Argo

Really damn solid flick. I hate flying, right? It's the experience of airports more so than the actual flying itself. But the point is, I have a lot of stress and tension at airports.

And I'll be damned that the stress and tension I feel is nothing compared to the stress and tension of the scene at the airport where they are trying to get out.

Damn fine filmmaking, Mr. Affleck. (And apologies for calling you Ben Aflac, but in all fairness, when I worked at Aflac, I would always pronounce if Affleck).

Like he reads this.

A Heartbreaking Scene With Christopher Walken

The most tender and honest performance I've seen all year.

LIAM NEESONS!!!!

Comedy Central

Oh, and Seven Psychopaths, Skyfall, Silver Linings Playbook, and The Man With The Iron Fists are all worthy of checking out, as I enjoyed each one heartily.

Really??

Really stupid.

To offset this I need the power of Wolverine and Gangnam Style. Hopefully the internet can help me out with...

Bravo, internet. Well done.

Also, this exists, which may help restore balance to the universe. 

I made these guys laugh once...

Bond Showdown

Bonus points for use of the Goldeneye game music!

HYSTERESIS

Rob wrote this. His wife Shana directed it. If you like it, please click on the "FUNNY" button, then spread it via the interwebs and social networking sites that all the kids love these days that they made that movie that everyone thought was amazing when it was really just ok.

Yeah. Enjoy!

Hysteresis - watch more funny videos     

Slackin

I've seen movies that I fail to report on.

EXPENDABLES 2: Better than Expendables 1, but still pretty stupid and a bit of a wasted opportunity. Still had a hell of a fun time watching it though, in almost the exact same circumstances as the original. (ie. Buncha inebriated jerks at the 11 PM show at the Arclight Dome on a Tuesday night. Still, nobody enjoyed it more in that theater than us).

HELLO I MUST BE GOING: Indie film, quiet, with a great performance from Melanie Lynsky and a downright weird performance from some weird manchild that really got my goat and made me enjoy the film less. Still, if you like supporting indie movies of people coming to terms with the problems in their lives, you could do a lot worse.

THE MASTER: It's a picture. It has great performances and a great score. And it was shot in 70mm!! The perfect cinematic way to capture two people talking! Overall, the whole doesn't quite match the sum of it's parts, which I believe is the phrase I used to describe Babel. It's not bad, not by a longshot, but it certainly is boring, and everyone who tells you that you just don't get it is full of shit.

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION: This is my friend Larry's description of it: "I feel somewhat ashamed but I have seen the new Resident Evil twice... once to confirm its majesty...and I declare it to be a trash masterpiece of the highest order...It was described by a friend as total "Broverload," If you like pulverizing, concussive, mildly brain damaging excess run to the multiplex... Best Paul WS Anderson since "Event Horizon".  It's the best one out of all of them, actualizes the full potential of the Rez Evil franchise... Seriously, it's really good... I am not trolling... And although I disagree with him often, I really like Armond White for daring to challenge filmdom intelligentsia ( those annoying people at the Arclight who are already reverent about films they are watching for the first time because it rated really well on Rotten Tomatoes and they read the New Yorker review. (see: Shame).
I'd rather drink paint thinner then have to suffer through another one of those Precious Pantone Yawners.". Best viewed in LIE-MAX, where the noise assaults you in the stupidest way possible.

LAWLESS: Worth the price of admission alone for the scene where Guy Pearce beats the ever loving shit out of Shia Labouf! Otherwise, it's not bad, with some pretty cool moments, but there's definitely pacing issues and a strange sense of Weinstein-tampering in the film's scope and reach. Still, that scene is tops, plus Tom Hardy gets to be another badass you can't understand and you see Jessica Chastain topless!

DREDD 3D:  All my Karl Urban Love aside, this might be the greatest movie I saw all year. It's certainly the most badass. It's dark, violent, grimy, violent, bloody, violent, dumb, awesome and violent. See it in 3D on the biggest screen possible. It's a B movie, but it's light years better than the Stallone one. (Except in set design, there's something about the Blade Runner ripoff aesthetic of Danny Cannon's original thatbI dig). Still, see this badass flick twice!

