FILMTACULAR

iwdrm: “I’m going to kill myself tomorrow.” The Royal...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:27:47 -0500

iwdrm:

“I’m going to kill myself tomorrow.”

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

comicbookcovers: World’s Finest #250, May 1978, cover by Jim...

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:03:24 -0500

comicbookcovers:

World’s Finest #250, May 1978, cover by Jim Aparo

Spielberg Blames Lucas for Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:06:01 -0400

Spielberg Blames Lucas for Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull:

Compliments of The A.V. Club

That totally explains it. I always find it funny that George Lucas has become what George Lucas always feared.

Drop the “The.” Just “Filmtacular.”...

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:19:00 -0400

Drop the “The.” Just “Filmtacular.” It’s cleaner

Oh, and I’ve returned to Tumblr

First of all, I apologize for my week of absence. When all of...

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:13:53 -0400

First of all, I apologize for my week of absence. When all of your fellow employees go on vacation at the same time, your manager tends to give you a boat load of hours which is what happened to me. Alas, I’m back. And I’ve brought the teaser poster for Chris Nolan’s upcoming The Dark Knight Rises. Word on the street is that the teaser trailer should be released in the upcoming weeks. When it does, I’ll be sure to share.

Here is the trailer for Life In A Day, the amazing collaboration...

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:02:00 -0400

Here is the trailer for Life In A Day, the amazing collaboration project by Ridley Scott, Kevin Macdonald, National Geographic, and YouTube. This documentary film chronicles one day on this planet, and was created entirely from over 4,500 hours of uploaded footage filmed by people all around the world showing what they did July 24th 2010. This might be one of the most important films released in the last decade, if you were to ask me. Its amateur filmmaking at the grandest scale.

Oh Canada!

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 11:48:00 -0400

Today, Canadians are celebrating the 144st anniversary of the constitution that brought this country together by drinking a lot of alcohol, blowing things up and taking advantage of the free public transit whilst intoxicated. In other words, its Canada Day. I thought I would conjure a little list of some Canadian films that anyone of any nationality should definitely check out. I tried keeping the list with a nice variety to please most people, so put your toque on and grab yourself a nanaimo bar and watch some of these:

Water (2005) - Directed by Deepa Mehta and the conclusion to the Elements trilogy, Water portrays the hardships and lives of several widows in India during the late 30 British Indian Empire era. What They Said: “Quite possibly the best picture of the year thus far, with no fewer than three of the most luminous female performances I have ever seen onscreen” - Andrew Sarris, The New York Observer

Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008) - A humorous documentary about the legendary Toronto rock band Anvil, a band that time and pretty much everyone forgot. Except that they were one of the biggest influences for little bands such as Metallica, Anthrax, and Motorhead. What They Said: “See Anvil! if you love heavy metal, because these guys are legends. See Anvil! if you don’t love heavy metal because this story is legendary” - Giles Hardie, Sydney Morning Herald

Strange Brew (1983) - A very strange tale indeed about stereotypical Canadian brothers Bob and Doug Mackenzie (Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis) trying to stop an evil brewmaster bent on taking over the world with his hypnotic beer. Whats not to love? What They Said: “Brilliant. Stupid…but brilliant” - Widgett Walls, Needcoffee.com

Black Christmas (1974) - The famous cult slasher flick that started it all. Before Jason Vorhees, Ghostface and Michael Myers were terrorizing horny teenagers, this movie had the genre on lockdown. A must watch for any horror fan. What They Said: “Remains one of the most under-appreciated gems of the genre” - Felix Vasquez Jr, Film Threat

Cube (1997) - In this surrealist science-fiction film, a group of people wake up in several cubed prison cells and must now escape to the void if they wish to prevent a gruesome death. What They Said: “Cube was named best Canadian debut feature at Toronto last year, and there’s no questioning Natali, clearly a visionary, is an important new talent” - Kevin Thomas, The Los Angeles Times

