Whether you think Michael Moore is a truth-bending blowhard, a modern-day crusader for good, or somewhere in-between, you have to admit: Moore knows how to tap into some political TNT at the right time.
This teaser for his upcoming movie only hints at what he's tackling this time around. It also signals a possible return to his Roger & Me form by taking on corporate excesses.
There's a whole new genre of YouTube videos -- people filming themselves reacting to something on television. We first observed this phenomenon with this year's American Idol finale.
Now we have the fan reactions to the cultural milestone known as the "New Moon" movie trailer. Here's my favorite:
I haven't been (pardon the vampire pun) sucked into the books/movie yet, but the official trailer for "New Moon" -- and the more than 6 million views the clip has received so far -- has me thinking that maybe it's time to get with the "Twilight" program already.
Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the Toy Story crew will be returning to theaters next year. Here's the teaser trailer that's playing before "Up."
WARNING: If you haven't seen the latest Star Trek movie, don't play this video.
Here we've got a pretty good take on the similarities between Star Wars and the new Star Trek movie. While it's a funny video, the same similarities exist in just about any "heroes journey" tale. This is not an accident and for more information, read Joseph Campbell's "Hero With a Thousand Faces." It's a great read. For a quick primer, start here.
The Hunt for Gollum: Fanmade Lord of the Rings movie
From Watch This Now friend Jim Davis:
Believe it or not, a new Lord of the Rings movie debuted last weekend. It’s called The Hunt for Gollum, produced by fans in New Zealand for 3,000 pounds. The 40-minute movie is set in the time period between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring. Aragorn learns that the Ring has resurfaced and searches a big, gloomy forest for the sniveling owner. Despite the incredibly low cost, the previews look and sound very good.
The film is currently only a streaming video on www.thehuntforgollum.com. But gossip says it may become available as a download. Here's the trailer:
Here's the third trailer. It ain't the best quality at the moment (the official premiere is supposed to happen tonight before special screenings of the first Transformers) but it's good enough for us impatient types.
New footage from Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
The first Transformers movie was typical Michael Bay-- very loud, lots of action and short on plot.
The sequel looks no different except there are more robots.
By the way, what's up with the robot with the cane? First, General Grievous from Star Wars has a smoker's cough and now this? Couldn't he find some replacement parts at the local Radio Shack?
Latest Harry Potter trailer - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Here's a pretty action-heavy trailer for the latest Harry Potter movie. You can tell the movie's almost finished since they let scenes linger for more than a split second. Looks like the movie's focusing heavily on the couples, Draco, and (yes!) Professor Snape.
Here's the brand new trailer from the Spike Jonze adaptation of the classic book "Where the Wild Things Are." It looks kind of quirky and dark, sort of like the book.
I don't recall a rap sequence in "Dragnet" -- though it has been years since I saw it -- so I can only assume this video was designed to promote the Hanks/Aykroyd movie take on the old TV series.
What's weirder: The video, or that someone has saved it all this time and posted it on the Internet?
Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2, in one minute, in one take
I'm becoming a fan of the University of York Filmmaking Society. A few weeks ago, I posted their one minute/one take treatment on Forrest Gump. This time, it's Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2.
Both movies combined into one neat 60-second package. How about that, Quentin Tarantino?
It's a gravelly voice-off! Where's Batman? Ah well, These guys score a few funny jabs at Wolverine: Origins and Watchmen. You don't have to be a comic book nerd to appreciate it, I think.
Parents should not bring their kids to see Watchmen in theaters. It's just overwhelmingly rated R. But here's a nice, fluffy alternative. The Watchmen if it was turned into a Saturday morning cartoon. Kind of surreal.
Everyone is excited about the new Wolverine movie or one of those other noisy blockbusters, but the one must-see movie of the summer for me is "The Hangover." Directed by Todd Phillips ("Old School", "Road Trip") it's the tale of a Vegas bachelor party gone awry.
After a crazy night, the groom's friends wake up in a hotel room with a tiger and a baby, but no groom. The movie stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis (one of my favorite comedians).
The trailer is only up on the film's site for now. Check it out- "The Hangover"
The new Terminator: Salvation trailer set to Nine Inch Nails' "The Day the Whole World Went Away" is one of the better action movie trailers to come out in a while.
Almost could make you forget about Christian Bale's infamous on-set rant. Almost.
