Electric Shadow

Rebutting Che

Like so many arguments There is a repeated cycle in Cuban politics of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and one flavor of dictator substituted with another. http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jlima/2009/01/09/some-thoughts-on-soderberghs-che/#comment-28233
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Last Emperor's Scarlotti Rightfully Recognized

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=awardcentral&jump=news&articleid=VR1118009593 The Art Directors Guild plans to induct three members to its hall of fame. Malcolm F. Brown, art director for "Cat Ballou" and the first season of "The Twilight Zone"; Ferdinando Scarfiotti, Italian production designer for "Scarface" and "American Gigolo"; and Bob Keene, production designer for some Academy and Grammy award shows, will all be honored. The Feb. 13 ceremony, to be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, will also include the presentation of awards in nine competitive categories and of the lifetime achievement nod. Nominations for the competitive categories will be announced Jan. 8.
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Can You Find Trick R Treat?

Back in 2007, I was saying that Mike Dougherty's Trick R Treat could take the Halloween franchise crown from Saw with a minimum of effort. Now that it's is finally available for mass consumption on DVD & Blu-ray, it's virtually impossible to find in brick and mortar outlets. After trying big box retailers near me, I found Wal-Mart and Target that weren't carrying it at all, and Best Buy was sold out. Reports like this are coming in from all over the country on message boards and Twitter feeds.

This is just another interesting footnote in the unreasonably rough road to release the movie has seen. Trick R Treat is an anthology horror film (in the vein of Creepshow) that deals with how the spirit of Halloween infects a small town. There are four separate sections to the film, with a creepy little "kid" with a sack over his head named Samhain popping up throughout. It managed to not freak out my wife, who can't take the torture porn and straight-up slasher movies that clog the cineplexes these days. Instead of people rallying to be a part of a gigantic marketing buy from Paramount to "demand" Paranormal Activity go nationwide (as if it won't), I wish there were a more concerted effort to demand availability of Trick R Treat in retail stores nationwide. We can all just order from Amazon and wait, or buy it VOD with no extras for an outrageous $15, but this is not some boutique release, this is a title people have been wanting to get their hands on for a couple years now. It's sold out or backordered all over the country, from burgs to major metros. Like me, do you want yours NOW? Sound off in the comments below
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hiatus continuing, back soon

My father had a stroke a couple days after my last post. It's been a rather full and hectic world for me since then, but I nonetheless apologize for my without-a-trace disappearance. I'm not going anywhere, and am in fact returning to not only this column but am taking the reins of the long-derelict Discland area of the site. The first new post there in some time will be a review of the new Criterion Bluray edition of The Last Emperor. Can't yet guarantee a day, but it'll be this week.
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MIADVD

The Friends of Eddie Coyle Bigger Than Life
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Ironweed (1979) on DVD 24 Feb.

Playbill reports that the Nicholson/Streep-starring Ironweed is set to hit DVD for the first time on 24 February 2009. No word on extras, but good to see the movie going digital. MSRP is a tenner and a five, probably indicating a $9.99 first-week price. Here's five minutes I found on YouTube: Was no one available for "30th anniversary" extras? Guess not.
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BNAT X Post Mortem Part Two

The legend from last night: Trailers in italics, previews in bold, features in big bold. First full writeup comes this afternoon. Beastmaster 2 C.H.O.M.P.S. Hot Dog lobby snack ad The Secret of Magic Island The thought of remaking Beastmaster (was that being talked up) makes me chuckle. Devin from CHUD is right-on wanting to see The Secret of Magic Island. Looks like an ASPCA horror show of animal abuse. White Dog (1982) I gotta be honest, I missed parts of this due to exhaustion and slow, lingering closeups. Definitely deserves a re-watching and poring-over of the extras on the new Criterion edition. Push (2009) This looks utterly atrocious. I wish I could be more charitable than that. Know1ng (2009) This, on the other hand, looks great. Proyas wisely chose a solidly-choreographed sequence to send. Observe and Report (2009) Having recently re-watched The Foot Fist Way, I can't wait to see something else from the pen/typing hands of Jody Hill. Terminator Salvation (2009) McG looks to have a winner on his hands. He just needs to let the movie speak for itself and do what it does. Watchmen (2009) I've kept my wife entirely in the dark about Watchmen and what it is, and her reaction was, "that looks like it's going to be amazing. When does it come out?" Latino Encounter Amin: The Rise and Fall Pop Tarts commercial Mission Thunderbolt Latino Encounter only tangentially (I think?) involved actual latinos, Amin was a holdover from last year but the human bacon bit makes it hilarious each time, did you know pop tarts now feature frosting?, and I can't remember the last trailer for the life of me. Che (2008 Roadshow Cut) This was a rough time for almost everyone in the audience. This was the one thing I was desperate to see that I couldn't have otherwise, and it was excellent. Politics and armchair directing aside (the reasons most are slamming it combined with lack of what I consider reasonable movie-going patience), a brilliant achievement. ------------------------------------- I had to get something up here or I'd be behind. Today and throughout the week (maybe into the next) I'll be giving each piece of the puzzle its own attention. Admittedly, last year had its ups and downs, but this year's was universally strong. I never felt "bought," but all the same will give the various giveaway goodies their own focus, including Sex Panther cologne from Anchorman, which roughly 20 of my workmates have told me they are buying.
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BNAT X Post Mortem Part One

