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  • 12 Sep

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    Another awesome trailer for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

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    Boy, is it ever great to see Gary Oldman take on a leading role in a major motion picture again. While it’s been wonderful to see him make a comeback from his straight-to-DVD slump and receive loads of mainstream recognition for his supporting roles in the recent Batman and Harry Potter movies, I’ve just really missed the days where he was the focus of the film – and it looks like those days are back… at least for now.

    While we have already posted our fair share about his upcoming Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, there has been a new trailer released for it, which means new footage to get excited over. Yeah, yeah, save me the whole talk about it never touching the Alec Guinness adaptation or the John le Carré novel. I’m telling you right now, this movie is shaping up to be an instant thinking-man’s classic.

    Besides the premise, which is a time-tested one, and besides starring the always magnificent Oldman, we also have Colin Firth, John Hurt, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, Toby Jones, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Ciaran Hinds to round out the unbelievable cast. I’m not sure how this film couldn’t be a winner (and who knows, maybe some Oscar love for Oldman?). We will find out in the states on December 9, 2011.

  • 25 Aug

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    First trailer for Johnny Depp’s The Rum Diary

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    Boy, if you can’t get excited over finally being able to watch the trailer for The Rum Diary, I’m not sure if anything could get you excited. This is a film that I remember first hearing mumblings about back when I was still in high school, before Johnny Depp had hit super megastar status with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. After watching it, I’m thinking it is going to live up to all of my high expectations.

    Based on the novel written by Hunter S. Thompson when he was only 22 (but not released until much later in 1998), the movie follows freelance journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) and his alcohol and sex fueled life after moving to write in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the late 1950s. Directed by Bruce Robinson (Withnail & I, Jennifer 8) and co-starring the likes of Amber Heard, Aaron Eckhart, Giovanni Ribisi, and Richard Jenkins, the film will finally be in theaters on October 28, 2011.

    After all of these years since Fear and Loathing, what are your thoughts on the trailer? (tucked under the seat)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 25 Aug

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    Butch Cassidy rides again in Blackthorn.

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    Despite winning a Pulitzer Prize for his playwriting and receiving an Oscar nomination for his performance in The Right Stuff, Sam Shepard has never quite become a household name. In fact, to many movie lovers, he is simply just one of those faces that are recognized when watching a movie, but leaves viewers stumped on what other movies they saw him in – and indeed, he does show up in countless Hollywood films from Days of Heaven to Black Hawk Down to The Assassination of Jesse James, although this is usually not as the star.

    The movies he has been in a lead role – Don’t Come Knocking comes to mind – I’ve nearly always enjoyed. His latest movie, which hits theaters on October 7th, look to be equally enjoyable. The film, titled Blackhorn, is a continuation of the Butch Cassidy mythology, telling the tale of an aging Cassidy, now going by the name of James Blackthorn, who decides to make his way back to the states after years of exile in Bolivia.

    If there is anything Shephard can do, it’s fit right into the world of a western.

    Check out the trailer (tucked under the seat) and be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments!

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 24 Aug

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    What’s it like to have your film flop at the box office?

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    That’s the question Sean Hood answered in a recent post to Quora. While not quite a household name, Sean Hood has been around the Hollywood scene for more than a few years, first as a set dresser, prop assistant and art director, and the past decade as a screenwriter. His writing credits include Halloween: Resurrection, The Crow: Wicked Prayer, and his most recent endeavor, reworking the shooting script of Conan the Barbarian, which opened this past weekend with an underwhelming $10 million at the domestic box office.

    While these are not necessarily the types of films that interest me, when I was emailed the above link – which contained some refreshing brutal honesty – I was intrigued. He likens the long filmmaking process to that of a political campaign, a multitude of people working together for the common goal of success, but differing ideas on how to get there. After the filming is completed, it’s a long waiting game, when anticipation builds as to the film’s outcome: success or failure?

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  • 18 Aug

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    Ridley Scott is officially directing a new Blade Runner film.

