May 17th, 2008
On the TV Addict:
It was star sightings galore as the TV Addict attended the 2008 UpFronts in New York City. Spotted: 90210’s Jennie Garth, newcomer Shenae Grimes and GOSSIP GIRL Blake Lively
On the REEL Addict:
We posted a first look at the upcoming X-FILES movie, revealed some really cool Captain America cameos in IRON MAN and applauded Hollywood for their ‘creative renaissance.’
May 16th, 2008
Back when I was writing my Top 15 Bleakest Film Endings list, I scanned the internet for similar lists, and I found one film kept on coming up: Isao Takahata’s GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES. After trying to track down the movie for some time, I was excited to finally find it at the great rental store Film Fest DVD in Toronto. So last night I sat myself down, curious to see why the film was not only so highly regarded by critics and fans, but why it was considered so bleak. The premise about two children trying to survive in World War II Japan sounded sad, but it couldn’t be that bad, right?
It destroyed me.
I don’t say things like that lightly. I’m usually not prone to over-praise or hyperbole, but there’s frankly no other way to describe what that film did to me. It just emotionally obliterated me. What’s interesting – and rare – is that it did so on both ends of the emotional spectrum. The film features some of the most graceful and beautiful moments I’ve seen in a film, and yet also some of the most emotionally devastating. It’ll hurt. Bad.
May 15th, 2008
Superhero fans may be pretty familiar with the hilarious “I’m a Marvel … and I’m a DC” series of videos, which amusingly spoof the Mac adds, as well as comic book heroes in general. The most recent installment is a funny and topical (in lieu of both of them having films this year) romp squaring Batman and Iron Man against each other. If anything, it’s nice to know Iron Man is somewhat in agreement with me about viral marketing. And that Batman can be immature every now and then.
May 15th, 2008
THE PROMOTION
I find myself anticipating this film very much, despite the pretty worn out plot about two people going to ridiculous competitive lengths to try and get a job they’re both gunning for. The reason I’m still excited? A) John C. Reilly, B) I’ve always found that given the right role, Sean William Scott can do pretty well, and it looks like he might be playing the straight man for once here, and C) pretty much every single film blog that I admire and whose opinion sync up with mine have been declaring this one of their favorite films of the year. Which also brings us to …
Watch the trailer here.
THE WACKNESS
… this film, which is being equally heralded by everyone who has seen it as an incredibly good and relatable film about, well, growing up and love, and all of those good things.
Watch the trailer here.
NOISE
This film about a man who decides to declare war against car alarms in New York City, eventually becomes a pseudo-vigilante superhero (The Rectifier), and then gets the interest of the mayor, seems like a pretty fun little flick, aided by a seemingly good Tim Robbins performance. Also of interest is the fact that it’s directed by Henry Bean, who we haven’t seen since the compelling Ryan Gosling drama THE BELIEVER.
Watch the trailer here.
May 15th, 2008
A day after I posted my sad-sack declaration of longing for the return of Vin Diesel, the trailer for BABYLON A.D. hit the net. Sadly, it does little to assuage anything. It’s mostly Vin Diesel just walking around looking like a hobo, followed by a near epileptic seizure inducing mish-mash of quickly edited shows that succeed in telling you absolutely nothing about the film. Well, that’s not true. It tells us Vin Diesel is capable of walking very, very morosely, something the just released poster can also back up.
You can find both the trailer and the post here.
May 15th, 2008
Marvel is really going all out in creating a seamless mega-Marvel universe being spun out across its many upcoming films. First up, is the top photo from the upcoming THE INCREDIBLE HULK that reveals the first appearance of the super-soldier serum that is responsible for the creation of Captain America (and unfortunately, for the Hulk, also the Abomination).
