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| ..061909 Marveling at a very cool bit o' animation. |
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. . . . . . I have been ogling the opening cinematic for 'The Beatles: Rock Band' (click the image to the left to check it out.) The animation is a rather slick blend of two and three dimensional elements. Of course anything probably looks good when you play 'The Beatles' over it but even without the music, the cinematic is still something to check out. I am so, so, SO jealous of the talent that created this stylish animation. The animation was created by 'Passion Pictures', who have made a bunch of slick videos. You can see much of their work on their official site |
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| ..061109 A sort of remake leads to a special edition that I never thought I would see.. |
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. . . . . . Only a mad genius like Abel Ferrara could crank out 'Bad Lieutenant'. I am fan of the film and will defend it and Harvey Keitel's fearsome performance to the end. Keitel is the titled Lieutenant, a man so vile he doesn't even have a name. The film is about his downward spiral and his chance to do something good on the way down. Low-budget and ballsy', Ferrara's 'Bad Lieutenant' is not for the easily offended or squeamish, nor is it for those looking for a lot of action. I have said elsewhere that generally I have no problem with remakes. Like anything else, there are good remakes and there are bad remakes. Having said that, I must admit to being somewhat confused by the upcoming remake of 'Bad Lieutenant'. None other than Werner Herzog, has gone and remade 'Bad Lieutenant' under the title 'Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'. Stranger still, is the Lieutenant is now being played by Nicolas Cage. Herzog has said that his film is not really a remake as he has never seen the original and used the concept as a starting point. I like Herzog quite a bit but I don't know what to make of 'Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'. Recently, a trailer has shown up online and even after watching that I still don't know what to think of the film. I'm a sucker for crime dramas and will probably see the film sooner or later but something about the trailer just didn't grab me. Don't get me wrong, I certainly hope the film is great but I don't know.... something about the film just seems off somehow.... |
| Regardless of what 'Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans' turns out to be, one good side effect is that there is going to be a special edition release of Ferrara's 'Bad Lieutenant'. I never expected to see a special edition of the underrated 'Bad Lieutenant' but it looks like it will be happening. Now all I need is a Blu-ray release but beggars can't be choosers so in the meantime I am looking forward to the new DVD (which comes out on July 28th.) You can see the trailer for Herzog's film on Youtube HERE. Thanks to the great DVDTimes.com for posting about this release. To check out the specs of the new 'Bad Lieutenant' DVD jump on over to their site HERE or preorder it at Amazon above. -Nate |
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| ..060509 David Carradine has passed away. |
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. . . . . .My computer has had some issues again but I wanted to at least make a quick post about the passing of David Carradine. It could not be easy to make a name for yourself when you start in the shadow of an actor like Carradine's father John. The younger Carradine made it look easy and carved out his own unique carrier. In fact his siblings were able to do so as well and they even appeared together onscreen in the 1980 Walter Hill film 'The Long Riders'. David Carradine was found dead in his hotel room in Thailand and the early reports were that it was a suicide. To me, the whole thing read as being more than a little suspicious. As I went to make this post I noticed a few reports that are saying the death may have been accidental and the result of some auto-erotic asphyxiation. Well, what a way to go! The passing is sad to be sure but if you have to go, you might as well be enjoying yourself (no pun intended.) Carradine's passing is a real shame and I hope there is no foul play involved. Rest in peace sir. You can see updates on the story via the BBC HERE.-Nate
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| ..051709 Happy birthday to Dennis Hopper! |
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. . . . . .I have been slacking on the updates but I had to at least mention the first fiend of cinema. I've been on a bit of a Dennis Hopper kick as of late so it seems the least I could do was mention the guy's birthday. The picture to the left is from the 70's documentary about Hopper and his film 'The Last Movie'. The documentary is called 'American Dreamer' and I have to admit I have watched it way to often (especially recently.) Happy birthday and may you have many more sir! -Nate |
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| ..051109 Little free time and a new project has meant few updates.... |
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. . . . . .I have been obsessed with filmmaker Sam Peckinpah and his films for quite a long time. Oddly, I only recently put up my first review of one of his films. For some reason I often have trouble writing about the films and filmmakers I love the most. Somewhere along the way I started kicking around the idea of making a discussion forum for fans of Peckinpah and his work. I finally got my act together and made a forum. It is not quite done yet but should be all set before the end of the month. I called the forum 'Earned in Blood' which was my clunky way of referencing the high cost of living that the characters in Peckinpah's films often endure. To check out the site (and eventually join the group) go to www.EarnedinBlood.com or click the banner above. -Nate
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| ..042809 Thank you Cartoon Brew! |
. . . . . .Sometimes I forget how much great stuff 'Cartoon Brew' has lead me to. Below are two examples of animated shorts that I am not sure I would have found out about were it not for 'Cartoon Brew'. The first is a funny bit of animation made by the husband and wife team of Cassidy Curtis and Raquel Coelho. The short is called 'How to Make a Baby' (and on the off chance that you worry about such things, the video is completely safe for work.) You can see it via Youtube (to the righ) and 'Cartoon Brew' also mentioned that you can read about how the short was made HERE.
