Terrorists hold Lois Lane captive and threaten to destroy Paris with a thermo nuclear device. Superman rescues Lois and throws the weapon into space. But, the blast awakens Zod, Ursa, and Non, the three exiled villains from Superman's home planet of Krypton. The evil threesome return to Earth and attempt to use their powers to take over the world.
Production Status: Released
Logline: Three villains from Superman's former home planet escape imprisonment and come to Earth with the same powers as Superman.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Sequel
Running Time: 2 hrs. 7 min.
Release Date: January 1, 1980
MPAA Rating: PG
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
Production Co.: International Film Productions, Dovemead
Filming Locations: Niagara Falls and New York City, New York; Paris, France
Produced in: United Kingdom
Starring: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas
Directed by: Richard Lester, David Tomblin, Robert Lynn (II)
Produced by: Ilya Salkind, Geoffrey Helman, Robert Simmonds
Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Monday, June 26, 2006
movie news : Superman (1978)
The Superman myth is well told, from his birth on the doomed planet Krypton to his childhood in a small Kansas town and beyond, in Richard Donner's blockbuster. After he comes of age, young Clark Kent, as his Earth parents have named him, learns the truth of his alien birth on a voyage of discovery to the Arctic where he builds his "Fortress of Solitude". It is there that he learns--through a link to his long-dead birth father--of his superhuman abilities and his responsibility to preserve and protect "truth, justice and the American Way." Once he adjusts to life in the big city, Metropolis, he discovers that hiding his superpowers as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) isn't easy as he flirts with hard-nosed Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) and battles supervillain Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman). The film's all-star cast includes Jackie Cooper, Marlon Brando, Ned Beatty, Glenn Ford, Terence Stamp, and Valerie Perrine, among others, all camping it up wonderfully.
Academy Award Nominations: 4, including Best Music, Best Sound and Best Editing.
Academy Awards: 1, Special Achievement Award for the groundbreaking special effects.
Also Known As: Superman the Movie
Superman: The Movie
Production Status: Released
Logline: A young boy is sent to Earth from his dying planet and grows to become a man with superhuman powers.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
Running Time: 2 hrs. 23 min.
Release Date: December 15, 1978
MPAA Rating: PG for peril, some mild sensuality and language.
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures International
Production Co.: Dovemead, International Film Productions
Filming Locations: New Mexico
New York City, New York
Canada
England
Produced in: United States
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Valerie Perrine, Ned Beatty
Directed by: Richard Donner, Jonathan Barry, David Tomblin
Produced by: Ilya Salkind, Pierre Spengler, Charles F. Greenlaw
Portions of this page Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Academy Award Nominations: 4, including Best Music, Best Sound and Best Editing.
Academy Awards: 1, Special Achievement Award for the groundbreaking special effects.
Also Known As: Superman the Movie
Superman: The Movie
Production Status: Released
Logline: A young boy is sent to Earth from his dying planet and grows to become a man with superhuman powers.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
Running Time: 2 hrs. 23 min.
Release Date: December 15, 1978
MPAA Rating: PG for peril, some mild sensuality and language.
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures International
Production Co.: Dovemead, International Film Productions
Filming Locations: New Mexico
New York City, New York
Canada
England
Produced in: United States
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Valerie Perrine, Ned Beatty
Directed by: Richard Donner, Jonathan Barry, David Tomblin
Produced by: Ilya Salkind, Pierre Spengler, Charles F. Greenlaw
Portions of this page Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
movie news : Waist Deep
"Waist Deep" plunges much deeper than that into good old-fashioned genre filmmaking.
Director Vondie Curtis Hall gives this virtually nonstop crime actioner, set against the mean streets of Los Angeles, pleasing noirish touches along with larger-than-life-size characters.
The Rogue Pictures release is pitched to urban houses, so blacks will predominately make up the audience for the well-made film.
Tyrese Gibson, after two fine performances in the John Singleton films "Baby Boy" and "Four Brothers," carries the movie on his broad shoulders, though the impossibly good-looking Meagan Good makes a solid action co-star.
The opening sequence in the screenplay by Hall and Darin Scott (from a story by Michael Mahern) is overly contrived, but does set off a classic race against the clock.
A newly paroled ex-con named O2 (Gibson) has somehow landed a security job that gives him access to a gun. When his flaky cousin Lucky (Larenz Tate) fails to pick up O2's son, Junior (H. Hunter Hall), from school, O2 must leave his job before a replacement shows up, taking the gun with him, to pick up the boy.
Then, tooling down Adams Boulevard, O2 has his car jacked by hoods with his boy still inside. This leads to a well-executed foot-and-car chase through traffic with guns going off and bad guys shot, but O2 ultimately loses the car -- and his beloved son.