He's practically daring you to go see it.

LOOPER: I dug it. The more I think about it, the more I like it. Sure, it's a sci-fi future flick that spends the last hour on a farm. And sure most of the logic might not make a whole lick of sense. But any movie that involves Paul Dano being vivisected is alright by me. One weird note: They made J-GO-Lev look like Bruce Willis with hair and face make-up, but they really just turned him into Jason Street from Friday Night Lights. I digress, check out this flick if you likfe violent sci fi that's more tame than DREDD. 


Also, of fun note, running through my stats, I noticed that I stil get the most hits on my blog for this image of "CUATO", so anytime someone's looking for a picture and misspells "KUATO", for like the past 3 years, my blog is one of the top Google sites for it!

I still think any friends with recently born babies should make this their Halloween costume.

WOOT!

Greatest Ending to a Regular Movie Ever

The Greatest End to a Ninja Movie. Ever.

The Internet! From 1995!

SPOOOOOOOOOKY!!!!!!

More movies that came out that I saw and have opinions on

So, it's been awhile since I've seen some of these, but I'll try and do them justice. 

SPIDERMAN

Truth be told, this image could've come from any of the Spidey flicks.

Yeah, this was a pretty good flick. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were pretty great, and have wonderful chemistry. There is good action sequences (if ultimately unmemorable) and there's a lot of swinging. It's better than the last one, but that's not hard to accomplish. Ultimately, there's no real point to the flick (besides keeping the rights) and I look forward to the next one, as another Spidey adventure with these people would be great and exciting. But another origin story didn't need to happen, and the motive of The Lizard wanting to turn everyone in NYC into lizards, while admirable, is pretty silly.

Of course, I'm nitpicking a story about a dude with Spider powers. Worth checking out, but nothing special.

BATMAN

Bane Smash! Nolan fans get on the defensive!

Let me quantify this: It's a good movie! I liked the actors, I liked the scope of it, I liked how it tied in the storylines of the previous film while avoiding the question about where Heath Ledger was. I like how stupid Bane's voice is, and how I'm using in my everyday life, imagining what Bane is like selling insurance or buying feminine hygiene products. (The answer? Quite hilarious).

But goddamn does this movie take itself way too seriously. Especially for something that winds up playing really silly. Granted, it's not predicated on too many coincidences (like The Dark Knight.. watch it again, and you'll see what I mean. You'll also see that Katie Holmes was a better choice than Maggie Gyllenhaal, because Mags can't stop ACTING!)

So is it horrible? Absolutely not. Is it the greatest movie ever made? No. Is it a nice conclusion to the Batman trilogy of films? Yes. Is it better than those? No. Should I see it on IMAX? Probably. Seeing it on a smaller screen certainly diminishes some of the effect, especially in the action scenes, where I can actually tell what's going on. But is it the end all be all of superhero movies? No. Avengers was better.

There I said it.
 

DARK HORSE

The latest from Todd Solandz, maker of Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness, and Palindromes, this tells the tale of a 35 year old schlub from New Jersey who still lives at home with his parents, collects action figures on ebay, and has one of the greatest overinflated senses of self entitlement I've ever seen on screen that didn't involve an Oompa Loompa.

I want it NOWWWW!

The first four reels are pretty great, then the fifth gets into a weird, Lynchian dream logic state that at first infuriated me, but upon reflection have made me realize things about the movie as a whole that makes me like it more. Definitely worth seeing this one, especially to see an old Christopher Walken as the dad. And all the cliches of the douchebag NJ guy that the lead character does very well.

SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED

What a great little indie flick. It's funny, charming, has good performances, interesting locales, it doesn't go where you think it would, and it doesn't have that student film ending that another recent indie sci-fi flick had. (Another Earth, fuck you!)

Aubrey Plaza does a variation of her "I don't care" girl she plays so well, although it seems like she warms up and does care about things, especially the cause of going back in time with Mark Duplass. I really don't want to give too much away about this one, but it's definitely a gem of a flick in these dog days of summer.