My second-favorite moment from Sunday's Oscars, after the Ben-Stiller-as-Joaquin-Phoenix bit, was this Judd Apatow "Pineapple Express" clip with Seth Rogen and James Franco.
Judd Apatow, the director of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up," is coming out with a new movie starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Jonah Hill.
My first impression of the "Funny People" trailer is that I feel like I've already seen half the movie. The famous comedian is going to die, his disease goes into remission and then he approaches life with a whole new zeal.
My only hope is that the movie doesn't take the arc where the disease goes into remission, then comes back stronger than ever culminating in a deathbed scene with Sandler and Rogen.
A minute-long commercial for Will Ferrell's "Land of the Lost" debuted during the Super Bowl, but here's the full 2 1/2-minute movie trailer.
I remember watching "Land of the Lost" growing up and frankly all the shows seemed the same. There's the friendly furry guy. The lizard men have to show up and be menancing. Oh yeah, a dinosaur has to chase people. That said, I probably watched all 43 episodes at least twice.
The guy who wrote the screenplay for the Curious Case of Benjamin Button also wrote the screenplay for Forrest Gump. And, it appears from this video, that he simply changed the names, times and events and kept the same formula, storytelling, themes and characters.
I understand that both movies were inspired by different stories (Gump, a novel, Button, a short story) but come on. Best similarities: "He spends time on a boat in the Gulf, with a drunk. He befriends a weird, black dude."
Now that the Warner Bros. vs. Fox legal battle has been settled, we can watch these cool previews without wondering if we'll ever see it on the big screen. Here's an NBS Nightly News report on Dr. Manhattan.
With all these trailers and sneak-peaks coming out, what will be left to reveal in the actual movie? Although from a fan's point of view, it's pretty cool to see iconic panels from the graphic novel acted out. The grassy knoll, man!
I can't remember the last time a movie trailer made me laugh. This one did. Twice.
"Black Dynamite" is a blaxploitation take-off set to premiere in a few weeks at Sundance Film Festival. It stars Michael Jai White and has appearances by Arsenio Hall and Tommy Davidson.
Here's the plot description going around:
"When ‘The Man’ murders his brother, pumps heroin into local orphanages, and floods the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor, 1970s African-American action legend Black Dynamite is the one hero willing to take him on."
I can envision that nine months from now we'll have a bunch of college students running around repeating lines from "Black Dynamite."
Russell Crowe plays an old-fashioned investigative reporter and Rachel McAdams plays the plucky new-age blogger/reporter in this remake of a brilliant BBC miniseries.
If you're a fan of HBO's The Wire, I highly recommend you seek out the 6-hour miniseries. It looks like the Hollywood remake is set for an April release.
Oh, and as you're watching the trailer, imagine Brad Pitt in the Crowe role and Edward Norton in the Ben Affleck role. Because before the writer's strike that's who were slated to play.
YouTube is littered with fanmade movie trailers. Most of are truly awful hodgepodges of movie clips with loud techno in the background.
So when a decent-looking one comes along people take notice. An excellent fake trailer for a Thundercats movie hit the Internets this weekend and has already gotten 58,000-plus hits. It features Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman and Vin Diesel as the Thundercats.
My favorite part is how they transform Garfield into Snarf.
The excellent trailer to the new Wolverine movie hit the Internet this morning. It debuted on Friday before "The Day the Earth Stood Still."
The movie looks like it has a lot of potential, especially with Liev Schreiber playing Wolverine's nemesis Sabretooth.
My one fear is that it looks like it's packed with too much stuff. A little bit seems to be taken from the "Origin" comic series. There is at least one scene from Logan's World War II adventures. And then there are a ton of characters from the comic books, including Deadpool, Gambit, Blob, Silver Fox and Wraith.
Too many characters can kill a superhero film. Exhibit A: the third X-Men movie.
This extremely realistic, home-made audition video for a fake documentary is pretty hilarious and some good viral marketing. Watch Vincent Dooly's fake audition tape for a fake documentary from the upcoming mockumentary The Mother of Invention.
Confused yet? Just watch the video. Could this be the next Napoleon Dynamite?
Some stories are never meant to be made into a live-action movie. This is one of them.
