December 2008
49 posts
WatchAndy Warhol, Steven Spielberg, Bianca Jagger, ghosts in the tube, radio in the tooth, transistor down the esophagus, the drugs of yesteryear (via Movie City Indie)
Previously: Dancer in the Dark TV Repair
LA Times declares it fair game to hate Whore of Quotetonia Ben Lyons (via natashavc)
FILMS 2008: An A-Z of the key films of the year -... →
A review resource for many of the domestic and international releases from the past year.
Man Shot for Talking at Benjamin Button Screening
Philadelphia Inquirer
A South Philadelphia man enraged because a father and son were talking during a Christmas showing of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button took care of the situation when he pulled a .380-caliber gun and shot the father, police said.
Police were called to the Riverview Theatre in the 1400 block of Columbus Boulevard about 9:30 p.m. where the gunshot victim, a Philadelphia...
Trailer: Weather Girl →
Written and directed by Blayne Weaver. Starring Tricia O’Kelley (The New Adventures of Old Christine), Mark Harmon, Jon Cryer, Jane Lynch, and Blair Underwood. Former NW weather anchor struggles to recover from a career-crippling, on-air outburst. The Seattle Chamber of Commerce is no doubt making backroom deals towards becoming the fictional romance capitol of the world. (via Movie-List)
Trailer: State of Play →
Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn and Jason Bateman. Directed by Kevin Macdonald. A great BBC miniseries squashed into an American feature film. There’s a whole hell of a lot going on in this trailer. But with a writing credit for Tony Gilroy, and roles for Bateman and Helen Mirren, I’m really excited to check this out.
P.S. Alicia Witt is so pissed at...
Trailer: 9 →
Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, Elijah Wood, Chrisopher Plummer. Directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton. (Animated) Gruesome dystopic future, but with hope! Sure to be a common theme in 2009.
Trailer: Gomorrah →
Matteo Garrone’s Naples set mob drama, based on the Roberto Saviano expose. Presented by Martin Scorsese.
Maria Bello signs on with HBO →
Variety -
Bello is set to star as a woman who’s forced into a life of crime to support her three teenage sons after her husband is killed. Bello’s character employs her sons as henchmen, leading them all down a destructive road.
Trailer: Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the... →
Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais, Owen Wilson, Ed Helms, Christopher Guest, Jon Bernthal, Bill Hader, Alain Chabat, Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon, and Jonah Hill. Directed by Shawn Levy.
True Love and False Prophets: An Advance Review of... →
I Love You, Man trailer →
Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, J.K. Simmons and Andy Samberg. Directed by John Hamburg. (via Azizisbored)
I’m confused but way intrigued by this Freshman Roommates script news in Variety. Written by comedians John Mulaney and Nick Kroll, it’s apparently based-around the Nigerian prince email scams with Tracy Morgan attached to star. The subject matter initially is off-putting to me- aren’t those spam letters a used-up reference? - but when you consider the writers I have hope it...
“You never know what you’re going to be blogging about from day to day. As I got...”
– Andrew Sullivan
Watch: Flight of the Conchords, Season 2 Premiere
Premiere of the second, and likely final season of Flight of the Conchords, via Funny or Die. Larger Version. Sorry, U.S. only, and the video is only scheduled to run through Sunday.
The broadcast premiere airs on HBO on January 18th.
Ben Stiller in Noah Baumbach's Greenburg
Mark Ruffalo is out and Ben Stiller is in for Noah Baumbach’s upcoming dramedy, Greenburg. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Amy Adams has also dropped off the casting for the under wraps project that Baumbach is both writing and directing.
Double Your Poster Pleasure
When done right, they pique curiosity and heighten the anticipation level, but the added value in great one-sheets for great films comes in unraveling them months and years later when you think you have all the answers.
40 Exquisite Independent Film Posters - Smashing Magazine (via yewknee’d)
DVD endorsement: Andrea Arnold’s Red Road (2006) knocked my socks off - washed,...