Blocking out 24 hours of your life on a weekend this time of year for an all-you-can-be-fed film festival makes various things very difficult to catch up on, especially sleep and your day job. I've recovered enough on both fronts that I can start piecing together adequate coverage of this year's 26-hour (once all was said and done) tenth annual Butt-Numb-a-Thon. I'll be delivering full-length features on individual films and chunks of related material, topping it off with a BNAT list of some sort regarding favorites and so on. For now, I'll drill through the lineup as it happened, trailers and all, limiting myself to one line apiece. Trailers in italics, previews in bold, features in big bold. Deal with it. Part two in the morning. Invasion USA The Slumber Party Massacre Pinnochio's Birthday Party Stunt Rock Chuck Norris fearmongering, slasher classic, terrible children's cash-in and a BNAT tradition. Teen Wolf (with Teen Wolf live, cut short by projector malfunction) The annual poking of fun at Harry Knowles' pal Jeff Mahler. Fake "wolf teeth" are always good for a laugh. Viva Villa (1934) Unintentionally homoerotic and full of man-love tension...entertaining as hell. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) I'm glad I went in without staggering expectations. One of the year's best that I've seen, but requires 2.5-hour patience, which not as many have these days. Coraline (3D) Freaky and full of anti-establishment sentiment. Beautiful stop-motion work. The reason 3D should exist. Dr. Pepper Commercial The Terrornauts Ashley and I perked up at a commercial for our favorite soda (which we prefer the cane sugar variety of, made here in Texas) and chuckled at how badly someone can cut a trailer. Sahara (1943) Ashley can't roll with Bogart and feels him unappealing. I however love the guy, and he's full of salt and vinegar here. Doc Savage Mega Force The Villain Doc Savage always makes me laugh, Mega Force did not, in fact, contain the greatest stunts I'd ever seen, and I had never even heard of The Villain but now want to find it desperately. Valkyrie (2008) I expected to hate this movie for a laundry list of reasons that had nothing to do with giving the movie a shot. Others have said it "gets the job done and that's it," but I think that's why it's one of the most clean, efficient, no-bullshit things I've seen all year. UP (2009) One of my favorite things I saw. I'm in the tank for Pixar, but I didn't know what to expect. Animatics and storyboards made me well up. Metropolis (1984 Moroder cut) The sound was up waaayyy too high to the point Ashley and I had headaches for the next four hours or so. Hadn't seen it all the way through, and we were watching the only print known to exist. Monsters Versus Aliens (2009) 20 minutes or so, 3 scenes The 3D in this didn't wow me, some of the gags tried too hard, and Stephen Colbert was about the only thing that I unconditionally enjoyed. Not a fair way to judge it compared to the contiguous chunk of UP we saw. My Bloody Valentine The Devil Within Her Metalstorm I barely remember these. My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009) I'm not a horror fiend, gorehound, or whatever. This isn't my kind of movie, but it's much, much better than a lot of the crap being sequelized. It knows what it is and what it's doing, and I'll be damned if it doesn't use the 3D as a tool to stand out and not just blend in with the other slashers out there. A moviegoing event for the horror-hungry masses. I Love You Man I missed giant chunks of this due to Ashley still feeling the after-effects of Metropolis, but the consensus seemed positive among those I spoke with. Not earth-shattering, but a good pile of fun and contrast to Valentine. It was just announced as opening night film for SXSW, so I'll see it properly there.
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BNAT X: Last Minute Thoughts

