The origins of the legendary horror character Leatherface will finally be revealed.Trailer HERE
Friday, September 29, 2006
Deliver Us From Evil (Movie Watch)
Deliver Us From Evil, is a Documentary feature on Father Oliver O’Grady, the most notorious pedophile in the history of the modern Catholic Church. A remorseless, compulsive, sexual predator, O’Grady used his charm and authority as a religious leader to exploit Catholic families and rape dozens of children across Northern California - both physically and spiritually.
Trailer HERE
Candy (Movie Watch)
Candy based on the novel by Luke Davies, is a LOVE story that sees a poet, Dan, who falls in love with an art student, Candy, who gravitates to his bohemian lifestyle -- and his love of heroin. Hooked as much on one another as they are on the drug, their relationship alternates between states of oblivion, self-destruction, and despair.
Trailer HERE
Harsh Times (Movie Watch)
Harsh Times, is a tough-minded drama about two friends in South Central Los Angeles and the violence the comes between them. Jim David, is an ex-Army Ranger who finds himself slipping back into his old life of petty crime after a job offer from the LAPD evaporates and Mike Alvarez is the friend and partner trying to stand by him. It marks the film directing debut for David Ayer, the writer of Training Day.Grade: C +
Trailer HERE
The Invisible (Movie Watch)
The Invisible introduces us to Nick, a high school senior with a bright future, until in a tragic case of mistaken identity is brutally attacked by a troubled girl, Annie, and is left for dead, finds himself trapped between the worlds of the living and the deceased Invisible to all but the only one who sees he must be find before he is truly gone.
Trailer HERE
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Graded)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is an adaptation of the novel of the same name, where Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born lacking a natural body scent of his own. Fortunately, he has been blessed with a superior olfactory sense, which he uses to create the world's finest perfumes. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.
Grade: A
Trailer HERE
I Am Legend (What to Know)
The first on set picture of the sci-fi film "I Am Legend" is now available. As Robert Neville, Will Smith will play the one man not afflicted by a plague that wiped out most of the world and transformed the survivors into bloodsuckers. Neville hunts them down by day, and by night, he hides in his home as the vampires try to coax him into converting to their side. But Neville can't kill them all, and once he becomes a minority of one, he becomes the outcast.Richard Matheson's 1954 novel "I Am Legend" has been adapted to film before, in 1964 as "The Last Man on Earth" (starring Vincent Price) and in 1971 as "The Omega Man" (starring Charlton Heston). But the new version — to be directed by Francis Lawrence ("Constantine") — is said to be more faithful to the original novel."I Am Legend" is certainly not without its fans. Dean Koontz once called it "the most clever and riveting vampire novel since 'Dracula,'" while Stephen King has credited both the book & Matheson as strong influences.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Von Trier's Antichrist (What to Know)
Controversial Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier is ready to raise some eyebrows once again. The director has one more entry to go before he finishes his 'Americana' trilogy, but he's already got another project in the wings. In his horror feature "Antichrist," Von Trier will speculate that it was actually Satan, not God that created the entire world. Von Trier, who has never actually been to America due to a fear of flying, so he has received a small share of criticism for his negative views of the country. Based on the synopsis, however, this new movie is likely to cause controversy with Christians all over the world. It could give Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" a run for its money.
Arthur & The Minimoys (Movie Watch)
Arthur and the Invisibles finds a ten-year-old Arthur, in a bid to save his grandfather's house from being demolished, goes looking for some much-fabled hidden treasure in the land of the Minimoys, tiny people living in harmony with nature.Trailer HERE
Starter for 10 (Movie Watch)
Based on David Nicholls' best selling novel, Starter For Ten is a romantic comedy set in the mid-eighties about a working-class kid navigating through his turbulent first year at University. On his way to achieving his long-held ambition to appear on University Challenge, he falls in love with his beautiful teammate and forms a plan to win her heart through his advanced general knowledge skills. Starter For Ten is a charming coming of age comedy about loyalty, class, falling in love and the difference between knowledge and wisdom.