This Is Not The Future My Mother Warned Me About
New Terminator Salvation trailer (via Goldenfiddle)
Wet, Not So Hot, American Spring Breakdown
What do you get when you assemble a comedy team of Amy Poehler, Parker Posey, Rachel Dratch, Amber Tamblyn, Will Arnett and Jane Lynch?
A direct-to-DVD release. The trailer for Spring Breakdown says available now, but is it now now, or later now? And if it’s now now, where? (via Film Junk)
The Humble Beginnings of The Godfather
“The first conference was a pep talk intended for me. This was going to be the big movie for Paramount. This picture would save Paramount. I love that kind of stuff – it makes me feel important and I work twice as hard. We talked casting. I suggested Marlon Brando for the role of the Godfather. They were kind to me but I got the impression my stock had dropped 50 points. Al Ruddy...
Ebert: 'If you must have a Top 10 List, find a...
Roger Ebert sez, “I am violating the age-old custom that film critics announce the year’s 10 best films, but after years of such lists, I’ve had it. A best films list should be a celebration of wonderful films, not a chopping process. And 2008 was a great year for movies, even if many of them didn’t receive wide distribution… These 20 stood out for me, and I treasure...
Trailer: Chandni Chowk to China
Tell me this doesn’t look like a good time. Sure, Stephen Chow immediately comes to mind, but don’t let comparisons get in the way of admiring Nikhil Advani’s Dehli to Shanghai flattery by Bollywood seasoning. Scheduled release: January 16, 2009.
Chandni Chowk To China trailer (via Coming Soon)
Curb Your Attention Deficit
A morbid sense of humor, a working knowledge of Curb and contemporary cinema, a broadband connection, and patience.
What are the requirements for viewing this site? (via The Apartment)
They Do Interviews
The site relaunch for Interview Magazine (December 2008 issue) yields Jack White with Cate Blanchett, Spike Lee talking up Martin Scorsese, David Cronenberg and Charlie Kaufman, Brigitte Lacombe with Christopher Doyle and Wong Kar-wai, Thurston Moore with Spike Jonze, Gus Van Sant, Josh Brolin, more, more, and more still. (via GreenCine)
Related: The A.V. Club with renowned set and costume...
Paper Starlet?
(Slashfilm image)
Sundance - or more specifically, the corporate entities that cast a shadow upon the Park City festival - they like Michael Cera and what he represents: a bit aloof but playfully so, untarnished, attracts young audiences who aren’t clinging to their pocketbooks as tightly as those of us in self-imposed spending freezes, hoping for layoff-proof winter hibernation. Ten,...
Indie Spirit Noms
Lance Hammer’s Ballast came up big in nominations for the 2009 Spirit Awards on Tuesday. The awards presentation takes place on February 21st on IFC. Hammer and his Ballast cast and crew were nominated in five categories, including Best Feature and Best Director.
Other Best Feature noms were Frozen River, Rachel Getting Married, Wendy and Lucy, and The Wrestler. Nominated for Best...
Che Trailer
A two-for-one trailer of Steven Soderbergh’s split-down-the-middle Che Guevara biopic(s), Che. Scheduled Release: January 9, 2009 (Part 1).
(via Twitch)
15 Years in the Making
“Too many people in the film and TV industry were not even aware of The State when it was on TV, it was such a cult thing for high school and college kids. So this new show is my way of saying, Heads up motherfuckers! Even if you didn’t see me back then, you’ll damn well start seeing me now. On top of that, The State is doing a special for Comedy Central in 2009, and...
7 Items
— “Criterion’s Blu-ray of [Wong Kar-wai’s] Chungking Express is a revelation. It should thrill cinephiles and tech wonks in equal measure… Pretty much every frame of the film is packed with vivid, contrasting colors, and one of the strengths of the high-def version is how fixed and solid the colors are… Film grain, a bedbug of certain high-def advocates, is...