April Showers

Quote of the Week

Stephen Colbert on Charlton Heston's big acting:

They did not even need a camera to make those movies. They would just hold up a film cannister and his performance would stick to it.

lol

Monday Monologue: Doctor Octopus

I can't stop thinking about Iron Man today. It's but 25 days away. Why am I so susceptible to spandex movies (that don't star Nicolas Cage)? On that fanboy note, let's start summer early by jumping into the exposition filled panels of comic-to-film super-baddie origins, well one in particular --Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2

Doctor Octavius: Ladies and gentlemen, my wife Rosie and I would like to welcome you this afternoon. But first before we start, has anyone lost a large roll of 20 dollar bills in a rubber band? Because we found the rubber band.

[polite laughter]

It's a terrible joke but thank you for coming.

Today you will witness the birth of a new fusion-based energy source: safe, renewable energy and cheap electricity for everyone. And now let me introduce my assistants.

I love Sam Raimi's directorial sense of humor. This is a great sick joke. A grimace, to a flesh puncture (with gross sound effect) to a crowd grimace. And it's over in a second but Raimi always gets the details. None of the extras in bad superhero movies ever get this involved in a scene.

His "arms" are intimidating. A little HR Giger/Alien like, yes?


Unfortunately they never break out into song like the other movie beastie they remind me of, Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors, or rather its backup singing buds.


Maybe the upcoming Spider-Man musical (god help us all) will rectify that.

Anywayyyyy, the good doctor continues enthusing about his project. Alfred Molina plays him all kind and accomplished/nerdy, winning you over before he gets villainous.

These four actuators were developed and programmed for the sole purpose of creating successful fusion. They are impervious to heat and magnetism.

These Smart Arms™ are controlled by my brain through a neural link. Nanowires feed directly into my cerebellum allowing me to use these arms to control fusion reaction in an environment no human hand could enter.

Bitchy Cassandra [interrupting the good doctor]: Doctor, if the artificial intelligence in the arms is as advanced as you suggest, couldn't that make you vulnerable to them?

Doctor Octavius: [smugly] How right you are.

Which is why I developed this inhibitor chip to protect my higher brain function. It means I maintain control of these arms instead of them controlling me. And now on to the main event. Give me the blue light, Rosie. Precious tridium is the fuel that makes this project go. There's only 25 lbs of it on the whole planet.

Ooh, talk dirty to me Octavius. But don't call me Rosie.

I seriously love nonsensical origin stories and scientific sounding crap. It's really too bad that the Fantastic Four were not fantastic at all on the big screen because what's better than a straight-faced explanation of how cosmic rays can permeate the hull of a spaceship and cause rubbery, invisible, fiery, or stony mutations depending on the personality of the humans they collide with? That's absurd and, well, fantastic. The only thing that could make that story better is if the cosmic rays had some ultra specific name instead of just being generically "cosmic"

But back to this particular experiment. There's a containment breach (of course there is!) and the good doctor soon becomes a very bad doctor once his inhibitor chip is destroyed and his creation begins to control him. I hate it when that happens.

Spider-Man 2 is the greatest superhero movie yet made. So very rewatchable. Perhaps that's why they thought they could just keep making the same movie? However good Iron Man's trailer suggests it might be, Jon Favreau and team will have a tough job measuring up. Spidey set the bar so high. Thankfully for them, the disappointments of 3 and the later bow of The Dark Knight should make it smooth sailing for Tony Stark and his armored alter ego to be showered with money and probably even lauded by the critical establishment once they kick off the summer movie season on May 2nd.

Can't wait to see it, but I don't expect they'll be able to top Dr. Octopus even if Jeff Bridges is playing the baddie. He's one our very best actors and you can tell he's evil in Iron Man because he's bald.


All baldies are bad in the movies unless they're played by Patrick Stewart or Bruce Willis. It's Hollywood's shorthand for evil, their sick way of justifying Nicolas Cage's horrifying plugs whilst making 40% of the adult male population feel bad about themselves.

This post is brought to you by Nathaniel's thinning hair shaved head and lost comic book collection.