For those not in the know, Dragon Ball (the movie even messed up the title, for God's sake) is a legendary Japanese manga and anime series based on a Chinese folk tale. It's one of the most popular series ever and influenced most modern manga and anime.
This movie, on the other hand, looks like a massive, steaming dragon turd. Why do we need an American version of a Japanese retelling of a Chinese folk tale?
Congratulations on reaching new levels of suck, 20th Century Fox.
In an effort to garner a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder," Paramount has put together a fake "for your consideration" ad for his character Kirk Lazarus.
Here's the latest trailer for the sixth Harry Potter book. It seems like they're trying to jump back and forth between funny and serious but can't quite pull it off. Oh well. This movie better be worth waiting an extra six months for.
This trailer for JJ Abrams' prequel/reboot of the Star Trek franchise is huge on the Internet right now.
A guy I know told me this is the only movie he's looking forward to watching next year. He also happens to be a comic book store owner, so his opinion might be a little skewed. Still, to check out what is causing hearts of geeks to go a'flutter, click below.
I'm not really into Netflix, but I have a similar problem with my DVR. Episodes of "Frontline" tend to sit there for weeks, but I watch "Scare Tactics" and "South Park" as soon as I can.
New "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" trailer
Check out the latest teaser trailer for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" due out next summer. What do you think Potter fans -- which are better, the books or the movies?
You can see the Sun Sentinel office 31 seconds in.
The full-length trailer featuring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston is up online. Wilson plays John Grogan, who was a columnist at the paper.
It's set in the '90s, so all our flat screens were replaced with huge monitors during the shooting. But at 37 seconds in you can see the silver Quad-Core Mac Pro desktop anachronism to Owen Wilson's right.
Stephen Colbert and Jim Gaffigan outtakes from The Guru
These two guys are great riffing as hockey commentators. Probably funnier than the movie. I haven't seen the movie, so I might be wrong. Speak now if you thought the movie was hilarious. Anyone? Thought so.
The one complaint I had with the Dark Knight was all the mumbling and grumbling that came out of Christian Bale when he spoke as the Batman. And now we have this great exchange.
This one goes out to all the kids in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Unless of course, classes are canceled because of Fay, in which case, keep on SunSentinel.com -- and not this blog -- for more info.
In the meantime, watch this and get inspired for the first day of school:
I'm really looking forward to the new James Bond movie, though I don't really understand what the movie title means. (And apparently the singer doesn't quite get it either)
Check it out, this parody pretty much sums up the new direction of the Bond series hilariously:
Yeah, the real one is supposed to be by Alicia Keys and Jack White. Dunno if it can top this theme, though.
I happened upon the trailer for the so-anticipated-it-was-on-the-cover-of-Entertainment-Weekly movie "Twilight," which is timely because the fourth and final book in the popular girl-and-her-vampire series comes out on Saturday.
I haven't read the books, but they've been touted as the Second Coming of Harry Potter. There seems to be just as much hype: "Breaking Dawn," the aforementioned final book, already is the best-selling book this month on Amazon.com, the author's web site (which I've linked to above) has a countdown to the book's release, while the MTV News features "Twilight Tuesdays" with updates about the movie.
Make sure to mark your calendars now -- the movie comes out Dec. 12.
The life of President George W. Bush, as interpreted by Oliver Stone. This trailer references a lot of what was listed in the script review found here. The trailer's definitely got me intrigued.
More blog counterprogramming: Brideshead Revisited
A couple of weeks ago, it was The Dark Knight. This week, Comic Con, the big comics convention in San Diego. It's set the Watch This Now fanboys a-twitter with glee.
So, as promised, here's my latest attempt at providing something for everyone who doesn't like clips of grainy "Lost" teasers and grown men dressed as superheroes: The official trailer for Brideshead Revisited. It has scandal. It has betrayal. It has passion. It has Emma Thompson.
I think sometime last week, the Dark Knight took over our blog.
Yes, the Dark Knight is a huge pop culture event. It was definitely the biggest movie of the past weekend, and probably will be the biggest movie of the year. Someday, I will probably see it.
But every week, one of the comic book fanboys on this blog is posting some new trailer for some movie that I have no intention of seeing. Earlier today, Jon put up "Terminator 4."
So I'm doing a bit of counterprogramming. Every time one of the fanboys posts some sci-fi movie trailer, I'm going to post that movie trailer's polar opposite.
