Monday, February 1st, 2010

That is one of the more priceless frightened faces on a child that I have ever seen. It is also completely unrelated to anything we're about to discuss. First off, in all of the award-season chaos, many people tend to leave the Golden Raspberry Awards off of their lists. Like always, the Razzies tend to be the worst of extreme mainstream cinema, instead of being the worst of cinema, period... as advertised. Case in point, Land of the Lost lands a nomination for Worst Picture, even though it had some supporters, one being Roger Ebert. Also, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen had a terrible script, but has kept a decent fan base, and despite not being a Fellini, the movie was entertaining enough at least, to keep it off this list. Other notables pointed out in /Film's coverage include four nods for The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Sandra Bullock's nomination for All About Steve, which could couple with a possible Academy Award nomination announced tomorrow for her role in The Blind Side (which for my consideration, would fit in more on this list than any other). There is also three decade awards that is worth checking out.

Other than Bullock, not a lot of Oscar speculation coming out of the nominations for the Razzies, but another award show went down over the weekend, the Directors Guild of America Awards, in which Kathryn Bigelow took home the trophy for Best Director for her film The Hurt Locker. Cinematical's Girls on Film column focuses on Bigelow's big win, trumping her ex-husband James Cameron among others. The article also notes that Bigelow's chances on Academy gold just shot up considerably, seeing that the winner of the highest honor the DGA presents has won the Oscar 90% of the time in the last 61 years. On top of all this, Bigelow also holds the distinction of being the first female winner of the DGA Award, and is looking as a nearly positive groundbreaker as the first female to gain the Oscar in the same category.

Finally stepping away from the award stuff for a bit, /Film has an article up focusing on Kevin Smith's Twitter account, where the Clerks. director has announced he is shopping Hit Somebody, a dramedy set in the world of hockey, to Warner Brothers. They also quote Smith as referring to Hit Somebody as an equal to 1993's Chasing Amy, the quality of which he has been, for lack of a better word, chasing ever since.

Well, with all attempts of not mentioning Avatar, the fact that the Oscars are announced this week, and the aforementioned news of Bigelow's triumph over the film makes it almost impossible. Also continuing to block me from ignoring the blockbuster is the fact that the film took the top spot at the box office again this week, for the seventh time, in the process breaking the record for the highest grossing seventh weekend of all time. Box Office Mojo's weekend report also estimates that the current record holder for worldwide box office will overtake the U.S. domestic record sometime this week, beating out Titanic. Cameron's film also was the first to cross the worldwide $2 billion mark over the past week. Many may wonder exactly why all the praise for the flick, including the comically monotoned guy that posted a 70 minute review of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace on YouTube. He now has an 18 minute review of Avatar posted. Here is the first part, enjoy.

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Admittedly, I'm not a very manly fellow. Still, one of the few typical male things about me is that I don't have a clue about anything fashion, therefore, despite the ties to the cinema industry, you'll hardly ever see me blog about fashion, unless it is extremely gaudy (meaning that I enjoy Bjork) or if it has something to do with Halloween. In the latest issue of Harper's Bazaar, Tim Burton has lent his style to Halloween fashion. Check out the gallery at Cinematical. What does it say about me that I dig the mummy?

It doesn't take much to see by the opening there that it was a slow news day in the movie world, so instead of blogging about how stupid some casting news is, here are a few random movie related articles I've found throughout the day to keep me occupied.

First, Time Out London has counted down the top fifty directorial debuts in cinematic history. Sad to say that I've never seen the top spot, Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter, but I can say it has some mighty big shoes to fill. Also on the list is Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple, George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, David Lynch's Eraserhead, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Luis Bunuel's L'Age D'Or and Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead among others.

Coed Magazine has a countdown of the worst movies to hit number one at the box office. Topping the list is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but come on, what about the original Red Sonja? Ishtar? Also, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace may have been an abysmal entry in comparison to George Lucas' original trilogy, and when reading movie articles all the time, you get accustomed to nerd rage directed at Lucas and Phantom Menace being the norm. But Jesus, saying it was a worse movie than Epic Movie, Norbit or Batman and Robin? Somebody needs to be stoned to death (Michael Dance).

I spent most of my downtime today watching a set of YouTube videos, set around a guy looking through the tapes of a fictional unfinished short film called Marble Hornets. The series of videos begin as what would appear to be a friend mocking a fellow student filmmaker, almost suggesting the feel of American Movie, and eventually evolves into an amateur horror web series. Most of the bizarre happenings come from the mythical creature of Slender Man, a character made up from a web contest by SomethingAwful.com. Still, I'm posting it because what the guy does works. With Paranormal Activity coming out this weekend, the documentary style horror subgenre seems to have some stories yet to tell, even in a post-Blair Witch Project world. The kid that edited this has gotten a lot of people's attention and should probably be applauded for making a series of homemade shorts that will surely be more entertaining than all the other entries in the faux documentary style, sans the great Cloverfield of course.