Delightful Walking Billboard

I'll have both the product and the spokesperson, please.
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Coppola (x 2)

Today is Francis Ford Coppola's 69th birthday. Though he's most closely associated with New York, the vineyards of California or Italy itself, he was actually born in Detroit. So many greats come from Michigan, don'cha know. May he make a movie as good as any of these again ...

Those are my six personal favorites from his filmography (not in order. And shut up... I've never seen Godfather Part II. No, I have no excuse).

Come to think of it -- May he make a movie as good as any of these again...


Talent didn't skip a generation.

...so what's your favorite Coppola film? (Francis or Sofia born)
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Stop-Loss

What’s that great line from No Country For Old Men when Tommy Lee Jones’s Sheriff is asked if a multiple body massacre is a mess?

If it ain’t, it’ll do till the mess gets here

When it comes to stories about America’s ill advised war in Iraq, it’s hard not to think of it is the real deal. You won’t have to wait for another to arrive. It’s a bloody unequivocal mess, no matter how much Orwellian spinning has gone on over the past five years in the nation’s media to convince us otherwise. If you’re a pessimist –or some would argue a realist, you may think this particular botch is forever, an intractable wreck that’ll only result in larger catatostrophes down the line. If it is, it’ll keep expanding till the other messes get here.

Stop-Loss, Kimberly Peirce’s first feature since her much heralded 1999 debut (Boys Don’t Cry), arrived in the marketplace last week like one of its weary soldiers. This would be yet another wounding tour through America’s seeming indifference to Iraq war dramas. Did anyone expect it to be a big hit? Most articles neglect to mention that only certain types of movies are critic proof. Those are the big-ticket genres like superhero films, action extravaganzas, animated flicks, big star driven comedies. When it comes to dramas aimed at adults, are any of them critic proof?

Read the Full Review @ Zoom-In
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Planet of the Links

As you have heard by now, movie legend Charlton Heston has passed away at 84 years of age. His politics aside I have the fondness. Seeing Ben-Hur on the big screen of Detroit's Redford Theater in junior high was one of my defining moviegoing experiences. I was entranced by Stephen Boyd's Messala in particular (duh) and was incensed to discover that he wasn't the supporting actor Oscar nominee from the film. It's a cruel world for baby Oscarphiles.

Links
European Films alerts us that Pedro Almodovar is now writing a blog
MTV Movies Blog Patty Clarkson and Scorsese aren't saying much about her role in his new film. But we're excited nonetheless
Coming Soon more casting new for W. --Thandie Newton as Condoleeza, Ioan Gruffud as Tony Blair
Antagony & Ecstacy echoes many of my feelings on Stop-Loss
Sunset Gun on Bette Davis @ 100
Stinky Lulu kicks off a third season of Supporting Actress Sundays. I love ambitious projects that actually keep on ticking...
Movie City Indie on Mike Leigh's filmography and Happy Go Lucky
boston.com puzzles out the meaning of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and what it means for today's Iron Man


Upcoming Blog-a-Thons
Film at 11 wants to celebrate the anniversary of Andrew Sarris' American Cinema and its hierarchal categories of filmmakers (04/14-??)
Ferdy on Films invites you to celebrate Dance Movies (05/04 -05/10)
Cerebral Mastication promotes an all Indiana Jones all the time week (05/16-05/23)
Should I host another?
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20:08 (Debt)

I was missing my old screenshot series this morning so here's one for nostalgia's sake. (Can you have nostalgia for something that was going on mere months ago?)

Screenshot from the 20th minute and 8th second of a movie

Are you telling me you don't have the $75,000?

Michael Clayton is drowning in debt. And one of my favorite things about this movie which stares at him, unblinking, is the way you feel that same crushing burden on all the main characters in the movie, not just Michael. Everyone is drowning, gasping for oxygen at the convergence of career, money and morality.

Day of Rest

Shhhhhhh. This blog is resting.
It's a forced nap actually rather than true writers block. I'd love to tell you about how great Battlestar Galactica was last night but Blogger is being too difficult to put up with. Back later ? tomorrow ? with more goodies. Talk amongst yourselves.

