 6 graphic novels written by Bryan Lee O'Malley.
-The comics are better than the movie. Of course they are. It's six books condensed into about two hours.

It's worth noting here that the movie was made before the sixth and final book was written and released. The end of the movie and the end of the books are pretty different from each other. By all other accounts though, it's a pretty faithful adaptation of the story.

Some quick thoughts.
-Most of the cast was dead on perfect. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was amazing as Ramona Flowers. Jason Schwartzman was awesome as Gideon Graves. Michael Cera was average as Scott Pilgrim. He worked for the role, but just barely.
-Kieran Culkin basically stole every scene he was in.
-The fights were so kick ass!

All in all, it was a fun movie. The characters are great, the story was coherent and the acting was overall very good. I cannot recommend the movie enough. Especially if it gets you to read the comics.

*Scott Pilgrim vs The World is the only movie I've seen in the theater this year.

I do enjoy a good werewolf movie.

2010-07-24T15:18:00.000-04:00

I enjoy bad ones too, so this should be right up my alley.

Red starring the internet's Felicia Day. I'm in.

Song of the Day - Jenny by The Mountain Goats

2010-07-13T11:00:00.000-04:00

Hi diddle dee dee. Goddamn. The pirate's life for me.

I'm *IN* Monahans, Texas. Something off of All Hail West Texas just seemed...appropriate.

Song of the Day - Danger! High Voltage by Electric Six

2010-07-12T11:00:00.000-04:00

So, not so long ago, I thought it might be a fun idea to post a Song of the Day from time to time. It's hardly an original idea, but I'm not exactly known for my originality around here. I may or may not introduce it. I may just end up infrequently posting it and moving on. We'll see how this goes. If nothing else, I'm establishing a precedent so it's not so random in the future. To start the whole thing off, we'll go with a band from my hometown of Detroit. Enjoy!

Movie Magic

2010-07-11T21:45:00.000-04:00

Yup. That's what I did today.

Firefly Intro... The Awesome Edition

2010-07-08T19:45:00.000-04:00

I love this!

Via io9

A few quick thoughts on Hot Tub Time Machine.

2010-07-05T17:28:00.000-04:00

When I signed up for DISH Network recently, I received a few promo codes for free pay-per-view movies. I used one today to watch Hot Tub Time Machine. I don't have a whole lot to say about it. I mean, it's a simple premise; a hot tub transports four guys back in time to 1986. It was funny, kind of gross in a few points and Crispin Glover really stole every scene he was in.

Mel Gibson might just be a world class dbag

2010-07-02T09:55:00.000-04:00

I'm not someone who can easily separate the actor from the performance, so to speak. If I don't like an actor or an actress or a director or a band on a personal level, then I won't have any interest in that person's work. For example, I find Tom Cruise and the rest of the Scientology sect in Hollywood to be bat shit crazy, as a result, I try like hell not to watch their movies or TV shows. This includes Cruise, John Travolta, Jason Lee, etc. I just...refuse to allow my money to support that. Another would be Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game is supposed to be an excellent sci fi novel but I'll never know because Card is a bigot and I won't read his work as a result.

Or, the way I can't look at Vince from the Slap Chop commercials without thinking of how he beat up a hooker.

I think we've all kind of suspected that Mel Gibson was a little off his rocker as well. his drunk driving incident a few years ago started to make people suspect that he was a little...off. This new thing though, this recording...wow. I don't think I'll be able to watch Braveheart again. Or the Lethal Weapon movies. Suddenly those movies are just going to be associated with Mel Gibson's racism. And, if he's going to mouth off like this, I won't support him. Not in any way.

Let Me In, maybe not.

2010-07-01T13:22:00.000-04:00

It's no secret that I loved Let The Right One In. I thought it was an amazing movie and the book was amazing as well. So, it's with some trepidation that I approach the remake. It's just...not a film that needs to be remade. There is little that could be done to improve upon it.

And, I have been trying to give the remake a fair chance. I've been trying to keep an open mind, but...the trailer just...scares me. Not the way a horror movie should scare me, but the way you get scared when you know something is not going to be very good despite hoping it would be.

I LIKE the new Wonder Woman costume

2010-06-30T17:34:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'll admit that, dispite my four comic book related tattoos, I'm a pretty casual fan of comic books. Especially mainstream titles. Especially mainstream DC titles. I'm just not a fan. Batman and Superman do nothing for me. Not a fan of the books, not a fan of the movies.

That said, it was recently annouced that DC was changing up Wonder Woman's look. Fair enough. She always did look kind of silly fighting crime in her underwear.

At the left is the new design, and I really like it. Will it get me to read the comic? Probably not. Will it get me to take the character a little more seriously? Possibly.

It would seem, however, that liking the new look puts me pretty firmly in the minority. However, umong nerds and geeks, liking change USUALLY gets you put in the minority. It didn't matter what DC did with the character, the fanboys (and girls) were likely to bitch and moan. So, kudos to DC for taking a chance, and, in my opinion, making the character look more respectible.

The end of The Descent & The Descent 2

2010-06-25T11:00:00.000-04:00

First off, a big thank you to Caitlin of 1416andcounting.com for the great review of The Descent 2 yesterday. I like to think she had fun writing that review, and I know that I had a blast writing my review for her site. So, again, thank you (let's do this again!).

One of the things that I really shied away from in discussing The Descent 2 was it's ending. And today, that's what I want to talk about.

So, you know, you've been warned.

As you may recall, at the end of The Descent, Sarah sacrifices Juno to escape the cave monsters. Now, of course, by this point she's seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate... No. That was someone else. Sarah has seen her friends die in the caves She's seen a terrible side of her friend Juno; she learned that her husband had cheated on her with Juno and watched Juno kill one of the group. In order to survive, Sarah went through one hell of a traumatic experience, culminating in turning on Juno and leaving her to be devoured by the cave monsters.

