Film Director Wannabe

Christmas Movies

2011-11-18T23:16:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to come back for some time now and give some reviews of several TV shows, or movies I have seen recently. Goodness knows I still plan to try and do a review for the recent remake of Footloose. However, what motivated me to take the time to actually write is my love for great Christmas movies and Hollywood's inability to do them.

Growing up I got to watch great Christmas movies, Babes in Toyland, Its a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Jim Henson's Toy Story, the classic clay-mation stopmotion shows and Frosty the Snowman, A Nightmare Before Christmas, and I will argue Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Comparitively, I am concerned that many of today's youth will never understand what it means to have a true Christmas movie celebration. ABC's 28 Days of Christmas was built upon the constant reruns of classics such as Miracle on 34th Street and Its a Wonderful Life, until recently it has only shown modern Christmas films, maybe Christmas Story, and made several AWFUL movies that happen to have Christmas around. Santa Baby, some movie with Christina Millian, another movie with Melissa Joan Hart and the guy who hosts America's Best Dance Crew, Santa Baby 2? So TV is no longer supporting great Christmas films, it would rather produce cheap schlock that it can dredge up each year to try and win a couple of fans and make more money than having to pay rights to show a film that isn't theirs.

What about Hollywood? Surely they are doing a great job by putting out 1 or 2 Christmas movies each year, usually one will involve Vince Vaughn, right? I might be blasted for this, but I completely blame The Santa Clause. That's when I remember smiles getting cheesier, jokes becoming dumber for a more massive appeal for kids and parents, and when story took a back seat to somehow coopting the Santa myth. For some reason, everyone wants to tie their name to the santa brand. Whoever is Santa's agent won't have to worry about retirement since he can milk Santa's biography like no one's business. At least unlike the future movies concerning Santa's family/myth/waste of time, The Santa Clause understood to put the focus on the family in a way that was relatable. An overworked dad in a divorce and struggling through mid-life crisis causes chaos on son's psyche. But Four Christmases? Freddy Clause? Surviving Christmas? Santa Clause 2? Santa Clause 3? Elf??? No. I will give you that Elf had Bob Newhart who can make a tin can funny. But a feel good Christmas movie? No, Hollywood can't do that. Not even when they try to animate it and make it more inclusive by focusing it on another religion such as in Eight Crazy Nights.

Hollywood decided somewhere in the early 90's that making movies that moved people consistently was too hard and they would rather focus on the dramatic and action based game changers such as Terminator. To prove this, Bad Santa is a movie that was made to be the antithesis of Christmas movies with nothing going the way it should except it is around Christmas and deals with a reprobate. It's good for some laughs, but nothing is there to warm your cockles. And ever since then, everything has been focused on laughs instead of emotion.

Great Christmas movies weren't about the best actors, funny gags, or even necessarily Santa's family. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is easily one of the best Christmas time movies and it isn't tied to Santa at all. The Muppers A Christmas Carol is also not tied to Santa, although there are supernatural beings. What all of the great Christmas movies have besides a plot, is they have actors who don't put a wink in their eye, that don't try and steal scenes, that don't try and add crazy levels of depth to their characters. They simply play people who are dealing with everyday ordinary things and living their lives and are confronted by the oppressiveness or the injustice of the world at large. It is something instantly relatable. Politicians don't care and don't listen, so we have to make them = Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. CEOs are getting way too much money and privileges and seem to consider everyone else below them = Scrooged. How can you help people who don't want your help because they are hurting but need it? = A Christmas Carol. It is always a sad and relatable problem that sets up the audiences ride with the main character who must suffer at the hands of fate, only to have everything fixed or restored on Xmas by the sacrifice of the community, or by the love of someone or something close to the figure to drastically improve their outlook. With out this consistent fall and rise, based upon expected patterns of behavior from the society and acted by understated professionals, then what you wind up with is halfbaked ideas that seem funny on paper but could be done as well on screen by a baboon as Will Ferrell.

Hollywood: If you wanna make Christmas movies fashionable again, then here is where you go.
1. Make the characters more serious. You don't need 12 quirky characters and 1 smart quippy straight character for a film. Make them all realistic, you can have 1 or 2 different characters if you want as in Miracle on 34th Street, and have the lead be someone who is downtrodden and trying to live a good life but can't.

2. Up the ante, Smith fights for the kids against Washington, Scrooge fights for his soul, It's a Wonderful Life has a man who has to fight to exist! But don't make it ridiculous.

3. Hire actors who care about playing their parts and don't see it as a nice easy paycheck.

4. Write a script where pratfalls and speaking in weird accents aren't the key. Preferably aren't mentioned.

5. When the big ending comes, have it be actually heartfelt. Have the town or family save someone and the lead be unable to stop from breaking down in happiness. Most iconic image ever is Jimmy Stewart freaking out at the end of Its a Wonderful Life, shaking and smiling and crying all over his supposed children. It's masterful.

6. Give us a reason to care and want to celebrate again. Remind us of how good we as a people or a person can be. It's no coincidence that the amount of Xmas celebration has gone down over the years. It is beginning to be thought of as a Holiday for youngsters or maybe a holiday for the corporations where they can push their products and we have to buy them because it is expected as the social norms. If you can convince us to want to celebrate Christmas because it means more than just gifts, it will convince us to start believing again in Hollywood and looking forward to that Christmas season movie. And hopefully get Hollywood to look forward to a much colder Blockbuster season.

2010-11-28T21:14:00.001-08:00

The Other Guys

2010-08-08T03:53:00.000-07:00

‘The Other Guys are the ones I would like to meet’

Let me begin by saying, I AM NOT A WILL FERREL FAN. In fact, I find the majority of his movies juvenile and ridiculous to a fault. Something about what he does doesn’t appear to me as comedy, but more as just one dimensional stupidity. However, his most watchable movies are always the ones directed by Adam McKay such as Talladega Nights and Anchorman. That and the amusing trailer with Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson driving into a bus and giving an awesome quote made me think that maybe this would be a good spoof of buddy cop movies. Thank God I was right.

I don’t know if it was the script or if the movie was just perfectly cast, but instead of being a Will Ferrel stupid comedy hour, it is an ensemble piece where everyone is just nuts enough to fit in and out of the storyline and take turns being the spotlight. Next to Will Ferrell, Michael Keaton and Mark Wahlberg shine like you haven’t seen in years. Who knew Marky Mark had such a gift for comedy? His casting was genius since Wahlberg’s best movie the Departed where he played a bad ass cop, now let’s have him play a slightly deranged angry cop with terrible animal metaphors. Also, his chemistry in this movie is legendary. Let’s have Michael Keaton play the captain of the police force and manager at Bath and Body Works who has a hard time with quoting the group TLC. Even Samuel Jackson and Dwayne Johnson are hilarious as the ultimate alpha duo of the police force where it is made clear early on that they are put up with because the city needs heroes. Everything and everyone in the movie works. The part that at times seems sketchy are the scenes involving Eva Mendes. True, she is HOT. But there is something about mistreating women and speaking badly to them that is a little off-putting. Thankfully, Will Ferrell’s absurdity has a point and is so out there that it actually balances the terrible treatment. One of my favorite things about this movie is that it is soo bizarre and absurd and yet all the actors commit to it. It is as if you looked through the looking glass and found a bizarre Ferrell world where his brain created it and it was real. The only underutilized person would probably be Steve Coogan. He wasn’t bad, but he could have been anyone else and probably would have fit in fine. Not only was the acting excellent, but the visual gags were spot-on and amazing as well. I loved Wahlberg’s shark screen.

I can honestly say that I haven’t laughed this hard at the movies in a while and I have never laughed so much at Will Ferrell. This movie solidifies the idea that Will Ferrell needs Adam McKay. My question is, does McKay need Ferrell? McKay manages to bring back the awesomeness of Michael Keaton and Mark Wahlberg in the same film and still make Will Ferrell look hilarious. I am not sure if it is his casting, but it is apparent that he is the only director that seems to know how to correctly use Will Ferrell in leading roles and balance the rest of the cast and script. In the future, count me down for Adam McKay movies, whether they have Will Ferrell or not.

8.5 out of 10
Wannabe

Dinner for Schmucks

2010-08-08T03:18:00.000-07:00

'Schmucks goes for too many yuck-yucks'

Dinner for Schmucks seems like a brilliant concept. A wonderful exploration of schadenfreude, or harm to others. Everyone has done it. We have all laughed at the kid who tripped over his own feet, or the one who has the ridiculously convoluted true story that somehow involves G.I. Joes, a turtle, and a cactus. The best part is that, on the outset, the movie seems to have everything going for it. Hilarious one-liners in trailers, Steve Carell doing his version of early Jim Carrey and being goofy and silly, people laughing in the movie at the other people, and the director of Meet the Parents which is perhaps the best example of schadenfreude comedy in the last 20 years outside of Something About Mary. Heck, The Hangover was an entire film of terrible events happening that are hilarious and look how well it did. However, the movie becomes a painful lesson in what could go wrong with such a delicate style of comedy that seems on the outside a hilarious setup but always ends with someone in pain.

One flaw with the film is the trailer. We know from the trailers that Carell is essentially a one-man wrecking crew. Therefore, going into the film we expect for him to do terrible things that mess up Paul Rudd’s life, goofy ridiculous things which according to movies are always misunderstandings and people being too nosey and ridiculous. This creates a problem with executing the desire to laugh at the terrible things that happen. As an audience member I can see the bad things happening a mile away. The nuance is simply not there. The absurdity of the surprise terrible things that only makes sense upon reflection do not occur because the absurdity is given to Carell’s character in terms of how ridiculous he is and not to what he is doing. There is no reflection and no surprise because we see it coming a mile away. Therefore, in a film meant to be about schadenfreude with a twist at the end to make the audience feel bad about having laughed at these people throughout the film, there is no feeling sorry or bad. Why? Because through most of the film instead of laughing at the horrible things that have happened to Paul Rudd, we have been hiding our heads, ashamed and embarrassed for him. Therefore the movie becomes an exercise in empathy pain for the characters instead of learning or reproaching ourselves.

The acting: Well, it is safe to say that the actors were a little too over the top. Instead of dialing it down a notch, it feels as if they were told to go with it. Carell’s character goes far too far a majority of the time and doesn’t seem even plausibly real. I feel afraid to be laughing at a mental patient. Because he is Carell, he does receive some laughs for his great timing, but it should be noted that even the script should have been doctored to show him as an idiot in one field. At least Carell’s acting was given an excellent spotlight and his moments of hurt and vulnerability are exquisitely Paul Rudd’s character is the guy that people can sympathize with. Everyone wants to be promoted and get the good life. Everyone wants the girl. However, it is hard to sympathize with someone who so quickly lies to his girlfriend consistently, promises not to lie, and then continues on his crazy quest to achieve power by essentially setting someone else up. While Rudd can play an everyman in this, this movie feels a little bit dialed in on his part. A certain straight man angst is missing. He seems to expect these horrible things constantly which takes away from his surprise and ours. His feelings for Carell’s private woes are well done but otherwise he comes across a little too typical, a little too ehhh about his woes, and little too driven at times for what he wants. Sure, he becomes a good boy in the end, but he spends a majority of the movie treating others as beneath him and there were several times when he could end the whole mess by doing the right thing instead of going along with ridiculous ideas that come from Carell’s head. Perhaps the best part about the movie is the blind swordsman and Zach Galifianakis (I hope I spelled that correct). Zach’s part is ridiculously stupid yet somehow believable and he does an excellent job of lending his jackassery toward creating feelings for Carell’s character. He is absurd and yet somehow slightly believable. Congratulations to him since I am not naturally a fan of his. Oh yea, and the painting guy is just weird and at times amusing.

Sadly, the directing in the movie feels off. The person I admired the most by the end of the film is whoever the real guy was who created all of those wonderful mouse paintings and dioramas that were quite skillful. Roach did things much better when he had Stiller playing the screw up because Stiller plays it completely straight and normal and the ridiculous things that happen occur without warning or foreshadowing and he reacts honestly as does the family and De Niro. While I did look forward to the film and it did have some hilarious moments, in the end it goes from being a sophisticated film dealing in a delicate style of comedy to being a schlapstick adult film that is as goofy as a cartoon and not as kid friendly. Better luck on Little Fockers.

Verdict: 3 out of 10
Wannabe

The Wrestler

2009-02-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

Wrestling with Jesus

Many have touted this movie as a great character piece marking the return of Mickey Rourke to greatness. Others have stated that the only reason why Rourke is so good in this film is because in many ways it mirrors his own life. Either way, no one disputes that his portrayal of a former headlining wrestler whose life is falling apart is masterful. As for it being his comeback, I will admit that I was never aware of his first arrival. I have never been very familiar with Rourke's older work, however his recent work has shown he is certainly an actor to be reckoned with. He delivers a character who speaks more in his silence with his mannerisms than in his dialogue and is able to give rousing speeches. Only true great actors have these qualities and it is a privilege to watch him on screen. As great as Rourke is on screen, I am actually more impressed with Marisa Tomei. I have the impression that many have written her off since she plays a stripper and shows off her body throughout the film. However, her reactions and choices create some of the most humble and heart rending moments in the film. I truly believe in the chemistry between Rourke and Tomei and recognize that it takes two to create such a believable relationship.

The direction by Aranofsky is subtle but at times apparent. He makes it clear to the observant audience member the changes and choices that Rourke's character is going through. It is amusing to see Rourke waiting behind the plastic strips getting ready to enter the meat area of the supermarket to work with the customers and putting himself into a mode similar to that of the wrestling matches. Also, the constant tight following camera on rourke's back creates a sense of tension as you constantly feel to close to the actor and unable to escape. At times, the camera doesn't seem to be able to hold Rourke's massive frame. The low budget nature is obvious, but it is also obvious that Aranofsky knows how to get the most out of the low-end budgets and techniques.

Now, for Jesus. The whole story is analogous to Jesus and his last few days on earth. It could be called Passion of the Christ part 2. It is modern and the brutality that Rourke puts himself through is ridiculous. It is fascinating to see how the wrestlers plan out their matches and how they communicate during the match. Then to see the real pain they inflict on each other to offer the audience a good brutal show reminiscent of the roman Christian offerings and battle of gladiators. Besides the physical torture and pain that Rourke must endure like Christ, the movie makes a specific reference to Passion of the Christ. Also, Rourke's character spends his time in the movie trying to overcome his recent heart attack and find a place for himself in the real world with a possible family to settle down with, but it becomes apparent that his own personal family and staying out of the spotlight is impossible as the people around him turn on him and give up on him and he realizes that his only real family is the crowd of fans and people shouting for his gory and glorified body. I'll be honest when I say I am not sure yet what Aranofsky's message is about this act yet although I know he is heavy into philosophy so I am sure there is a point or message about Jesus and his actions implied through the film. My guess, is that the film is actually about how Jesus had to choose to sacrifice himself to save those around him. It wasn't destined. There are many points in the film where Rourke has the option to turn away from his final demise and he chooses not to. He is even offered his last temptation and turns it down. Although when he looks back for a split second at his possible salvation, it has left. The film then ends Thelma and Louise style with Rourke jumping at the camera, immortalized in that moment and decision to embrace his possible death or possibly go one become the legend he once was again. This is an excellent film. It is an honor to watch it if for nothing else the chemistry and acting of Tomei and Rourke.

9 out of 10

Wannabe

Coraline

2009-02-07T21:19:00.000-08:00

'Coraline as hand-made as this review'

I've wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how to make myself come back and write on this blog. I waited, and waited, and hoped for an inspirational movie to make me come back and start again. I thought I had it with Revolutionary Road, but I didn't. I had a lot to say, but no real urge to share it with others in writing. At least not until I was moved by the most recent stop-motion masterpiece of Coraline.

I will admit that I love stop-motion. I always have ever since I saw Clash of the Titans and Sinbad. Nightmare Before Christmas was delightful and I never understood why there wasn't more stop-motion films being made. I mean, sure it is difficult. People have to make everything about the set...EVERYTHING. And, you have to take each frame individually for the films which to run smoothly should be about 60 frames per second, although it is usually less. So yea, it takes time. When Aardman Studios started seeing success with Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit I was hoping for a big movement possibly, akin to the comic book to film movement we are currently invested in. However, out came Corpse Bride and Flushed Away and I became afraid that the stop-motion industry had been distorted, married to dead techniques, and then flushed down the toilet as a giant turd. Well, the good news is that the original modern day master Henry Selick is back since The Nightmare Before Christmas and so is stop-motion.

When you see the movie, and you WILL see this movie, you will ponder and think and decide that there is no way that most of this movie is stop motion. There is so much CG that it is obvious that it wasn't that hard. I have read many articles concerning this movie and while there is some CG involved, I would argue that about 90% of it is stop-motion. Seamless, beautiful, hand-made craftmanship, stop-motion genius. All of the characters and almost every single setting is handmade. There are very few moments where you can see that it is stop-motion and not a completely CG movie such a Monster House or Toy Story. The spectacle and beauty of this film is stunning, and even more impressive when you realize how it was made. But enough of that, on to the story.

The original book was written by Neil Gaiman, a man whose movies have been up and down. Although I really liked Mirrormask and the recent CG Beowulf, many do not find the writing of these movies to his liking. Thankfully, other adaptations of his book work has been better received. Stardust was excellent and now Coraline is working quite well. The story is dark, creepy, threatening, and fantastic. When I was little, I was creeped out and enthralled by the dark side of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Coraline has a similar feel to that movie, but darker and creepier. There are very few songs and they don't make the mood easier to handle. Although many will disagree and say this movie is too dark for children, I would say it is perfect for the 7 and up range of students who want to feel something. Who want to be scared and watch horror movies before they should. The movies messages are exquisitely told and portrayed. Easy to understand. And it offers a thrill ride that Disney rarely did offer any child. There is no gore. The only possible downturn is it could be so creepy that some will have nightmares, so please parents, know your child and warn them beforehand. Also, it was significantly dark and creepy and I didn't see it in 3D. I do think the 3D portion might need to best be preserved for those older than 10. I still can't organize my thoughts about how awesome this movie is. You must see it. And I must see it now in 3D.

9.8 out of 10

Wannabe

Revolutionary Road

2009-02-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

'Death of a Salesman 2'

Sam Mendes is an interesting director. He started his career on the stage and made the hard transition from a stage director to a film director. Hell, he made the hardest one by having gone from stage to several oscar winning and nominated movies. Please, tell me if you have heard of these two, American Beauty and Road to Perdition.

American Beauty was a modern day film exploring the problems inherent in most long sustained marriages in today's fast paced image conscious culture. And yes, that is where the famous floating bag scene is from. Road to Perdition explores the topics of immigration, freedom, and especially the bond between a son and father. Mendes most recent film, Revolutionary Road feels like a mix of these two films. It explores a newer married couple and the problems they face of settling down and finding happiness in their new roles as a family and not as individuals during a similar time period to that of Road to Perdition. So of course Mendes has done all of the homework to prepare for this film.

Although I don't know much about Justin Haythe who adapted the book Revolutionary Road into a screenplay, he does seem to show much promise. The movie itself is very symbolic and the words used mean something, even the most vague ones. However, I believe Haythe and Mendes have screwed up. Revolutionary Road should have been a stage play. The setting rarely changes, the power of the movie comes from the words and occassionally Mendes does make some powerful images. However, these images can easily be adapted to a stage. Not only that, but the topic matter and the obvious impact that Death of a Salesman has on the movie lends the overall feel of the movie to that of a stage adaptation.

Leonardo DiCaprio's character Frank is a fast talking unhappy man trapped in a job he can't stand with a wife who doesn't let him feel masculine. He has two children already, but interestingly enough, the film doesn't focus on the family as a whole, but on the mother and father of this overworked and under appreciated family. Kate Winslet (Sam Mendes' actual wife)plays the unhappy and struggling wife of two who always dreamed big and bohemian. Both are stuck in an American society fighting for the American dream, even though neither of them particularly want it. Their marriage has become old hat and stale and too perfect. They now have 1 chance to escape and rediscover themselves and their love and the movie focuses on their ability to leave the cycle of work and American dreams and values. The movie works best when watching Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have intense arguments/discussions. The reactions to each others words tell us so much more about the characters than the words or their actions. It is exquisitely written for intense dramatic scenes. It even has raison d'etre as a mentally insane man.

As for how this realtes to Death of a Salesman. Besides taking on similar subject matter and just approaching it differently, Leonardo DiCaprio plays the closest thing I've seen to an adult version of Happy. He is still a fats talking liar who cheats around. He wanted more in life, but like his old man he is settling and continuing his habits of lying and cheating. Like his father he works as a salesman and wishes for himself and his family to have been big. At one point in the movie, DiCaprio's character asks the company's boss if he remembers his father who used to work in Yonkers...where Willy worked. Also, this scene in some way mirrors the scene where Willy approaches his boss to ask for a raise and gets fired, except it mirrors it differently in that DiCaprio comes to quit and is given a better offer. This movie feels like a direct spiritual sequel to Death of a Salesman.

In the end, the movie is okay and feels like it is in the wrong format. Although the acting and the writing is superb. This is a continuation of Mendes exploration of issues surrounding the American Dream. Mendes should direct a film version of Death of a Salesman and then sell it and Revolutionary Road and American Beauty in a box set as the American Dream trilogy. It isn't a happy look, but it is necessary to see the limitations and the consequences of not following your dreams instead of the collective dream. Although it is a good film, it should be a play and it is not Mendes best look at the topic of the Dream.

7.5 out of 10

Wannabe

Fanatix Update

2008-08-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 5
1 $WANTED 133.7 4 8 7.2
2 $THE MUMMY 3 93.9 1 7 5.3
3 $SPACE CHIMPS 28.3 0 0 3.8
4 $MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN 0.08 0 0 7.6
5 TRAITOR 26 1 4 6.9
6 CROSSING OVER 9 5 0 7

GoS 4
1 $MAMMA MIA! 124.4 0 9 7
2 $STEP BROTHERS 95.5 0 8 7
3 $SWING VOTE 15.4 0 0 6
4 $MEET DAVE 11.6 0 0 3.9
5 $JOURNEY TO THE CENTER 91.8 0 7 6.4
6 $SISTERHOOD 2 38.3 0 2 6.1

WANNABE 3
1 $TROPIC THUNDER 65.8 2 10 7.9
2 $HELLBOY 2 75.1 2 6 7.7
3 $STAR WARS:TCW 24.9 0 4 5
4 $DEATH RACE 12.6 0 3 6.6
5 $HAMLET 2 0.4 0 0 5.6
6 $THE HOUSE BUNNY 14.5 0 4 5.6

WILLO 1
1 $THE DARK KNIGHT 489 7 26 9.2
2 $HANCOCK 226 4 12 6.7
3 $X-FILES 2 20.7 1 2 6.4
4 $THE LONGSHOTS 4 0 1 3.1
5 BABYLON A.D. 47 0 1 5
6 $MIRRORS 20.2 0 2 6.3

LSS 2
1 $WALL*E 216 5 11 8.7
2 $PINEAPPLE EXPRESS 73.7 0 5 7.9
3 $VICKY,CRISTINA, BARCELONA 8.5 0 0 8.1
4 $THE WACKNESS 1.8 5 0 7.1
5 $BRIDESHEAD REVISITED 5.4 0 0 7.2
6 $HENRY POOLE 1.4 0 0 6.9

STUDIOS BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 290.98 11 19 6.3
GOS 377 0 26 6.066666667
WANNABE 193.3 4 27 6.4
WILLO 806.9 12 44 6.116666667
LSS 306.8 10 16 7.65

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 4 1 3 10 4
GOS 4 1 3 1 9 5
WANNABE 1 2 4 4 11 3
WILLO 5 5 5 2 17 1
LSS 3 3 2 5 13 2

Sorry for the late update. This is the second to last update for this round. You should all be receiving the info for the next round soon. I think Willo should be able to pull this off, although Babylon AD might hurt him and unfortunately for Castle, Crossing Over will not be coming out in time. Expect more soon,

Wannabe

Fanatix Update: Week 9

2008-08-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 5
1 $WANTED 133.3 4 8 7.2
2 $THE MUMMY 3 86.2 1 7 5.3
3 $SPACE CHIMPS 27.5 0 0 3.8
4 $MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN 0.08 0 0 7.6
5 TRAITOR 26 1 4 6.9
6 CROSSING OVER 9 5 0 7

GoS 4
1 $MAMMA MIA! 116 0 9 7
2 $STEP BROTHERS 90 0 8 7
3 $SWING VOTE 14.6 0 0 6
4 $MEET DAVE 11.5 0 0 3.8
5 $JOURNEY TO THE CENTER 88 0 7 6.4
6 $SISTERHOOD 2 32 0 2 6

WANNABE 3
1 $TROPIC THUNDER 36.8 2 5 8.1
2 $HELLBOY 2 74.6 2 6 7.8
3 $STAR WARS:TCW 14.6 0 3 5.3
4 DEATH RACE 55 2 6 5.9
5 HAMLET 2 4.75 3 0 6
6 THE HOUSE BUNNY 21 0 1 5

WILLO 1
1 $THE DARK KNIGHT 471 7 24 9.2
2 $HANCOCK 225 4 12 6.7
3 $X-FILES 2 20.5 1 2 6.4
4 THE LONGSHOTS 19 0 1 5.3
5 BABYLON A.D. 47 0 1 5
6 $MIRRORS 11.1 0 2 6.8

LSS 2
1 $WALL*E 214 5 11 8.7
2 $PINEAPPLE EXPRESS 62.7 0 5 8
3 $VICKY,CRISTINA, BARCELONA 3.7 0 0 8.2
4 $THE WACKNESS 1.7 5 0 7.1
5 $BRIDESHEAD REVISITED 4.6 0 0 7.2
6 $HENRY POOLE 0.8 0 0 6.9

STUDIOS BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 282.08 11 19 6.3
GOS 352.1 0 26 6.033333333
WANNABE 206.75 9 21 6.35
WILLO 793.6 12 42 6.566666667
LSS 287.5 10 16 7.683333333

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 4 2 2 10 3
GOS 4 1 4 1 10 3
WANNABE 1 2 3 3 9 5
WILLO 5 5 5 4 19 1
LSS 3 3 1 5 12 2

Well, two more of my movies came out, but with August nearing an end, I will be scrambling to make anywhere near the predicted amount of money I am supposed to get. Also, Clone Wars abysmal failure to be worth 2 cents wont help. My guess right now is that Willo secures 1rst. LSS or GoS takes 2nd and 3rd. While Castle and myself duke it out for 4 and 5. I'll be contacting people soon in regards to a possible next round of Fanatix. Until then...

Wannabe

Fanatix Update: Week 8

2008-08-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, it has been a while for me to submit scores and things mostly due to laziness and then a vacation. Here is the current score as of now.

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 5
1 $WANTED 132.6 4 8 7.2
2 $THE MUMMY 3 71 1 7 5.4
3 $SPACE CHIMPS 25.5 0 0 3.7
4 $MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN 0.07 0 0 7.6
5 TRAITOR 26 1 4 6.9
6 CROSSING OVER 9 5 0 7

GoS 4
1 $MAMMA MIA! 104.1 0 9 7
2 $STEP BROTHERS 81.1 0 8 7
3 $SWING VOTE 12 0 0 5.9
4 $MEET DAVE 11.4 0 0 3.7
5 $JOURNEY TO THE CENTER 81.7 0 7 6.4
6 $SISTERHOOD 2 19.6 0 2 6.1

WANNABE 3
1 TROPIC THUNDER 150 9 14 7.7
2 $HELLBOY 2 73.5 2 6 7.8
3 STAR WARS:TCW 75 4 8 7.1
4 DEATH RACE 55 2 6 5.9
5 HAMLET 2 4.75 3 0 6
6 THE HOUSE BUNNY 21 0 1 5

WILLO 1
1 $THE DARK KNIGHT 441 7 20 9.2
2 $HANCOCK 221.7 4 12 6.8
3 $X-FILES 2 19.7 1 2 6.4
4 THE LONGSHOTS 19 0 1 5.3
5 BABYLON A.D. 47 0 1 5
6 MIRRORS 22 0 1 5.3

LSS 2
1 $WALL*E 210 5 11 8.7
2 $PINEAPPLE EXPRESS 41.3 0 4 8.1
3 VICKY,CRISTINA, BARCELONA 7.75 6 0 6.3
4 $THE WACKNESS 1.6 5 0 7
5 $BRIDESHEAD REVISITED 3.3 0 0 7.2
6 HENRY POOLE 3.5 0 0 6

STUDIOS BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 264.17 11 19 6.3
GOS 309.9 0 26 6.016666667
WANNABE 379.25 20 35 6.583333333
WILLO 770.4 12 37 6.333333333
LSS 267.45 16 15 7.216666667

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 1 2 2 2 7 5
GOS 3 1 3 1 8 4
WANNABE 4 5 4 4 17 1
WILLO 5 3 5 3 16 2
LSS 2 4 1 5 12 3

Although I am still in the lead, I am slowly beginning to slip to Willo's all impressive Dark Knight slayer. That movie is ridiculous. Also, I will drop significantly once most of my movies come out. GoS movies, while not great, have potential to earn a lot before the month is over and all of his films are out at this point. LSS has dropped a little due to recent releases, but she has a strong lineup and can easily come back from behind. Castle...well, I'm not holding my breath. My predictions... Willo 1st, GoS second, LSS third, followed by me and then Castle. Enjoy!

Wannabe

Week 4: Update

2008-07-23T04:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, LSS has traded Henry Poole is Here for the International. The Dark Knight came out and destroyed the box office. Also, Mamma Mia and Space Chimps came out, and unless you're a giggling flighty girl, please don't see Mamma Mia in theaters. Go see it live, much better.

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 5
1 $WANTED 123.3 4 8 7.4
2 THE MUMMY 3 105 7 11 6
3 $SPACE CHIMPS 7.1 0 0 4.4
4 MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN 16 0 0 5.1
5 TRAITOR 26 1 4 6.9
6 CROSSING OVER 9 5 0 7

GoS 4
1 $MAMMA MIA! 27.7 0 4 7.1
2 STEP BROTHERS 80 2 4 7.2
3 SWING VOTE 37 2 2 6.3
4 $MEET DAVE 9.4 0 0 3.2
5 $JOURNEY TO THE CENTER 43.5 0 5 6.6
6 SISTERHOOD 2 31 0 3 6.1

WANNABE 3
1 TROPIC THUNDER 150 9 14 7.7
2 $HELLBOY 2 56.5 2 6 8
3 STAR WARS:TCW 75 4 8 7.1
4 DEATH RACE 55 2 6 5.9
5 HAMLET 2 4.75 3 0 6
6 THE HOUSE BUNNY 21 0 1 5

WILLO 1
1 $THE DARK KNIGHT 158.4 5 5 9.6
2 $HANCOCK 191 4 12 6.9
3 X-FILES 2 45 1 3 6.3
4 THE LONGSHOTS 19 0 1 5.3
5 BABYLON A.D. 47 0 1 5
6 MIRRORS 22 0 1 5.3

LSS 2
1 $WALL*E 182.7 5 11 8.8
2 PINEAPPLE EXPRESS 80 5 9 7.1
3 VICKY,CRISTINA, BARCELONA 7.75 6 0 6.3
4 $THE WACKNESS 0.7 5 0 6.8
5 BRIDESHEAD REVISITED 7 0 0 7
6 THE INTERNATIONAL 40 0 3 6.6

$=released

STUDIOS BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 286.4 17 23 6.133333333
GOS 228.6 4 18 6.083333333
WANNABE 362.25 20 35 6.616666667
WILLO 482.4 10 23 6.4
LSS 318.15 21 23 7.1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 3 4 2 11 4
GOS 1 1 1 1 4 5
WANNABE 4 4 5 4 17 1
WILLO 5 2 4 3 14 3
LSS 3 5 4 5 17 1

Wannabe

Week 3: Update

2008-07-14T16:22:00.000-07:00

Alright fellas, below are the updates for the week. As you can see, GoS didn't do too hot with two opening movies, one a complete failure and the other only mediocre. Lets hope he has some hidden surprises.

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 5
1 $WANTED 112.5 4 8 7.4
2 THE MUMMY 3 105 7 11 6
3 SPACE CHIMPS 29 0 1 4.8
4 MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN 16 0 0 5.1
5 TRAITOR 26 1 4 6.9
6 CROSSING OVER 9 5 0 7

GoS 4
1 MAMMA MIA! 90 3 5 6.9
2 STEP BROTHERS 80 2 4 7.2
3 SWING VOTE 37 2 2 6.3
4 $MEET DAVE 5.2 0 0 3.9
5 $JOURNEY TO THE CENTER 21 0 3 6.7
6 SISTERHOOD 2 31 0 3 6.1

WANNABE 3
1 TROPIC THUNDER 150 9 14 7.7
2 $HELLBOY 2 34.5 2 5 8.2
3 STAR WARS:TCW 75 4 8 7.1
4 DEATH RACE 55 2 6 5.9
5 HAMLET 2 4.75 3 0 6
6 THE HOUSE BUNNY 21 0 1 5

WILLO 1
1 THE DARK KNIGHT 225 8 15 8
2 $HANCOCK 164 4 9 6.9
3 X-FILES 2 45 1 3 6.3
4 THE LONGSHOTS 19 0 1 5.3
5 BABYLON A.D. 47 0 1 5
6 MIRRORS 22 0 1 5.3

LSS 2
1 $WALL*E 163 5 11 8.9
2 PINEAPPLE EXPRESS 80 5 9 7.1
3 VICKY,CRISTINA, BARCELONA 7.75 6 0 6.3
4 $THE WACKNESS 0.5 5 0 6.7
5 BRIDESHEAD REVISITED 7 0 0 7
6 HENRY POOLE IS HERE 0.3 0 0 5.5

$=released

STUDIOS BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 297.5 17 24 6.2
GOS 264.2 7 17 6.183333333
WANNABE 340.25 20 34 6.65
WILLO 522 13 30 6.133333333
LSS 258.55 21 20 6.916666667

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 3 3 3 3 12 3
GOS 2 1 1 2 6 5
WANNABE 4 4 5 4 17 1
WILLO 5 2 4 1 12 3
LSS 1 5 2 5 13 2

Below are the still avaliable movies.

Frozen River Fri. Aug 1 $4M 3 0 6.1
Boy A Wed. Jul 23 $1.50M 0 0 8.1
The International * Fri. Aug 15 $40.00M 0 3 6.6
Hell Ride * Fri. Aug 8 $750K 0 0 6.9
American Teen Fri. Jul 25 $3.00M 0 0 7
Fly Me to the Moon - 3D * Fri. Aug 22 $2.00M 2 0 6.5
Lou Reed's Berlin Fri. Jul 18 $475K 0 0 7
Hounddog Fri. Jul 18 $2.00M 0 0 6.2
The Accidental Husband * Fri. Aug 22 $12.00M 0 0 5.9
College * Fri. Aug 29 $19.00M 0 0 4.7
Untitled Spoof Movie * Fri. Aug 29 $27.00M 0 3 4.7

Until next time,
Wannabe

Week 2: The Mission

2008-07-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

"SHADOW SOCIETY FILMS RECLUSIVE DIRECTOR TO MAKE A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT, ALL WELCOME"
The flyers were big. Bold. Everyone in town would be there. All of the cinephiles and the rest dying to finally see him. To see and hear this filthy rich man of the dark in public. In the light. Like he wanted.

After all, distractions were not easy to come by these days and he needed all of the time he could get for his next mission. It wouldn't be easy. It was dangerous and they couldn't know he was coming. After all, golden fleece or not, grave danger lurked in the Otherlands...they would need to think he was preoccupied. It was time to give the world his newest creation and to feast in its glory. His clone!

With one push of a button, the clay clone golem opened it eyes and prepared to fulfill its mission by walking up the steps to stage at City Hall, while the other GoS nimbly stepped through the backdoor.

The next day no one noticed the blurb about the break in at the museum. The only thing of interest was
"The Rocker rocked out for a Journey!"
**************************************************************************************

Okay people, GoS has switched out The Rocker for Journey to the Center of the Earth with the following being the results.