Briony Garai

In December the 25 year-old English actress Romola Garai played the middle "Briony" in Atonement. Her next project is Richard Eyre's (Notes on a Scandal) infidelity drama The Other Man. She plays... wait for it...


It's like that time when Kate Winslet went from inflicting violence upon actress Sarah Peirse in Heavenly Creatures only to become the character of Sarah Pierce in Little Children. But still, Romola's little coincidence is odd. Briony/Bryony being such a very common name and all ;)

Indianapolis, Again

Just an FYI I will be serving on the jury of the I.I.F.F. again this year albeit in a different category (last year's coverage) --my favorite movie from last year's fest is only available through Film Movement currently.

Have a look at IIFF's competition lineup and tell me which films you'd most like to hear about right here. I'll see them. I'll also try to snag an interview with Famke Jannsen (who I hear might show). Coverage will start the last week of this month. If you're a reader from Indy, say "hi"! Or whatever it is they say in the midwest these days. Don't be shy. I'm there for a week, so please suggest some good restaurants at the very least. Or buy me a drink once I get there. I'm thirsty.
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Now Playing: Clooney, Foster and plenty for the Francophiles

L I M I T E D
The Flight of the Red Balloon Hou Hsiao-Hsien makes gorgeous movies. Three Times...just lovely. This one stars the beloved Juliette Binoche and critics are loving as is the norm for Hsiao-Hsien.
Jellyfish (Meduzot) Another acclaimed foreigner, this one Israeli. It was one of the Ophir nominees (i.e. Israel's Best Pictures) but was passed over for the Oscar submission when they went with The Band's Visit (later disqualified) and then Beaufort which did become one of 2007's Foreign Film nominees.
Meet Bill A comedy starring Aaron Eckhart... also known as 'that guy who went to college with Nathaniel' (teehee). Supposedly this one will be going wide next month. Jessica Alba, Timothy Olyphant and Elizabeth Banks in supporting roles. In concept isn't it hard to see Eckhart as a man lacking in confidence? Not a timid wallflower actor.

Sex and Death 101 Winona Ryder and Simon Baker star in 'That Movie With A Truly Terrible Poster'
My Blueberry Nights The Weinsteins, jailer of countless films, are finally letting you see the new Wong Kar Wai picture. But will you? Norah Jones travels and encounters Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and other beauties on her way.
Tuya's Marriage Lots of foreign films to choose from this weekend. This one is set in Mongolia
Shine a Light Scorsese. The Stones. 'nuff said for those who love either
And finally...
Water Lilies was up for three French Oscars (the Cesars) last year, all in the "promising" categories. Best First Film for its director and the two young female were up for Most Promising Actress. Here's the young and hormonal trailer...



Foreign film trailers often leave out dialogue, as if those who would be interested would lose interest if they knew it was going to be subtitled. Um... However, since this is the way marketing of foreign pictures works, I much prefer the absence of any words to those lame narrated trailers where someone tries to sell you on how beautiful or heartwarming or miraculous a foreign film is, while all the while you're noticing that they're too scared to make you listen to [gasp!] A FOREIGN LANGUAGE!


W I D E
None of the wide releases are doing well critically on Rotten Tomatoes. Nothing is even in the 60 percentile range. Oops

<---- Nim's Island Jodie Foster does one for Charles and Kit. Abigail Breslin and Gerard Butler co-star in this family adventure film
The Ruins The new horror film based on a Scott Smith novel. He also wrote A Simple Plan. Presumably most of the young stars including X-Men's Ice Man, Tilda Swinton's gay son from The Deep End, and Donnie Darko's girlfriend die violent horrible deaths.
Leatherheads George Clooney, Renée Zellweger and that guy from The Office star in this period romantic comedy about footballers (the American kind).

