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Saturday, August 28, 2010

Time for your weekly notable news update!  Below you'll find a slew of sentences meant to provide a brief glimpse of what's been going on over the past week in movieland.  If something leaves you desperate for more info then my advice is to do a little extra research on one or all of the following fantastic sites:  Latino Review, Dark Horizons, Ain't It Cool News, CHUD and/or JoBlo.  Now, read on!

Movie News Rundown

Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) has signed on for Mission Impossible 4.  Apparently, he is being looked at as the eventual successor of the franchise.

Sony is said to be looking at putting together a sequel to their Karate Kid remake.

John Cusack will play Edgar Allan Poe in James McTeigue's fiction-based The Raven.  The story is said to follow Poe as he attempts to stop a serial killer who is using his stories as methodology.

Producer Laura Shuler Donner has said that the Magneto origin film is essentially dead since a lot of its story was incorporated into Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class.

The documentary Inside Job has a trailer.  It will probably make you angry.

Dimension has already started working on a sequel to Piranha 3D.

Katie Holmes has signed on to star with Adam Sandler in Jack And Jill.  The movie follows a man who must deal with his twin sister (Sandler will play both roles) at a Thanksgiving dinner.

Marvel is looking at adapting Iron Fist.  The comic follows a martial arts expert whose fists are turned into indestructible weapons after defeating a dragon.

Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks are being looked at for Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close.  The plot centers around a boy who finds a key and begins a search to find the lock it goes to.

Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell have signed on for minor roles in the upcoming Scream 4.

There's now a trailer for Another Year.  Could be solid.

Angelina Jolie is looking to write and direct a currently untitled project that tells the story of a man and a woman who meet and fall in love on the eve of the Bosnian War.

Victory!  Dustin Hoffman is back for Little Fockers.

Jaden Smith may star in Monster Witness Relocation Program.  No word yet on the exact plot, but I think we can all throw out a guess as to what it might be about.

Sam Worthington will star in Drift.  The Australia-based movie will tell how surfing became a global industry.

Spy Kids 4: All The Time In The World is said to be close to adding Jessica Alba to the cast.

Warner Bros. has optioned Heaven's Shadow.  The books, which were co-written by David Goyer, follow Earth trying to stop an alien force that's bent on destroying humans.

Steve Carell will star in A Boyfriend For My Wife.  As you probably guessed, the story deals with a husband trying to get out of his terrible marriage by finding a new lover for his wife.

Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan and Albert Brooks will star in Drive, which is about a stuntman who is also a getaway driver.  Naturally, he gets into trouble and must go on the run.

Pedro Almodovar (Broken Embraces) is all set to shoot The Skin I Live In.  Antonio Banderas will star in the movie about a plastic surgeon trying to get revenge on the man who raped his daughter.

- John Laird - - Digg!



Saturday, August 28, 2010

For the sake of not having to write the same intro a million different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull process of full film reviews and instead opts to break things down based on what I thought going in, what happened while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.  Hope that's OK.

Read on!




The Breakdown - Catfish

The Impression:

 Meeting people over the internet may not be the best idea ever.



The Reality:

It's hard to talk about this film without spewing out a variety of spoilers,  so I'll just keep this really brief. 

Whether the events of this documentary are true or not, there is still a very interesting subject at work in the story that's being told, and the last third of the film explores that as well as anything could.  Yes, the trailer is misleading and this doesn't turn into some massive freak show that will leave you scared to ever use Facebook again, but that doesn't mean Catfish isn't worth your time.  Check it out at least once.


The Lesson:

Nothing is ever what it seems.




- John Laird - - Digg!




 

Saturday, August 28, 2010

For the sake of not having to write the same intro a million different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull process of full film reviews and instead opts to break things down based on what I thought going in, what happened while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.  Thanks for reading!




The Breakdown - Flipped

The Impression:

Looks like an overlong episode of a little series called The Wonder Years.  But where The Wonder Years were entertaining and oft times subversive in their portrayal of a family living in the late 1960s, Flipped looks like a typical generic turd from late-career Rob Reiner.