And then, a mere day or two later in movie time, after her amazing escape with her life, if not her sanity, she's tossed right back into the caves. She's already scarred, but Deputy Rios isn't. Rios' journey is very similar to Sarah's from the first movie. It's Rios who has to sacrifice her colleague to save Sarah. It's Rios who has the child she may lose as a result of this ordeal. And there are times where it's easy to think that Sarah realizes all of this, too. And I think that Sarah realizes that she lost a big part of herself in the caves, and doesn't want that to happen to Rios. So, while Rios had to do some awful things, like hack someone's arm off with a pick ax, you get the feeling that her humanity was intact. Rios' first instinct may have been to leave Juno to die, but it wasn't out of selfishness, it was just pragmatic. By that point, she was willing to make the same decisions to escape, but for much more rational reasons. This mirroring is evident even in the clothes that they wear. Rios' outfit is nearly identical to what Sarah was wearing when she escaped.

Watching the movie, you can't help but feel good when Rios escapes the cave. When Sarah escaped in the first movie, you just had this feeling that she'd never be the same, that the trauma had just gotten to her, not so for Rios. When Rios runs out of the cave, there's a sense that everything is going to be fine. She'll go back to her kid and everything will work out ok for her, which is why the sudden blow to the head with a shovel is such a WTF moment.

It's not the only reason though. There is a complete lack of foreshadowing. The old man that hits Rios is the same guy who Sarah found on the road at the beginning and brought her to a hospital. Why didn't he feed Sarah to them? How on Earth is he just WAITING for someone to escape the cave, and also just happens to have a handy shovel with him? It's ridiculous and poorly executed. I understand that they're trying to use it to launch into a third movie, and that's fine, but the whole thing has no context and just makes you with that the movie had ended about 120 seconds sooner.

When the movie ended, all I could think was 'What the fuck??? I need to talk to someone about this!'. It's just that kind of a thing. I mean, here I am, days later, still trying to figure it out. I'm still trying to make sense of the whole thing.

If you've seen The Descent 2 as well, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the ending, or in general, in the comments.

Oh this is going to be AWESOME

2010-06-25T10:46:00.000-04:00

Debbie Gibson vs Tiffany in a new Syfy Original Movie - Mega Python vs. Gatoroid! How awesome is THAT? The answer: Very.

[Via Cinematical]

#1570: The Descent 2

2010-06-24T13:32:00.000-04:00

Let's be honest: There's no way to talk about The Descent Part 2 without spoilers, so please, beware.

I'm not Shawn, I'm Caitlin. I know it's all topsy-turvy to read Shawn's blog and get me, but he'll be back before you know it and you won't have to put up with me anymore. Shawn hatched a nefarious plan for us to watch the same movie, review it, and cross post on each other's blogs, so it's his evil genius plan, I must say.

Anyways, so The Descent Part 2 picks up pretty much where The Descent left off. (If you're considering watching Part 2, I'd highly recommend just watching Part 1 and Part 2 back to back.) Sarah, the apparent sole survivor of a caving trip gone horrifically wrong, is found and brought to the hospital, where she has no memory of her ordeal in the cave. Watching your friends get eaten alive by mutant cave monsters will do things to a person, so Sarah's mind is a little shaky.

The local sheriff (who really deserves an award for being an incredibly dumb asshole) forces Sarah to go back into the cave with him, his deputy and a group of cavers after he begins to suspect that Sarah had something to do with the murders. Sensitivity is not this man's strong point. After they head into the caves, Sarah's memory is jogged and escapes from the clutches of the sheriff. Remember how I said the sheriff was dumb? He fires a shot in the cave system, causing a cave-in. All hell breaks loose and the mutant cave dwellers come out to eat.

The Descent Part 2 isn't nearly as good at fleshing out all of the characters as The Descent was, but given that a few of these characters are grist for the mutant cave people mill, that's forgiveable. Part 2 retains the confusion and claustrophobia that made The Descent so terrifying in the first place, with some of these tunnels being so small you wonder how they got a camera in there. More than a few horror sequels fail miserably at adequately picking up on continuity but Part 2 does a solid job of maintaining that aspect.

Juno is still alive and fighting like a madwoman in the cave system, so that is a bit of a surprise in a way. The three final girls battle it out to exit the cave, where Juno bites it and Sarah makes the ultimate sacrifice to give the sheriff's deputy, a mother with a little girl, a chance to escape the mutants. Up until this point, The Descent Part 2 is a sequel that lives up to the original, a sequel that moves well in the construct of the first movie. After this point, The Descent Part 2 falls a couple of notches in my estimation, due to a bizarre ending involving an old man bashing the deputy in the face and dragging her to the hole to be consumed by the freakin' Morlocks.

There is no rational explanation for this, no sensible reason. Normally this sort of "gotcha!" moment is reserved for sequel setups, but there's something so random, so bizarre, an ending that's never telegraphed or made clear that it's ultimately confusing and leaves you ruminating on that instead of the good parts in the movie.

While I'm looking forward to seeing how they ultimately play this one out in the next movie (I understand from Shawn that The Descent Part 3 is in the works), if you have no knowledge that there will be another sequel, the ending is puzzling at best. This bit is really the only negative to The Descent Part 2, so if you can stomach the fact that the ending feels like it doesn't belong there, then The Descent Part 2 is equally worth invested time and a well-made follow-up to a great first movie.

Happy Birthday Bruce Campbell!

2010-06-22T20:11:00.000-04:00

Great idea, or greatest idea?

2010-06-22T13:41:00.000-04:00

Syfy lets fans create a Saturday night schlockfest

I'm so in.

Happy 600th post!

2010-06-21T23:52:00.000-04:00

Holy shit. 600? Really? That sounds kind of significant. I should do something. Something movie related. Hmm...what could I do that would be interesting and celebrate my 600th post properly? A review you say? Nah. Too cliche. You'd be expecting me to do a review. What's that? I never do reviews anymore? Who invited you? I'm done taking questions from the press.