. . . . . .The second is a music video that 'Cartoon Brew' lead me to looks like it was made using computer animation but was apparently made using some very clever camera techniques. The song is called 'We Got Time' by Moray McLaren and the music video is |
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probably one of the more clever uses of turntables
in a long time. Once again, via the Youtube you can see the music video (to the left.) Animator David Wilson made it and also put up a video showing how the 'We Got Time' music video was put together. You can see the making of video at Youtube HERE. I get the concept behind the video's construction but I'm not sure I totally understand how Wilson was able to synch everything in the music video. Anyway, if you are interested in all things animated, give 'Cartoon Brew' a try. I've been hooked on it for awhile now and always find out about cool features like 'How to Make a Baby' and 'We Got time' Thanks 'Brew! Check it out HERE. -Nate |
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| 042309 Chuck Lorre is my hero. |
| . . . . . .Although I watched many shows that Chuck Lorre has been involved in over the years, 'Big Bang Theory' is the first Lorre show that I have watched religiously. I noticed Lorre's so called “vanity cards” that flash at the end of each episode. It turns out he has been putting the cards up at the end of his shows for some time and they are archived at Lorre's site HERE. The cards are different anecdotes from Lorre and are on almost any topic. Searching for the vanity cards sent me to Lorre's site where I found his very entertaining write up: 'How to Create a Hit Sitcom'. It made me laugh out loud and I hope Lorre takes the time to write a book about his experiences in the world of television. In the meantime I will have to make do with with his site, 'Big Bang Theory', and 'How to Create a Hit Sitcom', (which can be seen HERE.) -Nate |
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| 033109 Trailer for 'Drag Me to Hell' |
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| . . . . . .I've been a fan of filmmaker Sam Raimi for a long time. While he is probably best known now for directing the enjoyable 'Spider-Man' films, I was a fan of his from the 'Evil Dead' horror films he made towards the start of his career. The first of the series is a well made, straight up, horror film. The two sequels veered increasing into comedy with each successive installment (I'm partial to 'Evil Dead' and 'Evil Dead 2' as third film was still enjoyable but went a bit too far into goofy territory for me.) Now, Raimi is returning to the world of horror movies with his upcoming feature: 'Drag Me to Hell'. The teaser makes the film look like it will be a lot of fun. Now, all I need is for Raimi to reunite witth 'Evil Dead' star Bruce Campbell (he often has cameos in Raimi's films) and make a new, kick ass 'Evil Dead' movie. That is really just wishful thinking but man, it would be nice if 'Drag Me to Hell' was profitable enough to get some movie studio interested in plunking down the cash for an 'Evil Dead' sequel. Although it may be a while because I think I read that Raimi would be directing two more 'Spider-Man' sequels.Anyway, check out the trailer above (thanks to Firstshowing.net) and go see the official website HERE. -Nate |
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| 033009 Congrats' Ari and Ash!!!! |
. . . . . .Over this weekend, on March 28th 2009 they welcomed baby Draven, a healthy happy boy. I didn't even let the poor kid's first full day go by before I showed him a comic book. :)
-Nate |
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| 032709 From Firstshowing.net, the teaser for 'Where the Wild Things Are'. |
| . . . . . .Filmmaker Spike Jonze is unfairly talented... Jonze makes constructing creative works look easy and I am so jealous of him. The guy can even act... His latest film is an adaptation of the children's book 'Where the Wild Things Are'. If anyone can pull off a successful adaptation of the Maurice Sendak book, I would think Jonze could. In addition to directing the film, he is credited as co-writer with Dave Eggars. The teaser trailer for 'Where the Wild Things Are' has hit the web and the above embedded video is courtesy of the great Firstshowing.net. The teaser looks great and gives the impression of a more emotional film than I was expecting. The teaser makes me want to see the film more than I already did. Watch the teaser above or go to an Apple page with HD versions of it HERE.Even though the teaser looks excellent, I am still going to have quite a wait as 'Where the Wild Things Are' is not coming out until mid-October. -Nate |
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| 032109 Parker lives on. |
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. . . . . .Sadly author Donald E. Westlake passed away on the 31rst of last December. Westlake was a great writer who, amongst other things, wrote a series of books about a thief named Parker. Westlake wrote the series under the penname of Richard Stark. The Stark/ Parker novels have been around since the early 60s and have been made into several films including the 1967 film ‘Point Blank’, the 1973 film ‘The Outfit’, and the 1999 film ‘Payback’ (actually there is a great but short interview with Westlake on the ‘Payback: Straight UP’ DVD/Blu-ray release.) Westlake and Stark may be gone but Parker lives on, this time in comic book form. Comic book artist Darwyn Cooke is making adaptations of the first three Parker novels. I cannot remember the last time I was looking forward to a comic book this much. Westlake’s passing is sad enough but it is also a bummer that he will not get to see the release of these comics. I have to admit I am not that familiar with Cooke’s work but after reading about the Parker adaptations, I checked out some of his stuff and was quite impressed. He seems like a good fit for the world of Parker and I can’t wait to get my grubby hands on the first Parker comic: ‘The Hunter’. Unfortunately, I’ve still got a long way to go as it is scheduled for release on July 14th. That didn’t stop me from preordering the thing at Amazon and in the mean time there is a great blog dedicated to Cooke and his art called 'Almost Darwyn Cook’s Blog (but quite)’ that can be seen HERE . The site even has a recent post |
