Reboot

The blog is back. Movies are just too intoxticating to stay away from.

Here we go…

WATCHMEN review now available

Hey all, my review of Watchmen is now up and running. You can find it here: http://www.movie-vault.com/reviews/BnyKkhmOqjViSNIQ .

WATCHMEN REVIEW Coming

Hi all,

My review of WATCHMEN is coming soon. I’ll be at a midnight showing this evening; after which I’ll post a review.Either early Friday morning or certainly by around Noon. Stay tuned…

“Super” films flying into theatres 2009-2010

Hey all,

New release dates have just been announced for some big tent pole features making their way to theatres in 2009 – 2010. Many of them just so happen to be big-time superhero films. Below is a list of release dates combined from several sites including; Comingsoon.net, Latino Review, and Aint it Cool News.

Sherlock Holmes (Starring Robert “Ironman” Downey Jr.)—-December 25, 2009

Clash of the Titans (remake)—-March 26, 2010

Ironman 2—-May 7, 2010

The Prince of Persia (based on Ubisoft videogame)—-May 28, 2010

Toy Story 3 in 3-D—-June 18, 2010

The Green Hornet—-June 25, 2010

Thor—-July 16, 2010

Inception (Dark Knight director Chris Nolan’s first film since TDK)—-July 16, 2010

Jonah Hex—-August 6, 2010

Suckerpunch (Zack Snyder’s film after Watchmen)—-October 10, 2010

The Green Lantern—-December 17, 2010

Follow along with the Oscars LIVE!!!

Tune into the Film Phantom this Sunday for live coverage of the Oscars, as they happen. I’ll be running a blog with updates every few minutes on the winners, the losers, the speeches, (maybe a comment or two about the clothes), and everything else. Feel free to post comments as the show goes along and we’ll keep track of how many of my picks I get right.

—The Film Phantom

Oscar Nominations Announced

Oscar nominations were announced today. Below is a link to the official Oscars’ site and a list of the nominees by category.

Some observations about the nominations:
-The Dark Knight picked up a bunch of the technical noms and the nomination for Heath Ledger, but was shut out of nominations for the film overall, the score and for Chris Nolan’s directing and co-writing efforts.

-Kate Winslet, who won as Best Supporting Actress in “The Reader” is up for the same performance in the BEST ACTRESS category, and will not have a chance at the double win, as she was not nominated for best supporting actress.

-Milk, largely shut out of Golden Globes nominations, has itself in many of the top catagories and could challenge Slumdog Millionaire.

-”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” received 13 nominations leading the pack, while “Slumdog Millionaire” received 10 and “Milk” received 8.

-The Reader was the surprise nomination for Best Picture, taking away a spot from either “Revolutionary Road” or perhaps even “The Dark Knight”.

I will post my picks in a few weeks as we get closer to the Oscars on February 22nd. And I will be running a commentary on Oscar night as I did for the Golden Globes.

Gettin’ a peek at a new “Porno”

Hey all,

Be sure to check in here soon as I will be attending a press screening of “Zach and Miri Make a Porno” tomorrow and will be posting a review as soon as I can stop laughing and type. I’m really looking forward to this movie and to see how Kevin Smith pulls it all together.

—The Film Phantom

Trailer Signs that a Movie is Doomed

Sitting in a theatre watching previews, we all can pretty much judge whether we want to see a film about 3 seconds after the preview ends…and to that end we usually judge whether it will be “good” as well. The two usually end up going hand in hand. After so many trailers and so many judgements, I’ve found that there are certain tell-tale signs that the film you are watching a trailer for is doomed to be awful…or at least close to awful. Here they are, in no particular order:

The big selling point is that its a star or directors “first rated R film”
(See: The Happening)
I want to meet the person that actual went out to the theater to see “The Happening” because he saw that it was Shymalan’s first rated R film. How can that be a selling point? That’s like marketing a film because its Tarantino’s first rated G film. Actually that would be a better selling point because of how much of a true departure it would be for Quentin. M Night’s films have always sort of straddled the line between PG-13 and R with only a graphic scene here or there really seperating it. It’s not exactly like he was making kiddie films the whole time…but even still that is just a horrible marketing plan for a film.

The only reason to see it is because gigantic actor A and gigantic actor B are “Finally together on screen!”
(See: Righteous Kill)
This rule was really created because of De Niro and Pacino. I wanted to see them together as much as anyone, but if that becomes the only redeeming feature of the film…to the point that the marketers eschew the rest of the movie to flash the words “together at last” all over the screen (literally and figuratively) for the entirety of the trailer…you know its going to be bad. You might say “Heat” is an exception to this rule but really its not because they didn’t play it up nearly as much, and really outside of the awesome coffee-shop scene, the two didn’t share alot of time together. The last time this would have been appropriate and the movie could have really lived up to it was “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”…

Everyone in the theatre is laughing a “little” too hard at the trailer for a comedy.
(See: Knocked Up)
Knocked up wasn’t a terrible film, certainly ranking higher on the list of films mentioned here, but when a comedy has a trailer that is “that funny”…well odds are the cat is out of the bag and that you’ve just been privy to the funniest moments in the entire film. Considering between now and the film’s release you will see the trailer or tv spots at least another 20 times, you might consider waiting and renting the movie on Netflix once it gets a DVD release, because more often than not you’ve already seen the best that the movie has to offer.

