I am a fan of James Gunn’s movies. And his hair.

He keeps an interesting blog on Myspace. His latest concerns itself with the aforementioned list of movies you should – but probably haven’t – seen. There are some great, obscure films on his list:

Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages

The Naked Kiss

Il Grande Silenzio

The Heroic Trio

Chuck & Buck

…and 20 more films that are just as good, if not better, than any of the above. Go check out the blog (here) if you want the whole schmear.

AND

while you’re at it, why don’t you check this out. It’s the newest PG Porn. You know, everything you love about porn, except the sex.

I’m sure many of you have indulged yourselves in a little of the faux-market trading of your favorite movies and stars available at the popular website known as the Hollywood Stock Exchange, racking up huge make-believe stock portfolios (I’m guilty!). However, I’m sure there’s even fewer people out there that have even heard of this entertainment site… that, surprisingly, is at least a tad informative or even educational, because it works just like the REAL stock market.

As it turns out, the executive parent to HSX.com, Cantor Entertainment, is ready to initiate the very first “actual” financial market for trading domestic box office offerings. Now, I’m no financial expert of market guru, so in order to get my facts to you straight, here’s the skinny on what’s going on…

Cantor has filed for federal regulatory approval for a new commodities venue called the Cantor Exchange. It would allow people or institutions — including the very industry figures making and releasing films — to buy contracts pegged to the first four weeks of a film’s gross.

In an interview with former Nielson executive Andy Wing and current head of Cantor, he had this to say:

“This is a seminal moment for the value placed on box office,” Wing said. “If you’re a film fund and you’re in the middle of your slate, you could bet on your own movie. There’s also a marketing play here for a studio. All of the participants in the film business have to consider all alternatives when it comes to keeping funds flowing.”

Pretty fascinating stuff, in my opinion. Imagine, the power that movie geeks could have in letting the studios know what films we think rule and which ones are just down right cruel. Hmm…

To read the full article, just click the source link at the bottom of this post.

By the way, the Hollywood Stock Exchange at HSX.com is free to register and play. I invite you to join, if you haven’t, but I warn you… it’s addictive! My portfolio is currently worth a whopping imaginary $16 million. (pocket change compared to some) Feel free to add me on as a buddy in the My League section if you’d like. My handle is Cinetrav.

[source: Variety.com]

The big question of the hour is “Which Twilight character are you?” So, have you taken the ‘Twilight’ quiz yet? What?!?!? You haven’t? Well, then you simply must! You should be ashamed of yourself! Life is simply not worth living without knowing which ‘Twilight’ character you would be…

Take the Quiz here, NOW!

Pumpkins, popcorn balls, spooky music and fake cobwebs… these are all things we associate with Halloween, but for Movie Geeks, we think of the monsters that scared the crap out of us late at night. We love to watch movies that creep us out and make us jump and squirm, but how much do we really know about the characters that made these films so awesome? This is a challenge to all the “Monster Maniacs” out there who claim to know their monsters… see how many of these iconic creatures and killers you can name. Each image is a small piece of the puzzle. Is your Monster IQ high enough to figure out who they are? No prizes here, just the satisfaction in knowing you’re the shiznit… at least, when it comes to movie monsters.

• If you can name each of the characters, you’re a Monster Geek!
• Name each character and the actor portraying that character, you’re a Monster Mega-Geek!!
• Name each character, the actor, AND the EXACT movie title the image is from… well, that makes you The Master Monster Movie Geek!!!

That time is upon us, and… for those of your who actually put your beloved pets through it, time for the family dog as well, to begin pondering the ultimate costume. What’s become an Americanized version of an old world holiday now centers around the costume. Whether it’s a store-bought “in a bag” costume or the scary, funny or just plain bizarre costume that we concoct ourselves, this is what Halloween is all about. Little kids do it for one thing… CANDY! But, unfortunately, those days are over… unless you’re one of those “individuals” that still dress up and go out with a pillow case trying to fit in with the kids. Really, you’re an adult and you have a job now (I assume). Go buy candy if you want it that badly.

