why does kirk cameron hate trashcans so much? cause they’re an abomination against god.
-srd
Entries tagged as ‘movies’
“what was on that computer screen? was that honorable?”
February 19, 2009 · 1 Comment
Categories: movies · the internets
Tagged: christians, fireproof, kirk cameron, movies
“oh my gooooooooooooooooooooood!”
February 5, 2009 · 7 Comments
i love documentaries. i particularly like documentaries about movies. know what i also love? really bad movies. i grew up watching mystery science theater 3000 and i continue to support rifftrax, the spiritual successor. years ago we even had a weekly “bad movie night” at the logan house, watching such choice films as critters, jason x, the octogon, and many, many more. if only there was some way to combine my love of documentaries and really bad movies…
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: best worst movie, critters, jason x, movies, mystery science theater 3000, rifftrax, the octogon, troll 2
“you don’t fucking understand what it’s like working with actors.”
February 3, 2009 · 3 Comments
if you haven’t heard this yet, you are in for a treat. the dp on the set of terminator salvation apparently walked through a scene during filming and christian bale COMPLETELY LOSES IT ON THE POOR GUY. originally c/o slashfilm, via tmz (obviously nsfw. use headphones and try not to laugh too hard):
-srd
updated: karen vu requested an f-bomb count. i counted 39.
Categories: movies · the internets
Tagged: christian bale freak-out, movies
the oscar nominations are out!
January 22, 2009 · 2 Comments
ok, here are the nominations for this year’s acadamy awards. the bold listings are my predictions. (list c/o ap)
1. Best Picture: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.“
my take: HUGE snub here for the dark knight. it doesn’t deserve to win, but it should have at least been nominated.
2. Actor: Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”; Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”; Sean Penn, “Milk”; Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler.”
my take: it’s close between penn and rourke, but everyone loves a comeback story. this is rourke’s year.
3. Actress: Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”; Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”; Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”; Meryl Streep, “Doubt”; Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”
my take: it’s kinda strange that winslet got the nom for the reader and not revolutionary road, but she’s due regardless.
4. Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, “Milk”; Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”; Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”; Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road.”
my take: easily the biggest lock of the year. hilarious that downey got the nom for being the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude.
5. Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, “Doubt”; Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”; Viola Davis, “Doubt”; Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler.”
my take: this is a tough one. i’m gonna give it to tomei, but don’t count out adams or cruz.
6. Director: David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”; Gus Van Sant, “Milk”; Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”; Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire.”
my take: would’ve liked to see aronofsky here, but boyle’s a pretty safe bet.
7. Foreign Film: “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Germany; “The Class,” France; “Departures,” Japan; “Revanche,” Austria; “Waltz With Bashir,” Israel.
my take: i actually haven’t seen any of these yet, but waltz with bashir looks amazing.
8. Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”; Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”; David Hare, “The Reader”; Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire.”
my take: i’d like slumdog to completely sweep the awards, but people seem to really like doubt.
9. Original Screenplay: Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River”; Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”; Martin McDonagh, “In Bruges”; Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”; Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, “WALL-E.”
my take: kind of a random pick here. did wall-e even have a screenplay?
10. Animated Feature Film: “Bolt”; “Kung Fu Panda”; “WALL-E.”
my take: while i did really like kung fu panda, wall-e is garaunteed the win.
11. Art Direction: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Duchess,” “Revolutionary Road.”
my take: tough call. i’ll default to the dark knight.
12. Cinematography: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”
my take: another tough call. another default pick.
13. Sound Mixing: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”
my take: de-fault! de-fault!
14. Sound Editing: “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”
my take: how is this different from sound mixing again?
15. Original Score: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Alexandre Desplat; “Defiance,” James Newton Howard; “Milk,” Danny Elfman; “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman; “WALL-E,” Thomas Newman.
my take: another huge snub for the dark knight, on par with last year’s dq-ed score for there will be blood.
16. Original Song: “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E,” Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam.
my take: this is probably the most fucked up category. only three songs nominated and no springsteen love? wtf.
