Its a tie-in to the release of the real movie like Animatrix was to the last Matrix movie. Lets hope it doesnt blow the “live action” movie off the map as with happened with the Matrix.

I am really pleased to report that ‘Somers Town’ directed by Shane Meadows of This is England fame has been chosen to be in Robert de Niro’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York. My brother Perry has one of the lead parts so he’s going to be attending the Festival too – how exciting. I can’t wait to hear if he manages to meet the man himself….

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And do something positive at the same time. Go help and/or buy a pro-troop DVD in the form of Go Outside the Wire. See if we can help them sell more copies than the miserable opening weekend for the latest anti-war film from Hollywood that tanked. All they need to do is sell 2,900 CDs to break even.

This whole nutty High School Musical II thing is quite fascinating. People are making comparisons to Grease. I actually watched a bit of the first one to see what the fuss is all about. It involves a jock doing well (I prefer seeing them die horribly) so I was not into it.

As you can imagine the whole thing is Disney schmaltz that bears little reality to real life. I was in all my school musicals at my prep school and it was fun but hard work. Then again its a very similar musical that worked so well for both Grease and Rocky Horror. Every single song is so simple and catchy that its easy to sing along by the second chorus.

Its easy to mock the whole thing and so many people are for various reasons. Turst Disney to take the winning formula for musical visual success, bleach it and turn into something even bigger. Expect this series to run and run.

Who knows High School Musical might have a profound affect on fledgling musical at schools all over the coutnry.

If Hugh Grant arrives, do not attempt to compete with him—you are no match for his British accent and awkward, fumbling charm.

Should Tom Green appear, leave the area immediately. You want no part in anything that follows for any price.

Warning: Language.

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A very funny steampunk video can be found here and prepare yourself to laugh out loud. Via Boing Boing

Well there is a new movie of that title that wants you to watch its trailer, or rather its five trailers, over at YouTube today. The movie, made by the same people behind 40 Year Old Virgin, is a comedy in a similar style. Superbad is trying to take over YouTube today, and the makers are trying to see how many of you they can get to see the clips on this very day 1 August 2007.

Superbad is aiming to be the comedy of the summer of 2007, which it has to be said, has been pretty weak on comedies, especially live action ones. As you might know by my efforts on behalf of Dr Lee Rotherham, YouTube is becoming a valuable marketing resource for many online efforts. It is amazing how much easier it is to get someone to watch a five minute video than read 300 words on a subject.

Anyway the movie is teen comedy about a bunch of dorks trying to get laid. If the clips are anything to go by it should be pretty funny for your summer viewing. Braindead funny comedy to go watch while you are getting out of the summer heat.

Renaissance

Having discovered Renaissance via my goth/noir aware blogger mate Ghost, I was rather pleased to find it on download on iTunes. It is the first film I have bought and downloaded from iTunes; the experience was pretty pleasant. Alas, the film was not the French Blade Runner but merely an animated French film.

The movie takes a long time to get going, so long in fact, that my beloved Kim, a fan of movies was sound asleep by the time things got interesting. This is less a cyberpunk movie than an art-house piece that is animated. There is far too much faffing about and little in the way of action. If you are thinking Sin City; look elsewhere.

The storyline is a fairly predictable to anyone who is a fan of anime and the cybepunk genre. In a future Paris, a woman scientist has re-discovered a medical secret discarded by an older scientist who lost his nerve. The main character is the typical edgy detective, that shockingly is in constant strife with his boss, and gets suspended during the film. Nope didn’t see that coming.

The tech in the movies is nothing new and innovative for the genre. All the vehicles seem to be Citroens which is most amusing.

The whole movie seems terribly forced and not the slightest bit original baring that it takes place in Paris instead of say Tokyo.

Yes, the animation is edgy and very noir, but it does not salvage the predictable and weak plot. Ghost in the Shell it ain’t that is for damn sure.

Last night Kim and I saw a great film in the form of Pixar’s latest animated feature. While not as amazing as The Incredibles, it was quite a good romp that had some fun bits. There were lots of bits aimed at the parents whether its the snide jabs about Disney to the overt piss-take of Paris and all that is French.

Its incredibly impressive to see, using every inch of the digital animation to its fullest affects. The city scenes of Paris from the roof tops are nothing short of stunning. They rendered the Eiffel Tower in amazing detail , that makes you want to wait for the DVD to examine it.