No, for us grown-ups it’s all about coming up with something cool, to show off how creative and unique we are, maybe to win a costume contest, but usually because it’s mandatory to gain access to a killer Halloween party. Some of us still go with the stock costume “in-a-bag” option, but then some of us see this as an opportunity to express ourselves… be it a bloody scary monster, a funny character or a sexy nurse, etc. I say, the more bizarre the better. Originality is key here, followed closely by the quality of the costume’s execution. As for me, I’ll be attending a certain movie-themed Halloween party this year. The idea is to come as one of your favorite movie character, so I’m going as Walter from ‘The Big Lebowski’.

So, now that we’ve officially entered Halloween season and have approximately 30 days to conceive and construct our prize-winning costume, what do we choose? We want to hear from you. Have you already got your costume decided? If so, share your ideas. If not, is it because you can’t decide between all of your great ideas, or is it because you have no ideas at all? Let us know, maybe we can help. If you’ve been doing this for a while, share your best costume design with us. We’re craving the costumes this month and we want to hear from you…

As reported on IMDB.com:

In a promotional stunt to be staged in New York’s Times Square beginning October 2, Netflix and the Guinness World Records are cooperating in an eight-contestant event aimed at breaking the record for the most consecutive hours spent watching movies. The current record, according to Guinness, is held by Ashish Sharma, who spent 120 hours and 23 minutes watching movies in Mathura, India last June. Sharma is one of the contestants in the current contest for which the two companies are promising $10,000 for the winner. In a news release, the companies said that the participants will be monitored by “medical professionals” to determine whether they “are truly ‘watching’ or are simply staring blankly at the screen.” The winner will also receive the first-ever Popcorn Bowl trophy and a lifetime subscription to Netflix.

How sweet is this! Man, if only it didn’t cost a fortune for me to get from St. Louis to New York… but, I’m not sure I’m that much of a masochist? Regardless, major kudos to the dude or dudette who pulls this one off!

From the people who brought you Mystery Science Theater 3000 comes a whole new movie-riffing experience: CINEMATIC TITANIC. Created by Joel Hodgson, creator and star of MST3K (as it’s known to its devoted fans), and featuring the writing and performing talents of the show’s original cast – Joel (Joel Robinson), Trace Beaulieu (Crow, Dr. Forrester) and J. Elvis Weinstein (Tom Servo, Dr. Ehrhardt) along with longtime writers and co-stars from the show’s 10 year run, Frank Conniff (TV’s Frank) and Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl Forrester).

Now you can see Cinematic Titanic LIVE at the Family Arena (www.familyarena.com) in St. Charles on Saturday, November 1. Â �Tickets go on-sale Friday, August 22 at 10am. Â �However, as a member of the wearemoviegeeks.com mailing list you’re eligible to buy tickets before they go on-sale to the general public.

Beginning Wednesday, August 20 at 10am, simply log on to metrotix.com/promotions. Â �You’ll need to use the promo code: GEEKS

But hurry, this offer ends Thursday, August 21 at 5pm.

Warner Premiere, Warner Bros’ straight to DVD branch, is having a field day going through WB’s back catalog and finding films to release sequels for. ‘The Lost Boys: The Tribe’ and ‘The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning’ are just a couple of what Warner Premiere is apparently calling its ‘Money Grows on Trees Project.’

The latest film to get a straight to DVD sequel it seems is going to be ‘Deep Blue Sea’. A studio source told moviehole.net that ‘Deep Blue Sea 2′ will be heading to a Blockbuster near you sometime next year.

No one has signed on, and the film hasn’t even gotten an official release. Judging from Warner Premiere’s history, no one from the first ‘Deep Blue Sea’ will be involved.

Above is the cover for for two big new “modern” masterpieces being given the fabulous Criterion Collection treatment. ‘Chungking Express’ is a mesmerizing and beautiful film by Wong Kar-Wai and ‘Bottle Rockets’ is the smart, subtly humorous feature film debut from filmmaker Wes Anderson.