His only connection to the carjackers is a hustler named Coco (Good), who apparently was assigned the job of distracting O2 before the assault. He forces Coco at gunpoint to join him in his crusade to get back his son.
By Kirk Honeycutt
Director Vondie Curtis Hall gives this virtually nonstop crime actioner, set against the mean streets of Los Angeles, pleasing noirish touches along with larger-than-life-size characters.
The Rogue Pictures release is pitched to urban houses, so blacks will predominately make up the audience for the well-made film.
Tyrese Gibson, after two fine performances in the John Singleton films "Baby Boy" and "Four Brothers," carries the movie on his broad shoulders, though the impossibly good-looking Meagan Good makes a solid action co-star.
The opening sequence in the screenplay by Hall and Darin Scott (from a story by Michael Mahern) is overly contrived, but does set off a classic race against the clock.
A newly paroled ex-con named O2 (Gibson) has somehow landed a security job that gives him access to a gun. When his flaky cousin Lucky (Larenz Tate) fails to pick up O2's son, Junior (H. Hunter Hall), from school, O2 must leave his job before a replacement shows up, taking the gun with him, to pick up the boy.
Then, tooling down Adams Boulevard, O2 has his car jacked by hoods with his boy still inside. This leads to a well-executed foot-and-car chase through traffic with guns going off and bad guys shot, but O2 ultimately loses the car -- and his beloved son.
His only connection to the carjackers is a hustler named Coco (Good), who apparently was assigned the job of distracting O2 before the assault. He forces Coco at gunpoint to join him in his crusade to get back his son.
By Kirk Honeycutt
movie news : CBS mulls entry into movie business
Television broadcaster CBS Corp. is exploring a possible entry into the motion picture business, with a view toward producing a handful of smaller-budget films annually, Chief Executive Les Moonves said on Wednesday.
"We are exploring it," Moonves said at a PricewaterhouseCoopers media event in New York. "We're not looking to do 'Superman."'
Moonves did not provide details on how CBS would set up a movie venture, whether through acquisition or building up its own properties.
But he said the television and radio broadcaster would be interested in producing six to eight movies a year on smaller budgets of $20 million to $30 million.
"We could get in a small way, doing six to eight movies a year in a risk-free way," Moonves said.
CBS, home to the television network of the same name, separated from corporate parent Viacom Inc. at the beginning of the year. Viacom retained the Paramount Pictures movie studios.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
"We are exploring it," Moonves said at a PricewaterhouseCoopers media event in New York. "We're not looking to do 'Superman."'
Moonves did not provide details on how CBS would set up a movie venture, whether through acquisition or building up its own properties.
But he said the television and radio broadcaster would be interested in producing six to eight movies a year on smaller budgets of $20 million to $30 million.
"We could get in a small way, doing six to eight movies a year in a risk-free way," Moonves said.
CBS, home to the television network of the same name, separated from corporate parent Viacom Inc. at the beginning of the year. Viacom retained the Paramount Pictures movie studios.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, June 16, 2006
movie news : A lazy cat in a lazy movie
There's nothing horribly wrong with "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties."
There's nothing especially right about it either.
The three children under 5 whom I took to the movie were entertained enough.
But as a parent, I was pretty much left out to dry, wondering who ordered up a sequel to the 2004 "Garfield," anyway.
Though the title alludes to Charles Dickens, "Two Kitties" resurrects Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper" as house cat Garfield gets mixed up with the hoity-toity tabby Prince, who has just inherited an English castle. Both must battle a vengeful nephew (voiced by Billy Connolly), out for blood after getting shortchanged in the will.
As in the first movie, Garfield is convincingly rendered via computer animation while the rest of the world is photographed in live action. Everyone plays straight man (or duck, dog, or goat) to the wisecracking Garfield, for whom all the world is a stand-up comedy stage.
Bill Murray is the perfect choice to voice Garfield, since the laid-back actor can deliver his asides half-asleep and still stay in character. The cat's chronic laziness infects the movie, since the jokes are as dusty and the script as clattery as the suits of armor in the parlor.
The slapstick is aimed squarely at preschoolers, while parents are expected to chortle at references to "Fear Factor" and "Silence of the Lambs." The mix of cute and crude doesn't serve either demographic.
The twist here is that the cat acts human while the actors run around like cartoons. Breckin Meyer returns as owner Jon, who can't find the right moment to propose to girlfriend Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Garfield figures that it's bad enough that he has to share Jon's affection with the mutt Odie, so he tries to foil the nuptials.
No one looks comfortable, including the animated Garfield. He seems to know as well as we do that his comedy works best in a handful of comic strip frames.
BY JOHN MONAGHAN
There's nothing especially right about it either.
The three children under 5 whom I took to the movie were entertained enough.
