Entries
Overheard at the La Jolla screening for Flight
"Denzel Boo-TAY!" I think it's safe to say that this particular critic/appreciator of Denzel booty was disappointed by what the film actually delivered. The booty in question plays the fool, not the hero.
SDAFF tonight: 2 by H. P. Mendoza
"Yes, We're Open" and "I Am a Ghost" screen at UltraStar Mission Valley at Hazard Center
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/nov/02/34817/ Friends of the San Diego Asian Film Festival will no doubt remember screenwriter H.P. Mendoza and director Richard Wong’s Colma: the Musical, winner of the festival’s 2006 Jury Award. Mendoza’s directorial nod, Fruit Fly, played SDAFF ‘09. The two …
Disney and Lucasfilm: envisioning the future
Mr. Marks handled the news beautifully. I don't have much to add, except to say that I chuckled when Lucas said, "It occurred to me one day that the perfect person to take over the company was Kathy. It's just …
Gene Hackman defends wife against foul-mouthed street person
Why can't this post be about 10 new Gene Hackman films opening next year instead of a tidbit found on TMZ? No offense to Harvey Levin and the gang, but if they produce a film starring a finer actor currently …
Need a last minute Halloween costume?
Last year you learned how to transform a bottle of fake blood and a pair of sunglasses into The Godfather's Moe Green. This year, why not go dressed as America's favorite sociopathic Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle? Here's all you do! …
Like a bolt out of the blue, Disney buys LucasFilm
Who cares if the planned sequel sucks? George sold out his fans for $4 billion bucks!
The Force is now with the house the mouse built and that means 2015 will see the first of many Disneyfied Star Wars reboots. Someone call Hayden Christensen and tell him that his career has suddenly been taken off hold. …
Review: Fun Size
"Fun Size" fits all...except its target demographic
Nickelodeon Movies presents a politically incorrect, "hard PG-13" theatrical release that can't possibly air unedited on its parent cable channel. Where's the closest multiplex? Instead of going to a hot boy’s Halloween party, Wren (Victoria Justice) is ordered to take …
A closer look at the posters for Skyfall and Lincoln
I dunno, guys — some people are all, "Hey, that's in pretty poor taste," but I'm feeling like there's maybe something to work with here... James Bond...Britain's greatest living weapon...sent back in time...to assassinate George Washington and the rest of …
Interview: Jonny Weston
"Chasing Mavericks" star pays visit to San Diego
Jonny Weston. The name alone oozes all-American appeal (and marquee value). Charleston, South Carolina native Jonny Weston "grew up surfing." For his first studio film, Weston stars in the biopic of real-life of wave whiz, Jay Moriarty. Weston initially turned …
Amazing Spider-Man - the Reader's Comic Book Guy weighs in
Warning: Review includes some mild spoilers and speculation that will probably prove so dead-on accurate as to spoil a main aspect of the proposed sequel
WARNING - this review assumes the reader has already seen the flick, in case you want to avoid a few mild spoilers... http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/oct/28/34558/ Didn't like the Amazing Spider-Man as much as the three Tobey Maguire flicks, but it wasn't a …
18 Days
Publicly-collaborated series of ten short films on Egypt's Jan 25 revolution
18 Days speaks to the 18 days beginning from the January 25 revolution in Egypt against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. In 18 Days, ten directors, six writers, twenty actors, and a number of small film crews volunteered to create ten …
A closer look at the trailer for The Tall Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_QqA0sDMec&feature=watch-vrec Wow. That was unscary. The only reason for noticing? One more for the ever-growing gallery of horror-film creepy-children's art. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/oct/26/34407/
Retired film critic Gene Shalit gets 'thumbs down' from Massachusetts police
Gene Shalit faces a charge of driving to endanger after the retired Today Show movie critic introduced his car to a utility pole before coming to a stop against a home. OMG! reports the 86-year-old Shalit told Lennox, Massachusetts police …
EXCLUSIVE, BABY: First on-set photo from Arnold's new Conan film!
Other websites have already reported that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be strapping on the ol' loincloth and once more taking up the savage sword of Conan. I couldn't be more pleased. I love a good legend-past-his-prime flick, as long as it …
Opening this week
This week's big opening is Cloud Atlas, a multi-character, multi-narrative collaboration between the enormously gifted Tom Twkwer and the at times entertaining Wachowski Brothers. After struggling with some of the film's high concepts, Mr. L concludes, "the grand-scale visuals are …
DVDs to watch on Halloween - the good, the bad, and the better than you'd think
THE GOOD The oh-so-weird 1973 psycho killer film Wicked Wicked takes place at the historic (and reportedly haunted) Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, set up in the flick to be a somewhat seedy residential hotel. Almost the whole movie …
Review: The Girl
Hitchcock and bull.
Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas notwithstanding, it is seldom you'll catch me watching let alone writing about a made-for-TV movie. The term itself is an oxymoron and one I haven't had much use for in decades. CBS …
Review: How to Survive a Plague
David France’s documentary about the advancements made in AIDS research, composed almost entirely of archival footage, is not much to look at. Even harder to endure are images of the ravaged victims, which are at times as excruciating to watch …
A closer look at the posters for Rise of the Guardians
Um, guys? If they pull this one off, I'll eat my spun-sugar hat. It starts off okay...I like the "more than a myth" line at the top, the way it harkens to his Norse heritage. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/oct/24/34318/ But it quickly goes...awry. …
Bert Fields, a Hollywood lawyer on the side of America's good taste
Ageless movie star Tom Cruise is suing the publishers of Life & Style and InTouch for suggesting that he has abandoned his daughter Suri. That's all well and good, but the real news comes from Cruise's lawyer, Bert Fields, a …