Something to look forward to

For anyone who was a fan of Amelie, the director (Jean-Pierre Jeunet) has created a new film that looks to be equally incredible

Micmacs should be coming out in limited release this summer, so keep an eye out, because truly original films don't often get made, let alone seen in a  movie theater

Slacking!

I'll cut right to it since it's been a while...

Saw Hot Tub Time Machine and it was great!

It's along the lines of The Hangover, though not that good, but definitely had it's moments of hilarity.  At one point I almost threw up I was laughing so hard... Now that's funny!

Go see it especially if you're a child of the '80's, if for no other reason than because the music rocks, and not in the duran duran way, but in the Motley Crew kinda way!!!!

OMG!!!!

Could a Predator sequel actually be good!!!!




Trailer is coming out later in the week, but so far so good!!!!!

Finally!

It feels like I haven't written about movies in ages, and for no better reason than pure laziness of writing more than a sentence and attaching a youtube clip!

So, finally, here's a few of the films I've seen lately:

Shutter Island
I was hesitant to go see this film after seeing the trailers and thinking it was going to be a horror movie and that's just not my thing.  Well, I'm glad I went because it was great.  I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but know this: a) Despite it's trailer, it is NOT a horror movie.  Scorsese does a great job of creating suspense and tension with the music and editing, but there are no boogie men, and no one is jumping out of the closet and killing everyone, and b) It's Martin Scorsese. If there are any directors out there that deserve some credit and your confidence that he will make a great film, it's him

Although, he should fire whoever ran his marketing campaign




Alice in Wonderland
I generally love the work of Tim Burton, so it hurts me to say that I was underwhelmed by this movie.  While much of the special effects are amazing (the Queen of Hearts was priceless), much of the CGI was awkward, and took me out of the movie.  I kept wondering how hard it would have been to digitally remove a gap from Johnny Depps teeth instead of putting some black putty on them, or why Krispen Glover (as the Jack of Hearts) looked so fake while he was riding his horse when they could have simply shot really horse riders... I still could have overlooked it's visual flaws, as there were definitely more good than bad, but it was the forced used of Depp in too many parts (WHAT IS UP WITH THAT DANCE SCENE?!?!?!  When/ If you see the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about) and the typical Hollywood movie battle of the 3rd act that is unforgivable.  Anyway, I don't want to bash it too much, it was... good... but just not as great as it should have been.  And definitely not what I was hoping for




-k

Live Together or united or whatever, just avoid each other on the ice

I think this little clip summarizes this weekend at the Olympics for Canada...

To feel better, lets get back to movies!  I found this trailer for what looks like a promising movie, Centurion... Is it me, or do they give a throw out to Lost with their line, "Live united, or die divided"

More Centurion Videos

"Live Together, Die Alone"




-k

Facebook who?

Google is taking on Facebook and Twitter with their new Google Buzz, check it out




See an article in the National Post here


And here's a montage (I can't say that word without thinking of Team America!) of films from the last decade that I found, enjoy!


the films of the 2000s from Paul Proulx on Vimeo.




-k

Not talk or talk forever and still find things to not talk about...

WOW!

Here's a roundtable discussion with 5 of the best directors working today... I could watch this for hours!

Enjoy the clip (and there are others on this site) of Kathryn Bigalow (The Hurt Locker, American Psycho), Lee Daniels (Precious), Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Juno, Up In The Air), Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds) and James Cameron (Terminator, Aliens, Avatar) talking about the moment they became filmakers




And a little extra clip from one of my favourite movies which I think best outlines the importance of conversation!





-k

So what?!

I went and saw Youth In Revolt this weekend, and thought it was a fun movie and recommend it, but that's not the point of this entry...

It's about the complaint that everyone (myself included) seem to have about Michael Cera:

"He always plays the same roles"

We've all enjoyed him as a quiet, innocent, simple, buddy character in, well, ALL of his movies (and tv)... Superbad, Arrested Development, Juno, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Paper Heart, Year One (I can imagine but will never actually know!)... He not only plays the same character, he IS the same character...