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 5
1 $WANTED 90 4 7 7.5
2 THE MUMMY 3 105 7 11 6
3 SPACE CHIMPS 29 0 1 4.8
4 MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN 16 0 0 5.1
5 TRAITOR 26 1 4 6.9
6 CROSSING OVER 9 5 0 7

GoS 4
1 MAMMA MIA! 90 3 5 6.9
2 STEP BROTHERS 80 2 4 7.2
3 SWING VOTE 37 2 2 6.3
4 MEET DAVE 60 1 2 5.3
5 JOURNEY TO THE CENTER 65 4 7 6.1
6 SISTERHOOD 2 31 0 3 6.1

WANNABE 3
1 TROPIC THUNDER 150 9 14 7.7
2 HELLBOY 2 65 2 3 6.5
3 STAR WARS:TCW 75 4 8 7.1
4 DEATH RACE 55 2 6 5.9
5 HAMLET 2 4.75 3 0 6
6 THE HOUSE BUNNY 21 0 1 5

WILLO 1
1 THE DARK KNIGHT 225 8 15 8
2 $HANCOCK 107 4 5 7
3 X-FILES 2 45 1 3 6.3
4 THE LONGSHOTS 19 0 1 5.3
5 BABYLON A.D. 47 0 1 5
6 MIRRORS 22 0 1 5.3

LSS 2
1 $WALL*E 128 5 9 8.9
2 PINEAPPLE EXPRESS 80 5 9 7.1
3 VICKY,CRISTINA, BARCELONA 7.75 6 0 6.3
4 $THE WACKNESS 0.18 5 0 6.6
5 BRIDESHEAD REVISITED 7 0 0 7
6 HENRY POOLE IS HERE 0.3 0 0 5.5

$=released

STUDIOS BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 275 17 23 6.216666667
GOS 363 12 23 6.316666667
WANNABE 370.75 20 32 6.366666667
WILLO 465 13 26 6.15
LSS 223.23 21 18 6.9

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 3 2.5 2 9.5 4
GOS 3 1 2.5 3 9.5 4
WANNABE 4 4 5 4 17 1
WILLO 5 2 4 1 12 3
LSS 1 5 2 5 13 2

So what has happened? Well, GoS has managed to bump himself up enough to now tie Castle for last. He is moving up slowly. And here are the remaining films for choosing!

Frozen River Fri. Aug 1 $4M 3 0 6.1
Boy A Wed. Jul 23 $1.50M 0 0 8.1
The International * Fri. Aug 15 $40.00M 0 3 6.6
Hell Ride * Fri. Aug 8 $750K 0 0 6.9
American Teen Fri. Jul 25 $3.00M 0 0 7
Fly Me to the Moon - 3D * Fri. Aug 22 $2.00M 2 0 6.5
Lou Reed's Berlin Fri. Jul 18 $475K 0 0 7
Hounddog Fri. Jul 18 $2.00M 0 0 6.2
The Accidental Husband * Fri. Aug 22 $12.00M 0 0 5.9
College * Fri. Aug 29 $19.00M 0 0 4.7
Untitled Spoof Movie * Fri. Aug 29 $27.00M 0 3 4.7
THE ROCKER 26 0 1 5.2
August ?????
Garden Party ??????
Baghead??????
Assassination of a High School President???????

Week 2: Update

2008-07-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

As of last week, Hancock and The Wackness both opened. Also, as of yet, no one has acquired Journey to the Center of the Earth which opens this coming weekend alongside Hellboy 2. So here are the updates, and they are shocking with LSS coming up fast and taking second.

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 5
1 $WANTED 90 4 7 7.5
2 THE MUMMY 3 105 7 11 6
3 SPACE CHIMPS 29 0 1 4.8
4 MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN 16 0 0 5.1
5 TRAITOR 26 1 4 6.9
6 CROSSING OVER 9 5 0 7

GoS 4
1 MAMMA MIA! 90 3 5 6.9
2 STEP BROTHERS 80 2 4 7.2
3 SWING VOTE 37 2 2 6.3
4 MEET DAVE 60 1 2 5.3
5 THE ROCKER 26 0 1 5.2
6 SISTERHOOD 2 31 0 3 6.1

WANNABE 3
1 TROPIC THUNDER 150 9 14 7.7
2 HELLBOY 2 65 2 3 6.5
3 STAR WARS:TCW 75 4 8 7.1
4 DEATH RACE 55 2 6 5.9
5 HAMLET 2 4.75 3 0 6
6 THE HOUSE BUNNY 21 0 1 5

WILLO 1
1 THE DARK KNIGHT 225 8 15 8
2 $HANCOCK 107 4 5 7
3 X-FILES 2 45 1 3 6.3
4 THE LONGSHOTS 19 0 1 5.3
5 BABYLON A.D. 47 0 1 5
6 MIRRORS 22 0 1 5.3

LSS 2
1 $WALL*E 128 5 9 8.9
2 PINEAPPLE EXPRESS 80 5 9 7.1
3 VICKY,CRISTINA, BARCELONA 7.75 6 0 6.3
4 $THE WACKNESS 0.18 5 0 6.6
5 BRIDESHEAD REVISITED 7 0 0 7
6 HENRY POOLE IS HERE 0.3 0 0 5.5

$=Movie that is released and held to actual numbers

STUDIOS BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 275 17 23 6.216666667
GOS 324 8 17 6.166666667
WANNABE 370.75 20 32 6.366666667
WILLO 465 13 26 6.15
LSS 223.23 21 18 6.9

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 3 3 3 11 4
GOS 3 1 1 2 7 5
WANNABE 4 4 5 4 17 1
WILLO 5 2 4 1 12 3
LSS 1 5 2 5 13 2

Frozen River Fri. Aug 1 $4M 3 0 6.1
Boy A Wed. Jul 23 $1.50M 0 0 8.1
The International * Fri. Aug 15 $40.00M 0 3 6.6
Hell Ride * Fri. Aug 8 $750K 0 0 6.9
American Teen Fri. Jul 25 $3.00M 0 0 7
Fly Me to the Moon - 3D * Fri. Aug 22 $2.00M 2 0 6.5
Lou Reed's Berlin Fri. Jul 18 $475K 0 0 7
Hounddog Fri. Jul 18 $2.00M 0 0 6.2
The Accidental Husband * Fri. Aug 22 $12.00M 0 0 5.9
College * Fri. Aug 29 $19.00M 0 0 4.7
Untitled Spoof Movie * Fri. Aug 29 $27.00M 0 3 4.7
Journey to the Center of the Earth ? ? ? ?
August ?????
Garden Party ??????
Baghead??????
Assassination of a High School President???????

After reviewing the upcoming release schedule for films in theaters at boxofficemojo.com...I realized that Fantasy Moguls doesn't include all of the releases. Therefore I have included the missing releases here and they have ???? because I don't know what their predictions are for money. Choose wisely!

Pick o' the week: You have a bad movie that isn't going anywhere and you need some BO, try swapping out for Journey to the Center of the Earth. It's IMDB will be bleh and it probably won't make it in PTA. But it might get some Top 5 points for one week and it should make a decent amount more than any indie releases.

Sincerely,
Wannabe

Week 1: leftovers

2008-07-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

Quick update to week 1. GoS has dropped Frozen River and acquired the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 instead. Here are the new ratings and the leftover choices are at the bottom.

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 5
1 $WANTED 62 3 4 7.6
2 THE MUMMY 3 105 7 11 6
3 SPACE CHIMPS 29 0 1 4.8
4 MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN 16 0 0 5.1
5 TRAITOR 26 1 4 6.9
6 CROSSING OVER 9 5 0 7

GoS 4
1 MAMMA MIA! 90 3 5 6.9
2 STEP BROTHERS 80 2 4 7.2
3 SWING VOTE 37 2 2 6.3
4 MEET DAVE 60 1 2 5.3
5 THE ROCKER 26 0 1 5.2
6 SISTERHOOD 2 31 0 3 6.1

WANNABE 3
1 TROPIC THUNDER 150 9 14 7.7
2 HELLBOY 2 65 2 3 6.5
3 STAR WARS:TCW 75 4 8 7.1
4 DEATH RACE 55 2 6 5.9
5 HAMLET 2 4.75 3 0 6
6 THE HOUSE BUNNY 21 0 1 5

WILLO 1
1 THE DARK KNIGHT 225 8 15 8
2 HANCOCK 175 6 13 7
3 X-FILES 2 45 1 3 6.3
4 THE LONGSHOTS 19 0 1 5.3
5 BABYLON A.D. 47 0 1 5
6 MIRRORS 22 0 1 5.3

ANNA 2
1 $WALL*E 80 2 5 9.1
2 PINEAPPLE EXPRESS 80 5 9 7.1
3 VICKY,CRISTINA, BARCELONA 7.75 6 0 6.3
4 THE WACKNESS 5 0 0 6.7
5 BRIDESHEAD REVISITED 7 0 0 7
6 HENRY POOLE IS HERE 0.3 0 0 5.5

$=Movie released and not based on predictions

STUDIOS BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 247 16 20 6.233333333
GOS 324 8 17 6.166666667
WANNABE 370.75 20 32 6.366666667
WILLO 533 15 34 6.15
ANNA 180.05 13 14 6.95

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 4 3 3 12 3
GOS 3 1 2 2 8 5
WANNABE 4 5 4 4 17 1
WILLO 5 3 5 1 14 2
ANNA 1 2 1 5 9 4

Movies remaining:
Frozen River Fri. Aug 1 $4M 3 0 6.1
Boy A Wed. Jul 23 $1.50M 0 0 8.1
The International * Fri. Aug 15 $40.00M 0 3 6.6
Hell Ride * Fri. Aug 8 $750K 0 0 6.9
American Teen Fri. Jul 25 $3.00M 0 0 7
Fly Me to the Moon - 3D * Fri. Aug 22 $2.00M 2 0 6.5
Lou Reed's Berlin Fri. Jul 18 $475K 0 0 7
Hounddog Fri. Jul 18 $2.00M 0 0 6.2
The Accidental Husband * Fri. Aug 22 $12.00M 0 0 5.9
College * Fri. Aug 29 $19.00M 0 0 4.7
Untitled Spoof Movie * Fri. Aug 29 $27.00M 0 3 4.7

Alright gents...and lady. Hit me with any new updates!

Wannabe

The Reunion: Week 1

2008-07-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

It had been a year since Wannabe or any of the other moguls had seen or heard of Willo. The last news out of Kenya was that the man had gone native and was clearing house with cheap rip-offs of Mel Gibson flicks. Not a bad business, if you can afford the heat.

Swoosh! A car zoomed past, sloshing the curbside with the mud of the decadent trashy city. A city that would soon replace the soggy Armani clothes on Wannabe's back.

The car swerved around the corner and stopped on the otherside of the block. The sign was given. A light flashed off a lamp post 20 meters away. Wannabe smiled, looking forward to another crooked drawing to be held in a basement lit by gaslights and torches...something of a tradition according to GoS. He always seemed to have a thing for secrets and skullduggery...a fact that no detective could prove. But one thing Wannabe could prove, was that he liked a good challenge.

Wannabe clutched his briefcase closer to him and pulled out a copy of The Phony Express, letting it soak in the lovely pellets beginning to fall above him again. The picture of Willo and the story of his return and buyback of his old failing studios from the bartender absorbing, expanding, and tearing downward as Wannabe rushed toward the stairs of the parking lot. Most people look both ways before crossing the street, but not Wannabe. After all, this was a private affair, and it wouldn't do to have uninvited guests. Quickly, Wannabe descended the stairs into the blackness of the stairwell...and vanished from the street.

Or so he thought. Across the street in the alley, somebody saw and somebody followed.

Once he reached the bottom, Wannabe quickly rapped out the ridiculous tune to allow him entrance. A shave and a haircut. Seriously? Castle was beginning to lose it mentally. Hopefully this would follow over into the draft. A panel pulled back to reveal two bushy hairy eyebrows and a quizzical expression.

"Catchy, ain't it?"

Wannabe shook his head as he pushed the door open. The room was not bright, but it was bright enough. Everyone was there. Castle was just walking to his seat, a constant bewildered look on his face. GoS only had his foot inching out of the shadow in the corner, a sign that everyone should know he was there. And Willo...well, Willo was sitting at the table, snoozing in full war paint. Red streaks under his eyes only accentuated the bloodshot quality when he opened them and stared. It was going to be a long night, and with the few picks they had, it would get interesting.

Although Wannabe pulled out the picks and prepared for the draft, he noticed that Willo was no longer watching him, but was looking behind him...at the door. As was Castle...and GoS's foot was now missing. Completely hidden.

Turning toward the doorway, Wannabe noticed a silhouette, a female silhouette obscuring the doorway.

"May we help you?"

"I want in."

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me. Count me in"

"I'm afraid this is exclusive."

She threw something at Wannabe...a million dollars wrapped in a string.

"That should be enough to start. I'm in and I have my own studio. You might not know me now, but you will.Just call me LSS"

GoS's foot creeped out of the corner and tapped whimsically on the floor.The bastard apparently approved. Castle merely mumbled and tried to grab the money. Willo gave his best death grimace, a sign of enjoying a challenge. And Wannabe...

"Fine."
*************************************************************************************

Okay people, the draft went as follows. Willo won the first pick. LSS won the second. I won the 3rd. GoS won the fourth. and Castle the 5th. After it was done, here is how it shook out.

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 $WANTED 62 3 4 7.6
2 THE MUMMY 3 105 7 11 6
3 SPACE CHIMPS 29 0 1 4.8
4 MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN 16 0 0 5.1
5 TRAITOR 26 1 4 6.9
6 CROSSING OVER 9 5 0 7

GoS
1 MAMMA MIA! 90 3 5 6.9
2 STEP BROTHERS 80 2 4 7.2
3 SWING VOTE 37 2 2 6.3
4 MEET DAVE 60 1 2 5.3
5 THE ROCKER 26 0 1 5.2
6 FROZEN RIVER 4 3 0 6.1

WANNABE
1 TROPIC THUNDER 150 9 14 7.7
2 HELLBOY 2 65 2 3 6.5
3 STAR WARS:TCW 75 4 8 7.1
4 DEATH RACE 55 2 6 5.9
5 HAMLET 2 4.75 3 0 6
6 THE HOUSE BUNNY 21 0 1 5

WILLO
1 THE DARK KNIGHT 225 8 15 8
2 HANCOCK 175 6 13 7
3 X-FILES 2 45 1 3 6.3
4 THE LONGSHOTS 19 0 1 5.3
5 BABYLON A.D. 47 0 1 5
6 MIRRORS 22 0 1 5.3

ANNA
1 $WALL*E 80 2 5 9.1
2 PINEAPPLE EXPRESS 80 5 9 7.1
3 VICKY,CRISTINA, BARCELONA 7.75 6 0 6.3
4 THE WACKNESS 5 0 0 6.7
5 BRIDESHEAD REVISITED 7 0 0 7
6 HENRY POOLE IS HERE 0.3 0 0 5.5

$=Movie has been released and is no longer based on predictions

STUDIOS BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 247 16 20 6.233333333
GOS 297 11 14 6.166666667
WANNABE 370.75 20 32 6.366666667
WILLO 533 15 34 6.15
ANNA 180.05 13 14 6.95

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 4 3 3 12 3
GOS 3 1 2 2 8 5
WANNABE 4 5 4 4 17 1
WILLO 5 3 5 1 14 2
ANNA 1 2 1 5 9 4

So there you have it. Of course there is only 10 available extra movies...so maybe what we will do is encourage some special rules. You might hear more later, if not, play like normal. Any questions, hit me up.

Wannabe

Southland Tales

2008-06-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

"Southland heads too far West"

Richard Kelly, by some, is considered a genius for his debut work on Donnie Darko. A film that hit it big on video in rental stores and developed a cult following. By others, he is a one-hit wonder and many point to his sophomore effort Southland Tales as proof. So, is it really that bad? Mmmmm, yes and no.

The Good: Southland Tales is an epic reimagining of the apocalypse set in the future in LA. It shares some similarities with our world and time feels out of joint. Parallels between the drugs and the new energy sources are strong. At times, the parallels between the future in the movie and now is so similar that it feels like brow-beating. However, the world is definitly unique if you can understand it. The dialogue is intriguing at points with some interesting scenes holding everything together. Most importantly, with it being Richard Kelly, the visuals are fantastic. Even when the plot or the acting feels like someone just stuck a suck bomb on set and walked off, the visuals are vitalizing and energetic. Since the subject matter is so trippy, then the visuals need to match it. also, the actors are pretty fun to watch. Jon Lovitz is a creep and Sean William Scott shows he can act. The Rock isn't bad but pretty much everyone else besides these people and Cheri Oteri suck. So why is this good? Because it is so funny to see so many random actors and actresses in this film. My God, it has Raiden!

The Bad: The plot is so epic and Kelly tries to squeeze in so much, that it is quite easy to get lost. Also, at times the CGI used seems very crappy for such an ornate future. Also, the plot itself. When everything comes to a head at the end, there are several plot lines and threads that feel useless and simply added in for the ability to hire more actors/actresses. Another terrible thing about the film, is the dialogue and the acting. Many of the actors have very little to work with and it relies too much on style and not enough on substance. And what is the style? Pseudo christian mythology turned urban future style...complete garbage.

What should have happened with this film, is Kelly should have spent more time developing the script and the paring it down. It is six parts long with the first three parts being graphic novels that pre set the movie, which is the last three parts. Honestly, the movie does seem like a crazy graphic novel come to life and I have thoroughly enjoyed the first graphic novel. The problem is, that in graphic novels, especially the old ones, the dialogue makes little to no sense and comes across ridiculous when read aloud. Kelly has written a great six part graphic novel set. Here's hoping that one day they make graphic novels out of the last three movie parts.

Suggestion: Watch it once on DVD, don't buy it. It is interesting, but needs work.

2.0 out of 5

Wannabe

The Incredible Hulk

2008-06-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

'Hulk hulks out'

Okay, so who seriously thought this movie would be good? The first film by Ang Lee, a master of cinema, blew American rejection juice all over everyone's face! So why does anyone want to see this film and why did a movie studio make it? Answer: It stars Edward Norton and Marvel handled it themselves as a new origin movie. Why? because they knew the last one sucketh.

When the trailer for this movie first appeared, I was shocked by the appearance of Edward Norton as the titular hero. "Isn't Norton a good actor?" I kept asking myself. HE usually has a great eye for films, although Down in the Valley is proof that he can slip up at times. Then when I heard that Louis Leterrier, a man known for directing the plot holed Transporter films, was directing this film for a fledgling company owned by Marvel, it translated to little cash and Norton messed up in my head. Well, dammit, Marvel bested me again by making its second movie out almost as amazing as Iron Man.

Seriously, the lighting, plot, acting, and even the smashing is ten times better in this movie. Here's why...they tried to stick to what worked with the old TV show. I have never met a person who has seen that show and not liked it on some level. Which is pretty impressive considering the Hulk is essentially a green Jekyll/Hyde wannabe character. Thankfully, the Hulk in this movie, while a beast, is at least intelligent enough to communicate at times and his humanity is apparent. The idea of Banner being on the run works well and even the creation of the villain is handled superbly. In fact, the biggest issue to this film, is the acting.

William Hurt and Tim Roth have no trouble with their acting, it is actually the two other lead roles by Liv Tyler and Edward Norton that need the help. I know, I said it, Norton needs help. Norton as Banner is able to capture his intelligence and his desire to remain human, but the Norton intensity that brings his characters to life, the same intensity that Crowe had back in Gladiator in his eyes that made us believe, is gone. Where? No idea. Norton is okay as Banner, but I honestly felt that Steve Buscemi with his crazy body type and eyes would have been a better choice, although I wouldn't have been able to believe his ability to get such a hot girlfriend then. (What is up with hot girls in movies? I have always known but now I am just getting sick of it. Each job, factory, hero, there is always an incredibly hot girl that works somewhere waiting to say something to a main character. Even in the more realistic romantic comedies like Knocked Up! Seriously, Hollywood, look, I get tired of waking up each day and thinking a hot girl is around some corner somewhere waiting to say something to me that I will then have to deny. It's not true. And if it is true for you...I hate you.) Speaking of hot girlfriends, Liv Tyler is definitly attractive, but her whispery, teary-eyed acting style does nothing except come across as a pouty daughter. I don't blame Hurt for completely disregarding her feelings and she does not seem like a scientist. More like the cheerleader that grew up. Thankfully Tim Roth and William Hurt can hold this film together as the crazy and mean spirited villains. Them and the Hulk. Man, Tim Roth hasn't been quite this good in years. Speaking of good, I owe an apology to Leterrier. The shots and the composition in this film harkens back to King Kong at times and he keeps the action tight and gritty in a manner that keeps me riveted and longing for adventure. If and when they bring the Hulk back, Leterrier needs to make sure that whatever villain they use is slightly better than Roth which should be a hard order to fill.

4 out of 5

Wannabe

The Happening

2008-06-14T15:57:00.000-07:00

'The Happening did not happen'

Shyamalan tends to fall into one of two categories: love him or hate him. His early commercial work is undoubtedly his best with Signs and The Sixth Sense leading the way. Whereas his later work became too preachy with things like The Village and Lady in the Water. The truth of the matter is this, Shyamalan comes up with good ideas that involve a twist and then plays them out. Unfortunately, his dialogue and sometimes the twists and conclusions are not able to live up to the great premise he sets. The thing about Signs and The Sixth Sense that works is that they are able to make the viewers care about the characters more than the great premise, so that when the surprise twist comes, it really is a surprise. That and Shyamalan used to be more subtle when giving hints. He likes to have everything in the film tie together in some Hitchcockian manner. No loose ends. So, where does this film fit in his canon?

The Happening is no where near as bad as The Village and it is better than Lady, but it isn't able to capture the old genius of his original work. The premise is interesting and Shyamalan proves that he knows how to make a creepy film. Most directors love to show gore, why? Because they think it scares people. Not true, it grosses people out. A person being shot doesn't scare me, it just makes me want to vomit. It is not being able to see the consequences of forces beyond our understanding which scares mankind. Sixth Sense it was the dead. Signs had aliens. Village had a fictitious monster and Lady had some bizarre fairy tale come to life. The Happening also has an unknown force that is attacking the population. They explain it and how it makes sense and to be honest, after the movie, walking the dog on my street with no other humans present and only the hum of bees...it was creepy. Shyamalan for all of his faults knows how to scare people and how to get inside the human psyche for images and scenarios that will last a long time. His weakness, is his writing and working with actors.

The writing in this movie borders on ridiculous. Some scenes dialogue is so obvious in what it is supposed to do to the audience that it sounds like it was simply lifted from other movies. Of course, one or two moments might be okay and I'm sure people could blame this on Marky Mark. However, the truth is that Shyamalan hasn't taken the time since becoming famous to hone his dialogue as much as necessary to produce what is needed. The ties to the environmental crisis is blatantly clear and now my head hurts thanks to his clubbing.

As for the actors, here is where this movie succeeds and dies. EVERYONE ELSE EXCEPT for the two leads do a great job. I know some have said that John Leguizamo is bleh, but honestly, his character and the self-sacrificing choices he makes are great to watch and are believable. Whoever plays Ms. Jones is psychotic and lovely to watch. Even the two kids are great. However, Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel have NO CHEMISTRY. None. I know the dialogue is supposed to help and every once in a while we see that Mark Wahlberg can be upset and or charming. That's it. Zooey can look wide-eyed and crazy. So why does this matter? What is this film about? It's about The Happening and the environmental crisis. What does it need to be about to be a good film? The relationship and healing of the two main character's love and relationship with each other. THIS IS THE BIGGEST FLAW IN THE FILM. Shyamalan has done a decent job of almost recapturing the glory of his first few films, but he put too much focus in the wrong place and a good film is a more subtle film. He needs to remember that his films require subtlety and that he can't just throw in the towel when presented with a problem he can't think of to fix right away. The good news is that this film shows he is making improvements and steps to recapture his former days, the bad news is that it is not there yet and a lot of great visuals and a good premise is now wasted on only an okay movie. I wonder how many premises he has left? Lets hope we see him figure things out before it is too late.

3.4 out of 5

Wannabe

Summer List

2008-06-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

Man, it has been forever since I have had a chance to post anything. Thankfully, my teaching year is winding down and I am finally getting a chance to come back and spend some time on my loves instead of just trying to survive the first year. And for anyone who thinks first-year teachers don't deserve praise and money...you deserve to be flogged. Anyhow, I have been keeping up with movies this entire long while, I just have not been able to write reviews about them. So here is how I am going to kickoff this summer. Below will be a list of movies I rate as the top best 5 summer movies SO FAR. I'll also include some reasons why. After this list will a new review for Shyamalan's recent debacle, The Happening. And if I can get to it after that, the announcement and postings of a new season of Indie Fanatix League!! Woot Woot! Happy day I'm a loser. :( Oh well.

Anyhow, the top best 5 movies so far this summer(May - Now) are:
5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
"#5? Really?" Yes. Why? Because it blew. However, it is still Indiana Jones and everyone in their right mind will see it and you might want to know what they are talking about. I'm sorry, I'm not sure whose choice it was, Lucas or Spielberg, but the entire premise of the movie is too much science fiction. I know that the old-school adventures are similar and related to the early sci-fi days and they do a decent job of combining them. But Indiana Jones has traditionally focused more on the exotic locations and ideals. As over-the-top as he has been in the past, the world of Indiana Jones is based in a universe we could potentially believe. However, the strain of the collaborating monkeys, the mystical powers of the crystal skull, and the ridiculous ants and random attack scenes for no reason break the ability to believe and follow along with the movie. Especially the damn atomic bomb scene. The decision to rely on CGI and special effects at all instead of just doing everything without it really helps to destroy this movie. Besides the water cooler conversation you will get out of this movie, you should also come out enjoying and knowing about Shia's take on Indy's son if the rumors are to be true that he will continue the franchise. You might want to know a little about his intro to the series and his origins. I will say this, he is the most refreshing part of the movie to me...but the chip on his shoulder is a bit too large.

4. Speed Racer
Yes, Speed Racer is ahead of Indiana Jones. Unlike Indy, which tries to promise a certain experience and fails, Speed Racer seems very bleh to begin with for the older generation and manages to deliver an okay and thrilling experience. The CGI alone in this film is a great reason to watch it as the Wachowskis have advanced technology for films into the future once again. It is the first and only time a movie has been made in which I feel it is a true live action cartoon. Somehow, all the people are animated...I swear. I doubt anyone will love it, but the car scenes are pretty sweet and you will probably leave thinking, eh. Which is better than what you would thought you would leave with.

3. Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
I read this series a long time ago and I was impressed with the dedication to the story and theology shown in the first film. But man, I don't remember Narnia being this dark. This is certainly a movie that rests on its human actors to uphold the movie...human actors that are not that old. So they uphold it only so so, but better than they did in the first film. Also, the fight scenes and the decisions made in the battle are pretty cool. I must say that the bad guy and the dwarf are AMAZING. Peter Dinklage has finally earned my approval. However, the conclusion to the film is slightly...friggin Deus Ex Machina. I hate that device. But other than that, it is a good dark ride that brings up a lot of questions about the presence of God and how it could work in our world.

2. Kung Fu Panda
Friggin Jack Black. One of my least favorite stars and yet he managed to put out one of the best CG movies I've ever seen. This movie is fun, smart, well directed and written. The jokes are good and it is full of Kung Fu references. Although, some casting choices were really weird, this made me laugh for hours. Great quotable movie, plus everyone can see it. So go do it!

1. Iron Man
Yea, if you haven't heard, this is good. Damn good. I never liked Iron Man, but with Robert Downey in the part, this movie came together and now I do. Possibly the best comic book movie ever made. Definitely entertaining. I don't know a single person who dislikes this film. See it and you won't regret it. Now to see if Marvel can uphold the quality with Hulk.

Unfortunately, some films I would like to recommend but that came out before May began are Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Forbidden Kingdom. Sarah Marshall is HILARIOUS! Whereas Forbidden Kingdom has the epic battle between Jet Li and Jackie Chan and feels slightly like a modern day Karate Kid. Whoever the bad kid is though has a future ahead of him. That was some crazy intensity.

Wannabe

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T19:47:00.001-08:00

Alright everyone,
I'm incredibly sorry for the lack of updates to the blog. Let me just say that teaching is the biggest and most time consuming waste a person can dedicate themselves to and that I was a fool to have done so. Now, with that said, I am still continuing this foppish quest which means don't expect a lot of updates until summer rolls around this year. Next year there is a better chance of things picking up again. However, as a Thanksgiving treat, here is the final score from the last Indie Fantasy Moguls game...and what a friggin upset it was.

BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
ELIZABETH:THE GOLDEN AGE 14.1 0 0 7
ACROSS THE UNVIERSE 19.3 5 0 7.9
DARJEELING LIMITED 6.1 10 0 8.1
SHOOT EM UP 12.8 0 2 7.4
THE NANNY DIARIES 25.8 0 0 6.2
RESURRECTING THE CHAMP 3.2 0 0 7.4
THE BRAVE ONE 36.5 0 8 7
THE INVASION 15.1 0 1 6
TOTAL 132.9 15 11 7.125

GOS
STARDUST 38.4 0 2 8.1
THE KINGDOM 46 0 7 7.3
THE HEARTBREAK KID 35.1 0 5 5.8
IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH 6.7 3 0 7.7
THE 11TH HOUR 0.7 5 0 6.6
MICHAEL CLAYTON 28.7 5 4 7.8
RESIDENT EVIL EXTINCTION 50.7 3 10 6.4
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON 1.1 2 0 8.6
TOTAL 207.4 18 28 7.2875

WANNABE
SUPERBAD 121.5 3 19 8.1
RUSH HOUR 3 139.7 2 13 6.5
3:10 TO YUMA 53.2 0 12 8.2
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL 1.3 4 0 8.4
THE SEEKER 8.5 0 1 4.7
30 DAYS OF NIGHT 27.5 0 8 7.1
HALLOWEEN 58 0 9 6
THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES 2.9 5 0 8.2
TOTAL 412.6 14 62 7.15

PERENNIAL
DARFUR NOW 0 0 0 0
GRACE IS GONE 0 0 0 0
I WANT SOMEONE TO EAT CHEESE WITH 0.2 5 0 6.9
SAW IV 31.8 1 5 6.5
RUN, FAT BOY, RUN 0 0 0 0
LUST, CAUTION 2.8 6 0 8.1
SHINE A LIGHT 0 0 0 0
LADRON QUE ROBA A LADRON 4 0 0 7.2
TOTAL 38.8 12 5 7.175

RANK BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB OVERALL
1 WANNABE GOS WANNABE GOS GOS 18
2 GOS CASTLE GOS PEREN WANNABE 16
3 CASTLE WANNABE CASTLE WANNABE CASTLE 8
4 PEREN PEREN PEREN CASTLE PERENNIAL 6

Just so everyone knows the score, these are the results of who was winning as of October 30th, the given deadline of the league...but if it had been longer...grrrr. GOS...you goin down next time son. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving ALL!!!

wannabe

The Whim

2007-09-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

They were bothering him. Always harassing, nagging, and pushing him in directions where he didn't want to go. Blah, blah, blah, watch your carbs, blah, blah, blah, don't ever like Adam Sandler, blah, blah, blah, etc. Well...dammit, he was boss and that meant what he did had power. It was time to make a power play to show these juvenile egocentric cavemen that he was the boss and that they should go say Ug! somewhere else.

It was with such fervor and umph that the man known as Wannabe walked into the publicity room and muttered the words, "We're dropping Hit Man from our slate and adding Lars and the Real Girl." It should be a hit, and I don't want any sass about it otherwise you will be fired on the spot and kicked into the trash bin with all the rest of the crap I ate last night. Start your publicity and alert the news. I'll be sleeping in my room. Tell me when we make the first million." With that he walked back into his office and shut the door. He might have laid his head on his desk for all the gaping people at the window staring at him, wondering how he could have done such a silly thing, but he never managed to close his eyes. Oh well, he thought, if this doesn't work out right, it will force me to cut out some people, and I can already think of which naysayers to can.

How does this affect everything? Find out next week on the weekend update!

Wannabe

Indy Fanatix S2 Week 5

2007-09-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

Alright gents,
here's the update below.

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE 41 5 3 8.1
2 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE 45 3 6 6.8
3 DARJEELING LIMITED 22 3 0 7.2
4 $SHOOT EM UP 5.4 0 0 8.2
5 $THE NANNY DIARIES 20.8 0 0 6.3
6 $RESURRECTING THE CHAMP 3.1 0 0 7.5
7 THE BRAVE ONE 65 4 7 6.5
8 $THE INVASION 14.6 0 1 6.1

GoS
1 $STARDUST 34.6 0 2 8.2
2 THE KINGDOM 55 5 7 7
3 THE HEARTBREAK KID 125 6 11 7
4 IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH 31 3 5 7.7
5 $THE 11TH HOUR 0.55 5 0 6.4
6 MICHAEL CLAYTON 37 4 4 7.4
7 RESIDENT EVIL EXTINCTION 41.5 4 6 6.3
8 $IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON 0.04 2 0 8.7

PERENNIAL
1 *DARFUR NOW 9.3 10 0 8.2
2 GRACE IS GONE 3 2 0 6.8
3 $I WANT SOMEONE TO EAT CHEESE WITH 0.02 5 0 6.8
4 SAW IV 45 3 5 5.9
5 RUN, FAT BOY, RUN 13.75 1 0 5.5
6 LUST, CAUTION 8 6 0 7.1
7 *SHINE A LIGHT 6.7 2 0 7.9
8 $LADRON QUE ROBA A LADRON 3 2 0 7.1

WANNABE
1 $SUPERBAD 103 4 17 8.4
2 $RUSH HOUR 3 129.2 2 13 6.5
3 $3:10 TO YUMA 14 0 5 8.7
4 *HITMAN 51 6 7 7
5 THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING 16 0 0 4.2
6 30 DAYS OF NIGHT 22.5 3 5 5.5
7 $HALLOWEEN 43.7 4 9 6.4
8 THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD 49 2 4 5.9

BO RANKINGS
WANNABE 428.4 4
GOS 324.69 3
CASTLE 216.9 2
PERENNIAL 88.77 1

PTA RANKINGS
PERENNIAL 31 4
GOS 29 3
WANNABE 21 2
CASTLE 15 1

TOP 5
WANNABE 60 4
GOS 35 3
CASTLE 17 2
PERENNIAL 5 1

IMDB
GOS 7.3375 4
CASTLE 7.0875 3
PERENNIAL 6.9125 2
WANNABE 6.575 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 1 2 3 8 3
GOS 3 3 3 4 13 1
PERRENNIAL 1 4 1 2 8 3
WANNABE 4 2 4 1 11 2

So, with that update here's what it boils down to. Few films had outstanding BO this weekend, but even so the only new release to enter the top 5 was 3:10 to Yuma. Shoot 'Em Up bombs as per Castle's luck so far, but it has some very nice IMDB scores currently. In The Shadow of the Moon is a slight bomb as well for GoS only garnering 2 points in PTA while Perennial's unheard of I want someone to eat cheese with gets some max PTA exposure. So far, Wannabe's(Mine) looks like the best BO slate so far and with that the best top5. However, Wannabe struggles with IMDB scores and PTA against GoS who has a pretty even slate throughout. Perrennial has the best PTA slate full of un heard of indy releases, but even so now he has two movies that will not be released during this season and will need to be pushed back. Darfur Now and the Rolling Stones doc Shine a Light. Poor Castle, his slate is half released and half bombs already. It will be tough and full of shrewd decisions if he is to make his way back up the ladder. As for me, yes I've done well but I have two predicted bombs still coming up on my list and 1 other movie that has to be changed due to being pushed back out of season. My winning streak should be in jeopardy and on the downslope pretty soon. Whereas GoS's only moderately successful slate so far is where the threat is. His films have not performed as well as predicted so far, but even so they have held him aloft enough to let him rely on hope that a future release could make up the difference, which it might. There is the threat. Alright gents, til next week.

Wannabe

Shoot 'Em Up

2007-09-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

Action films, of late, have been...well...pretty crappy and I think the audience for action films have known this which is why there has been a surge in interest in comic book films that tend to have lots of action. In fact, most of the better action films tend to be smaller releases such as Ong-Bak and District B13. But a movie whose description mentions the main character helping to birth a baby in the middle of a gunfight grabbed me by the balls and made me go see it. You've probably seen the commercials for it and the crazy over the top action in it with Clive Owens. Well, unless you've seen the movie then you haven't really seen over the top yet.

Shoot 'Em Up plays like a videogame turned into real life with bosses and crazy levels where any part of the environment is indestructible. In some ways, it feels like the writer/ director Michael Davis said, here are some badass ideas for a fight scene/s now lets create some sort of through line. Then again, the story does do a great job of commenting on what it means to be a good person and father. It also shares a real love of gunplay that I haven't seen since Equilibrium. Davis obviously wanted to show how many ways to could kill someone with bullets and guns, the most inventive of course being holding bullets near a fire until they get so hot they fire. Because of the bizarre story line and the excellent fight scenes, I have issues with how to judge this film. It's like watching Ultraviolet except good. Storywise, it feels haphazard and will-o-the-wisp, but it has enough gravitas to weigh down this fun crazy shooter to keep the film from flying away completely. Oh, by the way, the introduction to Clive Owen in this film is one of the best introductions I have seen in a long time. (Whats up with all the ridiculous references to cartoons? Trying to accent the cartoon violence?)

