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Showing posts from June, 2010

The Social Network Teaser

Can't make a whole lot from David Fincher's upcoming film with the teaser so far, but it has a very ominous tone to it. My interest in the project was tepid until I found out Aaron Sorkin was writing the script and Fincher was directing, finding out Eisenburg would be the lead was icing on the cake. Let us hope that it does not end up a cookie cutter downfall movie.

Fear.

David Fincher's works are never short on splendor captured on celluloid, but  Zodiac , easily one of the best shot films of the decade, really takes the cake with its masterful cinematography by Harris Savides. Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) is in the basement of a man who he believes can lead him to the Zodiac, little does he know that the man whose basement he's in could be the Zodiac himself. Fear hasn't translated this easily to an audience since Lila Crane was trapped in the home of Norman Bates, with his mother barreling down on her in a corridor she can't run out of. This is just one of several moments that hold you in a vice-like grip. Perhaps Fight Club should look over its shoulder as the best of Fincher's filmmography.

Most Valuable Performances: Tom Cruise

The quintessential good guy: Top Gun , Mission Impossible , The Last Samurai , A Few Good Men , I could go on but I'm sure you get the point. That is what made the transformation he undertook in Collateral all the more intriguing. Tom Cruise is a hell of a villain. "I just shot him. The bullets and the fall killed him." Never were words uttered by a contract killer offered so smoothly. Cruise doesn't look radically altered in this film, but he might as well be an entirely different human being. Vincent's eyes say a lot more about the man than the film ever mentions. He is cool, calm, collected and charismatic. While he is holding Max (Jamie Foxx) hostage he is helping him retake his life before missed opportunities do him in for good. Sleight of hand is Vincent's trade, he kills with the best and feels no remorse for the deed. It makes it that much more interesting when he scolds Vincent for not buying his mother flowers at the hospital,

Ant-man Finally Casted?

It looks like Nathan Fillion might be playing a superhero afterall. After being considered for roles in Green Lantern , and Captain America , Fillion (most remembered as Malcolm Reynolds in the cult-hit Firefly ) is reportedly in final negotiations to play Dr. Hank Pym in the new Avengers film. It hasn't been stated whether Pym would be Ant-man in the film, or just a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist, but we're holding out hope. The Avengers hits theatres in 2012.

Review: Toy Story 3

We all knew it had to end eventually. It's been eleven years since Toy Story 2 waltzed into theatres and managed to captivate me again as a small child on a Thanksgiving weekend wishing that the sequel would be as good as the first. Now, 20 years old, I could only hope that this final installation in the series could strike me as it did so many times before. Toy Story 3 centers on the plight of the toys this time, leaving Andy out of the focus past the initial twenty minutes. Given the choice between the attic, trash or donation Andy says goodbye to Buzz, Rex, Slinky, Jesse, Bullseye, and Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and bags them up for the attic, Woody manages to land in the box of college items. The bag manages to find its way to the garbage truck instead and only by Buzz's quick thinking they manage to escape back to the house. Feeling left out they decide that Sunnyside Daycare is the only way to go. Andy will never play with them again and maybe this way they

Review: The A-Team

Mercenaries are becoming the "it" theme of this summer with The Losers hitting theatres a few months ago, The A-Team coming out this weekend and The Expendables expected out August 13th. A few Hollywood producers must have received Soldier of Fortune in their mailboxes by accident. Ten years ago, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... the A-Team. That opening is familiar enough to fans of the television show, but director Joe Carnahan starts from scratch, throwing Hannibal, Face, Murdock and Baracus together during an operation in Mexico. These soldiers of fortune are a little different from how you remember them. Hannibal (Liam Neeson) is l

The Dream Is Real

For my money there is nothing cooler than the idea of a city folding in on itself.

AM's Greatest Comedy Tournament

Castor and Red over at Anomalous Material are hosting the Greatest Comedy Tournament today and the contest goes throughout the summer. So get out and vote!

What Does Marcellus Wallace Look Like?

The Oatmeal  - a great way to waste an hour online by the way -  brings you this funny  Pulp Fiction  poster.

Review: The Special Relationship

The Special Relationship is an important dynamic in world politics. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, Macmillan and Kennedy, Clinton and Blair, and perhaps most influential Tony Blair and George W. Bush. Michael Sheen, now on his third take playing former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has his role down pat. When the camera starts rolling all trace of Sheen is gone. Only Blair's perma-grin and inclination to always do right remains. Like Frank Langella in Peter Morgan's other effort Frost/Nixon , Dennis Quaid doesn't particularly look like the former president he is portraying, but nails the attitude - and even the accent. Tony Blair is in awe of Bill Clinton at the beginning of the film, a candidate for Prime Minister he seeks the backing that President Clinton has made for himself in the United States, a foundation built on center-left policies. Clinton advises the young candidate that while policies are important, the image is where your future

Most Valuable Performances: Robert Downey Jr.

"Never go full retard." These immortal words are uttered by Kirk Lazarus as he sends up method acting in an effort to explain it to his talent-challenged co-star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller). After the monumental success of Iron Man  Downey simply could have coasted off the success of that franchise and waited for the Oscar bait to come. What no one expected following the comic book success was Downey donning black-face and turning in one of the best comedic performances of the decade. He was justly rewarded with an Academy Award nomination, unfortunately he was going up against Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight. Regardless of who went home with the trophy Oscar night Downey solidified his status as an actor unafraid to seek roles outside the norm. What's most remarkable about the portrayal is that at no point during the film did the concept seem offensive at all. Lazarus's borderline obsessive devotion to his craft is sent up so well we forget that it'