TOTAL RECALL 
More like Total Retard! AMIRITE?!?!??

No, I am right. This movie is stupid, pointless, loud, ugly, obnoxious, and ultimately forgettable. It's like a big budget Freejack. It makes Lockout look like a masterclass of narrative cohesiveness. It makes me want to punch Len Wiseman in the face for wasting my time. It makes me want to punch whoever let him watch JJ Abrams movies and add ridiculous amounts of pointless lens flare to every shot. It's like he watched Blade Runner and Minority Report and Paycheck and I Robot and Fifth Element without the sound, and took the visual sense and NOTHING ELSE from those movies. Nothing makes any goddamn sense in this movie. It was physically painful to sit through this nonsense.

An apt visual to describe sitting through this movie.

That being said, Colin Farrell is pretty great in his role.

About the Dark Knight Rises

Magic, Snow and Ted

I know he's not the star but I don't care

Snow White and the Huntsman

So, the Twilight girl and Thor team up with a bunch of regular sized British actors whose heads have been digitally pasted onto little people's bodies in an effort to thwart Aeon Flux's reign of terror. And it's actually pretty decent.

It's got good battle sequences, has a great look, Hemsworth is fast becoming my favorite new action star and he continues that trend here, and not once did I roll my eyes and think to myself that the movie was stupid. I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend the flick.

(It should be noted, one more item that lead to my enjoyment was that I was watching it in a bamboo rocking chair, in a tiny island theater on Kauai, with one of the most attentive audiences I've ever encountered.)

Yes, I brought my teddy bear to watch the film alongside me, too.

Ted


This movie is far funnier than it has any right to be. As someone who gave up on Family Guy long ago, I was pleasantly surprised by this effort from Seth Macfarlane. The jokes are fast and for the most part hilarious (the coked up restaurant sequence is making me laugh right now just remembering it) the special FX are really good, but it would not hold together if it wasn't for Wahlberg. Dude sells the hell out of this flick, and his sincerity and belief in Ted as his best friend is what makes the movie really special and a notch above your typical Family Guy episode.

Not pictured: Me, to the right of Tatum.

Magic Mike


Alright, alright, alright... This is the greatest All About Eve clone about Florida male strippers starring Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey you'll ever see. It's actually quite good, to boot, which helps. I mentioned before that Hemsworth is my favorite new action star, but Tatum is fast becoming my favorite New Hollywood star.

But this movie is something else. It's kind of remarkable that it's such a huge hit, as the story has been done countless times before (well, variations of it). The dancing is good, but only if you're willing to feel inadequate about your own body. (Like I do when I see 300). I guess it can all be boiled down to the image of McConaughey dressed as Uncle Sam stripping.

Pure genius.

(Also, there's a scene in his home, where he has both a velvet painting AND a marble bust of himself. It's pretty terrific.

WHOA! 80s like!

Beyond The Black Rainbow

Man, I wanted this movie to be something awesome. It seemed to have a lot going for it: It was directed by Panos Cosmatos, the son of the director of Cobra, Leviathan, and Tombstone! The director describes the flick as having been inspired by VHS boxes of movies he wasn't allowed to watch, so he constructed plotlines based on the covers. It has an ultra synth-y score that sounds like Tangerine Dream and John Carpenter had a baby. It has neon colors and long takes and a weird retro 70s sci-fi aesthetic to it! Plus, there's a weird scene where it seems like Daft Punk comes to kill a woman!

But man, is the movie slow as shit! And it doesn't make any sense! And spoiler alert, you wait 113 minutes for the bad guy to trip and kill himself by falling on a rock. Seriously. This happens. All the long takes and homages in the world can't compensate for the fact that this is not a very good movie. I imagine that introducing drugs into the viewing experience would make the film seem interminably long. So much potential, so much disappointment. Shoulda taken some advice and watched Cobra to see how a real flick is made.

There's no way this poster can explain a fraction of the amazingness of the flick.