But then I thought about it.  Who cares!

I like all of those movies!  If it wasn't Michael Cera, it would be someone else playing that same character, and would it be any better?  Probably not, because he plays that character well!

The worst thing an actor can do is make you think about the real person, not the character they are playing when they come on screen and take you 'out off the movie'.  MC doesn't do this because as far as I know, that is him on screen in real life!  He IS that guy on and off the screen

Anyway, I won't rant anymore about it, but I'm just saying; So what! Stop complaining about Michael Cera, and spend the energy wondering why their aren't more comedies about suicide bombers...





GO SEE YOUTH IN REVOLT (and read the book!)


btw, there is a character in this movie, Francois Dillinger, that is the complete opposite of a Michael Cera character... Maybe it's a sign of things to come...



-k

It happens only occasionally...

Every once in while, a movie comes around that will change the way scripts are written and movies are made.

A rare mixture of emotion, adventure, love, humor and it's all put together to make one glorious film...


I give you the trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine...






Enjoy!
-k

WHY?!!!!!! (and some funny)

I went and saw Daybreakers yesterday expecting to see something incredible.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, there's often nothing that can ruin a movie worse than high expectations, but I felt confident in this one. 

It was such a simple and great idea: In the 'not too distant future', Vampires have taken over and are harvesting the last remaining humans for blood.  The human race is becoming extinct and the Vampire scientists need to find an alternative... 

It starred Willem Defoe (who has experience in the genre with Shadow of the Vampire), and Ethan Hawke (who had put in his 'not too distant world' time in with Gattaca)

The trailer looked fuckin awesome:




And does this sound familiar?  It was written and directed by Brothers and the poster shows people hooked up to machines that using them to keep a society alive!

Come on!!! This was going to be the next Matrix (and I don't mean Matrix 2 or 3!!)... How could it not be awesome!!!!!!!


It wasn't. 

I don't want to ruin anything (more than the these Spierig Brothers already did!), but I will say, they did do a great job of creating this alternate world. There are tons of details that made me think this film was going to be great (and could have been).  Unfortunately, it ends up being like so many other bad movies do... Shoot 'em ups, explosions, "I'm sorry... just kidding... no really, I'm sorry...crap, too late", save the day (or should I say night!), "we should have made sure he was dead", lucky the bad guys forgot to account for the famous actor who's not in the last scene....  you get the idea!

So many plot holes, so much sillyness (mostly towards the end)... the only thing that could make me feel better is if there was another of those great animation news clips from China...


OHHHHH  YEAHHHHH!!!!!!





-k

Link me to FIGHTLINKER!

Friends of mine run the biggest funniest (see comments!) MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) site out there called Fightlinker, and I'm hoping they'll link me to their site (and maybe I'll add an 11th reader!)

A couple of things I'll have to do to accomplish such a feat:

1) Sign up for their site (and urge others to as well).  I told my friend that I hadn't already because I didn't want their spam, and he let me in on a little secret... Even if they wanted to, they don't have the capabilities.  I'll still use my 'junk mail address' just in case!

2) Write a review of something MMA related, and here it is:


Flash Point
I saw this film at the Toronto Film Festival a couple of years ago and will never forget it.  It is easily one of the best Martial Arts films out there, and I recommend it to anyone who is even remotely a fan of the Genre.

The Director (Wilson Yip) is one of the most renowned martial arts directors in the world. His previous movie, S.P.L., was loved by fans when it came to the festival 2 years earlier, and made this film highly anticipated. 

When the director came out to introduce the film, he told the audience that he took a year off to "analyze new methods of fighting and how real fighting would blend with film stylized martial arts."  He went on to talk about how he carefully studied MMA fighting and took the next 6 months to make his onscreen fights look this real.

