Entries
Review: Killer Elite
Sunglass-off! Dear Killer Elite director Gary McKendry, You just don't get it, do you? I'm sure you'll forgive the cliche, seeing as how it actually appears in your film. Along with "You can't run away from who you are," "Killing …
Review: Restless
First sign of trouble: the poster for Restless -- which features an adorable shot of our lovers flat on their backs surrounded by a chalk-outline -- has adorned the outside of Reading Cinemas Clairemont Town Square since Christmas, but queries …
Reviews!
Did somebody slip Reader critic David Elliott a dopamine cocktail? The man is in a good mood: four stars for Moneyball, another four for Mysteries of Lisbon, and even two for Sarah Jessica Parker and I Don't Know How She …
Punk Rock Dads Docu: Blink, Red Hot Chili, Pennywise, more
What happens when a generation's ultimate anti-authoritarians, punk rockers, become society’s ultimate authorities: dads? The Other F Word tackles this question. With a large chorus of punk rock’s leading men, including Blink 182's Mark Hoppus, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, …
Best Sex Scene Dialogue Ever?
Okay, so the news that Nicholas Sparks has gone and sold The Watchers, yet another retelling of the, um, classic "angel falls in love with a human" story, has reminded me of one of my favorite lessons from the Nicolas …
Disney Announces Avatar: The Ride!
Years ago, a pair of side-by-side billboards sat overlooking Lankershim Blvd. where it dead-ends at Cahuenga. The one on the left was an advertisement for Schindler's List, the other ballyhoo for Universal Studios Theme Park. A neck-snapping, traffic-stopping double-take worthy …
BREAKING! Director Todd Phillips Announces Plan to Scrub Mike Tyson from Hangover 2 After Racist Tirade
[File under: No, not really.] In what some are calling "the boldest post-release edit since George Lucas inserted Vader's "No!" into Episode VI," Hangover 2 director Todd Phillips today announced that he would digitally scrub Mike Tyson from the film, …
Dig A Hole: Dolores Hope
The song of Hope has ended. While there is a strong connection, I'd be hard-pressed to explain my fascination -- make that fetishistic obsession -- with Bob and Dolores Hope. In such films as The Lemon Drop Kid, The Road …
A Closer Look at the Trailer for J. Edgar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XULIO67YIRA So the trailer for Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar is out. Eastwood is an amazing director in his own right, so maybe it's just the DiCaprio in our eyes, but doesn't this remind you just a little bit of Scorsese's …
When Marty Met Heather...
Much has been made about the red-carpet meeting at the Emmys between noted television director Martin Scorsese and Glee actress Heather Morris. "Can you imagine what they chatted about?" asks AOL, breathlessly. Well, yes, actually. Martin Scorsese channeling Don Rickles …
A Closer Look at the Trailer for The Artist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8K9AZcSQJE Okay, pause the snark for minute, and just bask in the loveliness of that trailer. They had faces then, indeed. There, wasn't that nice? Now, because you are a jaded modern soul, and so cannot receive beauty without even …
The Movie Studio Logo Quiz: The Adventure Continues
Since last week's logo quiz met with such little opposition, why not throw another set of even more brain-ratting studio emblems your way? The rules remain the same: all of these are one-shot logos associated with a single production. #2 …
A Closer Look at the Trailer for The Big Year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMiCLWK20Ww You might not know it to look at us, but we here at The Big Screen are under strict orders never to be needlessly, pointlessly snarky and/or mean. This post, admittedly, will come close to the line. But sometimes, …
Short Takes: Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Something is making the wrong people burst into flame prior to the Empress’ inauguration, and Detective Dee is summoned to crack the case. Like a good modern detective, he rejects supernatural explanations for the deaths, instead focusing on the thrillingly …
Short Takes: Straw Dogs
Writer, director Rod Lurie basically traces Sam Peckinpah’s misogynistic tale of revenge as macho-baptismal. The location shifts from England to Louisiana, but don’t expect this to do much for tourism. Instead of a mousy architect (Dustin Hoffman) there’s a toothy- …
Give Albert Brooks a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Drive!
The funniest man in America — and, hands down, the sharpest, most visually adept comic auteur this side of Joe Dante — made me squirm. It's a shade of Albert Brooks we've never seen. The trademark Harpo Marx locks have …
Gérard Depardieu Talks "Pee" With Anderson Cooper
Last month, People Magazine broke the story that former French heartthrob Gérard Depardieu urinated while aboard a plane waiting to take off. Apparently, the flight attendant said "No, no" to his request to "Oui-oui." Passengers aboard the Air France flight …
James Earl Jones Calls for Straw Dogs Boycott in Light of Its Portrayal of His Home State
[File under: No, Not Really] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vzjQrHaouo First came director Ron Howard's refusal to edit out a scene from The Dilemma in which Vince Vaughn said that the electric car was "gay." Gay rights groups complained about the reference, and Universal …
Reviews!
Drive star Ryan Gosling. I'm still processing Drive's extraordinarily bold use of whatever this font is (can we just call it "Eighties"?) to advertise a film that isn't about romance between misunderstood teenagers with big hair. Reader critic David Elliott, …
Time for a New Vision Plan?
Okay, this guy has no idea what happened, but as for me, all I know is that if you go to the optometrist and she has this on her wall... ...and this is the last thing you see before she …