Kenneth in the (212) "about face" is a new photography book restricting itself to just men's faces, unretouched. Lots of actors because they're handsome. I threw Jim Caviezel up to the left there. His career sure turned out odd, right? THRLet the Right One In's director Tomas Alfredson lines up his next project, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy based on the John Le Carre's 1974 espionage novel /Film Kate Beckinsale sues a newspaper for libel damages, claiming that they gave the impression her career was in decline. This is the type of thing that could so easily backfire. Suddenly we're thinking: Why is she so touchy about her career? Declining? The Notorious Nikki Finke hates on Nicole Kidman. But then who doesn't she hate on?
All Things Fangirl has a detailed review of Tom Lenk's (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) stand up show last night at Don't Tell Mama's. I was also there and it was indeed hilarious. Big Screen Little Screen who is the real James Franco? Just Jared Jude Law's tattoos Movies Kick Ass clicks its heels together for Meryl Streep Scanners another fine piece about the strangely heated Transformers divide, fans hating on critics for not agreeing with them. This happened last year with Dark Knight but it wasn't quite so widespread since most critics loved the hell out of The Dark Knight. a) why do movie fans need validation in the first place? and b) how boring would life be if we all shared the same opinions? Erik Lundegaard wants all 14 year old's responsible for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen punished. His plan is so diabolical! Has he no mercy?
Did y'all here about this DVD box set of American classics Barack Obama gave Britain's Prime Minister?
Bright Lights takes issue with the Daily Mail for calling this a lame thoughtless gift (because it wasn't personalized). I sure as hell would be happy to receive it, wouldn't you? So many goodies.
Were you to see receive a box set which movies would you want replaced? And with what? *
<-- One day Katey and I will upgrade with a greenscreen and a better mic (one day!) so I've visualized a greenscreen effect here. I've added magic Transformerssymbols behind us... just for fun. I feel like I need magical decoding symbols to understand the Transformers phenomenon. What do millions upon millions upon millions of people see in Michael Bay's "films"? In less than one week's time it's already the #3 movie of the year and will easily slaughter the numbers for the beautiful Up and the entertaining Star Trek. *sniffle*
2009 Top Ten (thus far)
Up$250 and climbing
Star Trek$246 and winding down
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen$200 in just five days
Monsters vs. Aliens$195
The Hangover$183 and climbing
X-Men Origins: Wolverine$177
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian$163 and winding down
Fast and Furious$155
Paul Blart: Mall Cop$146
Taken$144
Michael Bay is truly a god of carnage. Unfortunately the cinema is his target. I feel like someone should block my access to box office sites. In this case, ignorance might be bliss and it's cheaper than anti-depressants.
Ah, but I exaggerate for effect. I didn't actually see the giant robots so I'm just assuming that it's as terrible and its success as disheartening as the hilariously hateful reviews indicate. Katey did see it and she despairs at me herein. We also review My Sister's Keeper, Cameron Diaz's cancer weepie. It's a total grumpfest on the vodcast today.