Today's entry: The official trailer for "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2." Enjoy.
The movie isn't even out yet and the people behind Step Brothers are already releasing deleted scenes with Rob Riggle online. The movie comes out Friday, so that probably means more viral videos for us to enjoy with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. I predict some sort of musical number.
Something about the Dark Knight brings out the inner fanboy in people. Here's another redone trailer, this time completely in Legos (and some Play-Doh, I think. I also included the six-minute intro to the movie. (And here's our coverage on the latest Batman movie)
The first movie trailer for "Watchmen"- the greatest graphic novel of all-time- debuted last night with the midnight showings of "Dark Knight".
The trailer looks great. So far Zack Snyder hasn't disappointed as a director. I'm a big fan of his "Dawn of the Dead" remake and I thought "300" was a solid popcorn movie.
I've been waiting months to see "Dark Knight" based on its trailer. Now I have to wait months to see "Watchmen." When will the cycle of geekdom end?
My fellow WTN-ers are quite fond of bringing you the latest in comic book/action-adventure/sci-fi movie trailers, but I will bet you this new preview for High School Musical 3 will crush the Dark Knight trailer on YouTube.
In my book, there's two must-see comedies this summer, Pinapple Express and Tropic Thunder. A parody of all the angst that went into shooting Apocalypse Now, Thunder has a can't-miss premise and a can't-miss cast. Now, to carry the conceit further, they've done a mockumentary about the making of Thunder called "Rain of Madness." Fans will recall a great documentary on the makings of Apocalypse called "Hearts of Darkness":
Oh my gosh, the Steven Seagal Ultimate 90s Box Set just came out in Tokyo! I could buy it off of Japan Amazon, but who knows how long it'll take to get here. And what if it doesn't work on my region free Blu-Ray player. I mean, the chances are small, but why take the risk? Best to fly to Japan right now...
I assumed this was a parody when I saw the title. I mean, the Domino's Pizza Trailer? I expected to see somone dressed up as the Joker delivering a steaming pie to a group of young men watching the NBA Finals.
But no, it's a terrific trailer. At least one sneak reviewer has compared this sequel to The Godfather Part 2. I hope so. This is Heath Ledger's last performance. Let's hope it's a great one:
It's crass advertising, but very clever crass advertising. Hellboy is appearing in a series of short spoofs with NBC and Bravo personalities, including the Actors Studio's own James Lipton. (No, not Will Ferrell as James Lipton):
And check out these two with NBC's returning Chuck and American Gladiators:
Maybe it's just me, but if you're a Hollywood liberal icon who doubles as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, isn't it a bit incongruous to make a ton of money glorifying skilled mass murder?
I'm thinking of Angelina Jolie. And that's what went through my head when I saw this trailer for her big summer blockbuster, Wanted.
"Kill one, save a thousand--that's what we believe,'' she tells a colleague at one point. Well, wasn't that sort of the idea behind the war in Iraq?
Enough said. The film is the Hollywood debut of Timur Bekmambetov, whose well known among geeks for his Nightwatch and Daywatch series of Russian Sci-Fi. The film is basically every loser fanboy's dream: one day Angelina corners you in the supermarket and takes you out of your dreary cubicle existence:
What if the Incredible Hulk was 5'4" and cried easily?
This sketch is courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel Live. Mini-Hulk is played by Guillermo the Security Guard.
By the way, the Hulk is a solid popcorn movie, but what's the deal with the trailer? The first scene in the trailer- Bruce Banner talking to Doctor Samson- isn't in the movie.
This trailer confirms rumors that a certain character makes an appearance in the upcoming Hulk movie. Couple this scene with the after-credits scene in Iron Man, and you've got some pretty cool options for future movies. Check out the clip here before it gets yanked:
Even though entertainment journalists insist it's not true -- and really, who should know more about Angelina Jolie's pregnancy -- Brad Pitt says the much anticipated twins have not emerged yet.
But Entertainment Tonight is standing firm by its report earlier this week that Jolie had given birth to twin daughters in France, attributing the story to an unidentified person close to the actress who said they were in the delivery room. (Can you imagine how crowded that place was, what with the doctors, entertainment journalists, videographers and, oh yeah, the mother too?)
