Shinebox TV? AMC Readies Goodfellas: The Series
You gotta' be kidding me. A television series based on Goodfellas coming to American Movie "Classics?" During their commercially-interrupted airings of Marty's 1990 masterwork, the profanity is either bleeped or replaced with something close, like "freaking" or "shoot." Why not …
Better Than All Six Episodes of Star Wars Combined!
Q: What do you get when you combine Spielberg's lisp, Lucas' chins, and Carrie Fisher's mammary glands? A: Jabba the Nut! Thanks to my friend, former student, and eternal teacher Ward Porrill for slapping this on my Facebook wall. You …
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), …
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: 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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Dig A Hole: Mr. Carol Channing
Two questions I never thought I'd be contemplating when I awoke this morning: "Cheeta was still alive?" and "Carol Channing was married?!" Yes on both counts (even though for a brief moment the thought that Ms. Channing and Mr. Cheeta …
Dig A Hole: Cheeta, Tarzan's Prime Mate
Cheeta, the most famous monkey ever to swing on Hollywood and Vine, is dead. Tarzan's tippling, chain-smoking sidekick was said to be 80. The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbour, Florida where the great ape lived out his remaining years …
25 Titles Added to National Film Registry
Films are selected to join the National Film Registry based on their “culturally, historically, or aesthetically” importance. Note the billing: in a field of three art places dead last. This year's selections are particularly uninspired. Forrest Gump should be tossed …
The Ten Worst Films of 2011
You know it’s been a bad year for movies when neither Tintinnitus or War Hearse crack my bottom ten. Try as Steve might to earn a spot in the Hall of Shame, there were dozens worse to contend with. Normally, …
Merry Christmas from Your Pals at The Big Screen
The greatest joy this lapsed Chicagoan finds in a San Diego Christmas will always be an ability to walk around the beach in a short sleeve shirt on December 25. Not that I do, mind you, but the fact that …
Review: Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey
What should have been a mini-documentary bonus feature on a Sesame Street DVD instead becomes a Christmas release strictly for Muppet die-hards. Two bits of eternal knowledge gleaned: Kevin “Elmo” Clash is a blueblooded puppeteer in love with his calling …