As for acting, well, the three main characters are Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, and Monica Belucci. All three of which have pretty cut and dry characters. Clive Owen is the Duke Nukem hobo badass. Possibly a previous black ops man who of course can wipe out thousands with his ingenuity. Paul Giamatti is the crazy sicko hired help bad guy who is trying to kill a baby that Owen has taken. Belluci is the whore who decides to help Owen and they kind of fall into the rhythm of being a couple and adopt the child as their own somewhat. Now both Giamatti and Owen have their own ticks as characters and I really like both of their jobs. Giamatti looks incredibly creepy and Owen is a major badass and there are moments where you realize that this is essentially his Bond film if he were Bond. And thank God Belluci is in this as a hooker because she is so hot! Unfortunately, I don't know what the heck to do with Giamatti's bizarre accent. It just doesn't fit and he comes across slightly as an evil version of the KFC icon. It really throws me everytime he speaks and I never liked it in this movie. Doesn't seem to fit. But besides that, all of the actors do great jobs with the narrowly defined characters they were given.

Directorially, the shots are beautiful and crisp and the director obviously knows how to turn a heavy scene in to a funny moment and then back. I was quite impressed with teh handling of the comedy bits, they were just right and at worst amusing to see, but never annoying. The action scenes, while yes, they are quite out there and very specific to this film, are still awe inspiring and a necessary watch for any action directors out there looking to make a high adrenaline movie.

Conclusion:
The setup is very stylistic and the directing becomes abvious but it is done in a way to accent the crazy scripted fights that happen constantly. The over the top attitude of the characters, actors, and everything comes together nicely with the constant cartoon violence and feel. Essentially, this is a saturday morning cartoon involving lots of guns and violence using real people. I highly recommend everyone to see thsi film and make your own opinion, but I'm going to stick to...

4.2 out of 5

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League 2 Week 4

2007-09-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

Alright gents, you know the drill so here is the breakdown of what has happened.
INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE 41 5 3 8.1
2 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE 45 3 6 6.8
3 DARJEELING LIMITED 22 3 0 7.2
4 SHOOT EM UP 39 1 4 6.4
5 $THE NANNY DIARIES 16.5 0 0 6.5
6 $RESURRECTING THE CHAMP 2.9 0 0 7.5
7 THE BRAVE ONE 65 4 7 6.5
8 $THE INVASION 14.1 0 1 6.1

GoS
1 $STARDUST 31.9 0 2 8.2
2 THE KINGDOM 55 5 7 7
3 THE HEARTBREAK KID 125 6 11 7
4 IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH 31 3 5 7.7
5 $THE 11TH HOUR 0.4 5 0 6.6
6 MICHAEL CLAYTON 37 4 4 7.4
7 RESIDENT EVIL EXTINCTION 41.5 4 6 6.3
8 IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON 3.1 6 0 8.1

PERENNIAL
1 *DARFUR NOW 9.3 10 0 8.2
2 GRACE IS GONE 3 2 0 6.8
3 I WANT SOMEONE TO EAT CHEESE WITH 2.2 2 0 6.2
4 SAW IV 45 3 5 5.9
5 RUN, FAT BOY, RUN 13.75 1 0 5.5
6 LUST, CAUTION 8 6 0 7.1
7 SHINE A LIGHT 6.7 2 0 7.9
8 $LADRON QUE ROBA A LADRON 2 2 0 7.1

WANNABE
1 $SUPERBAD 92.4 4 14 8.5
2 $RUSH HOUR 3 122.2 2 13 6.6
3 3:10 TO YUMA 31 1 3 6.7
4 *HITMAN 51 6 7 7
5 THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING 16 0 0 4.2
6 30 DAYS OF NIGHT 22.5 3 5 5.5
7 $HALLOWEEN 31 4 5 6.5
8 THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD 49 2 4 5.9

BO RANKINGS
WANNABE 415.1 4
GOS 324.9 3
CASTLE 245.5 2
PERENNIAL 89.95 1

PTA RANKINGS
GOS 33 4
PERENNIAL 28 3
WANNABE 22 2
CASTLE 16 1

TOP 5
WANNABE 51 4
GOS 35 3
CASTLE 21 2
PERENNIAL 5 1

IMDB
GOS 7.2875 4
CASTLE 6.8875 3
PERENNIAL 6.8375 2
WANNABE 6.3625 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 1 2 3 8 3
GOS 3 4 3 4 14 1
PERRENN 1 3 1 2 7 4
WANNABE 4 2 4 1 11 2

Alright, so what happened this week? Well, Perennial's first film came out, Ladron Que Roba a Ladron. It earned some PTA but nothing else. And despite my reluctances and predictions that Halloween was going to rip myself a new one, it earned excellent Labor Day Box Office and some PTA with its top 5. I still highly doubt if it can stay in the top 5 for more than possibly 2 weeks at best, but it is turning out to have been a very smart trade on my part earlier for the film. My movies are racking some serious top5 and BO. PTA is okay, but I really need to work on my IMDB. ALSO, MOST IMPORTANTLY IS THAT TWO MOVIES HAVE BEEN PUSHED BACK BEYOND THE SEASON'S RELEASE DATES. MY MOVIE HIT MAN AND PERENNIAL'S FILM DARFUR NOW HAVE BOTH BEEN PUSHED BACK TO NOVEMBER...MEANING SOME MORE TRADING WILL BE GOING ON QUITE SOON I'M SURE AS I STRUGGLE TO RECOUP MY LOSS. Until then, good luck gents and let me know if you would like to trade anything. Peace!

Fanatix 2 week 3: A Foreboding Return

2007-08-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

So, just because he had gone to Africa, they thought he was through. Done for. Washed up like a piece of driftwood. Well, they'd regret that.

Willo turned from the balcony and the rain drenched night of the Kenyan countryside toward the plush hotel, the only restaurant in the area, and his future. Everyone had thought he had gone mad or was just a sore loser, but he knew the truth. He knew that by escaping America he would be able to see how best to improve his overseas sales once he returned. Plus, the rise in Christian box office had made him realize that there was an entire population of people he could tap into in Africa, he just needed to get some data first. And the problem with any data, is that it takes time.

The bump grazes the underside of his foot as he enters the tropical belly of the hotel. Its a cool rainy night so most of the travelers are milling about like cattle, chewing the cud and huddled up against each other in fear of whats outside in the drenched dark waiting for them. They know nothing and everything at the same time. Or maybe they know nothing but their body instinctively guesses. Either way, no one moves toward the front door at night ever.

Scanning the light mahogany bar in the left corner, Willo sees him. The bartender has just finished refilling his drink with a purple pinkish liquid. Possibly a mango drink , a rare dessert of a drink in these parts. Unlike the other silly tourists, this one is attired in a wide-brimmed safari hat, the kind you might expect to see on Theodore Roosevelt if he were hunting. Hmmm. Bully.

"So, have you made up your mind yet?" The young man asks as he sits beside him.
"A drink first if you don't mind."
"Sure."
The bartender comes almost at once, bringing his favorite drink. He had found out it was his favorite three weeks agao when had arrived and everynight he made him one when he saw him. Willo realized he rather liked the black bartender for he was a friendly sort.
"I'm sorry, I just don't like getting involved in anything without something to soothe my nerves first."
"It's okay. You're an expatriot see? You like to sit and eat in cafes on the street."
"This is hardly a cafe and please, don't quote Hemingway to me. He was pretentious."
A scowl covered the young man's face, but being a conscientous sort he quickly hid his face in shadow while taking the brunt against his favorite author, knowing that he couldn't afford to be rude. After all, he needed something from Willo.

A few seconds later, "So, did you decide?"
"Yes."
"Well?"
"The legal documents are in my room strewn out over my bed. I think you'l like the gist of it. I, blah blah blah, hereby sign over my American assets to blah blah blah. I had the lawyer fax it this morning." Even as Willo was saying it, he wished that he was giving these assets to someone else. The bartender maybe? With his fuzzy black scalp and trim ears on his hulking frame? What would he do with them? Ahh, but it was too late now. Maybe he would cast him as the lead in his first African film, he did make excellent blackberry mojitos at least.

The sad part about collecting data and being abroad in other countries accepting drinks from black bartenders named Bobby Bershmere is that the costs add up and unfortunately studios in America cost taxes which eat up people's funds quicker than the locusts of the seven plagues. But, he reflected, it would be okay since he knew he would return in the future with his data and wipe out the competition, even this energetic Hemingway chap. Knowing this, Willo didn't feel too bad about signing the document and turning over and changing the name of his American studios to Perennial Studios.

ALRIGHT FELLAS. PERENNIAL STUDIOS HAS JUST JOINED US FOR THIS SEASON. THE WEEKEND JUST ENDED. AND HERE ARE THE CURRENT STANDINGS WITH PERENNIAL FIGURED IN. NOW THINGS ARE GOING TO GET ROUGH AND THE WIGGLE ROOM FOR MISTAKES AND ERROR JUST GOT A LOT SMALLER.

STUDIO RELEASE BO PTA TOP5 IMDB
Castle
Elizabeth: The Golden Age * Fri. Oct 12 41 5 3 8.1
Across the Universe Fri. Sep 14 45 3 6 6.8
The Darjeeling Limited Sat. Sep 29 22 3 0 7.2
Shoot 'Em Up Fri. Sep 7 39 1 4 6.4
The Brave One Fri. Sep 14 65 4 7 6.5
$The Nanny Diaries Out 7.8 0 0 6.5
$Resurrecting the Champ Out 1.8 0 0 7.8
$The Invasion Out 11.5 0 1 6.1

GoS
The Kingdom Fri. Sep 28 55 5 7 7
The Heartbreak Kid (formerly Seven Day Itch) * Fri. Oct 5 125 6 11 7
In the Valley of Elah Fri. Sep 14 31 3 5 7.7
Michael Clayton * Fri. Oct 5 37 4 4 7.4
In the Shadow of the Moon Fri. Sep 7 3.1 6 0 8.1
Resident Evil: Extinction Fri. Sep 21 41.5 4 6 6.3
$Stardust Out 26.5 0 2 8.2
$the 11th Hour Out 0.15 5 0 6.5

Perennial Studios
Darfur Now * Fri. Oct 12 9.3 10 0 8.2
Grace Is Gone * Fri. Oct 5 3 2 0 6.8
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With Wed. Sep 5 2.2 2 0 6.2
Saw IV * Fri. Oct 26 45 3 5 5.9
Run, Fat Boy, Run * Fri. Oct 26 13.75 1 0 5.5
Lust, Caution Fri. Sep 28 8 6 0 7.1
Shine a Light (formerly Untitled Rolling Stones Documentary) Fri. Sep 21 6.7 2 0 7.9
Ladron Que Roba A Ladron Fri. Aug 31 1.3 0 0 6.2

Wannabe
3:10 to Yuma Fri. Sep 7 31 1 3 6.7
Hit Man * Fri. Oct 12 51 6 7 7
The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising * Fri. Oct 5 16 0 0 4.2
30 Days of Night * Fri. Oct 19 22 3 5 5.5
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Fri. Sep 21 49 2 4 5.9
Halloween (2007) Fri. Aug 31 33 4 6 5.6
$Superbad Out 68.6 4 10 8.6
$Rush Hour 3 Out 109 2 12 6.6

BO
Castle 233.1 3
GoS 319.25 2
Perennial 89.25 1
Wannabe 379.6 4

PTA
Castle 16 1
GoS 33 4
Perennial 26 3
Wannabe 22 2

Top 5
Castle 21 2
GoS 35 3
Perennial 5 1
Wannabe 47 4

IMDB
Castle 6.925 3
GoS 7.275 4
Perennial 6.725 2
Wannabe 6.2625 1

RANK TOTAL POINTS
3CASTLE 9
1GOS 13
4PERENNIAL 7
2WANNABE 11

SORRY FELLAS FOR THE FUNKY SCORING. I'M CURRENTLY OUT ON VACATION SO THE FORMS I AM USING TO CALCULATE THIS AREN'T AS NICE AS THEY NORMALLY ARE, BUT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO GATHER THE SAME AMOUNT OF COLLECTIVE DATA. MOSTLY THIS WEEK, CASTLE WAS HIT THE WORST. MY STUFF DID REALLY WELL BUT RESURRECTING THE CHAMP AND THE NANNY DIARIES BOTH FAILED TO GET ANY PTA OR TOP5 WHICH MEANS THEY PROBABLY WILL NEVER GET ANY AND THE ONLY NEW MOVIE THIS WEEKEND TO GET ANYTHING WAS WAR WHICH NO ONE OWNED. THE TIMES ARE GETTING ROUGHER, GOOD LUCK GENTLEMEN. TIL NEXT WEEK,
WANNABE

Superbad

2007-08-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

'Superbad is only somewhat good'

In life, most elitist film people tend to disregard teen comedies and coming of age stories unless they are told with a serious bent due to the lackluster teen films that came out in the 90's including Can't Hardly Wait, and the spoofs that followed such as Not Another Teen Movie. Of course, before that there were many classics like Clueless and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. So where does the recent film Superbad fall? I would place it as a good film that most people can enjoy, except the conservative. The plot? Easy, three dorks in high school scheme to get alcohol and sleep with the hot girls of their choice and along the way grow up some and come to terms with their lives. So why is this film better than most? Because of Judd Apatow. Judd also helped to create 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, two very funny films with a lot of heart, the main ingredient. See, teen comedies and films are made to relate to teens as well as adults by making people relive the angst and anxiety felt during those pitiful years and as times have changed the purpose has been mostly to share lessons of learning with other students who could relate to the experiences in the film. Superbad, unfortunately, gets a lot of the social scene from what I remember in high school correct. The big difference is two fold: The language is much worse and the patience of the females are much higher. If two girls at my old school had liked such young fellows, they would have saved their face after the embarassment caused by the drunken party at the end. As for language, well, my friends know I am do enjoy me some coarse language but man, this is the first time I have blushed at hearing things. I mean, damn, do kids really talk this frankly and coarsely about everything nowadays? Anyhow, a break down of got it rights:

Good: The movie has a lot of heart and the actors play the characters with enough honesty to be completely passable in their beliefs and issues. Also, it doesn't hurt that the bad police cop routine is mapped out and put to such great use. Why are they bad? Because they want to look cool. Also, the humor for most of the people is fresh and interesting despite some of its toilet roots.

Bad: The humor is so crude it feels put on sometimes and the story is a basic coming of age friends tale. Plus, the weird Frodo-Sam undertones Jonah Hill places in the story is a bit odd.

Conclusion: If you like to remember high school years and enjoy fresh interesting comedy with loads of crude humor, then this is the film to see. If you find language "shocking" or "ill-mannered" then stay at home with your life support system. And if you are on the bench, nothing is funnier than the tons of hand-drawn animated penises in the film. Yes, I said that correctly. It's damn funny.

3.8 out of 5

Black Snake Moan

2007-08-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

'Moan with pleasure'

When Craig Brewer's first hit the big scene with Hustle & Flow, there was a lot of critical dismissal despite the strong reviews most critics gave to it and Terrence Howard's performance. When the film went on to gain several nominations at the Academies, tunes were changed and the film was recognized for what it was, a film exploring the roots of hip hop and what that style of music means to some people and how things can be. It always helps that Howard won an Oscar for it. Of course, as soon as the trailer for Brewer's next film came out, Black Snake Moan, people dismissed him again calling him a one-time hack and got lucky with the good casting of Terrence Howard in his last film. I'll admit that the casting scenario of Christina Ricci, Justin Timberlake, and Samuel Jackson sounds like a pseudo bad comedy and that the trailer screamed sexploitation with the craziness of Ricci's character being chained to a radiator next to a cursing Samuel Jackson. I mean lets face it, the last time I remember Ricci being in a good movie was Casper and Jackson had just come off of the great success of Snakes on a Plane. Plus, I had heard that Justin Timberlake acts and never sings while Samuel Jackson does sing, which I had no idea what to expect. So I blew it off.

But man, when those reviews started flying in for the movie, some were as I had feared describing how terrible of a sexploitation flick it was, but most were pretty supportive of the film and thought it was pretty good. I was struck not knowing what to do. Finally, my better half settled the debate by mentioning that she wanted to see it and now that it is out on Redbox (of course I watched it for a dollar!) I must admit defeat and claim Craig Brewer to be a guru of creating exploratory music films.
Not only does Black Snake Moan manage to sidestep every possible footfall, it also does an elegant dance over everytrap, taunting the audience with its dazzle and embrazoned attitude. Ricci gives her best performance in years. Jackson does a great job and even Timberlake reveals he has some acting chops. Honestly, I like this film better than Hustle & Flow for several reasons and the hateful critics...well they are just wrong.

Assumption 1: It's a sexploitation piece showing tons of Ricci's chest and disturbing masturbatory images. False. The film is really about the fixing of one's soul and of each other through blues music and caring. Yes, Ricci does several topless scenes with verve and vigor and yes she is tied to a radiator half naked for a good bit, but not for that long and the radiator and chain are simply metaphorical symbols in her battle against her nymphomania that she contracted after having been sexually abused by her father at such a young age. This is a film of healing, not only for Ricci but also for Jackson whose wife has just left him.
Assumption 2: Samuel Jackson can't do blues. False...he looks pretty comfortable doing it. I mean, yes, I can tell he was better at some songs than others but his voice was uncannily suited for Blues style music. He performs excellently and I think I have a new wish item for Christmas.
Assumption 3: Craig Brewer is a hack and got lucky with Hustle & Flow. COMPLETELY WRONG. The level of visual imagery and symbolism in this film is astounding and even though it requires a stretch of the imagination at times, Brewer writes such a good script that it isn't a fight to stretch and ride with the characters. The characters become real people despite the obvious religious overtones and heavy symbolism and are able to carry the story on their backs despite its seeming unwieldyness as a script which tells me that Brewer knows how to direct his shit. Honestly, this film was a huge risk for him and for Paramount but after having seen the film I can tell that their decision to let him go for it was well founded and I look forward to the next two music films he comes out with of which I hear one is country. Brewer has a knack for not only knowing how to portray events and people, but also how to create character arcs in a manner that is fresh and different from most of Hollywood's techniques. He can communicate this to the actors and it is obvious that his craft has improved tenfold in this film. I am awed and will never doubt the guy again. Strike 3, I'm out.

But even my awe has limits. As good and as awesome as this film is, none of the actors show break out promise. Ricci does the best as its a huge change for her, but her constant one-note torture of sexism is at times slightly hard to take. Samuel Jackson is terrible as an old man at times. Even good old Justin doesn't get to show a whole lot of range. Sure, he can be a good upbeat lad or a raging crazy guy. But the transitions between these attitudes and moods is where he needs some tweaking.

Conclusion: This film blew me out of the water by destroying any pre-made assumptions I had. I think the trailer for the film did it a huge disservice but thinking back I have no idea how they would have marketed this differently to try and attract crowds. It is simply an art house flick with mainstream aura to it. Everything about this film is well done although at times the editing is a little too rough and the actors while doing a great job of upholding and making the story excel, can't stretch themselves too far without having trouble. Definately a rent and maybe a buy.

4.5 out of 5

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League 2: Week 2

2007-08-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE 41 5 3 8.1
2 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE 45 3 6 6.8
3 DARJEELING LIMITED 22 3 0 7.2
4 SHOOT EM UP 39 1 4 6.4
5 THE NANNY DIARIES 66 4 8 6.1
6 RESURRECTING THE CHAMP 2.25 3 0 7.8
7 THE BRAVE ONE 65 4 7 6.5
8 $THE INVASION 5.9 0 1 6.2

GoS
1 $STARDUST 19.5 0 2 8.3
2 THE KINGDOM 55 5 7 7
3 THE HEARTBREAK KID 125 6 11 7
4 IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH 31 3 5 7.7
5 $THE 11TH HOUR 0.06 5 0 7.1
6 MICHAEL CLAYTON 37 4 4 7.4
7 RESIDENT EVIL EXTINCTION 41.5 4 6 6.3
8 IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON 3.1 6 0 8.1

WANNABE
1 $SUPERBAD 33 3 5 8.8
2 $RUSH HOUR 3 87.6 2 9 6.7
3 3:10 TO YUMA 31 1 3 6.7
4 HIT MAN 51 6 7 7
5 THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING 16 0 0 4.2
6 30 DAYS OF NIGHT 22.5 3 5 5.5
7 HALLOWEEN 33 4 6 5.6
8 THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD 49 2 4 5.9

BO RANKINGS
WANNABE 323.1 3
GOS 312.16 2
CASTLE 286.15 1

PTA RANKINGS
GOS 33 3
CASTLE 23 2
WANNABE 21 1

TOP 5
WANNABE 39 3
GOS 35 2
CASTLE 29 1

IMDB
GOS 7.3625 3
CASTLE 6.8875 2
WANNABE 6.3 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 1 2 1 2 6 3
GOS 2 3 2 3 10 1
WANNABE 3 1 3 1 8 2

Hey fellas, well as we can see, the Invasion was a failure, Superbad did well but not quite what I hoped. WHo knows what it will do in a while. Rush Hour 3 is still going strong and the 11th Hour was a great PTA flick, but will it last? Only next week can tell,
so tune in next time....

Wannabe

Death at a Funeral

2007-08-17T23:16:00.000-07:00

'At least Death comes with a casket'

You know how sometimes you see a trailer that makes you laugh outloud and then you see the film and feel that all the best parts were already shown? Well, Death at a Funeral is better than that, albeit not by much. This film lacks heavily in some of the realm of essentials that it tries to dabble in as a film. It's directed by Frank Oz, aka Yoda, with a cast of relative unknown actors in America and has the feel of a small quirky British comedy. The problem is that Oz should have taken more notes from A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures before making this film and less from Wes Anderson.

Death at a Funeral stars highlt talented actors in a dark situation comedy. It's perfect casting and the script allows for wonderful comedy to ensue, however this genre of movie REQUIRES not only a good script and cast, but a sure and knowing hand as director to make it work. The vision has to be there otherwise someone somewhere along the way will get lost and the whole thing will tumble from the tightrope known as intelligent humor down to the dull brown sod below it. The trend for these types of films recently has been a downer to me. Wes Anderson is an interesting director but he tends to make his movies so depressing that it becomes hard to laugh despite whatever happens. Frank Oz thankfully never falls into this trap. He realizes that the situation of a grieving estranged family at a funeral and the script provide enough gravitas to the atmosphere to keep it dark throughout without his help. So he focuses on making things lighter and adding the comedy in an honest fashion, as the script and material requires itself to be taken. Oz does all of the first things right. Instead, he falls with Anderson in the problem of not making it light enough. Sure there are hallucinogenic drugs and scandalous stories abounding as ties grow taut and it all resolves in an awkward speech at the end that is far from outstanding...but the real problem is the lack of outrage in the characters. The actors all do a nice job of hitting punchlines and comedic timing, but the problem is their reactions! For God's sake, their father is gay and they only joke once before asking, "you mean he's a gay?" The problem with honest reactions is that it sometimes requires further involvement in characters and delving further into how a character would react instead of just following the pacing of the script and then molding the two into an organic material. It is why A Fish Called Wanda succeeds so well, after all who could ever play outrage better than Kevin Kline? No, the problem doesn't come from any one actor in fact but from all of them leading me to believe that it was a directorial choice used to emphasize the fact that the family was trying to keep its staunch upper lip position and a shot for more subtle comedy. It works at tmes, but the reason why it isn't consistent is because there is no strong reaction or time spent on anyone in particular. Honestly, if that was fixed, I think the jokes would have reached farther and hit more often and made this film much better. The best reaction in this film was the absolute horror with which Howard found an unexpected surprise in his mouth. More big reactions at times please, especially when the people are holding private conversations.

As for scenery, well, this could, should, and probably will be a play. It's practically set in one place which must have been nice for the set designers and the director, but it is also well adapted. The lighting is good for a small film like this. And the music is amusing at times.

Lastly, as to actors, well where to start. Mathew MacFayden as the main character is great. His composure and general appearance scream meek and average and it is great to see his anger. He is the only one who could downplay everything and still have it come across crystal clear what went through his character's head. I loved the scene where he writing the check and Peter Dinklage goes off about writing. However, he could have used more variation and some more disbelief at times. Speaking of Peter Dinklage, he comes across as a very good actor and now I have to admit he was perfect for the part. Not only for height reasons which added some great laughs, but also for his talent which amazed me because I believed him to be possibly gay, and he walked a fine line but never crossed over into too campy or diva-like De Niro did in a recent movie. Instead he was just a short gay man there to pay respects and get what he deserved. No big tears or crying about feeling like a cheap whore and he seemed respectable. Great choice for him. Andy Nyman as Howard the hypochondriac is great after a while seeing how he keeps getting gipped and mistreated, although its hard to like him fully because of his annoying ass habits. He is a good foil though to Ewen Bremmer's Justin who just whines and tries to catch an old girl pathetically. It's sad, because I've seen Bremmer in other films where he is hilarious, but in this film his character is just bland to begin with and then he is underused and his reactions needed more punch. Good guy, but not for the part. Lastly, if it seems that I'm only focusing on the guys, its because I am since they tend to be the ones in the film who lose their heads and go crazy. The last two main men are Alan Tudyk and Kris Marshall. I have followed Tudyk since his Serenity days and I have to admit that it was a good part for him in this film even if he is a litle too wonky all the time. I also felt that he could have had more fun with the part and that he didn't need to necessarily try so hard to be that character. It was pretty obvious that he was trying really hard to get the "I'm-coocoo-for-cocopuffs-crazy" humor that is in the character. At times, he gives just teh right amount and at others he's a little too much of a scene stealer or the fact that he is thinking of something to improv next is in his eyes and can jolt the audience back and forth in believability in his character. He's great for the part, but he needed a little better tweaking and direction from the director. Kris Marshall I have seen before as well, in what, I can't remember but it doesn't matter since he is perfect in this film as the favored child who went into pharmacy and then used his knowledge in making and selling illegal drugs in a hawkish way. He holds himself always in a I'm better than you manner because I am a knowledgeable pharmacist person and it makes it that much sweeter to watch him have his ass on the line throughout the film. Thankfully, he is not an odious person and so even though he is involved in things that make him easy to hate, his personality is one of trying to help others, even to save himself, which makes it okay that he isn't outed in the film.

Conclusion:
Strong females with little to no comedy to do lead me to believe that the writer was male. The situations and the dialogue and even the subject material and setting are all perfectly set up and in place. The actors picked are more than suited for their roles. The director starts on the right foot, but he doesn't tweak and work with the actors enough to get the utmost out of the script and talent which leads the film to feel like it could have been better. It was a great try and compared to Stepford Wives its a step up, but Oz needs to get his game back on and produce some excellent guffaws to herald his return with his next film, if he gets the chance. Keep the Force, you need it.

3.6 out of 5

Wannabe

Doctor Strange

2007-08-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

You know, up until now I never thought that the Marvel Animated universe would be able to find its feet. I mean, yea, Ultimate Avengers 1 and 2 were interesting but were very straightforward without a whole lot of subtext or anything. And honestly Invincible Iron Man was a big letdown. So, with trepidation setting in my bones, I rented the recent Marvel Anime offering of Doctor Strange.

Unlike the other movies, I had little to no idea as to what Dr. Strange was about. I knew he was one of the oldest characters in the Marvel universe and that his big thing is magic. Maybe that is why I liked it more? I don't know. I knew the plot well enough after having played ultimate alliance to be able to guess what the outcome of the film will be as will most people who have seen a movie like this before. I think the biggest difference is the voice acting. The story itself is fun to sit through if you haven't ever read the comics, but it is like all the others very straightforward and an origin story. The real difference is the magic and how that ties into spirituality. Essentially the film tries to teach you that sometime you have to change who you are to fix your problems and that usually only good people are the ones who deserve power and not those who want it. In that sense, it has more of a bite and backbone to it than the previous films.

As for animation, it is beautifully done and there doesn't seem to be any real choppy segments or anything. I loved every bit of it, although there is still the occassionally painfully obvious CG animation segments which really are not being utilized properly since they don't mesh in with the animated backgrounds. I get the feeling that this could be done on purpose or maybe for lack of financial reasons and they don't care, but they should because it is always a disheartening and annoying experience.

Last is voice acting which I have to admit is quite good. Never once did I want to shoot myself or cut off my ears after having heard a ridiculous remark that reeks of Hollywood-talking-to-kids style. In fact, the dialogue was quite enjoyful despite the generic mysticism approach of answering questions in a vague style a la Karate Kid and other fine films.

Conclusion:
The film takes a very generic approach to telling the story of Doctor Strange. However, all the voice actors get behind it and do their job well. The animators and director show a love of exploring the new world of magic and what that might mean (vanishing swords rock!) and the best part is that this story more than the others does a better job of developing characters and creating an understanding and connection with them. I didn't know the tons of warriors who died or their names...but I felt like I did. And that is an accomplishment. My hats off to Jay Oliva and I hope that Marvel Animated continues to improve. They have a ways to go still before convincing me that Avengers Reborn is a good idea.

3.8 out of 5

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie 2 Update

2007-08-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

Alright, so after that switcharoony there, here are the current stats...

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE 41 5 3 8.1
2 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE 45 3 6 6.8
3 DARJEELING LIMITED 22 3 0 7.2
4 SHOOT EM UP 39 1 4 6.4
5 THE NANNY DIARIES 66 4 8 6.1
6 RESURRECTING THE CHAMP 2.25 3 0 7.8
7 THE BRAVE ONE 65 4 7 6.5
8 THE INVASION 60 3 5 5.6

GoS
1 $STARDUST 9.2 0 2 8.4
2 THE KINGDOM 55 5 7 7
3 THE HEARTBREAK KID 125 6 11 7
4 IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH 31 3 5 7.7
5 THE 11TH HOUR 23 11 0 7.7
6 MICHAEL CLAYTON 37 4 4 7.4
7 RESIDENT EVIL EXTINCTION 41.5 4 6 6.3
8 IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON 3.1 6 0 8.1

WANNABE
1 SUPERBAD 55 2 6 6.7
2 $RUSH HOUR 3 49.1 2 5 7.4
3 3:10 TO YUMA 31 1 3 6.7
4 HIT MAN 51 6 7 7
5 THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING 16 0 0 4.2
6 30 DAYS OF NIGHT 22.5 3 5 5.5
7 HALLOWEEN 33 4 6 5.6
8 THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD 49 2 4 5.9

BO RANKINGS
CASTLE 340.25 3
GOS 324.8 2
WANNABE 306.6 1

PTA RANKINGS
GOS 39 3
CASTLE 26 2
WANNABE 20 1

TOP 5
WANNABE 36 3
GOS 35 2
CASTLE 33 1

IMDB
GOS 7.45 3
CASTLE 6.8125 2
WANNABE 6.125 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 2 1 2 7 2
GOS 3 3 2 3 11 1
WANNABE 1 1 3 1 6 3

So GoS and Castle lead still for now... but the draw between Wannabe and Castle has shortened...remember that!
Wannabe

Fun Factoid of August

2007-08-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided this week to possibly do a great factoid on the much maligned and hated Uwe Boll. A director known in the US for directing drivel films usually. I was counting the # of his films on IMDB's bottom 100 list (4 by the way), when I came across a much better and funnier fun factoid. After having read the feedback concerning the movie in question, I feel perfectly at ease asking everyone to rush to their nearest Blockbuster or logon to Netflix and rent the next great masterpiece of bad, this day and age's Plan 9 from Outer Space...Anus Magilicutty!!!! Seriously, that's the name of the movie and apparently it was 99% unscripted, which ALWAYS goes well with new people on camera where every flaw is magnified. The name alone makes me want to see this sure to be terrible film and then couple it with bad improv and I am there in a heartbeat. IF someone sees this movie, please, Please, PLEASE write a review for it and send it to me to post. also, if you want to let me borrow the film, I won't mind. :) I hope this brightens your day, I know it did mine. And for all my friends, don't be surprised if I just start using a new descriptive phrase for you....What a ridiculous friggin title. Uwe Boll may be bad but this is why he isn't THAT bad.

Wannabe

To have and to have not...

2007-08-15T16:18:00.000-07:00

The light glistens from a stopping bus, but the cloaked man at the stop stays seated on the bench; his eyes lowered with only the tip of his nose poking out from under his wide brimmed fedora. His bone white hands grip the brown and worn suitcase a little too tightly and his feet twitch, as if waiting for something or one to kick. He waits. The bus pulls away and fades into the scratchy wet night. The twitches stop and the man raises his eyes, good eyes, cruel eyes, to see the cloaked man across the street. Without a sound, he follows him down the street and around the corner to a rundown mangy bar called Samuel's, the Bezt place on Urth for a Brew.

Inside the two men quickly find a table off in a corner, for security reasons for themselves and everyone else as well. Only after taking off their coats in the dark do they exchange pleasantries. Since they agreed to nicknames before meeting in case anyone overheard, only the titles of Castle and Wannabe are occassionally overheard by the far too nosey waiter, Jim, who takes their orders. Once Jim leaves, Wannabe places the briefcase on the table and passes it over to Castle. Castle opens it and takes out several documents. He scans them over for the fine print, glances back at Wannabe, and says "So it's how we agreed?"

"To the letter."
"Perfect."

Without another word, he quietly signs the documents. One for himself and one for Wannabe and before the waiter can return with their food, the two men get up, shake once, grab their jackets and leave the bar in different directions. In the end, everyone gets what they want, except maybe Jim who has to pay for their drinks out of his paycheck and GoS who finds out the next day in the paper that Castle and Wannabe have teamed up to trade some films.

Castle has traded Halloween for the Brave One and Penelope for Resurrecting the Champ.
Wannabe has traded King of Kong: A fistful of Quarters for Halloween.

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League 2: Week 1

2007-08-14T16:14:00.001-07:00

Alright gentlemen. NOw that Willo is off in Africa God knows what, here's how the first week breakdown begins...with your souls!

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE 41 5 3 8.1
2 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE 45 3 6 6.8
3 DARJEELING LIMITED 22 3 0 7.2
4 SHOOT EM UP 39 1 4 6.4
5 THE NANNY DIARIES 66 4 8 6.1
6 PENELOPE 11.1 2 0 7.5
7 HALLOWEEN 33 4 6 5.6
8 THE INVASION 60 3 5 5.6

GoS
1 $STARDUST 9.2 0 2 8.4
2 THE KINGDOM 55 5 7 7
3 THE HEARTBREAK KID 125 6 11 7
4 IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH 31 3 5 7.7
5 THE 11TH HOUR 23 11 0 7.7
6 MICHAEL CLAYTON 37 4 4 7.4
7 RESIDENT EVIL EXTINCTION 41.5 4 6 6.3
8 IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON 3.1 6 0 8.1

WANNABE
1 SUPERBAD 55 2 6 6.7
2 $RUSH HOUR 3 49.1 2 5 7.4
3 3:10 TO YUMA 31 1 3 6.7
4 HIT MAN 51 6 7 7
5 THE DARK IS RISING 16 0 0 4.2
6 30 DAYS OF NIGHT 22.5 3 5 5.5
7 KING OF KONG:A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS 1.1 0 0 6.9
8 THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD 49 2 4 5.9

BO RANKINGS
GOS 324.8 3
CASTLE 317.1 2
WANNABE 274.7 1

PTA RANKINGS
GOS 39 3
CASTLE 25 2
WANNABE 16 1

TOP 5
GOS 35 3
CASTLE 32 2
WANNABE 30 1

IMDB
GOS 7.45 3
CASTLE 6.6625 2
WANNABE 6.2875 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 2 2 2 8 2
GOS 3 3 3 3 12 1
WANNABE 1 1 1 1 4 3

Although the game has started and I have am definately far behind, I must say thet the first weekend brushoff was not so bad. Stardust did poor BO despite its strong IMDB standing and even though Rush Hour 3 isn't supposed to be that great it didn't get a terrible IMDB and managed to rack some good BO and TOP 5 and even a couple of PTA to start things off right. And with my comedy Superbad coming out this week, I expect to be cleaning up for a while to start off this competition. Tell me if you want to change because you don't wanna take me on...I'll understand. :)
Peace!

