Tuesday, April 29, 2008 12:00PM - By Mali Elfman
Well, there are a couple redeeming DVD’s coming out this week, but nothing to get too excited about. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is definitely my pick of the week, but I know it’s not for everyone. For those of you looking for something more “simple and easy to watch” you’ve got The Golden Compass, 27 Dresses, and of course How She Move. I haven’t seen any of them. Let me know how they are. As for TV series you’ve got Beverly Hills 90210: The Fourth Season and Cheers: The Ninth Season. Lastly for all you Indiana Jones fans, the 1992 DVD of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume 3 is being released today.
Monday, April 28, 2008 7:00AM - By Mali Elfman
The new Tina Fey film, Baby Mama, takes the lead right above Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Both are good comedies, one may have a little more heart than the other, but both are good to watch while slightly intoxicated. The Forbidden Kingdom creeps right above Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which is still the best comedy out right now. Horton Hears a Who has been in the top ten for seven weeks now, and if you’re looking for a kids comedy that’s fun for adults, this is it (I guess). Nim’s Island, Prom Night, 21, and 88 Minutes, all need to get kicked off this list, they’ve had their moments, now lets move on. Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor, managed to pull Deception into the top ten, but I’m guessing it will be fading fast.
So here they are! The numbers for this week at the box office. Enjoy…
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Friday, April 25, 2008 7:00AM - By Tom von Logue Newth
Let’s celebrate Isabelle Pasco’s birthday on toay. She’s not appeared in a lot that’s traveled far from France, but she’s brave and strong and beautiful â a lioness, you might say â in Roselyne et les lions (1989). She meets a lion-tamer and takes a lesson; so does a nice young man who drives her around on his moped while they fall in love. They travel with the circus and an eccentric supporting cast. They hone their art. Success, and increased dedication, drive the lovers to make hard choices. It’s all very French.
The film was made by Jean-Jacques Beineix, the biggest noise in French cinema ‘81 with his appealingly self-conscious debut Diva. He threw away the advantage with the squalid, Querelle-inspired The Moon In The Gutter (1983), decried by all but not without interest, then bounced back with Betty Blue (1986), which has always been better than its status as teen boys’ fave would lead one to suppose. He really hit his stride by this time, and although Roselyne et les lions is a smaller affair, it is also perfectly fluid and focused.
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Thursday, April 24, 2008 12:00PM - By Mali Elfman
We have two great comedy films, Tina Fey’s Baby Mama and Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (that I personally think would have benefited over 4/20) coming out this weekend. I don’t think you could go wrong with either of these movies, Tina Fey’s is somewhat predictable, but always a fun ride and Harold and Kumar has an amazing comedic cast and likes to make fun of things taboo subjects. Plus they have Neil Patrick Harris as Neil Patrick Harris, sold! Then She Found Me is Helen Hunt’s directorial debut, and seems to be getting some good responses and could be a fun ride. Deception looks like the next Talented Mr. Ripley, so if you like those switch-um-up sexy thrillers, this one is for you. If you’re looking for a gambling movie that gives 90% of the story away in it’s trailer than Deal is your film. Lastly, there is Rogue, about a crazy huge crocodile that kills off a bunch of Auzzies. Fun!
Thursday, April 24, 2008 9:30AM - By Tom von Logue Newth
I’d love to recommend the Academy’s screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) on Friday, but they say it’s sold out. Watch it in the cinema and you’ll never want to see a TV screen again, so loiter in the foyer for standbys. If you’re lucky, you can create your own cross-town double bill and zip on to the Egyptian for a midnight screening of Night Of The Living Dead (1968). Termite to the epic of 2001, it’s an infinitely rewatchable classic (more fun than Kubrick an arguably more profound).
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008 1:20PM - By Mali Elfman
So how big if an Iron Man fan are you? Big enough to shell out $20 to see the new movie a few hours early? What about if we add in the fact that the director of the film, Jon Favreau, will be having a discussion with the audience after they screen the film? Sweet enough for ya?
If so, the Aero Theater (Map) in Santa Monica will be doing a sneak preview of the film on Thursday, May 1st at 7:30pm. There are no press passes, no connection, no presale tickets allowed. Anyone who wants to go will have to go to the theater, wait in line, and pray they make it. And oh how sweet will it be if you do.
All the proceeds go to the Aero Building Fund Donations.
Again, the event if Thursday, May 1 at 7:30 PM. Don’t miss out!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 5:00PM - By Tom von Logue Newth
Francis Coppola made Rumble Fish in 1983 right after The Outsiders. That was a pretty significant movie in its own right, for a proto brat-pack cast that included Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze. It was adapted, with her help, from a late 60s novel by S.E. Hinton, about disaffected mid-west youth. So was Rumble Fish, with Matt Dillon kept on in the lead, and a totally iconic Mickey Rourke as his elder brother The Motorcycle Boy. Ever wonder where Bruce Willis got his affected early half-closed-eyes cool from? Or where Hotel from the Kills got his home-made haircut? There’s a reason people have respect for Mickey Rourke, even now, and part of it was his ability to play completely still, effortless but thoughtful cool.
The movie opens with fast motion clouds and cuts to a wide angle close up of graffiti on a road arrow sign “The Motorcycle Boy Reigns.” Stylization and rebel cool are set up from the start. He’s been gone for a while and Matt Dillon as Rusty James (”don’t call me Rusty,” he says, “it makes me feel like I’m not wearing my pants”), is the dumb punk in a white wife-beater who’s got enough unthinking spunk and family street cred to be the guy people follow. The people who follow are Nick Cage (still not yet able to act), Chris Penn (who could have been given more to do) and childhood buddy Vincent Spano, in button down shirt and geek glasses, passing for Peter Bogdanovich. The cast is filled out by Dennis Hopper in restrained but effective form as the lush dad to the two boys who brings up Greek mythology; an utterly luminous Diane Lane as Rusty James’s catholic schoolgirl main squeeze (and a giant-toothed â and cheekily appealing â Sofia C. is her little sis); and Laurence Fishburn pops in and out, natty with a peacock feather hatband. All this to the accompaniment of a fantastically idiosyncratic ticking-clock score by Stuart Copeland.
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:00PM - By Mali Elfman
There are actually some pretty damn good films coming out this week. No matter what you’re looking for there is something for you. If you want something political and entertaining you have Charlie Wilson’s War, if you want a horror film you’ve got The Orphanage, something charming and enjoyable The Savages, and there is even Cloverfield a decent smash-um-up blockbuster for you to enjoy. Overall I’d say that is a pretty good week right there. There are a couple of other films that I know some of you will love, such as One Missed Call (the trailer is the only thing worth watching in my opinion), Starting Out in the Evening, and Trailer Park Boys: The Movie. As for TV DVD’s, there is not that much to get excited about, you’ve got the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Season 1 or Friday Night Lights: The Second Season to choose from.
So here they are! This weeks DVD releases with cast and crew information, reviews, and how to buy them now…
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