I have some hobbies. Hobbies that are not movie related. I read. I'm learning to play the ukulele. And I play with my cameras. Well, one of my cameras, I like to use for making time lapse videos. I find it fun to do. And, as an added bonus, once it's taking pictures, I can take my short attention span and go do something else. Like read! Or play the ukulele! Woo!

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to do a time lapse video of my apartment tonight. Ok, I'm lying. It was an idea for sure, I just don't know that it was a good one. Anyways, I took almost 800 pictures. And cleaned. And did normal stuff. Is it an interesting video? Eh. It is, however, set to music. And THAT I find hilarious!

Admittedly, the music is the work of Tyler Bates from the 300 score, which I feel is used in a parodic manner and allowed as fair use. Perhaps my interpretation is wrong, I suppose YouTube will let me know.

I'm one post away from 600...wow

2010-06-18T10:33:00.000-04:00

These are just way too cool

2010-06-15T10:09:00.000-04:00

In a somewhat rare (for me) act of attribution, these were done by Yair M. and seen on Flickr.

Futurama's first 90 seconds.

2010-06-14T11:23:00.002-04:00

As you may know, Futurama is returning to television. I'm pretty excited about it. That's really all I've got.

Scott Pilgrim's 7 evil exes line up to save summer movies

2010-06-14T11:20:00.000-04:00

Scott Pilgrim's 7 evil exes line up to save summer movies

Nathan Fillion's Hair

2010-06-08T11:00:00.000-04:00

This might just be the best search term that ever brought someone to 7dp:

nathan fillion's hair

Seeing that, it occurred to me that there is a niche that needs to be filled. Someone out there wants to see Nathan Fillion's hair. And they came here! And I was unable to fulfill their need! The poor soul! I'm sorry. I really am. So just for you, internet stranger, here it is. Nathan Fillion's Hair:

Enjoy!

I'm not going to stop talking about it

2010-06-07T16:29:00.001-04:00

This clip, more than anything, might actually be why I'm really starting to feel that Michael Cera can play Scott Pilgrim.

It's really the turning to actually ask how it feels to get sloppy seconds that really makes you, or at least me, feel like it IS Scott Pilgrim. It just feels right.

Syfy Original Movie Titles

2010-06-07T12:25:00.000-04:00

Have I mentioned that I'm now a cable subscriber? Well, no, not really. It's satellite. And it's the cheapest package I could get. I mean, I really only watch a few channels. I like Discovery, I watch some of the rare non-law and order shows on USA and, as you may already know, I <3 Syfy Original Movies. Instant classics. Now, I know that not everyone agrees. Frankly, I feel that they fill an important niche though.

Movies to drink to.

No one wants to sit around with a bunch of beers and friends making fun of Children of Men. It's just not going to happen. On the other hand, if you hear that some low grade celebrity is starring in this weeks Syfy original train wreck of the week, hell yes you want to tune in. There's nothing better than watching some former household name appear in the worst movie you could imagine them in and wonder how they've sunken so low.

And let's be honest here, if someone says that there is a movie called Mongolian Death Worm, why the hell wouldn't you want to tune in? The titles are just fun. Which led to author A. Lee Martinez having a Create Your Own Original Syfy Movie Title contest on Twitter. You may notice that my own idea for Rhino Virus was an honorable mention (btw, if anyone from Syfy reads this, I'm willing to sell the idea for Rhino Virus pretty cheap. Seriosuly. I just want to see it get made).

The beauty of these movies is that you know what you're getting with them. You know it's going to be a low budget, kind of cheesy movie. And you know, there are many of us that love these kind of movies. You can have your big Iron Man and Transformers movies, I'd much rather see Sharktopuspocalypse (if anyone from Syfy made it this far, I'll throw in Sharktopuspocalypse with Rhino Virus. It's a 2 for 1! Haw can you lose??).

I expected better.

2010-06-01T11:13:00.000-04:00

I have some friends who absolutely LOVE The Hangover. They quote it all the time and they keep telling me that I HAVE to watch it. That it's such a great movie and blah blah blah. I'm sure you've been in the same situation. So, after months of hearing about how AMAZINGLY AMAZING it is, I crawled out from sleeping underneath my friend's car to watch it.

By now, I'm sure you know the story. 4 guys go to Vegas for a bachelors party, because that's what guys do in movies. Probably in real life, too, just not the guys I know. So, there they are, in Vegas toasting to their friendship and then the movie cuts to the next morning. No one remembers anything, the groom to be is MIA, there is a tiger in the bathroom and a baby in the closet. Now they have to find their friend and figure out what happened the previous night.

The Hangover has some funny moments in it, but, I don't know. The way some people talk about this movie, you'd think it was the second coming of Jesus. Now, I will say that it could be that all the hype around the movie made me expect something much more out of it. Frankly though, the friends who recommended the movie to me..well, we don't always have the same taste in movies, so I tend to take their suggestions with a grain of salt.

It certainly isn't a bad movie. It's just not a good one either. I don't feel like my time was wasted watching The Hangover, but I feel like the movie could have been so much more. Over all, I just feel very 'meh' about it.

Just makes me want to see this even more.

2010-05-31T13:10:00.000-04:00

New Scott Pilgrim vs The World trailer.

I wasn't exactly a Dennis Hopper fan

2010-05-29T13:45:00.002-04:00

Dennis Hopper passed away. I wasn't a big fan. In fact, I can only think of two movies I liked him in. This was one of them.

Another Great Shirt!

2010-05-20T14:41:00.000-04:00

I have to say, I disagree with the premise that SharkShark would be impossible. Personally, I see SharkShark as a Jaws 3 type movie, set in a Chinese circus/freak show/aquarium filled with bizarre and terrifying oddities of the oceans. Among these sickening creature is a siamese shark! Two heads, two tails, one body, twice the carnage!