Breakout Oscar winner’s next film immediately after winning
(See: Catwoman)
I’m not sure what it is…MAYBE its that they feel like they reached the pinnacle and now they want to just have some fun or maybe now its about the big payday, but whatever the reason, many breakout Oscar winners next film usually doesn’t live up anyone near the one they just were awarded for. In fact most of the time its AWFUL. Aside from Halle Berry’s Catwoman disaster, see The Reaping starring Hilary Swank or even Adrian Brody’s post Pianist crapfest…The Singing Detective. Whichever way you go, it usually breaks down like that. Be aware…be very aware.

Anything involving Spoofs
(See: Any of the “Scary”/”Disaster” movie films)
Mel Brooks is not sitting in that director’s chair…Gone are the days where some of the greatest comedies grew from the idea of spoofing Hollywood conventions and other popular films. Some great laughers including, High Anxiety, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, The Producers (the original film…not the new version). While at times they did resort to “slapstick” comedy there were some great jokes and innuendo that elevated some of these to truly great status. Nowadays, you’re in for a disjoint combination of pop culture references, joke reversals and crude humor all held together by the barest of plots.

Romantic…Comedy
(See: Any Rom-Com released since As Good As it Gets)
I’m not sure what it is, but the Romantic comedy genre has taken some real hits in recent years. In the late 80s and early 90s it was in fact a hot genre that churned out quite a few memorable films and on a few occasions even gained award considerations. These days the romantic comedies are all cookie cutter versions of one another, substituting characters between rivals in the same industry who fall in love to various plays on the plot of opposites attract. What’s worse is that many of them try to hard and are so self-aware that they try and utilize classic romantic comedies like “When Harry Met Sally” as parts of the joke as if they might somehow capture the spark from that great film in theirs. Just anytime you hear that floaty happy music and the voice over guy says “he was a bumbling salesman….and she was a vet,” RUN FOR COVER.

Anyone got anymore? Post them below…let’s see what we’ve got.

The Rise and Fall of “Superhero” Movies?

In an article in the New York Times today, A.O. Scott, movie reviewer writes about the recent craze of Superhero films during this decade (beginning with Spiderman) and whether what we are seeing now in movies like Ironman and the Dark Knight is the peak and that we are headed for a decline soon. (He puts Hancock into that same discussion but honestly…its so terrible that I refuse to place it in the same breath as Ironman and The Dark Knight).

I like the article for the most part until he states “I have a hunch, and perhaps a hope, that “Iron Man,” “Hancock” and “Dark Knight” together represent a peak…” which is a weird statement to make, I get the feeling as I read more past that line that Mr.Scott like some other critics really doesn’t like the idea of Comic-book films and superhero films trying to offer real serious commentary on society and the battle between good and evil. The article has a begrudging aura about it when he talks about the Dark Knight and its attempt to push past the conventions of the genre, while reminding us that it still has conventions that it must adhere to.

I think he’s wrong on both accounts. Comic-book films have legions of fans who all want to see their favorite characters on the big screen, and given the breadth of characters in just the marvel and DC universes, there are plenty of other storylines and characters to draw from. Some comics have been around for 60+ years. Thats 60 years of source material to tap into. So its not as if Batman is going to be facing the Joker in every film from now until eternity. And while yes there are plenty of characters that wouldn’t do well in a stand alone film (I’m skeptical about Thor in particular) when put as part of a famed team like the Avengers or the Justice League…well its enough to make a fanboy giggle. (giggles)

Additionally, while some of the comic book films like the Fantastic Four (which A.O. Scott correctly points out) don’t really aspire to anything other than being nice displays of effects and a few nods to the hardcore fans…others just don’t feel like that is enough. There are some really gripping, adult and serious storylines that are occuring in these comics and so diluting the films down to a few action sequences and one liners just isn’t going to cut it anymore.

I disagree with Scott to say that we are only right now at the beginning of the Superhero movie craze. Ironman and the Dark Knight especially showed that the public (even the non-fanboy public) wants to see high quality superhero films and WANTS (not to be confused with WANTED) to see these films take on serious adult plots, even to the point of the dark and “scary” tone of The Dark Knight. That 158.4 million dollar opening weekend doesn’t spell the end of Superhero films…it announces their presence with a resounding shout!

I don’t think Scott an idiot by any means, but I think he definitely has it wrong when it comes to this issue. His end claim really comes down to the fact that superhero movies no matter how unique all end up in the same place…but isn’t that what practically every movie does? Romantic comedies usually end in an embrace somewhere. Adventure films end with the survivors reflecting on the new world ahead of them and superhero movies end with the villian and the hero throwing down. That’s how cinema works, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Below is the article in full to read and comment here on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/movies/24supe.html?_r=2&ref=movies&oref=slogin&oref=slogin