I am actually looking forward to seeing Alvin and the Chipmunks tomorrow night. I’m not sure if its just nostalgia or if its that I already know my son will like it. Either way there is just something wrong with wanting to see this.
I truly am sorry…. 
I was browsing through the Movie Patron forums and one of the posts there started me thinking. The post was a list of genres and each person is supposed to list a movie in each genre. I was thinking it would be cool to do something along those lines here but with a twist. Instead of just listing movies that you enjoy we instead list movies that you enjoy that you think others might overlook. I’ll start:
* What can I say I have a soft spot in my heart for this Indiana Jones rip off.
** I will eventually get everyone to watch this movie!
*** Okay so its not really a fantasy movie but it does deal with reincarnation.
**** Yup, this movie is bad and I know it!
Over the weekend, I had some time to make the trip to one of the local IMAX theaters to catch Robert Zemeckis’ newest spectacle, Beowulf. I had read the reviews, so I knew what I was in for but I wasn’t quite prepared for everything and my first though walking out of the theater was “That dragon sequence was awesome!”. Unfortunately, that’s about the only good think I can say about the film that is so bloated it’s distracting.
I waited this long to see it because I really didn’t have much interest but it didn’t start off that way. When they announced the film, I was genuinely interested but as news started to filter through that they’d made changes to the original story, I slowly started to care less about the film. The deal was sealed when I saw the first trailer and started to wonder what exactly they had kept of the original. I don’t care much either way whether the adaptation is direct or not but if you’re going to change the story to the point that it’s nearly unrecognizable please, change the title too.
There are three memorable performances in this mess: Ray Winstone who I completely bought as an epic hero capable of any feat, even those inhumanly possible. Forget Sparta. It’s all about Beowulf now! Another that has been getting a lot of attention, is Crispin Glover as Grendel. Though he’s basically unrecognizable, I knew it was him and throughout the sequences featuring this deformed monster, I kept imagining the amount of physical work Glover put into embodying this creepy dude. The third, and one I haven’t really heard much about, is Beowulf’s right hand man played by Brendan Gleeson. For me, Gleeson is perfect: smart, witty and brave. Easily my favourite character in the film and one I wished had more screen time.
All of us here at Row Three have started to compile our top 10 lists for the year and a question was asked concerning one of my picks. I placed Pan’s Labyrinth on my list. At the Academy Awards last year Pan’s Labyrinth was nominated for best foreign film. This should mean that it was released previously right.
Here in Canada we did not get to see it until January 19th unless you live in one of the major centres like Toronto. The actual limited release dates were as follows: October 11, 2006 (Spain), October 20, 2006 (Mexico), 24 November 2006 (UK), December 29, 2006 (USA) plus if you go to the film festival circuit Pan’s Labyrinth was actually released on September 10th at TIFF. So what date do we take as the actual release date? For me personally I’m going with the January 19th one which places the movie in this current year.
My question for everyone is when would you place the release date for Pan’s Labyrinth, or for that matter any other movie with multiple release dates and Am I wrong for including it in this years top 10?
It has been an early, cold winter here in Saskatoon, so I figured the best way to warm myself up was to highlight some excellent summer blockbusters. There seems to be a growing trend that a studio can just slap together any old story with some really cool special effects and it will do well in summer. I do not want to be too negative on movies so instead of knocking the movies that do this I’d rather just focus on a few movies that went the other way. Lets have some great action with a great story.
Continue reading the post and view the trailers after the cut.
In case you missed it the first time around, Fox Searchlight has added some additional free screenings of Juno, the indie comedy which seems to have taken most people and critics by storm.
If you’re been under a rock for a while, the movie stars Ellen Page as a quirky pregnant teen who decides to give the baby up for adoption. This second effort from Canuck Jason Reitman was a lot of fun the first time and I’m curious to see if it holds up on a second viewing so yes, I’m taking full advantage of Fox’s kind offer and seeing it on their dime. Again.
