Beatles Stories screening (Oct. 2), Fab 4 Musical (Oct. 5), and BeatleFair Convention (Oct. 27)
SoCal Beatles fans will find several treats in their October goodie bags. First up is a DVD release and L.A. screening (Oct. 2) of Beatles Stories, a new documentary featuring stories about The Fab Four, told from the POV of …
Opening this week
Phew! Lots going on, folks! Fall is well and truly upon us. Looper is the hot big release of the week, but it left my colleague Scott cold. Pity. I'm a Rian Johnson fan - even liked Brothers Bloom. On …
Interview with Solomon Kane writer-director Michael J. Bassett
That hat! Solomon Kane was the creation of Robert E. Howard, the fantasy writer who gave the world Conan the Barbarian. Kane was that oddest of things, a Puritan superhero, a spiritually pure counterpart to Conan's physical perfection. Lo, these …
Free movies of the week: Educational films 101
No matter how gloomy a day it was outside, nothing brightened the inside of a classroom more than when the teacher pulled down the tattered screen and wheeled out the 16mm Bell & Howell Autoload. The entertainment value found in …
Ben Affleck is a "wonder sperm kind of guy"
While guesting on Ellen, Jennifer Garner let slip a bit of information that many in the entertainment industry have speculated on for years. When asked if she and hubby Ben Affleck planned on having child #4, Garner told the spermophobic …
San Diego Film Festival at MCASD
On Friday, September 28, the San Diego Film Festival will screen four films in the Sherwood Auditorium at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla (700 Prospect St). Tickets cost $14. Push the Limits begins at 5:00 p.m. This …
Review: Looper
In a dystopian universe that resembles any number of cramped, squalid depictions of a Hollywoodized future, the mob blindfolds finks and sends them 30 years into the past to be whacked by hitmen known as "loopers." There's a catch: when …
Be the first in your town to see Paranormal Activity 4
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/27/32338/ It's seldom you'll find me promoting a film sight unseen, but I must admit to being a fan of this arm rest-grabbing found-footage franchise. It helps that Paranormal 3 & 4 were placed in the hands of the talented …
Interview with The Perks of Being a Wallflower writer-director Stephen Chbosky
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/27/32337/ Stephen Chbosky, left, on the set of the film. The coming-of-age film The Perks of Being a Wallflower, based on the bestselling YA novel by Stephen Chbosky, hits theaters Friday. To promote the film, the publicity department sent out …
Interview: David Spaltro brings Things I Don't Understand to the San Diego Film Festival
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/26/32293/ David Spaltro found me three years ago while Emulsion Compulsion was still alive and thriving. He had just finished work on his first feature, ...Around, and was looking for critics to review it. At the time I criticized the …
Scenes you probably won't see at tonight's opening of the San Diego Film Festival
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/26/32284/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/26/32283/ On (in?) the other hand, three times would make it a trend! But seriously, tonight marks the opening of the San Diego Film Festival, which bigger than ever this year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAxIemUNRKw
Betty Boop is back!
The jobless rate must be going down. Even Betty Boop is off the unemployment line! She starred in over 100 Paramount cartoons throughout the 1930's and with the exception of Poor Cinderella the animated cutie has never appeared in color. …
Horton Plaza 14: And then there were 7
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/24/32115/ The "Everything Must Go" signs draped across the windows confirmed the rumor. When Sam Goody's hits the wrecking ball in November, with it goes half of the screens at UA (or do you say Regal or Edwards?) Horton Plaza. …
Can you survive the Shutter Island room at the Haunted Hotel?