The story is amusing with a rat that is a talented cook who helps a culinary dork finds his cooking vibe and get what he rightly is owed and then girl (although she is voiced by someone odious see above). I would have to say that anyone who has a phobia of rats might want to skip this one as there are some scenes of lots of them running towards the viewer.

The animated short beforehand was most amusing about an alien in kidnap training. While the concept does not sound that funny, in practice its quite amusing. While not on the scale of the pain inducing ‘Bounce” it does cause a bit of a chuckle.

Overall this is yet another Pixar release that works for both children and the adults that accompany them. Its a visual tour de force with oodles of humour and lots of wry observation.

If you want a peak; check out the preview here.

Kim and I would like to thank the PR company for a pleasant evening watching a rather good film.

For Kim’s take on it check out her post.

Update: Those of you who are keen on how they did it might be interested in this here.

Jamie Oliver said: I probably got the most miserable character in the whole of the film, which is obviously different from me in real life. Hes totally bored with life. Its the first time I have been asked to do anything which is totally not me.
My motivation for doing this film was my kids. When this film comes out, they are going to love it.

I can see myself in Remy the rat a little bit, I think the message to the world out there is have a go, get amongst it, give it a bash and actually you might surprise yourself and be brilliant. You dont have to be born a cook, just get involved and have a go.

Let Them See Death
It’s time to take the blinders off. Its a expanded version of the piece on here of a few days ago.

Music Reviews: Behemoth, Bon Jovi, Civilization One, Consortium Project IV, Porcupine Tree, and Velvet Revolver

I have never quite understood the attraction of gorey films and especially not the modern type of gorenography such as Hostel I & II, the Saw series and other such films. Its something that I have spent time thinking about as a creative type.

I have figured out why young men, and they are mostly young men, like this sort of thing. They feel its a virility test to sit through and not cringe or look away. Why is this a manly test? Its because the media in the West, more specifically the Anglosphere, are keen to keep young adult naive about death and destruction. They are so keen to create a bubble for people to live in that they have desensitised a whole generation of young men.

I am willing to bet that most of those people could not sit through a live autopsy or even in some cases an operation. Because its “not real” they can handle it but when its for real they would have a hard time.

My solution to this problem? Very simple, its time that the media should start showing the not so nice bits of accidents, terrorist attacks and war. They should no longer molly coddle their younger viewers and allow them to see the real world in all its gory detail. Burnt and dismembered bodies, explosions and killings should all be shown.

Now you see I am not calling for anything to be banned. In fact I want there to be less banning on television not more. When these young men are exposed to the real thing maybe they might have less of a penchant for mainstream snuff films. They don’t buy tickets Hollywood will stop making the films. Because whatever you think of Hollywood; we call all agree that money talks and bullshit walks there. If it doesn’t sell they won’t make it.

News should be reality, however ugly it might be.

Now Transformer movie is the next big family movie coming down the pike this summer. Based on the popular and long running animated series that started in the 80s and still continues to this day. I am sure you have all seen Transformer the movie trailer, if you haven’t you should see it now as its pretty impressive. Its all over YouTube and people are getting really rather excited about it. If you are keen on this movie then the link below just might be of interest and its free of course.

Want six passes for the new Transformers movie? Participate now

dragged on a table in a factory
illegitimate place to be
in a packet in a lavatory
die little baby screaming fucking bloody mess
its not an animal its an abortion

sex pistols

Warren Kinsella, in his column in the Post today, decries the proliferation of extreme violence in entertainment. OK, it’s a legitimate point, and one that I’m not entirely unsympathetic with, though how you control free expression in a (sort-of) free society is rather more problematic.

As an example of the desensitizing nature of it, he offers a scene from a recent (and unmentioned by Kinsella—co-written by executive producer and critical darling Quentin Tarantino) horror film:

In Hostel—which made US$50-million but cost a fraction of that to produce—a man blowtorches a woman’s face. Neither the Post, nor I, can describe what happens next.

Huh. Sounds like a typical day’s work at Abu Ghraib before the unspeakable Lynndie English arrived on the scene.

I find it passing strange, though, our shiny-new crusader for civility is also a vocalist and bass player with a punk band, the name of which neither the Post, nor I, can describe.

If you must know what it is, close your eyes and click this Wikipedia link.

I can understand how he needs to shock the bourgeoisie and all that; but it’s not really elevating the discourse, is it?