Getting prepped for a 24-hour film festival takes a lot out of you. Ashley and I are getting our last things done before heading to the Alamo South Lamar, and I wanted to throw some last minute guesses based on the "fake lineup" Harry posted late last night. The movies below correspond to something we're seeing, whether new, old, clips or the whole movie. 1. THE CHAMP (1931) -not The Wrestler, that's too obvious 2. SOMEWHERE IN TIME (1980) -Star Trek 3. ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010) -Coraline 4. ISHTAR (1987) -Reds? hell, I have no clue 5. THE STING (1973) -something with Newman. This is NOT The Brothers Bloom, it played Fantastic Fest. 6. KURENAI NO BUTA (1992) -Ponyo on a cliff 7. FLASH GORDON (1980) -Flesh Gordon 8. GOJIRA TAI MEKAGOJIRA (1974) -Monsters vs Aliens 9. DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954) -this is a stretch, but High Noon, linking from Grace Kelly 10. THE THIRD MAN (1949) -no clue 11. BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) -Valkyrie 12. FIRESTARTER (1984) -Grey Gardens? Whip It!? 13. THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE (1961) -2012 14. GREEN HORNET (2010) -Observe and Report 15. WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE? (1978) -Watchmen 16. EL CID (1961) -Che 1 & 2 (wishful thinking) 17. A BOY AND HIS DOG (1975) -The Road Most of these guesses are probably WAY off, but here's to guessing. See everyone on the other side.
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FantasticFest08: Zombie Girl shambles to Slamdance 09

Zombie Girl was a fun doc I reviewed back in September when it played Fantastic Fest, the hajj of genre film enthusiasts. It's now moving on up to Slamdance 09 according to the lineup that Cinematical posted this morning. This is excellent news in light of the recent blow to female directors in the Hardwicke Whacking of 08. Let's hope Emily really represents as much the future of female directors as her own generation. Emily and her mom Megan will be at ButtNumbAThon X this weekend, I'll see about grabbing a quote from them about where the movie is otherwise. Speaking of Fantastic Fest, I have a Nacho Vigalondo interview that I need to put up in the days leading up to Friday, as (I'm assuming) Timecrimes expands to other markets.
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Region0: Red Cliff Part 1 and The "International Cut"

2008, China Region-free DVD available from Sensasian.com and YesAsia.com among others I'm not holding out any hope that the complete, two-part, and four-hour Chinese cut of John Woo's Red Cliff will hit the US in anything other than a DVD or Bluray release. As a result, I've gone ahead and imported it. I can't help but think of the parallels to the impending release of Che. IFC isn't paring Che down into one 2.5-hour condensation, but the only way we expect to see the whole experience of either movie is in one's living room. For those unfamiliar with the film and its still-hazy US release plans, the plot of the film concerns the Battle of Red Cliff, a landmark event in Chinese history that further unified regional rulers as China grew together to become the People's Republic that it is today. Woo has attempted a more historically-accurate take on the material than has been seen in more...loose adaptations that use Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a historical novel, as their blueprint rather than Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, the historical record of events from which Romance is adapted. Part One was released in China in early July 2008 and has waged a path of destruction across Asian box offices since then, recouping over 80% of its budget so far. The movie came out just in advance of the Beijing Olympics, and I wish someone gave me a vote as to whether the US got The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor or Red Cliff: Part One this past August. I'm used to waiting months (Mongol) or years (Hero) for Asian films to hit the US, but this one is getting chopped to pieces before it gets here. The nearly 2.5-hour Part One will be combined with the undetermined-length Part Two and shaved down to...2.5 hours? I know nothing's official yet, even a US distributor, but the reason no one seems to have any clue what's happening with the movie is inextricably tied to the fact it's non-English language period drama clocking at around five hours in two chunks. Even more so after seeing Part One, I can't fathom how you effectively shave almost 5 hours down to 150 minutes with this material. The cast is Lord of the Rings large in terms of focal characters, so you'd have to chop a few people completely out of the movie to really drill the running time down that much. What am I saying? I'm giving people ideas now. Terrible ideas.
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Dear Zachary on MSNBC

...or, How to Ruin an Engaging Doc with Commercials.