My Winnipeg (2007) - Guy Maddin directs this experimental documentary about his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. In combination to Maddin’s slick narration and juxtaposition of old and new footage, you get lost in the dream like fantasy world of sleepwalkers that becomes Winnipeg. What They Said: “If you love movies in the very sinews of your imagination, you should experience the work of Guy Maddin” - Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun Times

Videodrome (1982) - Last but certainly not least, we have the master of body horror and prized Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, starring James Woods as a television station president who is looking to up the ante in his own risque programming by showing torture footage. What begins as a way to bring up viewership in controversy turns out to be much more entrenched with mind control conspiracy then originally thought. What They Said: “Never coherent and frequently pretentious, the film remains an audacious attempt to place obsessive personal images before a popular audience — a kind of Kenneth Anger version of Star Wars” - Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

That’s it eh? No, not really. If I have peaked your interest in Canadian cinema after this read, then I suggest you should visit the National Film Board of Canada website for tons of free short and feature films and animation from Canadian filmmakers.

Looks like Pixar is rebounding from the perfection hangover that...

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:06:06 -0400

Looks like Pixar is rebounding from the perfection hangover that was Cars 2. I haven’t seen the film yet so I can’t really drop any criticism or praise, but theres still no denying that aside from being a commercial box office stud ($66.1 million) it was a critical dud (33% Rotten Rating with a 5.5/10 average score).

Nonetheless, this outing looks spectacular. In my opinion, this trailer alone is showing some of the best tech and aesthetics that Pixar has displayed thus far. I love the concept, and I love the cast, and I’m an infamous Pixar fanboy so there is no doubt in my mind I will love this film. But I found it interesting that Pixar decided to make a fantasy epic a year after DreamWorks success off How To Train Your Dragon (which is also amazing and if you haven’t seen it already you should feel bad). People will tell me that Brave has been in the works for a while now, citing its previous title The Bear & The Bow; however, if I’m not mistaken Pixar’s original plans were to release the now cancelled Newt before this due to its striking similarity in plot to BlueSky Studios’ Rio

Diablo Cody set to make directorial debut

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:56:03 -0400

Everybody’s favourite stripper turned turned blogger turned Academy Award winning screenwriter Diablo Cody is currently planning to direct her own script entitled Lamb of God. The comedy film involves a religious woman losing her faith, going to Vegas to do Vegas naughty things, and eventually returning to her past faith. Hopefully we see more of the witty comedy seen in Juno, as opposed to the all-around failure Jennifer’s Body which starred Megan Fox as some sort of horny she-demon. I’ve seen it. It sucked. Both ways. Yes I made a fellatio and failure joke in one. I’ll stop now.

Creating the connections between Ridley Scott's Alien and Prometheus

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 08:00:06 -0400

The Alien mythos is one of the more established science fiction franchises this side of the galaxy, so it comes to no surprise that Ridley Scott’s return to the genre in his upcoming film Prometheus would draw comparisons to his original facehugger baby. The film was originally planned as a prequel but has since separated from the term, but that doesn’t mean they are disconnected. Damon Lindeloff who is currently penning the film brought his two-cents on the subject recently on The Kevin Pollack Chat Show:

It started as an Alien prequel. That is what everybody wanted it to be. Obviously, Ridley Scott has not made a science fiction movie in 25 years, since Blade Runner, so the idea that he’s returning to this genre is huge. But there is a real issue which is — what is the state of the Alien franchise at this point in our lives? There has been Alien vs. Predator and all these things, and its been completely and totally diluted. I’ve always felt that really good prequels should be original movies. And the sequels to those prequels should not be the movie which already exists because, with all due respect to anyone who makes a prequel, but why would you ruin the greatest twist in the history of cinema, “Luke, I am your father”, by showing me three movies which basically spoil that surprise. You can do movies which take place before Star Wars, but I don’t need to see the story of the Skywalker clan. Show me something else which I can’t guess the possible outcome of. There is no suspense in inevitability. So a true prequel should essentially proceed the events of the original film, but be about something entirely different, feature different characters , have an entirely different theme, although it takes place in that same world. That was my fundamental feeling about what this movie wanted to be.

