Category: News (Page 171 of 401)

A post without a Tarantino

August 19, 2009 /

I just woke up and realized that there’s more to life than our talented and ever controversial lantern-jawed friend. For example…

* I’ve made it clear too many times that I’m not innately hostile to remakes. But in the annals of apparent bad ideas, Robert Zemeckis using his invariably uninspiring/unconvincing style of motion-capture to remake the Beatles psychedlic animation “Yellow Submarine” is a real contender. I don’t consider the original a great film but it is what it is and remaking it with two of the original Beatles now long passed on seems bizarre to me. I truly don’t see a point here, but maybe I’m missing something.

* I’ve been remiss in not mentioning the whole mishegas going on between Redbox and Warner Brothers. If Warners doesn’t want to sell them the titles prior to 28 days after their release on home video, I’m not sure if there’s any legal justification for forcing them too, but then I’m not a lawyer. On the other hand, as Patrick Goldstein points out in the article from Monday I linked to above, business models like Redbox are going to be unavoidable as the home entertainment market becomes ever more important.

I get more DVDs than I have time to watch for free as part of my critic gig, but I honestly have never understood why anyone would purchase a DVD of a movie that isn’t a huge favorite, much less a movie they’ve never seen before. It’s not like a CD where you can pop it into your car stereo or put it on for background music while you make dinner and, of course, people are figuring out ways to not buy those as well. Seems to me that the economy is forcing people to be a little more discriminating.

* Executive Tom Sherak is the new head of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences (AMPAS to its friends), stepping in for the term-limited Sid Ganis. Anne Thompson has no problem with it. Stepping right into character, Nikki Finke has a huge problem with it, and so do many of her commenters, while the rest are pro-Sherak. Why is it that every time I read the comments at Ms. Finke’s, I get the feeling I’m watching the road company version of “All About Eve”?

* The guy has “movie star” written all over him — he’s a little bit Gregory Peck, a little bit Cary Grant (including Grant’s gift for comedy), with a touch of young Montgomery Clift — so especially with the widely touted ratings success of “Mad Men” on Sunday night, it’s no surprise Jon Hamm is getting movie work. The latest addition to his resume is Zack Snyder’s “Sucker Punch”. Anne Thompson prefers “The Town,” however. One thing’s for sure, if anyone ever decides to do “The James Mason Story,” he’s the guy.

Action Movies, Actors, External Entertainment, External Movies, Mad Men, Movies, News

Bullz-Eye’s TCA 2009 Summer Press Tour Wrap-Up: Cougars, Muppets, Vampires, and Gordon Ramsay, Too!

August 19, 2009 /

God bless the TCA Press Tour, where the television industry gives critics from throughout North America the opportunity to play with the folks who live and work in Hollywood. The tour allows us a remarkable amount of access to the stars, producers, directors, and writers of the various shows currently taking up residence on the various cable and broadcast networks. Yes, while I may spend 48 weeks out of the year feeling like a nobody, for those four weeks – two in the summer, two in the winter – which are taken up by the tour, I’m at least made to feel like I’m a somebody. (Really, though, I’m not anybody.)

This was the first time the summer tour had been held after Comic-Con rather than before, so there was a certain amount of grumbling about the fact that the fans were getting a certain amount of information that would’ve ordinarily gone to the critics first, but it must be said that the networks did a pretty good job of pacifying us. And, besides, aren’t the fans supposed to come first, anyway?

Although the content that I managed to accrue during the course of the tour will continue to come your way for quite some time to come, what you see before you is a summary of the highs and lows of the event, mixing stories you may have already read on Premium Hollywood with many that I simply haven’t had a chance to discuss yet. As ever, it was a heck of a good time, full of the kind of moments that leave me grateful that I managed to get that journalism degree from Averett College back in 1992, pleased as punch that Bullz-Eye and Premium Hollywood have given me the opportunity to cover the tour, and, most of all, that there are lot of great readers out there who seem to enjoy the tales I bring back from these strange TCA adventures that I’ve embarked upon.