The Reality:

Truthfully, this film plays out like seven episodes of The Wonder Years stitched together with a sort of Rashomon-type gimmick thrown in to trick the viewer in to thinking that their actually watching something new.  The film follows, from both sides of the relationship, the budding romance between headstrong Juli Baker (Madeline Carroll) and daft-but-dreamy Bryce Loski (Callan McAuliffe).  There’ a lot of narration, a lot of lessons learned, and of course a drearily happy ending involving first kisses and families come to peace.

Yet the film doesn’t attempt to play out in a typical fashion, it’s broken down in to a series of short episodes each seen through the eyes and narration of the two blooming lovers, each with its own dramatic highs and lows, a denouement, and of course a happy climax.  Tied all together, yes, a narrative does emerge, but it feels fractured because of the sort of segmented storytelling presented. Each little part has the exact same feel and structure, a sort of overtly 50s, bland telling of what it was like to grow up.

I found myself in an audience that absolutely adored this film and I thought to myself, perhaps this sort of provincial storytelling, away from things that might inspire uncomfortable reactions is the future of an America constantly under attack by the conservative right.  Or maybe I’m just a cynical liberal who can’t abide by a film that so egregiously supports such normative thinking.


The Lesson:

If you want to make money, skew far from anything challenging.



 

Noah Sanders is the blog/news editor at Light In The Attic and a contributor at Sound On The Sound and the KEXP blog.  He also has his own Criterion-based film site, Criterion Quest.   If you'd like to contact Noah in regards to his writings here at Side One: Track One then please do so here.

- Noah Sanders - - Digg!



 

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Time for your weekly notable news update!  Below you'll find a slew of sentences meant to provide a brief glimpse of what's been going on over the past week in movieland.  If something leaves you desperate for more info then my advice is to do a little extra research on one or all of the following fantastic sites:  Latino Review, Dark Horizons, Ain't It Cool News, CHUD and/or JoBlo.  Now, read on!

Movie News Rundown

Hayden Christensen says there is currently some talk about doing a sequel to Jumper.

Rumor has it that Noomi Rapace (Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) is being courted for roles in Sherlock Holmes 2 and Mission Impossible 4.

Are you ready for the story of Valerie Plame?  I am now that I've seen the first trailer for Fair Game.

January Jones (Mad Men) has been cast as Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class.  The part originally went to Alice Eve (She's Out Of My League), but apparently she had issues with some script changes and asked to be released from her contract.

Monsters has a new trailer.  I think the movie could be a lot of fun.

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy will star in Hysteria.  The film is said to be centered around the invention of the vibrator.

There's a trailer for Vanishing On 7th Street.  Looks very direct to DVD.

Idris Elba (The Losers) has signed on to star in Cross, which is about a detective searching for a man who may have killed his pregnant wife.  Morgan Freeman played the role of Alex Cross in Kiss The Girl and Along Came A Spider.

Seth Rogen will lend his voice to Boo U.  The animated feature will follow a ghost who can't properly scare any of the living, so he gets sent back to school.

Yikes.  Little Fockers looks worse that I imagined it would.  International trailer is here.

Guillermo Del Toro has said he's currently not interested in doing a Hellboy 3 because of the ending he has planned for it.  Apparently, he's just not ready to see it played out on screen.

Hugh Jackman has dropped out of Avon Man in favor of X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2.

The first trailer for Black Swan can only be described as incredible.

Jim Carrey will star in Mr. Popper's Penguins and Under Cover.  The former is about a man who inherits six penguins and the latter involves a man who joins a cover band in order to raise enough money to gain custody of his children.

Love And Other Drugs has a trailer.  Date movie!

Bruce Willis, Danny Trejo and Carey Mulligan will star in Violet And Daisy.  The exact plot is not currently known.

Work has supposedly started on a movie that will tell the story of how Google was created.

