Summer Means 35mm Midnight Movies at The Ken!
Pink Flamingos was my Rocky Horror Picture Show, one of the few times when audience participation made perfect sense. Instead of throwing rice, I came to hear people throw up. I was 16-years-old, fresh behind the wheel of my red …
Dig A Hole: Jackass Ryan Dunn
What is more shocking: the fact that one of the Jackass cast members has died or that it took this long for it to happen? As hard as it is to muster much sympathy for anyone whose drunken driving claims …
"No Talk, No Text" Policy Should Become Theater Standard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L3eeC2lJZs The Alamo Draft House prides itself on a strict, "No text, no talk" policy. The theater stands firm on its commitment to upholding these simple rules of common theater courtesy: "Occasionally, someone doesn't follow the rules, and we do, …
Review: The Last Godfather
The Last Godfather (aka The Dumb Mafia) is an American/South Korean co-production determined to acquaint Western audiences with South Korean comedy sensation Shim Hyung-rae, Seoul’s answer to Jackie Chan. This is one introduction you will immediately want rescinded. Shim is …
Dig A Hole: Clarence Clemons
The news that a new member has been added to Rock 'n' Roll Heaven's helluva' band just hit my desk. Clarence Clemons, the "Minister of Soul", "Secretary of the Brotherhood," and "The Big Man" in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, …
Director Jill Godmilow Reads The Big Screen!
Despite the fact that I originally goofed and referred to her as "Joan," Jill Godmilow, film professor at Notre Dame and director of Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman, was kind enough to drop a line to The Big Screen. …
Warner Bros. Uses Military Families to Hype Green Lantern
Warner Bros. decided to send Ryan Reynolds to the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar to use active-duty service members and their families as a promotional test audience for Green Lantern. Haven't they suffered enough? Billed as "an early Father's Day …
Jeff Lipsky, Writer-Director of Twelve Thirty
Photo at left: Jeff Lipsky Jeff Lipsky was there at the dawn of the independent film distribution movement. John Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence, the first film then 21-year-old Lipsky ever distributed, was also the first independent film to …
2011: A Year So Nice, Scorsese Will Gift Us Twice!
With all of his ex-wives to support, it stands to reason that director Martin Scorsese should be cranking 'em out at a rate to rival Preston Sturges' output in the early 40s, or Moe Green's proclivity with cocktail waitresses. If …
On Munchkins and Smurfs at the San Diego County Fair
Raja Gosnell's credits read like a critic's death wish. The director of Home Alone 3, Scooby Doo, and Beverly Hills Chihuahua is now poised to wreak even further damage on the youth of America with the release of The Smurfs …
Dig A Hole: Bergman's Cinematographer Gunnar Fischer
Ingmar Bergman set the tone, Gunnar Fischer lit the mood. The Swedish cinematographer responsible for some of the most recognizable images in film history classes throughout the world died June 11 at a retirement home in Stockholm. He was 100. …
Madonna as Auteur
I'll have more to say about comedians who fancy themselves rock singers in my upcoming review of Conan O'Brien Can't Stop. For now, let us turn our attention to singers whose visions are so vast they defy the biggest recording …
Perry Chen Interviews Judy Moody's Star and Creator
The call came in that Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer author Megan McDonald and lead actress Jordana Beatty would be in town and available for interviews. Wouldn't you know it? A quick perusal of my copious day-planner finds …
Sandra Schulberg, Producer of Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today
The Nuremberg Trials were the first to be extensively documented and the first to make major use of film as evidence. The entire proceedings were recorded, but the Office of Criminal Counsel allowed only twenty-five hours of the eleven month …
Mel Blanc: T-h-h-hat's Not All, Folks!
When Heckle told Jeckle (or was it Jeckle doing the talking?), "We're cartoon characters! We can do whatever we want," the anthropomorphized magpie didn't envision the day would come when a dead man is called upon to breathe new life …
An Open Letter to Gerry Lopez, CEO and President AMC Entertainment
Photo at left: AMC in Fashion Valley June 8, 2011 Mr. Gerardo “Gerry” I. Lopez, CEO and President AMC Entertainment, Inc., 106 West 14th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64105 Hello Gerry, Would it upset you to discover someone sabotaging your …
Here Is - Super 8
If the trailer for the new Spielberg-backed production is any indication, there are more shots of little kids staring skyward into a light source than all those in Close Encounters and E.T. combined. Super 8 was one film format that …
Coronado's Village Theatre Set to Re-Open After Renovation
By the time I landed in San Diego in January 2000, Coronado's Village Theatre was just months away from quietly slipping into semi-retirement. After 53 years (and the taint of How the Grinch Stole Christmas spread across its streamlined art …
This Commercial Parody of The Exorcist Really Sucks!
The scariest movie of all time has returned, in the version you've never seen before. Somewhere between science and superstition, there is another floor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGb8pMIeY6w
Documentarian Mark Wexler Shows Us How to Live Forever
Documentary filmmaker Mark Wexler set out on a four-year journey through the aging process and what it may be like to one day live forever. Don't let the subject matter throw you. How to Live Forever is a high-spirited exploration …