17. Costume: “Australia,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Duchess,” “Milk,” “Revolutionary Road.”
my take: just a personal choice, not a real prediction.
18. Documentary Feature: “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon),” “Encounters at the End of the World,” “The Garden,” “Man on Wire,” “Trouble the Water.”
my take: one of the best-reviewed movies of the year. it’s a documentary and a heist film, all rolled into one.
19. Documentary (short subject): “The Conscience of Nhem En,” “The Final Inch,” “Smile Pinki,” “The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306.”
my take: no clue, stab in the dark.
20. Film Editing: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”
my take: lot of people complained about the editing in the dark knight, so i’m gonna go with slumdog again.
21. Makeup: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.”
my take: the makeup in button is jaw-dropping at times. i’d say a pretty safe bet.
22. Animated Short Film: “La Maison en Petits Cubes,” “Lavatory — Lovestory,” “Oktapodi,” “Presto,” “This Way Up.”
my take: no clue. i’ll watch these on itunes and get back to you.
23. Live Action Short Film: “Auf der Strecke (On the Line),” “Manon on the Asphalt,” “New Boy,” “The Pig,” “Spielzeugland (Toyland).”
my take: ditto.
24. Visual Effects: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man.”
my take: really tough call here. i’d like to give it to the dark knight for the minimal use of cgi, but button seems more likely.
we’ll see what happens in a month when the awards are announced. i’ll probably live-tweat them, so prepare your facebook’s to be bombarded by my snarky comments.
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: academy awards, movies, oscar nominations
watchmen is saved
January 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment
if you’re a nerd like me, you’ve been super excited about zach snyder’s watchmen adaptation since that first amazing smashing pumpkins-themed trailer that aired before the dark knight this past summer. and if you’ve followed along all these months, then you might be aware of the legal shit-storm that has been brewing between fox and warner brothers over the rights to the film. in a nutshell, fox held the rights (sort of) for the property for like 15 years and basically did nothing with it. warner brothers decides “fuck fox, we’re making this damn movie” and proceeds to do so. fox decides to essentially let this happen and then sues at the last minute, after the movie is finished, to get their piece (seeing as their most successful movie last year was what happens in vegas, they could use it). for a hot minute there, it looked like at the very least the march 6 release date was toast and at the very worst any release date was as well. nerds everywhere were up in arms, attacking fox, attacking warner brotheres, attacking random old ladies in the street, demanding blood for the possible delay of the finally filmed, previously dubbed by terry gilliam as “unfilmable,” adaptation of the best graphic novel of all time.
well, /film reported yesterday, and ew confirmed this morning, that a settlement has been reached and watchmen will be released on march 6. the details are currently sketchy, but essentially warner brothers is gonna pay fox some money up front as well as a percentage of the box office gross. and we get watchmen. finally.
is it march yet?
-srd
breaking: majel barrett roddenberry dead at age 76
December 18, 2008 · Leave a Comment
star trek will never be the same. care of ap:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Majel Barrett Roddenberry, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry’s widow who nurtured the legacy of the seminal science fiction TV series after his death, has died. She was 76. Roddenberry died of leukemia Thursday morning at her home in Bel-Air, said Sean Rossall, a family spokesman.
At Roddenberry’s side were family friends and her son, Eugene Roddenberry Jr.
Roddenberry was involved in the “Star Trek” universe for more than four decades. She played the dark-haired Number One in the original pilot but metamorphosed into the blond, miniskirted Nurse Christine Chapel in the original 1966-69 show. She had smaller roles in all five of its television successors and many of the “Star Trek” movie incarnations, although she had little involvement in the productions.
She frequently was the voice of the ship’s computer, and about two weeks ago she completed the same role for the upcoming J.J. Abrams movie “Star Trek,” Rossall said.
Roddenberry also helped keep the franchise alive by inspiring fans and attended a major “Star Trek” convention each year, Rossall said.