But as a parent, I was pretty much left out to dry, wondering who ordered up a sequel to the 2004 "Garfield," anyway.
Though the title alludes to Charles Dickens, "Two Kitties" resurrects Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper" as house cat Garfield gets mixed up with the hoity-toity tabby Prince, who has just inherited an English castle. Both must battle a vengeful nephew (voiced by Billy Connolly), out for blood after getting shortchanged in the will.
As in the first movie, Garfield is convincingly rendered via computer animation while the rest of the world is photographed in live action. Everyone plays straight man (or duck, dog, or goat) to the wisecracking Garfield, for whom all the world is a stand-up comedy stage.
Bill Murray is the perfect choice to voice Garfield, since the laid-back actor can deliver his asides half-asleep and still stay in character. The cat's chronic laziness infects the movie, since the jokes are as dusty and the script as clattery as the suits of armor in the parlor.
The slapstick is aimed squarely at preschoolers, while parents are expected to chortle at references to "Fear Factor" and "Silence of the Lambs." The mix of cute and crude doesn't serve either demographic.
The twist here is that the cat acts human while the actors run around like cartoons. Breckin Meyer returns as owner Jon, who can't find the right moment to propose to girlfriend Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Garfield figures that it's bad enough that he has to share Jon's affection with the mutt Odie, so he tries to foil the nuptials.
No one looks comfortable, including the animated Garfield. He seems to know as well as we do that his comedy works best in a handful of comic strip frames.
BY JOHN MONAGHAN
movie news : Nacho Libre (2006)
Nacho is a man without skills. After growing up in a Mexican monastery, he is now a grown man and the monastery's cook, but doesn't seem to fit in. Nacho cares deeply for the orphans he feeds, but his food is terrible--mostly, if you ask him, a result of his terrible ingredients. He realizes he must hatch a plan to make money to buy better food for "the young orphans, who have nothing" (and if in doing so Nacho can impress the lovely Sister Encarnacion, that would be a big plus). When Nacho is struck by the idea to earn money as a Lucha Libre wrestler, he finds that he has a natural, raw talent for wrestling. As he teams with his rail-thin, unconventional partner, Esqueleto (the Skeleton), Nacho feels for the first time in his life that he has something to fight for and a place where he belongs. As Lucha is strictly forbidden by the church elders at the monastery, Nacho is forced to lead a double life. Disguised by a sky blue mask, Nacho conceals his true identity as he takes on Mexico's most famous wrestlers and takes on a hilarious quest to make life a little sweeter at the orphanage.
Also Known As: Untitled (Nickelodeon/Jack Black Project)
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Genres: Comedy
Release Date: June 16th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG for rough action, and crude humor including dialogue.
Distributors: Paramount Pictures, United International Pictures
Production Co.: Black & White Productions, Nickelodeon Movies
Studios: Paramount Pictures
Filming Locations: Oxaca, Mexico
Los Angeles, California USA
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Also Known As: Untitled (Nickelodeon/Jack Black Project)
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Genres: Comedy
Release Date: June 16th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG for rough action, and crude humor including dialogue.
Distributors: Paramount Pictures, United International Pictures
Production Co.: Black & White Productions, Nickelodeon Movies
Studios: Paramount Pictures
Filming Locations: Oxaca, Mexico
Los Angeles, California USA
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
movie news : Waist Deep (2006)
I'll always come back for you," single father O2 tells his young son Junior. This parental promise is put to the test when O2 is suddenly plunged into a do-or-die situation; trying to go straight for Junior's sake, this recently paroled ex-con is forced to go back outside the law after his son is kidnapped in a carjacking. The resulting chase and shootout have left Junior in the hands of Meat, the vicious leader of the Outlaw Syndicate. O2's shady cousin Lucky tries to meditate, but is caught between criminal and family loyalties. The only person who can or will help O2 get his son back is wily street-smart hustler Coco, whose path fatefully crossed O2's just moments before the kidnapping. When Lucky gets word to O2 that Meat expects $100,000 for Junior's freedom, O2 and Coco seize the opportunity to pit rival elements of the South Los Angeles underworld against each other. "It's either all or nothing," realizes O2. With the clock ticking down, the heat between O2 and Coco rises as they become a lawbreaking couple, on an action-packed tear through a range of Los Angeles neighborhoods. Can they outwit the underworld and save Junior and themselves?
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©1999-2006 Hollywood.com, Inc. NASDAQ:HOLL
movie news ; God Bless IMAX
As a resident of the American South for 27 out of the 28 years of my life and a childhood "Dukes of Hazzard" fan, let me start this by saying the following: I'm really sick of us Southerners making ourselves look like ass-clowns. Get it together people. For every episode of "Boston Legal" that portrays us all as gun-toting, mustache twirling, murdering dim-wits, there's a real life story like this one that makes us every bit as stupid as James Spader portrays us. Maybe it's time I moved up north.
