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Garrett Harris 2:03 p.m., May 24
Big Screen Entries for February, 2012
Watch Walt Disney's The Story of Menstruation (1946)
I know what you're thinking: 'Disney' and 'menstruation' in the same headline means Marks is making funny again with a ...
Project X Interview: Alexis Knapp
So the kids-gone-wild party movie Project X opens Friday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBv54LhBWyQ "Tonight's about the girls we never had a shot at" ...
Review: Tomorrow, When the War Began
NOTA BENE: Mr. Marks drew official duties on this one, and you can check out his black-spot review in tomorrow's ...
Blogfight: Interview Inequity!
I don't want to come off sounding like a complainer, but haven't things gone a tad out of focus at ...
Apart Together: Asian Film Screening Tonight
Tonight ushers in the San Diego Asian Film Festival's first quarterly screening of 2012. Wang Quan'an's Apart Together, a bittersweet ...
The Interviewer's Anxiety at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla: An Interview with Wim Wenders, Pt. 2
I used to get it a lot more. Nowadays, most people seem to forget I have a first name and ...
Dig a Hole: Dick Anthony Williams, Cinema's Premier Pimpologist
On a busy Oscar Sunday comes sad news: we lost one of cinema's pioneering Pimpologists. I am forced to be ...
There's Always Hope for Tonight's Live Oscar-Blog
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is Bob "For Hugo" Hope speaking to you from the grave, right here, putting ...
Wim, Vigor, and Vitality: An Interview with Wim Wenders, Pt. 1
Few filmmakers display the care, handling, and respect for cinema quite like Wim Wenders does, and after 40 years behind ...
Review: Gone
Remember this scene from Silence of the Lambs? (If you haven't seen Silence of the Lambs, maybe watch just the ...
Review: Act of Valor
DISCLAIMER: No Navy SEALs were harmed during the making of this picture. The Navy granted “filmmakers” Mike McCoy and Scott ...
What Happened? Denzel Washington (Part 1)
Obviously, this is a more complicated question than what happened to Clive Owen. Washington is one of our generation's Major ...
Audience Response: Project X
So I went to a screening of the party-gone-wild movie Project X last night. Most of the other attendees were, ...
Reviews!
David Elliott shines a big light on In Darkness and its director, Agnieszka Holland: "Holland, 63, is one of those ...
Don't Forget This Sunday's Live Oscar Blog
This Sunday night, Matt Lickona and I will be seated before our television sets and laptops providing Big Screen readers ...
Meet Wim Wenders in Person!
How often does a director of Wim Wenders' magnitude come through San Diego on a press tour let alone make ...
Study Finds Video Piracy Has Little Impact on U.S. Box Office
Deadline Hollywood posted this fascinating study on the effects video piracy has on the American motion picture industry. The lag-time ...
What Happened? Clive Owen
What happened to Clive Owen? No, really - I wanna know. I thought he was it. The next thing. The ...
San Diego Latino Film Festival Announces 2012 Lineup
January through April traditionally denotes a slow time at the movies. Studios dribble out their precious awards contenders and winners, ...
Seen on DVD Review: Birds of Prey aka Batgirl & Friends
"Legend tells of a caped crusader, Batman, guardian of New Gotham, and his one true love, Catwoman, the queen of ...
Review: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Q: What’s harder to find than a pack of wild unicorn? A: The script Nicolas Cage turned down. In the ...
Unconditional Surrender Could Get the Kiss Off, But Hope Springs Eternal
Unconditional Surrender, the 25-foot, 6000-pound statue that’s been a tourist destination at Mole Park since its unveiling in February of ...
Blogfight!
Here's how it works around here: Mr. Marks does all the heavy lifting, and I sit off in the wings ...
Latino Film Festival Sponsor Holds Brazilian Carnival This Weekend
San Diego Brazil Carnival, longtime Latino Film Festival sponsor and supporter of the annual Brazilian Cinema Showcase, holds its 20th ...
One Facebook Ban is Lifted, Another Levied
Here we go again. Three days ago I reported on what turned out to be the first of two consecutive ...
Asian Film Foundation Partners on Documentary Program for Refugee High School Students
The San Diego Asian Film Foundation has joined forces with The AJA Youth + Photography Transformation Project, and Sun & ...
Dig A Hole: Zina Bethune, Scorsese's First Leading Lady
Technically, Marty's mother, Catherine Scorsese and Mimi Stark, star of the NYU short What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing ...
Short Takes (Plus a Little): Loosies
So here's my review for Loosies: Or: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Abortion. Well, okay, not ...
Reviews!
Reader critic David Elliott slips on his dancing shoes for the dance-doc Pina, and finds her an able partner: "Although ...
Review: Jewish Film Festival Screens Prima Primavera
While waiting for his elderly mother to finish a banking transition, Gábor (Andor Lukáts), a mentally challenged 55-year-old man, witnesses ...
The High Concept: Beast Wars!
I know that I harp on the depressing similarity of today's movie beasties too often. So I thought I'd propose ...
Miss Piggy is Only the Beginning (We Hope)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7bAWtlKLSk First things first: HUGE props to Gary Oldman for saying that Miss Piggy is the most sincere person he's ...
Take Your Valentine to a Movie!
Cairo roses are purple, And so is my spleen. Happy Valentine's Day, From your pals at The Big Screen!
When It Comes to Facebook, I'm With the Banned
It started with this image: There is nothing less funny than having to spell out a joke, but here goes. ...
Tony Bennett: Legalize Drugs, Save a Rock Star's Life
Did Tony Bennett leave his head in San Francisco or is there a follicle of truth to be found lurking ...
