There's a delicious stupidity at work in Kick-Ass' titular character, who is at times also known as... "Dave." A comic fan, he wonders how it can be that no one has tried to become a superhero. No one has superpowers, sure, but you don't need any just to slap on a mask and give a beating to a few evil-doers. Ok, it would be stupid, but look at all the stupid things people do. In the grand scheme … [Read more...]
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is hitting this week, and I recently got a chance to check in with Alex Ferris, who plays Collin. It was a lot of fun to talk to the young actor who was recently nominated for two Young Artist Awards (The Time Traveler's Wife, Living Out Loud), and given my experience interviewing people under the age of 15, it was rather educational as well. Given my fairly limited … [Read more...]
The best thing about The Princess and the Frog may turn out to be what also keeps it from truly being great. It's a return to hand-drawn animation. A return to an "older" theory. A return to the Disney musical. In many senses, a return to the very roots of Disney feature-length efforts. These are all things the special features will play up at you rather specifically. But, somewhere in the … [Read more...]
I don't know about you, but I'm not so sure about the upcoming movie Killers. On the other hand, I wasn't sure about The Ugly Truth either, and while some people bashed that one, I found it surprisingly watchable. What strikes me most about the film so far is that initial reports made it sound like rather a different movie than the one in the trailer. Now it's hard to be sure exactly where … [Read more...]
You probably know that I'm a PSYCH fan, but the season finale coming up tonight is an especially fun episode. Written and directed by the show's star James Roday, we return to Mr. Yang for thrills, and the entire episode is an homage to Hitchcock. If you missed it, check in for my PSYCH giveaway before time runs out. James and Ally Sheedy recently took part in a conference call interview to … [Read more...]
Well, not that it isn't old news, and not that everyone hasn't seen it already, but the new Iron Man 2 trailer looks so cool that I had to put it up. If you aren't digging the briefcase at the end, then I lose all hope for you. More importantly, we get a better feel for what's going on, and, other than simply to load up on coolness, why we're watching. And, we get a look at the rest of the … [Read more...]
Much like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland is a story that has become a bit lost in the many retellings. Tim Burton's effort sidesteps (or hopes to) the difficulty by telling a different story. This story is a revisit, literally. Alice returns to Wonderland, meets the old crew, and embarks upon something like a similar adventure, but things are nevertheless rather different this time around … [Read more...]
It was an even money bet for a quite a while that I wasn't going to do an Oscar list this year. I'd pretty much covered things when I went over the Critics Choice Movie Awards, and this award season has generally left a strange taste in my mouth. As a critic, you know that the things you want to win just aren't going to much of the time, sometimes they won't even be nominated, but this year has a … [Read more...]
Oh, PSYCH fans, you do not want to miss the season finale on March 10th, and I mean no matter what you have to do. You know who is back, and this time with unbelievable amounts of Hitchcockian referencing. It's a tense, psychotic thrill a minute, and you'd think the master himself was acting as cinematographer. Seriously, if you've ever watched PSYCH (and even if you haven't) this is the … [Read more...]
Fans of weird cinema, and/or those for whom 42nd St. during the '70s means anything, your film is on its way to SXSW. American Grindhouse, a movie that needs no introduction beyond its title, will be showing to the delight of many and the horror of... probably many as well. There's a world of fascination behind the cultural phenomenon, and now you've got your chance to explore it. The … [Read more...]
Direct-to-video sequels, or otherwise "further adventure" releases, are often irritants, especially in the realm of children's fare. Thrown together jumbles of silly gags and sad excuses for plots are the result more often than not, and the design has more to do with what your kids will yowl about, than any attempt to put out quality product. Such is not the case with Curious George 2: Follow … [Read more...]
As we close in on SXSW, you can play along at home once again. IFC Films is making three movies available On Demand during the festival. I love this collaboration. It's a brilliant move, giving film lovers a chance to catch a piece of the festival experience. I hope you'll take a look at the possibilities, and get in on the fun. “Direct From SXSW” to feature three films premiering … [Read more...]
A decidedly odd starting point may prove to deliver a unique viewpoint into what it means, and takes, to be a man in this SXSW offering, Barry Munday. Barry Munday, a suburban wanna-be ladies man, wakes up in the hospital after being attacked in a movie theater, only to realize that he is missing one of his most prized possessions... his testicles. To make matters worse, Barry learns he's … [Read more...]
The burning question for Who Do You Think You Are?, the latest show to jump the pond, is going to be how the ratings stack up from week to week. Which is to say, are people going to remain interested no matter who the celebrity of the week is? Or, I suppose, will the new viewers who are interested in Emmitt Smith make up for the ones who were only interested in Sarah Jessica Parker? Perhaps … [Read more...]
With all the White Collar interviews I've had over the last several months, I haven't had a chance to get Jeff Eastin up on the site before, and this is just the sort of show that makes me want to talk to the creator/writer as much as anyone. With all the twists, cool storylines, weird mid-season cliffhanger, and the show's renewal, I've want to get to the man behind things for a while. Oddly, … [Read more...]
More news on the SXSW front, this time a First Look and an added World Premiere. Predators looks a little strange, though the festival treatment will be a lot of fun, but I'm pretty excited for 13. The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival has announced Austin-based filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and director Nimród Antal will present a “First Look” at their upcoming motion … [Read more...]