Here's the long and short of it: IMAX theaters in several southern cities (Texas is listed specifically, so no doubt this includes my IMAX theater here in Dallas.) have opted not to show a film on volcanoes on the grounds that it references the theory of evolution. Cited are concerns that movie-goers might be offended, or worse still actually learn something. The South's education reputation didn't occur by accident after all.
Now granted, I don't spend a lot of time watching The Discovery Channel, but when was the last time you saw a nature program that didn't reference evolution? They're absolutely RIFE with it, perhaps because they're put together by smart people known as "scientists" instead of evangelical, money-hungry preachers. Scientists you see are this weird cult of folks who worship this guy named Einstein and believe in crazy things like scientific method as a way for unraveling the mysteries of the Earth. They also feel pretty confident that we all got here by a process known as evolution. Fun fact… the Pope agrees.
To be honest, I'm not sure what I believe on the subject, but that's irrelevant to the discussion. Whether evolution is the real deal or not, this is a move that's completely out of wack. I support the rights of these individual theater owners to run whichever movies they want. I believe in that, it's a private business and they're in it to make money. Fine. But has the Bible belt really become so desperately oppressive that legitimate science no longer has a place in movie theaters? That's a frightening thought. It stinks of knee-jerk reaction. Are people actually out there protesting this? I know a lot of fundamentalist creationists (I do after all live in Texas) and they spend more time watching the Discovery Channel than anyone I know (Animals screwing is less morally offensive than people). They're used to wading through evolution references… why would it suddenly bother them? It's as if electing a president on moral grounds has suddenly empowered an entire small subset of psychotically religious people to go out and start forcing their beliefs on the rest of the populace… or has it? At least that seems like what these theater owners are afraid of. To me, the fear seems unfounded.
The worst thing about this is the message it sends to the folks making these sorts of movies. If you want your movie shown, leave out anything that isn't in the Bible. Maybe work in some references to God. Throw in A few shots of a bearded guy shooting stars out of his ass. Better make that beard thicker, wouldn't want him to be confused as female. Alanis Morrisette is right out. Maybe the Lucas-like fellow could even ask to borrow a starship. God does that sort of thing you know.
This mess reflects poorly on normal, mainstream Christians, and as usual reflects poorly on the justifiably maligned Deep South. We deserve the stereotypes. Might as well kick back in your rocking chair and suck on a corn-cob pipe brothers. Religion is well and good but please, keep it to yourself. You're making the whole region look like bullshit. God bless Texas?
by Joshua Tyler
Here's the long and short of it: IMAX theaters in several southern cities (Texas is listed specifically, so no doubt this includes my IMAX theater here in Dallas.) have opted not to show a film on volcanoes on the grounds that it references the theory of evolution. Cited are concerns that movie-goers might be offended, or worse still actually learn something. The South's education reputation didn't occur by accident after all.
Now granted, I don't spend a lot of time watching The Discovery Channel, but when was the last time you saw a nature program that didn't reference evolution? They're absolutely RIFE with it, perhaps because they're put together by smart people known as "scientists" instead of evangelical, money-hungry preachers. Scientists you see are this weird cult of folks who worship this guy named Einstein and believe in crazy things like scientific method as a way for unraveling the mysteries of the Earth. They also feel pretty confident that we all got here by a process known as evolution. Fun fact… the Pope agrees.
To be honest, I'm not sure what I believe on the subject, but that's irrelevant to the discussion. Whether evolution is the real deal or not, this is a move that's completely out of wack. I support the rights of these individual theater owners to run whichever movies they want. I believe in that, it's a private business and they're in it to make money. Fine. But has the Bible belt really become so desperately oppressive that legitimate science no longer has a place in movie theaters? That's a frightening thought. It stinks of knee-jerk reaction. Are people actually out there protesting this? I know a lot of fundamentalist creationists (I do after all live in Texas) and they spend more time watching the Discovery Channel than anyone I know (Animals screwing is less morally offensive than people). They're used to wading through evolution references… why would it suddenly bother them? It's as if electing a president on moral grounds has suddenly empowered an entire small subset of psychotically religious people to go out and start forcing their beliefs on the rest of the populace… or has it? At least that seems like what these theater owners are afraid of. To me, the fear seems unfounded.
The worst thing about this is the message it sends to the folks making these sorts of movies. If you want your movie shown, leave out anything that isn't in the Bible. Maybe work in some references to God. Throw in A few shots of a bearded guy shooting stars out of his ass. Better make that beard thicker, wouldn't want him to be confused as female. Alanis Morrisette is right out. Maybe the Lucas-like fellow could even ask to borrow a starship. God does that sort of thing you know.