Wannabe

Stardust

2007-08-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

'Good Gaiman, Good'

So as you may or may not know, there is a little heralded fantasy film currently in theaters titled Stardust and based off of the novel of the same name written by Neil Gaiman. If you didn't know, then it is your lucky day for me to tell you about it and express a wish for you to go see it. Many comparisons for the film have dubbed it a ripoff of Princess Bride or some other such nonsense. Honestly, I would feel refresed with a Princess Bride knockoff right now with all the Harry and literary fantasy look alikes. The moniker of Princess Bride is only true in terms of tone. This fantasy film unlike many others combines several of the same elements as Princess Bride, mostly humor and the themes of love and acceptance. Since it is a Neil Gaiman property you can believe that there is some excellent ideas thrown about and what on the surface appears to be your typical romantic fantasy tale, instead becomes a tale of how what makes a person who they are isn't their status or royalty or looks. The movie is directed by Matthew Vaughn who directed Layer Cake and was one point attached to X-Men 3. I hear now though that he might be attached to an upcoming Thor movie which after having seen this film should be amazing, since it is obvious that he has a great imagination that is necessary for fantasy and knows how to communicate his ideas and characters to the actors perfectly. None of the characters in this film are boring, even the ones that are typically straight forward parts. I'm not saying that some do better than others, just that all of the actors are entertaining and amusing in their own fashion. Considering the scope and scale of this adventure, I believe Vaughn did an extremely good job in bringing the vision to life. However, and this is the killer, either on Gaiman's side or on Vaughn's...sometimes the pacing is too slow. It starts slow and I noticed several times when the picture should have been cut slightly sooner, which is not a good thing to notice. However, considering the genre-breaking work he is handling, it is hard to blame Vaughn for not being completely sure how to handle the editing. I hear that Across the Universe is sharing some similar woes currently in its test screenings. Besides the slow moving moments though, this film is a real gem.

As for actors, there is one real reason to see this movie, Robert De Niro. Not because he does an excellent job, in fact he might have been one of the worse believable ones in the cast, but because seeing him play that type of character is a real treat for fans of De Niro whom have probably never seen him in such a light. The other real reason to see this film is Michelle Pfeiffer as Lamia. After all the years she is still crazy hot and yet I have never seen her in a bad role. Why doesn't she do more work? I bet its because Hollywood is absolutely nuts, although no where near as nuts as her puberty making role in this film. Another great one to look for is the affable and excellently acted protagonist played by Charlie Cox. Seriously, this guy is good and has a future. He's probably a jerk in real life or something but I would never know from this film. Claire Danes is okay but pales compared to her other majorly famous love role as Juliet, which I'm sure she's tired of being linked to. but think about this, the film is so amazing that it even has Ian McKellan as a narrator...a narrator! Seriously, this film rocks and is a good addition to the fantasy canon that I must one day own.

4,5 out of 5

Superman Returns

2007-08-07T21:45:00.000-07:00

'Supes Returns with a Vengeance!'

Have you ever eaten an imitation of something, such as say crab or tofu meant to be chicken and found it to be delicious but not quite right? Unfortunately the same can be said of Singer's recent attempt to make a worthy sequel to the second film of the old-school Christopher Reeves Superman movies by Richard Donner. Singer cut his teeth directing big time comic book movies by creating the X-Men franchise from scratch. So, let's just say I've been wanting to see this film for a while now but things like IMDB's current 6.9 rating have kept it from the top of my list. Now, since the last gloriously rich colors have faded from the screen, I would like to go in depth on why IMDB has that score and where Singer messed up. However, I would first like to point out the amazing job stylistically and directorially Singer achieved with this film. Then to finish, I would like to discuss the stupidity of studio politics that screwed with this film and the X-Men franchise and the possibility of future Superman movies.

The first question about any Superman movie set in the same continuity as the Donner films is can the actor playing Superman/Clark Kent do it right? HELL YEA HE CAN. I never thought I would see the charming acting style of Reeves done so well again after his death, but man, Brandon Routh has the look and the fumbling Kent down perfectly. Although there is something slightly...slightly too perfect about his appearance as Superman and too lacking. Reeves eyes used to sparkle even as Superman and you had the sense that he laughed with them. Routh seems to have not picked up on the laughing trait of Superman but everything else is played up nicely. Also, Routh's Superman becomes much more believable and interesting as the movie begins, he just starts a little awkward which is fair since he is a newbie to Hollywood and he has just been asked to fill one of the most iconic roles in history in the same style as the most iconic actor to have played him. Great job sir! Speaking of superman, another thing I appreciated about this film was that the writing and Singer intentionally play up the Christian undertones and the Christ motif throughout in a manner that isn't mindnumbingly Matrix. I don't know, I had nver noticed the parallels until maybe a year or two before the film came out when I dove back into graphic literature and I am happy to see that it is given more prominence so that the world can understand why Superman survives and is needed as an icon. Other great things involve the sets and the feel of the film and even the angles. Singer has a couple of shots that are obviously his own but because he developed an organic palette of angles and shts based off the ones Donner would have used in the old films, not even the angles Singer creates on his own feel outside the realm of possibility and fit in nicely with the rest of the film. Everything looks like it came from the Donner days of the films and feel slightly 40-50 years older. I have to say though, that I am not so sure I am a fan of the use of modern day materials such as cell phones and laptop computers...as a design aesthetic it just doesn't sit well with me and occassionally felt like potential advertising.

Other things I appreciate include the great actor choices from Parker Posey as Kitty to Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. Parker plays Kitty very straight and she eeks out as much as she can given the script. I have to admit that with Kevin's Lex I sort of missed the more old talky-jokey Luthor of Gene Hackman days. However, there are moments such as when he is begging Lois Lane to tell him something that you can see that Spacey saw the old films and easily stole the craziness and attitude of Hackman. He was merely building on it. Spacey's Luthor spent five years in jail and had to bag an old lady to come back and he holds all of that against Supes, so it makes more sense for him to be less jokey and more about cool calculating evil business, and Spacey knows how I like it. The other two big happy castings for me are James Marsden as Lois Lane's fiance and Sam Huntigton as Jimmy Olson. Marsden's character comes off as a good guy with some concerns, which makes sense now that he is engaged to Lois who once had a thing with a man who could move buildings and shoot heat rays from his eyes. He's Superman right? I'm sure Marsden's character is constantly asking just how Super is Superman? Superbig?...anyhow, Marsden never dips into the jealous evil boyfriend territory and even makes you like him if you are rooting for Supes and Lois to get back together. I never knew what was so great about his as Cyclops, but now that I can see his eyes, it makes all the difference. Also, Sam Huntigton as Jimmy Olson is perfect. His nice kid but constantly turning up short when he needs things to work luck is perfectly displayed in Worthington's expressions. I once wondered who Worthington was when I heard he got picked up for a big part in an upcoming movie, now I know and I approve. He's got real skill and I look forward to more of him. Unfortunately the character I got to know the least and remember from the old films the worst is Frank Langella's character. In this film he plays him as a nice news boss who knows how to handle his staff to make sure they get the real "selling" news. He is good, but there doesn't seem to be much to go on.

Lastly, what I love concerning this film is most of the script. Almost every character has dialogue that sounds like it could have come from the actors of the Donner films and that it was therefore a continuance of every character. The fact that the film goes in depth to show what Superman means and to show why he is needed is a very nice touch. I also liked the whole thing dealing with Superman searching for home and the role that home plays in our lives to be very well put together. Although I kind of wish that superman had some qualms about throwing the only giant vestige of his home planet back into space, I understand that the film was long as is and couldn't handle much longer.

Now, as to what really bugs me, and this is not something small, is the script. Although the dialogue and characterizations and scenarios are excellent, and it even does a fine job of setting things up after the second film and explaining the past and giving Superman quite the situation to walk into, there is no excuse, none, for the child. This critique is meant for those who have seen the film so if I have spoiled something, sorry. Superman should never have had a child in this film. It added too much on and felt a little too cliche. I would have introduced the kid in this film and developed the idea of the Supes child in the next film. It was rushed and didn't look good especially since Lois Lane doesn't confess to anyone. Only Luthor and Lois know...what crap. Supes should be able to see his own son and Marsden character should know the truth as well. That is essentially its own little drama in and of itself and should have been another movie. Also, what in the world was all of the is Superman dead junk? Look, Raimi and Singer, you don't need to show the city waiting in expectation, cheering, or mourning to show that a city needs its heroes or supports them. When you do, the action becomes about the nameless masses cheering which is okay for maybe a 2-3 seconds but then it needs to pass because there was no tension in this film. Sure, Supes comes the closest to dying that he ever has, but no one realy believes he'll die, he is Superman! So all of that in the hospital and the slow waiting to see if Superman was okay should have been sped up because the audience wants to know but if we think we already know then the waiting isn't anticipating anything, its just maddening the viewers. And then there is the biggest plop of this film...Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. To her credit, Bosworth pulls off the caring for her son and family thing and at times is able to do the desiring Supes but hating him at the sametime. I think she thought that the craziness of Lois Lane from Margot Kidder's days would have died some since she won the Pulitzer Prize and is engaged with a son and good man...but that is wrong. Sorry, but Lane has much more defiance and crazy will power and a very STRONG personality that Bosworth just never reveals. The old Lois Lane was great because she would spite Superman for the hell of it but you knew from how she held herself and swayed a little that she didn't really spite him and it was just her way of dealing brusquely with the world around her. I really hope Bosworth can gain some piss and vinegar back into her character in the next outing, because it was possible in the writing, just was never utilized in the acting. Now for the other real reason why I despise the child of superman idea. In the past, the films have always been about Superman and his relation to the people and what he means to them and what he means to Lois Lane. Hell, the Dean Cain Superman show survived pretty much because of the excellent rapport of the characters playing Supes and Lois Lane. By introducing Marsden's character into the film, it made sense and it added a layer of spice and one-upmanship, a chance to see something new and different from the Man of Steel besides the hunkydory good guy. He was envious, never held it against Marsden and never got jealous. In all he was a good guy about it. So now the movie ends with this extra layer coming between Superman and Lois Lane which is what the audience wants, especially the females. They might not care about the fighting or the cool shots or anything else, but then you add in the romance with the Superman who is the hunk of dreams and they are there. So not only do you have that layer, but you manage to efficiently change the focus from Supes and Marsden and Lane to Supes and son and how will the son affect everything. The father son theme is a big part of the Supes mythology, but he is supposed to symbolize the savior, Christ, what you will and guess who is commonly accepted not to have had a son? Exactly. The son thing completely clashes with the savior motif of the film and it suggests several things that come across poorly. A. Superman conceived a child with Lois Lane outside of wedlock, conservative christians will love it. B. If Superman is a literal Christ figure, then you are suggesting Christ had a son. I don't care about either theologically, but I know that audience members do, especially those from where I spawned. Also, honestly I never wanna see a movie or television show entitled the Adventures of Superman Jr. Anyhow, with the plus and cons mapped out, here's the stupidity of the studios for you.

This is all from second hand sources called articles that I read and pieced together over time, so the actual attitudes and conversations of said studios could be completely inaccurate or imagined. When Singer was gearing up for X-Men 3, Warner Bros. approached him and impressed with his work, offered him a chance at Superman. Singer, seeing it as the Holy Grail of comic book films knew he had to do it and he was a HUGE fan of the Donner films. When he agreed to it, Fox was terribly upset since he had just finished the box office whopping X-Men 2 and they wanted another soon. They were upset that Singer was going to Warner Bros. to direct another comic film for a rival studio. I believe that Singer wanted them to wait until he had done Superman and then he would have come back and directed X-Men 3, but Fox was pissed so they told him to forget it. He shrugged and off he left. Fox already had a date planned for X-Men 3 and they wanted it to combat the Superman movie in the same summer, so they refused to back down from the planned release date even though they had no helmer to pull it all together. Then they hired Matthew Vaughn after his turn doing Layer Cake but when they insisted that he move to LA to direct X-Men 3, he quit saying he wasn't going to force his family to move from London to LA. And still, they refused to move the release date. As time grew short, with only a couple of months of pre-planning left before going into production supposedly, they hired Brett Ratner. He had lots of studio pressure to create a product to compete with superman and no time to really revise and edit the script like it needed. So, he did a rush job of it creating the X-men film that is the least likable and cofirming what many thought about poor affable Ratner, that he simply wasn't that good of a director whether it was fair to think so or not. Then there was the whole rumored business about the actors. Like I said, Fox had it in for Singer at thsi point and Warner and they wanted to make them pay for not finishing a trilogy. Sony had Raimi after all. Anyhow, apparently thsi hatred spilled over. Rumor had it that the reason Cyclops dies so early in X-men 3 is because he was given a part in the Superman film and in fact at one point the studio considered writing him out all together. Also, during this whole bad blood thing, supposedly Singer met with Famke Jannsen in Australia(the woman who plays Jean Grey) to possibly offer her the part of Kitty. Famke thought about it and told him that she had a big part in the new X-men movie and didn't want to risk losing the part or being written out of it for playing a smaller part in his film. It was understandable and things passed. This bad blood between the two companies did more hurt to Fox's credibility in the long run than WB or Singer, but that sort of pressure and tension can not have helped either camp to turn out the quality product necessary. As for future Supermen installments, WB has said maybe if the script is much lower budget and Singer has stated that he will be returning to the franchise again after finishing his current project Valkyrie and possible one more film just to get the script right. Plus, if Singer doesn't get back soon, then you may see Routh appearing in the new JLA movie that WB is cooking up. So expect more superman in one form or another and I'm betting next time Lois Lane will be tougher after all the flack crappy fanboys and critics like myself have been dishing out.

4.3 out of 5

Fanatix Indie League 2:The Beginning

2007-08-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

Sad sad news fellas. The Phony Express today reported that the maverick entrepreneur known only as Willo had decided on a whim to scrap up and close up shop in America and peddle his cinematic goods in Africa after realizing that he hadn't been number 1 against his thought of "mediocre competitors." As such, there are now only three big distributors in the U.S. headed by GoS, Castle, and Wannabe respectively. Although angry at the loss suffered under the summer season, Willo vowed before stepping onto his cushy Lufthansa flight, "Fear not Americans, I will soon return and restore the quality to your entertainment and then you will come to know me and love me more than yourselves." After which he boarded the flight, sold his studio to the Bank of America, and flew to create Africa to create the first Masai run film studio. Analysts are currently scratching their heads at this decision, but since he is an eccentric magnate, they figure it'll blow over in a couple of months and his return is assured. With the blockbuster season drawing to a close, the three leftover studios have turned their head to the coming Fall which is when typically they release the films they financed but were flops due to being poorly done. So lets see now what schlock these studios plan to unleash upon us for the coming season and what analysts think of each studios chances of doing well.

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE 41 5 3 8.1
2 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE 45 3 6 6.8
3 DARJEELING LIMITED 22 3 0 7.2
4 SHOOT EM UP 39 1 4 6.4
5 THE NANNY DIARIES 66 4 8 6.1
6 PENELOPE 11.1 2 0 7.5
7 HALLOWEEN 33 4 6 5.6
8 THE INVASION 60 3 5 5.6

GoS
1 STARDUST 71 3 6 7
2 THE KINGDOM 55 5 7 7
3 THE HEARTBREAK KID 125 6 11 7
4 IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH 31 3 5 7.7
5 THE 11TH HOUR 23 11 0 7.7
6 MICHAEL CLAYTON 37 4 4 7.4
7 RESIDENT EVIL EXTINCTION 41.5 4 6 6.3
8 IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON 3.1 6 0 8.1

WANNABE
1 SUPERBAD 55 2 6 6.7
2 RUSH HOUR 3 60 2 5 5.2
3 3:10 TO YUMA 31 1 3 6.7
4 HIT MAN 51 6 7 7
5 THE DARK IS RISING 16 0 0 4.2
6 30 DAYS OF NIGHT 22.5 3 5 5.5
7 KING OF KONG:A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS 1.1 0 0 6.9
8 THE ASSASINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD 49 2 4 5.9

BO RANKINGS
GOS 386.6 3
CASTLE 317.1 2
WANNABE 285.6 1

PTA RANKINGS
GOS 42 3
CASTLE 25 2
WANNABE 16 1

TOP 5
GOS 39 3
CASTLE 32 2
WANNABE 30 1

IMDB
GOS 7.275 3
CASTLE 6.6625 2
WANNABE 6.0125 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 2 2 2 8 2
GOS 3 3 3 3 12 1
WANNABE 1 1 1 1 4 3

Well, John. I have to say that currently, Wannabe's studio is simply not looking so hot. However, he does seem to have the best spanned out schedule for release. Currently GOS has a great lineup and Castle has some great picks too, but everyone has at least one or two stinkers on my list. Who knows this season? Maybe they know something that we don't! Either way, I know my enthusiasm for this year has just taken an abrupt turn. And now for the weather...

The Simpsons Movie

2007-08-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

'The Ultimate Simpsons Movie!'

Most, if not all of America knows of the Simpsons existence. I'm betting that even the Amish are out in the fields discussing the raucous nature of the long running cartoon comedy show. Created by Matt Groening back in the 80's and then followed with Futurama, which was eventually canceled, the Simpsons have seen a lot of ups and downs. It reenergized interest in traditional animation back in the day before Pixar showed up and it provided a breeding ground for many other series to come. Family Guy, The Tick, and many other cartoon shows would never have happened without the initial breakthrough of The Simpsons. Years later and the show is still going strong, albeit not quite like it used to do. Also, their first movie was just released after years of protesting the idea of making a movie saying if they did they would want the movie to be a great movie and appropriate for the big screen. Well, they succeeded and this is how.

Now, I actually spent a good portion of my summer trying to get more in touch with my inner Simpson. As a child, I was definately a fan of Bart, but I quickly tired of the show. So for most of June and July I borrowed and watched all of seasons 2,3,4, and 6. Yes, I realize I skipped two seasons, but its not like it is a very sequential show to begin with. 18 years later and how old is Bart? Exactly. And honestly, there are a couple of episodes but it inspires as much interest in me as most of the terrible Family Guy episodes now do since it is back. So, I am still not a huge fan of the show and from what I hear age hasn't helped the recent seasons. The film has eleven writers which normally tips me off that this is going to be a terrible film, however, it only has 1 director and this might be the saving point of the film.

The film is obviously directed by 1 very zany, clever, and funny man. I admit that the film does do what I had feared which is riff off of tons of other movies before it, but instead of doing it in a silly manner, it is obvious that the reason why it has eleven writers is so that each of the jokes are perfect. I don't think there was one joke I didn't catch nor one that didn't at least make me chuckle. I especially loved the references to Disney and the fun Silverman had mocking them. The other incredibly nice thing about the film that Family Guy and the Simpsons forgot about in later seasons, is emotion. True, the show is about a highly dysfunctional family that are constantly screwing up everything, but in order for you to care and share in the small triumphs of life with the characters, emotion and relationships between them is important, not the jokes. This film fills up every second with a well-timed joke that leads to a plot point and then another joke and occassionally hitting upon poignant moments between the crumbling family and town of Springfield. The film focuses on The Simpsons, as it should, and discusses the idea of what it means to be a real father. The traditional 2-D animation is augmented by some 3-d CG sometimes and the new characters are quite amusing and fun to watch. As for Spider-Pig...I want the song as a ringtone. In the end the film is excellent and is just the right size proportionately for the big screen. The story pokes fun at everyone and everything in a lighthearted manner that always elicits laughs. And the film feels like a great family film except for one or two curse words. (One uttered by Marge! I know!) I highly recommend this film as a great chapter in the Simpsons world and just to get some great laughs in. Congratulations David Silverman, Matt Groening, James Brooks, and the thousand writers on creating one of the best cartoon movies of this decade so far and on making a great big screen version of your show come to life.

4.6 out of 5

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League FINALE!!!

2007-07-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Alright fellas, well we've had some fun guessing and I've had some fun writing stories for each of you. Unfortunately, the time had come for this league to end. It was supposed to end July 30th and so it shall. With that in mind, here is the most recent up to date standings. Also, know that I will soon be sending invites today probably for a new season to start next week, so be vigilant and quick so that I might further your hallows of glory!

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 $RATATOUILLE 179.68 5 13 8.5
2 $PAPRIKA 0.73 4 0 7.9
3 $NO RESERVATIONS 11.75 0 1 6.5
4 $SIMPSONS 71.85 5 5 8.6
5 $*DAY WATCH 0.43 1 0 7.1
6 $*BUG 7 0 2 6.8
7 $ONCE 6 8 0 8.6
8 $EAGLE VS. SHARK 0.2 3 0 7.2

GoS
1 $TRANSFORMERS 284.5 4 11 7.9
2 $EVENING 12.4 0 0 7.1
3 $OCEAN'S 13 114.5 4 11 7.3
4 $NANCY DREW 24.7 0 0 6
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.82 6 0 7.2
6 $*YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.002 0 0 7.5
7 $INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS 0.3 0 0 7.3
8 $*EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 145.1 7 11 8.1
2 $SURF'S UP 57.3 0 3 7.2
3 $FF4 128.8 5 9 6.3
4 $BLACK SHEEP 0.06 0 0 6.6
5 $RESCUE DAWN 3 7 0 8.6
6 $I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 71.6 5 9 6.4
7 $SICKO 21.5 9 0 8.5
8 $*FIDO 0.3 0 0 7.5

WILLO
1 $EVAN ALMIGHTY 96.2 3 9 5.9
2 $HP5 241.7 6 12 7.8
3 $HAIRSPRAY 59.3 2 5 8.1
4 $LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 125.1 3 9 7.9
5 $*HOSTEL II 17.6 0 0 5.6
6 $*SEVERANCE 0.14 0 0 6.8
7 $CAPTIVITY 2.57 0 0 4.8
8 $*MR. BROOKS 28.2 0 2 7.7

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 570.81 4
GOS 437.282 3
WANNABE 427.66 2
CASTLE 277.64 1

PTA RANKINGS
WANNABE 33 4
CASTLE 26 3
GOS 14 2
WILLO 14 1

TOP 5
WILLO 37 4
WANNABE 32 3
GOS 22 2
CASTLE 21 1

IMDB
CASTLE 7.65 4
WANNABE 7.4 3
GOS 7.025 2
WILLO 6.825 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 1 3 1 4 9 3
GOS 3 1.5 2 2 8.5 4
WANNABE 2 4 3 3 12 1
WILLO 4 1.5 4 1 10.5 2

Well, as you can see from the rankings, I win! And GOS barely loses to Castle by .5 points since GOS and WILLO tied in PTA. I credit my ability to stay alive to I now pronounce you chuck and larry since it gave me excellent PTA, TOP 5, and BO right toward the end before the IMDB score could drop too low. Castle's simpsons is doing and will do well...but it was a little late and No Reservations is a flop. Harry Potter keeps on going as well as Hairpsray! So there you are gents, Send me the top 20 list for the next season and I shall set it up to start on next monday after the draft on Sunday! Peace!
Wannabe

Ghost Rider

2007-07-23T23:28:00.000-07:00

'Ghost Story Rides Away With Itself'

When Ghost Rider first came out, I wasn't sure what to do. The comic books were never the most outstanding things ever, but the concept of Ghost Rider is the friggin coolest and most badass concept ever. The bounty hunter of Satan who turns against him to save the innocent and tick off Satan. He rides a bike and uses a chain and has a flaming skull. This opens up all sorts of AWESOME ideas for storylines and what all. plus creates a badass looking character. Then again, no one has been able to get his origin story down well. So with this lense I will destroy this movie.

Mark Steven Johnson was the first tip off. The guy directed Daredevil which I wasn't too afraid of, but then he wrote Elektra which made me choke on my phlegm and bile a little. I hear he's currently working on the Preacher series for HBO...which I hope is completely false or his best work to date. Ghost Rider, however, was written by him as well and there are some good things to say about it. Like the fact that the Ghost Rider gets a pretty good origin tale in it that should function as his tale. Unfortunately, the dialogue is terrifyingly stilted and the situations in which the actors are supposed to draw a line for continuity are badly set and the characters actions make no sense. Yes, I'm looking at Eva Mendes and her character who comes to Cage's apartment after having been stood up twice by the love of her life and then telling him he has one last chance. WHAT? Seriously, I have respect for women and I would like to think that even the dumbest woman would have enough dignity to not go a-begging like that. I did like the touch of the four elements, horsemen of the apocalypse that work with Blackheart the main bad guy as it forced the Rider to get creative and it brought a certain literary aspect to the picture that was quietly amusing. For the rest though, its about as good as roasted poo on a stick. Sure it might look cooler and cling more, but damn its stench reeks.

The CG for the film is AWFUL. I understand that fire and flaming skulls are hard to do convincingly, but man it looked like an 80's character. Thankfuly the motorbike is awesome and I want it. The elementals were very eh, and felt incredibly jobberish. The main two villains of Blackheart and Satan are played well but the choice to have Blackheart look human I'm still out on. And that whole bit with Mark Slade was completely foreseeable. Sure some of the cinematic choices were dynamic in a very Michael Bay fashion, but even that can't save a crappy film. Neither could Cage's honest attempt at portraying Johnny Blaze help. Cage does really well for his part though. Eva Mendes, not so much. In the end, the film stinks but its great for some laughs if you want to recapture some of the cheesy 80's feel with some 60's dialogue. Trust me, its a funny combination.

1.8 out of 5

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League Update

2007-07-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

Coming close to the finish line!!!! Don't forget, the competition ends on the 30th of this month. I will be sending out invites for a new league draft/round soonish. I hope you have enjoyed the small anecdotal stories and I look forward to hopefully continuing them into the next part of the Fanatix season. Here's how everything is looking so far!

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 $RATATOUILLE 165.6 5 13 8.6
2 $PAPRIKA 0.7 4 0 7.9
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $*DAY WATCH 0.35 1 0 7.1
6 $*BUG 7 0 2 6.8
7 $ONCE 5.5 8 0 8.6
8 $EAGLE VS. SHARK 0.17 3 0 7.2

GoS
1 $TRANSFORMERS 263 4 11 8
2 $EVENING 12 0 0 7
3 $OCEAN'S 13 114.5 4 11 7.3
4 $NANCY DREW 24.4 0 0 6
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.74 6 0 7.2
6 $*YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.002 0 0 7.7
7 $INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS 0.25 0 0 7.4
8 $*EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 142.7 7 11 8.1
2 $SURF'S UP 57.1 0 3 7.2
3 $FF4 128.8 5 9 6.3
4 $BLACK SHEEP 0.06 0 0 6.6
5 $RESCUE DAWN 1.1 7 0 8.6
6 $I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 34.7 4 5 6.7
7 $SICKO 19.1 9 0 8.5
8 $*FIDO 0.3 0 0 7.5

WILLO
1 $EVAN ALMIGHTY 93.5 3 9 6
2 $HP5 207.5 6 9 7.8
3 $HAIRSPRAY 27.8 2 3 8
4 $LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 116.5 3 9 8
5 $*HOSTEL II 17.6 0 0 5.5
6 $*SEVERANCE 0.14 0 0 6.8
7 $CAPTIVITY 2.4 0 0 4.9
8 $*MR. BROOKS 28.1 0 2 7.7

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 493.54 4
GOS 414.952 3
WANNABE 383.86 2
CASTLE 317.32 1

PTA RANKINGS
WANNABE 32 4
CASTLE 25 3
GOS 14 2
WILLO 14 1

TOP 5
WILLO 32 4
WANNABE 28 3
CASTLE 25 2
GOS 22 1

IMDB
WANNABE 7.4375 4
CASTLE 7.3875 3
GOS 7.0625 2
WILLO 6.8375 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 1 3 2 3 9 3
GOS 3 2 1 2 8 4
WANNABE 2 4 3 4 13 1
WILLO 4 1 4 1 10 2

So, I am still in the lead and barely hanging on. I doubt I'll be able to recoup my losses in the BO rank before the end of the season. Castle surely won't be able to since he has two new movies coming out just days before the end of the season. My IMDB score might suffer some due to Chuck and Larry which might give some points to Castle from my spot. However, with the popularity of Sandler, I can probably expect to hang on to more top 5 points next week and maybe some PTA. Ian's Introducing the Dwights is a pretty big flop, however he is making up for everything with Transformers which might or might not be around for more top 5 and PTA next week. I'm betting Castle's Simpsons movie grabs some top 5 and maybe some PTA. Unfortunately for Willo, the outlook of his recent release Hairspray isn't looking too good and it might be safe to say that he is probably done earning PTA and Top 5 points on everything except Potter. As this season comes to a close, the flexibility in the ranking becomes more rigid, however, the scores have also become much more closer. Cheers gentlemen and I will talk to you soon next week!
Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League Update

2007-07-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

Here you go fellas. With all the competition I'm currently on top but with the last few weeks coming to a close, I can guarantee I will fall mightily once my last predicted film has to become a reality. Sad. Here we are!

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 $RATATOUILLE 142.9 5 12 8.6
2 $PAPRIKA 0.68 4 0 7.9
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $*DAY WATCH 0.35 1 0 7.1
6 $*BUG 7 0 2 6.9
7 $ONCE 5 8 0 8.6
8 $EAGLE VS. SHARK 0.16 3 0 7.2

GoS
1 $TRANSFORMERS 224 4 9 8
2 $EVENING 10.8 0 0 7.1
3 $OCEAN'S 13 112.5 4 11 7.3
4 $NANCY DREW 24.1 0 0 6
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.7 6 0 7.2
6 $*YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.002 0 0 8
7 $INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS 0.14 0 0 7.4
8 $*EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 138.2 7 11 8.1
2 $SURF'S UP 56.8 0 3 7.3
3 $FF4 127.2 5 9 6.4
4 $BLACK SHEEP 0.05 0 0 6.6
5 $RESCUE DAWN 0.6 7 0 8.7
6 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 125 6 9 6.9
7 $SICKO 15.8 9 0 8.5
8 $*FIDO 0.3 0 0 7.5

WILLO
1 $EVAN ALMIGHTY 87.7 3 9 6
2 $HP5 139.7 5 5 8.1
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 $LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 103.3 3 9 8
5 $*HOSTEL II 17.6 0 0 5.6
6 $*SEVERANCE 0.14 0 0 6.8
7 $CAPTIVITY 1.4 0 0 5.1
8 $MR. BROOKS 28.1 0 2 7.7

BO RANKINGS
WANNABE 463.95 4
WILLO 437.94 3
GOS 372.302 2
CASTLE 294.09 1

PTA RANKINGS
WANNABE 34 4
CASTLE 25 3
GOS 14 2
WILLO 13 1

TOP 5
WANNABE 32 4
WILLO 29 3
CASTLE 24 2
GOS 20 1

IMDB
WANNABE 7.5 4
CASTLE 7.4 3
GOS 7.1125 2
WILLO 6.65 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 1 3 2 3 9 2
GOS 2 2 1 2 7 4
WANNABE 4 4 4 4 16 1
WILLO 3 1 3 1 8 3

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix

2007-07-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

'Harry Potter and the Order of Emoting'

Before I rant and rave a bit, know that one the way back I was completely rebuked by the people who I saw this with who thought this movie was excellent...however, they also strongly disliked Harry Potter 3 and 4 for reasons that sounded bizarre and completely contrary to my views on the films. So, let me delve in.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, in my opinion, is the worst of all the films so far. The visual style is lacking for the most part in originality. The dialogue is stilted and delivered a bit too obviously. Oh, and the whole Harry angst whiney thing that he ALWAYS does, which was heavily prevalent in the book, comes out well enough for me to despise it. I liked the book for being darker than the last one but honestly, all the crap with Harry Potter as a maturing teen going through angst ticks me off since he can never do much more than whine and feel mistrusted. I understand that each novel is a different lesson in growing up and I have actually come to appreciate the structure and intelligence of the novels, although it did take me a while. However, I was informed that not enough of Harry's angst was in the film, which I completely disagree with since I could barely stand to watch the screen whenever he felt "alone". Harry is the weakest protagonist I have ever seen. Each book he requires others to insure that he learns a lesson which he is unable to learn quickly and easily on his own. Just not my taste.

Anyhow, the film. The film starts off promising with some great visuals and editing, somewhat disorienting, but really promising and well done. But soon after Harry leaves the normal world and comes to Hogwarts, the story becomes a bit too...angsty for my taste. The style soon becomes a very obvious continuance of the style employed in the fourth film to make everything seem darker. Thankfully, Yates seems to understand how to make some great beautiful moments, however they are so far apart and the main three actors have such a hard time holding their own without overdoing everything. Radcliffe has come far, but still struggles and the editing is lazy at best. Rupert Grint has a lesser role and as such can't let his natural charm come across as much and when it does, the laughing moments aren't usually funny seeing as how they seem like a complete rehash of previous Ronald Weasley "moments" from other films. Hermione is simply overdone. Most of the beautiful moments in this film come from practically everyone else but the three main characters and the beginning, the ending, and the bit with the destruction of the O.W.L.s comes to mind of particular great visualization. Also, the Black estate is well done if scantily used. I must say, that although I had a very different vision of the death in the novel, I must applaud Yates subtle and great handling of it. The best part of the movie though belongs to Dolores Umbridge played with panache by Dolores Umbridge and Sirius Black who is otherwise known as Gary Oldman. Oldman makes the scenes work that he is in and a better choice for Sirius Black could never have been found. Also well done is Michael Gambon's Albert Dumbeldore who really steps up his game in this film and convinces me that Dumbeldore should be in control of Hogwarts. Alan Rickman as Snape is always a pleasure. Even the Weasley brothers and Luna Lovegoode are excellently handled.

Conclusion:
To be fair, the story is told with some flashes of brilliance occassionally and the rest at a low hum. A lot of the effects, settings, and plot works well enough. Most of the actors are great to watch with some standing out more than others due to the script from newcomer Michael Goldenberg. However, I think maybe I just didn't like the story as much in this one. I honestly am terribly uncomfortable and dislike teen angst stories usually. The main actors didn't impress me and could be seen as taking a step back in some cases in acting styles. However, I highly doubt that my tale of discouragement and dislike of this film will stop the Potterites and influence any of them. No one will ever agree with me on this point, which is fine. Unfortunately, now I am stuck with at least one more film of Potter and Yates. Hopefully Yates will surprise me and the dialogue won't be so bloody obvious about EVERYTHING thanks to the return of Steve Kloves as scripter. One last chance Yates, one last one.

3.3 out of 5

Wannabe

Ratatouille

2007-07-10T03:27:00.000-07:00

'Bird flies again with Ratatouille'

Brad Bird is the little animation genius that could. Seriously. Some people started doubting Pixar back when Cars came out and they weren't as impressed as they had been. Not sure why really, but they were. Well, they are no longer allowed to gripe. Pixar houses many monumental talents including Brad Bird and John Lasseter. Considering Bird made this film after Jan Pinkava quit and he had to start from scratch for the project makes it all the more stunning when I say that this is by far the BEST Pixar film yet.

Ratatouille, unless you have been living in a windowless cave with no television (WHAT?) you should know, is about a rat that wants to be more and desires to cook who teams up with an awkward and highly unskilled boy to try and cook in a famous restaurant in Paris. The story is pretty simple on the outside, but it is not the mindblowing concept that wows us, or even the great animation, its how Bird weaves everything together to create fleshed out characters and story arcs for EVERYONE. Sure the main characters get the good stuff, but even the periphery characters have great arcs and are excellently voiced. My one gripe is the cliched cooking romance, but at least this film doesn't go off the deep end with it. Plus, its a Disney film, of course it is going to be full of cliches. I especially love the well thought out details such as Remy working as the poison detector for all of the rats at first. The film also does several references to the film's title which helps to solidify in my mind what I think the movie is actually about. Let's see, the motto is that anyone can cook, a rat is the main character who ends the movie by cooking a kickass peasant dish called ratatouille. Essentially emphasizing the fact that the poorest and/or dirtiest creatures in the world still have something to offer of worth. Also, sometimes its better to stick to your roots. Thinking back now, this film reminds me a lot of other films at times like Oliver! and Secrets of the Rats of N.I.M.H. If nothing else, the character of Anton Ego, the food critic in the film is entirely ripped off from the pervasively spooky style of Tim Burton. Seriously, my favorite little bit was that his room was in the shape of a coffin.