The Filmtacular Top Films: #25 Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:23:00 -0400

A good friend of mine recently completed a top 25 film list consisting of the films that were both influential to him as a film student and films that are just plain good that anyone should see, regardless of who they are. I thought this would be a good idea, and made a list as good as I could. You may not agree with me, you may think I’m plain criminal for leaving out certain films or including certain ones, but that doesn’t matter. This is my list, so heres my first entry:

In this psychedelics and alcohol induced road trip (and I use this term literally) of Raoul (Johnny Depp) and his legal attorney Dr. Gonzo (Benico Del Toro), the sands of Nevada reek of cheap liquor, blood, LSD and sweat and the duo seek to soak as much of it as they can while on a business trip to cover a local motorcycle race, the Mint 400. The film’s visuals purposely, to the best of their ability, make the viewer feel as uncomfortable as possible. The blurs and distortions mimic the hallucinations seen on screen. For example, Raoul has an episode in a Las Vegas lobby bar, tripping over the stools and patrons but in his world he is being slowly surrounded by reptilian creatures partaking a huge ~~sexy~~ orgy in the room is both striking and comical. Las Vegas is famous for having quirky themed casinos, and in this scene , the major trip occurs in a place called the Bazooko Circus which results in Raoul and Gonzo spinning round and round and round on a marry-go-round while terrifying images of clowns spark enough fear in Gonzo that he pounders suicide in the hotel room, which by the way at this point is a filthy mess due to the sheer amount of room service food and alcohol ordered.

Depp is definitely the strong point in this film, and his narration is a stark contrast to his antics on screen. The more collected and without a doubt sober Raoul narrates the entire film, providing some pretty deep and memorable lines. To me, it gave the film the satire feel that the book had, and thus made everything that was happening even funnier. This includes going to an anti-drug rally whilst high on cocaine. This includes an attempt to purchase an orangoutang. This includes thinking your part of a war scrimmage when in reality you are imagining it while driving on mescaline and ether. Ah, the American dream, mes amis! I remember being told that this would be the weirdest film I will ever watch. To this day, it still holds that spot. But thats what I like about it. I love the neon lights that give Vegas a surreal fantasy world appeal to it, the oddness of the characters not to mention the hilariousness of their antics, and the weird pacing that always forces you to question “What the hell is actually going on?”. If you haven’t seen this already, I suggest you give it a look. But please, once you start the film, don’t just stop because your uncomfortable or because its weird. There is no stopping in bat country.

Check out The Seven Clockwork Driverbaums and read Anthony’s Number 25: The Great Dictator http://7daysoffilm.tumblr.com/post/6130842223/25-the-great-dictator

Famous Cars As Pixar's Cars Characters

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:36:35 -0400

Heres some interesting concept art that takes famous film/television vehicles and re-imagines them in the Cars universe. Hit the jump for the rest of the pictures which include the DeLorean from Back to the Future and The Ectomobile from Ghostbusters.

Submarine Review

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:17:25 -0400

Submarine Review:

projectedimages:

Submarine (2011)

By Angel Perez / June 23 2011

Exceptional filmmakers, known as auteurs, directing their first feature film lay out their influences while hinting towards the style of their next films. Orson Welles demonstrated this in Citizen Kane (1941) by his command…

Read the full review by visiting Angel Perez’s blog Projected Images

First Official Images of The Hobbit

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:54:53 -0400

The first official images of Peter Jackson’s upcoming epic and adaption of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit have been released to the public. Sure sparks memories of the very first Lord Of The Rings film. The novel is being set to be split into two films, with the first one set on being released sometime in December 2012. Hopefully before the twenty first, because that would suck. You know, with the end of the world and all that jazz. Hopefully John Cusack could prevent it so we can watch this film. Hit the jump for the first official images of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins

On-set production photographs of Martin...