Trailer Here
Empire November Issue (What to Read)
The November issue of Empire is on sale Friday September 29th and this one's super in almost every way. Featuring an ultimate superhero preview, this issue has 25 pages on the hottest upcoming superhero adaptations... But that's not all, the issue also features exclusive cover art by the AMAZINGLY talented artist Bryan Hitch (Marvel's Ultimates), who designed this masterpiece just for this issue of Empire.
The Dark Knight (What to Know)
It appears that Alfred just can't keep Bruce's secrets anymore. Michael Caine, who will reprise his role as Alfred Pennyworth Bruce's trusty butler, let it slip that after filming Kenneth Branagh's "Sleuth" with Jude Law (the real Joker as far as I am concerned) in January the next chapter in the revamped Batman franchise would begin filming in March. Sounds like Bat is out. The new Batman film is being rumored to revolve around Batman and Gordon finding an alliance in the newly appointed District Attorney Harvey Dent to stop a vicious killer with a warped sense of humor known only as The Joker, a threat to both the good and the evil of Gotham City.
Sweet Land (Movie Watch)
When Lars Torvik’s grandmother Inge dies in 2004, he is faced with a decision - sell the family farm on which she lived since 1920, or cling to the legacy of the land. Seeking advice, he turns to the memory of Inge and the stories that she had passed on to him.
Trailer: HERE
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Half Nelson (Review)
Half Nelson showcases an authentic script and the envisioned first time direction of Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden. The amazing Ryan Gosling, here as junior high school teacher Dan Dunne, holds his roles under the microscope of lived in and felt that is not so much as acting as it is being. Accomplished acting is a combination of pretending to be while being and luck. It's an art form that rarely touches the modern silver screen and has historically been left to the stage to represent, but not here.
The cast is overwhelmingly subtle as the supporting role to Gosling's energy is the young charismatic Shareeka Eeps, who easily holds her own and lands her own fire to the tale. Gosling shows us, through Dunne, that we are not any one action and change is not out of reach but reach we must even if we get dirty and fall to our own weaknesses. Being a drug addict makes for a flawed and usually unlikable figure, but Gosling's channeling of his character's heart, true intentions and hope shines through all of the dirt he throws on himself. In trying to help children in this gray colored world, we see that the blind might be better teachers then stereotypically portrayed in films past. Eeps' character Drey, an urban youth that comes across not only as possibly tainted but prematurely wise beyond her years, is performed in a relaxed state of being that only the most talented young actors can present and I doubt could ever be taught. Drey sees that Dunne wants to help children through and from society, while stumbling on his own inner demons and harsh self imposed punishment for possibly failing them and himself. In the end, the film never preaches an answer or showcases beautifully imagined outcome of heroics and stereotypical posturing, instead it shows that nothing is static, nothing is black and white and no one is an island on to themselves.
After watching Half Nelson, I began to think of all the situations where grey enters the picture of everyday life and society blocks it with the curtains of fear and apathy. In watching Gosling's Dunne fail to reach his own expectations and hopes, we all can acknowledge that the world isn't fair but maybe to each other we can be. Dunne may not be able to save himself but Drey may be the one person he has touched and in that he (we) can succeed.
Grade: A +
The Good Night (Movie Watch)
The Good Night focuses a former pop star who now writes commercial jingles for a living experiences a mid-life crisis and searches for perfection in an imperfect world. He is miffed when he realizes that the real life does not measure up to the idealized images that bombard people in everyday life but could this be another romp through Eternal Sunshine of the Spotlessmind country, I hope so. because if it's a lame romantic comedy by connected Hollywood Insiders we all can do with out? We shall see.Trailer HERE
Sherry Baby (Movie Watch)
Three years after entering prison for robbery as a 19-year-old heroin addict, Sherry Swanson begins her first day of freedom, clean and sober. A model prisoner who has undergone personal transformation, she immediately sets out to regain custody of her young daughter Alexis.