Detention

The polar opposite of Beyond The Black Rainbow is Detention, a flick that crams so much into it's 80 minute run time that you can pick up your brain at the back of the room when it's done, as it will be blown out the back of your head by it's sheer WTF-ness. From the director of Torque(!) comes this bizarre pastiche of horror, sci-fi time travel flicks, and teen comedies that seems like it shouldn't work at all, yet somehow does despite itself. The constant 90's references (and general self-referential tone) seem like it would become ingratiating and horrible, but they actually payoff in this utterly unclassifiable film that you really should check out to believe. A helluva lot of fun, and probably the greatest thing to have Dane Cook's name associated with it.

Welcome to Jurassic Park

I just returned from Jurassic Park. Well, where they filmed a bulk of it. And it got me in a nostalgic mood for the flick, so here are these things.



Hey.

Prometheus Spoilers Ahead

I'm giving you ample time to turn around now and not have anything spoiled for you. Turn around now if you don't want anything ruined and you want to go in fresh, which will be tough to do if you read Aint It Cool News at all because that's all they seem to be talking about.

I'll keep it brief, but to the point. Story spoilers ahead.

The biggest spoiler? Aliens created donute. Big, metal donuts. 

I just put this together, (and apologies if someone else did this) but Prometheus is essentially Star Trek 5 The Final Frontier, but with better wigs. I mean special effects.

Think about it:

Crazy old man takes spaceship to the farthest reaches of the universe in search of God.

Some crew members become taken with idea, while others rebel against it.

Ship lands on rocky, seemingly desolate planet and find a cave where "God" lives.

"God" turns out to be not what they think, and winds up an enemy trying to destroy them.

Diminished returns on the fifth outing of a "franchise" picture, while tenuously holding on the hopes that fans will turn out no matter what. (Which they do, although with much grumbling as the weekend progresses, although in the case of Prometheus far more people are giving the films flaws a pass due to Ridley Scott's "master" status, which if you stop to think about it consists of 2 films over 30 years old where one of them has been tinkered more times than Lucas fiddled with the trilogy. Although Gladiator is pretty great).

$20 says the director's cut has Rapace and Fassbender singing "Row Row Row Your Boat" as they go off in search of the albino bodybuilders planet.

What does God want with a starship? A $50 Million weekend? To build this city on rock n roll?

The New Films from Mr. Anderson and Mr. Scott

Wes Anderson is 7 for 7 in my book. I unabashedly love his movies, and while I can understand why some people don't, they can go to hell. Moonrise Kingdom is one of his best ones, a film that balances the line between his growing maturity and his usual Anderson-isms. It's got great performances from the two unknown leads ,Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, who play star crossed lovers that run away together on a small New England island. Forming the search party that hunts for them Bruce Willis and Edward Norton, alongside Frances McDormand and Anderson stalwart Bill Murray.

And every one of them are great in their parts, no matter how small or subtle the nuanced role is.  Even Bob Balaban's awesome posings as the narrator are highly entertaining while being Anderson-y.

As always, the musical selection is superb, this time relying mostly on Benjamin Britten and classical arrangements as opposed to British Invasion normally reserved for his films. Solid camera work, set designs, editing, etc. But it all comes down to the performances, and if they didn't work, this whole thing would fly apart. Thankfully it does and we've got a charming a lovely film to counterbalance all the big eye candy flicks of the summer.

Oooooooohhh.....

Alright, so this is a gorgeous flick to look at. Ridley Scott is always one to have amazing visuals, and his long awaited return to sci fi does not disappoint in the eye candy department. It's also got great use of 3D for all the aforementioned visual treats. And Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender are pretty terrific, with Rapace taking the lead for the best actor in the whole flick.

But from a story and filmmaking perspective, it's a huge mess. There's no sense of pacing, there are tons of characters that have absolutely no purpose or sense of character other than a quirky trait that never pays off, the third act is a mess, some of the acting is pretty bad. there are no set pieces to speak of, the links to Alien are tenuous at best, the score is annoying and used inappropriately, did I mention the lack of pacing? There are scenes that happen then are forgotten, events that suddenly happen for no reason and have no consequences, sudden jolts of nonsense here and there... I could go on, but it's upsetting me.