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

I was looking about the John Waters Fan Page on MySpace a minute ago after they added new pictures, and ran across this gem, and decided that there is no possible way I could actually get on here and talk about movies without sharing it with whomever happens upon this page.

Now, on to some of the tidbits I've uncovered today. First off, the most mind boggling thing, MovieWeb posted that Chris Casamassa, better known to the public as Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, has stated that he will return to the role of the hell-spawned ninja revenant in a third film for the franchise. I have to admit, that as horrible of a film as the first one was, I hold it as a guilty pleasure. But, even after admitting that, I've yet to see the 1997 sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and will be happy one day when I die without doing so. I seriously wonder if anybody will read this and be excited.

TheSuperficial reports that Michael Bay had Megan Fox wash his car to gain her breakthrough role in Transformers, and actually filmed it. This isn't quite news yet, but I've been calling Transformers the most exploitative film since Boss Nigger (a blaxploitation film, I've dubbed Transformers a cashploitation film for the constant effects with no substance), and if it comes to fruition that Bay actually played out the whole casting couch porn scenario, how much easier would it be for me to assert my classification up there.

Cinematical has an interesting article, taken from the New York Times, reporting that the pornographic film industry is losing plot and dialogue, and focusing on adding more sex scenes. So, porn used to have a plot?

Finally, District 9 released the full international trailer today. Up until now, the spots for the Peter Jackson produced film haven't gave us much insight to the story or the feel of the film. This trailer doesn't really make us understand anything more clearly, but does make it a slightly higher priority on the must-see list. Enjoy.



P.S.... Work sucks, and because some jack ass injured himself, I have to fill in for the late shift, and I may be going on a little spontaneous trip tomorrow night, so the next few days I may not be able to post. If not, I'll try to find something special to post for the weekend.

Monday, July 6th, 2009

I suppose before I get into any kind of movie news, rants or raves, I should say welcome to my blog, Cinemarant, where I will divulge to you, dear readers, what I think of what's going on in the world of cinema, as well as news in brief as much as I can. So without further ado, let's jump right in.

How can you speak of anything in the entertainment industry without mentioning the death of the King of Pop Michael Jackson. Ever since the popular culture icon passed away last week CNN has been covering the legal battles and the upcoming funeral services more so than the civil unrest in Iran, President Barack Obama's new energy or healthcare plans, or the deaths of the seemingly endless line of celebrities that have passed along side the tabloid sensation in the days surrounding the fall of pop. So, you may be asking yourself, why would I be blogging about a musical genius/eccentric headline hopper in a movie blog? Well, there is no time to be wasted to cash in on the money train of Jackson's death, as Randy Phillips, the president and CEO of AEG Live, the company behind Jackson's British tour that was to begin next month has already told the Associated Press that he's looking to turn the 100+ hours of rehearsal footage into live albums, a pay-per-view special, and you guessed it... a documentary film. Don't get me wrong, I've been riding a non-stop news loop of the Jackson death circus since it began, and I would welcome a well-done documentary on Jackson's highs in music and lows in his eccentricities and odd behaviors, but is this just a little too soon to be talking a documentary when we don't even know the fate of his children, his estate or even the exact circumstances surrounding his death? And what kind of voice is the documentary to have? If it is to look at anything in a comical light, it is way too soon for the public to digest, and if it is to be serious, it will either be a repackaging of Martin Bashir's Living with Michael Jackson, or as bizarre and unmarketable as Wacko Jacko's personal life became in his later career. Discuss in the comments, if I get any readers if the entire Jackson thing has reached overkill yet, and your pissed off that nobody is buying the rights for an OxiClean docudrama, or if the entire thing is to be expected, he's the fucking king of pop, right!?

Also, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen took the top spot at the box office again this week, although reports have shifted between Michael Bay's cashploitation flick and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, so it is a virtual tie. Public Enemies came in third, and surprisingly The Hangover continues to keep in the top five, raking in another $11 million this weekend.

Sci-Fi Squad has a story on the development of the upcoming live-action Star Wars television series, but just cites "sources" without ever naming them. So, take the news with a grain of salt.

And finally, the red band trailer for Jennifer's Body went online today. Most of the coverage has been centered on the fact that you get to see a lot of Megan Fox in this, but the trailer looks awesome. Actually, I can't remember the last time I saw a trailer to a horror film, and became that stoked about it. Enjoy.


P.S. Speaking of Michael Jackson up there, I'm trying to spread the word of the Thrill the World event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The event coordinator Hannah Bailey contacted me to say that Guinness World Records have been contacted to show up there for the largest simultaneous dance to Jackson's hit "Thriller". You can click here for more information on the Oak Ridge event, or just go to ThrilltheWorld.com for information on an event closer to your area. Also, it is the same night as The Grand AdventureCon in Pigeon Forge, a short drive from Oak Ridge, which among other guests will be featuring Jason Mewes from Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse. I'll promote the hell out of these two events in the upcoming months, so an apology in advance.