As for voice acting, no one does a bad job ever. Patton Oswalt, an unknown to me, does a great job as the rat Remy and needs to prepare for a career in animation at least. Loe Romano as Linguini is hilarious and perfectly captures Linguini's awkwardness without making him sound pubescent. Peter O'Toole is excellent as the villainous Ego. Although I approve of it in the end, I would have never suspected Collette to have been played by Janeane Garofalo since there weren't any terrible flat obtrusive jokes on her part. In the end there isn't one bad performance. The animation is top notch as always and the imagination is cranked high for this Disney film. I'm sure I'll be analyzing this film for screenplay reasons later. Til then, I recommend watching The Incredibles which is Bird's other Pixar movie, or The Iron Giant which was pre-Pixar. If that doesn't work for you, then just go watch the first few seasons of The Simpsons where he worked as an executive consultant. Yea, isn't that cool?

4.6 out of 5

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League Update

2007-07-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

Once again, here we go with the weekly update and soon I will have a review out for Ratatouille. Here ya go!

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 $RATATOUILLE 109.5 5 9 8.7
2 $PAPRIKA 0.64 4 0 8
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $*DAY WATCH 0.35 1 0 7.1
6 $*BUG 7 0 2 6.9
7 $ONCE 4.5 8 0 8.6
8 $EAGLE VS. SHARK 0.14 3 0 7.2

GoS
1 $TRANSFORMERS 155.4 4 5 8.1
2 $EVENING 8.3 0 0 7.1
3 $OCEAN'S 13 109.1 4 11 7.3
4 $NANCY DREW 23.2 0 0 6
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.6 6 0 7.2
6 $*YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.002 0 0 8.4
7 $INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS 0.04 0 0 7.6
8 $*EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 132 7 11 8.2
2 $SURF'S UP 56 0 3 7.3
3 $FF4 123.8 5 9 6.4
4 $BLACK SHEEP 0.04 0 0 6.6
5 $RESCUE DAWN 0.1 5 0 8.8
6 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 125 6 9 6.9
7 $SICKO 11.4 9 0 8.5
8 $FIDO 0.3 0 0 7.5

WILLO
1 $EVAN ALMIGHTY 78.7 3 9 6.1
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 $LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 84.4 3 7 8.1
5 $*HOSTEL II 17.6 0 0 5.6
6 $*SEVERANCE 0.14 0 0 6.8
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 $MR. BROOKS 28 0 2 7.7

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 511.74 4
WANNABE 448.64 3
GOS 296.702 2
CASTLE 260.13 1

PTA RANKINGS
WANNABE 32 4
CASTLE 25 3
WILLO 17 2
GOS 14 1

TOP 5
WILLO 35 4
WANNABE 32 3
CASTLE 21 2
GOS 16 1

IMDB
WANNABE 7.525 4
CASTLE 7.425 3
GOS 7.2 2
WILLO 6.5875 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 1 3 2 3 9 4
GOS 2 1 1 2 6 2
WANNABE 3 4 3 4 14 1
WILLO 4 2 4 1 11 2

Alright gents, you know the drill. I'm afraid that the God of Shadows slate is no longer changeable, let's hope then that he chose well as Transformers would indicate since he earned 155 million dollars in a week. He should easily be able to get it over 200 million. Causing all sorts of havoc. I guess that his current predicament is just because his movie was released and he can no longer stand on predicted ratings. Hopefully, his real ones won't be quite as good. Besides that gents, I hope this finds you well. Peace!

SiCKO

2007-07-08T14:39:00.000-07:00

'America is certainly sicko'

Everyone knows Michael Moore. For better or worse, the self-aggrandizing master is the face of practically all liberal views and can possibly be attributed to the rise and resurgence in the recent popularity of good documentaries. Like Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame, Moore makes a habit of inserting himself into his documentaries in an effort to add a humorous human element and to create a personal attachment between audience and material. Sure, hearing about people being shot in Vietnam was terrible, but it was nothing to seeing a soldier blow out the mind of a local villager on national television. By creating characters that are empathetic and the common American everyman, Moore thrives off of this empathy for these characters and their individual stories to emphasize his agenda and political views. Because his films do not even bother to take an impersonalized stance and feel sometimes a bit too muhc like propaganda, I have never forced myself to watch them. But after hearing that this film was not as bad as his previous films in terms of trying to make him look good and it touched upon the healthcare system which is one I have become increasingly worried about unlike many of peers, I decided I had to see it. So I did, with my in-laws, one whom is Democrat and the other Republican. And here's how it goes...

Sicko, the most recent film by Michael Moore focuses specifically on the power and clout of insurance companies and how corrupt the American system is for healthcare. The people chosen as examples are honestly very sad and angering examples of common people being destroyed by money-grubbing healthcare "professionals." I have no love for insurance companies as the job simply doesn't make sense. I pay someone a certain amount each year until something bad happens to me and then they will pay me back...what if I am unlucky? What if I suffer from some disease that makes me chronically ill or there is certain medication I constantly need? At what point does my medical health become dire enough to warrant pay back? What if the insurance goes broke and out of business? Obviously these are very simplified concerns, but it is possible to see that there are too many "ifs" involved and the next logical step as a businessman is to strip down and control the ifs into a manageable handfull and I'm sure to do it in a way that brings in more financial profitability for the company. One of these attempts to control the pay back of money is the commonly heard phrase in the movie of "the procedure is too experimental." I personally found great favor in seeing the one man who was told his daughter couldn't have the second cochlear implant write a letter to the CEO of his insurance asking them how they would like to be in Michael Moore's new movie and then having the CEO call him personally to let him know that the decision for not allowing the surgery had been reversed. That was humorous. Unfortunately, most of the personal experiences shared in this film are not of the happily ever after variety and proved one thing to me and my wife. Those who are insured are not much better off than those who aren't except that they at least have the right to apply for the money needed. I'm sure not all people get dicked around as much as Moore points out and that insurance does pay for most of its people, but the fact that certain people who worked in the industry have a certain quota of people to deny and there are jobs for those who will try everything to take the money back from people after it has been given to them is a shame. I only write this because most of the people checking Moore's facts in this film have had to say that most of the facts are correct.

However, they don't have to say that other countries are as great as he paints them. Although it was a great thing to see all of the people getting the help they needed in Cuba, I found it amusing that in terms of healthcare, Cuba was listed 39th on the list that Moore showed, just two behind U.S.A. Although I have heard great things about the French and the English healthcare, and this film does avidly attack the perception that under a socialized healthcare system doctors wouldn't get paid enough and people wouldn't get the same level of care by showing that people now don't get anywhere near the same level of care and only the super rich get better care than anyone else, I do think that his inability to find fault at all is slightly annoying. He never asked why the English have terrible teeth for instance. I hear its because there simply aren't enough dentists but is that because the social healthcare system doesn't pay as much for dentists because they consider it a superficial need? These are not addressed of course. However, after watching the film, there is no denying that America is paying way too much for medicine. I was disheartened by the amount it would cost for me to get the same drugs for my cholesterol in the other countries than it takes here. Also, Moore insinuates that doctors are really just trying to get as much out of their money as they can in America and are to blame for the jacked prices. He ignores the fact that doctor offices have to pay so much for all of their assistants. Big offices require more money for equipment, workers, nurses, receptionists, property taxes, clearinghouse fees, billing software, etc. Moore also doesn't mention that in a lot of the poorer neighborhoods, the doctors tend to have trouble collecting. Hell, in nice neighborhoods people have trouble collecting from their patients to pay for these things. Doctors figure in the amount of the loss they will receive for that year and incorporate that into their pricing because they don't have time to go and forcefully collect on their fees. Tons of doctor are going out of business and the most profitable positions these days are shrinks. Moore discusses NONE of these issues and concerns that help to provoke and sustain the current predicament.

Also, and this is where most people jump in, many wish Moore had not inserted himself after the first half. He takes the viewer on a journey as if he were Michael Palin exploring a far off distant country. It's great because everything seems to be so linearly explained and makes sense because we are seeing everything from Moore's point of view, which then means we tend to lose perspective. What's great though is that in the first part of the film without Moore to guide us, we were comparing the stories of the scarred to ourselves and creating our own point of view. Also, with Moore came his grandstanding and "look at me! look at me!" tactics. While slightly humorous, i felt bad watching the people on the boat when they went to Gitmo. Moore knew they would have no intention of letting them in, a boat full of supposed NY heroes off the coast of Florida outside one of the most well-known terrorist detainee camps since forever. Why does Moore put the N.Y. people through this? If he wanted to portray himself in a truly great light, he would simply take them to the hospital and never have wasted his time at Gitmo. Also, he had no reason, none at all, to show what he did for the poor guy whose wife almost died and ran the biggest Michael Moore hate blog. It was amusing but also childish. Now he will know who the anonymous man is and you have rubbed his ego in his face and flaunted it for the world to see. No good can come of this.

Conclusion:
While I have decided I don't like Michael Moore as a person, I do think he makes a fairly well artuculated case against the Healthcare system. I agree that the medicine is overpriced, and hell I have always liked the idea of a socialized system and this answered a few concerns and questions I had about it. It also opened my eyes more to the blatant cruelty and systematic profiteering of the insurance companies. I was glad to have seen the film. It is a great starting place, and nothing more, for a good discussion followed by a huge movement to change our healthcare. Something is wrong with it and instead of jumping to conclusions, something needs to be done about it and it should be decided by a good debate, a very public debate, so that hopefully no matter of bribing and stupidity can keep the Hill from ignoring it. Hillary lost my vote for sure after this, so God help the Democrats if they choose her as their candidate. For more points of view, the Democrat in-law said he was glad to see it because it only confirmed what he knew already but that he disliked Moore and thought it had some flaws and needed perspective. The Republican in-law found in interesting and thought it was well done and brought up several good points, but also hated Moore and thought it was a good starting point for the public discussion. In the end, no one I know enjoys Moore and here is his greatest weakness. Yes, he is amusing and can add a human element, but by putting himself into all of his films he defeats them with his arrogant and snobbish behavior and grandstanding. I'm afraid that by putting his face on all his ideas and thoughts which are fairly liberal, he is creating more conservatives simply because people do not like him as a person. He's a good filmmaker and rabble rouser and will probably be known in the history of film and possibly America for the controversy he has aroused, but he will lose everytime if he keeps making films that inextricably tie him to the source material.

4.2 out of 5

Wannabe

Transformers

2007-07-04T23:17:00.000-07:00

'Transformers + explosions = good'

Steven Spielberg bought the rights to Transformers not too long ago for filming purposes through his Dreamworks company. Of course, he gets the first look and I remember desperately hoping that he would return to his old form and take on a more family/kid oriented film has he had before with E.T. and the like and make a Transformers film that brought back the magica awe of the films. Instead when I found out he had passed but had wanted Michael Bay to direct it as a live-action film, unlike everyone else, I was only dismayed that Spielberg had passed on it, not that Bay had accepted to do it. Many people cried out hack and whined about Bay whom they perceived as an action film guy who was big on spectacle and small on plot. While this may be somewhat true generally, I have always loved the performances given by his actors and whether you appreciate it or not, he does have one of the best cinematic eyes right now in Hollywood. So what, he likes to use crane shots and fun angled track shots, the point is that no matter how he incorporates his signature old shots into a new film, it always feel revitalizing and fresh unlike the shot in the last two Matrix films when time slows down. So yes, I knew that when the film was going to be made that it would probably have a bit too commercial of a touch and that some sort of human element crap would be a part of it. I also knew though that it WOULD have giant robots beating the crap out each other in the best cinematic way possible and that the story would really just be a vehicle for that. I felt even better for the film after hearing that they had decided on casting Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime even though he had already been the voice for years in the television series. It showed that thatnkfully, no matter how berating and annoying the vocal internet community was being, that Bay and Spielberg were willing to listen to them and swap ideas. Well, after several eh trailers I saw the film opening night with some friends, and it doesn't disappoint.

Bay delivers his usual verve and cinematic prowess with extremely smart setups. Granted a couple of shots could have had a little bit more planning put in, but almost all of them are incredibly impressive given that I don't think Bay has had a ton of work with CG and considering its a live action Transformers, its obvious there has to be lots of CG. Once again Bay brings "it" with his trademark shots and intense and sweeping action. As much as I found Bay to be smug in his appearance of On the Lot and laughed at every suggestion had to do with work on your camera skills, I have to say that he probably doesn't ever need to work on that again. He's great cinematically. The film is fast, furious, and damn fun. I have to say that the best thing I can say about the film is that I didn't mind the use of the human element as much. This might be partially due to the script but I also attribute a lot of it to Bay and the two main actors Shia Lebouf and Megan Fox, who definately just became the pinup dream model of the year. Okay, yes in real life she's a bit too scary skinny for my taste, but man she looks good in this film. Oh, and Castle, sorry buddy but Shia really helps to hold this film together. Bay might be a bit arrogant and as usual his sfilms are light on stories, but he knows how to do buddy films better than anybody since the Beverly Hills Cop days. Oh, and Bay I loved the addition of the sign in the teacher's room, that took a lot of thought and comedic thinking and it worked perfectly.

Storywise, it's a very easy basic premise. I am not sure how close to the Transformers mythology it is but it sounds like the kind of thing I would expect from a bunch of toys that spawned a cartoon series and an anime movie and then years later an actual movie. I'm also very impressed and happy with the choice of Bay and the writing team to let certain Transformers die. That's right, I hope you aren't too attached to certain characters from the cartoon because they might easily bite the bullet sucker. However, despite the good handling of the human element by the actors and director, there is just some stuff that is dialogue that blows and I doubt anyone could have made work. That whole thing about getting into the car, it was ridiculous and needed something more. Sure its sweet, but...wait, hold on, just gotta wipe some of this Easy Cheeze out from under my eyelids. Ahh thats better. The story is relatively simple and although I appreciated the fun stuff with the Marines and Sector 7 people, I found it kind of hokey that the same people from the Middle East are the ones that have to be around til the end. Honestly, they could have been destroyed and I would have been A-okay with that as it would have pointed out how powerful the Decepticons were. Oh yea, and writers, I realize it is in the tradition of the good bot Optimus Prime to be essentially Captain America as a giant transforming robot, but for the love of Cybertron! could you please give him less preachy dialogue and stilted manners. Fanboys pipe down, this is for your own good! Ah whatever, it wasn't too terrible I suppose. The best part of the human element is that it didn't get in the way of what everyone wanted which is giant robots beating the hell out of each other. It was also handled nicely by sticking to Shia's character and keeping everything mostly in the realm of light-hearted comedy. It definately came together for the best summer blockbuster so far.

As for the actors, there are the immediate two that come to mind of Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. Shia does a good job of handling the comedy portions as the freaked out young horny teenager type. It's a very humanizing and fun lovable role. Megan Fox serves as nothing more than eye candy and to have a slight rapport with Shia's character which she is very good at and I see her future as being very similar to that of Lohan's if she ever decides to capitalize on her good looks at a young age. As for the supporting players, the film sports Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson as marines and although I could never figure out who was Tyrese, Josh does his best job yet and doesn't manage to become annoying. He makes himself a welcome addition to the large encore cast of the film and fits in well. I believed he could have been marine or a leader in a military unit. Bravo! Then there is Jon Voight as the Secretary of Defense which works. I mean the guy can play any distinguished dignitary you want, but honestly he is best at playing something out of a western or a tobacco-spitting coach in a high school. Although I'm dying to see the film where he plays Pope John Paul II. Then there is Bernie Mac whose one bit part is highly amusing. Also John Turturro as the Sector 7 weirdo which is not believable except at one point but is a welcome light-hearted comedic addition. I especially love the thought of how vicious my Nokia might be. Then there is some side story involving Anthony Anderson and Rachael Taylor, the only believable part of it being that there are people who live like Anderson's character and seem to be complete losers who could easily wipe out your bank accounts and leave you looking like an illegal immigrant if it crossed their minds. Also, Bay, the whole thing with the donuts was what you call in Hollywood, a groaner. The robots all look amazing and they are great to listen to. Megatron is a bit much but so is Optimus. Bumblebee is of course the best robot as more time and detail is invested in him although the whole thing at the end where Bumblebee speaks literally makes no sense and contradicts the plot of the film itself.

Conclusion:
The robots look great and Bay has done an excellent job of acquiring a cast and creating the best Transformers film you coudl ask for. I'm not saying that it doesn't have some lame moments or some contradicting storyline and plot points, but on the whole its a great blockbuster stuck somewhere in between those awesome years of puberty where it is not appropriate for young family oriented groups, but it is the perfect anecdote for families with teenagers. Its fun, fast, and contains all the elements one expects of a great action film, then throw in the huge robots, great destinations, big explosions, and some sort of mythology/story and you have Transformers. I will praise the film for its ability to mix and match the government, although I'm sure it will anger many right-wingers at the obvious and unnecessary potshots at the government. The marines and Voight seem intelligent and smart as does Rachael Taylor. But then you get John Turturro and the immortal line paraphrased to "Hey, why don't you wrangle me up some of those Ding-dongs?" said by what we assume to be the voice of the President. Ahh, well. As for future installments, some people have claimed they were so impressed that they wanted the same team to stay and do a second one. I disagree. I like Bay's take on Transformers but he has made it pretty obvious in interviews and other things that he took the film on as a challenge and is not a fan of the original Transformers since he considers them a bunch of cool toys essentially. He's actually pretty hostile about the whole thing from what I can understand and I think even if he did come back the second film would be much darker and mocking of the franchise. I think the writing team, despite my gripes, had a decent script that coudl have used some dialogue fine-tuning mostly so I hope they return. Spielberg's imprint of commercial appeal is all over this film and I am happy to consider this work as a more grown-up blockbuster film. I'm sure he'd produce again, just find a new and also greatly talented director to take the reigns. I hear that the guy who directed 28 Weeks Later is really good and he might be a great choice for such an action packed, CG movie. He just might have to work a bit on his comedy.

3.7 out of 5

Wannabe

A Canadian Obit

2007-07-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

Professional wrestling over the years has had its ups and downs. It swings back and forth between great characters and fun new ideas and great storylines, to rehashes of the same stuff peddled several nights before or even several years before. There have only been a few wrestlers who have ever become anything or stood for anything. Hulk Hogan, The Warrior, Sting, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, etc. I used to be a big WWF watched back in the day and I returned during the WCW vs. WWF war that eventually resulted in WWE. I also enjoyed the occassional ECW before being acquired by WWE. However, for the most part, I have been outside of the wrestling community and world for many years. I was shocked later to find out about the extremely sad crippling of one of my favorite wrestlers Perry Saturn who was shot several times in the neck when trying to save a woman from being raped. The, not too long ago I was hit by the news of Eddie Guerrero's death at such an early age. Eddie was always ripped and it never made sense to me. However, I have never been so disappointed by an icon until now. Chris Benoit, also known as the Canadian Crippler and The Wolverine, was recently found dead in his home in an apparent suicide by hanging himself at his weight machine after having strangled his son and wife. One speculation is that it was a steroid induced rage.

Normally, I never write these kinds of things, not even about the greats in the media world who pass on each year. But I felt that since Benoit will probably be villified and remembered for his violent ending of life that someone should come out and discuss the great things he did and represented. Benoit was one of a few, and probably the first to come out and not waste time jabbering. Sure, he founght like a mad man and brawled his way to the top where he won a ridiculous number of belts, but no matter what he did, he made sure he stood for his homeland, Canada. Back in middle school, he was the only wrestler I saw that constantly was referred to as Canadian and stood by it. Whether the storyline was heel or face, he was Canadian and he gave a damn good fight and a good show each time he entered the ring. The Crippler Crossface and his slaps became well known to any who watched. And considering growing up in a place and time when Canadians were prominently displayed in South Park as weak, badly-accented English people whose biggest fault in life was everything, I'm sure Benoit must have served as an icon for the better side of Canada. Sure they had hockey, but sadly many people thought their hockey team was fiercer than their military. The joking and derogatory remarks about Canada and its ways gave me a vague idea and concept about the wussies and the "aboots." Thankfully, everytime I watched wrestling I was forced to do battle with Benoit and his boy wonder attitude. He was short, muscled, scruffy, and always seemed overpowered by his opponent who could have been Razor Ramon or Kevin Nash or some other ridiculously tall supposedly American wrestler, and he gave it all. When Benoit lost, you knew it wasn't because he didn't give it his all. I always expected him to expire in battle. Benoit seemed a bit unpredictable, like Wolverine of the X-Men, but he mostly espoused good values and ideas in an age when he was the perpetual underdog. He was Canada's Superman in human form. I don't know what happened to him over the years or what might have put him so far over the edge to have caused this terrible tragedy and incident, but its a damn shame to have sullied such a great career and life. Hopefully, Canadians and others who looked up to him like my good friend from High School, will remember him in better days when his fight was just and forget his last treasonous act upon earth. I salute Benoit for his continuos uphill fight against the terrible conception of Canadians and for successfully helping to keep a young teenager open-minded throughout high school and college until he could make his own decisions. R.I.P.

Wannabe

The Matador

2007-07-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

'The Matador slays me!'

I saw this film a while back in theaters and I liked it then but I never got around to reviewing it. But since I watched it again recently, with a pack of seminarians which is really amusing, I decided to do it justice and help spread the good word.

First off, this film is such a black comedy that you might look into it and find yourself pondering Nietzsche and suicide at the same time. Don't get me wrong, it will make you laugh through puberty but it is dark comedy as any comedy about a hitman going though a midlife crisis should be. But with that said, it's nowhere near as dark as say, The Royal Tenenbaums which I found so dark that it was more of a tragedy than a comedy to me. The Matador is about a hitman named Julian who hits a midlife crisis and finds his work much harder to accomplish. He reaches out to try and make a friend. Some things happen. He botches a few jobs and suddenly he's next in line to be killed. The movie is a great exploration of what friendship means and how those around you who care for you will help you no matter how unsavory you are or the deed to be done. It's also a great exploration of the ideas of luck and how it is affected by mindset. These two big themes are explored in the travails of the two main characters as portrayed by Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear.

Kinnear plays a down on his luck businessman whose son was killed not long ago and to whom bad luck has followed ever since. He meets Julian, played by the most potty-mouthed Pierce Brosnan I've ever seen who is constantly wiggin out in ways you would never guess. (I love the line "I look like a Bangkok hooker on a Sunday morning, after the navy's left town." hehe.)The interaction between these two is priceless as Julian not only strives to make a connection to someone for once but seeks help to deal with his issues and problems. What is also nice is how the director, Richard Shepard fits in great shots revealing things about the characters. The shark in the swimming pool, the picture of Brosnan in the cross-hairs, even the Brosnan cheerleader are excellent surreal qualities of the film that help to accent the at times surreal and symbolic dialogue which reveal the more about the characters and true message of the film. I mean, yes, at times its a little too free and obvious in its allusions and symbolism, but the fact that it tries so hard can be nice as it helps others not as well versed in movie-dom to follow. Pierce does his best to forget Bond in this film and its obvious. He is fantastic and it is definately one of his better roles. Kinnear isn't annoying and actually is pretty amusing in this churn out of his aww shucks character. Plus his wife played by Hope Davis is hilarious! Especially when tipsy. This movie is a lot of fun and very funny. It has a similar vein to the DeVito dark comedies like Throw Mama from the Train except it is even darker but doesn't forget to use a light touch. Pierce's unsavory character is still somehow likable despite his constant lies and terrible treatment of others. Shepard hits a homerun dark comedy the likes of which has not been seen recently except in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, which was also an indie film that pretty much no one saw. I look forward to whatever Shepard does next and I might even drag myself out to rent Seraphim Falls after this redeeming Brosnan piece.

4.3 out of 5

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League Update

2007-07-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

Alright gents, just to let you know, my good friend Junders just called me up to notify that I had to drop Death at a Funeral otherwise I wouldn't make enough money to cover my losses on my latest drugs, cough, investments. As such, I will be replacing the film with the suggested Werner Herzog flick Rescue Dawn starring Christian Bale. As for Junders, well, don't worry. He'll be fine if his suggestion works.

Now for the statistics!

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 $RATATOUILLE 47.2 5 5 9
2 $PAPRIKA 0.57 4 0 8
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $*DAY WATCH 0.35 1 0 7.1
6 $*BUG 7 0 2 6.9
7 $ONCE 3.8 8 0 8.6
8 $EAGLE VS. SHARK 0.1 3 0 7.2

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 $EVENING 3.5 0 0 7.8
3 $OCEAN'S 13 102.1 4 11 7.3
4 $NANCY DREW 21.2 0 0 5.9
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.48 6 0 7.2
6 $*YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.002 0 0 8.4
7 INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS 11.5 6 0 7.3
8 $*EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 122.4 7 11 8.2
2 $SURF'S UP 53.8 0 3 7.3
3 $FF4 114.8 5 9 6.5
4 $*BLACK SHEEP 0.01 0 0 6.6
5 RESCUE DAWN 17.7 4 0 8
6 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 125 6 9 6.9
7 $SICKO 4.6 9 0 8.4
8 $FIDO 0.28 0 0 7.5

WILLO
1 $EVAN ALMIGHTY 60.6 3 8 6.2
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 $LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 48.1 3 4 8.3
5 $HOSTEL II 17.5 0 0 5.6
6 $*SEVERANCE 0.14 0 0 6.8
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 $*MR. BROOKS 27.3 0 2 7.7

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 456.54 4
WANNABE 438.59 3
GOS 378.842 2
CASTLE 197.02 1

PTA RANKINGS
WANNABE 31 4
GOS 26 3
CASTLE 25 2
WILLO 17 1

TOP 5
WANNABE 32 4
WILLO 31 3
GOS 27 2
CASTLE 17 1

IMDB
CASTLE 7.4625 4
WANNABE 7.425 3
GOS 7.1125 2
WILLO 6.625 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 1 2 1 4 8 4
GOS 2 3 2 2 9 2
WANNABE 3 4 4 3 14 1
WILLO 4 1 3 1 9 2

As you can see, I am so far pleased with Junders and his purchasing prowess. However, previous frontrunners such as the venerable Castle might want to start figuring out how to improve their chances. Toodles!
Wannabe

La Vie en Rose

2007-06-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

'Cotillard deserves a Rose'

If you haven't heard of this film, no surprise. It's not playing in most of the country and it is holing itself up in limited release as an art house film which is where it belongs since it wouldn't do too well as a wide release with public perception about the French and all. However, if you don't know who Edith Piaf is, then chances are you will never see this film as you are fairly ignorant about world famous international singers. Although I had heard of her and knew of her connection as a French singer, I admit to knowing little else about her to having heard only one song by her in my entire life. Man, was I in for a surprise.

La Vie en Rose is a biopic of sorts about the great French singer Edith Piaf and her rise to fame. Consider it like a French feminine Ray if you will. It covers her entire story from being born to an absent contortionist father who left her first with her abusive negligent street singing mother and then with Piaf's hostile brothel-running grandmother. She later grew up as a street singer until one day she was discovered by a kindly cabaret owner and given her first real start toward the international success she would one day become. Her life plays out like a depraved Horatio Algers novel. I have to admit that the story to her life surprised me and it is becoming more apparent to me that maybe only great artists can come from terrible backgrounds. Or maybe they just don't make movies about the good ones. I don't know.

The directing, actor-wise at least had to have been well done. Olivier Dahan might be an extremely able actor-director but I won't know until I see another of his films. The truth though is that Marion Cotillard could easily potentially win the best actress award at the next Oscar ceremony. If nothing else the film should be nominated for best foreign film if they won't let her be a part of the Best Actress award since it is a French film. MY GOD! She gives the best performance from an actress that I have seen in years! Not only does she look like Edith Piaf, but she captures all of the mannerisms and portrays Piaf as a younger drunk singer, an older more sophisticated singer, and as an elderly woman on her last legs who is slowly loosing her mind and is no longer able to focus, crumpling up into a leathery ball of used up morphine. I have never used this term before and I doubt I will ever use it again. Marion Cotillard's performance in this film is a tour de force. If you ever get the chance to see this movie, especially if you are an actress, then rent it or see it in theaters and pay close attention. I have a feeling that we will all be seeing more Cotillard soon since a job like this requires the world to take notice. Edith Piaf was known as the Little Sparrow and the similarities are made obvious by Cotillard's performance. I can't stop raving about it and as such I will move on before this article becomes far too long.

The directing of the film is fantastic. The light and shadows do well and play off each other. At times I admit to being slightly bored by the pacing and a couple of shots were a bit too obvious for my taste of such a quality film. Such as the obvious seamless transition of Piaf screaming down a hallway in her house to suddenly being on-stage. For the most part though the lighting, cinematography, and choice of shots are excellent and well-planned. Although I understand that the slightly muddled storytelling is a reflection of the elderly Piaf's inability to recall certain details (my favorite being that you will never see Marcel's watch) it does grow irksome with the continuous jumping and time changing. I did appreciate the obvious differences in appearance and settings as clues to the different time periods and that for the first 3/4 of the movie when a transition is made the subtitles tell you where and what date. It's just at the end when the transitions pick up a bit and it doesn't have time and has to rely on your remembrance of previous events and looks that it becomes slightly tiring. On the whole though, I feel Dahan does everything he can to arm the audience with the tools needed to carry through and figure out the timeline of Piaf's life without the direct storytelling influence of Piaf's memory.

Conclusion:
This film will help culture those who know little to nothing of Piaf. It contains one of the best performances by an actress that I have ever seen. Also, it has Gerard Depardieu in a small role and several other males in the film do a good job. The directing is pretty good and the storytelling is slightly muddled but makes sense in terms of unity of effect and can help to understand Piaf more toward the elder days of her short life. Although the child at the end was a cheap shot and did make me go, "Where the hell did that come from? Who is that guy?" Maybe you can do better. Oh yea, and I love the fact that she influenced Jean Cocteau to write a play just for her. Where is that kind of muse today in our world where amazing artists were rewarded plays? Oh well, non je ne regrette rien...

4.8 out of 5

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League Update

2007-06-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

Alright gents, I would have got this to you yesterday but stuff was acting funky. Let it aslo be known that June is almost gone leaving only 1 month left in this competition and that I just found out that I had to change Death at a Funeral because it was pushed back to August. Grrr. So, anyway here are the current rankings and everything.

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 $PAPRIKA 0.5 4 0 8
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $DAY WATCH 0.34 1 0 7.1
6 $BUG 7 0 2 6.9
7 $ONCE 3.2 8 0 8.6
8 $EAGLE VS. SHARK 0.06 3 0 7.3

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 $OCEAN'S 13 91 4 11 7.4
4 $NANCY DREW 16.2 0 0 6
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.37 6 0 7.3
6 $*YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.002 0 0 8.4
7 INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS 11.5 6 0 7.3
8 $*EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 109 7 11 8.2
2 $SURF'S UP 47.3 0 3 7.3
3 $FF4 97.6 5 8 6.6
4 $BLACK SHEEP 0.01 0 0 6.6
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 125 6 9 6.9
7 $SICKO 0.07 5 0 8.4
8 $FIDO 0.02 0 0 7.5

WILLO
1 $EVAN ALMIGHTY 32.1 3 5 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 $HOSTEL II 17 0 0 5.6
6 $SEVERANCE 0.1 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 $MR. BROOKS 26.8 0 2 7.7

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 451.9 4
WANNABE 390.5 3
GOS 382.132 2
CASTLE 374.1 1

PTA RANKINGS
GOS 33 4
CASTLE 28 3
WANNABE 23 2
WILLO 17 1

TOP 5
WANNABE 31 4
WILLO 30 3
CASTLE 28 2
GOS 27 1

IMDB
CASTLE 7.3375 4
GOS 7.1375 3
WANNABE 7.1 2
WILLO 6.3875 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 1 3 2 4 10 2
GOS 2 4 1 3 10 2
WANNABE 3 2 4 2 11 1
WILLO 4 1 3 1 9 4

Also, let me just say, that if your movie has a $* beside it, that means it has already come and gone from theaters. This is a strong possibility for Bug although I haven't marked it as such yet. So, enjoy and expect another update on my end at least soonish. Also expect me to eventually getting around to typing up that La Vie en Rose review. Damn I'm getting lazy.

Evan Almighty

2007-06-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

'Evan decently mighty'

Well, according to numbers and critics, I am once again on the wrong side of the law. It seems most people disliked Evan Almighty, the 200+million comedy. And honestly, I don't know why.

Okay yes, the film is not a great work of art. It's a bit preachy and the jokes are not as good. Plus it does not feature Jim Carrey and the song at the end for the credits is no where as funny or cool as the one in 40-Year Old Virgin. But the film is definately intended as a family comedy film for Christians or at least good people chock full of good moral messages. Plus, the gags are kind of funny. (Although nothing will ever beat the internet site yahweh.com) I just wish people were a little more understanding about the film. So here's my breakdown about it.

The film is essentially a comedy piece for Steve Carell except without a lot of motovation for his character. The first film had a little raunch to it but this film there is not a single curse word. Noe of the performances are stellar but its nice to just relax and watch Carrell and laugh without having to feel guilty for laughing at something naughty like a sexist or rascist joke. If you have little patience or if you don't like Carrell then I could easily see how this film would become borng pretty quick as a alot fo the jokes get used a lot but I never felt they were overused. Plus everyone else is fairly amusing and Wanda Sykes is the funniest she's been in years. It's a nice family friendly kids moveie whose message is easy to understand and get and it is fun to watch and just let go. An escapist comedy for sure. So if taken as that, it isn't bad so I don't understand the waves and waves of negative feeling except that maybe Carrell has built up a bit too much of a edgy following with the 40-Year Old Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine. Story wise, the only problem I had was the ridiculous amount of animals that had to board the ark for such a small flood. It really made little sense. Everything else though is explained well and it doesn't cross any of the Bible or contradict it. God keeps his pact with mankind. Etc etc.

The performances are nice even if the main bad guy whose name escapes me, is a little obvious. The film is a fun romp. No strings attached. and a lot of fun. Risky to make a 200+million budget but due to the Christian craze in America it seemed like a safe bet. I don't know. It's a fun movie and not a bad sequel. Check it out for a few laughs.

3.9 out of 5

Wannabe

Quick Rant on Jack Thompson

2007-06-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

If you have ever heard of Jack Thompson, then this is all there is to know, he hates videogames. The man is one of the biggest opponents of videogames out in the world and is a lawyer in Florida. Well, I'm sure he would say that he doesn't hate videogames, just violent videogames. So this discussion will be about violent videogames and Jack Thomspon and how far is too far. The recent controversy in the world has been over Manhunt 2 which has been banned in Ireland and England. It has been gievn the first AO (Adult Only) rating in the US meaning only 18 year olds and up can buy it legally, kind of like the R ratings at movies. Many consider this a success for the game industry, I would have to agree although I think banning it is a bit extreme. I believe that too many games get ratings that don't accurately reflect the content in the hopes that the game will sell and a game series bent on trying to invent as many gruesome and saddistic deaths as possible should definately get the AO rating. Honestly, this should not kill a game franchise. And everyone worried about it shouldn't be as worried. Gamers tend to have a good taste about the games they play. The first Manhunt underperformed spectacularly and I have always seen it on the shelves at every EB or Gamestop I visited despite that they stopped making it a while back. So where does Jack Thompson fit into all of this?