John Woo is hoping to add Liam Neeson to the cast of his Flying Tigers movie.  The story is said to follow the American squadron who trained Chinese fighter pilots to take on Japan in WWII.

Imogen Poots, Ophelia Lovibond, Lily Collins, Teresa Palmer and Emma Roberts are said to be in contention to play Peter Parker's love interest in the upcoming Spider-Man reboot.

I'm Still Here, which is the documentary that features Joaquin Phoenix as a hip hop artist, now has a trailer.  Doesn't really show a lot, but it's well done.

Josh Hartnett and director Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin, Wicker Park) are set to team up again with a movie called Tomorrow.  It's said to follow a guy who travels back and forth in time trying to prevent the murder of his family.

Just in case you don't feel indie enough today, check out the new trailer for Nice Guy Johnny.

- John Laird - - Digg!



Saturday, August 21, 2010

I’m more than happy that The Switch sold itself as a such a stereotypical clichéd bit of Hollywood romantic comedy.  With its slapstick ads and seeming emphasis on Jennifer Aniston’s coy expressions, The Switch just seemed like another dud in a long line of by-the-numbers Hollywood crap.  Yet, the film surprises, managing to craft characters that follow the similar story threads of a modern rom-com, but engage in these plot points in refreshing enjoyable ways.






Review -
The Switch

The film revolves around Jason Bateman’s Wally Mars, an uptight, hypochondriac finance man who, drunk and in love with his best friend Kassie (Jennifer Aniston), swaps his semen with the semen of her chosen donor. Seven years later, when Kassie moves back to New York with her new child Sebastian (the amazing Thomas Robinson), Wally has, well, a lot to contend with.  On paper it looks like crap, you can see what’s going to happen a mile away. I’m not giving away anything to say that things end up well, the main characters lovingly together, all the loose ends neatly tied together, but because of the strength of the characters, it still manages to thrive.  Bateman’s Wally isn’t just your typical Baxter-schlub, he’s a narcissistic, neurotic prick that regardless of situation allows no one (sans Kassie and his boss Leonard - Jeff Goldblum in stellar form) within his emotional bubble.  He’s abrasive in a way romantic comedies don’t allow their male romantic leads to be.  It’s not cutesy-wutesy anger, Wally is an asshole, straight on through and though we laugh at his jokes, there’s sadness to the way he keeps folks at bay.  When Sebastian comes in to his life, Wally starts to change, but its a slow laborious, uncomfortable process, as it should be.  Jennifer Aniston continues to work the magic of her bubbly sitcom persona, but in this film it comes across as flighty, even insincere, and it works, anchoring the character and pushing her past stereotype.

In the end, it isn’t a drastically original film in plot or production, but it just doesn’t matter.  The characters, and the actors who portray them are so good, that The Switch becomes more than its parts.  It becomes an enjoyable romantic comedy, which is a rarity these days.


 

Noah Sanders is the blog/news editor at Light In The Attic and a contributor at Sound On The Sound and the KEXP blog.  He also has his own Criterion-based film site, Criterion Quest.   If you'd like to contact Noah in regards to his writings here at Side One: Track One then please do so here.


- Noah Sanders - - Digg!




Wednesday, August 18, 2010

I never thought I’d see a film that climaxed in a digitized kung-fu battle between Michael Cera and Jason Schwartzman.  For that matter I never thought I’d see a film that starred Michael Cera as a kung-fu master who pulls swords from his chest and battles a bevy of strapping lads and lasses for the love of one Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).  Nor, did I ever think that a filmic adaptation of Bryan O’Malley’s hit-hipster-Americanized-homage to the world of video games and anime would ever grace the screen, or that I’d leave the theater of such an adaptation with a huge shit-eating grin plastered across my face.  Yet, that all said, I never thought that such a film would fall in the lap of one of the true geniuses working in film right now, Edgar Wright.