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    I never thought that we would actually see the day, but it appears to be here. In a move that will certain ignite many emotional responses, Ridley Scott is confirmed to direct and produce a new Blade Runner film. Deadline has the official press release, which states that the filmmakers are not commenting yet on whether it will be a sequel or a prequel.

    Since childhood, the Blade Runner universe has always been one I (and certainly many others who grew up with the film) have wanted to explore more. How couldn’t a young child? Harrison Ford! Guns! Flying cars! Replicants! The strange and dark vision of a cyberpunk dystopian future! It’s one of those films I’ve always felt nostalgically connected to, and as such, irrationally in need to praise and defend. As a kid, I always referred to Raiders, Star Wars, and Blade Runner as the “Holy Trilogy of Harrison.” When I was ten or eleven, I bought and read numerous times the novelized sequel Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human – a novel of which I am glad to remember very little – and around the same time bought the Blade Runner PC game for Windows 95 (I never did beat that damn game). In my college years, I would go on to read Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which Ridley’s film was based on. As an adult, I’ve come to appreciate Blade Runner for different reasons and it’s still a film that I pop in to watch a few times a year.

    So needless to say, I can’t help but be emotionally attached to such news. While loving the world that Ridley created from Dick’s novel, I’ve subsequently always denounced the idea of filming a sequel because the wonder left by the first film was part of the fascination. Throw in the fact that both of the other two in the Holy Trilogy of Harrison have been butchered with god awful CGI-laden sequels/prequels and my skepticism seems justified.

    Still, despite this impossibly avoidable cynicism, I vow to remain open-minded until I know more. Since this is going to happen, we might as well accept it and hope for the best. In Ridley we trust.

    What do you want to see in this continuation of the Blade Runner universe? A prequel? A sequel? Could it be possible to bring Harrison back as Deckard (that’d be sure to strike up some heated nerdtastic arguments)? Perhaps a new, more badass Blade Runner (so help me, if it’s Sam Worthington…)? Or do all of these ideas sound equally terrible? Chime in, dear readers!

  • 17 Aug

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    10 Teachers You Wish You Had

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    With young people all over rushing to Wal-Marts and K-Marts and Targets to purchase their backpacks and pencils and pocket protectors, and with teachers gearing up for the school year by viewing marathon sessions of their favorite films portraying teachers, what better than to have Row Three’s resident educator release a list of the fictional teachers of all levels who have inspired him?

    That is precisely what you are here to read – yet this isn’t your eighth grade algebra teacher’s list. Move over, Edward James Olmos. Nobody wants to be inspired to learn nowadays. Watch out, Robin Williams. You’re too soft and influenced far too many terrible graduation speeches. Sorry, Michelle, nobody is falling for the leather jacket anymore. This isn’t the nineties.

    These are the teachers you wish you had. These are the teachers that every teacher wants to be more like.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 16 Aug

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    Who wants to hear the new album from Jeff Bridges?

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    If you are like me, you played out the soundtrack to Crazy Heart to the point where your friends were begging you to stop and the patrons at the local dive bar were groaning every time you walked up to the jukebox. From “Hold On You” to “Somebody Else” to “Fallin’ and Flying,” there was just something in Jeff Bridges’ gruff, natural voice that made it irresistible and, to me at least, it seemed like perfect music to listen to while drinking cheap draft beer in a smoky country bar.

    While a veteran actor releasing a self-titled album might inspire some cynicism, most fans of Bridges realize that the man has been jamming since he was a teenager and anyone who saw Crazy Heart is sure to recognize that the man’s musical abilities are nothing to scoff at. Below is a clip from Rolling Stone, where Bridges talks a bit about then plays the opening track to his album “What a Little Love Can Do.”

    There are other clips on the Rolling Stone channel as well, including a brief interview, so be sure to check them out. You can listen to the entire album over at Spinner, but if you enjoy it, be sure to purchase it through Amazon or iTunes.

    For the sake of the discussion, what are your favorite music albums released by people known primarily for being actors? How about your most despised?