Hey, kids. Count Floyd here asking the bone-chilling question, "Baby, why are you wet?" Is it because you've been doused in torrential flop sweat after visiting the blood-spattered Shutter Island room at The Haunted Hotel in the Gaslamp? AAAAAAAAAAAAHH-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Nothing …
Last summer movies in the park
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/24/32086/ On Saturday, September 29, The County of San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation will feature the last two movies of summer. Madagascar (G) will play at the County Administration Center (1600 Pacific Hwy) in Little Italy. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/24/32087/ Puss …
The Laughing Alligator
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is featuring Juan Downey's The Laughing Alligator in the downtown building (1001 Kettner Blvd.). The 28-minute film uses black and white as well as color film. Downey's film is an autobiographical and ethnographic …
Review: House at the End of the Street
It's never a good sign when a major release is not shown to the press ahead of time. (There was a preview last night, but I figured I would wait a day and see it in the big Gaslamp.) Arriving …
Horrible Imaginings
The two-day Horrible Imaginings Film Festival will take place on Monday and Tuesday, October 1-2 at 8:00 p.m. with a pre-lecture at 7:30 p.m. at UC-San Diego's Price Center (Gilman Dr in La Jolla). http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/21/31954/ "On the first day of …
Free movies of the week: Logomania
Given my penchant for posting hopelessly arcane logo quizzes, it's safe to say that I'm a sucker for studio "idents." Last night I cracked open a Big!Lots find that's been parked on the DVD shelf for months. Somewhere in the …
Free movies of the week - the kids are most definitely not all right edition
Kids today, right? With their podcasts and their internet radio. They'll never understand the courage and determination of a pirate deejay like Christian Slater in Pump Up the Volume: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw12iur4CPU&feature=related Nor, I suppose, will they be able to sympathize with …
Movie fashion by Siobhan Braun, Jr.
Big Screen blogger and Reader film critic Scott Marks goes to the movies. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/20/31927/ Reader Hat: Freebie thrown to Marks during pre-show promotional giveaway at AMC Mission Valley. Jonas Bros. Sunglasses: 99 cents at the 99 Cent Only Store. Criterion …
Who would you cast to star in a Diana Vreeland biopic?
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/20/31909/ This morning's telephone call from England got me thinking. Lisa Immordino Vreeland, director of Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel, was on the line. When asked who should star as Diana Vreeland, the former pace-setting editor of Harper's …
The many spectacle/facial hair combos of delightful character actor Stanley Tucci
Look, I didn't choose the blog life, the blog life chose me. So yeah, I'm supposed to be doing other stuff, important stuff - analyzing trailers, reviewing movies, eating chicken and waffles, etc. etc. But instead, I'm posting this collage …
Entre Les Bras (Step Up to the Plate)
The Loft at UC-San Diego (911 Lyman Lane, Price Center East) will be screening Entre Les Bras (Step Up to the Plate) on Thursday, October 4. A dinner will be served at 7 p.m. and the film will begin at …
Opening this week
Surprise, surprise, I liked The Master. I'm a sucker for alienated vets with a predilection for booze and women. I also liked Step Up to the Plate. I'm a sucker for father-son issues being worked out in an atmosphere of …
A closer look at the trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5bvK-pMzJM&feature=player_embedded&noredirect=1 When you're taking a children's book and stretching it into a nine-hour film, you naturally want to avoid the kind of ponderous seriousness that bogs things down. Happily, you've got a natural source of comic relief in dwarves. Sure, …
A closer look at the trailer for Skyfall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgr2syY_OU4 You can see it, right? Javier Bardem's inspiration? It's amazing, the finest homage I've seen one actor pay another in a long time. Here, Bardem is, well, he's being John Malkovich. That pursed-lip sneer, that supercilious delivery in the …
First Friday Films: The Maltese Falcon
On Friday, October 5 the The San Diego Museum of Art (1450 El Prado) will screen The Maltese Falcon at 8 p.m. with a pre-film lecture at 7:00 p.m. by Eddie Muller who will "touch on the role of cinematic …
Interview: Nicholas Jarecki, the man behind Arbitrage
Nicholas Jarecki’s industry calling card was the 2001 book Breaking In: How 20 Film Directors Got Their Start. After several music videos and commercials, Jarecki collaborated with novelist Bret Easton Ellis on the screenplay to The Informers. Jarecki, 33, admits …
Rear Window
Cinema Under the Stars will screen Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1954 film Rear Window from Thursday to Saturday, September 27-29. "Delicious terror from master Hitchcock and a spine-tingling excursion into voyeurism. A wheel-chair bound photographer (Jimmy Stewart) amuses himself by spying …
More subtitles for dummies
Last week's opening salvo was literally months in the making. As if a bolt from above, the following frames appeared to me over the past few days. This post is dedicated to those allergic to funny writing at the bottom …
Local filmmaker Rebecca Tolin knows how to market her documentary
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/18/31761/ When last we spoke, documentary filmmaker Rebecca Tolin was nursing her wounds after being a last minute shut out at the SDSU Filmmaker's Showcase. At the time, she was looking for a venue to showcase her latest 10 minute …
Today in merchandising: moonshine!