More importantly, Brad Pitt looks like he's got a classic on his hands: the new can't-miss Coen Brothers comedy, "Burn After Reading:"
We love a good celebrity fight, especially when the celebrities are Dirty Harry and Spike Lee. Two of the finest film directors working in American cinema, they're getting ready to throw down. Spike has been a longtime critic of the depictions of blacks in films, and he's criticized Clint several times over the years. At the Cannes film festival last month he told reporters:
“Clint Eastwood made two films about Iwo Jima that ran for more than four hours total, and there was not one Negro actor on the screen,” he said. “If you reporters had any balls you’d ask him why. There’s no way I know why he did that — that was his vision, not mine. But I know it was pointed out to him and that he could have changed it. It’s not like he didn’t know.”
Clint is fighting back, telling Lee to can it over accusations he didn't have a black man raising the flag on Iwo Jima.
Now, a young gossip columnist has been caught in the crossfire by alluding to Lee as "uppity."
So we thought we'd have a little throwdown of our own.
First Clint:
So that movie where filmmakers inconvenienced my workspace for a week (for what probably amounts to 30 seconds of film) is coming out on Christmas. If you want to see a teaser trailer that probably kind of sums up the entire movie (Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston chase a dog), click below:
Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. made an appearance during last night's 2008 MTV Movie Awards to promote their upcoming movie Tropic Thunder.
Stiller's been a consistent contributor to alternative awards ceremony-- here's his classic Tom Crooze clip.
In this clip, the three actors attempt to create a viral video that promotes all three of their summer movies at the same time. Of course, kicks to the groin are prescribed.
Hmm... interesting timing. This clip wouldn't possibly have anything to do with the Crystal Skull coming out in movie theaters and a Lego-themed Indiana Jones video game coming out in June, could it? No, I'm sure this video was made by a group of totally non-professional guys just wanting to have some fun by blocking off traffic in San Francisco and roll a boulder made up of millions of Legos down a hill.
Bea Arthur turned 86 years old last week and to honor her we tracked down a clip of her in "The Star Wars Holiday Special." Seriously, Bea Arthur is part of the Star Wars universe.
The two-hour special that debuted Nov. 17, 1978, has been called "the worst two hours of television ever." The plot involved Han Solo and Chewbacca going to Chewy's home world for some Wookie holiday.
In addition to the main story line, there were a bunch of skits featuring the likes of Harvey Korman and Jefferson Starship. Seriously.
Here's Bea Arthur as Ackmena, the owner of the Creature Catina.
OK, full disclosure: I haven't liked anything with the name George Lucas on it since, well, about 1990.
The second trilogy was a shock at its beginning, and just became like the long, painful death of a loved one at the end.
Seriously. I'm not exaggerating.
And as far as the new Indiana Jones, well, I had hopes but I won't be in line opening weekend.
But then came this new trailer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars that had the look and feel of the Episodes 4-6. I can't put my finger on it - tone, look, sound - but it just feels right.
That said, the biggest mystery is why this premiered on Lou Dobbs' show. Is Lucas jumping on board the anti-immigrant bandwagon? Is he suggesting that Lou Dobbs is a clone? Or even more plausibly, a Sith Lord?:
Yes, yes, I really want to believe this is going to be a great summer for movies. The new X-files film is near the top of my list. This new trailer, slightly different from the one leaked earlier this year, offers few clues as to what it is we're wanting to believe in.
Still, here's the alleged plot, which was posted on the website Joblo.com recently after it was taken from the plot of the novelization based on the film (Got all that?):
"Mulder and Scully are back in the thrilling novelization of the summer 2008 blockbuster movie based on the classic X-Files TV show! When a group of women are abducted in the wintry hills of rural Virginia, the only clues to their disappearance are the grotesque human remains that begin to turn up in snow banks along the highway. With officials desperate for any lead, a disgraced priest’s questionable “visions” send local police on a wild goose chase and straight to a bizarre secret medical experiment that may or may not be connected to the women’s disappearance. It’s a case right out of The X-Files. But the FBI closed down its investigations into the paranormal years ago. And the best team for the job is ex-agents Fox Mulder and Dr. Dana Scully, who have no desire to revisit their dark past. Still, the truth of these horrific crimes is out there somewhere...and it will take Mulder and Scully to find it!"