‘Chungking Express’

Synopsis:

Special Features:

• - New, restored high-definition digital transfer
• - Remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack supervised by director Wong Kar-wai
• - Audio commentary by noted Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns
• - Episode excerpt from the British television series Moving Pictures featuring Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle
• - U.S. theatrical trailer
• - New and improved English subtitle translation
• - PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Amy Taubin and excerpts from a 1996 Sight and Sound interview with Wong by Rayns

‘Bottle Rocket’

Synopsis:

Special Features:

• - DIRECTOR-APPROVED DOUBLE-DISC SET SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
• - New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and director of photography Robert Yeoman
• - Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
• - Commentary by director/co-writer Anderson and co-writer/actor Owen Wilson
• - The Making of “Bottle Rocket†�: an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderson, James L. Brooks, James Caan, Temple Nash Jr., Kumar Pallana, Polly Platt, Mark Mothersbaugh, Robert Musgrave, Richard Sakai, David and Sandy Wasco, Andrew and Luke and Owen Wilson, and Robert Yeoman
• - The original thirteen-minute black-and-white Bottle Rocket short film from 1992
• - Eleven deleted scenes
• - Anamorphic screen test, storyboards, location photos, and behind-the-scenes photographs by Laura Wilson
• - Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braverman
• - The Shafrazi Lectures, no. 1: Bottle Rocket
• - PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by executive producer James L. Brooks, an appreciation by Martin Scorsese, and original artwork by Ian Dingman

Zac:

Woody Allen’s latest continues his recent string of high quality productions and nestles right between Match Point and Cassandra’s Dream as his second best film of the last 5 years or so.

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is an engaged girl who is in love with her husband and the idea of classic love out of a book or movie and knows what she wants in her love. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is her best friend and polar opposite. She will be erratic and go out on a limb, sleep with someone out of love, and only knows what she doesn’t want in love, but not what she does. The two travel to Spain for two months summer vacation so Vicky can work on her thesis in Catalan society while Christina unwinds from the stress induced by a short film she had labored over for the last 6 months. The two stay with Vicky’s distant aunt Judy (Patricia Clarkson) as the two sights see and enjoy the Spanish culture together in which the two have a chance encounter with Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) an accomplished painter with a reputation in the art community for the antics of his failed marriage to Marà �a Elena (Penelope Cruz). Juan Antonio sees the two title girls dining one night after catching Cristina’s eye at a gallery earlier that evening and offers them a weekend in Oviedo for sightseeing love making among the three of them and that is where the story really begins.

To spoil any more would be a disservice to this wonderful little film that sucks in you and doesn’t let go. The film is being sold completely wrong, as it isn’t about a torrid forbidden love affair between Marà �a Elena, Juan Antonio, and Cristina. The title of this film is Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and that is exactly what this film is, it looks at the romantic exploits and the analysis of love of Vicky and Cristiana during their experiences in Spain over their 2 month vacation. The film throws all of these ideas and interpretations and questions about loves and brilliantly leaves with answers that really answer nothing, but guide you enough to make you ponder what love is on your own. You get to see both ends of the broad spectrum of love and Woody Allen does an amazing job of capturing it all in his wonderful script.

Rebecca Hall breaks out as Vicky and is both beautiful and complex as she struggles with her feelings throughout this film. She offers the grounded stereotypical look on love and most of us can and will relate to her as we try to figure out what we believe. I hope that she breaks out from her and becomes a recognizable star in the near future. Scarlet Johansson turns in possibly her best performance yet as the free spirit Cristina, and has never looked better either. You can see Cristina regain her confidence and find herself in the film and you can see her arc subtly change due to Johansson’s great turn. Penelope Cruz turns in a crazy and strong performance as Marà �a Elena and lives up to the lofty picture painted of her before she ever shows up on screen. Only in about the third of the film, we get to see everything that Marà �a Elena is and she is both sad and inspiring and that shines upon many of the characters in the film. I think the real stand out in the film though is Javier Bardem’s Juan Antonio. He is so real and confident and we so easily buy into his crazy ideas on love. He knows love, that is for sure, and his confidence lifts others and makes people more than they were capable of before they met him. He has an effect on everyone he meets and Bardem just shines every time he is on screen.

In the end, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a wonderful little film that examines love from all angles. The four leads turn in fantastic performances all around and suck you into both the characters and story that unfold. Filled with plenty of humor, romance, and intrigue, there is something for just about anyone in this. It’s a film that sticks with you because it poses questions and leaves you to answer them and might even affect the way you look at life or love when it is all said and done.