Between Lawless and The Master, Annapurna Pictures is starting to build a name for itself as the most moonshiney production company going. And while Lawless sure made moonshinin' purty, The Master makes it compelling. So in all fairness, it should …
Meet The 3 Stooges, Peter Lorre, Bette Davis, and more in person!
My first meeting with Jerry Lewis should have been in 1963 when he made an opening-night appearance at Skokie's Old Orchard Theatre. My dumb-sock parents couldn't get their act together and instead carted me to see The Nutty Professor, sans-Jerry, …
Ken Cinema not 100 after all
My face is red, but I'm in good company. A 1990 University of San Diego graduate history survey on file with the San Diego Historical Society, word from a generally reliable source, and the dependable (as a rule) Cinema Treasures …
Hollywood consternation
My favorite part about the news that The Master set a per-screen box-office record last weekend (a record previously held by the similarly unusual Moonrise Kingdom) is the thought of Monday morning meetings among studio executives. "Quick! Bottle that lightning! …
Action movies galore
This week from Monday through Thursday (September 17-20) South Bay Drive-In (2170 Coronado Ave) features action and horror on their three screens. At 8:30 p.m. Lawless, The Possession and Resident Evil: Retribution will play, and at 10:35 the drive-in will …
Welcome, meet my parents
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/15/31531/ UC-San Diego is screening the 1989 surrealist comedy/horror film Parents on Thursday, September 27, on the East Lawn of Price Center for free. The film is set in the 1950s in a suburban neighborhood where a ten-year-old boy begins …
Free kids' movie @ Silver Wing Rec Center
On Saturday, September 22, Happy Feet Two will screen for free at Silver Wing Neighborhood Park (3737 Arey Dr) around 7 p.m. or 15 minute after dusk. Admission is free and hosted by The County of San Diego Department of …
Free movies of the week - big themes edition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJVuqYkI2jQ To celebrate the release of the trailer for Spielberg's Lincoln, here's Spielberg's Amistad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxRfe6C3otM&feature=related At the other end of the Civil War, you got Dances with Wolves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZYs8OGeCAA&feature=related And here's Pearl Harbor; that was a pretty big deal, too: …
Hillary Clinton stands up for offensive art.