I didn't catch Dear Zachary at SXSW this year or anywhere else, and I wish I had. My only shot at seeing it was tonight's showing on MSNBC prior to an expected DVD release at some point. If you can put up with commercials, see it as soon as you can. I did fine for the first little bit (20-25 minutes or so), until the first commercial break, which lasted around 6 minutes. Commercials destroy momentum, and it's a great testament to Kurt Kuenne's film that even the lengthy breaks to sell the elderly hearing headsets or car insurance don't lose you.

The movie is only 95 minutes long, and I get the bricks of time in which the universe exists in the cable realm don't fit that at all, even with "limited commercial interruption." 95 minutes of movie and 25 minutes of commercials, though...is excessive, even to the most indoctrinated cable zombie. MSNBC would be wise to chop the commercials in half and plug a 15 minute newsbreak in at the end of each screening of the movie.

The movie itself, I can say without spoiling things for those who haven't seen it, is a far more scathing indictment of government and justice systems than Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired. Dear Zachary is a movie about how miscarriage of justice by any officiated body can affect one individual directly and leave irreparable damage to the many, many people connected to them and consequently, human society as a whole. There are tons upon tons of docs and TV specials out there about the horrible things that happen to people, but Dear Zachary really feels like it happened to you or a person you know, and on top of that, it makes you appreciate what you have more than you could believe before you're on the other side of its 95 minutes (2 hours including liquor commercials).

I'm rewatching it as we speak, and at a particularly involving moment, we cut to a quick Advil commercial, and then...ShamWOW! When is the US going to get on the bandwagon with IP TV and cut this crap out? Fine, front-load me with 12 minutes of ads straight, just don't chop the content up for crying out loud!

This movie should have been on that shortlist. I assumed that was the case before, but I'm angry about it now. It is reassuring that an enormous number of people will see it by virtue of being on cable TV "for free," which will give it a bigger potential audience than anything shy of Fahrenheit 9/11 hype, which is not the case with docs in any case other than that one movie.

Austinites can see it theatrically thanks to the Austin Film Society in February, I'm told, with director Kurt Kuenne in attendance. More details as they come on that front.

Hardwicke off Twilight and why this sounds familiar

Nikki Finke has reported and many others have hopped aboard news that Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke is off the franchise. The most interesting piece of the story comes in Finke noting that Summit (who owes its newly-flush coffers to the movie that Hardwicke directed) is positioning her as "irrational" and "difficult to work with" (I'm paraphrasing the second there), similarly to how Julie Taymor was described on Across the Universe. Why does this sound like a man breaking up with a woman with no good reason other than some one else waiting in the wings? I'm not saying I know anything about the production, Catherine, or any of the people involved, but this could be the new standard of writing off female directors. Didn't we hear something similar shot around about the studio's perspective on Lexi Alexander on Punisher: War Zone? Is this the conversation that goes on when studios look to hire directors: "Jesus, Bill, we can't let a broad direct the picture, just think how irrational, difficult to work with, and out of control all those lady feelings are gonna be! Let's go get smashed, grab a couple hookers, and a brick of coke, whaddaya say?" Any outspoken "artiste" or "auteur" type is going to butt heads with a studio that has anything less than complete trust in the director in question. No one will definitively, without a shadow of doubt, convince anyone that they're right in a he-said she-said on this thing. There are so many cooks in a studio kitchen, it's a matter of who owns the IP and who makes the hiring/firing choices...they control the spin, no question. Is Summit trying to P.R.-wise wash its hands of the one undesirable regarding the first movie, its critical reception? "It isn't our fault, it's that bloody hard-headed woman!"
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Hancock Unrated changes