Shirt available from HijinksEnsue [via io9]

A to Z Blogathon: D is for Day Watch (Revisited)

2010-05-10T10:01:00.001-04:00

You probably don't remember this, but a few years ago I took a look at a poorly subtitled, import* version of the movie Day Watch. At the time, I was greatly perturbed by the poor subtitles, and found the idea of the Chalk of Destiny to be at least a little silly. However, I feel that I've grown since then, and have also bought the official US DVD of the movie. It's one that I've been wanting to revisit for some time. I recently re-watched Day Watch's predecessor, Night Watch, and also the book upon which the two movies are based (also called Night Watch). On top of all that, I never really felt that my original review** of Day Watch really did the movie justice***.

So, since it was a movie I was looking to revisit right about now anyways, it seemed to me that it would be the perfect contribution to 1416 and Counting's A to Z Blogathon. In more ways than one, really. For one thing, if you read 1416 and Counting, you'll quickly realize that the blog's author, Caitlin, seems to have a thing for all things Russian. On top of that, Day Watch star Konstantin Khabenskiy is 1416 and Counting's Hot Old Man for the month of May. It really does seem as someone used the Chalk of Destiny**** to make sure I stopped playing Puzzle Quest for a while and wrote about this movie sooner, rather than later.

Day Watch picks up about a year after the end of Night Watch.That's not entirely true. The movie starts by telling the story of Tamerlane and his retrieval of the Chalk of Fate*****. You see, using this magic chalk, you can rewrite history, as well as doodle some sweet shit on the sidewalk. That's not important at the moment. What is important is that Anton is training Svetlana to be part of the Night Watch******. They show up to investigate a crime that it turns out was committed by Yegor, Anton's son. Anton tries to cover this up and gets framed for a murder as thanks. So, he and Olga switch bodies and...and, the more I think about it...it's very difficult to sum this movie up in just a handful of words. Especially if I'm going to be choosing words that make sense. There's a lot going on, and not a ton of explanation.

I'm going to be brutally honest here. You don't have to read Night Watch for this movie to make sense, but it helps. There are a lot of things that the movie expects you to just kind of 'get'. It expects that you've seen Night Watch and read the book and already have an idea of what's going on and who everyone is and what their place in this world is and...that's probably a bad thing. While the story is interesting, and the movie itself is captivating, I could see many people getting lost pretty easily with it. And, I think that the fault for that falls squarely on Timur Bekmambetov.

I will say, what I like about Timur Bekmambetov and his films (Day Watch, Night Watch and Wanted)...the guy knows how to create interesting action sequences. There's always something you haven't really seen before, or at the very least, something you've seen but now with a bit of a new twist on it.That might be a bit of a fault as well though. So much effort is put into these exciting and unique action sequences that the stories themselves tend to be weak.

All in all, I liked Day Watch. If you've seen Night Watch it's worth seeing as a continuation of the story. In itself, there isn't much setup to make a third movie, so this is probably all you'll ever get as far as the movie adventures of Anton Gorodetsky. Which is too bad as Anton is an interesting character and Khabenskiy does an excellent job of playing him. I couldn't imagine anyone else playing the character now. Even in the book, I picture Khabenskiy. In fact, if someone else HAD played Anton, I don't think either film would have been as good.

*bootleg
**I hate calling what I do 'reviews' sometimes. I feel that it gives reviews a bad name in general.
***That was a joke. I know you're sitting there thinking "I couldn't tell. Usually jokes are funny"******. What can I say, I like to defy expectations that way********.
****This one won't either.
*****The name of the Chalk is slightly different in this translation.
******The movie assumes you've seen Night Watch, so I will, too.
*******Fuck you*********.
********My favorite joke is 'Two guys walk into a bar. The third guy ducks.' It's admittedly not funny at all, but I love it all the same.
*********Yes, I'm adding footnotes to the footnotes. I'm recursive like that.*********
**********I hope I got all my asterisks in the right places.

Quite possibly the most amazing 2:12 of your life.

2010-05-09T01:25:00.000-04:00

This is all kinds of awesome. This is beyond awesome. This is simultaneously awesome AND every synonym for awesome.

So awesome

2010-05-02T19:27:00.001-04:00

Seriously, I love this shirt. This might be the coolest t-shirt I've ever seen. If I ever see someone wearing it, I may have to give them a high five and a hug.

Clever Girl T-Shirt | Snorg Tees

Go Ninja! Go Ninja! Go!

2010-04-26T22:29:00.002-04:00

I'd like to apologize* in advance for this, but it keeps coming up lately and must be posted.

*I'd like to, but I'm not gonna.

Professor of archeology, expert on the occult, and how does one say it? Obtainer of rare antiquities.

2010-04-26T22:25:00.000-04:00

If you read movie blogs, and if you're here it's a good bet that you read one or two, you may have seen a meme going around. Basically, people have been writing 10 movie based facts about themselves, and then tagging other to do the same. I was not tagged. I'm not surprised by this as I write pretty infrequently these days. And besides, if I really cared all that much, I'd just do the damn meme anyways.

Now before you start yelling at me to 'quit your whiny whining whiner', let me explain something. The whole point of that last paragraph (other than linking to 3 other blogs) is because something came to mind this evening and, well, it made for a good lead in.

I have one movie related thing about me that I want to tell you. One thing that I want to write about tonight. See, I was looking for a movie to watch tonight. I'm bored. That's all there is to it. So, it occurs to me that I could watch a movie. Ok, sounds like a plan. I'll put a movie in. Well, I don't want to pay too much attention to it. See, I almost want background noise as much as I want anything. So, whatever movie I pick, it has to be something I've seen before. And it can't be Evil Dead 2 since I just loaned it out. It's been a long time since I saw Amelie and I've been wanting to watch it again for some time.