Let’s get started, shall we?

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Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, Comic-Con, Deadwood, External Entertainment, External TV, Fall TV Preview, Hell's Kitchen, Heroes, Interviews, Kitchen Nightmares, News, Reality TV, TCA Blog 2009, TCA Press Tour, The Office, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV Reality, TV Sci-Fi

New “Family Guy” videos attempt to persuade Emmy voters

August 19, 2009 /

Hey Emmys, you better vote for “Family Guy” in the Best Comedy category if you know what’s good for ya. “Family Guy” has created a viral video campaign called “Where’s My Emmy?” that is a playful attack on their competition in the Best Comedy category at the Emmys. They all essentially feature the same plot. Brian gets out of the shower and dries off. Stewie enters and asks Brian what show will be getting his Emmy vote. After Brian answers with a show that “Family Guy” is competing against, Stewie beats him senseless. So far, the videos have taken on “The Office,” “Flight of the Conchords,” and “Entourage,” so hopefully “How I Met Your Mother,” “Weeds,” and “30 Rock” are on their way.

You can watch the other videos after the jump.

News, TV, TV Comedies, Video

Your morning assignments

August 19, 2009 /

The week of Tarantino continues with some left over material from last night. First, I implore you to watch the terrific video below from cinephile critic turned cinephile critic/filmmaker Matt Zoeller Seitz on the verbiage of Tarantino. (You can read more about his thinking at his link above.) (H/t Jeffrey Wells.)

Actually, there’s even more because Matt and the very cool Keith Uhlich of the very cool blog, The House Next Door, had a very lengthy and in-depth discussion about Tarantino back in 2007 that’s well worth your time if you care about the state of this sort of movie making. It’s funny that I agree more with Keith on Tarantino (well, I’m not at all sure about the spirituality), but I certainly wouldn’t choose the same list of favorite critics, which makes it even more intriguing to me. I guess I should finish reading it, then?

On a somewhat related topic, Anne Thompson considers this moment in the career of Tarantino’s mogul benefactor, Harvey W.

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News

Wrapping up Tarantino Tuesday

August 18, 2009 /

Quentin Tarantino has eaten my day! And there’s no guarantee it won’t also be Tarantino Wednesday-Sunday!

Nothing to do but share a few links you may have missed and I’ve failed to include here prior.

I tend to fight the temptation vigorously, but we film geeks love our lists, and Tarantino has participated in two this week. The first is his twenty favorite films that have come out since he began directing in 1992. It’s been on every blog on town, so I don’t see why we should be any different. (H/t Anne Thompson and every other blog in town.)

Do I agree with his choices? Nah, not very many. Some are downright baffling, including his favorite, “Battle Royale.” It’s an entertaining/disturbing little movie but, though it was a huge film for many, it wouldn’t come close for me to something like, say, the vastly less well known “A Dirty Carnival” — it might make my top twenty for the year it came out. On the other hand, agreeing is never the point of this film criticism game; that’s a mistake too many make. Also, my list covering the same period would have at least two, maybe three, but no more than four, Tarantino movies, so there’s that.

And that other list. In this case, Tarantino collaborated with the critics of England’s Time Out on a catalogue of what they see as the “The 50 Greatest World War II Movies.” It’s a genuinely interesting group of movies, and there isn’t a single film that I don’t think should be seen on it (including a few I need to get caught up on myself). Actually, there is one exception. I was essentially praying for death through of all “The Thin Red Line,” so bored was I with the intense beauty of Terence Malick’s imagery, so I can’t really recommend that one. Some people think it’s great. Also, thanks to my WWII movie-loving buddy, Randy Reynaldo, for sending me the link. And we both agree: Where’s “Stalag 17” Where???

The invaluable David Hudson has tons more, some of which may still end up here, too. More to come, for sure, in any case.

Action Movies, External Entertainment, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

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