Technically he doesn't fit into this problem, thank God. But now for the touchy subject of school shootings. After each school shooting Jack Thompson has been the first usually to blame the actions of the vigilante on videogames. Doom, Grand Theft Auto III and most recently Counter-Strike have been his targets for videogame violence crossing over into real life. I am personally not a fan of the Grand Theft Auto series because it becomes boring to me, however I have spent exorbitant amounts of time in both the Doom series and Counter-Strike. In fact Counter-Strike, the recent supposed cause according to Thompson of the Virginia Tech shootings, easily used up more than a year of my actual life. Yes, I was a nerd and a big one all throughout high school and most of college. So the usual argument of I have never once wanted to hold a gun in my hand pops up. Well, what about all of the reports that are flooding out now about the violence in videogames. From everything I have read, here are the conclusions made so far. First person shooters help increase hand eye coordination. Violent videogames make kids more aggressive. There is more activity in the part of the brain of violence and without limitations DURING playing of violent video games. Yet, no one has been able to draw the conclusion in a reasonable way that violent videogames cause violence in real life. MSN had a very interesting article in which a spokesman for videogame companies mentioned that violence in kids as a whole has been down ever since violent videogames arrived and that the most violent school shooting in American history before Virginia Tech was in the 60's before videogames were even invented. I don't know how true these comments are but if they are even a quarter true that would make me lend a bit of credence to the idea that playing violent videogames allows for an outlet for stress and anxiety in people so that those feelings aren't pent up inside for a bigger boom later. I like this even more after hearing that no video games were found in the room of the attacker at Virginia Tech and most of his friends didn't even know or think he played games. His own roomate didn't think so. Apparently the fervor is because once in high school he played counterstrike and thought it was great. I would lend more creedence to the effects of Oldboy to which his actions with a hammer in his video to NBC seems to mimic and which has taken a lot of blame for the incident. As for the videogame Doom, it has sparked controversy for forever being one of the first person shooters to have created the genre. In it, you shoot only demons and floating eyeballs, and never a human unless playing other players and even then its so ridiculous. Thompson also claims that Counter-Strike trained the assailant at Virginia Tech and would never know how to use the gun otherwise. Never mind the reports that he got a gun license and certified and that he apparently went to the shooting range a couple of times, or the fact that he did a lot of the shooting point blank. I'm sorry, truly sorry for the loss that occurred that day due to a child who needed medical help and had trouble seeking it on his own. I find more the fault on the college for not heeding the warning signs but that is not my job. My point, is that as a human being I find what Jack Thompson does as wrong. He doesn't argue for a better policing system. He argues to try and have videogames banned or deemed inappropriate for children like that Doctor tried to do for comics so long ago and McCarthy did for the Red Scare and the entertainment world. Thompson has tried several cases and lost all of them. He has been kicked out of several states. He decided to write a letter to Bill Gates blaming him for creating the Xbox and licensing the videogame Counter-Strike for the Virginia Tech massacre, which makes NO SENSE because counter-strike was a thousand times more popular on PC than on console and was out much longer and Bill Gates probably never even saw the game because he is way too busy and has underlings who approve of those things beneath him. Thompson's argument that violent videogames showing people disrespecting cops, shooting other people, and having a general killing spree are obviously the cause of mentally ill people around the world taking up arms and taking the violence to reality is a nice argument especially for people who don't play videogames and don't understand the release of it all. It's also nice because it provides a scapegoat other than a f'ed up economy or a subtley rascist culture, or snobbery or bullying or bad parenting. It lets the scapegoat be a piece of plastic with magical powers made by a group of faceless overworked Californians whom everybody hates except Californians right? :( Jack Thompson's ability to speak and use his time as the champion against videogames without good proof, evidence, or even his own facts in order help to show why he has lost so many cases and why many other people are tired of listening to him. I'm not surprised if he has received death threats from people because all they want is for him to shut up and stop babbling without knowing anything. I agree though, that violent videogames should be kept from the mentally ill which is why I feel the stricter rating policy currently underway by the ESRB is a good thing. Now if only parents would be more careful of what their kid carries. Honestly, the rating is on the box and they have to get to the store somehow, so do some parenting dammit and stop blaming those who create games for those old enough to play. Sure, little kids wanna play big kid games, it's called growing up. And if you think back, weren't you banned from certain events, games, things, until you were technically old enough like...driving, playing poker with the family, anything like that? Conservatives, stop focusing on thos making the games and start parenting and pressuring those who rate the games and the economy will do the rest to thin out the market by no longer providing incentives for violent videogames that are more liked by young ones instead of adults. And Thompson, shut your stupid trap and read the facts.

Ocean's Eleven (1960)

2007-06-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

'Ocean's first Eleven'

So, in an attempt to update my wife for the recent film Ocean's 13, I decided to rent Ocean's Eleven, you know, the remake with Brad Pitt and George Clooney and all that jazz. Instead, due to the fact that Blockbuster is a friggin mess, I wound up with the old school version to which my wife promptly denied watching. Probably because she couldn't just zone out and look at handsome men. So, while she was at work one day, I decided to try it out since I had never seen the original. Now, after having seen it, I like it but man is it different from the Soderbergh recent outings.

Here's the gist of the film, Danny Ocean is an ex military guy who decides to rally his old 82nd airborn group together to rob Las Vegas. Unlike the remake, they rob five casinos in one night and then try to make it out of town. The movie needed a remake honestly as it was beginning to show its age with the infrared spray paint used to label doors and other things like shoes. The cast is populated with old Vegas crooners such as Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and even Frank Sinatra creating a regular who's who of Vegas. It's actually quite amusing to see a bunch of Vegas regulars starring in a mobie where they get revenge by robbing the casinos and I'm sure the casino's let them because they trusted the crooners. Interesting decision. Before I get into the good the bad and the ugly, I'd like to take a second and ruin some of the film, so if you want to see this at some point and you probably do, don't read the next paragraph until after the film.

The most interesting thing about this film is how it was later remade by Stephen Soderbergh. Little of the plot remains in the remake and they narrow the focus to one casino and give in a face in the form of the casino president. What they manage to do well in the remake though is recapture the sense of comraderie and fun that was obvious between these eleven in everything from personal relationships and tragedies to poking fun of a particular character all the time like Brad Pitt and Clooney do to Matt Damon in the recent films. Soderbergh also does a good job of capturing the sparse almost at times noirish dialogue displayed in the film. Accusations and ideas flow between the characters with looks only to be disputed by other looks and eventually followed by a verbal apology or some other form that could easily seem like a non-sequitur if the interchange was missed. Also, the ending of the films are completely different. In the first one, one of the characters dies and they decide to hide the money in his coffin to try and hide it from the step-father of one of the eleven who found out and is blackmailing them. The problem is that it all gets burned because the guy's wife wanted him cremated so the greatest heist in Vegas history goes down in flames as no one winds up richer. In the Soderbergh version they get away with it although some of them have to go to jail for a bit. Plus, Danny gets his wife back which doesn't happen in the original. I actually enjoyed the original's ending better as it fit a litte nicer since none of the guys in it come across as that lovable except Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. So you don't really have a desire to see them get away with it and you don't have any desire to see Ben's greedy step-father get any of the cash either. Anyhow, besides that it was fun and it needed to be updated since the plot was beginning to show its age and I think Stephen picked up on it.

In the original, the plot is passable and really isn't that hard by today's standards. I loved the fact that the men use their strategic planning and thinking and even physicality that they learned in their army days to help rig and accomplish everything. I also loved that the plot was so big that they were going to hit 5 casinos. I especially enjoyed how each man had his own reason for joining to get the cash and that army friendship didn't necessarily automatically mean sure. It's well planned and pieced together and it easily illustrates how the best laid plans can go awry, although the cog thrown into it at the end is a bit of a stretch and makes Las Vegas look like the town where everybody knows your name if you get what I mean. My favorite bit of the plot is that the electrician has to break in to check out the wiring before he can break in again later to change it and it makes really good sense.

As for acting, the actors all do okay jobs. They play everything a bit too straight and a lot of the characterization doesn't really endear many if any of the characters to the audience. Ben is a jerk greedy slime-ball. The only one with a conscience seems to be Sam and everybody is so old school with the leathery looking faces which are great for cinema that none are really pretty boys. Although its fun to hear Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin sing a bit. As group they get along fine and work well but individually they tend to fall apart.

Conclusion:
Lewis Milestone's Eleven is a good film that resolves itself carefully in a manner that I didn't expect and makes itself into a slightly contrived but fun moral message about money and the right and wrong ways of attaining said money. The cast is decent and the crooners are interesting and fun casting but whoever that guy is who plays the foreign guy is really over the top and kid of annoying. I highly recommend this as a great comparitive piece to the remake and if you like any of the old crooners. Fans of Sammy Davis Jr. should see this indeed as it is apparent that he was probably put in as the beginning of the days of desegregation and was the token black guy who out acted most of the regulars. enjoyable. Plus the black and white cinematography is interesting sense it is shot with a noir sensibility mixed with a more commercial feel.

3.6 out of 5

Wannabe

Fun Factoid for July

2007-06-22T18:29:00.001-07:00

Okay so it's not July yet but here is a fun tidbit. I'll give you a better one later but this is a good one. So, if you are a Harry Potter fan and you like watching the movies, there is one you have to see. I was just reading an interview with Rupert Grint(Ron Weasley) where he stated that he wanted to continue acting and I think if he continues to do it he has improved greatly since the first movie. I know when Driving Lessons came out I was a bit wary but the reviews have now convinced me to go see it. So he should have a future and I don't know how much he will get once the Potter series ends due to the same disease most Bonds have of being either typecast or thought of as only one character. Since I am a film maker I decided to look up his schedule since if I direct a feature it will probably be about the time he finishes the Potter series. In doing so, I found out that not only did he do Driving Lessons, he also did some British television movie and get this, before Harry Potter 1 and 2 he managed to get in a movie called Thunderpants. I have never heard of it but seeing that it is in the top worst 85 films on IMDB with a 2 star rating makes me excited!! The plot synopsis invoves a boy with superhuman farts who winds up in prison and there are also a lot of famous people in the movie including Paul Giamatti. It is bizarre looking! I highly recommend looking it up on IMDB and then if you are interested in terrible films, rent it. Anyhow, there you go. Now go forth and enjoy bad films while I write a review of the original Ocean's 11 and Evan Almighty!!

The Society of Shadows

2007-06-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

Something wasn't right. The smoke and the puffing were all a bit too...what? Nervous? Anxious? No...scared. He was scared. Scared?

Quickly the man put down his corncob pipe with his shaky hands and opened his laptop. Scared? How could he be scared? He had weathered the tinkerer and the irish man and even the goofy one back in his younger days. He knew the difference between Moliere and Dion Boucicault and what is more he could quote them on the spot if necessary...then why was he scared? The answer of course glowed back at him from the screen in red.

"Oh my Gosh!" He knocked himself on the head and quickly got up to get into his old red Dolorian outside. If he could just go back and fix...oh well, it seemed he was out of plutonium so that wasn't an option. HE just knew that somehow he had to fix his investments as they were slowly dragging him into a world he hadn't seen since THOSE days...the COLLEGE days. The Dolorian rocked a bit as he shuddered.

How, HOW!? This one question would haunt him forever if he did not fix it soon. Wait a minute, didn't he recently sell his rights to NASCAR for some silly studio or something? How are they doing? He rushed back inside and started sorting through the pile of reports meant for him to have read back in May. AHA! The most recent report! And with a flourish he withdrew the report and plopped it to the financial standings.
Yes, yes! This was the problem! Apparently the stupid studio was absorbing his money into multiple financial failures...but he still had a chance to correct it. You Kill Me was the film he least cared for at the stockholder summit two months ago. It just didn't seem...to catch the eye of the other stockholders. That's it! It wasn't commercial enough! He had to make the most commercial piece of schlock he could if he was going to save himself. The thought of all the "uhs" and "duhs" created a wince so loud that the butler immediately left the room for some heart medication and a glass of Port. Now he would make an executive decision, but first, he needed the approval of the elders. After all, if it didn't fit their plans, then he might wind up like his old wife Winnie did, bless her heart. He stroked the frame on the wall, longing for the object inside to be pumping again so new and full of life. Then he twisted his watch face to send a signal to all members of the Society and quickly pulled a lever and vanished into the shadows before his infernal butler could come around the corner with his nightly Port.

The next morning came as a surprise to the world as a half finished project You Kill Me was inexplicably dropped into Blockbusters and other straight to DVD stores while a new film was started called Introducing the Dwights to be made in a week and released soon after. The trailer supposedly hit tomorrow! The race for best summer studio was heating up and here is what things looked like.

CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 $PAPRIKA 0.3 4 0 7.9
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $DAY WATCH 0.2 1 0 7.1
6 $BUG 7 0 2 6.9
7 $ONCE 2.5 8 0 8.6
8 $EAGLE VS. SHARK 0.02 3 0 7.6

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 $OCEAN'S 13 70 4 9 7.4
4 $NANCY DREW 7.1 0 0 5.1
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.2 6 0 7.3
6 $YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.002 0 0 8.4
7 INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS 11.5 6 0 7.3
8 $EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 90.4 7 10 8.3
2 $SURF'S UP 34.6 0 3 7.3
3 $FF4 57.4 5 5 6.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 125 6 9 6.9
7 SICKO 65 5 4 7
8 FIDO 16 0 2 6.6

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 $HOSTEL II 14.2 0 0 5.6
6 $SEVERANCE 0.1 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 $MR. BROOKS 23.4 0 2 7.7

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 548.6 4
WANNABE 401 3
CASTLE 373.02 2
GOS 351.862 1

PTA RANKINGS
GOS 33 4
CASTLE 28 3
WANNABE 24 2
WILLO 19 1

TOP 5
WILLO 35 4
WANNABE 33 3
CASTLE 28 2
GOS 25 1

IMDB
CASTLE 7.3625 4
GOS 7.025 3
WANNABE 6.8 2
WILLO 6.3875 1

The final rankings are:
BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 3 2 4 11 1
GOS 1 4 1 3 9 4
WANNABE 3 2 3 2 10 2
WILLO 4 1 4 1 10 2

The exact same! Hopefully Introducing the Dwights will be more commercial than it is currently chosen. Willo is relying on a bunch of unreleased films to help him out. Castle is relying heavily on Ratatouille and Simpsons to save his tookus. Wannabe's big films are out. GoS is definately trying to copy his success with Ocean's 13 if possible and racking the PTA with Golden Door as Castle does with Once. That's the update gents. Expect for a new news bulletin next monday! Unless someone pulls a fast one before then.

Wannabe

Fun Factoid of June

2007-06-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

So last month I brought all of you readers a loving fact regarding the hilarity of the Leprechaun movies. This month, I bring you 411 behind another well known series of movies, The Crow! Now, as most may know, the first movie of The Crow featured Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, who was shot and killed in an action scene. From all accounts by the filmmakers, they didn't use that scene since they felt it would have been disrespectful. The first film was a goth hit that then spawned several lackluster sequels. However, the man who directed the first film was a little known director at the time who proved he had vision and was then subsequently hired to bigger projects such as I, Robot. Yep, that's right, Alex Proyas. The same man behind Dark City. I didn't know this at the time, but apparently the movie is based off of a popular indie comic book by James O'Barr. Check it out. Now, for the good stuff.

Here's the series entries and lets see how many you have ever heard of.
The Crow (1994) featuring Brandon Lee
The Crow: City of Angels (1996) featuring Vincent Perez and written by David Goyer
The Crow: Stairway to Heaven (tv series 1998) featuring Marc Dacascos
The Crow: Salvation (2000) featuring Eric Mabius and Kirsten Dunst!
The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005) featuring Tara Reid and Edward Furlong.

Man, I don't know what to say. Apparently all the good actors but take their turn getting the crap kicked out of them for making one of these films. Goyer later went on to direct The Invisible, Blade Trinity, and wrote Batman Begins. Edward Furlong started with Terminator II as the original John Connor. Tara Reid is...well, Tara Reid. Kirsten Dunst still surprises me. Apparently out of all of these, the only one that is supposedly any good is the television series which has no stars! Lol. Well, I'm sure that this franchise will never die if only because the first one was so good and it is one of the few movie series meant for Goths by Goths. Oh yea, let's not forget the recent remake of The Crow by the fans called Wings of the Crow, which has no names in it and apparently is terrible. Eric Drake changed to Erika? Please, what a ripoff. Anyhow, that's my fun factoid of the week. Maybe some time soon I will go out and watch all of these films back to back for some terrible fun.

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League Update

2007-06-18T08:02:00.001-07:00

Well gentlemen, it seems that this week has done little except to help delineate the toughest competition for the top spot. So here are the results!

CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 $PAPRIKA 0.3 4 0 7.9
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $DAY WATCH 0.2 1 0 7.1
6 $BUG 7 0 2 6.9
7 $ONCE 2.5 8 0 8.6
8 $EAGLE VS. SHARK 0.02 3 0 7.6

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 $OCEAN'S 13 70 4 9 7.4
4 $NANCY DREW 7.1 0 0 5.1
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.2 6 0 7.3
6 $YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.002 0 0 8.4
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
8 $EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 90.4 7 10 8.3
2 $SURF'S UP 34.6 0 3 7.3
3 $FF4 57.4 5 5 6.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 125 6 9 6.9
7 SICKO 65 5 4 7
8 FIDO 16 0 2 6.6

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 $HOSTEL II 14.2 0 0 5.6
6 $SEVERANCE 0.1 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 $MR. BROOKS 23.4 0 2 7.7

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 548.6 4
WANNABE 401 3
CASTLE 373.02 2
GOS 342.362 1

PTA RANKINGS
GOS 30 4
CASTLE 28 3
WANNABE 24 2
WILLO 19 1

TOP 5
WILLO 35 4
WANNABE 33 3
CASTLE 28 2
GOS 25 1

IMDB
CASTLE 7.3625 4
GOS 6.975 3
WANNABE 6.8 2
WILLO 6.3875 1

Rankings!
BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 3 2 4 11 1
GOS 1 4 1 3 9 4
WANNABE 3 2 3 2 10 2
WILLO 4 1 4 1 10 2

Currently me and Willo seem to be tied and Castle is holding his one point lead. But God of Shadows is fading fast and if he doesn't get some hits soon, he'll probably be out before he began. And on that note gents, I hope this finds you doing well and I look forward to any changes you might have for your schedule!

Wannabe.

X-Men: The Last Stand

2007-06-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

'X-Men: The Last Crap'

When it was originally announced that Bryan Singer was leaving the X-Men films to go do Superman, I was not only surprised but worried. Who could make and finish the trilogy of X-men films that I loved so much with the first two? Unlike most fans, when Brett Ratner was announced after Matthew Vaughn dropped the gig, I was actually excited. I mean, sure his resume isn't decorated with any amazing cinematic movies or high-minded tales. But I loved watching Rush Hour 1 and 2 and even Money Talks. I thought he knew how to tell a story competently and was very good at drawing out chemistry among actors to provide an entertaining event. What else would you need for a X-Men film? Well, apparently a lot more.

X-men 3 is a mixed bag as the plot is not only rushed but terribly executed. The idea of a cure being found falls under the same themes as the first two movies. The fact that the cure is offered as a possibility to those who want it and isn't being forced is also great. I love that mutants have become integrated into the politics in Washington and are now recognized as the mutant population, a voting force and that the general public are still wary and scared. Great setup. However, there are hints of some sort of underlying reason why the cure is made and why Angel is the first to be tested, which is never explained. The setup of the rise of The Phoenix is lame as is the ridiculous meeting hall. I'm sorry. But Ian McKellan knows how to give rousing speeches, I've seen him give exhilarating ones. So when his speech seems eh? at best, I can't believe that hordes of mutants would consider following him. The truth is that Ratner does his best to try and make giant demolition sequences and special effects cover up the crap that is known as the script. The use of giving everyone more screentime is a bad idea as no characters are asked to be invested in since their screentime comes and goes at will. Then there is the performances...grrr.

A lot of death in this film...a lot of it. James Marsden does his best job yet as the tortured Cyclops. Kelsey Grammar is exceptional as Beast and anyone who thought it could have been done better is a fool. Patrick Stewart does pretty good as always. Famke Jannsen is excellent as Jean Grey despite the lame backstory for her awesome powers. Now let me say this, besides these standout performances, there are several performances that slip significantly...looking at you Wolvie. Hugh Jackman seems to have lost a lot of what makes Wolverine Wolverine. He has lost the crazy tough fighter attitude and most of the film is more of a tragic romance for him than anything else. Sure there are some fight sequences like the awesome one in the woods with the guy who throws wooden stakes. But I mean off the battlefield...he seems tame. Then Ian McKellan doesn't seem as up to snuff as he always does in everything else. This might be the weakest I've ever seen him in a role. Halle Berry, well, the split screentime is a bad idea as she is painful to watch. Spike looks cool but what a lame ability and Calisto is well, ridiculous. A lot of the film feels so contrived and stupid you can't help but either clap giddily waiting for the next confrontation or be upset at the lack of good story. I'm not going to lie, the lack of Rogue fighting and of Nightcrawler even showing up is hurtful. With Xavier dead, yes he dies, but its the best scene in the movie anyway, and for Nightcrawler to have even visited or to have helped in the growing conflict against Magneto attempt to kill the humans seems ridiculous. Just as it seems stupid for Rogue to have not left the line for the cure to help save her friends. Although I did like the battle between Pyro and Iceman, there are few things to like in this film besides the CG moments like when Magneto is tossing cars aside or when Mystique loses her mutant abilities. Multiple Man is used well though and I think he's quite a good cameo. But like I said earlier, the best scene in the entire film is the scene at Jean's house when Xavier dies. It's great. I also like the grudging respect and admiration of Xavier by Magneto shown after the fact, but that's different.

Conclusion:
The script needed a butt-load of more work. The actors needed some better direction at times. The cinematography is bleh usually with a few exceptional scenes shining throughout. And the majority of the film is populated with ridiculous over-the-top sequences (I'm sorry but did he need to use a bridge? Really? And is throwing flaming cars that much more scary than throwing non-flaming cars?). If you have no real feelings toward the characters from the first two and just want to see some good old throwdowns, then you should see this film. If what I hear is correct though in that they are slowly planning a 4th x-men movie after the Magneto and Wolverine spinoff films...here's to hoping it isn't directed by Brett Ratner! Oh yea, and here's to Rush Hour 3 being great!

2.0 out of 5

Wannabe

Night At The Museum

2007-06-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

'Dammit'

Alright, here's the deal with the subtitle. I wanted to hate this movie. I really did. I dislike Ben Stiller's normal acting style and then when you put him and Owen Wilson together you usually get the biggest pile of cheesy schlock imaginable. If you love Zoolander then do me a favor and never breathe again. However, as much as I didn't want to see it, I have been pleasantly surprised in the past by these two. Starsky & Hutch and Meet the Parents were good movies. I even liked the two Wilson and Jackie Chan movies and The Wedding Crashers. Somehow, despite their mediocre talents in these films the directing and story encompasses them into it and they aren't as painful to watch. So, when everyone around the world watched this movie and several people told me it was a good one, I doubted and hopped back and forth on my feet until my wife had to watch something "brainless" as she calls it. And unfortunately, everyone was right. It's a good movie...now Stiller, go use your acting talents again in something uncomedic please?

Night At The Museum is an excellent movie and its premise isn't entirely new...I just don't think I've ever seen it done in this way. Usually these type of films where the location comes to life is more often than not a horror film. In this case, its been turned into a family comedy. Sure there are a few bad words here or there, but they are few and far between and won't be noticed. The best part about the film is the characterization. With such a wide array of characters to choose from, Shawn Levy does a great job of knowing how and when to use CG. The T-rex is a great one as is the slapping Capuchin monkey. Hah! I looked it up! Not only is the CG done well, but the casting is phenomenal. Steve Coogan as the Roman General figurine Octavius and Owen Wilson as the cowboy figurine Jedidiah are hilarious. Yes, yes, I said it...hilarious...I give all the credit to Coogan. Then Robin Williams does an excellent impression of Teddy Roosevelt. Ricky Gervais from the original British The Office and Extras is funny funny as the museum curator. Plus, the movie has Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Bill Cobbs!!! What else could you ask for? I won't give away the plot or anything because I do believe people should see it, especially families, but I will say this. The only bit of casting that doesn't seem to fit is the casting of Ahkmenrah. He's too...underwhelming? He's not quite the character you would expect of a ridiculously old mummy. The plot stinks by the way. I mean, it works okay but it follows the same tradition of old school family movies where the ending doesn't really make sense but you don't really think about it or care at the time. It drives me crazy but it's not unheard of.

The nice part about the film is that it seems to symbolize a changing of the guard. It's no coincidence that the outgoing watchguards are old famous television comediens who had their own following and were considered the funnymen of their day and that the rest of the cast is filled out with comedians. I don't know if Ben Stiller is really the guy who will carry on the tradition of guarding the greats like Robin Williams, but the original idea is nice. Which is why the plot twist is kind of annoying to me but its fun. I could definately see Gervais as the curator of such a place though. Damn that man is funny.

Conclusion:
The movie is very family friendly, with a simple story and good guys and bad guys and great lessons through out and full of laughs. A symbolic changing of the comedic guard and some great performances from some of today's leading comedians. Shawn Levy has created a brilliant film and I look forward to his next directorial effort. Stiller proves he knows how to be funny. Cinematography and lighting are excellent with lots of shadows when needed. Now, someone just needs to write this review on the subway wall in ancient caveman paintings and maybe people will see it.

4.6 out of 5

Wannabe

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End

2007-06-12T06:13:00.000-07:00

'At Wits End'

In the previous review I mentioned how happy I was with the second film and its inclusion of all pirate lore. Well, this film steps up the mythology and world of pirates a bit by including literally pirates from around the globe. I'm sad that the Kraken is now dead because the admiral Becket became fearful and had Davy Jones kill it...which I might have been the only one who caught because it was a passing reference. Although this film goes out of its way to broaden the view of pirates and who they are and the world they live in. A world outside of reason and control by direct means. It really goes to pieces in terms of plot.

In the third film they travel off the planet and there are some cool effects and I won't lie, but I got the feeling that Verbinski might watch Terry Gilliam films a bit much and to understand what I mean, I highly recommend the fascinating The Adventures of Baron Munchausen to those who don't know it. With that being said, the CGI is perfectly in place and it makes sense why these two films cost so much to make when you see the effects. The makeup and costuming is spectacular and exotic as always and the trip is a fun ride. However, the reason for bringing back Barbossa is still nebulous at best and makes little sense. There is a new plotline involving some pirate brethren meeting because of the pieces of 8...? Oh yea, and they introduce Calypso as a sea god bound by the pirates and Davy Jones years ago into the black Barbados woman. Now, Barbossa wants to free her from her mortal shackles in exchange she'll leave him alone and wipe out Davy Jones and the English. This is what stuck in my craw. After all the buildup and having a crazy black woman grow to be taller than the ship and everything...her powers blow. So she made a suction in the ocean and made it rain...big friggin deal. Why doesn't she just wipe out Davy Jones? For that matter, why doesn't she just wipe out everyone except Barbossa's ship? The reason is then it would deprive people of a good grand pirate hoe down and the ensuing satisfaction of seeing Becket lose his nerve...what crap. Calypso feels like such a letdown that everything after it just doesn't matter. It made me wonder why the pirates felt they had to trap her in the first place, she seems ridiculously harmless and pathetic as a God. I feared the mortal version more. Then there is the obligatory Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann love strife crap and them both trying to do what they think is right. Whatever. I'm glad the ending happened as it did in some ways and I won't tell you what it is that happens. Because now, it would seem that all adventures with Turner and Swann are over. Thank God. On Depp's side of things, he gets to have more fun in this film by apparently going even more insane and having tons of scenes where he is talking to himself. Nothing is more satisfying than simply seeing him by himself in Davy Jones locker messing with all of his other selves.

Interestingly, as much as I approve of this film, it is much much darker than the last two. Commodore Norrington bites it as does Swann's kindly old father...that's pretty harsh in a kid's movie. In a pirate movie though...that should have been the first 5 seconds yarrr. So the tone is darker, the stakes higher, and the idea of the fighting the power, of portraying the pirates as a protector of the legends and lore and imagination of the sea is really played out in this film as Becket now controls Davy Jones and a ridiculous fleet against the pirates few ships. And as always, we want to root for the underdog. Oh yea, and those two clowns that were in the first movie as British soldiers are back in this film. Along with Chow Yun Fat as a pirate lord from Asia. By the way, the opening to this film, is absolute crap as is the whole plotline of Elizabeth being Calypso or whatever. It kind of is a badly sketched plot to just make her a pirate lord. Blah. The opening makes little to no sense in terms of where we are after the second one. The same problem the second film had when compared to the first. The plot is weaker and it really hurts this film. However, if nothing else, it is well worth it to see Keith Richards as Johnny Depp's father Captain Teague and I love that he is the keeper of the Pirate Codex. Hell, I'd be up for another movie just about the relationship between these two as they are both very interesting to watch.

Potential sequels. Well, I highly doubt we'll see Bloom or Knightly for a while. Swann's father and Norrington are dead as is Davy Jones. Bootstrap Bill is still on the Flying Dutchman. So what's left to do? The answer is that Barbosa is still alive and he and Jack are always at each other's throat. Plus the movie ends with the idea that once again the two will face off as they go after eternity one more time by seeking the fountain of youth. Well, Verbinski is reportedly sick of pirates so I wouldn't expect to see him or his incredible eye for camerawork anytime soon. If I didn't say so earlier, the set design and the cinematography for these films has been beyond amazing and really make the rest of Verbinski's work pale in comparison. And Bruckheimer is not one to shy away from sequels to anything he can get his hands on and corrupt. Depp is supposedly up for more turns as Sparrow. Rush might do it but who knows, he's Geoffrey Rush and he does what he wants. The best possibility is that they will make another movie focused more solely on Jack Sparrow and his travails but it will be for a much smaller budget as Pirates 3 is currently underperforming magnificently at the box office when compared to the amount spent on it. But in the end of the day, I think the Pirates trilogy is perhaps the best epic trilogy next to the Lord of the Rings. Sorry Matrix, but you really blew it. And...well, there aren't many others besides that.

3.7 out of 5

Wannabe

Indie League Update

2007-06-12T06:08:00.000-07:00

Okay fellas,
well the weekend saw several new releases and here is a list of everybody's slates. Remember, if there is a $ beside a title's name that means it has already been released and the numbers are the numbers for it so far, not its predictions.
INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 $PAPRIKA 0.2 4 0 8
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $DAY WATCH 0.1 1 0 7.1
6 $BUG 6.9 0 2 6.9
7 $ONCE 1.7 8 0 8.6
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 $OCEAN'S 13 36.1 4 5 7.5
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.1 6 0 7.3
6 $YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.001 0 0 8.4
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
8 $EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 65.9 8 7 8.4
2 $SURF'S UP 17.6 0 2 7.1
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 125 6 9 6.9
7 SICKO 65 5 4 7
8 FIDO 16 0 2 6.6

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 $HOSTEL II 8.2 0 0 5.7
6 $SEVERANCE 0.1 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 $MR. BROOKS 18.6 0 2 7.6

Next up are the rankings for each individual category.

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 537.8 4
WANNABE 462.1 3
CASTLE 385.2 2
GOS 349.761 1

PTA RANKINGS
CASTLE 31 4
GOS 31 3
WANNABE 28 2
WILLO 19 1

TOP 5
WANNABE 37 4
WILLO 35 3
CASTLE 28 2
GOS 23 1

IMDB
CASTLE 7.2875 4
GOS 7.1125 3
WANNABE 6.6625 2
WILLO 6.3875 1

Then the final standings as they are right now.

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 3.5 2 4 11.5 1
GOS 1 3.5 1 3 8.5 4
WANNABE 3 2 4 2 11 2
WILLO 4 1 3 1 9 3

Well, Gentlemen, I feel great about my standing now. It seems my new purchase manager knows how to do his job right. And as such, I highly suggest some of you scramble to change some things up in order to improve your rank. Let the rabble rousing begin!

Wannabe

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

2007-06-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

'Pirate Man's Treasure'

Everyone I know despises this movie and detests it, so with that in mind I realize that this will probably be the review where people stop listening to me. I loved it. Seriously, the first movie, The Black Pearl seemed more like an exercise in egotism basing a bad plotline off of a Disney ride. In this movie though, Gore Verbinski defies the odds of a Bruckheimer film and actually makes a good pirate film. Let me explain...

In the first movie, yes it had some amusing funny bits and it was a Disney movie for kids etc etc. The only truly outstanding part of the first movie was Johnny Depp's characterization of Jack Sparrow. Well, Jack Sparrow has drawn everyone back to the box office and is no longer a welcome surprise. He is still loved by all, but his acting is no longer a surprise and is expected to be this good. The big difference this voyage out is that Verbinski makes this movie about something and it is no longer suitable for children...well it is, but not really. Then there is the fact that it engulfs as much pirate lore as possible with everything from Kraken to the black spot tradition. Sure, some of the traditions are altered, and the plot does kind of get wonky sometimes, but for the most part it recreates a mythology of pirates that has been perpetuated by film, literature, and even by sailor journals over time. I find this aspect of the movie totally fascinating and I love seeing Davy Jones as a pirate. Now the whole Flying Dutchman thing is kind of annoying because The Black Pearl in the first movie was obviously based off of the Flying Dutchman, but oh well. I feel that the exotic nature of the film with the Barbados woman and fun islands and locales mixed with the dearth of pirate lore and legend creates a fascinating adventure worthy of a blockbuster hit. It was fun. The real problem comes with some of the actors and the annoying plot points that are never explained well.

When polling most people as to why they disliked the movie, the majority said it was too complex with too many plot points and it didn't make sense. Plus they felt that the overwhelming amount of stuff was bad and just too much of an attempt to try and earn some cash for Disney. Then there was the attacks on the actors with Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightely being called hacks. Some complained because it wasn't a children's movie anymore which I found highly amusing since these weren't children complaining. Then there was the most popular hatred focused on the ending of the film. People apparently HATE it when movies just end without tying up plot points just because they have already made or are working on a sequel to fill it in. The one exception is Lord of The Rings where most of the people who accepted it did so because they realized that each installment was part of an elongated trilogy that were intricately tied together. There were no popular book trilogies to support The Matrix films nor the Pirates of the Caribbean films. And while I can understand that perception, people should try to be a bit more understanding of what is trying to be done. I would have liked to see a six hour film instead of two individual films but each film has its own flavor and things happening in it as will be obvious once I review the third film. This film's focus was on the world of piracy and the adventures of Jack Sparrow. I think most people disliked this film because of a messup in expectations. They went in expecting it to be an entire movie devoted to Jack Sparrow with a ridiculously easy plot to follow and instead found a movie about pirates, requiring knowledge of pirate lore just to understand what was happening and very complex multiple storylines involving almost every character from the first movie. Also, it doesn't wrap up and end...this is my guess as to why people despise this film.

As for what this film is about, it's about the loss of mythology and magic in a world where everything is mapped, charted, and found. It's about the pirates versus those who would make everything normal and boring again with cruise ships and the like. It's the first half of an incredibly long film about the world as it was when it was becoming less interesting and more "civilized" with the bad guy Becket representing the evil side of "civilization". If you go and watch these films, you learn this fairly quick. It is much more obvious in the third film, but it is still present in the second. As for plot though, well...it has hiccups. The beginning of the movie starts with some sort of deal between Davy Jones and Jack Sparrow that no one from the first film ever knew or heard of, so it is kind of irksome and out of left field. But if you can just sort of muscle through the premise which makes little to no sense compared to the ending of the first movie, then you can follow along with the winding tale of treachery and pirate backstabbing that is the second film. I especially enjoy the dichotomy of former Commodore Norrington's character. Sure, you have to pay close attention because some details get explained away in quick flippant lines, but the explanations are all their and the movie does a decent job of reiterating what has happened several times in an attempt to help out the younger ones. Although the most baffling part to me is that of the undead monkey...i thought that was fixed in the first film? The biggest fault between these movies is that Gore and the writers do a terrible job of explaining what happened in between stories. The ending is also really rough as Sparrow dies in an epic fight with the Kraken and then Barbosa is re-introduced...and not really explained. Although I did enjoy the meeting and explanation of Bootstrap Bill. The plot is so huge and epic that it fits the crazyness of the lore and pirate world in which the movie is thrust. The problem comes in that of the lovers. I'm sorry, but Bloom and Knightly rarely ever make me think they have any talent. They show that they can play the Romeo & Juliet bits well as the star crossed lovers who are destined to never get a moments rest...but really, they need to learn to add some interest to their characters outside of the story arcs twists and turns. God knows Depp did by simply leaning and waving about in an effete manner. Also, the ridiculous lengths to which the script goes to keep certain characters from the first film involved is kind of bizarre, but oh well. It's a Bruckheimer produced film. It's lucky that he even allowed Verbinski to make it about something.

Conclusion:
The acting is eh except for Depp and Nighy as Davy Jones. The story is massive and complex but a lot of fun if you are a fan of pirate mythology and lore. It's too bad it doesn't have a suitable resolution to help this film stand on its own. The CGI is impressive and the exoticism makes this film a very fun ride indeed. It's a little more adult oriented as a pirate film should be and there are still several great laugh moments. My real concern is that this time out the entire crew seems to have a wink in their eye everytime a joke occurs, especially that guy who plays the first mate for Depp's character. It's a bit hammy sir, just a bit. Besides that I congratulate Mr. Verbinski on making a fairly fun and enjoyable pirate movie for intelligent beings that would also like to see a blockbuster occassionally without feeling talked down to.

4.4 out of 5

Wannabe

Shrek the Third

2007-06-08T13:36:00.000-07:00

'a short trek for Shrek'

Most people this summer were psyched about the three new releases of Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and lastly, Shrek 3. It's definitely a three-quel summer. Well, Spiderman 3 was a let down, especially at the end and it destroyed a lot of what the previous two films worked to build. The Pirates was recently toppled by Knocked Up at the box office and by most accounts is...bad. Then there is Shrek 3 which is probably using its time wisely to gain as much money as possible before any other CGI flicks come out like Ratatouille. However, like the other two movies, it is also receiving lukewarm reviews...and here's why.