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I had seen this picture of Jayne Mansfield before, but it was cropped to show her alone. Maybe because an unamused Sophia Loren, Evil Eye ablaze (I hope I, or rather Google, got the translation right), detracted from her charms.

Doing a bit of research, I found it was taken in 1957, at the Romanoff restaurant in Beverly Hills. Apparently Mansfield was notorious for these publicity stunts. At left, another photo from the same encounter.

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This is an interesting bit of news. It seems that there is going to be a new Death Wish movie entitled “Death Wish Returns”. I have always liked the Death Wish series with good ole’ Charles Bronson kicking arse and taking names. The amusing thing about it is that I found out this bit of fact out via Eric Schiffer who has got himself a part in the movie that is going to film in Scotland. The fact they are filming in Glasgow seems rather appropriate as its one of the most violent places in the UK. Schiffer also seems to be in the running to get a buddy list film with an A-lister as well. It will be fun to see how well he does in these two films.

Most of you know that in my guise as Marty over at Blogcritics I write reviews as well as for a few other places. Well I get a few DVDs from time to time as well. It is rather nice to watch something for a change instead of just listening.

Those of you who are real fans of DVD can get quite a good deal from Blockbuster these days. For $9.99 your first month and then $17.00 thereafter, you get 3 DVDs at a time either via mail or in store and then return them either by the mail or in store. This sort of subscription type rental is great for movie fan as it means you don’t have to shell out each time. Blockbuster who is and always has been one of the leading lights in the movie rental game is pushing the envelope again.

It nice to be able to get DVDs right to your door without having to worry about getting them last minute. 3 DVDs at any one time for an unlimited time is a pretty good deal too. Blockbuster is a great company that is really doing its best for customers. And to think I remember Blockbuster when it was a local company in Florida.

Blockbuster – Get DVDs delivered to your doorstep. Start a FREE trial now!

This is an interesting bit of news. It seems that there is going to be a new Death Wish movie entitled “Death Wish Return”. I have always liked the Death Wish series with good ole’ Charles Bronson kicking arse and taking names. The amusing thing about it is that I found out this bit of fact out via Eric Schiffer who has got himself a part in the movie that is going to film in Scotland. The fact they are filming in Glasgow seems rather appropriate as its one of the most violent places in the UK. Schiffer also seems to be in the running to get a buddy list film with an A-lister as well. It will be fun to see how well he does in these two films.

Just look at what Bracknell has to offer.
This post is sponsored. By Guildford.(probably)

I have been watching the trailer for the new Bruce Willis film “Live Free Die Harder”. I wonder if Willis, a right-of-centre type guy, had any influence on the plot of the movie. As far as I can tell some rich nutter has decided to “save the planet” but sabotaging the national grid. He is meglomaniac and hates human technological development? Remind you of anyone?

The movie has a pretty sound title it has to be said. Could this be the next 300 type must see for non-lefties?

And, for a laugh, have a listen to Stop Global Whining.

After the whole Big Brother row in the UK a great deal more attention is being paid to India and more specifically Indian culture and entertainment than ever before. The fact that a Bollywood film had its premiere in London says quite a bit as well. Those of you already interested in Bollywood or all things Indian might just be interested in AapkaVideo – Indian (desi) Video Sharing a site that by its own admission is rather similar to MySpace but with a rather strong Indian twist (or should that be spice). So head over and take a look at Indian entertainment. This post is sponsored.

It seems Daniel Craig is not terribly pleased he didn’t win a BAFTA for his performance in Casino Royale. Liz Hunt takes him to task for being arrogant. As far as I am concerned I have never seen him to a decent interview on telly. He comes across as a complete tosser as far as I am, a pretentious tosser at that. He lacks the self-depricating humour of Connery or Brosnan. I know he is supposed to be a “modern” Bond but that does not mean the actor has to act so prat-like.

There are probably those of you who read this blog who actually give a damn about the Oscars and all the other awards for movies. I do hope you have a gander at the Razzies as well which aim to trash the ultimate in dire movies. I havent’t bothered to check but I wonder if there is going to be a British contingent in their selection of the very worst of cinema. Sharon Stone fans will wonder how the mighty have fallen so far as this is not her first appearance.