  • 15 Aug

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    Monster cast: Rockwell, Farrell, Walken, and Rourke in Seven Psychopaths.

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    We don’t usually do casting news here, because it can be rather boring talking individually about the 43 projects that Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to star in, but when we catch wind of a monster casting such as this, it’s impossible to ignore (and a big thank you to Kurt for the heads up).

    According to our friends at Twitch, Martin McDonagh – the writer and director of the fantastic In Bruges, which is much loved around these parts – has his next project lined up and the cast is indeed mind-blowing. Titled Seven Psychopaths, the film stars my homeboy Sam Rockwell, In Bruges star Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, and Mickey Rourke. Here’s the lowdown:

    A screenwriter (Colin Farrell) struggling for inspiration for his script, ‘Seven Psychopaths’ gets drawn into the dog-kidnapping scam of his oddball friends Billy (Sam Rockwell) and Hans (Christopher Walken).

    When a psychopathic gangster’s (Mickey Rourke) Shih Tzu goes missing, Marty finds he has all the inspiration he needs, as long as he can live to tell the tale.

    As for Rourke’s character, he shouldn’t have too much of a problem getting into it, as it is common knowledge his affection for dogs. As for me, I am just going to lock myself in my room and wait patiently until this arrives in theaters.

  • 11 Aug

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    Rank ‘em: James Stewart

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    It is no question that James Stewart, known endearingly to much of the American public as Jimmy, is one of the American acting giants. Charming, aloof, yet carrying so much presence on the screen, he became the epitome of the Hollywood everyman from the late thirties throughout the sixties, starring in classic after classic.

    Despite his praise though, many are only familiar with him due to Christmas viewings of It’s a Wonderful Life and a Hitchcock film or two of his. His filmography, of course, is so much more rich than that – so much so that I not only had trouble making a “top ten” favorites, but would have had trouble narrowing it down to twenty. Below though are my ten favorite James Stewart films, with some of my favorite moments attached as clips.

    After checking out mine, share your own list and favorite James Stewart moments in the comments!

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 10 Aug

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    A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas: A new Christmas classic?

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    I have not watched either of the first two movies, but I reckon there must be some reason they are making a third one. I do find it mildly amusing that a Christmas stoner comedy is going to be coming out in 3D – yet nothing in the below trailer made me laugh out loud necessarily.

    I do find myself wanting to see every part of this movie that has Neil Patrick Harris in it though. He’s dope. As for Kal Penn, this seems to mean that his political days in the Obama administration are at an end.

    Has anyone in the third row caught these movies? Are they simply lowbrow stoner humor at its worst or is there more to them than I’ve always assumed?

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 08 Aug

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    The List of Our Lists

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    Over the course of our nearly four years in existence, we here in the third row have created quite a few lists, as our staff has been made up of many lovers (and, of course, many vehement haters) of organizing all things listable. Here, I hope to organize all of our original lists for your to peruse in an easily accessible manner. Feel free to browse through our lists and, if you feel so inclined, reignite some years old conversation and debate.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 08 Aug

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    Trailer for David Gordon Green’s ‘The Sitter’

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    When thinking about how David Gordon Green views his own career, I can’t help but wonder what goes through his mind. Did the girl-who-got-away once refer to him as a pretentious phony? Was he just worn out on the drama? Does he even think about it at all? Once touted as a spiritual successor to Terrence Malick with his critical indie darlings such as George Washington, Undertow, All the Real Girls, and Snow Angels, in 2008 he took a turn for the comedic with Pineapple Express, followed it up with the hilarious and well-received television show Eastbound & Down, then next moved onto the stoner fantasy comedy Your Highness. He is now continuing that trend with the Jonah Hill starring flick The Sitter.

    This conversation is nothing new. We have discussed it on Row Three on numerous occasions – but it is still such a drastic, abrupt shift in tone for a writer and director that it continues to puzzle.

    What do you think of the trailer for his latest dip into comedy mainstream?

    » Read the rest of the entry..

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