The new Batman film, The Dark Knight, seems to be the gold standard for the summer flicks. With Heath Ledger's untimely death, it has a certain poignance even though he's playing a psychopath. What seems clear from the two trailers released so far, is that this is going to be one of those defining villain performances, the ones that future actors are going to be judged against.
Here's the new trailer:
And here's the link in case you want the widescreen, HD version
The music video for the Speed Racer movie theme is out, giving us a better look at the Wachowski brothers' latest work. It's visually exciting and I definitely like the cast.
My biggest concern is plot, which definitely was not the cartoon's strong point (Was there a plot? Guy races car really fast).
The movie comes out May 9th. Curious to hear the early reviews.
A movie trailer came out this weekend for The Spirit- an adaption of the classic comic series by Will Eisner. It's written and directed by legendary comic book writer Frank Miller (300, Sin City).
The movie looks like it will be very much in the Sin City-mold. The Spirit is played by a relative unknown- Gabriel Macht- but the villian is a very familiar face- Samuel L. Jackson.
This clip from the 1994 movie "Undefeatable" (is that really a word?) can be found on YouTube under "best fight" and "worst fight."
To set up the clip, the guy who looks like Joey Buttafuoco and apparently enjoys licking knives is named Stingray (Did I really just write that sentence?). He is a "crazed marital arts rapist," according to imdb.com. He killed the sister of the heroine.
Why do the guys have to take off their shirts? How did they get oiled up so quickly?
For those of us of a certain age -- ok, our forties -- Charlton Heston was Moses and Ben Hur on TV, and the guy who kept science fiction alive pre-Star Wars. His line readings are classics in Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man, and Soylent Green.
For geeks making their way through the 1970s, these films were cutting edge, dark, apocalyptic sagas that really captured the ire of the age. There were no happy endings. They were downright depressing.
Though younger filmgoers might think him somewhat of a kook, especially after his lamentable appearance in Michael Moore's anti-gun film, Heston marched with Dr. Martin Luther King and was one of the first big white movie stars to be featured in interracial love scenes.
And he was also funny. His SNL appearance was a classic, with a great Planet of the Apes intro, and this funny self-parody of his National Rifle Association affiliations:
And here's the ending to that movie, a shocking scene at the height of the Cold War:
How's this for a feel-good movie of the 1970s: a vision of overpopulation, global warming, food shortages and chaos in which the chief food source is a cracker called Soylent Green:
Finally, the Omega Man, recently remade by Will Smith as I Am Legend:
Will someone please release the X-Files 2 trailer in QuickTime? This movie is sneaking up on a lot of geeks this summer, and I'm pretty sure the film-going masses aren't even aware that Mulder and Scully are back.
A very crummy hand-held version shot at a film convention has been making the rounds. This version, apparently shot on someone's plasma, is much better. No good word on the plot has leaked, other than it's apparently not part of the alien invasion mythology that so crippled the series in its final years:
Perhaps you've heard that there are some people in town shooting a movie about a dog named Marley. You also might have heard that these same people were at Sun-Sentinel this week, shooting scenes for said movie, about a dog and his owner, former Sentinel columnist John Grogan.
Now, Watch This Now brings you something that the paparazzi, People and Us Weekly have not yet discovered: Exclusive video of Marley the Dog. The real Marley.
Turns out Marley was in a movie, before his life became the subject of a movie. Marley's film debut came in The Last Home Run, which was filmed in Lake Worth a decade ago.
I found this clip early in the week, in a search for some Marley-related video, but thought it was just coincidence that a Labrador named Marley was in a movie. Then, while pretending to work at my desk while in the background of a scene for Marley & Me, I found an old Grogan column on the Sentinel's web site about Marley's movie role. (Click on this link to read the column.)
While we're on the subject of summer comedy, the buzz for this film is building. It's about a group of pampered actors shooting a war movie who end up in a real war zone. But take a look at Robert Downey Jr., playing an Australian actor playing a black man.
It was only five years ago that I was eagerly awaiting Ang Lee's Hulk movie. It was a bit of a disappointment -- a failed attempt to make a popcorn superhero movie with art-house sensibilities.
It paled in comparison to the first X-Men and Spider-Man movies. Lee's Hulk was better than the Daredevil movie, but that's not much of a compliment.
Now we have a new Hulk movie starring Ed Norton and Tim Roth. I think they may have gotten it right this time, based on the trailer.