Yours truly and Significant Other went to see the movie Borat this evening. I guess if you have been living on a desert island or a terrformed planet in the L5 region of space, you may not have heard of this send-up of central Asian social and religious mores and American life, but otherwise, I guess you know what to expect.

I laughed a heck of a lot at parts of the film, especially a wonderful send-up of some humourless radical feminists and a hilarious scene at which our wild-eyed “documentary maker” goes to a Pentacostal meeting. (One cannot take the piss out of such religiosity enough, in my view). I did – along with most of my fellow movie-goers, wince a bit at a scene involving a black prostitute, that was cruel and pretty unpleasant. Some of the incidents must have been staged, but I did get a bit worried that some of the people in this film were held up for mass ridicule without any idea of what might have been going on. We laugh at other people and flatter ourselves at our wonderful sophistication and cleverness, but how different is this really from those old Victorian freak shows, where people would pay a few coins to see a deformed human being? There was a scene involving an antique store in the South that was plain nasty and I hope the owner of the property was fully compensated for it. This sort of incident also raises the issue of property rights and movies: would an unwitting member of a lucrative movie be entitled to a slice of the profits? I don’t know the answer.

Some of the people in this romp across America were bigots, stupid and silly, but on the whole I get the impression, formed by my own experience and from seeing this film, that Americans are warm-hearted people who want to do well for themselves and their fellows; are friendly, helpful and dignified. A few people may make unpleasant remarks if they think no-one is watching, but are they so different to anyone else?

I can recommend this film, although I am really most looking forward to the latest Bond film. Against my earlier reservations about the casting of Daniel Craig, this looks to be a pretty hot production, taking us back a bit to the core of the Fleming character. Bring on 007.

Yours truly and Significant Other went to see the movie Borat this evening. I guess if you have been living on a desert island or a terrformed planet in the L5 region of space, you may not have heard of this send-up of central Asian social and religious mores, America, but otherwise, I guess you know what to expect.

I laughed a heck of a lot at parts of the film, especially a wonderful send-up of some humourless radical feminists and a hilarious scene at which our wild-eyed “documentary maker” goes to a Pentacostal meeting. (One cannot take the piss out of such religiosity enough, in my view). I did – along with most of my fellow movie-goers, wince a bit at a scene involving a black prostitute, that was cruel and pretty unpleasant. Some of the incidents must have been staged, but I did get a bit worried that some of the people in this film were held up for mass ridicule without any idea of what might have been going on. We laugh at other people and flatter ourselves at our wonderful sophistication and cleverness, but how different is this really from those old Victorian freak shows, where people would pay a few coins to see a deformed human being? There was a scene involving an antique store in the South that was plain nasty and I hope the owner of the property was fully compensated for it. This sort of incident also raises the issue of property rights and movies: would an unwitting member of a lucrative movie be entitled to a slice of the profits? I don’t know the answer.

Some of the people in this romp across America were bigots, stupid and silly, but on the whole I get the impression, formed by my own experience and from seeing this film, that Americans are warm-hearted people who want to do well for themselves and their fellows; are friendly, helpful and dignified. A few people may make unpleasant remarks if they think no-one is watching, but are they so different to anyone else?

I can recommend this film, although I am really most looking forward to the latest Bond film. Against my earlier reservations about the casting of Daniel Craig, this looks to be a pretty hot production, taking us back a bit to the core of the Fleming character. Bring on 007.

I knew there was a scientific explanation for this.

Wikipedia:

The Inverse Ninja Law is a similar phenomenon that occurs frequently in martial arts movies, and role playing games. It is also sometimes called the Anime Ninja Effect or the Rule of One.

The Inverse Ninja Law states that the effectiveness of a group of ninja is inversely proportional to the number of ninja in the group. While a single enemy ninja is often portrayed as a significant threat to the protagonists, a large group of ninja is significantly less of a threat, and as such is easily defeated. This is sometimes applicable to other close combatoriented minions as well.

Accordingly, effectiveness, e, should be computable given the number of ninja, n, and some as-yet-undetermined proportionality constant, k, as follows:

Closely correlated:

The Stormtrooper effect, also called Stormtrooper syndrome, is a clich phenomenon in works of fiction where minor characters (cannon fodder) are unrealistically ineffective in combat against more important characters (almost always the protagonists “equipped” with character shields). The name originated with the armed Imperial Stormtroopers in the original Star Wars trilogy, who, despite their considerable advantages of close range, overwhelming numbers, professional military training, full armor, military-grade firepower, and noticeable combat effectiveness against non-speaking characters, were incapable of seriously harming the protagonists. The effect is generally employed either to increase the dramatic tension of an action scene or to accentuate the heroes’ fighting prowess.