So I pull the DVD out of the DVD drawer. I put it in the DVD player. The menu comes up. I press play. I wander off momentarily. I come back. I press the audio button on the remote. As much as I love the sound of the French language, I know less than 30 words any more. And besides, like I said, I don't really want to pay that much attention. There is no dub on the DVD. French audio and English subs only. Now. This wouldn't normally bother me. Not even a little. Like I said, I love the sound of the French language. Subtitles don't bother me, not even a little. I just didn't want to pay much attention.

See, this happens to me a lot. I want to watch a movie, but not something new. Something I've seen before. Something that I've seen many times. Something that, if I leave the room and come back, or turn my attention from for a little while, I'll know just what's going on when I come back in the room.

This brings me up to the real reason for this post. My assumption is that I'm not alone in this. That other people do this with movies as well. And, well, I thought that it might be fun to share some favorites. I don't really have a good name for the list, but I'm going to list a few that I always fall back on, and if anyone else is so inclined, comment, or write about it on another blog and let me know.

My List Of Movies I Like To Watch When I Want To Watch A Movie But Don't Want To Watch Something I'm Unfamiliar With (in no specific order):

Raiders of the Lost Ark (tonight's choice (Temple of Doom and Last Crusade are just as likely))
Star Wars (any of the six)
Lord of the Rings (any of the three)
Shaun of the Dead
Serenity
Doomsday
Event Horizon
Hellboy II
Planet of the Apes (the Chuck Heston original)
Resident Evil

Alright. What have you got?

Assassins. That are ninjas.

2010-04-18T00:18:00.000-04:00

Some movies are made to explore a theme. To tell a rich, compelling story. Some movies develop and grow characters. Sometimes movies are made to explore a director's vision, or because a writer has a story he's aching to tell. Some movies get nominated for awards, and go down in the annuls of history as works of art.

Other movies exist solely to put really cool shit on the screen for 90 minutes.

Guess which one Ninja Assassin is.

It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine

2010-04-17T01:10:00.001-04:00

I'm sure I'm not the first to reference REM in a post about the movie 2012. I don't care either.

I don't have it in me to really sum up and review this movie. It's just...I can't. I just can't so it. What I will do is give you a series of thoughts on 2012.This way, you can watch it yourself and pretend I'm turning to you and making these comments through the movie. Sort of the home version of $7 Popcorn. It's not the full experience. Oh no. I talk a LOT more during the average movie. Also, I offer to get beer more often.

There are a lot of good actors in this movie. And every time one appears on the screen, all I can think is 'this is beneath you. what are you doing?'
If you made a drinking game where you had to drink every time there was some sort of blatant product placement, you wouldn't make it through the movie.
If you made a different drinking game where you took a drink every time something scientifically impossible, scientifically implausible or historically inaccurate happened, you'd be just as fucked.
Woody Harrelson really does play crazy well.
There is a lot of humor to be found. A lot of it is even intentional.
There are also a lot of moments of gut wrenching tragedy.
Someone really should have punched Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt) in the nose. EDIT: Someone did. In a deleted scene. Should have left that one in the movie.
Without a doubt, this was Chiwetel Ejiofor's best role since Serenity (if you forgot about Children of Men like I did...)
George Segal is kind of a poor man's Elliot Gould.
It is possible to enjoy this movie. The trick is to forget about...you know...reality. You have to find a way to buy into a world where the laws of physics, science and reality are fundamentally different. If you can manage that, 2012 isn't bad.
As movies about the end of the world go, 2012 is certainly one of them.

I have to say, as discussing movies goes, I really kind of like this format. Maybe I should do this more often.

Desert Island DVDs

2010-04-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

Apparently there is a radio show on BBC...something about what 8 cds you'd want to be stranded on a desert island with. Now, I usually think of High Fidelity and top five lists, so to my more American sensibilities, 8 seems a bit odd. I guess if I want to make the rules, I can create my own multi-blog, all internet all the time kind of event. Why do that though when the Fandango Groovers Movie Blog has already gone and done it?

So, let's let them sum the whole thing up:

The idea is a variation on the radio program Desert Island Discs: For those who don’t know the show has been running on the BBC for nearly 70 years. Guests are invited to imagine themselves cast away on a desert island with only eight pieces of music to listen to. Being a movie blog obviously we are having a twist on the idea. Simple pick the eight DVD’s that if you were stranded on a desert island (don’t ask how you would play them) you could happily watch over and over again. For some people this will be their favourite movies for others it will be subtly different.

Sounds easy enough, right? Especially for someone like me who watches the same movies over and over (and over) again. What 8 movies would I be able to be stuck on an island with and watch on my solar powered, built from coconuts, portable dvd player?

I've said it many many times, and I'll say it once more. I loved The Brothers Bloom and I like it more every time I watch it. I'm happy to watch it and relax, and I'm happy to watch it and study it in depth to look for new details and clues. Without a doubt, this in one movie I'd be happy to have with me.

Ah, Jurassic Park. You know how you can tell a movie is good? After almost 20 years, it's still enjoyable. I saw it, like millions of others, back in the summer of '93 and to this day watch it a couple of times every year. Even with the advances in CGI over the last 17 years, the effects in Jurassic Park look as good as ever. To me, this is Steven Spielberg's master work.

I came late to the Firefly/Serenity party. I'm not alone on that. If I were, it wouldn't have been canceled so early. It's a testament to the creators and fans that this canceled series got made into a movie, and a damn good one at that. Serenity is just a fantastically re-watchable movie.

How can you go wrong with High Fidelity? I've seen it many many times now and still love watching it. I will admit though to finding Rob to be a bigger and bigger jerk as time goes on.

I'm generally among the first to admit that Johnny Mnemonic is a terrible movie. Terribly AWESOME! (See what I did there?) Like a moth to a flame, I'm inexplicably drawn to this movie. I can't imagine ever NOT wanting to watch it.

King Kong. No explanation needed (I hope).

How many ways can you say you just don't get sick of a movie? Think of another and apply it to The Thin Man, the charming story of two drunks solving a murder.