Hollywood Reporter I guess turnabout is fair play and Hollywood is always remaking Asian films. Zhang Yimou is going to remake the Coen Bros debut film Blood Simple. Er... good luck Bright Lights After Dark reminds us that not everyone loves the legendary Pauline Kael as a critic. 'She didn't "get" the 60s' is the claim here. Socialite Life Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams to co-star in Morning Glory (not a remake of the Katharine Hepburn Oscar winner EmpireWatchmen getting rereleased... and it's even longer now? (gulp) Topless Robot remembers the geek side of Farrah Fawcett's career TwitchAudition, one of the scariest movies I've ever seen, is getting a 10th anniversary DVD edition with extras
Splash Page fan made Spider-Man 4 posters. Eliza Dushku as the Black Cat? Yes, please Mike Lynch 200 characters from Dick Tracy. Does anyone besides me wish the movie version had had a sequel? Billy Loves Stu Brad Pitt (Cutting Class) and the vagaries of fame
More takes on the Oscar's Best Picture nominee doubling AV Club pros & cons Nick's Flick Picks with charts of what 1999-2008 might have looked like. We should probably do this here at some point. So many projects! Movies Kick Ass 'Oscar Should Wait' Risky Business Oscar's Decathlon
Transformers Revenge of the Fallen reviews >Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Kim Morgan suggests that Bay is an idiot savant surrealist. She thinks he needs to embrace/realize it James Rocchi "And no, I can't shut my brain off and have fun, anymore than I could rip out my tongue and enjoy a meal, because my brain is where I feel fun." Peter Bradshaw "like watching paint dry while getting hit over the head with a frying pan" Timothy Brayton Robots in Disgust Cinematical absurdities they love
Some thoughts on Chéri (it's finally open!) and My Sister's Keeper are over at my weekly column at Towleroad. Feel free to comment there if you'd like. I've been accused of being "highbrow" for my lack of interest in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. If mistrusting Michael Bay means I'm highbrow I plead "GUILTY as charged" I mean... robots who speak jive?
As for Chéri and My Sister's Keeper, I'll have more on both of those movies up in the next couple of days. Stay tuned.
Any interest in coming with me to tues midnight Transformers 2 on IMAX? Only drawbacks:
1. It's $20 2. We'd have to get there early 3. It's Transformers 2
After I recovered from the LOL'ing following #3, I said no. No way am I giving $20 to Michael Bay. I assume Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will beat Up to steal that #2 box office hit of the year position and I weep for the (safely assumed) qualitative drop in that switcheroo. I don't understand the Transformers phenom. A lot of movies are good at blowing shit up and some of them actually have narrative and visual coherency to go with the pretty fireballs and lovely dust clouds. Why not line up for those? And as I bitched when the first Transformers picture rolled around, the only reason I ever enjoyed the robots in disguise was watching them transform out of their disguises. If I want liquid metal, I'm totally just watching Terminator 2: Judgment Day. When anything can become anything with high speed morphing, the joy is lost. There's no reveal to stun you with the hot joy of brilliantly designed internal architecture... "That came from that. OHMYGOD it did!"
Plus, apart from Megan Fox, I can't tell the robots apart.
10 Favorite Movie Robots (not always in disguise)
I went with mostly the android'ish since I like people better than things. Strangely, I couldn't think of any cool animal robots from the movie (apart from the reliably creepy mechnical spider device that filmmakers from Michael Crichton to Steven Spielberg are fond of) but I'm sure they exist. The only ones that came to mind were incredibly stupid... like that mechanical owl in Clash of the Titans (1981). I only pray that the remake is sensible enough to ditch the owls. At least any owls that require batteries.
Honorable Mention: The Buffy Bot I always want to include Buffy the Vampire Slayer in every list. But it's a tv show damnit. Buffy always confuses me because it's better than much cinema. The Buffy Bot was another reminder, as if we needed one, that Sarah Michelle Gellar was shamefully robbed of Emmy nominations for 7 (give or take) years. My god, she could barely get arrested at the Globes. Only one nomination there? and that was right at the start.
10 Herbie the Love Bug That's a robot, right? Artificial intelligence, moving parts, etcetera. Or is he magical like Frosty the Snowman? Either way he survived Monte Carlo, a failed spinoff tv series, continual underestimation of his gifts, injuries, numerous drivers and Lindsay Lohan. Plus, he's totally cute and wins extra points for nostalgia since they (literally) don't make them like they used to. Volkswagen Beetle RIP (1938-2003)
09 R2-D2 If you had asked me as a kid "what is your favorite sound?" I probably would have started beeping like R2-D2 but after the childhood apocalypse that was Star Wars: Episode I, all things Star Wars have since been downgraded. Hence, #09.