Second, the people over at First Showing apparently has some very sharp eyes, as they’ve keenly noted that if you look closely in one scene in IRON MAN, you can actually see Captain America’s shield on one of Tony Stark’s tables in his workshop (the second picture above is the best the internet has been able to produce so far). Now though the serum in INCREDIBLE HULK makes sense, a lot of people whether the shield in IRON MAN has any greater universal significance since chronologically Tony Stark isn’t even aware of Captain America at this point. Admittedly it might be feasible that Stark does know about Captain, given the Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) cameo at the end of IRON MAN, but I think this is really nothing more than just a “Wouldn’t it be cool?” easter egg in the film. It does raise some interesting issues though for the upcoming CAPTAIN AMERICA film. Is this something Tony was working on anyway, that later just is given to Cap? Does this mean the film might depart from the cannon of comics where the shield is made form adamantium (the same thing Wolverine’s skeleton and claws are made of) and be something more techy?
What do you guys think about Marvel’s efforts to really do something unprecedented and create a larger film universe for its characters/properties? What about the shield in IRON MAN? Is this part of some bigger picture perhaps, or just a little cute gift to keen-eyed Marvel fans?
Source: First Showing
May 14th, 2008
If you’re anything like me, you’re loving the fact that Hollywood brilliantly insists on refusing to indulge in new, untested properties, and instead goes after films and properties we know and love. Really, with so many things fighting for our time in today’s world, who actually wants to invest in characters we’ve never met before, or stories that have to be told from the ground up? It’s so much work, and so much investment on my part as an audience member. I like it when films meet me halfway, which is why remakes, sequels, spin-offs, prequels, and reboots, are just my cup of java.
Naturally then I’m just thrilled about the double-whammy news announcements that not only are Nicolas Cage and German director, Werner Herzog, remaking the Harvey Keitel film, BAD LIEUTENANT, but that Jan de Bont (SPEED) is directing a sequel to the Kathryn Bigelow action flick, POINT BREAK. It’s a good time to be a movie fan these days.
Also, while I’m at it, I think somebody really needs to reboot the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise. Those last two films weren’t that great, and I think it’s time for a do-over.
May 14th, 2008
Here’s a exciting/strange bit of news I’d take with a grain of salt (or perhaps… oil? Except oil doesn’t come in grains. Damn, that attempt at a clever pun totally backfired on me). Anyway, those of you who were wondering what Paul Thomas Anderson would do after his cinematic tour-de-force THERE WILL BE BLOOD, may have found your (inexplicable) answer. Apparently Aki Saito (guy at gaming company KONAMI), claims that Paul Thomas Anderson is interested in directing the feature film adaptation of the incredibly successful video game franchise, METAL GEAR SOLID. Like I said, who knows how legit this actually is, but it’s certainly an interesting proposition. It’s also a bit of a mind-blowing shift of gears from BLOOD, but I wouldn’t really complain because it might very well result in a video game film that didn’t completely suck.
Source: /Film
May 13th, 2008
People think I’m strange, but whenever I watch a film on DVD, I watch it with subtitles turned on. My friends give me a lot of grief about it, mainly complaining that it’s distracting while watching, and wondering why I even need them when I have two perfectly working ears attached to my head. After all, I do just fine in theatres and watching regular television shows on TV, so what gives?
I suppose I have a couple of reasons. First - and I’m going to sound like an old fuddy-duddy - but I find that a lot of actors mutter and mumble sometimes, making their dialogue unintelligible, or other times their words get drowned out by bombastic scores and sound effects. When it comes to dialogue I just don’t like to miss anything - for whatever reason - and subtitles ensure that I actually hear everything I’m supposed to (and sometimes not supposed to). There are some times additional benefits too, as - depending on the extent of the closed captioning - you often get to read background dialogue you can’t actually make out, or get to see the lyrics to those deliberately selected songs that accompany scenes.
May 12th, 2008
Though you’ll be hard pressed to figure out what the film is going to be about, let alone what’s going on in this trailer except that it all involves a search for missing women and weird medical experiments, it feels undeniably like X-FILES. Well, except for the fact that I’m having a hard time figuring out why Mulder and Scully are being brought in on a case that seems to have little to do with unexplained phenomena, let alone needing/wanting to believe. Regardless, the recognizable feel from the show that this trailer elicits has me that little bit more pumped for the film.
On a prissy note, does anyone feel like Duchovny is kind of sleep-walking through this one?
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