The results are obvious.  This is not a sparring match with sound effects.  These fights look real (by that I mean, look like real fights which is rare)

I won't attempt to describe the action any further as I won't do it justice, so take my advice.  If you're a fan of Martial Arts or MMA, or other movies I recommend, watch this movie! (or buy it since you will want to watch it again!)





BTW, you have noticed that i didn't mention the plot. The reason is, I don't remember, and that fact shouldn't take away from this film!


Okay, so now I'm signed up with fightlinker and they better hook me up!

If you found this blog through their site, leave a message, and I'll pay for half of one of these sweet fightlinker T-Shirts for you....


-k

"Quotables"

Here's one of my favourite films and easily one fo the most quotable...

(and this is only the 3 minute trailer!)




You'll have to watch the movie again to find my favourite:
"Who, that little guy? I wouldn't worry about that little guy"




-k

Up in the Air!

I read a lot of books that have been adapted into movies. More often than not, the books are far superior. There is simply too much information in a book that can't be portrayed on screen in a reasonable time.

Generally they (Directors) take a great book (Often too grand in scale to literally adapt in full), take a single storyline, copy a few of the best moments and make a decent adaptation (Catch 22, Wonder Boys), sometimes they take a good book (Generally having a much more simple narrative to a Great book) and are able to stay closely to the entire narrative, enhance the best parts that I mix the two together (Fight Club, The Road). Sometimes it's a bad book made into a bad movie (DaVinci Code - Sorry Dan Brown fans). More often than not, they simply take any book (Good or Great) and fuck it up (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Stardust)

Then there are the bad books (although they may have redeeming qualities), where the true skill of a great director comes into place. Up in the Air is a perfect example of this.

I won't review the book, but know that while it had some of the same themes as the movie, that fact that Jason Reitman turned it into a great movie is an amazing achievement!

Now, my point is that I read this book before watching the movie, and was expecting a light film about a man who spends most of his life on the road and is within arms reach of his one million frequent flier miles, and what it all means to him. What I got was so much more!

A film about a guy who flies around for more than three quarters of his life, who's most real human connections was firing people could be, at the very least, an extremely depressing film. I imagined the laughs to be about (to quote Fight Club) "Single Serving Friends", and the firings to be about people freaking out and breaking things (haha).

Instead, the traveling man (George Clooney) is logical and content with his life, the firings (actually recently fired people) are touching.

I don't want to give any of the film away, but I will say that, like many good books, Jason Reitman has made a touching, funny and moving film that has well rounded and complete characters that are real and a story and narrative that is unusual, surprising and fun. Go See this movie (and root for it during the Academy Awards where it should be recognized!)


BTW, The Director also did this with another average book (Thank You for Smoking), so I shouldn't have been surprised!







-k

Welcome back!!!

To start off the new year, I'll put up a list of my favourite films of the last decade (in no particular order):

1. The Dark Night - The Best Comic book film in a decade that was full of them (X-Men, Spiderman, The Watchmen)

2. Children of Men - In my opinion, the best movie of the decade. Every detail and shot, every word of dialogue, the acting and music make this a masterpiece

3. City of God - So much better than the MANY other 'gritty street' movies out there

4. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind - My favourite move. Brilliant.... Everytime I watch this, I notice something else about how the director visualized memories... no other director could have pulled this off

5. Almost Famous - I could just listen to this film for both the music and dialogue

6. High Fidelity - John Cusack is a god (and welcome Jack Black!)

7. The Fall - See my review a couple of weeks ago

8. Lord of the Rings trilogy - Didn't let me down

9. Memento - Brilliant. Watch the movie when the chapters are in order and you can really appreciate the brilliance of the editing

10. Old Boy - not enough people have watched this. One of the great movies of all time

11. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - When the first fight seen was finished, it was one of the few times I have wanted to stand up and cheer in the middle of a movie!

