Entries
Richard Gere Blasts Pretty Woman for All the Wrong Reasons
She ain't pretty no more. Pretty Woman took in more than $460 million at the box office and, along with those nasty gerbil rumors, helped to make Richard Gere a household name. In an interview with Woman's Day, Gere called …
Dark Shadows 1970 - 2012: Reboots Don't HAVE To Suck, Mr. Burton!
The trailer for the upcoming Johnny Depp/Tim Burton reboot of the '60s/'70s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows is finally out (see Matthew Lickona's Big Screen blog post today for a look-see). I don't know WHAT to make of the trailer: …
The Trailer for Dark Shadows is...*Sigh*...Here.
Wow. Just wow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isjg9O7ifwM So Johnny Depp has adopted a bold, new eye-makeup routine for this one... Actually, that's not true. He's actually just doing a drag version of Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice... Seriously, though, remember when Gervais said that …
Review: Bullhead
A police officer tries in vain to understand how a pair of questionable types, that just happen to hail from the same remote town, wind up working together on an out-of-town job. "Coincidence," she says, "is an excuse losers use …
Review: Jeff, Who Lives at Home
While contemplating the universe's daily arrangement of signs and fate, a wrong number in search of Kevin causes Jeff (Jason Segel), a particularly philosophical slacker, to mumble aloud, "There are no wrong numbers." Yes there is. 1-800-Duplass. Jeff believes that …
Review: Casa de Mi Padre
I had a good time at Casa de Mi Padre, Will Ferrell's semi-send-up of Mexican telenovelas (filmed, we are told at the outset, in MexicoScope). By the end of this review, I think you'll have a pretty good idea if …
Casablanca Returns to Big Screens for 70th Anniversary
How will you celebrate the 70th anniversary of Casablanca? You’ve got three new options. You can see the cherished classic in a special presentation at movie theaters. You can buy a fresh edition to savor at home. And just for …
Reviews!
John Rubio piles on the John Carter Meh-Train this week, but first... 21 Jumpstreet? Did we learn nothing from the film version of The A Team? Namely: '80s TV shows had the self-parody built right in. Making a parody is …
Sandra Bernhard at the La Jolla Playhouse
It was all very last minute, but I'm delighted that comedian, author, actress, and singer Sandra Bernhard was able to spend a few minutes talking to The Big Screen. Simply put, Sandra Bernhard has one of the funniest minds on …
Comedy is Pain Dept.
In Jack & Jill, Adam Sandler sought to work through some of the self-loathing that comes with becoming insanely wealthy and leaving your old world behind in a cloud of cocaine dust and Lambo fumes. He did this by creating …
Wrestling Aztec Mummies and a Spaghetti Western Coming to SDLFF
Five days remain, and if you are looking for a movie to see at the San Diego Latino Film Festival, I think we have a couple of winners. Once upon a time in Argentina, a film opened with an Ennio …
Travis Bickle's Rules for Everyday Living, Lesson #1: How to Shine Your Shoes
My dad was big on Simonized shoes. Decades before Marty and Nick Pileggi popularized the term, Larry Marks had a wooden shinebox parked on the floor of his closet. I'm warning you: no cracks about Larry picking up a few …
Turn Who On, Now?
Sometimes, a fellow can spend all day on the iTunes trailer page, you know? Especially when there are films like Turn Me On, Dammit!, with taglines like this one: Hee hee! I know the question is supposed to be rhetorical, …
A Tale of Two Trailers
Fascinating. Below is one trailer for the upcoming Clive Owen psychological thriller The Intruders. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy2vRMKa3kU Here's the description that accompanies that trailer, and it seems fitting enough: "The film tells parallel stories of two families whose lives are disrupted by …
Time Flies
First thought upon seeing poster for crummy-looking (seriously, some of the dialogue sounds like it belongs on local cable access) thriller Meeting Evil: "Man, the years have been rough on Crockett and Tubbs."
FOUND: Big Screen Blogger Scott Marks' Long-Lost Cousin, Eddie Pepitone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaU5GiAm1ws I mean, Mr. Marks got all the looks and even more of the hair, but still, the spiritual resemblance is uncanny. Especially because Pepitone is the sort of comedian that all the other comedians admire. A comedian's comedian. Sort …
An Open Letter to Thin Ice-Stomper, Elizabeth Redleaf
The watered-down version of Jill Sprecher's The Convincer is currently playing at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas under the name Thin Ice. I suggest you hurry and see it if for no other reasons than cinematographer Dick Pope's exceptional night work and …
Review: Post Mortem
Were it not for the San Diego Latino Film Festival, I might never have been given a proper introduction to Tony Manero. No, not the disco-dancing Guido of Saturday Night Fever fame, but a John Travolta impersonator/serial killer who quietly …
Anatomy of a Press Photo: First Look at Armie Hammer as The Lone Ranger
"Oboy. Look, people, when Gore Verbinski said he wasn't going to give us a 'straight' version of The Lone Ranger, he didn't mean that it would therefore be gayer than a handbag full of rainbows. I don't even want to …
Anatomy of a Press Photo: First Look at Johnny Depp as Tonto
"Okay, for about 96% of the world, Depp is Captain Jack Sparrow, end of story. Apparently, the other 4% think he's Tim Burton. Sad, but understandable, given their rate of collaboration." "Moving on, then. The main thing is that we …