There's something supremely off about the whole thing, which makes me sad because I'm a sucker for big budget sci-fi, and I wanted this to work like hell. But it didn't. Most critics are being too kind to it, myself included, due to how good it looks, but fact is, it might have been better served if Paul WS Anderson directed it.

That's right, I went there.

Still, I can't completely say don't see it. It's got good things as well. It's not an unmitigated disaster. I would suggest seeing it under an influence of some sort, and I suggest you bring along an iPod and play Aphex Twin's Ambient Works Vol 2, and you'll have yourself an awesome time at the movies.

And just because, here's a recreation of the Prometheus trailer made entirely with paper.

Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom opens today!!!

Which means it's time to once again bring out everyone's favorite stop motion animated interview with Jason Schwartzman...

FANTASTIC MR. ANDERSON!!!



(Also opening today is Men In Black 3, which I was surprised I liked as much as I did. It's far better than part 2, but it definitely feels a little stiff with old gags permeating and a sense of pacing that's slower than normal. And there shouldn't be a part 4. That being said Brolin is amazing as young Tommy Lee Jones.)

'Safe' and 'Sound'! (And Smash!)

Movies. I've seen movies. And now you get to hear about them! 

SAFE

This is right before Statham murders a hundred people.

Man, this is a pretty stupid movie. That didn't stop me from loving it, but from the get go it starts off at full retard with a storytelling chronology that makes Ghosts of Mars look like Citizen Kane. It truly is ridiculous.

Then the story kicks in, and it involves Jason Statham (also from Ghosts of Mars. Coincidence? I think not...) as a New York cop with a New York accent that the city of New York has responded with a swift "No, but thanks for trying." Anyway, there's this Chinese girl who memorizes numbers and who the Russian mafia wants to kill and so does Lopan and it's ridiculous.

But then the violence begins. And it is ridonkulous. I'm talking about Steven Seagal Out For Justice style violence, where human life is no longer sacred and bullets are but mere sunflower seeds spit out at whomever happens to be in the way. There's blood and headshots and corrupt cops killing civilians for no reasons and Triad members holding mini Uzis and just shooting them at cops because they can. That caption under the poster isn't an exaggeration, Statham flat murders dozens of people in this flick. And it's highly entertaining, even as the level of corrupt individuals continues to increase while logic decreases. When all was said and done, I felt enormously entertained, while feeling pretty guilty about it. But I knew the only thing missing from this movie was the Cannon logo before it.



SOUND OF MY VOICE

 

 Not gonna lie to you. I had such a horrible audience to watch this with that it ruined my enjoyment of the movie. That's not to say that I was a bit ambivalent to it's indie trappings in the first place (especially the intentionally ambiguous ending, and some odd storytelling choices and omissions) but I feel I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I seen it with a crowd that turned their phones off, didn't arrive late and talk through the picture, as well as have a projectionist who understands how to show a movie in focus.

The story of a couple of hipsters who infiltrate a cult in a San Fernando Valley basement, led by our new indie queen Brit Marling who claims she's from the future, Sound of my Voice is definitely worth checking out, as it's crisply shot and well cut (non biased opinion even if it was edited by a good friend of mine). Just make sure you don't see it with a crowd full of asshats who don't understand that the sound of THEIR voice is not what I paid ridiculous amounts of money to sit for an hour and a half and listen to. See, just reminiscing is upsetting me, and lowering my opinion of the movie. 

(And another thing, while it's on my mind, I sent a strongly worded letter to the company complaining about their presentation, which resulted in absolutely no response whatsoever. CLOWN SHOES!!!).

Anyway, check it out, it's got some good performances and facial hair.

THE AVENGERS

If this were a videogame I would never stop playing it. NEVER.

It made tons of money, it seems everybody has seen it, And the question is, is it any good?

My answer is a resounding Hell Yes! It's pretty top notch entertainment. Is it perfect? Far from it. But it's certainly the best Marvel film we've gotten, and I say that as a fan of their work, mostly. (Iron Man 2 bugs me, because it feels so sloppy and iverstuffed and because Downey doesn't let any actor finish their line). Luckily, Whedon must've pulled Downey aside and said "Hey bub, they pay me the big bucks to write this, please just say what's there, and you can go back to your world of improv wonders in Iron Man 3, promise."