Madonna... Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock

I woke up at an ungodly hour this morning and sat blurry eyed in front of an infomercial. I don't know why. Before I knew it my credit card was in hand and I was punching in the numbers to buy Shaun T's Rockin' Body workout dvds (don't judge). Had I remembered that Madonna's new 4 Minutes (To Save the World) video was ready for me on iTunes I could have saved myself $60 and still be rocking with two heavenly bodies. I watched it nonstop for half an hour.

Tick tock tick tock tick tock


Her co-star in the video is Justin Timberlake who, come to think of it, had a hit single with Rock Your Body (see sidebar video of week). It's all about bodies and even a little influenced by Bodies (the traveling exhibit) since you see internal musculature at a few moments, as if we all could decompose at any moment. We're all going to run out of time.

Madonna's best pop records have always had robust energy and a great sense of urgency. This one literalizes that with its silly chorus. Many outlets will be celebrating her 50th birthday this August and even more will be suggesting she should hang it up --"too old" and whatnot. The clock is always ticking. Everyone gets older. Trust Madonna to always use what's out there for her own advantage.


This is Madonna at 49 literally running out of time. If I look this good at 49 I probably won't live to see 50. I'll die of happiness first.

The video opens with Timbaland who I like to think of as the narrator here, rather than the rapper, playing the alarmist white rabbit (not literally) "I'm out of time and all I got is four minutes" and why not, with Madonna you're always in Wonderland. A huge backdrop of a digital clock ticks down the song's 4 minutes throughout. Madonna and Justin race through bathrooms, bedrooms, and jump around on top of cars before launching into a short but pretty thrilling synchronized dance number on parallel moving walkways. Along the way they lose various layers of clothing. You know Madge is having herself a laugh when in the middle of the big dance number in front of the countdown Justin actually causes one of her last "wardrobe malfunctions". Unlike Ms. Jackson in the infamous Superbowl disaster, this diva returns the favor (pity JT's still wearing something else underneath). Then the pair strut off for the "breakdown" which is yet more mirrored dance moves.

I was so keyed up after watching the video on loop that I ended up dancing around naked in my apartment --a sight that would have frightened neighbors and animals-- as I made breakfast. Who needs workout DVDs when Madonna's always rocking her body?

Excellent song. Excellent video. Excellent choreography: A

This is Justin's pose when he sings the holy name of "MADONNA"


That's the exact pose I do when I name check her. How did he know? He forgets the follow up move though, which is when you drop to your knees and land in genuflecting position.

She's earned it.



She gives good soundtrack to life.
tick tock tick tock she rocks

"The only thing more terrifying than blindness is being the only one that can see"

I sometimes look around the web and I'm astonished at how freely people use their entertainment blogs as free advertising outlets for certain shows, artists and movies. Publicists sometimes send out plain old commercials and people actually post them with not even a smidgeon of commentary or point- of-view just the advertisement... "Watch this show tonight" as a post. The commercial gets seen and nobody gets paid. It's such a great con --pretty hilarious and savvy of multi-billion dollar corporations if you ask me.

That said, when it comes to certain films I look forward to I too must plead guilty on occassion. I mean, I've talked about Blindness how many times now?, and it doesn't even come out until the fall. I love the book so much. And the cast. You can see THE COMMERCIAL (also known as "a trailer") now. [thanks Cal]

Is it wrong that I love Julianne Moore most when she's utterly miserable?


Whether its crying jags over a custody battle, horrifying allergic reactions to everything, desperation to escape a loveless marriage and a needy child, or religious faith that rips her from the arms of her lover ... I need my Julie Anne Smith to suffer* and Blindness shall provide.
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* Julianne doesn't know this yet (it's kind of a one sided relationship) but we're totally getting back together as soon as she's the star of a great movie again. If you know of a good marriage counsellor whose willing to see just one half of an imaginary couple, please pass me their card!

