Banned 3-D Asian Sexploitation Flick Coming to Clairemont!
It was only a matter of time before the three-buck surcharge for 3-D glasses went towards something other than cartoon birds, redneck roadsters, annihilative tin cans, and Smurfs. The same year that saw Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams join …
Anatomy Of An Ad Campaign: Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Having grown tired of the limitations a seven-minute cartoon placed on his artistry, Walt Disney couldn't wait to tackle long-form animation. With the success of The Three Little Pigs, Disney earmarked $250,000, ten times the cost of an average Silly …
Arnold & Maria's Son Hospitalized After Surfing Accident
Christopher Schwarzennegger, the 13-year-old son of the freshly split celebrity power couple, has been hospitalized after a surfing accident. According to TMZ, the young Terminator suffered multiple broken bones and a collapsed lung as a result of the Malibu accident. …
Review: Friends with Benefits
The perks are few and far between and no rewards to be gained by befriending Friends with Benefits. The only nugget of eternal wisdom to extract from the film is, as the lead in a romantic comedy, Justin Timberlake makes …
DVD Review: The Music Man (1962)
Between the ages of seven and twenty-seven, I was pricked by my Uncle at least once a week. With one of his clinics located just blocks from our apartment on Chicago’s north side, it was seldom that we visited his …
SD International Children's Film Festival Starts Sunday at Comic-Con
In his own quiet, unassuming way, Dan Bennett is one of the major forces of cinema in San Diego County. His legion of readers know Dan as the film critic for the North County Times. Behind the scenes, Dan is …
Ten Things I Learned About Ryan O'Neal on The Piers Morgan Show
Forgive me for coming so late to the dance, but a friend just showed me Piers Morgan’s interview with 1970’s heartthrob turned 2011 reality-TV personality, Ryan O’Neal (What’s Up, Doc?, Paper Moon, Barry Lyndon). Out stumping Ryan & Tatum: The …
Midnight in Paris Woody Allen's Biggest Grosser to Date
It's like I've always said: give the folks in La Jolla what they want, and they'll turn out in droves every time. Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen's 42nd feature, has become his highest grossing film of all time in North …
Possible Sequel? Harry Potter & the Shoot-Out in the Multiplex Parking Lot
Two cops, hot on the trail of a child pornographer using the opening of a Harry Potter movie as an occasion to test out his pick-up lines, were shot by fellow officers as they tried to arrest the unarmed man …
Thora Birch In Person for Saturday Night's Screening of Ghost World
Last week The Big Reel announced this Saturday night's screening of a 35mm print of Ghost World in conjunction with the San Diego Film Critic's Society, Reading Cinemas, and Fantagraphics Books. At the time, I hinted at the possibility of …
Blow Out the Pilot Light: JLo and Marc Anthony Kaput!
The Americans Idle judge and her singer/actor husband, Marc Anthony, tell People Magazine (the divorced celebrity tabloid of record), "We have decided to end our (seven-year) marriage. This was a very difficult decision. We have come to an amicable conclusion …
Trailer: Martin Scorsese's Hugo
"You're doing 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' and 'Fockers' and I'm directing Oscar-bait and kids films. What the fuck happened to us?" Repeat after me: You can't judge a movie by its trailer. You can't judge a movie by its trailer. You …
Dig A Hole: Deranged Character Actor Roberts Blossom
Character actors seldom get a chance to command more than a few intermittent moments of screen time. Roberts Blossom didn't exactly fit the Jeff Chandler leading man type, but he did have his shot at a starring role. The cult …
Anatomy of an Ad Campaign: The Marx Bros. Duck Soup
The magic number is 227. That's the amount of times that I've seen Duck Soup. That's more than Kane (152), The Rules of the Game (126), His Girl Friday (88), The Nutty Professor (79), Sherlock, Jr. (60), Annie Hall (54), …
SD Film Critics to Host 10th Anniversary 35mm Screening of Ghost World
Has it really been 10 years since Ghost World was released? And is it possible that I have been a member of the San Diego Film Critics Society for a decade? 2001 was the first time I cast my ballot …
Anatomy of an Ad Campaign: The Marx Bros. A Day at the Races
The Marx Bros. output at M.G.M. was nowhere near as uncontrolled as that of their Paramount years. Credit cultivated producer Irving Thalberg for starting the Marxes on their long, slow celluloid decline. Thalberg snatched the boys away from Paramount in …
Anatomy of an Ad Campaign: The Marx Bros. A Night at the Opera
It was in seventh grade that I first met the Marx Brothers proper and have the "Boone Booster Club" of the Daniel Boone School to thank for arranging the introduction. The "Club" was a pre-home video perk for students attending …
TCM's Robert Osborne to Take Three Months Off
Robert Osborne, the genial host of Turner Classics Movies, will be taking a three-month leave of absence effective immediately. TCM.com reports Osborne will use the time for minor surgery followed by a three-month vacation. Osborne, 79, has hosted every one …
Your Short Film Could Land on Landmark Theatre Screens
Landmark Theatres (as in our own Hillcrest Cinemas, La Jolla Village, and The Ken) is joining forces with Porsche and ReelzChannel on the My Daily Magic Short Film Contest. It's an opportunity for budding filmmakers (aka anyone who owns a …
Trailer: Sarah Palin is The Undefeated
. The New John Wayne and Rock Hudson This could be the funniest documentary since Borat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVo_-RAiX3M