This mess reflects poorly on normal, mainstream Christians, and as usual reflects poorly on the justifiably maligned Deep South. We deserve the stereotypes. Might as well kick back in your rocking chair and suck on a corn-cob pipe brothers. Religion is well and good but please, keep it to yourself. You're making the whole region look like bullshit. God bless Texas?
by Joshua Tyler
Friday, June 09, 2006
movie news : Official Movie Website Miscogony
All right, I've got a complaint. It goes out directly to all you sneaky marketing types who THINK you know exactly what the public wants.
Official movie websites...have you tried to look at one lately? Its torture! After looking at many of them, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of them are designed exclusively for people with DSL connections who aren't interested in knowing anything about the movie whose website they are looking up except perhaps to confirm that the movie does indeed exist.
Case in point: The new Highlander: Endgame official website. The first thing you'll notice upon going to the URL (and I recommend you don't) is that the website takes total control of your computer and decides to block out any other windows or toolbars you may have had up. The sheer arrogance of this little programming "feature" boggles the mind. Evidently the marketing geeks who designed the site are absolutely certain that their website is THE most important thing in your entire life.
Next you will notice that the entire website is in flash, with no option to go to a non-flash site. Again, marketing dorks assume that everyone in the world has a cable modem. The truth is that most people have dialups and if you have a dialup connect it will take a good 15 minutes of loading before you can enter the site. So since the stinking site has taken over your entire computer screen and you can't do anything, you get to spend 15 minutes staring at a blank screen. Lovely.
At last! The site loads and you enter eagerly to discover that it contains NOTHING! No cast bios, no plot synopsis, no teasers, no movie stills, NOTHING but a couple of brief blurbs about the two main characters and a place to download the movie trailer. (2 more hours of waiting...I think now!)
Sadly, this type of official movie site is now the rule rather than the exception. High tech wonders filled with boatloads of jack crap. I mean is it so much to ask you execs to throw in a picture or two, or an interview, or a .wav file or SOMETHING?
Why should I waste any of my time struggling with your slow loading futuristic bells and whistles when I can go over to Joe Schmo's low tech, fast loading, fan page and get better stuff?
The point is that I shouldn't. And neither should you.
by Joshua Tyler
Official movie websites...have you tried to look at one lately? Its torture! After looking at many of them, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of them are designed exclusively for people with DSL connections who aren't interested in knowing anything about the movie whose website they are looking up except perhaps to confirm that the movie does indeed exist.
Case in point: The new Highlander: Endgame official website. The first thing you'll notice upon going to the URL (and I recommend you don't) is that the website takes total control of your computer and decides to block out any other windows or toolbars you may have had up. The sheer arrogance of this little programming "feature" boggles the mind. Evidently the marketing geeks who designed the site are absolutely certain that their website is THE most important thing in your entire life.
Next you will notice that the entire website is in flash, with no option to go to a non-flash site. Again, marketing dorks assume that everyone in the world has a cable modem. The truth is that most people have dialups and if you have a dialup connect it will take a good 15 minutes of loading before you can enter the site. So since the stinking site has taken over your entire computer screen and you can't do anything, you get to spend 15 minutes staring at a blank screen. Lovely.
At last! The site loads and you enter eagerly to discover that it contains NOTHING! No cast bios, no plot synopsis, no teasers, no movie stills, NOTHING but a couple of brief blurbs about the two main characters and a place to download the movie trailer. (2 more hours of waiting...I think now!)
Sadly, this type of official movie site is now the rule rather than the exception. High tech wonders filled with boatloads of jack crap. I mean is it so much to ask you execs to throw in a picture or two, or an interview, or a .wav file or SOMETHING?
Why should I waste any of my time struggling with your slow loading futuristic bells and whistles when I can go over to Joe Schmo's low tech, fast loading, fan page and get better stuff?
The point is that I shouldn't. And neither should you.
by Joshua Tyler
movie news : Bootlet Bandits Deliver Sub-Par Downloads
This week notorious internet news nanny Matt Drudge reported the presence of advanced bootleg prints of The Two Towers floating about online available for download. While the validity of this story is actually quite questionable and completely unconfirmed, for me it raises the question why?
Why would anyone want to download bootlegs to begin with? Sure, I'm not a total innocent; I've dabbled in it once or twice and know what I'm doing well enough to find the same things all you hardcore bootleggers find. But I simply don't see the point. Presumably hardcore downloaders are doing this for the love of film. It takes a real movie lover to put that kind of time and effort into hunting down something just to have the chance to see it first. As a movie lover, how could you watch something so totally inferior?