Trailer: HERE
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Movie Watch)
The film is an adaptation of Ron Hansen’s BOOK under the same lengthy title. Thanks to his painstaking research, the author is able to bring vivid detail into a true tale that has now taken on mythic and frequently unreliable proportions. The book is not the standard romanticized view of the events, but rather a fully realized exploration of the personalities involved. It helps paint a complete picture of the characters and their motives and separates the truths from the myths. Some have argued that it is perhaps too detailed and does not feature enough plot development as indeed the author purposefully avoided focusing excessively on James’ adventures and exploits. Hansen instead wanted to get into the head of Robert Ford to understand his reasoning and see the story from his point of view. The simplistic notion of James as hero and Ford as coward is explored and proven fairly naïve by the end. In its realistic depiction of violence, greed, ego, fame, and human psychology the book has been touted as Shakespearian in nature.Grade: A +
Trailer HERE
Teaser HERE
Monday, September 25, 2006
The Good Shepherd (Movie Watch)
The tumultuous early history of the Central Intelligence Agency is viewed through the prism of one man's life in The Good Shepherd. Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded Central Intelligence Agency. While working there, his ideals gradually turn to suspicion influenced by the Cold War paranoia present within the office. Eventually, he becomes an influential veteran operative, while his distrust of everyone around him increases to no end. His dedication to his work does not come without a price leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family.Grade: C
Trailers: Here & HERE
Children of Men (Poster Release)
Set in 2027, when no child has been born for 18 years and science is at a loss to explaining the reason, African and East European societies collapse and their dwindling populations migrate to England and other wealthy nations. In a climate of nationalistic violence, a London peace activist turned bureaucrat Theo Faron, joins forces with his revolutionary ex-wife Julian in order to save mankind by protecting a woman who has mysteriously became pregnant.
Grade: A -
Trailer: HERE
The Good German (Movie Watch)
In post-war Berlin to find his former mistress, an American journalist is lured into a murder mystery.
Trailer HERE
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Flags of Our Fathers (Movie Watch)
Clint Eastwood's next film "Flags of Our Fathers", based on the life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII, gets a home coming date. Eastwood's accompanying film "Letters from Iwo Jima", the Japanese point of view is in production.
Grade: A
Trailer HERE
Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At Worlds End (What to Know)
As reported, British actor Bill Nighty (aka Davy Jones) at the Beverly Hills Hotel spoke on The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards having filmed his cameo as Johnny Depp's swashbuckling dad in Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, which is still shooting in Palmdale, California.Nighy stated he wasn't on set when Richards came for his big Hollywood moment, but he more or less confirmed for us a tale roaming cyber space and celeb salad lunches that Richards, no stranger to substances and liquids, was left to his own devices in his trailer before his big scene. That wasn't a good idea. When the time came to shoot, he was a bit "wobbly." To keep him straight, director Gore Verbinski held Richards by the shins.
"If you'd wanted straight, then you got the wrong man," Richards replied huskily.
Richards' pirate costume, sources say, closely resembles Depp's, with a different colored bandana. The two had such a good time together that Depp kept a souvenir from Richards' short visit: a set of stairs built for Richards to get in and out of his trailer, which he signed to Depp with the salutation, "A step too far."