How Things Are, The Next Morning

Links. Mm-hmm

Blake Snyder great screenwriter moments on film. Yes
NY Times looks at The Lucky Ones (with Michael Peña and Rachel McAdams) and the ongoing dilemma of marketing Iraq-themed Hollywood pictures. Blah
<--- Telegraph Sally Hawkins on starring in Happy Go Lucky and collaborating with auteur Mike Leigh. Whee
As Little As Possible watches Geoffrey Rush die four times at once. Neat
Empire Michael Cera talks about starring in the adaptation of the Scott Pilgrim series. Fun
Thompson on Hollywood Tom Cruise heavily made up for Tropic Thunder. Perhaps I erred on my makeup predictions for Oscar. Argh
Hollywood Elsewhere hears good buzz on Doubt and Milk. Yeah
Topless Robot has superhero analogies to political figures. Bizarre
Reverse Shot loves Flight of the Red Balloon. Okay

And since the EMMY's regularly have bad taste I think it's wise to note other television honors when they occur, like the Peabodys which just announced. Last year they honored Battlestar Galactica so right away you know they're smarter than the Television Academy. This year's honorees: Mad Men, The Colbert Report, 30 Rock and Project Runway among others.

How Things Are

Hump Day Hottie, Drew Barrymore

It's a shame that Drew Barrymore doesn't do photo shoots like this one anymore...

[image src]

Lately she's selling the romantic cute far more often than the nympho sex kitten. You no longer see her stretched out naked in the grass on magazine covers. She doesn't strip on David Letterman's desk. But, given that she's been famous since she was 6 or 7, she probably feels like one of the grande dames of Hollywood. Even if she's only 33.

Wouldn't you love to see the sex kitten come out again? Take her for one less rampage through the stuffy mainstream media, Drew!

Well, I might not be over that incarnation of Drew but the girl herself seems to be and she's the boss of her. She's been making romantic comedies for so many years now that it seems like people have forgotten that for a brief flickering moment in Donnie Darko she gave us a peak at the future mature actress Drew. Little Gertie from E.T. as a high school teacher. My brain was sufficiently blown. We're about to see the "Serious Actress" Drew again in Grey Gardens but first she'll take another spin into romantic comedy with the all star adaptation of He's Just Not That Into You. Other ladies in the ensemble include Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Aniston, Scarjo and Jennifer Connelly. Yes, they're apparently pulling out all the stops for that one.

As I've said in the comments before, I've always believed that as soon as Drew challenged herself in a Oscar friendly role, she'd be nominated. Oscar friendly = dramatic. It's not that Drew isn't skilled at comedy. But that's not what actors win significant acclaim for. Not fair but true. So, why shouldn't one of the most beloved movie stars in the world follow her great aunt (Ethel) and great uncle (Lionel) to Oscar glory?

If you've already checked out my Best Actress Oscar predictions, you'll see that she's one of my five choices for next February's shortlist. Yes, it's way too early to be doing these things but I'm pretty confident about seeing her there. In fact, she's one of only two actresses I feel confident about (the other is Meryl Streep. duh x 15)

"Little Edie" and "Big Edie" Bouvier Beale, cousins of Jackie Onassis have stayed in the public consciousness due to the beloved 1975 documentary Grey Gardens. Last June Broadway star Christine Ebersole won the lead TONY Award playing "Little Edie" in a musicalized version of the story. Her win was a slam dunk, so memorable was both role and star turn. While the documentary trained its eye only on the Beales as old women, the musical sliced the story in half to show you the past (Act 1) and then, like the documentary, give you the older women reminiscing in the present (Act 2). The movie Grey Gardens is sans show tunes but I believe they're using a similar approach. After all, early stills of Drew in character have her looking young and glamorous and Jeanne Tripplehorn will appear as Jackie Onassis. Perhaps the second half of the movie will be more like the documentary and we'll see Little Edie middle aged, bizarrely dressed and living with her decrepit mother in squalor.

I don't know anything about the 35 year old behind the camera (Michael Sucsy) because this is his directorial debut. It could be special, cross your fingers. I can't wait to see Jessica Lange ("Big Edie") and Drew Barrymore surrounded by cats, continually obsessing on their earlier and more glamorous lifestyles.


Full pointless "Early Bird" Oscar Predictions here
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Light the Corners of Your Mind

Tuesday Top Ten: Super Early Oscar Predictions

for the listmaker in me and the list lover in you.