Put aside questions of legality or morality involved with such things, this isn't a rant about breaking the law or the unjust behavior of fat cat studios that makes them richer and screws the rest of us over. I'm talking about loving movies. Bootlegs are an inferior product. Generally they are grainy, fuzzy, and of poor sound quality. Most of them are taken by some guy with a camcorder in a movie theater, recording what's up on the screen. There are a few high quality prints out there, most of these from stolen press screening copies, featuring the type of quality you'd expect from a purchased dvd but these are rare and still not perfect.
So you download and if you're lucky you manage to find a quality bootleg that's actually watchable, instead of the aforementioned camcorder mess. You download and you sit, hunched over a tiny computer screen. Alone. Isolated. Squinting to make out pictures compressed onto your 17-inch monitor. Listening intently to the tinny sound coming out of your outdated Altec-Lansing computer speakers. Imagine this is the way you see The Two Towers or the next Star Wars installment for the first time. Not in a theater, not on opening night, not surrounded by other movie lovers basking in the glow of a crystal clear 75ft screen enraptured by pure digital surround sound that pumps out every click, boom, and ping from Howard Shore's magnificent soundtrack. No not like that. Instead you get it early, you get it at home, and you watch it alone in the dark squinting for clarity.
That's not a movie experience that's a disappointment. If you REALLY love movies, why would you CHOOSE to watch any film much less one you care about, in such a sub-par, low-tech environment? You're doing yourself and the film an injustice.
So why do we bother with bootlegs? Are people so set on one upping their friends by seeing things first that they don't care HOW they see it? Maybe. As a critic it would do wonders for my career to see things further ahead of time. I won't tell you that I don't receive such things occasionally from a few folks I know trying to help snag The Film Hobbit an exclusive sneak peak. And I'm grateful. I watch. I'm happy. But to do so on a regular basis, or to watch a film you really CARE about, a film like Lord of the Rings... that's a shame.
I'd rather wait in line outside the UA MacArthur Marketplace 16 here in Dallas for days rather than spend 3 hours in a hardbacked chair at home glaring at my computer. There's magic in the movies. If you lose that, and reduce films to just a bunch of pixels on your screen, you've lost what movie making is all about. The first time you see something should be the best time.
You only get one opportunity to experience each movie as something totally new. Don't waste it on some slacker's attempt at underground bootleg fame. Your movie health depends on it.
by Joshua Tyler
Why would anyone want to download bootlegs to begin with? Sure, I'm not a total innocent; I've dabbled in it once or twice and know what I'm doing well enough to find the same things all you hardcore bootleggers find. But I simply don't see the point. Presumably hardcore downloaders are doing this for the love of film. It takes a real movie lover to put that kind of time and effort into hunting down something just to have the chance to see it first. As a movie lover, how could you watch something so totally inferior?
Put aside questions of legality or morality involved with such things, this isn't a rant about breaking the law or the unjust behavior of fat cat studios that makes them richer and screws the rest of us over. I'm talking about loving movies. Bootlegs are an inferior product. Generally they are grainy, fuzzy, and of poor sound quality. Most of them are taken by some guy with a camcorder in a movie theater, recording what's up on the screen. There are a few high quality prints out there, most of these from stolen press screening copies, featuring the type of quality you'd expect from a purchased dvd but these are rare and still not perfect.
So you download and if you're lucky you manage to find a quality bootleg that's actually watchable, instead of the aforementioned camcorder mess. You download and you sit, hunched over a tiny computer screen. Alone. Isolated. Squinting to make out pictures compressed onto your 17-inch monitor. Listening intently to the tinny sound coming out of your outdated Altec-Lansing computer speakers. Imagine this is the way you see The Two Towers or the next Star Wars installment for the first time. Not in a theater, not on opening night, not surrounded by other movie lovers basking in the glow of a crystal clear 75ft screen enraptured by pure digital surround sound that pumps out every click, boom, and ping from Howard Shore's magnificent soundtrack. No not like that. Instead you get it early, you get it at home, and you watch it alone in the dark squinting for clarity.
That's not a movie experience that's a disappointment. If you REALLY love movies, why would you CHOOSE to watch any film much less one you care about, in such a sub-par, low-tech environment? You're doing yourself and the film an injustice.
So why do we bother with bootlegs? Are people so set on one upping their friends by seeing things first that they don't care HOW they see it? Maybe. As a critic it would do wonders for my career to see things further ahead of time. I won't tell you that I don't receive such things occasionally from a few folks I know trying to help snag The Film Hobbit an exclusive sneak peak. And I'm grateful. I watch. I'm happy. But to do so on a regular basis, or to watch a film you really CARE about, a film like Lord of the Rings... that's a shame.
I'd rather wait in line outside the UA MacArthur Marketplace 16 here in Dallas for days rather than spend 3 hours in a hardbacked chair at home glaring at my computer. There's magic in the movies. If you lose that, and reduce films to just a bunch of pixels on your screen, you've lost what movie making is all about. The first time you see something should be the best time.