Grade: C
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Hannibal Rising (Movie Watch)
Based on the soon to be release Hannibal Rising novel, Young Hannibal: Behind The Mask, showcases Hannibal Lecter's formative years. These experiences as a child and young adult lead to his remarkable contribution to the fields of medicine, music, painting and forensics. We begin in World War II at the medieval castle in Lithuania built by Dr. Lecter's forebear, Hannibal the Grim. The child Hannibal survives the horrors of the Eastern Front and escapes the grim Soviet aftermath to find refuge in France with the widow of his uncle, a mysterious and beautiful Japanese descended from Lady Murasaki Shikibu, author of the Tale of Genji. Her kind and wise attentions help him understand his unbearable recollections of the war. Remembering, he finds the means to visit the outlaw predators that changed him forever as they battened on the helpless during the collapse of the Eastern Front. Hannibal helps these war criminals toward self-knowledge even as we see his own nature become clear to him. The true mystery appears to be, will Sir Anthony Hopkins play Hannibal's adult self once again in at least a cameo role?
Teaser HERE
The Prestige (Second Trailer Release)
The Prestige, the film based on Christopher Priest's award winning 1995 novel has gotten a second trailer.
Grade: A +
Blood Diamond (Unofficial Trailer Release)
Set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990's Sierra Leone, Blood Diamond is the story of Danny Archer - a South African mercenary - and Solomon Vandy - a Mende fisherman. Both men are African, but histories as different as any can be, until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives. While in prison for smuggling, Archer learns that Solomon - who was taken from his family and forced to work in the diamond fields - has found and hidden the extraordinary rough stone. With the help of Maddy Bowen, an American journalist whose idealism is tempered by a deepening connection with Archer, the two men embark on a trek through rebel territory, a journey that could save Solomon's family and give Archer the second chance he thought he would never have.Grade: C +
Unofficial Trailer HERE
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Liz Janes (Music to Hear)
Liz Janes grew up in a Virginia suburb of Washington D.C., listened religiously to Casey Casem's Top 40 on the radio Sunday after church, then spent her formative high school years sneaking into Philadelphia jazz clubs, came of age musically in Olympia, Washington, as a horn-squawking member of the Northwest punk-improve scene, recorded her own songs on lo-fi cassette tapes and after a lot of life changing devices emerged to my ears and heart through the Asthmatic Kitty label... which led her to be where I found her, at San Diego's Casbah.
That night her husband, unsuspecting to me, sold me her LP, Sufjan Stevens opened and Johanna newsom's angelic childlike voice accompanied a beautiful ensemble at a memorable Casbah night. So it was a moment, which is safe for me to say, I, and everyone there, will never forget. I found talent, beauty and a stage presence that I'll cherish till my dying day. No one comes closer to Liz Janes' soul power than Cat Power and both women deserve their alone time with listeners. What Cat Power is to sinful pleasure, Liz Janes is to righteous love... and as we all know, we need both in massive daily doses to remind us that angels do walk amongst us, even if only in voices.
Meet The Robinsons (Graded)
Disney's latest Meet the Robinsons, A loose adapatation of William Joyce's "A Day with Wilbur Robinson", We follow a brilliant 12 yr old with a surprising number of clever inventions to his credit, named Lewis. Lewis' latest & most ambitious project is the Memory Scanner, which he hopes will retrieve early memories of his mother & maybe even reveal why she put him up for adoption. But before he can get his answer, his invention is stolen by the dastardly Bowler Hat Guy, his diabolical hat & constant companion, Doris. Lewis has all but given up hope in his future when a mysterious boy named Wilbur Robinson whisks him away in a time machine & travels forward in time to spend a day with Wilbur's eccentric family. In a world filled with flying cars & floating cities, they hunt down Bowler Hat Guy, save the future & uncover the amazing secret of the Robinson family.Grade: A -
Trailers HERE
Friday, September 15, 2006
LOST Experience Reveals More (What to Know)
It has been reported that ABC's online game "The Lost Experience" revealed some of the island's secrets after the participants followed all the clues. Once followed, an unlocked video detailed how a mathematician was commissioned by the United Nations in 1962 to calculate the timetable for humanity's extinction. The resulting Valenzetti's Equation was based on factors represented by Egyptian hieroglyphics, each of which was assigned a numerical value: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42, aka what would become Hurley's cursed digits. Though the Hanso Foundation created the Dharma Initiative to stave off the forecast apocalypse, the foundation’s impatient acting president Dr. Thomas Mittelwerk is apparently itching to unleash a virus that will snuff 30 percent of the world's population. You can watch the Alvar Hanso video online Here!
