I know I’ve been critical of Toy Story 3 in previous posts, but this poster rocks. I’m starting to warm to the idea of a third Toy Story movie. I mean, it’s Pixar for crying out loud. They poop gold.
Archive for the 'News' Category
Shutter Island is the first novel by Dennis Lehane I’ve ever read and I loved every page of his deftly crafted thriller. I haven’t read Mystic River or Gone Baby Gone, but I enjoyed both movies immensely and my love of those two films actually prompted me to give Lehane’s writing a chance. After giving snaps and a circle to Shutter Island, I picked up Any Given Day and it’s waiting patiently on my bookshelf. As soon as I finish Stephen King’s Under the Dome (sometime in 2012 probably), I’ll give it a whirl. I’ll also be wondering if Any Given Day has a surprise ending. Fans of Lehane can see a pattern now, especially with the three works I mentioned above. They all have a juicy WTF finale, a revelation or realization that leaves most readers slackjawed and wondering how they missed the clues.
This brings me back around to Shutter Island. Fans of the book were probably relatively pleased with Martin Scorsese’s celluloid adaptation. I gave Shutter Island a solid B and felt it was a virtual step-by-step translation from page to screen. Many critics and patrons have cried foul at the films twist ending, but those points miss the point. It’s not gimmicky. It’s not cheap. It’s not thrown in by mistake for convenience. The ending is connected to the soul of the book and is supported by immense character study and depth. Perhaps that is why it isn’t cheap and tawdry.
Continue reading ‘Dennis Lehane Talks Shutter Island Ending’
I’ve opined many times on this very website about how I think 3-D was, is and will always be gimmicky, irrelevant and 100 percent lame. I have yet to see a movie, including last year’s darlings, Avatar and Up, where the three-dimensional technology enhanced the experience and story, making the feature unequivocally better. I can also say without hesitation there is no soon or yet to be movie that has piqued my interest because it will feature 3-D. I hate it and I hope it dies a quick and painful death.
Another reason I hate 3-D is I can’t even recognize it onscreen. Say what? Yeah, I have amblyopia – commonly referred to as “lazy eye” – which means the brain doesn’t fully acknowledge the images seen by the amblyopic eye, which, in my case, is my right eye. I wore a patch when I was really little and it went away until I was about 17 or 18. As of today, it’s just something I live with. And I’m not the only person suffering, as much as 5 percent of the populations suffer from amblyopia, with up to another 12 percent suffering from some degree of stereoblindness, which is the inability to see depth properly. That’s why Johnny Depp won’t be seeing Alice in Wonderland in 3-D. He recently told Entertainment Weekly, “I’ve got a weird thing where I don’t see properly out of my left eye, so I truly can’t see 3-D.”
What are your thoughts on 3-D movies nowadays and in the future? Yay or nay?
Saw this article today from Drew Magary at Popcornbiz and thought I’d share his tips with AATM readers, particularly Dan, Harry and Aaron, who will all be getting cinematically teabagged by yours truly when I rule the weekend with my awesome Oscar picks. I need some revenge and redemption after getting worked by Dan, Aaron and Harry (in that order) in picking Oscar nominees.
1. Pay Attention To Everyone Else’s Predictions And Slavishly Follow Them
Listen to who people in the industry are predicting. Don’t go with any wild, outside the box predictions just because YOU have a hunch. Oh, you think Jeremy Renner could sneak in a shocking Best Actor win? You are wrong. That isn’t happening. Ever. Get your picks from people who know what they’re talking about. Entertainment Weekly. Roger Ebert. The Gurus of Gold. Trust me. This will help. Don’t go it alone, and don’t think you can intuit some magic insight about how Oscar voters vote that no one else can divine. That is stupid. Let everyone else in the office weed themselves out of the pool by making these wild stabs.
The only surprises that happen at the Oscars are the ones that, really, NO ONE sees. There may be a shocking win on Sunday night. I promise you it won’t be one you picked.
I realize it’s easy and popular to bash the Twihards, Stephanie Meyer’s craptastic writing and the whole fabric of the Twilight universe, but while I poke fun at the fanbase (divided equally between cougars and those who just bought training bras), I do think some people tend to bash the movies and books simply because of the mass appeal. However, with that said, when I see Twilight fans sending ignorant hate mail, it just makes me want to mock them ceaselessly.
Check out the email below, sent to George Roush of the website LatinoReview.com. If you’re having a bad Friday and need a good laugh, read Kayla Patterson’s words below or visit their website to see the email complete with attached images. Try not to punch your own loins in the process. Yes, she is that dumb.