“I think `Star Trek’ will always be her legacy,” Rossall said.
“Star Trek” and its successors often focused on political and philosophical issues of the day. Roddenberry and her husband, who died in 1991, believed in creating “thoughtful entertainment” and were proud of the show and the passionate devotion of its fans, Rossall said.
“My mother truly acknowledged and appreciated the fact that `Star Trek’ fans played a vital role in keeping the Roddenberry dream alive for the past 42 years. It was her love for the fans, and their love in return, that kept her going for so long after my father passed away,” her son said in a statement on the official Roddenberry Web site.
Born Majel Lee Hudec on Feb. 23, 1932, in Cleveland, she began taking acting classes as a child. She had some stage roles, then in the late 1950s and 1960s had bit parts in a few movies and small roles in TV series, including “Leave It to Beaver” and “Bonanza.”
She met her husband in 1964 during a guest role for a Marine Corps drama he produced called “The Lieutenant.” That same year, she was cast in the pilot for the “Star Trek” series as the no-nonsense second-in-command. The pilot did not appeal to NBC executives and a second pilot was made, although parts of the original later showed up in a two-part episode called “The Menagerie.”
The couple married in Japan in 1969 after “Star Trek” was canceled. After her husband’s death, Roddenberry continued her involvement with the “Star Trek” franchise.
She also was the executive producer for two other TV science fiction series, “Andromeda” and “Earth: Final Conflict.”
-srd
i was so very, very wrong
December 17, 2008 · 1 Comment
a while back i posted about my excitement for gran torino, the new clint eastwood vehicle (i should be shot for that pun). turns out, the movie is terrible. like god awful bad. the script was all around poorly written, the performances from everyone are amateur at best and laughable at worst, and eastwood, christ, eastwood. man oh man. he just growls the whole movie and whips out pretty much every racial epithet for asians i’ve ever heard, including some i hadn’t. do not, i repeat, do not waste your time with this movie.
earlier this week i rewatched both troll 2 and the room with the dudes ahoy. gran torino was a fitting addition to the trilogy of shit.
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: clint eastwood, gran torino, movies, the room, troll 2
stephen norrington, go fuck yourself.
December 17, 2008 · Leave a Comment
/film, care of variety, reported this week that stephen norrington is planning to direct a remake of 1994 cult-classic the crow. stephen norrington, go fuck yourself.
seriously, this is the auteur that brought us not only blade (the first one, not the cool one directed by del toro) but also THE LEAGUE OF FUCKING EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. if i have to spell out for you why this is a terrible idea, then you clearly never saw that cinematic abortion. consider yourself lucky.
look, the crow is barely 15 years old. that is way too new to garner a remake, especially considering the original still holds up (i’m a recovering emo kid, i have to watch it once a year). plus, PLUS, the dude wants to take away the gothic stylings of the original in favor of something “realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style.” the art direction of the original is large part of what makes the film work, especially the way detroit is depicted as near post-apocalyptic, which is actually fairly accurate. the one upside, as pointed out by the guys at the /filmcast, is maybe he’ll cast robert pattinson as the lead which will result in a repeat fatal on-set accident. one can hope.
in summation: stephen norrington, go fuck yourself.
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: movies, stephen norrington, the crow
top five of 2008: movies
December 5, 2008 · 4 Comments
living in grand rapids is often tough for a film geek, mainly because it takes ages for smaller films to get here, if they ever show at all. because of this i haven’t had a chance to see two of my most anticipated films of 2008, slumdog millionaire and the wrestler. so here’s my top five movies of 2008, which obviously only includes those i’ve been able to see thus far.
1. the dark knight
i’m not sure i even need to explain this one. it’s fucking brilliant, relentless, bleak, heartbreaking, all of the promise of batman begins amped up 100% and mixed with clearly the best performance of the year in heath ledger. while i’m not sure if it should win best picture, ledger definitely deserves a posthumous best supporting actor win.