And last, but not least, the charming story of zombifying slugs run amok in rural America, Slither. Quotable and hilarious, it's hard to leave this one out.

This is just my list, and I told you way up at the top that this was a multiple blog event hosted by Fandango Groovers Movie Blog. To see more Desert Island DVD lists, you can go here

First Resident Evil: Afterlife Stills

2010-04-01T10:46:00.000-04:00

I liked the first Resident Evil movie a lot. The second was ok, but I didn't like the third at all. Still, I'm not going to lie and say that I don't want to see a new one.

First Resident Evil: Afterlife Stills Go Deep Inside The Umbrella Corp - Resident Evil - io9

Another American Godzilla

2010-03-29T15:00:00.000-04:00

As someone who believes that there is no such thing as a bad giant monster movie, I'm all for this.

'Godzilla' Roars Back, Legendary Pictures to (Re)Americanize the Japanese Giant - Cinematical

I have no intention of ever seeing Battlefield Earth...

2010-03-29T11:31:00.000-04:00

I have no intention of ever seeing Battlefield Earth, mostly because I try not to watch anything that stars a known Scientologist. If I'm going to support a cult, I'd prefer it to be a less crazy one. I'd rather spend time with Republicans than Scientologists!

Writer J.D. Shapiro, who wrote the movie 'Battlefield Earth,' apologizes to viewers and explains how the bomb came to be - NYPOST.com

Now, looking back at the movie with fresh eyes, I can't help but be strangely proud of it. Because out of all the sucky movies, mine is the suckiest.

I'm not sure that there is a movie I'm looking forward to more than

2010-03-25T23:16:00.002-04:00

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

In which the irregular update schedule continues

2010-03-15T15:12:00.000-04:00

Over the past couple of weeks, for whatever reason, I decided that I'd like to watch The Big Sleep and Murder, My Sweet again. I've seen them both multiple times, and, to be honest, I like them both. I've also read both books. I'm a big fan of Raymond Chandler's writing and was slightly disappointed when I realized I'd read all of his books.

The reason I bring any of this up is because I found something kind of weird. Not about the movies themselves, but my reaction to them.

I really like The Big Sleep. I think it might be one of Chandler's best (along with The Long Goodbye), and while Farewell, My Lovely is good (very good), it's not as good as The Big Sleep.

On the other hand, while I think The Big Sleep is a good movie, I think Murder, My Sweet is better. I like Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe more than I do Humphry Bogart. And while Bogart and Lauren Bacall have great chemistry together in The Big Sleep, the movie too often feels like the Bogey-Bacall show and not about a murder at all. And, while Bogart gives a good performance, I can't help but enjoy Powell's portrayal a bit more.

While The Big Sleep may be my favorite of Raymond Chandler's books, Murder, My Sweet may well be my favorite Chandler adaptation.

formspring.me

2010-03-12T11:04:00.001-05:00

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/smacdonn

Sunshine. Again.

2010-03-10T13:03:00.000-05:00

A couple of years ago, I watched and...well, I wouldn't go so far as to say reviewed, but I certainly did write about Danny Boyle's Sunshine. For some reason, I've been wanting to watch it again.

I think part of it was the recent Solar Dynamics Observatory launch. (SDO is going to be gathering up to 1.4 terabytes of data every day). And playing with Solar Stormwatch (where you can watch video and help detect solar flare activity). And the release of the 3D Sun iPhone app (near realtime solar storm and flare data on your phone). Basically, there's been a lot of cool sun related science going on lately. It's all very exciting if you're into astronomy and science. And for those of you who were unsure, I am really into science and astronomy.

I'm generally willing to re-watch a movie that I haven't enjoyed. I'll give it a second chance. I'm always willing to admit that outside factors can impact my subjective enjoyment of a movie. There have been many times where I've liked a movie much more on subsequent viewing than I did on the first. Event Horizon and Star Wars: Episode III come to mind right away.

Now, it's worth noting that I don't remember liking Sunshine as much as I claimed to in 07. I remembered it being an ok movie, but nothing spectacular. Certainly not on par with Boyle's previous movies like Trainspotting and 28 Days Later.

Sunshine is a very pretty movie that, unfortunately, doesn't make a lot of sense. So much is just unexplained in terms of what is actually going on in the movie. Why is the sun dying? The sun should be mostly stable for a few billion years before becoming a red giant. What happened to make it burn out? Why does it take 16 months to get to the sun? If we can send a probe to Pluto in less than 10 years with current technology, then in the future world of sun bound space ships, we should be able to move faster than that. How does the ship have gravity? Seriously, what is the source of gravity on the ship? Instead of taking a few minutes to work in explanations for this, Boyle thrusts the viewer into this world where they should just already know what is going on. It makes for a very confusing experience at times.

One of the DVD's high points is a commentary by Dr. Brian Cox, a particle physicist, professor at the University of Manchester and one of the scientists working on CERN's Large Hadron Collider. Dr. Cox was also a science adviser to Danny Boyle in Sunshine's pre-production. His commentary is great. It manages to fill in a lot of the gaps from the movie itself and is very informative and entertaining.

Of course, the low point of the experience is that for the movie to really make sense, you need an explanation from a particle physicist.

Godzilla Haiku

2010-03-08T12:14:00.001-05:00

This might end up being the most amazing thing on the internet today. Godzilla Haiku!

Something about big and small studios

2010-02-17T11:58:00.000-05:00

Okay, I hate to be a complainer, but today, I guess that's what I am. What's worse is that I want to complain about complaining. I apologize in advance to anyone who doesn't want to hear it, especially from some guy who never even bothers to update his blog anymore.

I was reading an article about RedBox agreeing to wait four weeks before renting out Warner Bros movies. To be honest, it makes no difference to me. I'm rarely in a huge hurry to see anything. I like RedBox because I'm cheap. There, I said it. I'm cheap. So, realistically, the whole thing means little to me. However, I made the mistake of reading the comments on the article. That's where I got kind of annoyed.

