Yesterday, blog website MarketSaw, specializing in information for 3D videogames and movies, said that the next much anticipated Tolkien adaptation, The Hobbit, will now be produced as a trilogy. Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo Del Toro has already signed on to direct The Hobbit series, which was confirmed as a two-film deal with New Line Cinema …
As Sony Pictures Entertainment preps the fourth installment of Spider-Man (now on its third rewrite), the studio has hired screenwriter James Vanderbilt to pen Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6. James Vanderbilt penned the first draft of Spiderman 4 before it was taken over by Gary Ross. According to Variety, Raimi didn’t embrace all of Vanderbilt’s …
This past weekend, in order to help promote his new film Inglourious Basterds, famed director Quentin Tarantino recorder a short video for online film-news website Sky Movies (movies.sky.com). The video shows Tarantino naming out his favorite top 20 films of the past 17 years. 17 marks a lucky number for Tarantino, as it was 17 …
Undertones: Volume 5 Removing the veneer of squeaky-clean suburban American life to reveal its seamy underbelly, David Lynch’s 1986 film, Blue Velvet, is a modern masterpiece and perhaps the most crystallized example of Lynch’s filmic vision. Concerned with the misadventure of a clean-cut teen called Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) who upon discovering and subsequently investigating a …
As the summer winds down, I decided to make my list of my ten favorite films so far in the year. With TIFF and Oscar season on their way, there’s a good chance that only half these films will make my top ten come the end of the year, but I felt the need to …
The Dark Hour Directed by Elio Quiroga Any attempt to unearth hidden meaning behind Spain’s Sci-Fi thriller The Dark Hour would simply give it too much credit. While watching this film, it becomes glaringly obvious that writer-director Elio Quiroga heavily borrows visuals and themes from the Alien franchise, but fails miserably to evoke the same …
Black Dynamite Directed by Scott Sanders Although director Scott Sanders’ Black Dynamite is being touted as a brazen spoof of 70’s blaxploitation films, its tone is less ‘spoof ‘ than it is simply tongue-in-cheek. Yes, there are pimps, pushers, ho’s, nunchucks, polyester suits and 8-track tapes, but Sanders does not rely on these conventions to …
According to Page Six, a documentary surrounding the life of reggae groundbreaker Bob Marley entitled Marley has allegedly lost Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme. He is the second major director to leave the project; apparently Martin Scorsese “dropped out of the project citing ‘scheduling conflicts,’ and Demme was brought on to replace him.” …
Trick ‘r Treat Directed by Michael Dougherty In an era of toothless, multiplex horror, being a fun, teen-friendly horror film almost seems like a dirty word. But that’s exactly what Michael Dougherty’s done with his feature debut, “Trick ‘r Treat”, and it’s really not such a bad thing. In fact, it’s a very good thing …
According to Variety, Bryan Singer’s next project isn’t going to be Wolverine 2, or X-Men: First Class, for that matter – turns out he’s been inked to direct a new film adaptation of Glen Larson’s 1978 TV series Battlestar Galactica. Galactica, of course, was also recently adapted by Ronald D. Moore into a wildly successful …
Generally speaking, I don’t like to be lectured. It brings back painful memories of my childhood, when my father would continually admonish me for being untidy, killing the family pets, and digging up my dead sister for Saturday night ‘dates.’ I especially dislike preaching about race relations, because ever since flipping past The O’Reilly Factor while channel surfing, I’ve become convinced that only communist agitators and terrorists complain about racism. But I’ll make a special exception for director Neill Blomkamp’s District 9, because it mixes its didactic moralizing with giant bugs and the mechanized body armour from Robot Jox.
Good criticism is a skill that must be learned, practiced and perfected – but more importantly, it comes with time. Seeing a diverse array of films broadens your views and expands your cinematic vocabulary while aiding in making astute comparisons. The more diverse and numerous the films in your vocabulary, the more insightful, relevant, and …
The Warlords 2007, Hong Kong/China Directed by Peter Chan Written by Xu Lan, Chun Tin-Nam, Aubery Lam, Huang Jian Xin, Jojo Hui, He Jiping, Guo Jun Li, James Yuen Starring Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Xu Jinglei 127 minutes, English 35 mm Generally speaking, when an action star attempts a role that requires delivering …
AMC, creators of Mad Men, have just confirmed a deal to adapt the hit comic book The Walking Dead to the small screen. Director Frank Darabont (The Mist, Shawshank Redemption) has signed on to write and direct the TV series with rumors of some A-list actors on board. The Walking Dead was originally a monthly …
Dear Sick Girl, I’m not sure what made me fall in love you or why we came together, but I do know that I’ll never be the same because of you. People say there’s no such thing as love at first sight but after seeing you, I’d have to say people don’t really know much …
District 9 Directed by Neill Blomkamp Produced by Peter Jackson It can be debated whether the quintessential science fiction film has stood the test of time, but when it comes to aliens, they stand as a genre all on their own. The seventies brought us Alien (1979), the eighties brought us E.T. (1982) and the …
South Africa has been to hell and back during the past century. Famine, corruption, AIDS and the apartheid era have seriously hindered the country’s chances of becoming a serious player within the African continent. A few years ago, local director Neill Blomkamp produced a short film entitled Alive in Joburg, a 6-minute science fiction “documentary” that would eventually be expanded to become District 9. The aforementioned short was so well made that Peter Jackson commissioned Blomkamp to direct the ill-fated Halo movie, but when that project fell through, Jackson felt that his South African counterpart should have another shot at directing a full-length film.
One of the foremost comedy writer/directors of the last 25 years has died. John Hughes, creator of such teen comedies as Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and his opus, the terrific The Breakfast Club died of a heart attack at the age of 59. He almost single-handedly defined the concept of “teen comedy” as we …
2009’s Ten Best and Five Worst Films (So Far) We’re technically over halfway through 2009, but a disproportionately large number of great films tend to spring up in the latter months of the year, so let’s call it halfway for the sake of our collective sanity. It hasn’t been a terrific year for filmgoing so …
Embodiment Of Evil Directed by Jose Mojica Marins *** 1/2 José Mojica Marins’ demonically anticipated Zé do Caixão (Coffin Joe) comeback film is everything you could hope for. Embodiment cleverly explains Zé ‘s absence over the years by opening with the character being released from prison after serving decades of time for the crimes depicted …
Fantastic Fest (September 24-October 1, 2009 www.fantasticfest.com) is one of the most unique, diverse, and successful film festivals in the world. The fest showcases great mainstream and independent films from around the world, and from genres such as sci-fi, fantasy, action, and horror, amongst others. Fantastic Fest also has bright stars and big premieres; having …
Inglourious Basterds Directed by Quentin Tarantino Normally I approach a new Tarantino film with caution because more often than not, due to his fame and talent, his movies are severely hyped in the months leading up to their release; they are promoted with so much zeal and accompanied by so many industry buzz-words that I …
Undertones: Volume 4 Jim Jarmusch’s transcendental western, Dead Man (1995), is the tale of a spiritual and physical journey taken by an ordinary man named William Blake (Johnny Depp) sometime in the later part of the 19th century. Travelling to a frontier town called Machine, Blake hopes to be given a job as an accountant …