08 HAL 9000 & Gertie HAL (voiced by Douglas Rain) is of course super smooth and insinuatingly creepy but I wanted to include Gertie (voiced by Kevin Spacey) for memorably riffing on the collective memory of HAL in the new movie Moon, reviewed here in case you have finally had the chance to see it.
07 Gigolo Joe & Pris Mmmm, pleasure models. It helps that one of them looks like Jude Law and the other has the endless legs and Amazonian kink of primo Daryl Hannah. I still think there's a classic sci-fi film waiting to be made that's ABOUT a pleasure model rather than expecting them to vivify the sidelines like they do in A.I.Artifial Intelligence and Blade Runner. But who would finance erotic sci-fi these days? Eroticism is a no no. Think of all the trouble Robert Rodriguez had trying to remake Barbarella.
Ian Holm, Lance Henriksen and Winona Ryder in the long dead Alien franchise
06 Ash&Bishop Because they elevate Alien and Aliens... not that either film particularly needs the elevation being spectacular in dozens of other ways as well. Please note that I didn't include "Call" from Alien Ressurection as I still have no idea how that fell so flat. I mean other than that the role was played by Noni in that phase of her career when she suddenly seemed entirely lost. That said, Alien 4 gets a bad rap but it's hard to argue with Sigourney Weaver's slightly twisted star turn as "Ripley 8". Even after four films she never once phoned it in.
05 The Iron Giant I really need to watch this animated gem again. I've seen it but once and every time I have thought about since (many many times) I whisper "Superman" in my brain and, voila, instant lump in throat.
04 T-1000 I think I gave him short shift in my Judgment Dayretrospective. I love everything about him from his mean, lean and naked entrance to Robert Patrick's otoplasty-free ears to the way he chases the heroes with cheetah speed (yikes) to the way that the only barely expressed "emotions" are negative ones: annoyance, dishonesty, condescencion, anger.
03 Roy Batty If only some new sci-fi picture would ever be as good as Blade Runner. I guess that only happens once every quarter century or so. Hey, it's been 27 years! Hurry up cinema. [More on Batty]
02 WALL•E & EVE I know I'm supposed to be moving on to Up... but really. How will Pixar ever top WALL•E ? Too much loveliness, creativity, control and exquisite characterizations for one animated film. Plus, EVE rocks.
01 False Maria I'm giving Brigitte Helms immortal rendition of The Maschinenmensch the top spot not just because I've seen Metropolis more than any other silent film (it's not my all time favorite silent: get in line behind The Passion of Joan of Arc and Pandora's Box, Fritz) but because you can still feel Maria reverberating in pop culture. Or at least I can. But maybe that's because I ♥ Madonna too much? Plus Maria's dance sequence is all kinds of "!!!" including the most gloriously overstated reaction shots of lust the cinema ever came up with: lip licking, eyebrow acrobatics, arm grabbing... it's all win.
Which robot things excite you or are you strictly flesh and blood oriented? *
Lipsynching is hard enough to do well and that's before adding several pounds of distraction atop your noggin. Ouch.
What happened to Hugo Weaving anyway? Is he hiding in Australia?
For a good long while between the sober elven council he kept and his multiplying Matrix villainry his face was hard to avoid at the franchise-happy multiplex. Now, Hollywood lets him talk (V in V For Vendetta, Megatron in Transformers) but his face is suddenly off limits.
I know movie stars get paid more money for short contract work than most of us can ever earn in our lifetime but sometimes I think they deserve it. Imagine having to shout such utter nonsense while leaping around in front of blank green screens for days on end. Imagine doing that and delivering it with any degree of disbelief suspended authenticity? It might be a fun job but I'm guessing it's not easy. *
Kenneth in the (212) "about face" is a new photography book restricting itself to just men's faces, unretouched. Lots of actors because they're handsome. I threw Jim Caviezel up to the left there. His career sure turned out odd, right?
All Things Fangirl has a detailed review of Tom Lenk's (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) stand up show last night at Don't Tell Mama's. I was also there and it was indeed hilarious.
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