There is a certain type of person who will make the argument that Hollywood sucks and if only they made movies like foreign/indie movie "insert title here" Hollywood would be awesome. Basically, "movie X was so awesome, the big studios are stupid for not doing something so original".

It's a terrible argument. It's a terrible argument because the big studios just aren't in business to take those kind of chances. The big studios exist to make big movies hoping for big returns. They're the Microsofts of the industry. They've got the big directors, the A-list actors, the name recognition, etc. It costs them more to make the bulk of their movies, and they have to make movies that will create a return on that investment.

Meanwhile, a smaller studio is constrained by it's budget. They have to make movies that can compete with what the bigger studios are putting out, but without the financial resources. By their nature, they have to take more chances. They have to hire people who can do a lot with a little. This forces a different kind of creativity.

Big studios like Warner and Fox and Sony are trying to make movies that will appeal to the largest number of people. That's their business model. Big movies, big opening weekends, big DVD sales. A smaller studio can make movies that just appeal to a particular niche. Being small gives you that kind of flexibility in a lot of situations. You can hire actors that people have never heard of to be the lead in your movie, you can bring in an unestablished director to helm it. You can take a chance on a script that may not have wide appeal because you're doing it cheaply enough that you don't need to make $100 million dollars on a theatrical release.

The fact of the matter is, you need a system like this. The big studios can't take a chance on an unknown script/director/actor too often. The independents can. They can give someone a shot, and once established, the bigger studios can give them a chance. For all the love Christopher Nolan gets for movies like Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, I guarantee that Warner never would have let him pitch his idea without doing Memento and Insomnia first. The big studios are the companies that want experience on your resume.

To say that the big studios should make movies more like the independents do is a terrible argument, the big studios just aren't designed to make movies that way.

Carol, we don't have that kind of time.

2010-02-12T10:05:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, I'll watch a movie and start laughing at a line in it. It's not always obvious joke. It'll be something someone says and it doesn't further the plot and it's easy to overlook. My friend and I call these throw-away lines. One of the best examples is from The 'Burbs:

Carol Peterson: Ray isn't coming out of his room until he resembles the man I married.
Art: Carol, We don't have that kind of time.

And I laugh every time.

Well, what made me think of this was a recent viewing of The Brothers Bloom which is rapidly becoming a favorite movie of mine. There's a great line near the beginning after Stephen and Bloom leave the party. Stephen manages to open a door to a camel pen and says:

Is this bathroom? No, is camels

And I just find it hilarious.

Does anyone else have a favorite line like this?

A Town Called Panic

2010-02-06T08:09:00.000-05:00

The Physics of Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus

2010-01-29T16:10:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine sent me a link to the most amazing chart today:

I wasn't really a big A-Team fan.

2009-12-29T09:15:00.000-05:00

My brother was a big A-Team fan. He used to watch it all the time. I think he even had all the episodes on DVD.

Thoughts on Avatar

2009-12-24T22:52:00.000-05:00

I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here: it didn't require any discipline to attain it.

You read what others had done and you took the next step.

You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility... for it.

You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could and before you even knew what you had you patented it and packaged it and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it, you want to sell it!

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

Here's the thing, Avatar is one hell of a tech demo. James Cameron has definitely built one hell of a world for this movie. The problem is that it's a world full of cliches. It's very pretty to look at, it's engaging, but it's lacking a soul.

Scarface has never actually held any appeal for me

2009-11-25T15:25:00.001-05:00

Once again, the book proves to be better.

2009-11-22T15:37:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I was in a hotel room in Stamford, Connecticut. I was getting ready to get on a plane to come home. The tv was on and I was flipping through the channels and The Golden Compass was on. It was about halfway in, but I stopped and watched it. I decided that I liked it enough that I wanted to see how it began, so I queued it up on Netflix.

Last week, I was at the used bookstore and they had a copy of The Golden Compass. I was getting ready to head out to Rhode Island for a week and figured I'd give it a read while I was traveling. I like to read on planes more than anything else. I put my headphones on and just read. There are no distractions and I can focus on my book. I always read on flights. It's just what I like to do.

I got home on Saturday and Netflix had sent me the movie, which I was even more interested in watching now that I'd read the book. So, I watched it. And all I could come away with was what a jumbled mess it was.

The movie was too short. There are just too many things going on to try to condense it as much as they did. I think that it's a fairly enjoyable movie without having read the book, but having read it, the differences and short comings are just too apparent.

Here's the thing

2009-11-11T10:49:00.002-05:00

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by a few of things. Astronomy was a big one. I would go to the school library and just go through every book I could to look at pictures of galaxies and stars and planets and moons and...well, anything else that there might be pictures of. It was the same with the oceans. Whales, sharks, fish, dolphins, coral, it all amazed me. My grandma had a view master with a couple of Jacques Cousteau disks. I just loved looking at them. The other one was mythology. The Greek and Roman stories especially, and as I got older, Native American and Norse myths as well. It was the old Greek myths though that sparked my interest.

The fun thing is, I'm still as in awe of space, the oceans and mythology as my 8-year old self. So, it's probably a foregone conclusion that I will see the new Clash of the Titans.

You're going to see this a lot today.

2009-11-11T09:45:00.001-05:00

Kick-Ass

Trailer Park | MySpace Video

You got your astronomy in my Felicia Day! You got your Felicia Day in my astronomy!

2009-10-27T12:11:00.002-04:00

560 posts isn't really a milestone, but I'll take it.

2009-10-19T17:45:00.001-04:00

This one is making the rounds, and you may have seen it by now, but I don't care. I love it!

Are you fucking kidding me?????

2009-10-19T11:03:00.002-04:00

There are no words.

When I grow up, I want to be a character in a Rian Johnson movie.

2009-10-19T11:00:00.001-04:00

I saw Rian Johnson's first film, Brick, a few years ago. Brick was an interesting movie. Modern and anachronistic at the same time. It's a movie I keep wanting to watch again and kick myself for not having done so.

