Ninja Links

Lots of cool stuff this week. Enjoy these links as you unbuckle your pants and sink into your food coma.

Funny: Kevin Smith's merits as a director are certainly debatable (he'd be the first to knock himself, no question). But as an emissary for the Geek world, well, few are as eloquent and hilarious. Check out this recently dug up clip of him breaking down why Twilight is invaluable to the larger sci-fi/fantasy community.
Speaking of Smith, here is part two of an EXYTEMELY candid interview with the man himself.
Here are two very cool very handy guides to defeating movie villains as well as what you need to know if you ever find yourself trapped in the past.

Analysis: A marvelous video essay on Truffaut's 400 Blows. Those guys at the House Next Door never fail to impress.
With the release of Me and Orson Welles cinematical has provided this handy guide for Welles beginners. God I love Welles.

Lists: Devin over at CHUD made his own list for Thanksgiving. This one features his top ten turkeys (which is to say-absolute crap films).
Cracked has compiled a list of 7 popular chick flicks that secretly hate women.
Here's a list of top 14 fictional movies within other movies.

And with the holidays fast approaching you probably want gift ideas for the nerd in your life (you must have at least one in your life if you're reading this blog). No worries, Quint of Ain't It Cool News has your covered here, here and here.

Thankful in 09

In honor of Thanksgiving I've come to realize that whats great about this holiday is the opportunity it grants us to stop and realize all the little, subtle things we should be thankful for that we often overlook. Here is a list of cinematic delights that I'm thankful for in 2009. Warning VERY LIGHT SPOILERS to follow.

The dance number in (500) Days of Summer
I'm all for graphic, intimate sex in film but sometimes a clever cut can tell you everything you need to know about how the previous evening went. The number to Hall & Oates "You Make My Dreams Come True" is a highlight even if you thought the movie was too twee. Get Jospeh Gordon Levitt in a musical pronto.

Sy Ableman in A Serious Man
There are a number of Oscar worthy performances in this thought provoking Coen brothers flick. But anyone who saw the film instantly knows we're "talking about character" (to quote another Coen character) when you mention Sy Abelman as expertly played by Fred Melamed. Truly worthy of standing alongside Jesus Quintata. Big Dan Teague and Sydeny Musburger in the pantheon of great Coen antagonists.

The subtlety in Adventureland
It'd be so easy to make this into a dumb sex comedy with laughable losers, wry slackers and hiss-able jocks. Greg Mottola's script and direction never let it happen.

Paul Schneider's wardrobe in Bright Star
In this sturdy, period romance the moments of levity are few and far between. But every time Charles Armitage Brown makes an appearance you know something delightful is about to happen. If you ever wondered what it would be like if an un-mauled Joker let himself go in the time of romantic poets, look no farther.

That crazy vaginal canal/tunnel in Coraline
When Coraline is birthed into another world she is really birthed into another world.

The Godzilla fight in Crank 2: High Voltage
At this point the film had surpassed the original and was just now beating its predecessors corpse with sticks.

Cat food in District 9
Or as the Prawns call it...maise.

The goat in Drag Me to Hell
When I first saw that goat be led into the seance I turned to my man-date for the film and said excitedly "Oh man they are definitely going to do some crazy shit to that goat." I was not disappointed AT ALL!

The fun time for grown-ups attitude in Duplicity
Not all movies need to be marketed to thirteen year old boys. Sometimes a movie can just be cool and slick and tricky and fun. Duplicity is all this and more.

David Koechner in Extract
Has there ever been a better annoying neighbor in the history of cinema? No seriously, I'm asking, I may want to do a list.

Raaaaaaaandy in Funny People
Need I say more.

The Pit in G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
Your inner ten year-old mind is blown. They've got a shooting range and an undersea training area, and a launch pad and a command center and a martial arts training area and an armory and....

The contents of the trunk in The Hurt Locker
Since the preview ruined one of the film's most arm-rest squeezing surprising, I was grateful for this reveal and the craziness that ensues.

NO PHOTO AVAILABLE

Greg Levine as Hailey's Date in I Love You, Man
This young actor won audience hearts because, to quote the director's commentary, "He looked like a guy who would be on a blind date."

The English Language in In the Loop
For being used as a brutal weapon, to deceive, to inspire and to amuse. Also for gems like; "You know, if I could, I'd punch you into paralysis!" and "It's difficult, difficult lemon difficult"

Colonel Hans Landa's pipe in Inglourious Basterds
Its brilliant, intimidating, outrageous and silly all at once. Just like the movie.

