Woody Allen, David Lynch, Michael Mann, Martin Scorcese, Pedro Almodovar, Wes Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, Alfonso Cuaron, Johnathan Demme, Terry Gilliam and John Landis. Listed above are 11 well-known and talented directors with 45 Academy Award nominations between them and what do they all have in common? They are among 100 Hollywood notables who recently signed a petition urging the release of exiled filmmaker, Roman Polanski, after he was arrested in Switzerland last Sunday whilst in route to a film festival in …
Category: Commentary
Patrick Swayze died yesterday at age 57 from pancreatic cancer, something his family, fans and the public have kind of expected since he was diagnosed with the disease in March of 2008. I’m not going to sit her and mince words and say Swayze was a great actor. He wasn’t. But Swayze was talented and was a fantastic entertainer. He was a big fixture in cinema during my high school days and proved that dudes can kick ass and be …
As a 35 year-old man, my anticipation for the new comedy Funny People was tantamount to the exuberance I felt during my youth for The Empire Strikes Back or Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom – you know, back when I was sporting Underroos and playing with G.I. Joe and He-Man toys. I suppose my excitement for an “adult” movie is part of growing up (although I still get giddy for a juicy, brainless summer popcorn release) , but …
The Salt Lake Tribune has a story up about a new religious study conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, and amongst various tidbits about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS, i.e. Mormons), the study reports that 68 percent of LDS folks feel their values are threatened by Hollywood. According to the study, the “general population” feels less threatened by Hollywood at only a 42 percent clip. I’m not really sure what …
John Campea of The Movie Blog likes to point out quite often that video game movies suck. Sadly, I’d have to agree. I suppose you could call me a “gamer,” but I really only follow a few franchises – “Halo,” “Gears of War,” and “Call of Duty” – and I’m rarely impressed or surprised by other games. I think “BioShock” and “Dead Space” are the only other games of late that have been both awesome in gameplay and easily destined …
Sid Ganis, president of The Motion Picture Academy, announced today the best picture category at next year’s Oscars will be enlarged from five nominees to 10. Ganis said, “Having 10 best picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize.” Translation: The Pixar mafia henchmen beat the ever-lovin’ snot out of them …
So Up retained the number one spot at the box office this weekend with a $44.2 million take, giving a Three Stooge slap, bonk and poke to The Hangover (if just barely) and kicking Will Ferrell and Land of the Lost where they might not have deserved it most- right in the pruney. Which goes to prove Andy and Dan are both prophetic. Or good guessers. Or a couple dudes who can simply state the obvious. Let’s go with the …
One of the fun internet “news” stories that keeps coming up in the wake of Star Trek‘s new success is William “No, I’M Kirk!!” Shatner’s heartache at not having been cast in the reboot and his unbecoming (and overblown?) desire for insertion into future installments. I love being Shat on as much as the next guy– his self-referential Priceline Negotiator ads are humorous enough and as a personality he’s a barrel of monkeys–, but as bad as he wants to …