Check out the list of all of the Juno screenings here. Looks like they’ve added additional screenings into January. At this rate, this movie isn’t going to make any money at the box office because everyone’s already seen it. I guess they’re banking on re-watch value and DVD sales to make some money.
Trailer below for those who may have missed it.
Purely by coincidence, I’ve had three days/night of Don Cheadle films this week. Since he’s one of my favs, I though I’d just elaborate. Nothing long or special here, these aren’t even my favorite Cheadle performances (not even close), just thought it interesting that I happened to catch three of his movies in as many days.
Thursday: Talk to Me
This is the most recent of Cheadle’s films. He takes the lead here, to play Petey Greene; a talk show host of the 70′s who’s extremely outlandish at the time (the original shock jock?). Little do the conservative, white-boy execs at the radio station know, this man is exactly what the community wants to hear and as the film wears on, it turns out they need to hear him as well.
Cheadle turns up the volume to eleven and really brings the soul of Petey Greene to the forefront in an extremely charismatic performance. Supported by the up and coming, always terrific, Chiwetel Ejiofor; here is a heluva film that really has lots to say about race relations and social (in)justice in the time of the mid to late sixties. Plenty of humor here as well.
Friday: Mission to Mars
Okay okay okay, I admit it. This is a guilty pleasure. However, I love coming home from the bar late at night (alone again, sigh…) and popping in one of these overblown effects movies without forcing me to think too much. Just eat popcorn and drink water.
I gotta admit though, I really enjoy these scientific, exploration/adventure movies. The Core is another example of one such film. The lines in the film are unbelievable corny and some of the situations are preposterous. Still, the fun characters and the gorgeous effects make this movie work for me. The vision of Mars in the future and what might be waiting there for us to find is compelling enough on it’s own. How we deal with it is another matter.
This may be sacrilege, but several of these scenes in here are unmistakably Kubrick. DePalma (who I’m not really a big fan of) has obviously borrowed from 2001 on several fronts – dramatic cues, aural cues, camera techniques and probably most recognizable, the set design. Obviously not pulled off as well as Kubrick might’ve, but still, I like the effort and can appreciate the influence. Great ending too.
Saturday: Reign Over Me
While Cheadle really plays second fiddle to… get this… Adam Sandler, his role as a family man with not enough free time and too much stress really comes off great. Even though he’s a little distant and seems to need more from life, I found myself laughing out loud at some of his pieces of dialogue, more than I did with most of Sandler’s. The banter with his wife being the most notable: “Honey, can I go out and play?” type of stuff.
The film overall seems to have loads to say, but it dragged on a little longer than needed. All in all a good picture though. Sandler is… I can’t believe I’m about to say this, damn near brilliant as Charlie. With Cheadle to play off of, the movie comes off as fairly touching, heart warming and genuine; not the Oscar bait that it appears to be.
As a side note, anyone who is familiar with the 80′s television show on HBO entitled “Not Necessarily the News” may remember a little segment called “Sniglets: Words that Don’t Appear in the Dictionary, But Should.” Anyway, one of the popular sniglets [snig-lit] was:
CHEADLE – noun: The orange, cheesy residue left on the finger tips after eating a bag of Cheetos
see trailers or clips from the above titles and a sniglet example after the jump!
» Read the rest of the entry..
I guess that outside of two of these novels I’ve picked, this could probably be called “Novels I Want to See Adapted Again” or better yet, “Right.” So yeah, needless to say, some of these have been adapted for the big screen already, but if I’ve included them, I thought all of the adaptations beforehand were either just poorly made films or terrible as adaptations of their source material. In a way, I’m a little hesitant suggesting these at all, because depending on my mood, I sometimes think that some novels are better left as novels (i.e. my Stephen King suggestion below), but other times I just can’t help it and find myself imagining these done right as films and who I’d want taking on the roles and being in charge of ‘em. Of course, feel free in the comments to discuss my choices as well as talk about which novels or stories you’d love to see adapted right.