2. wall-e
talk about gorgeous. i can’t even imagine what this looks like in 1080p. not since the silent era has a character done so much with so few actual words. pixar can really do no wrong and wall-e is further proof of that. i have a hunch that this might be the first animated film since beauty and the beast to garner a best picture nod from the academy.
3. forgetting sarah marshall
i actually didn’t think i was going to like this one going in, but i think i enjoy it more and more every time i watch it. it’s easily the best of the apatow crop from this year. paul rudd, russel brand, jack mcbrayer, bill hader, the entire support cast is hilarious. and russel brand, christ. i get “inside of you” stuck in my head every time i hear it.
4. bigger, stronger, faster*
i’m a documentary junkie. i really want to see dear zachary, but considering the doc’s i’ve seen this year, bigger stronger faster is my fav. and i don’t even like sports or care about bodybuilding. it’s just really compelling and well done and makes you interested in something you would have never thought twice about before. that’s the mark of a great doc.
5. let the right one in
i’ve talked about this film here before, but i just can’t say enough about it. the cinematography is breathtaking, the relationship between the young protagonists is honest and refreshing. it’s a great new take on a tired genre that goes above and beyond standard fare and dares to do something unique. there’s already a remake in the works, which is troubling. see the original now.
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: best of 2008, bigger stronger faster, dear zachary, forgetting sarah marshall, let the right one in, movies, slumdog millionaire, the dark knight, the wrestler, wall-e
epic win of the week: roger ebert pwns ben stein
December 3, 2008 · Leave a Comment
roger ebert is awesome. i won’t post the whole thing here, but check out his lengthy “review” of ben stein’s joke of a documentary expelled: no intelligence allowed. he so thoroughly eviscerates both stein and the intelligent design crowd, it’s breathtaking. bravo, sir.
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: ben stein, epic win of the week, expelled, movies, pwned, roger ebert
“you know what vampires love? baseball!”
November 26, 2008 · 3 Comments
full disclosure: i have not seen twilight, seeing as i am neither a 12-year-old girl or a sexually frustrated soccer-mom. if you want young vampire romance that’s, you know, actually good, check out let the right one in. that being said, i found eric d. snider’s rejected twilight screenplay immensely hilarious. and from what i’ve read about the book/movie, it’s spot on.
BELLA: It’s tough being the new kid in school! Especially when everyone is so friendly and helpful and interested in me. Why can’t they just leave me alone so I can sit in the corner and cut myself?
CLASSMATE: You’re awesome, Bella!
BELLA: See what I have to put up with? Hey — who are those hot people over there?
CLASSMATE: Those are the Cullens. They avoid direct sunlight, they don’t eat food, they sleep in coffins in a graveyard, and holy water burns them. I think they’re Canadians.
BELLA: They sure are spectacularly gorgeous.
CLASSMATE: Yes, they are.
BELLA: I mean seriously, those people are BEAUTIFUL. Especially the one who keeps looking at me. Man alive, that guy is stunning. I mean, wow. He is hot buttered seduction on a stick. I’m not interested in him sexually, of course, because sex is dirty, but wow — LOOK AT HIM! Yee-ikes! Hubba hubba! If you don’t mind, I’d like to spend the next 75 pages talking exclusively about how attractive he is, and then bring it up again every paragraph or so for the remaining 400 pages.
CLASSMATE: Knock yourself out.
$74 million domestic box office, people. christ on a cracker.
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: books, eric d. snider, let the right one in, movies, twilight
“the wait is over.”
November 15, 2008 · Leave a Comment
as promised, here’s a the new star trek trailer, complete with uhura bra-shot. enjoy. official release is monday.
-srd
“the comedian is dead.”
November 14, 2008 · 2 Comments
here’s the new watchmen trailer, which apparently is running before quantum of solace tonight. i’m digging everything but dr. manhattan’s speedo. as soon as i can find it online (might not be until monday), i’ll make sure to post the new star trek trailer as well.
hd version here.