Wright, director of the Shaun Of The Dead and the criminally underrated Hot Fuzz, is like a Gen-X version of the Coen Brothers.  A director who’s knowledge of film and genre is near unparalleled and has no issue warping the various genres to his own masterful devices.  Yet he isn’t draw on the conventions of say Westerns and Film Noir, he’s drawing on cheap-o zombie flicks, comic books, video games, and the 1980s.  Thus the idea of a video game reference-heavy kung fu flick set in, well, Toronto amongst the hipster set seems like a film that Wright would succeed quite handily at. And with Scott Pilgrim VS The World he does, mightily.






Review - Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a self-obsessed, jobless mooch who plays in a band (Sex Bob-omb) and breaks the hearts of ladies.  When said Scott Pilgrim falls heavily in love with American ex-pat Ramona Flowers, he’s forced to face off with her seven, mystically powered, evil exes in to-the-death street fights rife with extra lives, 100-hit combos and all the fixings of your favorite light 90s video game.  At the heart though, Wright, as he always seems to do, finds a strong center that relies on his strong writing (Scott Pilgrim is one of the funniest films of the year) but also the aspiring love between Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers.  Their early-20s romance is the foundation amongst the wildness of the rest of the film, and the two young actors hold it together well.  Any one who thought Cera was a poor choice for Pilgrim will be proven wrong, as he brings a sort of curt, conceit that adds depth and, thankfully, difference to his normal form of awkwardness.

Wright, using a slew of visual effects and video game references, crafts one of the most original films of the year and the decade. A film that pulls no stops in visual madness or creativity, but somehow anchors itself with some truly hilarious set-ups and a cast of young actors (Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells, inspired casting) who bring weight to what could’ve been a sort of flighty mess of visual wanking ala Speed Racer.


 

Noah Sanders is the blog/news editor at Light In The Attic and a contributor at Sound On The Sound and the KEXP blog.  He also has his own Criterion-based film site, Criterion Quest.   If you'd like to contact Noah in regards to his writings here at Side One: Track One then please do so here.


- Noah Sanders - - Digg!




Wednesday, August 18, 2010

For the sake of not having to write the same intro a million different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull process of full film reviews and instead opts to break things down based on what I thought going in, what happened while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.  Hope that's OK.

Read on!




The Breakdown - Eat Pray Love

The Impression:

Just seeing this book in every grocery store in America raises my hackles. Thus, an adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir feels like repeated kicks to the soft spots between by my legs.


The Reality:

There is a line in this film, from Elizabeth (Julia Roberts) to her quote dropping spiritual guru Richard (Richard Jenkins) that goes something like, "Do you always speak in bumper stickers?"  Which after sitting through this two and half hour film, seemed downright hypocritical since Eat Pray Love is nothing more than a series of bumper sticker-type takes on inspiration spat from the mouth of a variety of cardboard characters glued to a snapshot collection of beautiful places.

And that’s pretty much what the film has going for it - a series of well shot (if you’re in to the glossier pages of National Geographic) locations and a smattering of deft editing (the opening scenes in India mainly) and a very solid performance by Javier Bardem as Felipe, Elizabeth’s love interest in Bali.

Aside from that it's a boring, slow, balloon of a film lobbed in to its target audience: the middle-aged grocery store goers who purchased Gilbert’s original book in the first place.  I know this because I complained about the film while working and was told very bluntly that regardless of my opinion, the gaggle of middle aged women would "still check it out," as they "loved the book."  I work for tips, so my retching was stifled.


The Lesson:

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, pay 12.50 for a film just because you’re in the mood for a film and it’s the only thing playing at the theater closest to your location.  There’s a fine chance you might stumble across a winner, but the sheer thought of crash-landing in to another Eat Pray Love puts that desperate hope to shame.



 

Noah Sanders is the blog/news editor at Light In The Attic and a contributor at Sound On The Sound and the KEXP blog.  He also has his own Criterion-based film site, Criterion Quest.   If you'd like to contact Noah in regards to his writings here at Side One: Track One then please do so here.

- Noah Sanders - - Digg!




Unless otherwise expressly stated, all text in this blog and any related pages, including the blog's archives, is licensed by John Laird under a Creative Commons License.