I dug the characterizations, the action set pieces (of which there were fewer than I thought there would be, but that's ok.) the actors were great, the juggling of screen time worked, Ruffalo's Hulk characterization was absolutely grand (although I must admit, Thor remains my favorite character among the group. He's just so damn charismatic and handsome). I've never had as much giddy joy as I did when Captain America gives the orders, with the final being "Hulk, Smash!".

I was about to laundry list the awesome scenes that lie within, all the pitch perfect one liners, and everything else I loved about this movie (including the post credits sequences, yes there are 2). Then I realized I could just go and see it again. Awesome entertainment spectacle, especially in the IMAX 3D format, hich normally I'm against, but I kinda dug this time.

My only worry is now that the fun movie has come and gone, we get the somber entries of Prometheus and Dark Knight Rises to look forward to, which will be awesome I'm sure, but look to be far less "fun" than this flick turned out to be. Hell of a bar to set for the summer!

Johnson...

That is all

It might not be the best movie of the year

But Cabin In The Woods is certainly my favorite thus far.

Real good, geeky/nerdy stuff at play, some great acting from Richard Jenkins and Brad Whitford, as well as the "teens"... It felt like a terrific episode of Buffy.

While it could have stood to be a little more scary and a little less goofy, and while it's certainly not the game changing end all be all of referential horror cinema, it's still the most satisfying horror flick I've seen in some time. Well worth checking out, but try to avoid anything about it going in. You'll be better off for it.

Maybe with the enormous success of The Hunger Games...

...that for the sequel they can rent a tripod and hire a DP who knows how to frame a fucking shot.

While they're at it, learn to hold on to a shot for more than 1.5 seconds. It's okay to let a film breathe.

That being said, I thought it was a pretty damn solid flick, Lawrence is terrific, most of the casting is spot on (I didn't care for Peeta, he looks like he's permanently stunned, but he did a good job nonetheless), it's got a cool look to it (when you can see it) and I'm a sucker for futuristic deathmatches, so it's alright.

I will say this, it reminded me of the first Harry Potter flick, where it felt like such a direct adaptation from my brain as I read the book, and that it had to hit so many of the points to appease fans, that it felt like it had no spark behind it. Anyway, it's worth checking out as long as you take your dramamine.

Now, as for an unbelievably stupid movie that's awesome...

It's like an early 1990s Van Damme flick. It puts the retard in retarded, but it's so damn entertaining that you can't help but love it. Slow claps all around!

You need to stop whatever it is you're doing right now

AND FUCKING GO SEE THE RAID: REDEMPTION!!!!

Check out this ridiculous trailer:



The movie is literally a 2 hour version of this! Just dudes fighting non stop in a building! SWAT team goes into a building run by a crime lord. Said crime lord turns loose all the criminals inside the building to attack aforementioned SWAT team. Dudes with machetes, and machine guns, and fluorescent lighting tubes and refridgerators and file cabinets and other people and FUCKING AXES are used as weaponry!!!!

This movie stretches the limits of violence* and bloodlust and it's every bit more amazing for it. I wanted a cigarette after the last fight scene, it was that amazing.

That being said, it's better than a flick like Ong Bak, which had amazing fights but pretty weak filmmaking skills surrounding them. This guy knows how to direct a movie, how to ratchet tension, how to let a shot play out in a long take instead of quick cutting. It's really well done in that respect. (Even if the camera man could use a tripod sometimes).

 And don't let the "Music from the Linkin Park guy" scare you off, it works in a very badass John Carpenter way. 

But yeah, if you like violent movies and you life being a man there's no other movie you should be seeing at all. AT ALL!! EVER!!! Fathers, show this movie to your sons so they know what ass kicking is all about. It makes Hard Boiled look like Rules of the Game!

I need to punch some glass right now!! GO SEE THIS MOVIE AND GET READY TO HAVE YOUR FACE MELTED OFF!!!