[rating: 4.25/5]

Charles:

Around Fall of 2007, I learned that Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, and Scarlett Johansson were all cast in a new Untitled Woody Allen project. I started to think to myself… Wow, maybe this could be a contender at the Oscars and put Woody Allen back on the map. Some critics have bashed on Woody calling his work “hit or miss” and “repetitive”. I’m proud to say that Woody presents us with a gem of a film, filled with great acting and a interesting take on love and relationships.

So you have Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), Two Americans spending a summer vacation in Barcelona. Vicky is there doing research for her thesis while Cristina is there to relax where the atmosphere is a little different. One gloomy night, they meet painter Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), who invites them to go on a weekend trip to Spain with him for sightseeing, some wining and dining, and hot steamy sex. Cristina loves the idea, but the more conservative Vicky is unsure of how things might end up. Vicky has no intentions of sleeping with Juan especially since she has a fiance waiting for her in New York. After Cristina effortlessly tries to persuade Vicky, both women agree to accompany the painter and predictably, both fall head over heels for him. But things start to get a little confusing when Vicky’s fiance arrives in Spain to surprise her with an unexpected wedding and Juan’s insanely pyschoized ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penà �lope Cruz), stumbles back into his life after a freakish suicide attempt.

The acting is perfect. Last year, Javier Bardem won an Oscar for his work as a psycho maniac in ‘No Country For Old Men’. His transformation is ravishing in this brilliant performance as a charismatic and confident Spanish lover. Penelope Cruz is as wild as a firecracker. Her role is jealously suicidal and this is the performance we have all been waiting for. I have to tell ya, I really enjoyed the hell out of Rebecca Hall. While watching this movie, I quickly recognized this fine actress from another film, the British Comedy ‘Starter for Ten’ opposite James McAvoy. A knock-out performance! Hall brings great humor and presence to this role. Now for Scarlett Johansson, I really enjoy everything she has done throughout her young illustrious career but her role in this got me to thinking that if Woody Allen casts her in another one of his movies, I’m going to have to skip it. Woody! Can you work with another actress? Long ago, you seem to cast Diane Keaton perfectly in all her roles opposite yourself but Johanson is no Keaton. I am sick of “Woody Dialouge” coming out of Scarlett’s mouth. Her dazzling performances in Match Point and Scoop were just fine thank you, but don’t recycle the can on this one.

When the ending hit, I started to say damn, what just happened? I wish Penelope was introduced earlier rather than later in the film because her relationship with Juan screws everybody in the end. The narrations tend to annoy but other than that it doesn’t really bring the movie down much. Overall, I would have to say that I really enjoyed this film. If you are familiar with Woody Allen’s work then be prepared to enjoy a fine, intelligent film from one of the greatest directors of our time.

[rating: 3.5/5]

Shanna:

The new Woody Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona is about life. Life is made up of choices. In general a person makes a decision, either right or wrong, and then lives with the consequences. The problem these characters face is that they cannot make a decision so in turn their lives are at an unhappy standstill.

The film begins with two American best friends arriving in Spain for a vacation from their life (a.k.a their inability to make a decision and stick with it). Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is the proper rule-follower who is studying for her Masters and is engaged to a hotshot New York businessman. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is the carefree artistic type who doesn’t know what she wants, but knows what she doesn’t want (I know it doesn’t make sense to me either). While out to dinner the two ladies strike up a conversation with a local passionate artist Juan (Javier Bardem) whom we find out later has a crazy ex-wife (Penelope Cruz) who tried to stab him. After talking to the ladies for about two minutes, Juan invites them to go on a trip to his hometown to see a local sculpture, relax, and have sex. The always-responsible Vicky outright refuse him, but the spontaneous Cristina agrees.

Both of the ladies are seduced by Juan and become more confused then ever about what they want out of life. Vicky is now torn between her financially stable, but boring finance and the exciting, but moody artist. Cristina quickly falls head over heels for Juan, but soon has doubts about their relationship when his ex-wife moves in with them.

The stand out in this film is Penelope Cruz as the mentally unstable ex-wife of Javier Bardem. She is exotically sensual, but obsessive and violent. This character reminds me of Cruz in the film Blow (2001), but here she is even better. The best scenes involve Cruz and Bardem arguing. They flip back and forth between Spanish and English flawlessly. My only problem with Cruz’s performance is that I wish there was more of it.