Review: The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector
No opus in the Phil Spector songbook links the megalomaniac to the madman better than He Hit Me (It Felt ...
HEADS UP! Breaking Dawn at Midnight!
Attention, Twihards! The Blu-Ray/DVD for Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 will go on sale at midnight tonight at Target in ...
Review: The Vow
Channing Tatum has a nice butt. Don't believe me? Check out The Vow and see for yourself. "I am still ...
Leonardo Live Slated for San Diego Movie Screens
Leonardo is coming to San Diego. No, silly, not Leonardo DiCaprio. I’m talking about the other Leonardo. You know: Leonardo ...
The Past Is Another Country, They Do Things Differently There. And by "Differently," We Mean Better.
Seriously, folks. Now that we've got three (that I can think of off the top of my head), can we ...
Watch The Magic of 'Hugo' Extra Bonus Behind-the-Scenes Making-Of Featurette
You don't want to see the emails I receive from publicists begging me to blog about a personal appearance by ...
The Movie Star Mural at Edwards Mira Mesa, Part 1
There's a movie star mural in the lobby at Edwards Mira Mesa, which is not all that surprising. What is ...
Watch the Oscars and Help Send Kids to Camp
On Sunday, February 26, 49 charities in as many locations will host authorized viewing parties during the 84th Academy Awards ...
Reviews!
Someone left the back door to the Reader's print department unlocked, and guess who slipped in and snuck some reviews ...
Stooge Larry Fine on Performing During the First Super Bowl Half-Time Show
Taking a break from Remembrance of Things Past, I turn to the Qur'an of Stoogedom, Larry Fine's autobiography, Stroke of ...
Give Your Sweetie the Gift of Cinema & Free Popcorn This Valentine's Day
Let the record reflect: Landmark's Ken Cinema pops the best corn in town. They use real butter, but I wouldn't ...
Oscar Class of 2012 Group Photo
Several weeks before Hollywood's annual version of the Bataan Death March, the hopefuls gather at the Beverly Hills Hilton for ...
Open Call for Submissions to the Oceanside International Film Festival
Forgive my ignorance, but until an email announcing an open call for submissions arrived, I had no inkling there was ...
Dig A Hole: Bill Hinzman, George Romero's First Zombie
Short of beating, burning, or a bullet to the head, zombies aren't supposed to die, particularly of cancer. Alas, that ...
Dig a Hole: Ben Gazzara
He built a career playing con-artists, criminals, pimps, cheats, and drunks, yet somehow you couldn’t help but believe every word ...
Grate Cinema: The Way We Were (1973)
Gene Siskel didn't drive. After the preview of The Way We Were (it sneaked along with the Robby Benson teen ...
DVD Rentals: Crossfire (1947)
With a star-powered trio of Roberts (Ryan, Mitchum and Young) sharing the one-sheet for a film noir produced by the ...
Tonight's Midnight Movie at The Ken: The Theatre Bizarre
Far be it from me to pass on watching a movie, but in this case I had no choice but ...
Review: Big Miracle
Will Drew Barrymore’s “save the whales” tale connect with audiences? Or will it cause parents — searching for two hours ...
Reviews!
David Elliott paints it grey this week. Sorry. Terrible joke, even if you do remember "Paint it Black" by U2. ...
Review: Chronicle
Four-word review of Chronicle: Screw you, Spider-Man. You remember Spider-Man, right? (It's okay if not: a new version is due ...
Review: La Cara Oculta
If you are one to flinch at the creaks and groans that emerge from your apartment's walls and floorboards, Andi ...
#HungerGames50: I AM SO CONFLICTED RIGHT NOW
Why I'll be seeing this movie. Look, hooray for The Hunger Games, okay? By all accounts, it's a better YA ...
Searching for Jimmy Dean
We'll have a review of the angsty teen drama Chronicle up in a little bit, but in the meantime, remember ...
Grate Cinema: Death Wish 3 (1985)
Bronson in the ‘80’s has a delightfully-debased artistic ring to it. Some may call it Bronson past his prime, but ...
The Title or Trailer Game III: The List is Life
Once again I dig deep into my treasure-trove of DVDs and come up with an arcane collection of title-cards and ...
Mashups and Movies
Bear with me a moment: I am fond of the author Walker Percy. But when I read this bit from ...
ArtPower! Screens Liu Bingjian's Crying Woman Tonight
ArtPower! Film will screen Liu Bingjian’s third feature, the comedy/drama Crying Woman (2002), tonight as part of its 21st Century ...
Casting Candy Land
While Mr. Marks was busy hating on the brilliant high-concept vehicle that is (or should be) Tim Burton's Candy Land, ...
SD Asian Film Festival Screens Wang Quan'an's Apart Together
The first of this year's San Diego Asian Film Festival's quarterly screenings will be held on February 28 at UltraStar ...
DVD Rentals: Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
John Wayne was always right, Larry Fine was always wrong, and Robert Ryan was always, always troubled. The first on-screen ...
Grindhouse Movie Reviews: Walkabout, Roeg's 1971 Acid/Aboriginal Trip
The IMDB description for Nicolas Roeg's 1971 tripfest Walkabout is deceptively simple: "Two young children are stranded in the Australian ...
Board Games Hollywood's Latest Tonic to Mollify Bored Viewers?
In the wake of the dumbing-down effects brought about by the rumination-free amusement park thrill rides of Spielberg and Lucas, ...
Grate Cinema: Hitler, Dead or Alive! (1942)
And you thought Inglorious Basterds was the only war film to do away with Hitler before the final fade. If ...
Let's All Go to the Drive Ins! The Santee & South Bay Outdoor Theaters
Thanks to our year-round mild weather, San Diego is one of the few cities in the U.S. with not just ...