Shrek I : Shrek falls in love with a princess and has to overcome his natural ogrishness to get her to fall in love with him.
Shrek II: Shrek meets the parents and tries to impress them while they desperately seek a replacement in the form of Prince Charming who turns out to be a jerk and fool aided by the fairy godmother with magic.
Shrek III: Shrek must go find an heir to the throne and deal with the new issue of being a father.

Now, the main things that have characterized Shrek in the past is its love of satirizing and making comedic interpretations of folklore, fantasy, and fairytale elements while at the same time using these elements as a commentary on the real world...for example, the town of Far Far Away is a mock up of L.A. and Hollywood. The third Shrek film continues the tradition of Fairytale mishmashes and social commentary in its normal comedic tradition...so why so eh?

The reason why is, the film feels like it has less heart. The setup is good with the king dying and Shrek being too afraid to take over since he is an ogre and people hate him. Then you have the whole revenge thing with Prince Charming and Hook and Rumpelstiltskin. Of course, as Shrek leaves he finds out that he is going to be a father and his nightmares set in. Then he finds Arthur who is the social reject of his class and is hated by most and has never known his own father really. This setup is perfect for the heart moments that would be necessary to preparing Shrek for the arduous task of child-raising. Now, remember, there is a revolt and an usurper to the throne. Plus Arthur has to come to terms with whether he wants to be king and somewhere in there is a turn where Shrek lies to save the kids life but in turn hurts the kids feelings. Blah blah blah. The movie is only an hour and a half, a short feature film by most standards and it shows because the triumphs and tribulations necesarry to be won together don't occur. The team doesn't overcome the obstacles necessary to make it believable that Shrek and Arthur like each other and that Shrek has warmed to the idea of being a father. The quick pace and desire to get back to the funny parts while skimping and shortening the story hurts this film drastically in the end by making it an interesting tale but effectively killing most of the commentary and heart that Shrek is known to envelope as a series. That and soem of the jokes were much lamer. Seriously fellas, the movie was decent and maybe that's because Andrew Adamson helped in the writing of it, but he didn't direct this time and I think that he would have known it needed to be longer with more story thrown in and perhaps a bit more of the fairytale parody.

As for voice acting, well there is an interesting bit at the end about Puss in Boots and Donkey getting mixed up. The normal voice actors for their parts do fine. Cameron Diaz for some reason really drew me into her character this time around. Not sure why, can't explain it. Although, when the credits role, my hat goes off to the fine actors who played parts and I had no idea they were even in the movie. Yes, that includes Rupert Everett, Justin Timberlake, and the almighty John Cleese who needs to do more work every day all day....he should just have his own channel, I love that man.

Conclusion:
All in all, the film is well done. The effects budget is improved and the visuals are noticeably nicer than in the first two. Unfortunately, the story is rushed and crunched down into a really small box when simply by its premise and what it tries to do it needs more room to breathe and accomplish its goals. Its frustrating because it isn't a bad movie, but it is nowhere near as good as the others and you want it to be because it is easy to recognize that it could be if given more time. Perhaps the only time I will complain about the time for a movie.

3.1 out of 5

Wannabe

Hot Fuzz

2007-06-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

I have been collecting several reviews for this film. So first here are two reviews by other people.

1. Hi, Wannabe,
Couldn't wait until tomorrow to tell you we went to see Hot Fuzz. What a great spoof! Have you gotten to see it yet? The British humor is so much fun. We're trying to decide whether your wife would like it or not because of the blood... but it's so... British!! Did you say it had been at one of the film festivals? An Indie win, or something? We think our friend who has been studying forensics and is now teaching a college class in it, would really laugh a lot. He and his wife (our attorney who loves to read and watch British mysteries) are talking about taking a group of college students to London next May on a "Legal/Criminal Justice" tour.

The man, however, after seeing the movie, is afraid that with our quirks, we might get caught in some small village and have a hard time getting away.

Thanks for the (crazy) recommendation!

The Rents

2. Hehe...now after that quick jotted review, here's one from one of our other contributors, Castle.

Hot Fuzz

"Book ‘em dann'o, we got our front page"

It seems that I’ve fallen in love with the triumphant return of the unlikely duo of crime fighters... and no I’m not talking about Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers but bonus points if you were thinking that. Hot Fuzz shows that between the collaboration of director and actors and editors, this team knows how to make a bang on parody film. Using the same type of structure as the Shaun of the Dead Writer/Director Edgar Wright and Writer/Actor Simon Pegg create a buddy cop film that draws upon TONS of movies including (but certainly not limited to) Bad Boys II, He Man and the Masters of the Universe, Chinatown, Lethal Weapon and (of course) Shaun of the Dead. I think I even caught a reference to the fight between Andre the Giant and Prince Wesley from The Princess Bride... The film follows super cop Nick Angel (played by Simon Pegg) as he is taken out of London and placed in small town Sandford where he has to deal with annoying coworkers and a supposedly tranquil community. To complete the pair there is the delightfully goofy Nick Frost who plays Pegg’s right hand man, Danny Butterman, the dundering, malaprop-laden officer who follows Angel around like an eager puppy. The fact that Frost and Pegg are good friends comes through again to create a delightful ease to their chemistry and allow their scenes to sparkle with the sheen of great British humor. The rest of the cast hold their own and create one of the most bizarre and hilarious, two-faced British communities that I’ve seen.

While the chemistry and comic timing might be impressive enough by themselves, I found that the true strength of the film shows through the success of the editing and unity in design. Every shot fired and car chased was done in such a sexy, fast paced way that just fits perfectly into the goal of the movie. Hell, even drinking cranberry juice seemed hardcore. The music and sounds of the movie are equally fitting: a bunch of obscure, quirky, funny and well thought-out songs that compliment each scene they inhabit. . The shots were in interesting and well-done angles and lighting was just as complimentary. There were only a few blood spurts that seemed a little cheaply done but I’ll forgive them for a few “boo boos.”

Now I was a little taken back at first because this movie didn’t have the pace that I expected (no thanks to the trailers). They toyed with the audience’s sense of pace to comic effect but I was able to truly enjoy the film once I realized that this was not supposed to be 2 hours of a badass fight sequence (which was well waiting for and did not feel pushed aside at all). The only caution I give to viewers is that if you’ve seen Shaun of the Dead and were only a so-so fan of the film, you might find yourself caught in the “this movie’s just the same thing” trap. They do use the device of cyclical scenes and dialogue that can come across as predictable at times. I adored these moments. My advice, look beyond the similarities between their films. This is not the time to try and judge similarities between films like you would for Shrek/Spiderman/Pirates 1-3. Now if only the movie had a longer run in theatres and I didn’t have to wait for the DVD to release to see it again…

Conclusion:
See this film. It has great actors, over-the-top british cop themed humor, smart dialogue, and some truly kickass action sequences that I have come to expect from this creative team. There is a definite appeal to the teen-young adult male audience but I think that a wide variety of people can enjoy it just as well. This will be another film to quote and share with friends, who enjoy things like humor, guns, beer, and swans. Hurrah to good collaboration and I can’t wait to see what these guys have up their sleeves for the next one!

4.6 out of 5

Castle

Okay, now that you have had a chance to read these two previous glowing reviews, I'm going to write a lukewarm one and be hated for comparing it to Shaun of the Dead.

The recent film Hot Fuzz by Edgar Wright is absolutely hilarious and you should see the film for the awesome fight scene at the end and for the great role played by previous Mr. Bond, Timothy Dalton. My God he's great! And while the film delivers on the promise set by Shaun of the Dead by having numerous fun movie references and lots of comedy...it also fails to achieve its greatness due to overfulfilling the promise of creating a homage to buddy cop films...and slasher films, and thrillers, and Godzilla, and etc. This movie has been hotly anticipated for some time now and while I approve the idea of creating a homage parody of buddy cop films, somewhere along the way this film loses its focus and begins to be an homage to any film the creating team loved at some point in time, creating a hodge podge movie that doesn't attempt to make itself work better for teh audience. For example, the film is a comedy, a british comedy at the end of the day with some aspects of buddy cop right? So what is going on with the over the top gruesome deaths? The spire at the church tower comes to mind. And what is up with the Godzilla reference and scream lookalike and the Shyamalan twist? Although the story ties together and the build up for the awesome fight sequence at the end is paid off in full with constant shots at Bad Boys and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid . The problem is that the tonal mix of the various genres they try to emulate creates a very confused film that they don't try to fix. Also, they stick to closely to the story elements of the traditional Michael Bay flick. Sure the action is cool and the cinematography rocks, but the story and characterizations of everyone in the film is no better than a sketch and they seem to be tone deaf as they prefer mastering one-note. Plus, a lot of the characters don't fit too well. The police chief is eh and even Pegg annoyed me when he tried to do his "I-m a badass" voice and yes its quite noticeable. The other problem I had was that the film tends to "preview" its jokes. The Keanu Reeves moment is a great one as is the over use of only so-so running gags and return jokes. Now truth be told, the film is still funny and a blast to watch as you get to see all of the highjinks and try to find the movie references. I can only imagine that this film becomes instantly better when seen in bigger groups. Its sad because when compared to its previous soul film Shaun of the Dead, Shaun didn't have any 2-d characters. Everyone had a third dimension to them and the jokes were smart and fierce and it stayed true to parodying only one genre which focused the energy and creativity more and resulted in a more powerful and funnier film. All that said, this is still a great funny film and I highly recommend it to anyone, except my wife who can't stand blood.

4.1 out of 5

Wannabe

Once

2007-06-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

'Once is just enough'

Well, that's it. The search for best song at the next academy awards is over. This little independent Irish musical steals the show with the music. In fact, to be honest, you might be able to save yourself some time in a big stadium by just buying the cd because if you do see the movie you will want to go buy the CD directly after anyhow. Now, knowing what I know about this film in particular makes it very bizarre to me. I will explain as I go *sigh* as always...

Story. Simple. Boy meets girl and they start up an indie type romance as they help each other to mend their broken lives and to become someting greater than their current shells. Why is it so special? Well, its not the script...and its not the cinematography or the directing...its the casting. My god, their has not been such a great chemistry between two people in a long long time. That, and the amazing music. The two main actors played by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova sing their own songs and play them too. Also, they wrote most of them. I mean, its amazing to see these two performing together like a great concert DVD between a famous duo. If Glen Hansard wasn't famous before, well he just became so as this can easily translate into cd sales since his music is perfect for the kind of crowd this movie will bring. As for directing, there are some amusing and cute moments but they are few and far between and generally the romantic portions steal from common romance films or from Richard Linklater and his Before Sunset and Before Sunrise movies. Except instead of witty banter and dialogue, the emotions and communication happen mostly through organic songs. Organic meaning it never feels like the songs don't belong. No dancing wombats or moments of angst bursting into melodious tune. Nope, all is song in a very gritty and raw style that accents the soothing melodies and accents the sometimes despairing lyrics. Its a great story about love and about getting back on your feet and helping others, strangers. It's a wonderful feel good film, even if the film is made on crappy DV tape. Its obvious from the viewing that the film stock was cheap and that the amount of money put into this film was next to none. Thankfully the gritty handheld look and the terrible quality of the film stock add to the raw and indie aura of the movie, plot, and music. In the end, it all ties together to make a great film that only needs to be viewed once and then if you buy the CD you can relive the film everytime you turn on your speakers. I am not sure that the film is for everyone as the directing can be kind of boring at times and it does feel slightly slow. But if you like the music you should love the movie and the amazing chemistry between two current artists. Congratulations casting director on this brilliant job. And now the truth, once you see the film you won't be able to imagine Cillian Murphy as the lead male's role which is what he was until he dropped out and the songwriter had to step in. It would have been very bizarre indeed. Go see it if you can, if you cant don't be afraid. It should work just as well on the home set as in the theaters.

4.6 out of 5

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

2007-06-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

'Sympathy for bad pacing'

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is the directorial debut of Korean director Chan-wook Park and it is also the first of his vengeance trilogy which is followed by Oldboy and Lady Vengeance. Although I haven't seen Lady Vengeance yet, I highly recommend Oldboy to anyone who has a strong stomach. Most critics call it the preffered film of the trilogy. The nice part about the trilogy is that it is a trilogy only by its ties through the theme of vengeanced and each story is a standalone tale. However, unless you want to see a film that will make you sit in pain, I wouldn't advise watching Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

The story is pretty muddled but it becomes clear after a bit. First we are introduced to Ryu, a poor dumb and deaf brother whose sister is dying and needs a kidney transplant. In an attempt to save her, he decides to offer his kidney to the black market in exchange for one for her. When he wakes up and realizes he's been screwed in the deal, he is forced to consider a new option. Finally he and his communist revolutionary girlfriend decide to kidnap his former boss's daughter and hold her for ransom. As you can imagine, things just keep getting worse. In fact, it's pretty obvious that the writers of this film and the director took a lot of their cues from Shakespeare. And that's all I will say about that.

As for acting, the females are the strongest actors in the film closely followed by Ha-kyun Shin who plays Ryu. Unfortunately Kang-ho Song who plays the other main protagonist across from Ryu seems to have taken acting lessons at the Keanu Reeves school of immovability. Truth be told the acting is okay on the whole but nothing special which makes the film incredibly hard to watch as we are shown shot after shot of uninspired cinematography and ridiculously long edited scenes that seem to have no purpose other than filling time. All of these things combine to create a pace that is excruciatingly slow. Also, it doesn't help to feel sympathy for either protagonist after all of the violent decisions made and the fact that the camera takes a third party omnipotent approach for most of the film (although the scene with Ryu and his girl and the detctives in the elevator all at the same time is riduclously powerful). Now, if you are a fan of over the top killing and deaths and violence...then damn this guy can do it. The writers and the director have obviously tried to think up some of the most terrible ways to die. Being electrocuted through the ears, committing hari-kari, having your achilles tendon cut while in water that's barely standable might just be the worst as it shows the gaping holes in the man's feet while he struggles to maintain balance and not drown. This is simply one of the director's cues I feel since there are similarly gruesome maimings in Oldboy. But even these gruesome scenes and depictions can't make up for the terrible pacing of the film. So can anything save it? Well, this is where the writing really kicks in and saves Chan-wook Park's obvious directorial debut.

While the writing is taking many cues from Shakespeare, it is in how the film uses these elements that th real message of the film comes through. It actually becomes easier to see the real message thanks to third-party approach of the camera work. The two main characters come from two totally different sides of the track. One is poor and heavily disabled in life with no luck. The other is rich but hard working and trying to lead a good life. The communist girl makes the dichotomy of these two more apparent by constantly referencing the idea of communists vs capitalists. The two main characters Ryu and Park then become symbols of a greater conflict between South and North Korea. Its a rivalry that causes many heated problems and Chan-wook goes out of his way to show that nothing good can come from this hatred rivalry. Like the two main characters, poor vs rich, capitalist vs communist, and North vs. South can only end in tragedy as both sides are forced to hate each other for what the other has and who are destined to die in a never ending conflict. I think that how Chan-wook uses the film to convey a societal meaning is an excellent beginning to a trilogy of films that I hear become more personal in approach after this one. It also provides an interesting look into the conflict of North vs. South as told from a prolific native artist. This almost makes up for the slow pacing. Almost.

Conclusion:
Unless you have a giant interest in Korean cinema and the conflicts of the culture in Korea or if you just want to understand the bizarre ant scene in Oldboy, I wouldn't recommend watching Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Yes it has awesome blood scenes that I think more directors should study if they want to create a more realistic and sickening violence in their films. Tarantino looks like a pawn compared to this guy, probably because Tarantino prefers the over the top blood splatter instead of the blood drip which I find infinitely more creepy and life like. The acting is eh and the story can get muddled some. And the pacing cannot be overstated as to how terrible it is. Fun to analyze but painful to watch. Not for the common viewer and its big mistake is the attempt to try to create sympathy in the audience through a detached and fairly Brechtian approach.

3.7 out of 5

Wannabe

Rightsizing

2007-06-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been dreadful. Every time he looked in the paper he noticed that his ranking was lower each week and that the predictions were becoming more dire. He believed in sticking to his guns and following the lead of the president when times got tough, but then he saw it. The most recent article. Kevin Reilly fired from NBC to be replaced by Ben Silverman. He read it again to make sure. After all, this was THE Kevin Reilly. The man who championed critical sleeper hits like 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights and kept them around for another season despite bad statistics. The same man who helped start such quality shows on NBC such as Heroes. The #1 guy in charge of programming who successfully brought class to the big peacock was fired for under performing and was being replaced by the guy known for translating overseas hits into American ones. Why? Sure, Reilly had a number of expensive high quality shows that had to be canceled due to nobody watching..but why Reilly?...
As he pondered, Wannabe quickly lit a crack pipe and pondered his opiousness in a fun-filled haze. Only after realizing that his hand wasn't really that delicious a gyro, he had a revelation. 12 slaps and 3 coffee pots later, he was on the phone calling Headquarters. "Hello?"
"Yes?"
"Hello?"
"Yes si..."
"Dammit man speak up and stop the ch-ch-chimp imp-p-pr-pression."
"YES SIR!"
"That's more like it! Now do a little dance with your phone and sing to it before telling that fat smorgasbord Danion that he is fired! And if he ever shows his face around my office again, I'll eat him! With ketchup!"
"YES SIR" *click*
The next call was slightly more coherent as the effects were wearing off as was his energy in a rapid progression. "Hello, Yea, hello? *yawn* IS someone there?"
"Yes, I'm here. Who the hell is this and why are you calling so friggin late? It's 2AM buddy now leave me alone."
"Huh? Oh, Junders, this is the president of uh...chimaera productions. You know, in H-wood."
"Oh, wow, yea hey. What, uh, what seems to be the problem? Anything I can do? Just uh, let me get out of the room here...YEa, I'm sorry about that earlier. Just caught me napping thats all."
"What thing earlier?"
"...Nothing."
"Oh...anyhow, I just fired Danion as my film purchase manager and I have a need. I would like to offer you the opinion, I mean position based on your previous produced films. But first I need you to tell me how you plan to fix my currently drowning slate."
"Easy, I mean I think Danion did a good job on choosing independent hard films that America needs to see but...well, you run a very old commercial institution. Therefore I'd drop Ghosts of Cite Soleil, The Method, and even A Mighty Heart."
"But that has Angelina Jolie!"
"YEa, but have you seen her skinnyness recently? It's not good. And then I'd replace them with the sure to be hits I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Sicko, and I think the small indy film Fido can take off provided the right coverage and critical praise. It has a great Shaun of the Dead feel which is more popular these days with things like the Hot Fuzz guys. Anyhow, that's what I'd do."
"Hmm, interesting. Alright fine, but you're late for work. So double time it mister. I have money to make and tickets to sell. "
"Oh, uhh, okay sir. Let me just tell my wife..."
"NO TIME! Now get out that door right now and be down at the office in 15 or forget that 150,000$ job along with your career!"
"I'm going, I'm going!" *click*
A smile of joy passed over Wannabe's face right before his head hit the table from standing too quickly and he revisited the wonderful land of handwiches. Peace to you all and just to let you get a glimpse as to how this affects things...read and weep.
OVERALL
GoS 10
WILLO 10
CASTLE 11
WANNABE 10

Yes...yes...now take that with some dijon mustard!!!

Most recent update

2007-06-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
$2 PAPRIKA 0.114 4 0 8
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
$5 DAY WATCH 0.05 1 0 7.1
$6 BUG 6.1 0 2 6.9
$7 ONCE 1.06 8 0 8.5
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9
TOTAL 383.624 31 28 7.275

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 OCEAN'S 13 115 4 8 5.7
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
$5 GOLDEN DOOR 0.07 6 0 7.4
6 YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.35 0 0 7.2
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
$8 EVEN MONEY 0.05 0 0 5.9
TOTAL 428.97 31 26 6.75

WANNABE
$1 KNOCKED UP 30.7 5 4 8.6
2 SURF'S UP 90 3 6 6.3
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 THE METHOD 0.45 0 0 7
7 GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL 0.25 0 0 7
8 A MIGHTY HEART 29 5 0 6
TOTAL 323 22 23 6.525

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 HOSTEL II 33 1 3 5.3
$6 SEVERANCE 0.06 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
$8 MR. BROOKS 10 0 2 7.7
TOTAL 553.96 20 38 6.35

OVERALL
GoS 12
WILLO 10
CASTLE 13
WANNABE 6

mAN, i'M GETTING stomped. I will be doing some changes real soon. to everyone else, congrats and keep moving on!

Out of Time

2007-06-02T23:19:00.000-07:00

'Out of Originality'

Denzel Washington is always considered to be above reproach when playing roles. With that said, he always plays the same roles. When he stops acting, he will have played more police roles than some tv police actors have episodes. He is almost always a strong tough black man who is an authority figure such as a detective, cop, navy officer, etc. Hell, in the Branagh Shakespeare film he plays the prince/king. Fortunately, he is quite good in this role type and he seems to realize that everyone thinks so as well. Yet, I would still like to see him try and do something outside his comfort zone like a nerdy scientist. All the same, he plays his typical role in this film and its quite sad that I can feel nothing new for him. Oh well.

Out of Time is a paint by numbers mystery/thriller. With that being said, the real shining moments are the tense bits that occur with Washington at the station trying to cover his tracks from his semi-divorced wife who was recently made detective and head of the case he would easily be suspected and put away for. Yes, Denzel is excellent and I love watching Eva Mendes in anything. Although she also needs something other than the hot chick or tough girl part. Perhaps the best part goes to Dean Cain who plays the villain and whom I didn't recognize until I read the credits. Yep, Supes is evil baby! and apparently a football player. The other main leads are fairly unknown such as Sanaa Lathan who is excellent as the damsel in distress and John Billingsley as Chae, the lovable comedic sidekick to Washington's straight man. Seriously, the twists and turns could be predictable but there is a nice familiarity with a piece like this. Despite the fact that the mystery ends too soon, the plot is familiar enough to let the audience know to just sit back. In fact, the saving grace of this movie is the setting which is supposed to be the Florida coast near Miami but I swear the settings reminded me a lot of New Orleans. Most of the shots caught that by the shore feel perfectly and added an exotic feel to the story that kept things fresh and interesting in the same way that there are so many beach murder mystery novels that I never read but always catch my eye when walking past the mystery sections. Unfortunately, the setting is pretty similar to some of Denzel's later works like Deja Vu and Man on Fire, rendering this film as a complete waste in Washington's canon. So yes, the story is pretty simple and has been told a thousand and one times, but it is conveyed well and it ties itself to the Florida coast exceedingly well through the cinematography. Also, this film had some of the best tension scenes that I have seen in a while. Now in the fighting, but between when Washington's wife would figure out that he is involved with everything. a lot of luck and some great timing elevate those scenes and the long introduction to the characters at the beginning pays off by having us as an audience care for Washington's character and screw ups and root for him to stay with Mendes. In this relationship the movie shines. So, directors of the world, watch this film to figure out how to set up a believable mounting tension sequence and for nothing else, except maybe some beautiful settings and shots. Washington, go do a screwball comedy or something. Anything! end the monotony and remind us why the world still respects you as an actor. Pull a Samuel Jackson and do Snakes on a Train, I don't care. Just switch shit up! Oh, and Carl Franklin proves he has a decent to good grasp of directing, now next time just try and get a better script that doesn't need to try and hide its defects with a lame comedic character.

2.9 out of 5

Wannabe

Indie League Late Update

2007-06-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

Alright, sorry fellas about the lateness of this update. The week has been crazy. Here's the current standings and don't be surprised if I start changing mine up pretty soon. So here's the breakdown!
INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 $PAPRIKA 0.05 4 0 8
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 DAY WATCH 1.5 1 0 6.3
6 $BUG 4.6 0 2 7.1
7 $ONCE 0.5 8 0 8.3
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 OCEAN'S 13 115 4 8 5.7
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.04 2 0 7.4
6 YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.35 0 0 7.2
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
8 $EVEN MONEY 3 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 KNOCKED UP 105 3 6 6.9
2 SURF'S UP 90 3 6 6.3
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 THE METHOD 0.45 0 0 7
7 GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL 0.25 0 0 7
8 A MIGHTY HEART 29 5 0 6

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 HOSTEL II 33 1 3 5.3
6 $SEVERANCE 0.02 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 MR. BROOKS 21 0 0 4.6

If a film has $ beside it, it means it has been released and the figures beside it are its current stats.

STUDIOS BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 382.95 31 28 7.175
GOS 431.89 27 26 6.75
WANNABE 397.3 20 25 6.3125
WILLO 564.92 20 36 5.9625

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 1 4 3 4 12 1
GOS 3 3 2 3 11 2
WANNABE 2 2 1 2 7 4
WILLO 4 1 4 1 10 3

So, it looks like I am losing right now, but after a few changes this weekend and that will hopefully disappear. Expect the next update on Monday or Tuesday as usual. Sorry once again fellas and I hope your summer is going well! Oh, also, Willo, contact me when you get the chance. Got some questions for you. Peace!

Wannabe

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

2007-06-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

Wow. I'm not sure if it is the fact that this week has been exhausting and makes me therefore more susceptible to crying or what, but this movie had me bawling several times and I HATE crying at any entertainment piece. In other words, this film is damn good.

Before I get into this film, let me just say I picked it up on a whim. I had heard mention of it once before. I knew it was an indie film that got little to no release. More importantly, I knew it contained Robert Downey Jr., aka Iron Man, who is ALWAYS outstanding despite whatever personal issues he might currently have. This was the key factor for my choosing this over Thank You for Smoking from the local Blockbuster 3 for 20$ line. That and I had already seen the latter. I found out later after the movie was over that the movie is loosely based off the book of the same name written by the same director/writer Dito Montiel. And for a guy who has no other film credits to his name, it's obvious that this guy has a passion for this story and that sometimes that's all you need to tell a story well.

The story starts with a writer named Dito Montiel, played by Robert Downey, beginning to read from his novel. The novel is based on his childhood and the people he used to hang out with back in the incredibly hot days of New York. As the story evolves, we see how it relates not only to his childhood, but also how it now affects his adult life as his father falls ill and he has to come back and revisit the family that e ran away from and try to right some of the wrongs caused by his early departure. At times, the story and loses some importance to how its told. For example, at a couple of pinnacle moments, the editing will become more apparent as the action gets broken up and snippets of what is happening is shown with a second of black in between creating a hazy montage of blurred action that portrays an emotion perfectly despite the hectic crazy-ness. The story is a tragedy at first and it evolves into a reconciliation story. It's beautifully portrayed and told as evidenced by the Best Director and Best Ensemble award from Sundance. It's an emotional powerhouse that I haven't seen since Crash. It's incredible.

As for the acting, now that I've butchered any telling of the story, is outstanding. Chazz Palminteri has never impressed me much. He has always come across in the past as the prototypical Italian and would play the Italian role well in whatever film he was inserted. Then again, to be fair, the previous roles he received were nowhere as meaty as this and he knocks down any old prejudices by shining and flaunting his acting ability in this film. Robert Downey plays his part well, but surprisingly his is not the hardest part nor is it that astounding. He has one or two good scenes, but essentially his part is just a walk-on in a lot of ways. And as much as Castle will hate this, Shia is damn good in this film. As the young Dito, Shia plays a lot of it just right. He's a confused kid trying to grow up and be one of the boys and at the same time desiring to leave and become something. The director Dito, (too many Ditos!) does an excellent job of directing all of the actors but Shia and Channing Tatum especially. Channing plays the young thug friend of Dito, Antonio, to whom the film is dedicated and he gets the brooding thuggery and mixed emotions of being tough while at the same time expressing his love and loyalty just right. In fact, all of the young actors are well directed, including Melonie Diaz who plays Dito's girlfriend, Adam Scarimbolo who plays Antonio's dejected and possibly mentally maligned younger brother, Peter Anthony Tambakis who plays the young ethnic Nerf,and even Martin Compston who plays Mike O'Shea, the young Scottish immigrant with big dreams who helps Dito to realize his potential. The performances are all outstanding and entwined. Despite all of the big names though, I am highly intrigued now by Anthony DeSando who plays Frank the dog walker. Man, he is amazing and what a great character to have to play. I cannot imagine a better introduction to a character in my life and when you see the film, which you WILL, you will understand. The acting is outstanding and it is obvious that the director knows exactly how he wants everything to go.

As for the lighting and cinematagrophy, well, it is all used to accent the acting of the actors. The one real slip up, is the occasional use of voice overs. At certain moments, seemingly random at times, the camera switches to documentary mode and has an actor address it as to who they are and what they think. It is not that distracting and it actually adds to the film by helping to clarify things occassionally, but it is a very interesting device and could be cleaned up some by putting it in more appropriate places. The editing is excellent and it changes into a more frantic scattered pace usually when some high emotional moment occurs. Hats off to the cinematographer and editor on a job well done.

Conclusion:
The acting, story, all aspects of the film are incredibly well done. The film isn't for everyone. It's a very personal look into the director's childhood and it does contain a lot of adult content in terms of violence and cursing and sexuality. But what the film has in spades that very few films now do, is heart. The brutish love of Antonio is heartbreaking and disgusting at the same time. The film is set in New York back in the older days of the blocks and it conveys that sense beautifully. I have nothing but good things to say about this film and its message about family and what it takes to be a real man. I will have to go read the book now. But you, well, watch this first then decide. I think you'll agree with me.

4.7 out of 5

Wannabe

My Best Friend: Klaus Kinski

2007-05-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

'Klaus is Nuts!'

Okay, so few of you might recognize the names of Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog. Woyzcek anyone? They made many old famous foreign films together and were considered quite the actor/director item. The thing to remember though, is that Klaus had to have been justifiably insane. Had to be. And this film proves it.

The film itself is a self-done documentary about the life of Klaus Kinski and the work he and Werner Herzog did together. It covers all of the collaborative movies and the background of the two men's history together. And if you as a director think you are working with a stuckup or frustrating actor, watch this film and feel better knowing that they are never going to be this hard to handle. Unless of course your actor pushes you to the brink of wanting to firebomb their house. In that case, do as many films as possible with them and be inducted into the greats of film history. Yes, it got that intense and crazy.

The footage isn't remarkable always but it is interesting hearing reflections on Klaus from people who worked with him and seeing how it comes across on screen. I'm sorry, but I would never stay in a place where the villagers have offered the possibility of killing the lead actor for me, which is exactly what Werner does at one point and the animosity of the indians to Kinski is vibrant on the screen for the film. The story is worth the telling as a documentary if only to capture as best as possible the crazy and insane collaborative kinmanship between these two artists and see how that translates to such classics as Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre. The tales of Kinski will astound anyone. Unfortunately, this film is also riddled with flaws. Werner seems too preoccupied at times with clearing his name of being called crazy and of other rumors perpetuated by Kinski. I agree that it must be hard after becoming so close to someone whom you hate as much as you love and whom slanders you to the masses. Still though, it isn't always necessary. Also, the biggest annoyance of the film is the clips from previous films and other footage showing Kinski talking. On one hand, I understand that this footage is to help convey his madness which has no need for a translation and is readily apparent. However, it would have been great to have at least had subtitles at times. When Kinksi rants to a giant crowd and throws the microphone or when he is screaming at the lighting director, I want to know what exactly the interchange is really about. I understand that due to his in your face nature, it would be hard to get the subtitles up and read in time befor ethe next one appears, but it would have been a real help I feel for getting to understand his personality better and how what Werner says about Kinski and how that translates to our own perceptions of his lunacy.

Conclusion:
No doubt about it. Kinski was an AMAZING actor who brought an intense fire with him into everything he did, and his lunacy helps only to further that. This film is a great look at the well documented egotism and dangerous lunacy of Kinski as told by the director who gained his greatest trust. Unfortunately, it feels too much at times like, "well, he may have said this but its not true. This is my side of the story..." Despite the flaws and aggravating untranslated clips, this film is still a must see for any director, actor, or anyone who loves Jerry Springer. Kinski was the ultimate throwdown.

3.6 out of 5

Wannabe

The Queen

2007-05-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

'The Queen is as the Queen does'

Finally. Now I can honestly say I have seen all of the films nominated for Best Film at the 2006 Oscars. The Departed still deserved the win by a long shot in my point of view, but here we go. Before reading this, know that I care very little for those in authority and power. So tales involving such beings being very "British" tend to bore me.

The film isn't bad but here is the point of the film, the thing they emphasize again and again. The current Queen was born in a different time and era and is having a difficult time adjusting to the more modern sensibilities. That's it. Seriously. That's the plot of the film. As viewers we already know that the Queen doesn't end up on the chopping block and that the monarchy still exists. The only thing the film allows us to see is a more sympathetic viewpoint of the Queen and to see the changes made to the monarchy and in how the monarchy deals with the public. The plot? Well, Princess Diana dies and the monarchy won't make a statement about it. Now, it is interesting to see how the newly elected prime minister Tony Blair and his labor party handle the situation considering the fact the press want to destroy the monarchy. Oh, and honestly there is a bit at the end where the Queen and Blair are speaking about the public's previous hatred of the monarchy and the Queen mentions that the same hatred could happen to Blair in an instant. I despise films that try to be cool by adding in an obvious reference to a modern event which this does by using that as a reference to the current campaign and subsequent stepping down of Tony Blair. Even if the writer didn't mean for it too, the time in which a film is released DOES affect the movie, any movie, and how it is viewed. The nice side of the plot? Well, it shows that the decision to be stoic was a calculated one and one that the monarchy believed in. Also, it goes into detail on some of the finer points about the monarchy and its traditions. However, if you mix stoicism with the rich snooty and ill-adjusted to the times, it equals boring to me. Thank God for the interesting symbolic bits like the whole thing with the stag. Unfortunately, I came away from this film with a better understanding of the monarchy, but with much less patience and caring. They are a bunch of out-of-date elders who seem to have a hard time being in touch with the people. The only good thing is that they aren't so out of touch as say, Bush or George Lucas.

In terms of acting, Helen Mirren plays a VERY stoic Queen. One who I think never truly morns or cares for the loss of Diana much and whom considers all the fuss to be an affront to her and the monarchy. She deserves her lauded praise. Unfortunately, so did Michael Sheen for his portrayal of Tony Blair. It's too bad he never received it. As for the rest of the cast, well, the royal family all look like a bunch of grumpy self-important has-beens or in-bred paranoid schizophrenics. I'm sorry, but the best argument for keeping the Queen around now is that Charles looks like he would fit better as an alien conspiracy theorist than as king. The labor party members all seem so disparaging of the monarchy and its ridiculous existence. The entire film becomes a balancing act between the Queen and Blair and how do they handle the mess of the media caused by Diana's death and subsequent reaction from the public.

As for directing, well the actors and the line delivery are perfect. The blend of real television footage with that of the actors saying the same lines is flawless. And the believability and the understanding for each character is executed brilliantly. The only scene in the movie that is a bit much is the scene with the Queen looking at all of the cards and then seeing the people behind the fence constantly bow to her. Well shot, if a bit slow and plodding in pace.

Conclusion:
Its a good movie well shot and directed that explores the rights of the monarchy and what it means to become updated and to live as a Queen in the modern world. It all seems silly to me but I can see how many would like it. The acting is excellent and the story is well told. I just find it a bit boorish since the monarchy isn't really mine or many others bag. But, it's a good watch for those who like a more slowed-down dramatic approach.

4.3 out of 5

Wannabe

Zachariah

2007-05-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

Part 2 of the Musical Memorial Weekend

Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't watch this film and think, "Geez, what a rip off, it's just someone trying to cash in on Tommy." That was my intitial thought. Just another film made in the image of Tommy with a slightly different story and set in the crazy west. I WAS WRONG. I admit it, I was. Tommy more than likely copied from this film since this one came out 4 years earlier. With that said, this film is a really mixed bag. So I will try to explain myself as much as possible.

The story is fascinating. Its the story of two best friends who love each other in that Sam and Frodo fashion (are they gay? are they not? Bi?) who get a gun and decide to go grow up and be big time gun fighters. Along the way, we see the genesis of rock and hows it has progressed. Eventually they split as Zachariah decides to keep looking for something while his partner decides to be a ruthless gunslinger. I was only half watching and going in and out of the film a lot, but I will say that the music is fun and at times pretty amazing. The story doesn't make a lot of sense and in the trek of Zachariah he meets a hot woman he bangs and a crazy zen coot out in the wilderness who teaches him peace. I think my favorite line though is definately "That is not for friends! It's for vampires!". Yea, its a trippy plot filmed in a surrealist manner. Random violinists singing to the protagonist and crazy dumb hippie gangs that can't pull off a proper heist. I did like the idea of robbing a bank by having a show downtown to attract everyone else though. Next!