*(Along these lines, I don't know if you've been following the Bully controversy, but, while I think it's a publicity ploy and annoying - if you're gonna say "Fuck" in your movie, then say it and don't complain that it gets an R - it is ridiculous that it gets an R while this also gets an R and has more stabbings than I've ever seen outside of a Benihana). 

Happy Little Rosses

Thanks to The Chive for this one.

Clear Eyes, Four Arms, Can't Lose!

So, despite all the negative word of mouth and exaggerations about the budget and diminished expectations, I went and saw John Carter (nee John Carter of Mars). Or as I like to call it, The Chronicles of Riggins.

Damn his charm.

This is apt, because the movie basically plays almost beat for beat as Chronicles of Riddick. It has long, nonsense passages of exposition that's quickly ended with a charming and charismatic lead doing things or a large setpiece of CG battles.  Granted, the ones in Carter look phenomenal (save for a flying sequence out of Judge Dredd).

This is one of the good ones.

But the script is all kinds of a mess, which I found fascinating considering that the night before I watched a TED Talk with director Andrew Stanton, who went on about the importance of story and how audiences don't always want everything spelled out for them preferring to figure things out on their own.




My guess is that Disney panicked, and without the Pixar cushion behind him, Stanton (genius director behind Finding Nemo and Wall-E) had to play ball or walk away. And playing ball got them here.

Despite my problems with the nonsense plot and silly words (Jasoom=Earth!) I enjoyed the movie. I was never bored, I found Taylor "Riggins" Kitsch to be an engaging and fun lead actor, I really loved the special effects, the princess of Mars  Lynn Collins was an interesting character with dimensions and motives other than swooning, and a lot of the characters are played by awesome character actors that put a smile on my face. Plus, I'm a sucker for any sci-fi flick, so this just worked for me. My friend I saw it with found it to be nonsense, and didn't like it as much as I did. I recognize his gripes with the film, but went along for the ride and dug it.

3 other movies I checked out recently: Wanderlust! What a hilarious and fun flick. It's full of every actor that makes you laugh, it's made by smart people, and it has a brilliant call back to Role Models' hit Wings' song "Love Take Me Down To The Streets". How come nobody saw this movie? It's easily the funniest movie I've seen in a very long time, and one that I'll probably purchase upon home video release, which is something I RARELY do anymore. RUDD POWER!!!

Yes, most of The State is in this movie.

Also caught Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie, which is not as funny as Wanderlust. Or their show. It definitely has some great moments, and some horrible moments. (Shrim). But overall, it feels like it was a movie made for expanding outside of the fanbase (which is great) but not nearly achieving the moments of comedic brilliance they reach on their 11 minute episodes. A little of this movie goes a long way. That being said, I'm amazed this film got released. If you can see it with a crowd, I suggest that.

Feelings towards the movie aside, I want this painted on the side of a van.

Finally, I caught Better Than Something, a film about rock musician Jay Reatard, a fascinating fellow and insanely talented musician from Memphis who tragically died way before his time in 2009. (Or early 2010, I'm still not sure yet). The film has great long scenes of Jay driving around town and just talking, and it's these scenes that are utterly fascinating. I could've watched a few more hours of just this. Alas, there are other scenes of folks talking about Jay the genius and Jay the missed friend, which are good but don't work nearly as well. Still, as far as rock docs go, this is up there as it shed a light on someone I barely knew and made me want to know more about. It also made me a fan of his music, which is always a plus when making a film like this. It's touring the country, but will probably be available on a streaming service soon.

Not Carrot Top. Or Wendy's girl. Whose name is Wendy.

Faint Burger Sauce Face

Faint but delicious. 

You can find awesome things like this at Stuff With Faces! (the other blog I run where I may have meant to post this originally but confused and posted it here instead)

June 8th Can't Come Fast Enough

I'm not one for viral marketing, I think it's pointless at best (As in the case with The Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises, which could just have a poster with a release date and nothing else and still make $200 in 3 days) and sad at worst (Most every other film or TV show trying to ape the success of Dark Knight by thinking it was because of the viral marketing campaign, and not, you know, quality storytelling and/or morbid fascination with the Heath Ledger final performance thing).

