Movies

Been a long time, I should have left you a dope beat to step to.

Entertainment, Movies

I’ve been busy, give me a break… Ok so not really. Well really, but I just haven’t thought of it in a while.

I just got back from the Toronto Film Festival last week. So I’ve been trying to unpack and get life back on shedule. This also now includes packing lunch in the morning and trying to save money because I spent it all trying to seem famous at the festival… Damn you $9 beer night. But it was a really cool experience, seeing how the other <s>half</s> 10% lives.

The best part, by far, was getting to see “Zack and Miri make a porno” with introduction and questions after by Kevin Smith. The movie was phenomonal, just really funny (and dirty) and a good story with characters that you really like. If audiences can get past the title then I think this will make Mr. Smith boatloads of money… well it’ll make the Weinstiens lots of money anyways and that’s always good for Kevin. Seth Rogen was born to deliver Smith’s writing and you can see just enough of his improvizations to add some personality to the movie. This is flat out the best cast ever in a View Askew production, it’s nice to see an entire cast of real actors. (yes I consider Mewes an actor… now)

Schu-Review: 4 out of 4 Schus

Switched to Netflix

Entertainment, Movies

I was with the Blockbuster online renting service from the begining, but I’ve officially switched to Netflix. It was awesome when they allowed you to get free rentals from the store by returning your envelopes to the store, (still their number one selling point). What was not cool is when they raised their rates and kept the services the same. But I still went with them because I liked to get the most from the plan for the money. I actually upgraded to their maximum plan (3 at a time, unlimited exchanges, $34.99) I could get around 30 movies a month if I kept up with returning them to the store asap.

Netflix users would say that they had a better selection and could get their movies faster, but I stuck with them. Netflix offered their instant download service and stream through Xbox live, I just kept going with them. So what is the final straw?

I’ve watched everything good that blockbuster has to offer.

They have “very long wait” on some items in my queue that I’ve had on there for over a year! Hell yeah that’s a very long wait. I did see that they offer streaming on their service now, but not for all movies, I haven’t paid extra to get a movie from them in 2 years, why would I now? So now I’m going to rent all the weird older movies that BB didn’t stock and get the new releases through Red Box.

So long Blockbuster!

I'll be watching "The Watchmen"

Entertainment, Movies

Mark this date. This is the date that the Watchmen trailer came out.

This is definitely going to be my “Dark Night” next year. I’m not sure that it has the following that Batman has so I’m not counting on the box office. Actually I’m sure that it doesn’t but It is definitely the graphic novel that got me into comic books. My friend Brian was always into comics (Spiderman, Spawn, and X-men mostly) and I liked them too, but I was never really a fanboy.

Then I found “Watchmen“.

It was the first time I realized that there were comics out there that were written for adults (not talking Fritz the Cat here). Comics that delt with real issues. I mean what would happen if people really started taking to the streets and dealing out beatdowns vigalante style? Who would be in control of them?

Who’s watching the Watchmen?

I hope this is the movie that makes Alan Moore proud. Moore has been vocal about his hatred of the other movies based on his properties (V for Vendetta, League of Extrordinary Gentlemen) and he’s actually taken his name off of them. The artist, Dave Gibbons, has been involved in the process from day one, which I hope bodes well for the production. I’ve heard that the director, Zack Snyder (300, Day of the Dead) is taking everything very seriously, which is how I think you have to do it with this subject matter.  What I really want is for this film to be so bad ass and frame by frame accurate that Moore will shrug his shoulders, stroke his giant beard and say “Not Bad Guys”

The "disappointment is" Happening

Entertainment, Movies

I trusted Mr. Shamalyan to make anything interesting. It’s true his movies have been getting less interesting with every one, but I usually find something in them redeeming. The movies are artfully shot and the pacing is good enough to make the tension build. I just think this one is a misfire. I knew the plot was a little goofy going in (thanks internet spoilers) but I thought he could make anything into a thriller. But the problem is any creepy visuals and unnerving moments are shown in the trailer. Once he sets up the plot in the first 20 minutes of the movie there’s just not enough sense of danger to keep the tension building. The ominous shots actually had people laughing in the theater, there just wasn’t enough to keep the audience from going “Oh come on” in their heads. On top of that we get no realy resolution, the Happening just stops Happening, there’s nothing we can do. Which I guess is the point, but this is a movie and I want closure.

I’ll give it 1.5 Schus just for the effort.

But it’s not enough to stop me from seeing his next movie.

Later!

Probably a bad idea…

Entertainment, Movies

I just read a story on Dark Horizons that has me feeling old. Well older that I think I should feel. It seems that the Hollywood remake machine has run out of fuel so their just tossing anything in there just to see what comes out. They’re remaking “Short Circuit”. I think this is a bad idea. Not for the usual reasons that you would think. While I do like this movie and remember Johnny 5 very well, I know that this is a bad movie. I still like it… probably because I was 5 years old when it came out. But even I have memories of some horrible robot human dance/love scene… and come on it starred Steve Guttenberg!

Johhny 5, IS ALIVE!!

via dark horizons

lets hope for the best…

Schu-Review : Across The Universe

Entertainment, Movies

Across The UniverseI went to see the film “Across The Universe” on Saturday. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s the new musical by Julie Taymor, famous for bringing “The Lion King” to Broadway. I am not a professional critic by any means, some people have said that I like everything. But I’d say that I can find something to enjoy in every movie. This movie is good, great actually. But it does have it’s flaws.

First, it’s a little disconnected, it’s like they listened to the catalog of The Beatles songs and found every one that had a name in it, or any ones that were about events of the time and tried to hear a story in them when they were in a certain order. Which isn’t that crazy of an idea, apparently. Also they seem to leave the details up to the songs to fill in, the places in between musical numbers are a little flat. They’re just killing time with exposition while they wait for the music to start up again. In that sense it seems less like a full film than a sequence of music videos.

Secondly, I wasn’t a huge Beatles fan going into it, but I have to say that I have a new found interest in the music. The film uses modernized covers of the songs that I really liked (I got the soundtrack). Everyone always tells me what revolutionary music the Beatles were, but when I hear it on the radio I just think it sounds like every other 1960’s song that I’ve heard. (could be a problem with radio, not the beatles) The versions featured here do I good job of spicing up some of the more traditional songs. I think tonight I’ll do a bit more listening to the original versions too.

Even though the songs are great I think that they’re missing something without the visuals in the film. Not that they don’t stand up on their own, it’s just that they’re tied in my head to the awesome images that the director used. One scene has army recruits in their military issue boxer shorts struggling to carry a 30 foot statue of liberty across a miniature Vietnam while gunfire and explosions happen all around (all while either ‘Helter Skelter’ or ‘Come Together’ is playing, I can’t remember?) I would love for them to adapt this into a live broadway show, I would be there opening night… well maybe not opening night, I’m not rich.

4/5 Schus