To whom this may concern:
This movie was a complete waste and I feel that it offends ALL Twilight Fans around the world, that including myself. For one, it was a COMPLETE remaking of the Wolf Pack from the Twilight Saga: New Moon. It gives the werewolves a bad name and makes them look like some deformed mutation of a rabid dog. I actually started to like werewolves after seeing Jacob Black and all his awesomeness on the big screen at the movies. That was until I saw your crappy remake of what you call to be a “were wolf”. I don’t see how you live with yourself for making it the way you did. If I made this movie, I would be ashamed to even admit that I owned it. How can a werewolf be killed with a silver bullet? Better yet, have you saw the transformation of the man that is “supposed” to be the wolf? He sits in some chair and his entire body turns in to some mutated freak. If you would watch the transformation of Jacob Black, (Taylor Lautner) he doesn’t come close to looking as fake, cheap and or mutated as the wolf man. You tell me, who looks to be the better werewolf. Your stupid Wolf Movie didn’t even make the top Movie for the charts; Valentines Day WITH TAYLOR Lautner! Get that this is MY oppinion and I felt I wanted to express it because I saw that your
email was on your site. I wanted to let you know this is what i thought of the wolf man that sucks.
FREAKIN LAUTNER DID!
After reading about the tragic suicide of actor Andrew Koenig, best known for his portrayal of “Boner” during the 1980s on television’s Growing Pains, I was surprised to learn he played the Joker in one of the best fan films I’ve ever seen, Batman: Dead End. Apparently this short movie premiered during the summer of 2003 at the San Diego Comic Con, but I wasn’t aware of it until Dan showed it to me last year. I’ve posted the movie below. It’s eight minutes long and was directed by Sandy Collora, who, as of this writing, has made a feature film called Hunter Prey (See the trailer here). I couldn’t find any information about a release or DVD, so my guess is you’ll have to keep checking Netflix for a release date.
At any rate, if you haven’t seen the video below, check it out. Nothing could be cooler than Batman, the Joker, Aliens and Predators, right?
I just finished reading Michael Crichton’s Pirate Latitudes, so despite Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End sucking three levels of Davy Jone’s squidbeard, I’m a little jazzed for a new pirates movie. Now the only question is will it be Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, due to hit theaters in May 2011, or the aforementioned Pirate Latitudes, coming to cinemas via Steven Spielberg and David Koepp, that I see first. I’m guessing it will be On Stranger Tides.
I should feel leery, given the crapfest that was the third Pirates movie, but I’m encouraged by the cast: Johnny Depp returns as Jack Sparrow, as does Geoffrey Rush as Barbosa, and Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane are in negotiations to play adversaries to Captain Sparrow, with McShane playing the famous pirate, Blackbeard. I wonder if he’ll juice himself up for the roll by sniffing on some of Blackbeard’s Delight. It’s a formidable scent!
Faithful readers of AndyatTheMovies.com probably saw a post a few days ago that featured some new Levi lovin’ images from the upcoming (June 2010) release of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. We have since been asked formally by Summit Entertainment’s legal counsel to take the images off the site. You can read the full text of the letter after the jump.
I can’t imagine why Summit wouldn’t want a little free press, even if I am mocking the film to some extent. But more importantly, what are they trying to protect? Secrets from the movie? I doubt it, because those images are so bland and non-descript they could have been from any of the three Twilight movies. Seems to be they’re being heavy-handed and uptight, but that’s ok, because while I can’t share the images any more, I can share an artist’s interpretation of what was shown in the images. Click for the full-sized masterpiece.
Enjoy.
Continue reading ‘Twilight Eclipse Levi Lovin’ Photos Removed via Cease and Desist’
Next to Clash of the Titans, there is no movie in the next two months I am more excited to see than Kick-Ass. In fact, I’d say there’s nothing in 2010 that has me more giddy than Perseus and Hit Girl. I just can’t fathom how Kick-Ass won’t be anything but a stellar success both critically and monetarily. Matthew Vaughn, the movie’s director, is the man behind the slick (but somewhat over-glorified) Layer Cake, and the under-appreciated Stardust. Below is a UK poster of the filthy-mouthed and deadly Hit Girl, played by up-and-coming Chloe Moretz, last seen as Tom’s wise (and filthy-mouthed) little sister, Rachel, in (500) Days of Summer.
Click to biggie size the image for fresh Kick-Ass goodness. The movie hits megaplexes in the United States on April 16, 2010.
Blade 4 Needs a Re-Boot, Not Wesley Snipes
He has a thinly veiled disdain for Blade: Trinity director David S. Goyer.
Hopefully the folks over at New Line realize that the love of all things vampire is cresting right now. I think they have a small window of opportunity to go back to the drawing board and re-boot the Blade franchise, i.e. Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Incredible Hulk, and really inject some new life into a kick-ass comic book character. In order to do that, Snipes has to go.
What do you think? Want more Blade? Want to see a re-boot?