12. Best in Show - Easily the most watched movie in my collection, and I laugh every time I see it

13. Unbreakable - Every scene is shot like a page from a comic book, they constantly tell you that he is a superhero, and yet, the end is still a surprise... amazing film

14. Kung Fu Hustle - funny, fun and kick ass! Can't ask for more!

15. Brokeback Mountain - The acting puts this on the list.

16. Into the Wild - the scenery, music and acting draws you in and makes you feel every aspect of the characters journey

17. The Departed - Complicated enough to be interesting and characters to make it cool. Based on the Hong Kong film/ trilogy Infernal Affairs

18. Across the Universe - to put this movie together based on The Beatles catalogue of music is shear brilliance

19. Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) - see my review from a few weekes ago

20. Shaun of the Dead - started a new Genre, Zom-Com )and introduced america to some of the best british comedians out there

21. The Hangover - I walked out of the theatre with tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard

22. Tigerland - gritty and realistic, a new take on a part of the Vietnam war, and welcomed in Colin Farrell

23. Training Day - Made bad guys cool, and Crime dramas about more than CSI and the lawyers

24. Super Troopers - One of the funniest movies of all time

25. Idiocracy - A future where darwinism has gone awry, and people have bred themselves stupid... HILARIOUS!  And please note, they are all wearing crocs!

26. Bad Santa - The only true must-see Christmas movie!

Movie Talkers

"Please don't spoil the movie by adding your own soundtrack"





-k

Funny Stuff

One of the funniest guys out there is Aziz Ansari. He's part of the comedy group Human Giant (which I've posted clips from before), and he's most recently starring in Observe and Report and  Funny People

He recently went on tour as the character from Funny People...

Heeeeere's RAAAAAAAAAANDY:




And one of Human Giants funniest:






-k

AVATAR!!!!

I saw Avatar yesterday and it was amazing!!

Better than the previews, 3D was the best I've seen (much better than the Cowboys football game!) and the CGI seemed real (as strange as it is to say that considering you are watching 12 foot tall blue people!)

A must see!

A little R&R

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans

I've written about the brilliance of Werner Herzog before, and stand by it. That being said (Thank you Larry David!), this film may scare you off from watching any of his others (PLEASE don't let that happen!)

Without getting too into it, the movie is about a cops descent in a Post Katrina New Orleans.  I won't ruin any of the 'plot', but understand going in that it doesn't have a typical narrative, and there are parts that you will wonder what kind of drugs Nick Cage was really on (not to mention the director).  You will however see some amazing performances (imagine NC in Leaving Las Vegas as apposed to National Treasure), as well as some great locations in New Orleans that will appreciate what life is really like there.

I thought this movie was great, but I can see how people feel otherwise.

You've been warned about this recommendation!

Inglourious Basterd

If you're a Tarantino fan (which you should be), here's his short list for best films of 2009




btw, if you liked Tony Jaa (Ong-Bak), the movie he mentions, Chocolate, is by the same director with 'the female Tony Jaa' kicking ass!



Keeping on the Tarantino theme,  check out this commercial....





No, I don't get it either!




-k

Christmas Gifts for the Twilight fan

So Twilight: New Moon has made over $230 million dollars in the US, more money in 10 days than the first movie did in it's entire release. That puts it in 60th place all time in only it's 2nd weekend.  With popularity comes exploitation...

Considering that 80% of the audience was female, and 50% under 21, and when it comes right down to it, the movie is really about a girls choice between Necrophilia and Bestiality (ahhhhh, love is a funny thing!) it's of no surprise that the marketing and promotions they have done aren't exactly aimed at my demographic...


How about the shadow of a guy standing in your room?!?!

order it here

This is just taking it a bit far:

seen here

If it's not enough that he watches you in your room, and when you're dressed...

order from here

Okay, if those were a little childish for you, there is always this (NSFW), or if you're really hardcore,  there you go!




Happy Shopping!!!!



-k