You only get one opportunity to experience each movie as something totally new. Don't waste it on some slacker's attempt at underground bootleg fame. Your movie health depends on it.
by Joshua Tyler
Monday, June 05, 2006
movie news : Kung Fu Cowboy Free
Filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee have spent their lives capturing the world in and around New York City. Last year, Michael Mann won acclaim for accurately depicting L.A. in his hitman drama Collateral. What about everywhere else?
There's no one out there showing the real Dallas. The place I call home is represented by grinning cowboy industrialists with huge belt buckles or spitting rednecks who sacrifice their children's education for games of high school football. New York gets The 25th Hour, Dallas gets Serving Sara. What do we know about Baltimore, or Indianapolis? Does anyone care? The closest anyone's gotten to capturing my town is Mike Judge with Office Space. Great movie, but a sad commentary on Hollywood's bi-coastal bias. That's the real Dallas, and it isn't run by Larry Hagman.
It's time for filmmakers to broaden out. There's nothing Hollywood loves more than making movies about itself, but give the rest of us a chance. Give folks a chance to see that Dallas is a shallow, rotting, festering boil of shallow consumerism and chronic eating out. While you're at it, show the good things too… if you can find them. I'd start looking in the suburbs. Everything isn't bigger and better in Texas and no Mr. Norris, our cowboys (what few there are) don't know Karate.
by Joshua Tyler
There's no one out there showing the real Dallas. The place I call home is represented by grinning cowboy industrialists with huge belt buckles or spitting rednecks who sacrifice their children's education for games of high school football. New York gets The 25th Hour, Dallas gets Serving Sara. What do we know about Baltimore, or Indianapolis? Does anyone care? The closest anyone's gotten to capturing my town is Mike Judge with Office Space. Great movie, but a sad commentary on Hollywood's bi-coastal bias. That's the real Dallas, and it isn't run by Larry Hagman.
It's time for filmmakers to broaden out. There's nothing Hollywood loves more than making movies about itself, but give the rest of us a chance. Give folks a chance to see that Dallas is a shallow, rotting, festering boil of shallow consumerism and chronic eating out. While you're at it, show the good things too… if you can find them. I'd start looking in the suburbs. Everything isn't bigger and better in Texas and no Mr. Norris, our cowboys (what few there are) don't know Karate.
by Joshua Tyler
movie news ; Avid Moviegoers Find Range of Special Offers
Hoyts is an Australia wide cinema chain, and for a long time has been familiar to Australian moviegoers as the place to see the latest big releases. There are over forty theatres throughout metropolitan centres in most states. For more information, visit www.all-hobbies-r-us.com
Hoyts also runs specialized theatres which cater to specific markets. Cinema Paris at Fox Studios in Sydney features a selection of art house and international films. La Premiere cinemas can be found at a number of locations in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and offer audiences a luxurious movie viewing experience, with super size screens, superior digital surround sound, luxury seating including sofa seats for two, a lounge and wine bar, and complimentary popcorn, coffee, tea and soft drinks. All of this comes at a price, but it can be an attractive choice for a special night out.
Avid moviegoers can sign up as a Hoyts Movie club member. It's free to join, and members get a range of benefits, including members only $9 movie tickets for selected sessions, candy bar discounts, a personalized weekly email newsletter, and access to special competitions. To join customers need to log on and provide a few personal details, but the data will only be used by Hoyts to tailor the marketing material they send, so members will receive movie news which is of most interest to them.
Hoyts also has a range of other services which will be of particular interest to mobile savvy teens. Promotional movie wallpapers, animated screensavers and action games can be downloaded from the official Hoyts website for a small fee. Customers can get instant information on session times via SMS, simply by sending the keywords for the cinema name and movie title. This is a simple innovation, but a fantastic convenience to customers.
Author: Sufi Fanning
Hoyts also runs specialized theatres which cater to specific markets. Cinema Paris at Fox Studios in Sydney features a selection of art house and international films. La Premiere cinemas can be found at a number of locations in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and offer audiences a luxurious movie viewing experience, with super size screens, superior digital surround sound, luxury seating including sofa seats for two, a lounge and wine bar, and complimentary popcorn, coffee, tea and soft drinks. All of this comes at a price, but it can be an attractive choice for a special night out.
Avid moviegoers can sign up as a Hoyts Movie club member. It's free to join, and members get a range of benefits, including members only $9 movie tickets for selected sessions, candy bar discounts, a personalized weekly email newsletter, and access to special competitions. To join customers need to log on and provide a few personal details, but the data will only be used by Hoyts to tailor the marketing material they send, so members will receive movie news which is of most interest to them.