Adam Brody in Jennifer's Body
Really wish they'd beefed up this part because he just slays with every line.

Danny McBride and Jorma Tacone's chemistry in Land of the Lost
When McBride says "Come on Chakka, lets go work on our business model" you laugh because he really means it.

Amelia Earheartt's "keester" in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
The rest of the performance is the only worthwhile thing in the film (obviously) , but the movie's best special effect is au natural.

That you believe in the new crew of the Enterprise in Star Trek
The fact that Star Trek succeeds based more on cast chemistry and cinematic alchemy then the script is a major miracle that I am grateful for. I only ask that they build something a bit meatier and sturdier in the next outing.

The "What Do Tiger's Dream of" song in The Hangover
Sure "We're the three best friends" got featured in the commercial ad nauseum but Ed Helms takes a low point for the characters in the film and turns it into an audience high with his delightful voice.

The score of the Informant!
Perfect!

The fact that Russell is kind of a pain in the ass in Up
Just like a real kid, you still like him anyway.

Discovering that Larry David is an ideal Woody Allen surrogate in Whatever Works
Two great tastes that go surprisingly well together. Though the part was originally written for Zero Mostel, David plays Allen's greatest crank in some time like a pro.

The fort in Where the Wild Things Are
It's going to be a place where only the things you want to happen, would happen. Also its going to have lasers that cut off the heads of people you don't like.

Twinkies in Zombieland
Because he hates sno-balls. Its the coconut. Its not the flavor, its the consistency.

That's my list. What are the little things in movies you're thankful for in movies from 2009? Tell me in the comments.

Like a Bunny

I have been remiss in my duties readers. I like to think when a new trend or movement in cinema comes up I at least have a handle on it. I'll see one or two films to get a feel for it or do some research in its origins, or try to consider the context from which it sprang forth. However, in regards to the mumblecore movement which began a few years ago in 2002 I have been shamefully uninvolved and unconcerned. In taking the indie grunge aesthetics of the late 80's and early 90's (your Sex, Lies and Videotapes, your Reality Bites) with the bare-bones, "real" approach od Dogme 95, combined with a do-it-yourself spirit, the style has taken off in art houses. it has also begun to produce a number of crossover figures that are slowly but surely entering the mainstream (I'm thinking specifically of Mark Duplass who can now be seen weekly on FX's The League and Greta Gerwig who just showed up in House of the Devil and replaced Amy Adams in the forthcoming Greenberg with Ben Stiller).
Well if my first forray into this movement is indicative of the core emotional truths this style can dig into I will definitely be checking out more mumblecore. Lynne Shelton's Humpday plays sort of like an Apatow film stripped down to its barest elements. I mean this as a compliment for both sides. The difference being that in Shelton's film the emotional moments are pitched more toward verisimilitude as opposed to earnest sentiment. The film starts off as a sort of winking take-down of gay panic and beta males and then cannily evolves into a story about character's attempting to reveal their true selves and struggling with how time has changed them and whether its for better or worse. In most films this would be pretty gregarious, hand-wringing stuff but under Shelton's direction and the actors nimble and knowing performances it comes off as charming and frequently hilarious.
The film centers around Ben (Mark Duplass) who is settling in to being a 9 to 5 city planner and growing accustomed to his new marriage with Anne (Alycia Delmore). The couple is planning to have a baby and this would symbolically mark the transition into more mainstream domesticity for both of them. In a very revealing early moment the two are snuggling in bed, both clearly tired when one of the partners grudgingly admits that they're too tired for sex. The answer is not disappointment or insults, but relief from the other. Its such a refreshing turn of events for the viewer to see that the film is not going for obvious spins on this material. It'd be so easy to make Ben a barely getting by slacker, or turn Anne into a hen-pecking shrew, but the film has too many shaggy layers and too much vested in these characters.

The would-be normalcy of this couple is disrupted at 3 AM when out of nowhere comes Andrew (Blair Witch's Joshua Leonard), an old friend of Ben's that he's not seen in years. Ben is a sort of aimless wanderer, he's still living like he's an idealized artist type in his twenties and the film bounces back and forth between looking at his lifestyle with equal parts envy and derision. It nicely echoes Ben's own feelings towards his friend. Anne is frustrated by Andrew's intrusion in their life and how Andrew's presence effects Mark, but she never descends into shrewish caricature, she's willing to give Andrew a chance and never hurls any marriage ending ultimatums at Ben. She also has wonderful moment where Ben expresses his desire to not be the buttoned-down married type that he's become and her retort is phenomenal. Its as though someone took Leslie Mann's rant to Paul Rudd in Knocked Up and dug several miles deeper.