Rebecca Hall as Vicky stole the show from Scarlett Johansson. Hall had all the best Allen on-liners. She showed the depth and struggle her character was feeling. Johansson was just plain boring. She is the same character in every film. She has no intensity and her cuteness worn off a long time ago.

The screenplay was full of classic Woody Allen one-liners set to beautiful Spanish music and scenery. I did not enjoy the consent voiceovers. I felt like I was listening to a book on tape while watching the movie at the same time. Also, the ending was disappointing. It seemed like the writer did not know how to end the film. It left several open-ended questions, which I find annoying and lazy.

Overall, the film is worth watching just to experience the chemistry between Cruz and Bardem. The story was interesting with some high point, but ended poorly. The moral of the story is to live your life and be happy with the choices you make even if they are the wrong ones.

[rating: 3.5/5]

Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Alec Guiness, Sir Sean Connery … everyone talks about these thespian knights, but what about Sir Ben Kingsley? It seems that Sir Ben tends to get shafted a bit on recognition of his mastery of the art and craft of acting, but maybe that’s because he’s the only one from this list still “in the biz.” With Sir Laurence and Sir Alec having passed on, and Sir Sean having placed himself into early retirement, Sir Ben is the last remaining Hollywood Sir, but is he getting his due respect?

What got me really thinking about this was my recent viewing of Jonathan Levine’s ‘The Wackness’ and the fact that Sir Ben was not only excellent in the movie but was down-right lots of fun to watch… as usual. Sure, he’s not always cast in stellar, successful movies that hail extreme critical applause, but even in the most stinky of cinematic stench (i.e. – Blood Rayne, Thunderbirds) he still makes his mark. Amongst my favorite performances from Sir ben include the following: as ‘Ghandi’ (1982) of course, as the psychotic British mobster Don Logan in ‘Sexy Beast’ (2000), his stellar portrayal of an Iranian-American in the intensely sad and depressing ‘House of Sand and Fog’ (2003), as Frank the alcoholic assassin in ‘You Kill Me’ (2007) and certainly as the pot-smoking shrink Dr. Squires in ‘The Wackness’ (2008).

With that said, surely I’m not alone. I really don’t care what the film is or what it’s about… if it features Sir Ben I’m game. Well, the one difficult exception may be if he chooses to appear in another Uwe Boll film… God help us all. What movies truly stand out for you from Sir Ben Kingsley? Aside from ‘Ghandi’ what is his best performance to date? His worst, perhaps? His least appreciated? If you had to choose one pitch-perfect, dream casting role to fit Sir Ben into, what role in what film would it be?

Guy Ritchie is back with a new flick and a badass cast. ‘Rock N Rolla’ is set in London, “a stolen painting pits some of the city’s scrappiest tough guys (Butler, Elba) against its more established underworld players (Wilkinson).”

This movie looks and sounds badass. I am ready to see Butler in a new action movie that doesn’t contain any Numbers (300).

 �

Hope you like hunting, because it seems like the powers that be are busy taking those comic-con clips down just as fast as they are going up.

The ‘Wolverine’ clip was way better than I expected. Actually, it was way way better. How awesome does Liev Schreiber look as Sabretooth? And that little glimpse of Gambit… could this movie be the the kickass surprise that Wolverine fans have been hoping for? Might just be.

‘Tron 2,’ or ‘TR2N,’ was a complete WTF moment for me. I completely forgot this movie was even happening. I mean, there’s been talk of a ‘Tron’ sequel for, well, since forever. The trailer – even in bootleg “assvision” – looks pretty damn cool. Plus, they got Jeff Bridges to reprise his role from the original. Now, I would usually be really wary of a sequel nearly thirty years late, but color me excited. To quote a friend’s text message concerning the matter: “Luks fugn rad”

Luks fugn rad, indeed.

p.s. If you’re looking for these clips on Youtube, then prepare to be Rickrolled…

Its a common occurrence that I am seeing more and more of, and that is children in rated ‘R’ movies. What parent would think that this is acceptable? A 2-5 year old in a movie that you need to be 17 or older to get into?