The acting in this film is eh. The two main characters give off a strange feeling akin to Brokeback Mountain, but I just attribute this to drugs and the 70's. The acting in this case is really uneccessary and is more a means for the real star, which is the surrealist telling of the story. The best example is the obvious symbol of modern day Las Vegas, Capitol City which seems to be comprised of 3-5 store fronts with nothing behind em but sand. Yet, when you walk through the doors to one, you are inside the place. The idea is that the fronts are merely symbols for the places of the actions inside and everything about the film reminds you that it is a film with a message told in symbols and vague references. There hasn't been a fun one like that recently since The Big Lebowski. I especially love the showdown scene in the gun fighter club and the irrational behavior on both parts of the actors. But like I said, the acting is only a vehicle for the trippy crazy visuals and the interesting design choices.

Conclusion:
I for one, am sad that no one is really making films like this anymore. I kind of hope that Tarantino will try his hand at one. I know that he prefers action violent flicks, but he might be the only person I can think of off the bat who could pull of the insane almost drug like visuals and allusions. Plus it would be a very different turn for him, one that would hopefully be more appealing to me than his usual fare...but I digress. This film is not bad by any means, it's just hard to sit through with the crazy non sequitur plotline and the mediocre acting. But the music and crazy vibe plus the cool and obvious symbols make it a worthy viewing and captivating all at the same time. It works at least 75% of the time and that ain't half bad.

3.56 out of 5

Wannabe

Idlewild

2007-05-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Part 1 of Musical Memorial Weekend

A movie that set as a prohibitionist black gangster film that explores faith, love, jazz, and is also a musical. Complete. Now add in Outkast. Double complete. Now sell it. Umm....This was the issue if I remember correctly when Idlewild came out. It didn't last too long as it seemed too eclectic for some modern young audiences and older people didn't have a connection with Outkast nor care to. Plus the reviews were mediocre for the film. After seeing it, I'm not sure why. I think critics must have wanted the film to be worse than it is. Anyhow, the breakdown!

Plotwise, the film does an excellent job of introducing and bringing us into the story of Rooster and Percival. Their lives and dreams are entwined in a way that becomes more evident as the story goes along. A struggling musician love arc and a gold-hearted gangster arc put together make for a dynamic and fun movie to watch. It has it all from the dead dame and the hot chicks to the greasy underlings and brutal murders. Plus, the musical numbers are inspiring as the dancing is excellent. At times the story is a little rough, but that's not the real flaw in this film. So enough story!

Acting-wise the actors all do decent jobs. Andre comes off surprisingly well as does his partner. Unfortunately, every actor, yes even you Terrence Howard, needs a little bit more work. Howard of course plays the evil kat in this picture, but his accent and characterizations don't seem to jive as well in this film as it does in another film called Hustle & Flow. I will say, that no other person alive can say "Man" like he can. Sure, he's crazy and evil and deadly. But it all feels like its been done before. Like he just walked in and put on the shoes and said "let's do this" without ever preparing for the part. Then there is Big Boi who comes across through most of the film as a quick wheel and dealer and not the supposedly good- natured person that the director tries to make for the audience to root for. His younger version comes off looking smarter than he does. Also, for some bizarre reason there are a couple of musical sequences where I wondered if his voice had been dubbed over by Andre. Andre does a good job but there are definitely moments where you can tell Andre is thinking, "Ok, in acting class they recommend pacing back and forth to give energy and tension to a scene of thinking." Or, "If I look away and then back at her, it adds emphasis." I'm not saying he's bad. IN fact, he's quite good. The problem comes with his being pretty new to the game and not as comfortable in the role yet as he should be. That and the editor needed to have cut sooner. Macy Gray does an excellent job as the envious local bar singer. And Paula Patton is a beautiful siren that does her job well as the romantic lead. I also enjoyed Ving Rhames. Cojack. Whatever you wanna call him and his badass. The guy is stuck playing these type of parts, but its hard not to love him for some reason. I'd cast him in anything I ever do. None of the performances were bad, but they along with the script and occassionally the directing need a little punch up. The only scene that didn't fit in the movie, is probably the one where Andre and the girl kiss in the rain...it feels like two people jumping through a field of daisies type thing. But it's okay because Paula Patton is hot. Period. And I don't know what the deal was with Andre's obsession with Shakespeare, but it works well once it is explained better. Good choice.

The best part of the film for sure, is the cinematography and the great artistic use of color. The opening sequence is just great and I love the special effects and how they are sparingly used to emphasize an artistic venture purposefully. I also love the crazy music videos that occur, especially the one where Andre wakes up in the morning with all of the clocks going off. At times it seems a little much and kind of inflated, but those moments pass quickly and it drags you back in for a fun and enjoyable romp in the fictional world of Idlewild. Also, the backgrounds and sets are gorgeous and the texture is great! For any scenic designers who might be reading this, see this film to see how texture can affect the mood and feel of a scene caught on a 2-D scale.

Conclusion:
Bryan Barber and HBO films might not have made box office gold, but I would argue that this is a worthy addition to the pantheon of fun great musical movies not taken from the theater. In some ways it comes across as a male black Chicago. In truth, it is its own demon to be taken as it is and as long as you don't start talking to your flask afterward, you'll be okay. So enter the club and relax and lets all your cares fly away on the voices of angels, gangsters, and a piano player trying to make it.

3.95 out of 5

Wannabe

On The Lot

2007-05-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

Well, after recently tying up most of my favorite television shows and by that I mean ending the first season of Heroes, I felt adrift from television. Nothing for the summer really looked promising until I got a call from my mother-in-law reminding me of a television show called On The Lot by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett (the guy who essentially created Survivor and started the reality show craze). I remember seeing stuff about this a good while back and checking out the website(www.thelot.com) before the season even began. My first impression was, ahh, a replacement for the now defunct Project Greenlight. Now, after having seen the last bit of the first episode, I would like to give my thoughts about this series and its structure so far as I ponder whether I want to try and do it next year, provided it isn't canceled at some undisclosed point in time.

So first, the setup. 1 aspiring filmmaker who survives the popularity polling of the public and the criticism of the judges will win a million dollar movie deal with Dreamworks. In other words, very similar to Project Greenlight except no Miramax, Ben Affleck, or Matt Damon. Instead, we have the traditional "panel" of judges headed up by Brett Ratner, Carrie Fischer, and Garry Marshall. See, of the bat you should be able to tell what they are looking for. They are not looking for the next Steven Soderbergh or Wong Kar-Wei. They are searching for the next Michael Bay or Amy Heckerling. No, actually I'm lying. They want the next Kevin Smith. I mean lets look at the judges. Carrie Fisher is best known as Leia from Star Wars and is pretty much an actress who has dabbled some in writing. Then you have Garry Marshall who started off making classic tv (Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple) and then moved into more chick flick type films. Seriously, this guy is the one who set the bar for chick flicks and is behind most the good ones released ever. (The Princess Bride Series, Runaway Bride, Pretty Woman)! Then, there is Brett Ratner. Poor Ratner. He is often maligned for having only so-so taste and for being better at mimicking than creating great cinema. Critics can't stand him and he enjoys funny buddy flicks apparently from his list of Chris Tucker films including the Rush Hour series. His most recent film was the critically maligned and yet blockbusting X3: The Last Stand which he took over after Bryan Singer went to direct Superman Returns. Neither of which I have seen. So, when looking at this list, the first thing I notice is that these are working artists and not heads of studios, so they might be slightly more willing to take a chance on a project than studios. Also, they are very stilted. Revered actress who has never directed, up and coming blockbuster director who might never make a meaningful film and an aging decent director who helped create and is now falling prey to a genre that most males can't stand. What do they all have in common? Box office draw. Argue what you will, but Georgia Rule by Garry Marshall did okay and he has a long history. Ratner's films rack up despite critical vindictiveness and Carrie Fisher is a name that garners respect and admiration from all even though I have no idea what movie she has headlined since ye ole Star Wars days. Okay, so they aren't looking for the next great artistic director, so what? where does Kevin Smith fit into all this? Easy, in the reward part. The reward is 1 million dollars for a director to make a movie with Dreamworks. First off, 1 million dollars in America for a film is like throwing a dime at a kid and telling them to go buy some gum balls. It's ridiculously low! 25 Cents at least! Sure Dreamworks is a big company and distributor, etc. But my question is does the 1 million dollars cover advertising, promotion, everything? Because creating a movie can cost over 1 mil easy and then you figure in advertising, distribution, promotional events, etc. and you are within several million immediately. I mention this because filmmakers like Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez are known for making incredibly low-budget films. I choose Smith in particular because even he acknowledges that he is not a great film maker but he has a loyal following and makes cheap films that make great Box Office. In fact, his first film, Clerks, was funded on the credit card method and he was lucky that it was bought and did so well. Otherwise, he might be living a different life right now with his hang-out buddy Jason Mewes in debtor prison. Also, my faith in this show is lackened by the obvious hand of Mark Burnett and his silly reality tv ways. I'm sorry, but when the opening episode has 50 semi-finalists and 14 are kicked off immediately, yes it creates a sense of immediacy and drama, but it also makes the idea of investing into the people's dreams on the show seem like a bad idea since another 20 could be kicked off next week. I know it's the first episode and the first few in reality tv always have major cutbacks that get smaller and smaller, but still. 50? Why not 25 and kick one off a show? I don't know. Grumble grumble...grumble.

Besides that grouching over the Mark Burnett influence, I am actually interested. I think these type shows would be better off if they tried to find the best director period. Not the most popular, but I understand that you want to create a fanbase for a director on the show so that when their low-budget feature gets released someone will want to see it and it will require little in extra advertising costs. Honestly, what wins these shows is usually a mixture between personality and talent. Just ask American Idol how well that technique has worked (Last I checked, the only winner to actually have a career is the first one, Kelly. And damn she made a terrible movie). Also, a similar approach was tried with Project Greenlight which could never gather enough viewership to the show nor to its features that it created. I am genuinely surprised that an idea like this is even being tried again. But good luck, and now that I'm old enough, maybe I'll try to join next year...hmmmm...we'll see. The first episode was interesting in that it made the contestants create and market a pitch which decided the fate of 14 contestants. Then the next assignment was to group into threes and create a short film in 24 hours no longer than 2 and 1/2 minutes. I love competitions like this and I like the frenetic pace we are talking about here. The pitch is an essential part of being a director, especially if you want financing from H-wood. So far, I think the challenges are definately necessary and if nothing else provide GREAT experience for everyone, even the ones who lost immediately. I just hope that they keep up the good ideas for projects and good criticism. We don't need a Paula Abdul nice person on this show. No time and no room. With everything now said that I want to get said, I hereby give a plug to Adam M who I hope wasn't eliminated in the first episode and who is from B-ham like me. vote for him to stay!!! Also, I advise you to check out the site of On The Lot since it looks like they will be creating and online internet community with its own film-making challenges each week. Also, the next episode is thursday, so be prepared to see the first 2 1/2 minute shorts! If you care, which I do, because I am...

Wannabe

Indie Stats Update!

2007-05-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

Alright group. so after the first weekend, here's the standings so far. The dollar sign ($) means that films has been released and it's numbers are a reflection of what it has so far earned.

BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 PAPRIKA 0.4 1 0 7
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 DAY WATCH 1.5 1 0 6.3
6 BUG 12.6 0 0 6.4
$7 ONCE 0.07 5 0 8.1
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9
TOTAL 390.87 25 26 6.9375

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 OCEAN'S 13 115 4 8 5.7
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
5 GOLDEN DOOR 3.5 5 0 7.2
6 YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.35 0 0 7.2
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
$8 EVEN MONEY 0.02 0 0 6
TOTAL 432.37 30 26 6.7375

WANNABE
1 KNOCKED UP 105 3 6 6.9
2 SURF'S UP 90 3 6 6.3
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH...FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 THE METHOD 0.45 0 0 7
7 GHOSTS...SOLEIL 0.25 0 0 7
8 A MIGHTY HEART 29 5 0 6
TOTAL 397.3 20 25 6.3125

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE...DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 HOSTEL II 33 1 3 5.3
$6 SEVERANCE 0.01 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 MR. BROOKS 21 0 0 4.6
TOTAL 564.91 20 36 5.9625

RANK BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB OVERALL
1 WILL IAN WILL CHESS IAN 13
2 IAN CHESS CHESS&IAN IAN WILL 11
3 JEB JEB&WILL JEB JEB CHESS 11
4 CHESS WILL JEB 7

MOVIES STILL AVAILABLE (X DENOTES # TIMES DROPPED)
x DOA
I'm Reed Fish
Pierrepoint - The Last Hangman
Rise: Blood Hunter
Boss of It All
Ten Canoes
Bug
The Golden Door
Angel-A
Gracie
The Trials of Darryl Hunt
Crazy Love
I Could Never Be Your Woman
1408
Skinwalkers
I Know Who Killed Me
Moliere
Who's Your Caddy
Broken English
Sicko
September Dawn
The Strangers
Talk to Me
My Best Friend
Interview
Shortcut to Happiness (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster)
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Vitus
License to Wed
Rescue Dawn
Introducing the Dwights (formerly Clubland)
Dynamite Warrior
Joshua
Drama/Mex
Fierce People
Arctic Tale
Goya's Ghosts
This Is England

SO THERE YOU GO. THERE ARE MORE MOVIES THAN THIS TO CHOOSE, BUT THEY AREN'T ALL LISTED BY ME YET. I'LL TRY TO GET THEM UP AND RUNNING COME THURSDAY. TIL THEN, CONTINUE THE GAMES!!!!

WANNABE

Fanatix League Update!

2007-05-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

After finishing his Camel pack and putting his little brats to bed, the disgruntled and nervous CastleMyKing decides to review his film slate. After all, if everything doesn't turn out jusssst right, the board will drop him like napalm on Vietnam. Especially after last year...And he needs the money to support that gold-digging wife...or she'll tell...everyone. He shudders silently to himself and quickly pulls out the secret key to his basement and the ROOM.

A couple of hours and Jack Daniels later, a hand slaps Castle as he exclaims "Ah hah! I've found the dud!" Then, as if enchanted, his crazed hands quickly grab the phone and scream, "Get me marketing! Now!...Hello? Yes, look, that whole DOA thing? Drop it, and start making posters for this new little gem I found called Once, that's right the Irish thingy. Now get those posters up by tomorrow! Why? Because I'm releasing it tomorrow!! The early bird gets the worm and other silly sayings...JUST DO IT!!!" With that, the hands quickly slam down the phone and grab a nice brandy from his cabinet as he rolled out the secret films and snoozed off in perverse splendor, all tension lifted...for now.

Statistics:
Sorry, I'm in MD currently but I will post an update on everyone soon. what this post means though, is Castle just dropped DOA for Once which just opened so he's now stuck with it. DOA has one strike against it. It can be dropped one more time before whoever picks it up is stuck with it. Let the Games BeGIN!!!

Wannabe

Spider-Man 3

2007-05-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

Spidey Weekend Part III and conclusion

Okay, so I have noticed that as I have written these reviews they have become less and less enthusiastic, and I'm sure this one will continue that tradition. But before I continue with my lukewarm criticism, know that these films are good films...I just can't stand Tobey Maguire. Something about him...probably his whiny whispery voice because I kid you not, on both of the first two films I had to crank the volume to understand the voice overs. It could also be the style. While I appreciate the humor Raimi infuses naturally and the great story arcs and villains, I am slightly irked by the obvious attempts to tie Spider-man to NY and occassionally the cheesy iconography type cinematography. I have noticed this though, and I believe it whole-heartedly...if Sam Raimi could learn to include some crazier darker lighting and a little more slanted angles, Raimi would have been the perfect candidate to replace Tim Burton after he had finished Batman Returns.

Now Spider-man 3. The first half of the film is quite good and Raimi does an excellent job of including the venom symbiote into the storyline of Spider-Man's corruption to the dark side. Sure there are a couple of sequences, usually dance sequences that last a bit long and make me cringe, but on the whole it is really well paced and performed. The film turns its focus back to the issues between Mary Jane and Peter, which Raimi realized early on was the crux of everything. In fact, he has gotten it down to a formula. Add a pinch of love disturbance, a princess kidnapping, some egotistic stupidity on Peter's part, add in a villain and stir vigoruosly. Include one or two platitudes about life and a moral lesson for Peter and end with villain killed after finding out Peter's secret identity. Now, the first film had 1 villain, the second 1 had 2 and this one...well, it has three, sort of. And it reached its breaking point.

Despite the first half, the second half takes off and tries to suddenly include the entire arc of venom and Eddie Brock. Since the film takes off running for the finish line, many details pass by in a blur and are easily missed. Leading up to a gigantic climactic ending that's easy on the eyes but painful to the brain. I'm sorry, but Sandman doesn't spend as much energy as possible to kill someone to just apologize later and vanish...and of course, the tradition continues in that all the villains die, except Sandman because Raimi probably couldn't think of how to get rid of him. Also, I could understand Harry saving MJ maybe, but there is no reason Harry would have saved Peter after everything with half his face being blown off in a spat. Instead, what starts off as a promising trilogy with great lead up ends completely unsatisfactorily in every department except for maybe the MJ and PP line. But yea, that whole explosive showdown you felt promised since the first movie? Yea, forget it. Change of heart and all that ****. Raimi, stick to two villains at a time and make sure you understand the characters...all of them.

As for acting, Tobey Maguire does his Peter Parker thing and is especially funny to laugh at when he dons the dark "emo" Peter Parker look. Classic. Kirsten Dunst is great as a flailing actress and MJ. Plus, I have to admit that she has some really nice legs. James Franco does a great job as Harry...until the end because the ending is SOOOO f'd up. Other characters include Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard's daughter, as Gwen Stacy who is essentially unneccessary although she does do a good job in her few scenes. Also, I remember Gwen being slightly more...daring? than MJ which never came across in the maybe two scenes. J.K. Simmons changes up his humor by playing it more low without yelling so much and he is still brilliant. Seriously, this guy makes the series worth watching all by himself...well he and Bruce Campbell who has his biggest and funniest cameo yet. Why isn't he cast in more big time movies? Oh well. Stan Lee has a speaking role for once, good for him. Now for the villains. Thomas Haden Church is wonderful as Sandman. He plays the tragic villain perfectly. Too bad the ending sucks. Topher Grace pulls off the Venom character better than I ever believed possible for such a skinny kid, but damn he got the character down well. Too bad he's dead and didn't find time to develop the character beyond one-dimension!! Hmm, as I write, the ending irks me more and more. Oh well, at least the venom story comes from the animated 90's series and I enjoyed how he killed Venom at least. The silly Eddie Brock storyline is handled pseudo well but of course, this film needed to end with the creation of Venom and then let the next one focus on Brock/Venom/PP. Oh well, too late now. The good news is that no one disappoints although I find the tonal shift in PP's landlord from Spidey 2 to 3 disturbing.

Now where it's going. Raimi has done the evil twin of Spidey thing with the Venom line. He's done the tragic line with Sandman and the perpetuated Simmons paper influnced public idea. The struggle to gain MJ's love, done. The fight to save his friend from his own darkness, complete. And in the process, Doc Ock, Sandman, Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, and Venom all dead except Sandman who just sort of left. So, next will be possibly the Vulture and The Lizard. The Lizard being the most obvious with the buildup of Curt Connors being in the last two films helping Spidey. Just too obvious. Maybe after that it could be Morbius and Kraven, or some other such nonsene. Someone else close to PP should be in danger, so maybe Gwen Stacy will come back or maybe the nice landlord's crazy daughter. But will they want to make it? Apparently Sony has already committed to making a 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th or as long as they can craft great stories for such a great character. Raimi? Well besides being preoccupied with the possibility of filming The Hobbitt, he has mentioned that he would like to film the 4th and probably the 5th and 6th if he was still as intrigued as he is now by PP after the 4th. Tobey? Dunst? Franco? Well, Tobey and Kirsten both say they are tired of it but they might come back provided Raimi does it again and they feel its a good story that naturally flows from the last one. Franco? Well, who cares, his character is dead now. Although Ben Parker died in the first film but they brought him back for the great flashback sequence in 3. Now here lies the interesting part. Rumors has it that the powers that be might want to do away with Raimi and Maguire and Dunst since if Raimi came back he would want too much control and Spidey 3 cost $250 million just to make. Plus, Maguire and Dunst would want a pay increase. Instead, they are thinking of recasting it and refilling it with new up and comers to keep costs down and to start up a new trilogy with a new great director at the helm. Honestly, I would be okay with a new director and a new spiderman and MJ as long as they kept the supporting cast and got a director and replacement actors talented enough to keep the stories good. Jake Gyllenhaal for Spidey, Rose McGowan as MJ (Both have porcelain skin) and maybe get someone else with a love of old creature films and a love of comics...like Guillermo del Torro or Alfonso Cuaron. Just not Ang Lee.

Conclusion:
Good casting as always. Some great pacing and acting i the first part with only a few cringe moments, some of which were planned. Unfortunately its followed with a web-slinging hodge podge of ideas and plans that leave too big a hole in the middle for any audience member to slip through without being caught and entranced. Good luck to Raimi and crew, but especially to the supporting cast who should always be there. Also, the whole butler thing for Harry is completely contrived, lame and crappily executed on all fronts. Bah, see it for some fun but don't expect a satisfying ending to the promise of the first two in the trilogy.

3.54 out of 5

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie Circuit

2007-05-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

In an effort of fun, me and some of my friends have joined together in an offline fantasy league for films similar to the fantasymoguls rules. As such, there will be weekly postings and status updates on this site from now until July 30. So with that being said, you can skip this if you have no interest in the league. Otherwise, here's the results of the offline draft.
Due to a random # generator, the order for the snakestyle draft was castlemyking first, followed by the godofshadows, wannabe(me), and then willo. Here's how it went done.
Round 1: Castle = Ratatouille, GoS = Transformers, Wannabe = Knocked Up, Willo = Evan Almighty
Round 2: Willo = Harry Potter 5, Wannabe = Surf's Up, GoS = Evening, Castle = Paprika
Round 3: Castle = No Reservations, GoS = Ocean's 13, Wannabe = FF4, Willo = Hairspray
Round 4: Willo = Live Free or Die Hard, Wannabe = Black Sheep, GoS = Nancy Drew, Castle = Simpsons
Round 5: Castle = Day Watch, GoS = Golden Door, Wannabe = Death at a Funeral, Willo = Hostel II
Round 6: Willo = Severance, Wannabe = The Method, GoS = You're Gonna Miss Me, Castle = Bug
Round 7: Castle = DOA, GoS = You Kill Me, Wannabe = Ghosts of Cite Soleil, Willo = Captivity
Round 8: Willo = Mr. Brooks, Wannabe = A Mighty Heart, GoS = Even Money, Castle = Eagle vs. Shark.

Movies Still Available:
Once
I'm Reed Fish
Pierrepoint - The Last Hangman
Rise: Blood Hunter
Fay Grim
The Wendell Baker Story
Boss of It All
Ten Canoes
Bug
The Golden Door
Angel-A
Gracie
The Trials of Darryl Hunt
Crazy Love
I Could Never Be Your Woman
1408
Skinwalkers
I Know Who Killed Me
Moliere
Who's Your Caddy
Broken English
Sicko
September Dawn
The Strangers
Talk to Me
My Best Friend
Interview
Shortcut to Happiness (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster)
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Vitus
License to Wed
Rescue Dawn
Introducing the Dwights (formerly Clubland)
Dynamite Warrior
Joshua
Drama/Mex
Fierce People
Arctic Tale
Goya's Ghosts
This Is England

The Current Predictions:
BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 PAPRIKA 0.35 1 0 7
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 DAY WATCH 1.5 1 0 6.3
6 BUG 12.6 0 0 6.4
7 DOA 25.5 0 0 4.5
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9
TOTAL 416.25 20 26 6.4875

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 OCEAN'S 13 115 4 8 5.7
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
5 GOLDEN DOOR 3.5 5 0 7.2
6 YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.35 0 0 7.2
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
8 EVEN MONEY 3 1 0 6
TOTAL 435.35 31 26 6.7375

WANNABE
1 KNOCKED UP 105 3 6 6.9
2 SURF'S UP 90 3 6 6.3
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 THE METHOD 0.45 0 0 7
7 GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL 0.25 0 0 7
8 A MIGHTY HEART 29 5 0 6
TOTAL 397.3 20 25 6.3125

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 HOSTEL II 33 1 3 5.3
6 SEVERANCE 2.1 0 1 6.2
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 MR. BROOKS 21 0 0 4.6
TOTAL 567 20 37 5.875

The Current Outcome Based on Predictions:

OVERALL
GoS 14
WILLO 12
CASTLE 12
WANNABE 7

So, besides the fact that I got the shaft pretty hard, hit me up with an email if you wish to adjust your slate lineup. I will periodically post updates and you can find them listed under Fanatix Indie League on the left. Good going gentleman, and I look forward to a great league coupled with some fun random events...:) This should be fun...

Wannabe

Spider-Man 2

2007-05-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

Spidey weekend Part 2

Alrighty, so in installment numero uno, we have Peter Parker struggle with his new found powers from a genetically engineered spider bite, his uncle's death at the hands of a thief that he let loose, and the descent into madness of his best friend's father while his best friend thinks his alter ego, spidey, killed his father. But not was all bleak, wait, yes it was. Since he gave up his true love Mary Jane at the end. Oh well, the first installment stayed true to the origins and story of Spider-Man. Also Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell had great cameos. Now, for part II.

Well, to start, Spiderman is now delivering pizzas which of course is great for a couple of chuckles while introducing us to the squalid and unhappy life of Peter Parker after High School. Almost two years since his uncle's death. Harry now runs Oscorp and is backing a brilliant scientist named Dr. Octavius who is trying to create a sustainable renewable energy source, aka, a small sun. Lots of family and relationship issues. Dr. Octavius has some fusion issues with a cool four armed toy and bang, we have Doc Ock and a steaming young Harry pent on revenge against Spider-Man. All superhero vs evil villain story aside, their really isn't much in this story regarding lasting changes to Peter Parker's life. But oh well. The story is still fun and it has some great stuff regarding Doc Ock's character.

Directing wise, Sam Raimi abandons his usual low-tech style in favor of more of a CG/wire approach to film making. This lends the film a more polished look, although the CG is still too rough to ever mistake Tobey Maguire as actually flying about the city as Spiderman. The choices made by Raimi regarding how to shoot Doc Ock are well done as his CG effects never actually get in the way of showing Alfred Molina, and thus making the character more believable. Also, he does the usual NY hearts spidey thing. My favorite bit though of his directing is the sometimes blatant ripping he does from other movies. It seems to me that the more I watch, the more I realize that Raimi is using the Spider-Man movies as a way to pay homage to his old favorite films. There's a great sequence that is made to be in reference to King Kong and another where Spider-Man rips his shirt in a similar fashion to the old Christopher Reeves Superman films. I'm not going to lie, but I think Raimi was probably slightly jealous when Bryan Singer got to direct the recent incarnation of Superman over him. I especially liked seeing Maguire dealing with the loss of powers and his struggle to give up completely and to have a normal life. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Raimi does the story and all of teh characters justice, although I think perhaps some more fleshing out Doc Ock's background and maybe a better reason for his "craziness". I'm sorry, it's not Molina's fault, its the writing. If someone's mind has been taken over by 4 apparently crazy killing metallic arms, then there really is no point in time where you can reason with them...ever.

Acting wise, Tobey does his nerdy Peter Parker impression with less fire this time out and his whispy voice is sooo annoying he almost makes me hate Peter Parker. Almost. Kirsten Dunst does a great amount of flirting and changing boyfriends...figures. J.K. Simmons is Hi-larious! Dear God! If someone thinks they could play J. Jonah Jameson better, give them five dollars and make em disappear. This guy is great! Aunt May is still strong and sweet. Alfred Molina and James Franco are the ones who really tear up the screen. Maybe its the second movie curse to be the one that prominently features the villains and their stories, Empire Strikes Back anyone? But Molina brings a believability that surpasses the excellent acting of Willem Dafoe in the first movie. Franco begins to have more fun with his character by getting into the dark side and ordering a hit on him. Harry's such a troubled and yet ennabled character that he borders on tragic. Very nice gentlemen. It's just too bad that Molina was killed in this film since he is definately a great villain. Sadly, Stan Lee's cameo was much smaller in this film. But thankfully, oh sooo, thankfully, Bruce Campbell's was bigger and hilarious. I maintain that the best actors in the series so far are Campbell, J.K.Simmons, and Molina. He's just too good with the little bits offered him.

Conclusion:
A very good tale and a worthy sequel to Spiderman, the newer more polished look of the Spiderman series is not as much fun to me and the story when trimmed down leads to very little actual character development for those still standing at the end. Although, what does change, changes in a necessary way that arranges for the third film to occur. Because of this, I think it is barely not as good as the first if only for the wider character arc in the first and the better acting of Tobey Maguire in that one. Unfortunately, Alfred Molina turns in an incredibly well polished and distinguished Doc Ock and James Franco shows he's more than just a troubled face. So next time you see this film, remember to eat your spidey popcorn, with your spidey coke, oh and don't forget your spidey glasses to keep you from being blinded by the Spidey sun, and...

4.2 out of 5

Wannabe

P.S. I LOVE the opening artwork obviously painted by the very taleneted Alex Ross. Maybe a Kubert or two in there, but it looked mostly to be Ross' work. And if you don't know who he is, go buy the coffeebook from DC featuring all of his cover artwork and be amazed! This guy is soo good, he does comic book covers for a living...just the covers!

Spider-man

2007-05-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

Part I of Spidey Weekend

Many of you have probably heard of it, and if you haven't, you probably heard about one of its two sequels at this point. If you still haven't, then you are probably in a casket and unable to read this blog...sad. Anyhow, even though part 3 came out last weekend, I still have yet to see it. so to prepare my wife who has never seen any of them and to refresh my spidey movie lore, we've set out on a 3 day spidey trek where each day we watch one of the spidey movies. Now, as a general caveat, all three films are directed by Sam Raimi and star Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane, Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man/Peter Parker, James Franco as Harry, and Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee in some small part at random points in each film. Whats great, is I definately think Bruce does a better job than most of the actor in the series, but with that said, lets delve into numero uno.

When I first saw Spiderman, I was big fan of the comics but I never read nor got into the scary Green Goblin saga. I was always involved in Kraven the Hunter tales or Hobgoblin who I know most fans feel is a cheap ripoff of green goblin...but man he was cool! So I was glad that when I saw the first film to finally see and get what all the buzz was about Green Goblin. The best part is after seeing the film realizing how well the film stands on its own while easily setting up for the next two sequels. It's incredibly hard for a film to set up two more films well. Pirates and The Matrix come to mind, mostly because they were one good to decent film followed by two contrived sequels...even though the second Pirates sequel hasn't come out yet. It's also amazinghow well this film was made and how it was able to satisfy Spidey fans and the general public alike during a time in which comics were considered mostly untappable by Hollywood for any sort of box office performance. The two exceptions were the Tim Burton's Batman series and the old Superman series. What makes it even more surprising is how well Sam Raimi, a cult/genre director was able to translate Spiderman to screen while upholding his own stylistic traits. Other Raimi movies include the great Evil Dead series featuring Bruce Campbell as Ash and the terrible Quick and the Dead starring Russell Crowe and Sharon Stone. The transaltion of Spider-Man and all of his trouble is well done in this first film and I will try to hold off on old judgements of the second film until my review. Raimi has always had a penchant for lots of silly corny moments to allow the audience to laugh some and connect with the main character. The best example is when Spiderman is just learning his powers and he is trying to figure out how to shoot a web out of his hand. The different hand movements are great! Also, Raimi allows us to see Peter Parker at his dorkiest in High School and allows us all to understand his plight and obvious issues in tempering his powers. As a fan, I did have some gripes including having Peter Parker be able to shoot his own webs, but it makes sense to have him be an ACTUAL Spider man instead of a super kid whose smart and makes his own stuff to imitate a spider man. The feel of Sam Raimi is present throughout all of the shots and the great mix of low-tech shots mixed with the great CG shots makes the fillm fit nicely into Raimi's style and grounds the film firmly in the corny feeling that Spiderman always infuses into his jokes. It's just corny enough to offset the grim and gritty background origin story letting everyone love Peter Parker despite his loser background. Good job this go round Raimi...this round...

As for the actors, well the Kirsten Dunst does a pretty good job of playing Mary Jane, although her flirtatious nature and constantly changing list of boyfriends, (Flash Thompson, Harry, etc.) makes me wonder just how faithful she could be in a relationship. I bet she never told Harry that she kissed Spiderman. I also found her dysfunctional home background to be an extremely interesting story for her and I would be interested in seeing that play back into the series later. Tobey Maguire does look like a weasley Peter Parker and he gets the nerdy high school stuff down well. James Franco plays an interesting dynamic of being Harry and having a hard relationship with his father where he tries to make his dad proud while at the same time trying to just fit in and downplay his money. He's a little too sulky, but he is quite the sympathetic character. Perhaps the best job of casting ever is J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, the fast talking jerk-a-holic that runs the newspaper. He's perfect...absolutely perfect and if they do make more anymore Spider movies without the original cast, I implore Sony to continue to hire him. Also quite nice is Willem Dafoe as Harry's Father/Green Goblin. His turn as the slowly going insane father is quite nice considering the entire sequence into the mirror was shot in one take or so and wasn't filmed as two different sequences and then put together in editing, thus showing off his acting chops. Unfortuanately, at times he comes across as a little too...much. But usually Dafoe is right on the spot when portraying the dual nature of the good doctor. But man, those performance enhancers must've been god stuff to let him be able to hold an entire trolley full of kids in one hand and a struggling woman in the other. It's also amazing just seeing how well each of these actors nail their character's relationships between each other. The relationships and the dialogue is so vibrant and well done, even if at times it seems a little obvious someone wanted to convey a message. Ben Parker and Aunt May are perfect and lovable and old and remind me and probably everyone with great grandparents of their own. Kudos to the casting director.

Conclusion:
Sam Raimi's style fits quite well into this great introduction of the tales of Spider-Man and the cast for their first go around do the characters justice and earn their paychecks. The plot is laughable at times, but then again it's not exactly great social commentary either. It is however a fun mindless blockbuster flick. The CG is at times very bad, but you have to remember that when the film was made it was very good CG. Also, it is hard to make CG stylistically fit with someone whose technique requires low-tech shots that ground the film in the corny fun natre of Spider-man's humor. It's sad that Ben Parker won't ever come back, nor will Randy "Macho Man" Savage be able to return. But this film is great as a standalone and the kiss at the end is great and even better when Raimi stays true to the origin and keeps Peter away from her. It's sad and frustrating, but it's supposed to be. Great film and an excellent comic-book film. A definate must for anyone who likes blockbusters. Also interesting, is the obvious grounding of the film in New York, making the recent announcement of the New York annual Spiderman week much more understanding. Thumbs up!

4.45 out of 5

Wannabe

Fun Factoid May 2007

2007-05-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Alright, so in an attempt to add variety and interest to this blog, I figure I would share some fun, mostly useless knowledge when I came across it each month. This month's fun factoid is all about Warwick Davis whom some of you might recognize as...drumroll...WILLOW! Yes, the man is everywhere and if you are like me, you probably wondered what ever happened to him after that movie? Well...apparently everything. He seems to be the most overworked actor short person in Hollywood followed by Peter Dinklage. Let's see, did you realize that he is an essential fantasy movie actor? All the Harry Potter films, Willow, the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia film, Star Wars episodes I and VI and two of the made-for-tv Star Wars films. The guy runs his own agency for the vertically challenged, which I have to admit is really cool. Now if only writers and directors would write more parts for short people so that they could recieve the kudos they deserve. Now, for the fun part.

For those that didn't know, Warwick Davis plays the role of a popular well-known horror creature. Have you guessed it yet? Yep, that's right. Leprechaun. Now, with that being said, I am all about the Leprechaun films and apparently so is he judging from the list of titles in the series that are obviously terrible just from reading the title. So, with that said, enjoy the list and marvel at Warwick Davis in all of his good humor.

1. Leprechaun
2. Leprechaun 2
3. Leprechaun 3
4. Leprechaun 4: In Space
5. Leprechaun in the Hood
6. Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood

Now having been someone who has seen Leprechaun in the Hood, I completely appreciate the more farcical approach of the franchise. I am now dying to see Leprechaun 4: In Space and the new Back 2 Tha Hood. After all, if in the first hood movie Ice T can pull a bat out of his friends afro to beat on the Leprechaun, then I'm friggin hooked. There you go, a fun list of a decent franchise turned spooftastic. I know Warwick loves these movies, and so should you.