Author: Bob Westal (Page 182 of 265)

Writer guy Bob Westal was literally born in Hollywood and has commented on the worlds of movies, popular culture, politics, and food ever since. His interest in cocktails is more recent, but he made up for lost time with hundreds of “Drink of the Week” blog posts for Bullz-Eye. In addition to writing and editing, Bob also talks a lot.

“Kick-Ass” trailer kicks in

I’m not exactly the first with this but, via Anne Thompson, below we have the first trailer for the movie I declared last week to be a sure thing for the most controversial comic book film of 2010. Hey, I can remember a time when the MPAA might not have allowed this title, but it’s a new age when people say “shit” on award-winning basic cable television programs and no one even notices. Of course, a mild vulgarism in the title won’t be the reason this will be controversial, especially if any violent incidents happen to coincide with its release next April.
Kick-Ass

Trailer Park | MySpace Video

Ms. Thompson, who hasn’t seen it yet beyond the clips that were shown at Comicon last summer, says the current buzz is maybe a bit mixed on the actual film, but the response to this brief trailer is good. It certainly works for me as far as it goes, and it does a great job of setting up the premise.

You can see the trailer in high-definition at the official website.

There’s also a new poster. I tend to think most modern movie posters aren’t very good and are way too literal minded, but this one takes being literal to an interesting place. Check it out after the jump.

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Bogie wasn’t perfect.

And neither were Edward G. Robinson or Bette Davis.

I could do without the occasional goofy sound effects, but these real-live outtakes from late thirties and early forties Bogart flicks is funny, fascinating stuff. He always worked with such conviction that it seems downright strange to see him break character.

Mouse reshuffles, Leo the lion on the block, and other tales

* In the real world Obama appears to be rethinking Afghanistan; in the cable TV world Lou Dobbs is relieving CNN of his xenophobia and is threatening to go into politics while The Onion has the real scoop. Meanwhile in the movie world, Disney’s new chairman, Rich Ross, is reorganizing. It sounds as if technology will be leading the way in the new regime. Also, the structure of the organization will resemble more a television network, we’re told, than a movie studio. Once upon a time that might have worried me, but these days TV is hardly any worse than movies. I’m not sure if that’s good news about TV or bad news about movies. (A little of both?)

* The lion of Hollywood has been a bit mangy for a long time now. Peter Bart reports that MGM is about to be sold and the whole thing, 4,000 titles and all, is worth about $1.5 billion, which would be a lot of money to you and me but to a once mighty film studio sure sounds paltray. One factor, even the older titles in the library ain’t what they used to be, either. The studio’s signature titles: “The Wizard of Oz,” “Gone With the Wind,” and “Singin’ in the Rain” are now available on Warner Brother’s DVD along with a good chunk of their best known classics.  The ghosts of Culver City’s glory days are restless tonight.

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* Apparently being a movie critic these days is such an unstable, lousy position that some of the best known reviewers are jumping ship and becoming film festival programmers. Yesterday, it was Newsweek’s David Ansen. Today, it’s the L.A. Weekly/Village Voice’s Scott Foundas. Anne Thompson has the depressing news that might nevertheless be creating more opportunities for some of the better known online folks.

* The fruits of my compatriot Will Harris’s London sojourn are appearing in the form of some extremely worth-your-time interviews. First with writer/director Richard Curtis of the criticially underrated “Love, Actually” and the soon to be released “Pirate Radio.” Also roly-poly movie superstud and general all around good guy Nick Frost of “Shaun of the Dead,” etc., as well as “Pirate” newcomers Tom Sturridge and Talulah Riley gets the Harris treatment as well. Bob says collect ’em all.

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A buncha movie stuff….

When in doubt, lead with Disney, even if you’re not sure what the story actually means….

* Mark Zoradi, the Big D’s head of worldwide marketing and distribution for movies, is stepping down. This surely has something to do with the arrival of Rich Ross and the departure of Dick Cook some weeks back.

* As per Company Town, Lions Gate is doing better right now from TV than movies. Could “Mad Men” have been their biggest money maker the last quarter? I’d like to think so.

* Self-appointed protector of Catholicism from the scourge of Hollywood Bill Donoghue has found a new source of “anti-Catholic bigotry” (i.e., not conforming 100% to his highly particular and extremely reactionary view of how all things Catholic should be treated in the media): “2012.” Chris Kelly at the Huffington Post mocks accordingly and appropriately.

Here’s a fascinating quote from idiot boy Donoghue on his life’s work:

Every time I say Hollywood hates Christianity, especially Catholicism, my critics cringe. But they never offer evidence that I’m wrong.

I’m not cringing and I’ve got evidence. Skipping around the decades and off the top of the my head: “Going My Way,” “The Bells of Saint Mary’s,” “Cabin in the Sky,” “Chariots of Fire,” “Lilies of the Field,” “The Trouble with Angels,” “Dead Man Walking,” “The Sound of Music,” “Sister Act,” “Signs,” “Gran Torino,” “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “Brideshead Revisited,” “City of Angels,” “The Apostle,” “Tender Mercies,” “Ben Hur,” “Shadowlands,” “The Exorcism of Emily Rose,” “The Shoes of the Fishermen,” “The Bishop’s Wife,” “King of Kings,” “The Exorcist,” (who saves the day there?) and on and an on and on. In fact, it’s much easier to find a pro-Christian or Catholic Hollywood film than to find one that even features an openly Jewish, Islamic, or, heaven forfend, openly atheist or agnostic, character. Even the movies Donoghue attacks, like “Dogma” or “Saved” or most especially “The Last Temptation of Christ” are actually highly pro-Christian films, though espousing a more liberal version of the religion than he personally cares for. If there is a bigger idiot on this planet than Donoghue, I doubt he has the brain function enough to breathe. Every time the guy opens his mouth, he makes a new atheist.

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“Clash of the Titans” trailers, compare and contrast

We have a new trailer for another long-awaited upcoming genre flick. This time, by way of Peter Hall at Cinematical, we have the remake of the 1981 Ray Harryhausen mythological effects showcase, “Clash of the Titans.” I’ve liked some of director Louis Leterrier’s work and disliked others. (“Unleashed” worked well for me; “Transporter II” drove me out of the theater even though the first film in the series, directed by Hong Kong stand-by Corey Yuen, was a fun guilty pleasure. I was okay with “The Incredible Hulk,” though I’m probably one of the few that actually preferred the Ang Lee attempt.) Overall, I’m not a fan of the kind of cutting and, even more so, the music, we have in the trailer, but otherwise this does look like fairly amusing. There’s a chance you’ll like it more.

And, for comparison, here’s the trailer of the first go-round, which I’ve never actually seen. I’d forgotten it’s such a star-studded affair, though in a budget-conscious kind of a way.

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