Short Takes: Addiction Incorporated
This smoker would like to personally thank director Charles Evans, Jr. for refraining from taking the scare-tactic route. The last thing I need to look at as the morning cup of coffee warms my wheezy bronchi are billboard-sized views of …
Does Your Film Have What It Takes to Play the SD Asian Film Festival?
The largest showcase of Asian cinema in the Western United States needs your submissions. The San Diego Asian Film Foundation today put out a call for entries for the 2012 San Diego Asian Film Festival. You don't have to be …
Notes on Speedy Gonzales & Slowpoke Rodriguez, His Half-Baked Cousin
Of all the superstars in the Warner Bros. cartoon canon, Speedy Gonzales is the most nonessential. Within 36 hours of purchasing each of the Looney Tunes Golden Collections, I had watched every cartoon and most of the supplementary features, including …
When a Problem Comes Along, Demi Moore Must Whip-It
What kind of number did Ashton Kutcher play on Demi Moore that left her in such dire straits? She has more money than God and what's her drug of choice? Coke? Ecstasy? Charlie's angel dust? According to TMZ, the actresses' …
Thanks for the 5:30 A.M. Wake-Up Call, Oscar!
In spite of Hugo garnering 11 Academy Award nominations, I spent most of yesterday in a crankier than usual state. Movies have endowed me with an incredible sense of time, so much so that I never arrive late to the …
Oscar Picks and Shovels
Admittedly, I am not much when it comes to handicapping the Oscars, so let's get it out of the way while the fresh stench of the nominations waft through my nostrils. This way, when people ask, I will direct them …
Hugo Receives 11 Academy Award Nominations
Random raging over this year's nominees: Quick -- what were last year's Best Picture nominees? Can't remember, huh? That's because in the grand scheme of things, the Academy Awards are a meaningless arbiter, reflecting the dim taste of Hollywood's "elite." …
Double Features From Hell: The Warrior and the Slave Girl and Louis Prima?!
This ad from the November 5, 1959 edition of The Modesto Bee reminds me just how much I miss the dartboard booking practices of drive-ins and grindhouses. The closest I ever came to a double feature of this magnitude was …
Update on Asian Film Festival Screening of The Viral Factor
I was under the false impression that tonight's screening of Dante Lam's The Viral Factor on behalf of the San Diego Asian Film Festival was a one-shot deal. It's not. The film will play all week at AMC Mission Valley, …
SD Asian Film Festival Celebrates Lunar New Year With Dante Lam's The Viral Factor
I'll see you tomorrow night at AMC Mission Valley for the one and only screening of Dante Lam's The Viral Factor. No DVD screeners were sent out (GOOD!) so I'll be among the crowd eager to see it when it …
Review: Haywire
Steven Soderbergh made it clear: upon completing three more movies, the 49-year-old director intends to walk away from filmmaking. (He will instead devote his artistic attention to painting.) After watching Haywire, either Soderbergh was hit by a sudden case of …
SD Latino Film Festival and Nickelodeon Collaborate on Script-Review Competition
First came the outrage. Dora the Explorer putting in yearly personal appearances at the San Diego Latino Film Festival is one thing. A script review competition in cahoots with Nickelodeon that encourages budding writers to basically trace their favorite television …
Bright British Moviegoers Demand a Refund Because The Artist Has No Dialog
I've been meaning to relocate to London since news hit that the San Diego water supply is began being contaminated by fluoridation, that destroyer of all precious bodily fluids. This latest move on the part of British filmgoers is just …
Adult Film Performers Ordered to "Glove Up": It's the Law!
There will be no more "it's like taking a shower in a raincoat" excuses for porn stars. The Los Angeles City Council approved a new law Tuesday that will require adult film actors to use condoms. Supporters of the ordinance …
Judd Apatow to Jerry Lewis: "'F@&# You!"
Jerry Lewis deserves every insult people throw his way in retaliation for telling the crowd at a 2000 comedy festival, “I don’t like any female comedians.” It's a slap in the face to Lucy, Joan Rivers, Lily Tomlin, Lisa Lampanelli, …
Colorado Man Dies in Multiplex Bathroom, Body Not Found for FIVE Days
Have you ever noticed a small clipboard hanging in the entryways of movie theatre lavatories? There is a checklist attached to the portable writing surface for theatre employees to initial while making their hourly bathroom rounds. It took the crack …
Golden Globe Awards Live Blog
Marty is there. Let's do it! Ricky Gervais is so concerned with referencing his own irreverence he forgot to be funny. When did Johnny Depp get the faux British accent? And in case you're wondering why a star of his …
Join in The Big Screen's Live Golden Globes Blog Tomorrow Night
If I'm going to watch the poor man's Oscars, it might as well be on company time. Join me tomorrow night for The Big Screen's first live blog. (Expect more of the same on Oscar Sunday.) I'll be bivouacked at …
There Is Something Haywire About Releasing the First 5 Minutes of Haywire
Earlier in the week, Matt mentioned the internet debut of the opening 5 minutes to Haywire, arriving January 20 at a megaplex near you. (The reviewing duty falls on my watch leaving Br'er Lickona to sink his fangs in Underworld.) …
Anthropomorphic Yidlach? Only at This Year's San Diego Jewish Film Festival!
The San Diego Jewish Film Festival rolled out its 2012 lineup and it includes an event to end all events: a Jews in Toons seminar! No, not Jews in Tune (who can afford Streisand?), but an evening dedicated to celebrating …