The central dramatic question the film hinges on comes at a moment when at a boho party Ben is dragged to by Andrew and during a discussion of real-lifer film -fest Humpday, the two suggest making a film where they, as two straight friends, will have gay sex. What ensues goes in a number of thought-provoking directions. You could spin out a couple different interesting films from this premise, but I don't think any of them could be described as subtle. Shelton, however, never allows this question to be a one-joke premise. I wouldn't dream of spoiling what the film turns into after the two decide to make the film or how the news is broken to Anne. I will say though that a lot of thought went into the exchanges and character reactions to the implications of these two friends in this situation. For some this may come off as navel gazing, but I would argue that there is gold in them thar navel.

Mostly a Treat

The days of the anthology horror film seem to have gone the way of the musical and the western. A once much beloved genre that takes a gasp of fresh air every couple of years and then sinks to the bottom of the forgotten pop-cultural consciousness. Just because its not popular doesn't mean its not worthwhile. Trick R Treat is raucous fun thats jokey enough for horror fans who will be whooping it up the whole time and scary enough to give you a good case of the heebie-jeebies. Writer/director Mike Dougherty takes a number of hoary old tropes and gives them fun spins. He's very knowing of genre entertainment both horror and non-horror and has lots of fun slick little meta-moments. Battlestar Galactica fans will enjoy watching Tamhoh Penikett trick or treating as a robot (ha HA!), indie film fans will dig Dylan Baker lecherous lording of a small child and True Blood fans will be QUITE surprised at the twist Anna Paquin's character takes in her vignette.*
The film is light and breezy. Dougherty who last muddled through scripting duties on the labourious Superman Returns, has made a sharp film that connects several spooky stories in a fractured chronology that is bound by a bag-headed, jack-o-lantern kiddie named Sam. As soon as one story begins it takes a few fun twists and turns playing with familiar tropes and then dashing our expectations. The tone nimbly bounces from fun to frightening and then back again. Dougherty, reverential of Carpenter's Halloween, perfectly captures the creepy autumnal New England suburbia. But instead of making the housing tracts empty and desolate he crams the frame with activity, thus making it all the more surprising when cries go unnoticed. It stands to reason, why would anyone think someone is ACTUALLY getting killed on Halloween?

Reminiscent of the best Tales from the Crypt episodes or best bits from Creepshow, Trick or Treat gooses its pulp origins with top notch sets, make-up and most importantly performances. Brian Cox plays an addled Halloween hating Scrooge type with a dark secret. He has very little dialogue but speaks volumes with his ominous cackling and mumbly shuffling. Anna Paquin (cast here prior to her starring in True Blood) perfectly captures the blithe ingenue spirit until things go very, very wrong. And creepster character actor deluxe Dylan Baker takes his Happiness character to its logical end-point. Baker is so unfailingly square and clean-cut he can't help but give casual viewers the shivers. With these actors anchoring their various segments the viewer is fairly engaged, only one piece with a bunch of unknown child actors fails to completely deliver, though thankfully Dougherty doesn't shy away from exposing kids to violence (which is probably what prevented the film getting into theaters).
Trick R Treat has no greater truth, its aim is to scare and become part of the venerable cannon of Halloween horror movie favorites. In this it succeeds spectacularly. Horror fans both new and old-hand in the genre would do well to hunt down this film. The holiday of Halloween deserves more than just a Shatner-masked slasher to represent it in cinema, why not nasty little Sam too?


*I'm surprised someone hasn't taken screen grabs from the film and posted them as TB season 3 spoilers and royally mess with some fans heads.

Rock Actually

What is Richard Curtis driving at? Where is this body of work going? Curtis, when motivated can write deep, thoughtful grown-up characters with complex relationship dynamics. Hell, he can even make Julia Roberts basically playing herself seem down to Earth and relate-able. But his last couple of projects have been scatter shot and not particular whole. By which I mean Love, Actually and his newest film Pirate Radio. Are they enjoyable entertainments? Absolutely. Does he create memorable characters? Certainly. But the movie, which is trying to scratch at some sort of truth about love and music and the unique experience of the swingin' sixties comes off as a bunch of good-natured baby boomer wankery. I yearn for the real genuine humanity on display in his Girl in the Cafe.