Why so seri.. oh. Right.

But I'm all for anything revolving around Prometheus, because that movie looks freaking sweet, and anything that reveals nothing about the plot or the film I'm all for, because I don't want to know anything until I'm sitting in a theater watching it unspool (or stream) before me!

Point is, here's some viral marketing for Prometheus that does just what I want it to. 



Since I'm in a Guy Pearce kinda mood, here's the other Pearce flick that's gonna kick our asses hardcore this year.

2011 OSCAR PREDICTIONS

Who gives a shit?

Set Up of last year's Oscars, taken from place where I once worked.

In the meantime, here are some movies that are pretty solid, and might still be playing.

HAYWIRE
It's like Steven Soderbergh took a script for a Steven Seagal flick circa 1992, and shot it like The Limey. Very solid, fun action flick, with a charismatic (if not all that great) performance from MMA fighter and non-actress Gina Carrano. Plus, an awesome David Holmes score.

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Very calculated, very quiet, and very well done espionage drama. For everyone that's going on about the guy from The Artist giving an amazing performance because he does it without speaking, take a look at Oldman, who has like 3 lines, but owns the flick. That being said, I can't make a lick of sense with what happened.

SAFE HOUSE
Another solid flick. Good action, not too bad shaky cam/editing style. (Though sometimes you just want the DP to get a tripod and calm down). Exciting and intriguing enough to pass 2 hours away. Like a movie Tony Scott used to make.

Steve Jobs was terrible for the movies

Why? Because without a doubt, no matter where I go or what time of day, at least one jagoff at the movies always checks his iPhone in the middle of the movie.

ALWAYS.

This sense of self importance, this constant need to stay "jacked in" has gotta stop. Did we learn nothing from Strange Days, people?

Besides that the shaggy hair loser ex-cop would one day become Voldemort and rule us all?

Anyway, in addition to ruining movies and turning everyone into insufferable douchenozzles, they've also made commercials a lot more obnoxious. The most prevalent ad right now features a moron who decides to get a guitar, and has his robotic mistress Siri do all the hard work for him.

Thankfully, a wisenheimer on the interwebs went ahead a made a variation of the commercial that makes me smile.







That's right. Screw your iPhone, Apple!

(Sent from my iPhone)

Low Cool Month Continues

Did you know that Brady has a pretty terrific podcast that he regularly records with his brother?

Did you know that I recorded a podcast with them both, the subject of which is "Low Cool"?

Why don't you check it out, and boost his numbers up a few more notches! It's quality listening, and if you listen to it while at the gym, you'll work out for almost a whole hour without realizing it!

Enjoy!

Third Low Cool Clip

HaHaHa!! Take THAT YouTube!!!

Here is the third clip of the epic slacker angst comedy that DEFINES that aughts: Low Cool- "Dinner With the Unwanted"
(seeking finishing funds)

LOW COOL (2003) - "Dinner With The Unwanted" from Michael Prince on Vimeo.

It was ten years ago...

A bright eyed fresh out of film school kid gathered his friends together and using every resource available to him, they put together a picture!

Well, half of a picture. Life and other things got in the way, and the picture remains unfinished.

But thanks to the wonders of YouTube ( a resource that would've been much appreciated during the making of this movie, had it been around) we can enjoy a few choice bits!

I present to you, Low Cool - Opening and Coming Home!



And The Pencil Dilemma!



There's a third scene, but YouTube is being a dick about the music I use and has it without audio. SO there's that,

Looking back, I definitely had the time of my life when we filmed it, surrounded by my friends who were just as enthusiastic about the prospect of making a movie, and who were willing to give up their time to do it. Great memories sprang forth from the ten days we filmed. (on 16mm, none of this DV that looks better than 16mm that they have nowadays).

One thing, however, is I notice the many flaws and the naivete in the writing. But I was young and didn't understand how the world works. This is learning.

Oh, and one fun fact about this flick and to those who look back at the Kevin Smith era of self financed films: I paid off the final credit card that I maxed out to help fund the flick in 2010.