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: movies, quantum of solace, star trek, watchmen
twilight? psssssssssssssssssssh.
November 13, 2008 · 1 Comment
if you have the chance, do yourself a favor and go see let the right one in. i watched it last night via completely legal means (ahem) and i will definitely be seeing it at the uica when it’s released here in grand rapids next month. the premise, a lonely boy befriends a mysterious girl who turns out to be vampire, sounds less than stellar at first. but it’s so much more than that. the cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful, which contrasts perfectly with the brutal violence of the film. i was completely mesmerized by this little swedish import. check out the trailer below and then go find it in your city.
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: let the right one in, movies, twilight
god i hope there’s hot green women in this.
November 13, 2008 · 4 Comments
i am a trekker, have been as long as i can remember. there’s actually video footage of me at age 8 watching the next generation with my mom. ds9 is still my favorite, but i love the original cast movies and have a reverence the original series as well. so i’m not entirely sure how to feel about the new jj abrams remake/reboot/prequel/whatever. ew posted this picture of the “new” enterprise earlier this week:
i think it looks pretty badass, but i’m still cautiously optimistic about this. for one, it’s jj abrams. i liked cloverfield and i didn’t mind mi:3. but i have low regard for pretty much everything else he has done. don’t even get my started on lost. for two, it’s written by orci and kurtzman. these are the geniuses that brought us eagle eye, transformers, and the island. so there’s that. but i’ll definitely go see it. it’s frickin’ star trek.
-srd
epic win of the week: brandon hardesty’s re-enactments
November 11, 2008 · Leave a Comment
this week’s epic win comes from brandon hardesty. he’s got a million of these movie re-enactments on youtube, including a hilarious goldblum impression from jurassic park. this one is my favorite though. the mustache (!) is clearly from a mr. potatohead. enjoy.
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: brandon hardesty, epic win of the week, movies, the internets, there will be blood
given the opportunity, clint eastwood will fucking fuck you up
October 25, 2008 · 1 Comment
i literally started smiling ear to ear when i watched the trailer to clint eastwood’s new film gran torino. click the poster for awesomeness.
get off my lawn!
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: gran torino, movies
“chi chi chi chi chi…haa haa haa haa haa…”
October 23, 2008 · Leave a Comment
in honor of the upcoming holiday, i decided to watch every entry in the friday the 13th franchise in a row. about 20 minutes into the first movie, i began to regret this decision immensely. so here’s a special jason vorhees edition of the patented (patent pending) my ironic mustache one line review roundup. as always, all reviews are out of five stars.
two stars
kevin bacon should get stabbed in the neck in all of his movies.
two stars
wait, why did they re-open the camp?
two stars
ok, maybe you should just give up on this whole “camp” thing.
two and half stars
extra points for sweet crispin glover dance moves.
one star
“final chapter” my ass.
two stars
of course he lives. of course.
one star
now you’re just being silly.
one star
at this point, i’m just replaying episodes of entourage in my head.
one half star
she’s not going to sleep with you, drama.
zero stars
why would you even consider bringing him into space?
i am never doing that again.
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: friday the 13th, movies
red pants! red pants!
October 14, 2008 · Leave a Comment
my friend karen keeps trying to convince me that the end of days is upon us. this might be the most compelling evidence yet:
-srd
Categories: friends · movies
Tagged: end of days, movies
“she’s the only girl i’ve ever cared about that wasn’t computer generated or a fictional fbi agent.”
October 3, 2008 · Leave a Comment
i originally intended to write a diatribe against sex and the city, described by skunkgal as “anti-feminist drivil masquerading as empowerment schlock,” but instead i decided to post this clip from my new favorite show spaced. it stars, and is co-written by, simon pegg. it’s also directed by edgar wright, who directed both shaun of the dead and hot fuzz. the geek humor is unparalleled. check it out if you get a chance and like, you know, funny things.
-srd
Categories: tv
Tagged: hot fuzz, movies, sex and the city, shaun of the dead, spaced, tv