Norton is a great choice to play Bruce Banner -- a mild-mannered scientist who can get really, really mad. He's already played similar roles in Fight Club and Primal Fear.
The trailer for Mike Myers' summer flick "The Love Guru" is out. I'm a big fan of the Wayne's World movies and the first two Austin Powers flicks (not so much the third). This one could have potential. It also stars Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake (who seems to be doing a Borat impression).
Glad to see Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer back in a Myers film. I'm still trying to shake that image of him drunk in "The Surreal Life."
My WTN colleague Tim Collie first brought you The Reel Geezers on this blog. This duo reviews movies and posts clips on YouTube. (Here's Tim's post from their review of Superbad)
These two are in no way amateurs -- check out this L.A. Times story for their Hollywood history -- and they offer some interesting tidbits in their two-part Oscar special. But be careful if you haven't seen all the nominees, as Marcia and Lorenzo drop some spoilers (some of them unintentional, I think).
This looks like a must-see. If the movie is half as good as the preview, it's a surefire nominee for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar next year. Maybe even best picture.
I'm a sucker for awards shows. Really. I even watched the Golden Globes' not-an-awards-show-but-a-glorified-press-conference this year, even though that was more out of morbid curiosity than a geniune desire to see who won.
Later today, in between attending to my son, I'll be watching E! and their "Live on the Red Carpet" preview to see who's wearing what. Then I'll watch the Oscars -- even though I haven't seen a movie in the theaters since last year. (Sadly, the last movie I saw on the big screen was Spider-Man 3.)
So I thought it appropriate to post some Oscar-themed clips as a run-up to tonight's big show. First up: This video poking fun at writers who I presume had to scramble to get some jokes together for tonight's broadcast.
Who wants to bet at least one of these lines ends up in tonight's script?
There's something about "The Karate Kid" that brings back fond memories for my generation. (Sweep the leg!) That might be why there are so many "swedes" of it online. This one's my favorite because it recognizes the importance of the montage training scenes that the other videos neglect. Also, the ending, which isn't exactly faithful to the real movie, but is totally worth waiting six minutes for.
Check back every day until "Be Kind Rewind" opens on Friday for more "sweded" videos and Q&As with their creators.
Hello readers of the Pl@ay article on "sweding" (a term coined in "Be Kind Rewind"). If you haven't read the article yet, go, go, go.
Here's a "Lord of the Rings" remake from England that tries to cram nine hours of film into two minutes of video.
from Chris Hardwick, a student at the University of Hertfordshire:
There are quite a few amusing stories that I could tell from behind the scenes! One highlight was when we asked the rest of our class to appear in the battle scenes in the film. This involved improvising so many costumes for orcs/elves for ten other people (involving bin bags and cardboard), standing outside the main building on our university campus and hitting eachother with cardboard weapons. It didn't help that it was a windy day so Nathan's (who plays Gandalf) white dressing gown kept being blown up infront of the camera! We got so many strange looks from other people that day who obviously didn't know what we were doing.
Dinosaurs "sweded." It all makes sense if you read the article in the Features section today. (alright, it probably still won't). Watch this video if a) you love "Jurassic Park" and b) you've got at least 5 minutes of free time.
Have you checked out the article in our Pl@y section about "sweding"-- the act of recreating something you love with yourself in it? (It's all about the heart, kid).
We will be rolling out "sweded" videos all morning long and also be publishing interviews with the films' creators over the next few days. You'll be able to watch "Lord of the Rings," "Jurassic Park" and "Karate Kid" in your cubicle (albeit shortened versions done by people who are probably sitting in cubicles right now themselves).
The first trailer for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is out. When I heard they were making a fourth Indiana Jones film, my first reaction was "Please, please, please movie gods (aka George Lucas and Steven Spielberg) do not make another 'Phantom Menance.'"
I'm still scarred from "Phantom Menance"--the biggest pop culture letdown of my life. I waited six hours in line to see the midnight showing. The air was electric with nerd energy. And what we got was two hours of tax disputes, Jar Jar Binks and Darth Vader as a little kid. Sigh.
The new Indiana Jones trailer looks great and I want to believe it will be as good as the first three. But as the hoary cliche goes: Once burned...
What do you think about the trailer? Are you excited? What's been your biggest pop culture letdown?
