Entries
Contraband from a Vantage Point
Tonight is reserved for Contraband, the new Mark Wahlberg picture, and for whatever reason, the trailer has me psyched. Something else came to mind while watching the preview. One film's electrical tape is another studio's Dymo label. Anything but another …
NoDoz for Elvis Fans
Stay Awake, Joe? Is that the title of an Elvis picture or a cautionary warning for narcoleptics named Joe? NoDoz is probably the only drug the King never ingested -- over-the-counter meds are for suckers -- but that didn't stop …
DGA Refuses to Recognize Spielberg's Nag
Please play the following in the background while reading this post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqsT4xnKZPg The Directors Guild of America announced their nominees, and with two films up for contention, Spielberg got the gate. Marty is in, as are Alexander Payne (The Descendants), …
Oscars Trailer Is...Well...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXGI9suAyBI So, does Mr. Crystal look more like his wife from The Princess Bride or the Booing Hag from The Princess Bride? You be the judge! Also, hey, it's Robin Williams! Nice to see the host remember his friends. Kudos, …
France Takes Home the Gold in SD Latino Film Festival Poster Competition
Last month, the San Diego Latino Film Festival announced the finalists in its 2012 poster competition. Timpani! And the winner is... ...Florie Parenthoux, a 24-year old artist from Annecy, France! According to SDLFF, "Ms. Parenthoux is currently completing a B.A. …
Review: El Bulli: Cooking in Progress
You will never eat at elBulli, aka Chef Ferran Adria’s Temple of Molecular Gastronomy, aka The Finest Restaurant in the World (judged to be so five times by Restaurant magazine), aka Two Million Call for Reservations, but only Eight Thousand …
Review: The Devil Inside
Here’s hoping all cinema-demons of the coming year have been purged with this, the first fright of 2012. The scariest part of the evening was the pre-show entertainment. A member of a “street team” — a group of performers hired …
Review: Faust at the Met's Live in HD
/ I don’t usually go to movies at 9:55 a.m. Or operas, either. But here I am on a Saturday at AMC Mission Valley 20, waiting for the caffeine from my morning tea to kick in before seeing the Metropolitan …
Man Strips Naked at Matinee Showing of Chipwrecked in Exchange for Promise of Sex & Drugs
You know, some days I miss Chicago more than others, particularly when I read heart-worming stories like this. In exchange for a promise of sex and drugs, Edward Brown, 34, agreed to get naked while taking in a 4 p.m. …
"See It First on iTunes" — Is This a Thing Now?
Remember the whole Tower Heist release kerfuffle? Folks were all upset because Universal was planning to release the film to Video On Demand services less than 30 days after its theatrical release. One more reason for people to stay on …
Marilyn?
So Lindsay Lohan, who was an actress once and may be yet again - you never know! - went and posed for Playboy in a photo shoot designed to make her look like Marilyn Monroe, who was an actress once …
Human Rights Watch Film Festival Returns to MoPA
The Human Rights Watch Film Festival returns to MoPA for a second year with a series of seven films the New York Times calls, the "cinematic conscience of the world." The four-day fest runs Friday, January 20 through Monday, January …
Exercise Tips from the Possessed.
It's common sense, people. But still, it's probably good to hear it from those who have been there, like this poor soul from The Devil Inside, opening tomorrow: What do you think, young lady from The Last Exorcist? Well, then …
Grindhouse Movie Reviews/Seen on DVD: The Billy Jack Collection
Billy Jack & the Hollywood Generation Gap “Kitten on wheels with her bike, her boots, and bikini! Out for kicks, in for trouble, she’s going to join the BORN LOSERS…” Well, not voluntarily she isn’t. I can't believe I went …
Kensington Video Now Closed Sundays
Pam Sisneros, one of the proprietors of San Diego's family-owned treasure, Kensington Video, wants to make one thing perfectly clear. "We are not closing our doors on Sundays due to a lack of business," Pam told me earlier today. "We …
The "In CinemaScope" Quiz
Let's open 2012 W-I-D-E with a pop quiz all about my favorite aspect ratio: CinemaScope! Developed by Dr. Henri Chrétien during World War I to enable army tank gunners a broader field of view through their periscopes, the rights to …
Filmmaker's Lexicon: ATF
Yawn. No, not Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms - though that should probably get its own entry in this little lexicographical effort (just one of The Big Screen's new features in 2012!) Rather, Arbitrary Toughness Factor. The first thing about ATF …
12 Films From 2011 That Brightened My Life in the Dark
It was a year like any other, only this time with the addition of two dozen rancid sequels. I proudly boast that the five biggest grossing pictures of 2011 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Transformers: Dark of …
Review: Outrage
The Beat is on! Takeshi Kitano (aka Beat Takeshi), the Japanese director, comedian, singer, actor, editor, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, former video game designer, and architect of a new breed of yakuza, has returned to form. Outrage is a violent, …
The Cinephile Jew and His Christian Sidekick Come Under Fire
Letters, we get letters. Young Scotty falls off a bicycle and breaks his arm. With the plaster on my cast barely dry, I head off to class the next day to do battle with Miss Regina Greek, my third-grade Chicago …