My first example was a few months ago we were at a special screening of ‘The Strangers’ which is rated ‘R’, and there were multiple times someone had to get up and take their small child to the bathroom. Several kids started crying at the really scary scenes, and being a parent I just cant fathom taking my young child to see something like this. Not only is it not good for your child, but its also disrespectful to all the other moviegoers. No one wants to be disrupted during the movie because you couldn’t find a babysitter and you decided to just bring little johnny along with you. So let this be a notice to all of you would be parents that decide to bring your kids to the movie theater with you to a non children’s movie… DONT DO IT!

What do you guys think? Chime in on the comments below…

With this summer being a textbook example of big releases with big followings, I started to think back and wonder if we’ve had these same obsessive tendencies in the past. In “honor” of our very own ‘Dark Knight’ obsessed movie geek intern Charles, who has now officially tallied a total of six (6) screenings of ‘The Dark Knight’ [so far], I’m throwing this topic out onto the virtual floor for dicussion… What movie(s) have you obsessed over?

Within the Discussion Post on Which Superhero Movies Need to Be Made, I mentioned that Sam Kieth’s ‘The Maxx’ would be an interesting project for a feature film… live-action or animated. Those of you who watched an loved the animated series on MTV, you understand why this is something of a love affair of mine. The show was awesome. On the other hand, for those of you unfamiliar with the popular show, here’s the synopsis:

From Wikipedia: [The series follows the adventures of the titular hero in the real world and in an alternate reality, referred to as The Outback. In the real world the Maxx is a vagrant while in the Outback he is the protector of the Jungle Queen. The Jungle Queen is similar to the Maxx in that she also exists in the real world as Julie Winters, a freelance social worker who often bails the Maxx out of jail. While the Maxx is aware of the Outback, Julie is not, though it is integral to the story of both the Maxx and Julie.]

Here’s the catch… those of us who love this show feel we’ve been stabbed in the back and left for dead. The TV series, unlike so many other less deserving series, has NEVER been released on DVD. In fact, its never even been released on VHS. What gives? In doing a little research on a possible release date, and coming up disappointed, I did manage to stumble upon one cool bit of ‘Maxx’ news … there is an online petition being promoted by fans to have the series get its day on DVD. You too can join the movement for ‘Maxx’ immortality by visiting here and signing the petition. Currently there are nearly 2,900 signatures. That’s not enough! If you’re a fan, or if you simply like to see a variety of DVD choices available, please sign the petition urging MTV/Viacom to give ‘The Maxx’ its maximum respect.

Just released recently, this new Criterion edition of Paul Schrader’s ‘Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters’ is overdue. The film, a poetic telling of the life story of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima (Ken Ogata) is visually stylistic and beautiful and is scored by the talented American composer Philip Glass.

DVD Features:

• - DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES
• - New, restored high-definition digital transfer of the director’s cut, supervised and approved by director Paul Schrader and cinematographer John Bailey
• - Optional English and Japanese voice-over narrations, the former by Roy Scheider, the latter by Ken Ogata
• - New audio commentary featuring Schrader and producer Alan Poul
• - New video interviews with Bailey, producers Tom Luddy and Mata Yamamoto, composer Philip Glass, and production designer Eiko Ishioka
• - New video interviews with Mishima biographer John Nathan and friend Donald Richie
• - New audio interview with coscreenwriter Chieko Schrader
• - Video interview excerpt featuring Mishima talking about writing
• - The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima, a 55-minute BBC documentary about the author
• - Theatrical trailer
• - PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Kevin Jackson, a piece on the film’s censorship in Japan, and photographs of Ishioka’s sets

Release Date: August 12, 2008

Synopsis:

In the weird and wonderful supercinematic world of Canadian cult filmmaker Guy Maddin, personal memory collides with movie lore for a radical sensory overload. This eerie excursion into the Gothic recesses of Maddin’s mad, imaginary childhood is a silent, black-and-white comic science-fiction nightmare set in a lighthouse on grim Black Notch Island, where fictional protagonist Guy Maddin was raised by an ironfisted, puritanical mother. Originally mounted as a theatrical event (accompanied by live orchestra, Foley artists, and assorted narrators), Brand upon the Brain! is an irreverent, delirious trip into the mind of one of current cinema’s true eccentrics.