Ten Things That Make Early Oscar Predictions Difficult
If you're super impatient you can move on to the actual predictions

10 IMDB doesn't always list complete credits for a film... even when it looks like they do. For instance, in some cases you can't tell who shot a particular movie or who scored it, or who did the costumes. Who did what is important since there are Meryls and Denzels amongst the technical crowd, too, you know --nomination magnets, as it were.

09 Not knowing which companies will be releasing certain films is difficult. Films that look great on paper that have undefined (or unshared) distribution plans include presumable actor showcases like biopics Grey Gardens and The Young Victoria as well as marital dramas like Richard Eyre's The Other Man and Jim Sheridan's remake of the Danish film Brothers. Who pushes which movie matters. Not all distributors are created equal. At least not where Oscar is concerned.

08 Stephen Daldry has thrilled Oscar voters twice before with Billy Elliott and The Hours. His new film The Reader has a WW II backstory --something that often lights AMPAS's collective fire. But will he finish it in time? The Hours was delayed by a year and this new movie also lost its producer Anthony Minghella (RIP).

07 The Weinsteins have what looks like a great slate this year. Vicky Christina Barcelona, The Reader, The Brothers Bloom. But they've been bad at courting Oscar lately? And even if Vicky is good Woody Allen and even if Cruz is great (in what sounds like a fun if typically misogynist Allen-written role) and even if they figure out how to sell it, is Oscar over Woody Allen?

06 No matter how good you are at Oscar predicting, no matter how much research you do, you're never going to see the Junos coming... those little non-baity films that turn miraculously into behemoths.

05 The supporting categories. They're usually foggy until very late in the year. A lot of early buzz only focuses on lead performers and general plotlines. Those with smaller roles have to prove themselves when the picture opens.

image from AnneHathawayFan.com

04 My general theory is that for the early bird predictions, you let yourself have some optimism regarding personal pets/dreams. Letting personal feelings interfere is a no-no later on when the race clears up. But for how I'm wanting to (and so I will) assume that Dancing With Shiva will mark a dramedic return to form for Jonathan Demme (Married to the Mob, Silence of the Lambs) and that Anne Hathaway who has been the good ignored soldier for two Oscar seasons supporting co-stars who were nominated (Brokeback Mountain and The Devil Wears Prada) might get her due. Why not? Nobody knows anything yet. I'm still deciding.

03 Clint Eastwood, who loves making movies quickly almost as much as he loves winning Oscars, has a movie for November (Changeling) and December (Gran Turino). There are many rumors about Gran Turino (the strangest of which is that it's actually a new Dirty Harry picture) but when all details are secret it could just as easily be one for the crowds rather than something prestige for the Academy. He doesn't only make Million Dollar Babies. He also makes True Crimes and Blood Works.

02 Steven Soderbergh's two part Che Guevera epic. The first half is called The Argentine and the second Guerilla. Will they actually release both halves this year? If they do will they only campaign one? If they only release The Argentine and the Academy likes it, will they wait to honor it until part two?

01 The act of predicting Oscars in April is insane.

The first step is knowing you have a problem...

previous article: studio preview

Early Bird Oscar Predictions

COMPLETE
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Walk Win the Line

"Love is a Burning Thing" but unfortunately the Walk the Line DVDs I have to give away are no longer hot off the presses. I'm a week late sending these things out. Sorry guys! The 3 winners (drawn randomly) of the Extended Cut Walk the Line contest held here at the Film Experience are...

Sebastian in North Carolina who wants to see a Karen Carpenter bio starring Evan Rachel Wood. Hmmmm. Love ERW and we all know she can play a convincing anorexic (hello Once & Again, one of the greatest television dramas of all time) but what is there left to say that Todd Haynes didn't already say (with dolls) in Superstar?

Jerry in Colorado who is itching to see a Stevie Nicks bio starring [drumroll please] Sarah Michelle Gellar. Was it that musical episode of Buffy, Jerry?

you see Sarah's gypsy?

Sir Jorge in Seattle wants to see a bio of Mike Ness from Social Distortion. But there isn't an actor or actress who could handle it, he thinks. So maybe you should help with the casting on that one.