So last night while I was having supper with the family my wife started asking me if I was sure that I really wanted the DVD Box set I had put on my Christmas list. I stared back at her blankly and asked her which one. She couldn’t remember which it was so I assumed it was the Alejandro Jodorowsky box set but she didn’t think that was the one. I figured it had to be it be that one and she somehow read the cover of one of the DVDs or something but nope it wasn’t it. The only other one I could remember asking for was the new Coen Brother‘s set but that just didn’t make sense. Why would I not want that one? I mentioned it and she said it was not it. She pulled out the Christmas list while telling me not to look because she had made some notes on the page and it turned out it was the Stanley Kubrick set. I listed off a few movies in it from memory and she had this weird look on her face and asked if I really did want it.
So now I am totally confused. She wouldn’t really say what is wrong with the set or anything. My feeling is she just thinks I’m crazy that I would want movies that are not mainstream. My question to all of you is do your families think you are crazy for wanting to watch movies that are not the typical fare?
This is a bit of shameless cross promotion, but since Row Three is still in its infancy, hopefully those entering the discussion have an interest in where some of those sitting in the Third Row are coming from, taste wise. I’ll point you over to Twitch for a moment, specifically the rotating Twitch-O-Meter feature is celebrating its 50th entry. Many of the writers (myself included) wrote up a Top 5 Directors that give a (tiny) taste of personal cinema sensibility.
Go Have A Look: Kurt’s TOP 5 Film directors working today.
I’ll give you the short version of the below though with links to the IMDb, but do follow to my full article.
A little birdie just dropped me a line with a heads up to a very cool thing.
In the same way they gave away passes for Juno last month, Fox Searchlight is building word of mouth for another film by hosting rounds of free screenings; these for the Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman starring dramedy The Savages, about a brother and sister who come face to face with growing up when they have to take care of their ailing and aging father.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the film when I saw it earlier this year but I did enjoy it enough to give it a second shot, especially if it’s free.
Tickets are limited but you can head over to the RSVP page to get yours. If your city isn’t listed, do not despair! Chances are they may be adding more screenings.
UPDATE: Fox appears to be having problems with the site. If the site doesn’t load now, please try again later.
If you want a preview of what you’re getting yourself into, check out the trailer below.
“Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country (typically in cities such as New York and Los Angeles).
A limited release is often used to gauge the appeal of an independent film – especially of documentaries and art films. A common practice by major film studios is to give highly anticipated and critically-acclaimed films a limited release in December in New York and Los Angeles in order to qualify them for an Academy Award nomination, as set out by the rules outlined by the Academy. These films would often receive a wider release later in January or February.” (Source: Wikipedia)
I hate to say it but I have a serious problem with movie studios. I can acknowledge the use of releasing a small low budget film on a very limited scale to gauge the response in order to see if it should be given a wide release. I do not accept giving limited releases to movies that they know will get a wide release. In my mind all this encourages is movie piracy. If a movie is available in Toronto, Los Angeles and New York and I do not know when it will be released in my city I would be tempted to see if I can find that movie by other means. I would still pick it up on DVD if it is good once it is released but until that point I would be very tempted to watch it illegally.
I live in a fair sized city. Saskatoon has approximately 200,000 people currently living here. As an example, I am sure that if they released Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (Our Review) there would be a large enough audience to justify its release here. There are only three cases where in my mind I can justify a limited release: 1) Releasing a movie for press only is completely valid. This is how movies get early reviews; 2) Showing the movie at a film festival. Film festivals are a special case and I can fully appreciate that; and 3) Releasing small low budget films on a limited scale in order to gauge if they will make or loose money when released fully.
I am not saying that I believe in movie piracy or anything but it sure makes it hard to wait for a movie when everyone I know has already seen it.