It is with great fear and trepidation that I post anything about the whole Innocence of Muslims nightmare, because it's very easy to be misunderstood when speaking about these matters. But Innocence of Muslims is a movie, and this is …
A closer look at the trailer for Mama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Am7i7uM9r0 Hold on, a couple of those frames didn't appear the way they were supposed to... http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/14/31490/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/14/31489/ Okay, okay, not entirely fair. But the guy's name does get tossed around an awful lot for how little he's actually made. …
Opening This Week
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/14/31492/ Resident Evil: Retribution was not screened for the press. Being the admirer of the franchise that I am, I'll pick it up tomorrow and report back in a day or two. Mr. Matt has generally positive things to say …
4 films @ Santee Drive-In
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/14/31486/ This weekend (Fri-Sat) Santee Drive-In Theatre (10990 Woodside Ave) screens four films--two for adults and two for younger children. Resident Evil: Retribution (rated R) and Finding Nemo (rated G) will play at 8 and 11:35 p.m. Premium Rush (rated …
Deceptive advertising practices used to promote MCASD La Jolla's On Screen gala
The headline reads "Monte Carlo On Screen" and their website features a photo of Cary Grant and Marlene Dietrich in Josef Von Sternberg's Blonde Venus. A double-bill of Blonde Venus and Ernst Lubitsch's dazzling Monte Carlo?! Name the date and …
Tough Guys vs. Stand-Up Guys: compare and contrast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CEd1w04gl4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drm7lTx08ro So, when the next generation of actors gets old and grumpy, who will take up the mantle? Special Big Screen bonus: Tough Guys is, of course, available on YouTube in toto. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4khM7oNna8&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Horton Hears a Who! @ Cabrillo Heights Park
This is the fourth to last screening in the Summer Movies in the Park series hosted by The County of San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation. On Saturday, September 22, Horton Hears a Who! based on the Dr. Seuss …
A closer look at the trailer for Smashed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv48b4cpLCA What's that you say? A love story about a couple who bond over a shared love of booze? Color me inebriated! Interested! I mean interested! Really, though, what makes this trailer noteworthy is that it features not one, but …
British 'ninjas' silence disruptive theatre patrons
The movie has been on for less than 10 minutes when some punk with a short attention span decides that whatever he has to tell his friend back home can't wait until after the closing credits roll. The dumbbell powers-on …
The Master meets his Mistress.
Favorite exchange from the critical banter prior to this morning's screening of The Master, the highly-anticipated, L. Ron Hubbard-inspired new film from There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson and Capote actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, et al: "You mean …
Tung-Tied
Stop the presses! Did a certain writer new to The Big Screen with a name that rhymes with "Bobbin Stung" just post a piece asking readers to attend a screening of a spielbug sequel?! http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/12/31415/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/12/31416/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/12/31418/ She must not …
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/12/31412/ Cinema Under the Stars (4040 Goldfinch St) is featuring Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade this Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. Admission is $15 and includes a "film introduction by Ralph DeLauro of San Diego State, ergonomic seating, …
Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan
A washed-up actress abandons her career to ride the coattails of a powerful man. Has Jane Fonda lost her mind? Did the Oscar® -winning actress agree to star as herself in a made-for-cable biopic? Answering the second question first, no …
Review: Branded
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/10/31231/ Oddly enough, Roadside Attractions, the studio marketing Branded, a new thriller-cum-satire of humanity’s dependence on corporate logos, saw no need to fire off a promotional flare. Unscreened for the press, Branded dropped on several screens last Friday. Literal-minded children, …
A closer look at the trailer for Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.
My, my, times have changed. Used to be, all you needed to get rid of a witch was a stake and some kindling. Now, you gotta have an arsenal: http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/10/31210/ Let's not waste too much time on the guns, not …
Subtitles for dummies
Title tells all. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/10/31193/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/10/31194/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/10/31195/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/10/31196/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/10/31197/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/10/31199/
Storm Month IMAX films
September is officially Storm Month at the Reuben H. Fleet Center (1875 El Prado) and on Friday, September 14 the public can take advantage of discounted IMAX tickets to view Deep Sea at 6 p.m., Stormchasers at 7 p.m., or …
Moneyball @ Kimball Park
On Friday, September 14, Moneyball starring Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, and Jonah Hill will play at Little Padres Field at Kimball Park (1300 A Ave) in National City. The free screening is open to all and will begin at 7 …
Si Puo Fare at MOPA
On Thursday, September 20, at 7 p.m., the Museum of Photographic Art (1649 El Prado) will show Si Puo Fare (We Can Do It). Admission is $5. Film synopsis from the Museum website: "This hilarious film is based on a …
Interview with Samsara producer Mark Magidson and director Ron Fricke
When I first tried to describe Samsara to my wife, I said, "Think of Life magazine in its heyday, the photographs opening up the wider world to the viewer. Except here, the pictures move, and so does the camera. So …
Free movies of the week: Rocky edition.