This is not to say that Pirate Radio is bad. On the contrary, its quite entertaining. I take issue with the fact that someone of Curtis' considerable talent doesn't push his audience a bit more, he'd have no trouble getting them to follow. He begins to scratch the surface of the pain and regret that was the flip-side of all that free love by having his most lovable lothario character, Dave "The Love Doctor" (Nick Frost, scene stealing as always) pull some genuine dick moves on our young lead character. However, in a tidy little piece like this, the young lovers are easily reconciled if you wait long enough. Something similar happens with Rhys Ifans character and another loser type as well.

Curtis fills the boat with a series of weirdos, scoundrels and hippies who above all things value rock and roll (and maybe sex in a close second). Chief among them is Phillip Seymour Hoffman's Count, which is sort of a riff on his playing Lester Bangs, who's arc features him in a sort of posturing contest with Ifan's Gavin. Our entry point character is young Carl as played by Tom Sturridge. There's nothing especially remarkable about Sturridge who's mother (Emma Thompson) has sent him to the pirate radio station ship that is broadcasting round the clock rock (a major taboo in the UK in the 60's) in order to get closer to his godfather, slick as always Bill Nighy.

For someone who has written some particularly multi-dimensional female characters the women are a bit thin in the film. Primarily used as objects, the film's sexual politics are at best surprising. January Jones, Gemma Arterton and Emma Thompson don't have much to do since woman are only allowed on the ship once a month for sex (except for the token lesbian who's their maid). The same can be said for the film's antagonist as played by Sir Kenneth Branagh who is really just riffing on John Cleese's uptight Basil Fawlty. A lot. He also has an associate named Mr. Twatt and yes, that got a laugh every time. The antagonists are so over the top hiss-able and terribly ineffectual that the only real threat to the boat comes when it gets a hole in it and begins to sink in the final act. At that point the film becomes a storybook version of Titanic with records instead of the poor in steerage as casualties.

Look if you're looking for an afternoon at the movies you can go see with a date or family members where everyone will have a good time and enjoy a pretty throughly excellent soundtrack you can't do much better than this. I just wish the film could do a bit more with its ample resources.

PS-Flight of the Conchords is clearly getting a lot of recognition and traction as Rhys Darby's (who plays Murray on Conchords) entrance and subsequent lines got huge reactions from the crowd.

New Link: Part of the Twilight Saga

Ugh, craaaazy week you guys.

Reviews are a comin', promise.

Interviews: Michael Chabon talks about genre. Not that first time he's done it, but its good to know that one of the best living writers of fiction loves comics and crap.

Videos: Every death from Total Recall. To which I say "GAR NOT QUAID!"
For those of you who haven't seen it yet Jason Segel performed with the Swell Season. Phenomenal.
This compilation of every time a werewolf or vampire has danced in a film ALMOST makes the release of New Moon worth it. Almost.
The 101 best music videos of the past decade. WARNING: don't click this link unless you have a bunch of time on your hands.

Analysis: Devin at CHUD wrote a wonderful piece on fantasy and realism in films. I whole heartedly agree with him (except for the part about 300 being good).
The lovely Kim Morgan wrote a blisteringly good piece on Fight Club and its lasting impact in honor of the film's recent Blu-Ray release.
FX rant looks at the cinematography of recent masterpiece, Let the Right One In. Seriously WATCH THIS MOVIE!

Random coolness: Some Kirby inspired artist did a variety of Marvel-esque covers for an Inglourious Basterds comic. Gorgeous
Want to know how long the line rides are going to be at Disneyland? There's an ap for that.

Ugh sorry, I suck

Ok so I have a conference and this means the following: No new posts until Wednesday night (at the earliest).

Reviews will be forthcoming of Pirate Radio and Trick R Treat. Also the Last Waltz and should things go according to plan Fantastic Mr. Fox.

You can make fun of me in the comments.