DVD Special Features:

New high-definition digital transfer
Narration tracks by Isabella Rossellini, Laurie Anderson, John Ashbery, Guy Maddin, Louis Negin, and Eli Wallach
97 Percent True, a new documentary featuring interviews with the director and his collaborators
Two new short films directed by Maddin exclusively for this release: It’s My Mother’s Birthday Today and Footsteps
Deleted scene
Trailer
PLUS: A new essay by film critic Dennis Lim

These Nike limited edition sneakers are designed to look like the retro Marty Mcfly Back to the Future II kicks..here is the scoop from cinematical…

“they kinda look just like the sneakers worn in that film. And the tissue paper inside the box displays the words, “Great Scott!” So, yeah, seems like something a nutty film geek or a major BTTF fanboy (like myself) would want to have in their collection, right?

Well, have fun finding a pair. Over on eBay, these suckers are going for upwards of $2,000. Yup. Two grand for a pair of sneakers that don’t even feature automatic laces.”

If you just cant live without these shoes, go buy yourself one of the over priced pairs on ebay..

So the LA Film Fest is over, and it’s time to say a few words. The consensus seems to be that this year’s festival definitely had a smaller crowd than before, maybe due to some economic woes that keep people from spending 12 dollars a ticket every day for two weeks, not to mention paying for some of those ungodly 100 dollar ticket opening and closing night galas. The concept of only being able to see Wanted or Hellboy 2 by paying a huge amount of money so you can get into what is the equivalent of a cocktail party is absurd, and the LA Film Fest’s general lack of organization didn’t help much either. Between its multiple color level clearance passes and its volunteers and theater managers constantly giving people the wrong information, it was pretty chaotic at times. I saw a man removed from the line I was in at one point for wearing a green clearance pass when apparently he needed a “lime” pass, I shit you not. I myself waited in line for a half an hour once for the X-Files Panel only to be told that this “special event” required both a press pass and a physical ticket, meaning it was already too late to obtain my needed ticket to enter. That particular bump allowed me to see Prince of Broadway, my favorite of the festival, but its still pretty ridiculous. Either you allow press access to your fest or you don’t, why hamper everyone’s time and energy with ridiculous levels of access and specifications. Frankly, putting up with some of these lines would’ve been hell for any non-prepaid pass regular festival goer who just wanted to show up and pay to see a movie.

The setup for people paying for full access was kind of underwhelming too. The Target Red Room, the officially sponsored lounge for people to catch up on their writing, or enjoy a little refreshment from the insidious heat outside was pretty so-so, with people around me complaining that it was a lot better last year. I didn’t really care until at one point it was closed for a private party for three hours when I just wanted to update a post on here. Again, if you’re not going to have stuff like this, then that’s fine, but if you are, then don’t half-ass it and confuse everyone further by just dumping everything into one venue. The LA Film Fest is supposedly trying to establish itself as being able to compete with the big gun festivals, but I’m not sure it impressed anyone this year with either its organizational skills or its wannabe sexy festival perks.

However, the films are always what’s important here, and at the very least the festival had a pretty good line up. Despite the kind of bizarre choices for opening and closing films, sandwiched between the two blockbuster bookends were many powerful little independent gems. I really only saw one film I really didn’t like, most were impressive for any number of reasons. Prince of Broadway went on to win Best Narrative Feature at the festival, which is well deserved for such a unique take on a familiar cinematic setup. Here again are my top five from the fest:

1. Prince of Broadway
2. Encounters At The End Of The World
3. Ballast
4. Baghead
5. Choke

…although Man on Wire and American Son both deserve nods as well. There were a lot of similar trends in the film-making this year, with stripped down aesthetics, attention to characters, documentary-style camera shooting, and so on. Anyone following all the reviews may have noticed a some similar descriptions in the details, and this is very much the case. Boy A and American Son are pretty much shot in identical styles at times, so by the end of the festival I was beginning to wonder if I would be running out of things to say. As much as I enjoyed seeing it this year, I hope we get a little more diversity in the future. Hopefully next year at the fest will find much better organization with the same excellent decisions for what will be shown.

P.S. The promo for the LA Film Fest that played before every show slowly grew into the most grating single minute of personal endurance of the festival. With films that screened short films before the features, we got to watch it twice. LAFF, trust me, once per screening is PLENTY.