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I am rather glad I waited until I could watch it at home. I would have been fairly annoyed had I paid movie prices to see the thing. It was not horrid in a Matrix II/III sort of way but it was not that great either. It was, like most of their films, high on style and weak on plot. The movie just didn’t move me in the way it should have.

The first reviews are in on the Da Vinci Code and it ain’t pretty. It seems that it won’t, shock horror, live up to the hype. I am betting those inconvenienced by the “stars” yesterday at the Eurostar terminal will be pleased to hear about the pasting the movie has been getting.

contactmusic.com:

HARRISON FORD hates the internet, because it means anyone can spread malicious gossip about him. The actor, who plays a computer-security specialist in his latest film FIREWALL, sees a need to censor his words to avoid being misrepresented online. He says, “The worst thing about the internet is that anything and everything is up for grabs. How can that be, when I limit my public conversations to about once every couple of years? “Any kind of rubbish goes on the internet and it can have a f**king life of its own.”

Oh my gosh. I immediately went to the Internets to find out what kind of nasty things people were saying about Harrison. Not much, beyond the standard industry bumpf. I did, however, find the “target=”new”>Harrison Ford Paper Doll page and I gotta agree with his concern: If the wardrobe is at all accurate, he dresses like a blind Hawaiian pimp.

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Reuters:

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – “Brokeback Mountain” might not have earned the best picture Academy Award, but with three Oscars to its name, including Ang Lee’s win as best director, the gay-cowboy romance may have more impact on Hollywood than any other of this year’s nominees.

Having already earned $127 million worldwide, the Focus Features release is expected to pave the way for more gay-themed films, and in its wake, other projects about gay characters that have long languished in development are suddenly looking more viable.

They just don’t get it, do they? After the second-lowest ratings for the Academy Awards since 1987, and a pack of movies that delivered at best good (Brokeback Mountain, with ~$80M domestic receipts off a production budget of $14M; Crash, with $53M gross against a PB of $6.5M) to disastrous (Munich, which outlaid $70M to sell $46M in tickets [None of the production budgets include marketing costs, which can and often do outstrip the initial shooting budget.]) returns—Hollywood figures: Hey! More of the same!

Don’t get me wrong—the profits engendered by Brokeback and Crash are certainly acceptable; much better than the majority of movies which never turn a profit. But compare them to, say, The Passion of the Christ, which turned $55M in production and marketing into $612M grosses worldwide.

If this focus on money seems crass—well, it is of course only one measure of a film’s worth. But it is the only tangible one. The Hollywood studio heads are well aware of that, but their stony little hearts turn to mush when it comes to pushing their pet projects.

So, as the Reuters article spells out, prepare for a deluge of gay-themed movies. The suits have convinced themselves that Middle America craves more “chick flicks without chicks” (can’t remember where I read that) and are stampeding to slap their dollars down at the cashier’s cage.

Is that true? Brokeback was a) from a critically praised story; b) shot by an acclaimed, innovative director; c) featured magnificent scenery (Alberta, pretending to be Montana); d) something that generated an immense amount of buzz.

The more I look at it, though, the more this looks like a one-hit trend. Let’s go to the books. Box Office Mojo (whence the above numbers were derived) also tracks daily grosses. There are no recent figures for Crash, which had dwindled to insignificance by September of last year (it will probably relaunch widely in the next few days). But Brokeback, which is still in wide release, has averaged a pathetic $225,000 (est., and dropping) over the last three days. Compare that to last year’s Million Dollar Baby, which went on to rack up $36M in post-Oscar grosses. (It’s not an exact comparison, as MDB won for both Best Director and Picture, but we got to work with what we got.)

Clearly, everyone who wanted to see Brokeback has seen it, with few returning for seconds.

Now maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there is a great inchoate hunger out there for Brokeback and its successors, but I’m guessing not.

Certainly it wouldn’t be the first time that people have thrown good money after bad—Woody Allen, who seems to have the most patient investors in history, reputedly hasn’t turned a profit on any of his films since Annie Hall.

This, however, fits my theory that Hollywood is combatting piracy by releasing movies that nobody wants to steal.

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