In the Red: A Morning of Exploitation

Netflix served up a double helping of exploitation related material and like last time really dug one, didn't dig the other.
The Haunted World of Superbeasto: I'd long anticipated Rob Zombie's return to original material. I enjoyed The House of 1,000 Corpses though deemed it a bit too frenetic and reverential to prior films for its own good. I LOVED The Devil's Rejects in which Zombie compellingly followed the exploits of a gritty band of marauding murderers and shockingly made us care about them. Rejects shows a director with remarkable stylistic control who manages to shock and awe with brutality. Then the remake gigs came. Bad enough he should remake indisputable classic Halloween but to then do a sequel after specifically promising not to? For shame. The Haunted World of El Superbeasto though, an animated film following the adventures of an egotistical luchadore and hi sexy eye-patch wearing sidekick in a world of monsters, how could I resist? Unfortunately the film did not meet my expectations. The film starts off with an homage to an animated uncle Carl Laemmle appearing before the audience to warn them the following film may be too scary (as in the original Frankenstein). Off to a good start but then what follows is a series of John K. inspired gags that would've been tossed off after the first draft in the adult swim writer's room.

Want gratuitous nudity? The film starts with porno auditions. Want gross? A wave of rats are evacuated from a man's ass. Want violence? How about rows of nazi zombies being mowed down? Yep, plenty of it. Unfortunately there are no sympathetic or even fleshed out characters for the viewer to invest in. Each character is paper thin and the good gags are spaced so far apart its difficult to get into the sound and fury that's signifying nothing. I can see the fifteen year old version of me enjoying this, but it's entirely disposable. Not even game voice work from Paul Giamatti (as needy Dr. Satan) and Brian Posehn (as a horny robot) manage to bring life to the proceedings.

Not Quite Hollywood: The Story of Oz-ploitation makes for a really fun evening guaranteed to get you to fire up the netflix q or hit up amazon to find the titles on display. The doc runs down the history of genre cinema in Australia in a brisky hour and forty minutes, but I would've been content to watch hours more of this stuff. Aussie luminaries like George Miller and Brian Trenchard-Smith join "fan" Quentin Tarantino and a band of colorful rogues in this enticing exploration of a tragically unheralded area of cinema. The film gives you a bit of historical context and the need to for Aussie filmmakers to break the powerful grip of censors and then shows off a variety of great, fun looking films in various sub-genres. Among the areas explored are sex comedies, horror, cars and assorted other forms of action. Viewers get a chance to scope out Razorback (Jaws with a wild boar), Stone (an ultimate Aussie biker anti-hero), Patrick (a terrifying looking comatose psychic killer), Roadgames (a sort Rear Window/Duel hybrid) and Dead End Drive-In (a post-apocalyptic crazy car mash-em-up with a drive-in prison camp). Viewers will get all sorts of new names to admire and track down. Check out the trailer below.

Fantastic Mr. Link

Lots of cool stuff worth sharing this week.

Great vids: One of the best trends that have been developing virally is the use of classic footage to represent modern films. This use of Chaplin footage to replicate the Matrix is awesome, check it here.
Star Wars and I have been on a rocky road for a LONG time. The bulk of internet material produced on this franchise is by-in-large dreck. However, every once in a while you get something like this.

Interviews: Legend Ben Gazzara, delightful Teri Garr, Jake Gyllenhaal & uber-hottie Gemma Arterton, and then there's Britcom guru Richard Curtis. Oh and several bigwigs (Scorsese, Stallone, Sayles and Shatner to name a few) talk Roger Corman.

Lists: Tim Curry's career has been nothing if not prolific and varied, check out 10 of his strangest roles here.
Oh movies that are way more racist then they think are, you're delightful...ly racist.

Update: Dates will be upped

So I can't review or praise or snark about anything tonight because I will be chilling in the green room at Jimmy Kimmel Live because my good friend, Amir, is going to be a guest. Y'all should tune in 12:06/11:06 central. Who knows, last time the put me in the audience for the band and you could kind of see me, tonight, who knows? Also if the thought of seeing Amir and maybe seeing me wasn't enough, Frank Reynolds himself, Mr. DANNY DEVITO will be the first guest. So come on. Tune in.

Looking ahead we've got Friday Links and hopefully I'll get out to theaters to see one or more of the following; Fantastic Mr. Fox, Pirate Radio (ne the Boat that Rocked) or An Education. Who knows maybe I'll try to track down Antichrist (CHAOS REIGNS!). Also I've recently gotten a passel of Blu-rays and I'd love to let you guys pick which one I'll review for the site. Please leave your vote for one (or more) of the following in the comments:
Up
Monsters, Inc.
North by Northwest
Trick R' Treat