Hoyts also has a range of other services which will be of particular interest to mobile savvy teens. Promotional movie wallpapers, animated screensavers and action games can be downloaded from the official Hoyts website for a small fee. Customers can get instant information on session times via SMS, simply by sending the keywords for the cinema name and movie title. This is a simple innovation, but a fantastic convenience to customers.
Author: Sufi Fanning
Friday, June 02, 2006
movie news : Poseidon
Plot: Remake of the 1975 disaster epic that starred Gene Hackman amongst many others. When a rogue wave capsizes a luxury cruise ship in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, a small group of survivors find themselves unlikely allies in a battle for their lives. Preferring to test the odds alone, career gambler John Dylan (Josh Lucas) ignores captain’s orders (Andre Braugher) to wait below for possible rescue and sets out to find his own way to safety. What begins as a solo mission soon draws others as Dylan is followed by a desperate father (Kurt Russell) searching for his daughter (Emmy Rossum) and her fiancé (Mike Vogel), a young couple who hours before couldn’t summon the courage to tell him they were engaged and now face much graver challenges.
Along the way they are joined by a single mother (Jacinda Barrett) and her wise-beyond-his-years son (Jimmy Bennett), an anxious stowaway (Mia Maestro) and a despondent fellow passenger (Richard Dreyfuss) who boarded the ship not sure he wanted to live but now knows he doesn’t want to die. Determined to fight their way to the surface, the group sets off through the disorienting maze of twisted steel in the upside-down wreckage. As the unstable vessel rapidly fills with water each must draw on skills and strengths they didn’t even know they possessed, fighting against time for their own survival and for each other.
movie news
Copyright © 1997-Present, Dark Futures Pty. Limited.
All Rights Reserved.
Along the way they are joined by a single mother (Jacinda Barrett) and her wise-beyond-his-years son (Jimmy Bennett), an anxious stowaway (Mia Maestro) and a despondent fellow passenger (Richard Dreyfuss) who boarded the ship not sure he wanted to live but now knows he doesn’t want to die. Determined to fight their way to the surface, the group sets off through the disorienting maze of twisted steel in the upside-down wreckage. As the unstable vessel rapidly fills with water each must draw on skills and strengths they didn’t even know they possessed, fighting against time for their own survival and for each other.
movie news
Copyright © 1997-Present, Dark Futures Pty. Limited.
All Rights Reserved.
movie news : Snakes on a Plane
It may seem odd to Movie Minutiae-ise a film that hasn't even been released yet but Snakes on a Plane is a law unto itself.
Even though it won't be released until August, Snakes on a Plane has sparked massive interest on the web - blogging, meme-ing, crank phone calling airlines, writing songs, poetry, cartoons, a game and video parodies.
The Charm School blog has the best wrap-up of the 'snakes-on-a-mania', but even McSweeney's has got in on the act, posting a list of possible 'surprise' endings.
And as far as I know, this is the first time in film history (email me if you know better) that a movie has been changed to incorporate aspects of the web parodies.
According to IMDB, in March 2006 (six months after principal photography wrapped) New Line Cinema allowed for a five-day reshoot to film new scenes, taking the movie from PG-13 to a R-rated film.
Among the additions is a line by star Samuel L Jackson: "I want these mother***ing snakes off this mother***ing plane," which originated in an anticipatory Internet parody.
And apparently, after Jackson signed on for the film, the title was changed to Pacific Air Flight 121, but was changed back after the star said: "We're totally changing that back. That's the only reason I took the job: I read the title."
So the big question is, is this just a clever (and successful) guerilla marketing campaign? Or is it just that film buffs and web nerds alike are hanging out for a flick about, well, snakes on a plane?
By Gary Kemble.
Even though it won't be released until August, Snakes on a Plane has sparked massive interest on the web - blogging, meme-ing, crank phone calling airlines, writing songs, poetry, cartoons, a game and video parodies.
The Charm School blog has the best wrap-up of the 'snakes-on-a-mania', but even McSweeney's has got in on the act, posting a list of possible 'surprise' endings.
And as far as I know, this is the first time in film history (email me if you know better) that a movie has been changed to incorporate aspects of the web parodies.
According to IMDB, in March 2006 (six months after principal photography wrapped) New Line Cinema allowed for a five-day reshoot to film new scenes, taking the movie from PG-13 to a R-rated film.
Among the additions is a line by star Samuel L Jackson: "I want these mother***ing snakes off this mother***ing plane," which originated in an anticipatory Internet parody.
And apparently, after Jackson signed on for the film, the title was changed to Pacific Air Flight 121, but was changed back after the star said: "We're totally changing that back. That's the only reason I took the job: I read the title."
So the big question is, is this just a clever (and successful) guerilla marketing campaign? Or is it just that film buffs and web nerds alike are hanging out for a flick about, well, snakes on a plane?
By Gary Kemble.
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