It was largely the strength of Brick that led me to watch The Brothers Bloom. And I'm glad I did. It turns out that it's one hell of a fun movie.

Bloom and his brother Stephen are con men. They have been since they were mere lads. Stephen is the brains behind the cons. He is the story teller. His belief is that the perfect con is one where everyone gets what they want in the end. Bloom is the younger of the two and a shy boy. Through Stephen's stories, he's able to talk to people and be friends with the other kids. The process, however, leaves him crippled. He feels like he's unable to interact with people outside of a 'story'. As a result, he wants out. He leaves and tells Stephen not to try to find him.

Three months later, Stephen shows up at his door. He has an idea for one last story. One perfect con. A con where everyone will get what they want. Bloom returns to New Jersey with Stephen to listen to his pitch.

Penelope is a very rich woman who never leaves home. From a young age it was thought that she was allergic to everything and was never allowed out. It turned out though that she was allergic to the needle that used to test her. Being stuck inside left her with few social skills. It did give her time to amass an incredible collection of hobbies. Stephen's story is for Penelope. It a story where she is swept off of her feet and on an globe trotting adventure rife with smuggling, conspiracy and intrigue.

You get the feeling early on that Penelope knows that she's being conned. Yet, she never lets on or really seems to mind. She enjoys the ride. She truly has the time of her life. Bloom, however, is falling in love with her and feels guilt and remorse at involving her in Stephen's scheme.

The story is told in a way that, as the viewer, you're constantly introduced to the various layers of the con. Something will happen to make you think that the bothers are going to be exposed, only to end up being a part of Stepehen's story. It makes you wonder at all times how much Stephen actually planned out, right up until the end.

The thing I love about Rian Johnson's characters is that they seem to exist outside of time and place. They're slightly anachronistic. The Brothers Bloom is set in modern times, yet they look a bit like old west snake oil salesmen. They never feel out of place though. They fit into this world that Johnson has created perfectly, and never for a second are the events too outrageous to be believable. It's easy to buy into this world. This is a credit not just to Johnson's writing, but the actors as well. No one feels miscast and they all are able to inhabit their characters as though they were being themselves.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Bang Bang. Bang Bang is the brothers' silent (literally) partner. Rinko Kikuchi is able to play this character so well that you never really feel that her silence is out of place. Bang Bang knows what's going on at all times and is as integral to Stephen's stories as anyone else could ever be.

There is nothing that I didn't like about this movie. Nothing. All I can do know is encourage everyone else to see it as well.

7 Dollar Popcorn

I wanted to leave GoDaddy anyways

An open letter to Netflix

Na Na Na Na Na Na Backlash!

A Life in Movies Blogathon

Want a FREE copy of Dead Woods?

A Year in the Movies

Song of the Day: High Hawk Season by The Mountain Goat

Today's phrase of the day: Bat-shit Wonderful.

An evening spent listening to some of the worst music I could imagine

Song of the Day - Winds of Change by Fitz & the Tantrums

Song of the Day: Howlin for You by The Black Keys

Song of the Day - Adultery by The Extra Lens

On travel and breweries

You are tearing me apart, Lisa!

Oh, hi Mark

Song of the Day - Cameras by Matt and Kim

5 years and I'm still here

Song of the Day - Night by Night by Chromeo

True Grit: A Christmas Story

A trailer on a Tuesday: Hanna

So...that was Centurion

In which I'm okay with Heimdall being black

And then Dead Woods had a trailer

Song of the Day - Sukie in the Graveyard by Belle & Sebastian

So, I was in this movie

The Most Amazing Four Minutes of Nicolas Cage's Career

Movie Sketch or What the Hell Was I Thinking? I Can't Draw!

Song of the Day - Black Sheep by Metric (Brie Larson version)

Random Movie Line of the Day

Song of the Day - Cameras by Matt and Kim

Halloween!

Who Would You Cast In The Remake Of My Man Godfrey

Remaking The Thin Man

Beer and the bottling of.

Star Wars 2D is fine by me

Song of The Day - Fireplace by Lost in the Trees

Way off topic, kind of, but BEER!

I have Electric Six running through my head, which has NOTHING to do with this post.

I swear it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Song of the Day - Banditos by The Refreshments

Song of the Day - Home Sweet Home by Those Dancing Days

Song of the Day - Talk on Indolence by The Avett Brothers

Song of the Day - Black Sheep by Metric

Scott Pilgrim vs The World is the best movie I've seen in the theater this year*!

I do enjoy a good werewolf movie.

Song of the Day - Jenny by The Mountain Goats

Song of the Day - Danger! High Voltage by Electric Six

Movie Magic

Firefly Intro... The Awesome Edition

A few quick thoughts on Hot Tub Time Machine.

Mel Gibson might just be a world class dbag

Let Me In, maybe not.

I *LIKE* the new Wonder Woman costume

The end of The Descent & The Descent 2

Oh this is going to be AWESOME

#1570: The Descent 2

Happy Birthday Bruce Campbell!

Great idea, or greatest idea?

Happy 600th post!

I'm one post away from 600...wow

These are just way too cool

Futurama's first 90 seconds.

Scott Pilgrim's 7 evil exes line up to save summer movies

Nathan Fillion's Hair

I'm not going to stop talking about it

Syfy Original Movie Titles

I expected better.

Just makes me want to see this even more.

I wasn't exactly a Dennis Hopper fan

Another Great Shirt!

A to Z Blogathon: D is for Day Watch (Revisited)

Quite possibly the most amazing 2:12 of your life.

So awesome

Go Ninja! Go Ninja! Go!

Professor of archeology, expert on the occult, and how does one say it? Obtainer of rare antiquities.

Assassins. That are ninjas.

It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine

Desert Island DVDs

First Resident Evil: Afterlife Stills

I LIKE the new Wonder Woman costume