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:40:15 -0400

On-set production photographs of Martin Scorsese’s superb Taxi Driver have been released in Steve Schapiro’s photo essay about the film. They provide an interesting perspective on one of the greatest and most influential films of all-time. If you haven’t already, I highly suggest you purchase the anniversary edition on Blu-Ray or DVD. Its packs the amazing film with amazing special features that should have you asking “Are you talking to me?” in the mirror the next time you go take a shower. Click the picture to view the rest of the photos on Total Film, each accompanied with little snippets of commentary from Schapiro himself.

In celebration of Pixar’s opening weekend for Cars 2 (now...

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 01:28:51 -0400

In celebration of Pixar’s opening weekend for Cars 2 (now looking up to be the Emeryville animation powerhouse’s first dud…*virtual tear*), I present to you: Pixar’s first Academy Award winning short film, Tin Toy. Humble beginnings no?

Heres a cool little video from The AV Club, showcasing how the...

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:44:07 -0400

Heres a cool little video from The AV Club, showcasing how the original set of the 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has now been turned into a restaurant. I don’t know how I’d feel ordering a hamburger ~~filled with mystery, delicious human meat~~ there, but what I do know is that I better hear a roar of a chainsaw coming from the kitchen while they cook or else I’d want my money back.

John Carter - Art Revealed

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:40:23 -0400

Two pieces of artwork have been released by Disney from the upcoming science fiction epic John Carter (previously known as John Carter of Mars), adapted from the series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I’ve been intrigued by this project ever since I got word that famed Pixar director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) was attached to directing his first live action feature. I later heard that Stanton, fellow Pixar alumni Mark Andrews (who will be directing Pixar’s upcoming “The Brave”) and Pulitzer winning author Michael Chabon would also be penning the script. This artwork is hinting at something good, so at this point all we can do is hope for the best. Cast wise, it should be very familiar to comic book fans, as it seems anyone who has been in a comic book adaptation is in this. Just take a look at it: you have Taylor Kitsch (Gambit/Xmen Origins) as John Carter, William Defoe (Green Goblin/Spider-Man) as Tars Tarkas, Lynn Collins (Silver Fox/Xmen Origins) as Dejah Thoris, Thomas Haden Church (Sandman/Spider-Man 3) as Hajus, Dominic West (Jigsaw/Punisher: War Zone) as Sab Than, and finally Mark Strong (Sinestro/ Green Lantern) as the villain Matai Shang. Thats a whole lot of panels for one movie.

Interesting side note, heres a quote from Mark Strong on the recent light of the film’s title change:

“The reason is that he has to earn that title. Again, it’s a franchise or a number of books; a series of books that people may or may not know, but if you call him John Carter of Mars, I think at the very beginning, all the work’s been done and what Andrew wants to do, I think, is introduce people to this first film, and by the end of it, he becomes John Carter of Mars, but not at the beginning. In the beginning he’s John Carter, but by the end of the first film, he’s John Carter of Mars; so he’s earned that title to take it off should it want to go to further storytelling.”

7daysoffilm: This is a sampler from an art show done recently...

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 01:36:39 -0400

7daysoffilm:

This is a sampler from an art show done recently that mashed up Quentin Tarantino and The Coen Brothers’ filmography into some really amazing pieces of art. Check out the website where you can see so much more and don’t blame me for dropping some major dough, I am probably going to pick a couple up myself. The rug piece from The Big Lebowski is probably my favourite one.

The final trailer for Harry Potter & and Deathly Hallows...

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:54:52 -0400

The final trailer for Harry Potter & and Deathly Hallows Part 2 has been released. I haven’t necessarily been the biggest fan of the series, losing patience around the half way mark in the Order of the Phoenix novel and I haven’t seen a Harry Potter film since Goblet of Fire; however, I’d be a liar if I didn’t say that the substantial hype surrounding the final installment for one of the biggest phenomenon’s of all-time in addition to viewing this wonderfully put together trailer that my interest has been revived. Maybe I should pay several visits to Hogwarts before July 15th.