After Andre’s slight takedown of Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous”, I realized I would have to push up my blog on his most recent film. I vividly remember when Crowe took “Elizabethtown” – an extended cut of it – to the Toronto Film Festival and, due to the heavily-mixed reactions, he promptly left town. What we … Continue reading
If you found your way to this site, that means you’re probably lost. But stay anyway, huh? Think of it like you’re Sean Penn in U Turn and your car just died in a lousy town and you’re stuck. You don’t have to stay here for days or God forbid, talk to Jon Voight, but … Continue reading
Why do we need yet another remake of Frank Herbert’s Dune? I realize remakes are all the rage in today’s creatively bankrupt movie industry, but let’s stop and consider a few things. First, this is a novel that already has been filmed twice. Both versions, I think, have their merits — the strengths of one … Continue reading
Sometimes a movie really can be saved in the editing room. Such was the case when my grisly horror film, Gein and Bates vs. Leatherface, inexplicably transformed into my charming children’s film, The Adventures of Milo and Otis. Up in some Wisconsin middle of nowehereness, my crew and I were busy robbing local graves for … Continue reading
So they threatened to attack the American Embassy and all businesses and/or institutions that have anything at all to do with Americans or the English language. This includes the CBA, wherein I spend my weekdays teaching EFL (which is the new, politically correct term for English). And the place was evacuated. That’s not what we … Continue reading
Three of us went to see The Strangers and the two who stayed to watch agreed that it’s well above average…until the second half. The problem with these films is that they make a very definite and difficult point; the scariest thing in the world is other people. In terms of cruelty and violent caprice, the creature from … Continue reading
Do you remember the glory days of web-based movie news? The thrilling tales of adventure as unemployed Australian twenty-year-olds snuck onto the blue screen sets of the new Star Wars film. The glorious rumors about Evil Dead 4’s imminent lensing, Sean Penn’s negotiations to star in The Matrix, and Natalie Portman’s signing to the first … Continue reading
So last night over several Hamm’s beers, a bottle of champagne and some mean paella at the house, a group of us got to discussing Son of Rambow (an amazing little film), which led me to admit that I cried quite a bit toward the end of the film. Which then led to an assault … Continue reading
As the old adage in Hollywood goes, “You’re only as good as your last movie.†It’s a sad, harsh reality that plenty of actors are forced to contend with. Some are deserving of what comes their way, others not so much. Because of this, I frequently catch myself thinking about films that helped shape who … Continue reading
A small run-down on the strengths and weaknesses of The Strangers with a quick comparison to Funny Games.