My appreciation for Mr DaFoe has grown quite substantially in just over the past two years or so. Not only is he a darn good actor but he also chooses interesting and challenging roles. He’s gracious to his fans and always has something interesting to say (copyright the Q&A I saw him do at TIFF ’09). Thanks to my buddy TheJoe over at SwitchBladeComb, I can add one more block to that ever growing shelf of respect for Willem in this really handsome looking ad for Jim Beam (which happens to be my whiskey of choice) in which basically the moral is if you make the choice to drink this brand of bourbon, you could become a Sumo Wrestler.
I imagine we’ll be seeing a lot of ads coming out of Super Bowl Sunday over the next few days. A more interesting one might be the promo spot for Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. While I remain skeptical, it’s optimistic skepticism as the trailers so far have looked fairly exciting and interesting. Everything here looks pretty great. And I’m always hoping my childhood hero will someday make a triumphant comeback. Will this be it? Probably not, but I can always hope. Universal is bringing Cowboys & Aliens in only 2D(!) to theaters on July 29th, 2011 this summer.
1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution dont welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). Its a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience a fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation.
I highly doubt we’ll ever see that Con Air sequel director Simon West was talking about. Damn shame too, given that the original might just be one of the most enjoyable action flicks to come out of the nineties.
Still, even though we probably won’t be seeing Nic Cage and his lucious head full of long flowing hair take flight again any time soon, there still isn’t any harm in taking five minutes to reflect on just how badass that movie really is. That’s what the muscial comedy troupe Elephant Larry have done, putting together this extremely funny and extremely NSFW rap video that highlights the sheer awesomeness that is Con Air.
Every year, I make it a point to re-watch the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature film – and every year, I come away wondering if they will ever make a family film that is quite as unique. The blend of child-friendly humor with adult thematic elements and absolutely masterful puppetry and martial arts. Unlike most fantastical films from the era, the original feature holds up surprisingly well. And I’ll be damned if Raphael isn’t just about as awesome as characters come.
Despite my affinity for these biologically-altered ass-kicking turtles, it doesn’t mean I am a fan of all things Ninja Turtles. The first sequel fell prey to its concept’s silliness, the second sequel was an abomination, and the revamps of the franchise in cartoon form have been mediocre at best. Their latest dip in film territory – TMNT – was lackluster, despite the promising character riffs between Raphael and Leonardo.
Since the release of TMNT, there have been calls for the heroes in a half-shell to return to their darker, more violent roots, something that certainly has been influenced by the successful transformation from campy-to-gritty for the Batman franchise. While I am not entirely on board with the idea (frankly, just leave me in peace with my 1990 flick and I’ll be happy) and think that there have been so many incarnations of the Turtles that it has just gotten plain confusing for kids, one filmmaker out there decided to make a three-minute short film to demonstrate what a gritter Ninja Turtles film might look like. It’s certainly shoddily done, but there is something to be said for an embittered-Raphael standing on a rooftop watching the New York sunset whilst score from Danny Boyle’s sunshine is playing. That something might be bemusement, but it’s something.
It’s not quite as good as this one, but still pretty effective. And damn if there isn’t just about any movie released in here. Did he miss one? From Enter the Void to The Social Network to Dogtooth to Harry Potter. It’s all here.
Tron: Legacy was pretty much the last straw (see rant here). It’s likely I’ve said that before, but this time I mean it. Not even the tantalizing prospect of Penélope Cruz’ bust falling into my lap in Pirates 4.0 will be enough to get me to pay more, see less and don that germ-ridden plastic onto my face ever again. For so many reasons this video commemorating 2010 just makes me ill.
Hey, believe it or not we care about you guys. So take a minute to watch this “insanely cinematic” (copyright Kurt Halfyard) commercial from the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) out of Australia; promoting safe, sober driving. It gets pretty far down the spectrum on the graphic scale so watch at your own risk and maybe isn’t safe for work viewing. Nothing overly gruesome here but still some pretty horrific moments both physically and emotionally. It’s also extremely well shot and put together. At the end of the day it’s probably the most effective PSA I’ve ever seen – though after the play-through, check out some of the other PSAs this organization has produced. They are all really heavy-handed and hopefully quite effective in getting across their message (with great cinematography and carnage.)
We love us some movie montages around here, and this is one of the best I’ve seen recently. A thematically and visually arranged collage of 2010 releases, both big and small, both good and not-so-good, giving a pretty comprehensive overview of the films of 2010 in a mere six minutes. And it’s truly a case where the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts, as the editor (genrocks on YouTube and Twitter) uses snippets of dialogue here and there to create a great thematic rhythm and at times almost a narrative of the year. This is some incredible work; I can’t even imagine how timeconsuming this was, but it sure pays off. There’s a full list of the films used here, but watch it first – it’s pretty cool to see how some of the clips you’ll recognize are used.
Hat tip to Gary King on Facebook for the find (for me at least). The video is tucked under the seat. » Read the rest of the entry..
I love a good dose of colour in movies. Nothing against spectacular Black and White cinematography – Film Noir is one of my favourite styles of film after all – but I’m always happy to see bright and shiny colours put to good use on the screen. There are plenty of scenes filled with bright hues, but in order to really capture that through a set of video clips I thought it might be easier to use scenes focused on individual colours. Using the music of the terrific Montreal band Plants And Animals (from their second album “La La Land”), here’s a walk through the spectrum of the rainbow…
Over the past several months, the Mark Kermode podcast (the flagship movie review show on the BBC) has beenworking on a code of conduct for movie goers. It’s been put together by the hosts of the show with help and suggestions from listeners. Last week the code of conduct was laminated and immortalized within the studio. This week, the hosts (Simon and Mark) have put the rules to screen in a reenactment sort of fashion. The attempt will be made to get this into cinemas to play directly before the movie starts – which would be awesome. Of course if you’re a breaker of rule #7, you’ll have missed this important infomercial anyway.
For me personally, rule #3 is of the highest concern to me. Paper bags and winter coats in the theater annoy me to no end. So like Mark says, “No rustling of super high density rustle-o-matic, extra rustle bags.” Agreed! How bout you guys? Which rule is the most important and can you think of any that were left out?