I'm so very pleased to see Mr. Marks getting on the free-movie bandwagon, but that doesn't mean that I won't keep on doing my part as well. Howzabout a little Rocky Balboa this time 'round? Rocky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYxz6_-AwBg&feature=related Rocky II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6DzVfjYo9k&feature=relmfu …
Free movies of the weak: Iron lungs on film
The last time I cried during a movie was when I glanced at my watch and realized there were still two hours left to go in Schindler's List. The Sessions doesn't open until October 28, but any feel-good comedy featuring …
Take your best girl to dinner and Bad Kung-Fu Lee
This action-packed ad from Nov. 8, 1980, posted on Facebook by my old friend Ted Okuda, needed to be shared: http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/07/31072/ For less than 70¢ a feature, Chicago's Woods Theatre had Kensington Video and Red Box beat by a mile. …
Opening this week.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/06/31032/ Branded: Yummy? Scott Marks had few kind words for The Words, no matter how prettily Bradley Cooper batted his eyelashes. I liked Samsara so much that I'm going to have a chat with the director! I'll try to post …
Time is running out for you to see Love Carrot 3 in a theater!
You've got four showings left. All today. Act now. Because even though it appears to be entirely in Russian and completely without subtitles, the classic "Oh no, who did I sleep with last night?" reaction shot needs no translation: http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/06/31025/
Cinema en tu Idioma continues tomorrow with Un Cuento Chino
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/06/31019/ Praiseworthy blurbs like "heartwarming" and "hilarious fish-out-of-water comedy" are generally enough to keep me away from a movie forever. Sebastián Borensztein's Argentinian comedy, Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out) not only stars Ricardo Darín (Nine Queens, The Secret in Their …
Branded: color me cautiously hopeful.
Quick, name ten movies that feature global conspiracies. What's that? You couldn't possibly keep the list to just ten? I hear ya. But you know what the problem is with most global conspiracies? It's hard to see the point of …
Why I walked out of Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/06/31004/ Outside the pavement was sweltering, but it was cool inside the Gaslamp #7. The focus was crisp and the 3D presentation flawless. So why did I choose Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai as the first (and hopefully only) film …
The Words: No, Bradley.
Mr. Marks agrees. Click to enlarge. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/06/31001/
Local 3D Film Production Company Helms Osaka Popstar Video
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/06/30985/ PassmoreLab, the San Diego-based 3D production studio, has teamed up with indie-punk-rock outfit Osaka Popstar for a stereoscopic 3D version of the band's "Insects" music video. The song was written by the Kids of Widney High, a music group …
First image of Chris Pine as Jack Ryan!
What, I say, WHAT could handsome devil Chris Pine and Woodenhead Jones - sorry, Kevin Costner - be gawking at? http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/05/30969/ AIIIIEEEE! It's a collage of all the previous Jack Ryans, the way they looked when they took the role, …
SDAFF screens documentary Give Up Tomorrow tomorrow night at MoPA
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/05/30962/ It's September, and that means it's time for The San Diego Asian Film Festival to present another of its outstanding quarterly screenings. Michael Collins' documentary Give Up Tomorrow took home the Audience Award at last year's Tribeca Film Festival …
Hugo Awards snub Hugo, copyright robots shut down video feed
When the words, "Worldcon (World Science Fiction Convention) banned due to copyright infringement" hit the screen, Fanboys everywhere were ready to jump to their deaths. Fortunately, most viewers of the Hugo Awards either live in mom and dad's basement, or …
North Park's Boulevard Nights to showcase films from MACSD's Teen Producers Project
No matter how great and glorious an event it may be, the Media Arts Center San Diego means so much more to our town than just an annual film festival. When it comes time to give back to the community, …
Let's all go to the lobby to make a down payment on a bag of popcorn
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/04/30837/ Living in a town where it rains something like 12 days out of the year has a tendency of making one overlook the necessity of an occasional sprinkle. The recent midwestern drought is forcing the issue closer to home. …
Labor Day movies at drive-in
Tonight South Bay Drive-In (2170 Coronado Ave) is screening 6 new releases on their 3 screens. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/03/30796/ At 8:30 p.m., The Possession, The Expendables, and Hit & Run will play. At 10:15 p.m., The Bourne Legacy, Total Recall and The …