There were a lot of great biopic suggestions with your contest entries. I particularly loved the idea of Kristen Chenowith as Dolly Parton, Ryan Gosling as Frank Sinatra (he'd do it his way all the way to the Oscar, I'd bet), Maggie Gyllenhaal doing Dusty Springfield (interesting), Parker Posey as PJ Harvey, Ani DiFranco to be played by Lori Petty (never thought I'd hear that name again ! but, yeah) and Nico featuring either Carice van Houten or Chlöe Sevigny. What say ye? Would you pay to see any of those movies?

We can also help out Sir Jorge in the comments. Who could successfully convey the sex, drugs and rock n roll of punk icon Mike Ness?

Paparazzi Puzzlement (Ziyi Zhang)

Vivo Nevo, Ziyi Zhang's man, never smiles in photos.


Shouldn't he? I mean...
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DVD Releases: Chipmunks, Bette, Sweeney

Run for your lives. Alvin and the Chipmunks is now on DVD and the said-to-be-pure-crap movie which I will never ever see, which won more box office dollars than all of the critical hit dramas of 2007 (or thereabouts) combined, more popular with John Q Public then the bliss of Ratatouille (and I wish I could scream "april fools" after saying that, but alas --tis true), will now be seen by millions more. What a world.

Other new DVD releases: The Good Night (featuring Paltrow, Cruz and DeVito) and Samuel J Jackson's 79th feature film Resurrecting the Champ (he can't say no!)


In better news, Tim Burton's interpretation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is also out for your home viewing pleasure. Though my own review was glowing, my reaction mirrored its Oscar run. When it opened it had critics and Oscar pundits all hyped up and eager for a shave and then everybody said "nyahh" at the last minute and moved on. A fast fade --not the masterpiece it should have been --but definitely worth seeing for that genius score, Burton's gleeful blood sprays, and pieces of Johnny & Helena's Golden Globe celebrated performances.

Finally, just in time for Davis's centennial (see previous post) is Volume 3 of the Bette Davis Collection. It doesn't have any of her Oscar nominated performances but it's a true 1940s fest with the The Old Maid, All This and Heaven Too, The Great Lie, In This Our Life, Watch on the Rhine and Deception.

Links (Plus Bette Davis)

Overheard at the Movie Theater
After the trailer to Nicolas Cage's latest action travesty Bangkok Dangerous ended...

Smart Guy Behind Me: It's like an SNL skit.
Smart Girl Beside Him: Seriously

Oh, yes... links
A Socialite's Life something is very wrong with Lara Flynn Boyle's face. And not in the way that something is wrong with Nicolas Cage's face.
Kenneth in the (212) Cheyenne Jackson is on the cover of The Advocate. Mmmm, Cheyenne.
The Reeler rounds up the best of the New Directors/New Films series here in NY
Evening Class interviews the director of Sockets a new queer horror film hitting DVD that's got obvious Cronenberg influences
ScreenDaily talks to George Clooney about Leatherheads and Burn After Reading. I'm so happy that George is doing comedy. I think that's his true gift.
Moviehole Jason Biggs taking over as Spidey? Um...
This Distracted Globe on Blade Runner. I don't know what it is but every time I chance upon a review of Blade Runner I read it. I probably don't wanna know how many reviews of this movie I've read.

GreenCine Daily rounds up the blogs paying homage to Bette Davis as we approach her centennial (April 5th). You know. I think the first time you see a true star has a lot of impact on how you respond to their whole career. It took me a really long time to get over my early images of Bette Davis. When I was a wee kid you would sometimes see her on TV and she was this weird ancient chain-smoking lady... the first movie I saw her in was Return to Witch Mountain (1978) --I was really into those Witch Mountain movies. So when I started watching her movies, I went backwards. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, All About Eve. But I'm still not as well versed in classic Davis as I should be and whenever I see something really old like Three on a Match or especially Jezebel or Now Voyager I'm just thrilled to be looking at her. Can't pry my eyes away. Must see more. Soon.