Season three will begin with episode #50 titled: A Tale of Two Cities. This episode will, according to Carlton Cuse, address the situation of the captivity of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. Carlton has also noted that, like the second season premiere, this first episode will not initially address some of the situations that first appeared in the finale of Season 2. Mini trivia for the show are as followed:
1. This is the first episode J.J. Abrams has been directly involved in since the show's first season.
2. This episode shares its title with a novel by Charles Dickens. Another Dickens novel (Our Mutual Friend) appears in the Season 2 finale.
3: As with the last 2 seasons, the first episode of the series is Jack-centric.
On: DVD/Blu-Ray
Curse of the Golden Flower (Movie Watch)
Curse of the Golden Flower could be the next Croutching Tiger which would be great but it could just be another blow in the wind.
TEASER & TRAILER
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
Casino Royale (Graded)
James Bond's first mission, Casino Royale, is being briefed HERE with an official trailer. I don't know about you kids, but I am dying to see Bond done in a more realistic setting (if even possible) and less in the cliché gadget fantasy it had become... Sorry Brosnan, you were loved but maybe Craig will be given the right amount of spike in his martini we've been thirsty for and you were denied. Maybe Bond can finally snatch top secret agent back from Bourne.Grade A -
Trailer Here
Teaser There
Saturday, September 9, 2006
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (Movie Watch)
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is a coming-of-age drama about a boy growing up in Astoria, N.Y., during the 1980s. As his friends end up dead, on drugs or in prison, he comes to believe he has been saved from their fate by various so-called saints.
Grade: A +
Trailer & Clips HERE
Friday, September 8, 2006
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (Movie Watch)
Kidman stars as legendary photographer Diane Arbus in the film Fur, set in late 1950s New York. The film explores an unlikely and fictional romance that leads Arbus into a strange new world, sparking her evolution into one of the most provocative and visionary photographers of all time.
Grade: C +
Trailer HERE
DC: The New Frontier (Book to Read)
Written by Darwyn Cooke; Art and Cover by Cooke
The Amazingly subtle work of Writer/illustrator Darwyn Cooke's critically acclaimed masterpiece DC: THE NEW FRONTIER is finally celebrated in this oversized Absolute edition featuring new story pages, detailed annotations, alternate sequences and an extensive gallery of sketches, pinups, action figure art and much more! In the 1950s, Cold War paranoia outlawed the Mystery Men of the Golden Age. Stalwarts such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman continued to fight for truth and justice, but as the world hurtled toward an uncertain future, it would take a new breed of hero to define the American Way. DC: THE NEW FRONTIER takes readers on an epic journey from the end of the Golden Age of heroes to the beginnings of the legendary Justice League of America.
So read about what makes comics the fun medium of entertainment. Reading is not just for Grandma.
Grade: A +
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
The Nintendo Revolution is almost upon us...
Nintendo's Wii is suspected of dropping on unsusupecting parents' come late October beating out the atomic bomb known as the Playstation 3. Yet with that aside, the question won't be will the Wii bring fun but will it bring sustainable fun not seen since the Super Famicon (Super Nintendo)? Only time will tell, but with the game library (history) this little system is boasting, from the NES, SNES, Gamecube, Sega Genesis and Turbografix 16, it looks promising... even with the oddly missing Sega Master System. All in all, more Mario, Link and Samus then Bowser can single handedly fight off is a good thing. Now if we could only get a good remake of that winged little kid known as Icarus, some knighting with Sir Arthur stolen from the Sony PSP and some long lost Bionic Commando, we just might be looking at the true rebirth of Nintendo fun.
Friday, September 1, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)