| with some new artwork from Cooke's adaptation of 'The Hunter'. If you are a fan of Westlake’s Parker character and his various incarnations, there is also a great site dedicated to the thief called: ‘The Violent World of Parker’ that can be seen HERE. -Nate |
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| 031809 first Blu-ray review with 'The Getaway' |
| . . . . . .I'm a big Sam Peckinpah fan and forever now it seems I have been meaning to write reviews of his films. Well it took forever but here is my first Sam Peckinpah review and first Blu-ray review too. I give you my review of Sam Peckinpah's 'The Getaway', see the review HERE. -Nate |
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| 030809 review of 'Watchmen'. |
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. . . . . .Even having taken some time to write my review, I am still not entirely sure what to make of the movie 'Watchmen'. I know that it has made me want to read the graphic novel more than I already did and I know that I enjoyed parts of the movie. As much as I wanted to love the film, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with it. I really have to wonder if the movie had been split into several films or maybe made into a miniseries it might have worked better for me. All that being said, I still think Zack Snyder is a talented filmmaker and it |
| is worth noting that he managed to make the film without cutting it down to a PG-13 rating. That was one flaw with 'The Dark Knight' (reviewed HERE) as I felt there were a few awkward moments caused by trimming some of the violence to fit the teen friendly PG-13 rating. I am not trying to say that 'The Dark Knight' should have been a blood fest but rather that the film contains adult subject matter and should be released and rated as such. Anyway, my review of 'Watchmen' can be seen HERE. -Nate |
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| 030509 'Public Enemies' trailer online. |
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. . . . . .As the big studio films crank up their advertising campaigns, tons of trailers have been showing up online. 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen', 'G.I. Joe', and 'Star Trek' are some of the upcoming flics' with tons of previews popping up online. While I have to admit I am curious to see all those films, Michael Mann's latest feature 'Public Enemies', is the one I am looking forward to the most |
| (other than maybe 'The Watchmen' but I'll be seeing that this weekend.) Mann is one of my favorite filmmakers and I have been looking forward to 'Public Enemies' for a long time (I already posted about the movie last April and December.) |
| Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Billy Crudup, Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, Leelee Sobieski, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Dorff, Rory Cochrane, Lili Taylor and John Ortiz, are all part of the strong cast. The trailer certainly looks good, (although the techno music at the beginning of it seems totally out of place.) Maybe I am biased as, the criminal John Dillinger fascinates me for one reason or another. In fact, even the |
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| period in American history when Dillinger was on his crime spree interests me. If it is something you like as well, there is an enjoyable History Channel documentary about the era called: 'Crime Wave: 18 Months of Mayhem'. Actually, one of the |
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authors interviewed in 'Crime Wave: 18 Months of Mayhem', Bryan Burrough, wrote the book that Mann's film is based on. There have been several movies about Dillinger already and I am particularly fond of John Milius's 1973 film 'Dillinger' (reviewed HERE.) Anyway, 'Public Enemies' will be released on July 1rst. The trailer (some of which was |
| shown durring this years Oscars) can be seen in 480p HERE, 720p HERE, and 1080 HERE. The official site for 'Public Enemies' can be found HERE. -Nate |
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| 030109 It is a new month, so I give you a new review. 'Slumdog Millionaire' is just great. |
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. . . . . .I wanted to have my review of 'Slumdog Millionaire' up a lot sooner but I was having trouble articulating why I enjoyed the film. Expressing what grabs me in a film or what makes me go back and watch a film over and over again can be difficult for some reason. 'Slumdog Millionaire' just clicked with me and I really enjoyed it, maybe even more than I thought I was going to. I will be curious to see if the film still seems as good years from now. I suspect it will but sometimes re-watching something later in life can diminish films somehow. Anyway, I finally finished the review. You can check out some of the soundtrack to the left and see my review HERE. -Nate |
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