Thanks to a mandatory 6-hour online defensive driving course, I've taken the copious free time included in that timeframe and the poor judgment of a friend who already bought Hancock on DVD and have finished getting through it playing in a tiny window in the background while I complete the course. This was spurred by the overabundance of extra time included and a commenter on Jeff's counter-Hancock post asking about the differences: In the first ten minutes, there's a character-building scene that expands Hancock in the bar early on. Readers of the original Tonight, He Comes script will see a piece of the movie that would have been preserved here. He meets a girl, she comes back to his place, and Brodie Bruce's (from Mallrats) curiosity about "when that moment comes" when Superman and Lois Lane are intimate is explored. Both watching it and checking other sources, the only other difference I can find is the means of transportation used to get to Hancock's trailer a little over an hour in to the movie. It's an alternate shot choice that then causes a continuity error. The additional scene is definitely an improvement over the theatrical cut, but it doesn't change how far off the rails the movie goes in Half Two. If you haven't seen it, the opening add-on is nice, but doesn't make it worth your time. The performers do good work relative to what they're given to work with, as does Berg, but the plot is what it is. For those who felt this movie really subverted the superhero genre in any way, you really should read the original script. It was much more adult and less "A La-La Land Superhero Story". It doesn't ignite a revolution when there's rampant cursing and alcohol abuse in a superhero movie. If you haven't seen it, catch it on cable when drunk yourself or wait for someone who doesn't know any better to throw it on in a "hey, let's watch this" when you have an escape option if it loses you halfway in like it did myself and others.
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The Blue Hair Mafia and Oscar

I'm going to immediately be accused of ageism, that much I anticipate. The going logic that keeps coming around is that the "Geezers of Gold" that killed Brokeback Mountain a few years ago are the real swing voters of the US. This means that as go the old folks, so goes the Academy in terms of nominations, snubs, and winners in many but not all cases. Even if their "pick" as a bloc doesn't outright win, they can play the spoiler and tip things another direction. Actors are a big contingent, but how does the age split go across the board? The painful personal analogue for me is community theatre, where if the elders in power don't go for it, it ain't happening. Some of the following experiences are true, some overheard, and some are invented realistically. The hottest, most cutting edge play or musical can be available for amateur production with plenty of young actors ready to jump at the chance to play in it, but if the Blue Hair Mafia (BHM) decide they want to do Nunsense again or that Mornings At Seven hasn't bee revived eight times, that's what they want and that's what they'll have. A new David Mamet play? Who wants to hear all those dirty words?! Onstage nudity? Devilish sin, let's do Our Town instead! Wait a minute, where's our annual Tennessee Williams show? How long can we make a completely unabridged Shakespeare show's runtime? Wait just a damn minute, we can't have actors say the N word in a production of Ragtime! Imagine the protests, but honestly, where are we going to find all those black people? With this year as a case study, I've wondered if the geezers (I use the term affectionately) had/will have a hand in... ...Dear Zachary and Roman Polanski: Wanted & Desired getting shoved off the shortlist for Feature Doc because they were TV-bound (Zachary in December on MSNBC and Polanski already hit HBO), which isn't considered Old Hollywood "classy" enough I suppose... ...Stranded being ignored because it's about those horrible brown cannibals!... ...Gonzo shunned because it's assumed the subject himself would get enough of an audience on DVD... ...The Order of Myths being left off the Doc shortlist because it reminds people that old folks aren't crazy about non-whites and that the appearance of progressive ideas prevailing may be just that... ...Che gets dismissed for any consideration for the top prize amongst the scuttlebutt because 4 hours is a long time for an OAP to spend watching a movie about some pinko where no one speaks damn English...at least Lawrence of Arabia came out when they were in their 20's... ...early dismissal of Mickey Rourke's chances because The Wrestler gets too intense at one point thanks to blood... ...the possible last-minute arrival of Gran Torino and Eastwood on respective lists not necessarily for merit as much as "shut up, he's one of 'us'." I never count out an Eastwood film nor the man himself as an actor, but if the consensus among those under 70 is that there are five plus films better than Torino and it shows up on the Best Pic list... ...The Visitor shows up on the Best Pic list because as much as the oldies love Clint, they don't want "get off my lawn" to ring in their ears throughout 2009 and they don't end up liking Torino as much as they really want to... ..."it's too depressing" is code for "it reminds me of the less-Greater aspects of my Generation back when I was younger" kills Revolutionary Road... ...the counter-spoiler effect happens and The Dark Knight, WALL-E, or another film considered a dark horse shows up due to split votes for Benjamin Button, Gran Torino, or something else...and the geezers don't come to a consensus similar to the Republican Party during the primaries such that they end up with nothing they can all get behind... My personal hope is that the old folk do in fact split their preference, The Visitor squeaks through, and there are a couple big surprises on top of conventional-thinking upsets. Are the big wrong-o picks all their fault? Not necessarily, but they could be. I don't hate older people, I'm calling them like I see the situation this year and what has happened for too many years now. Jeff does enough Oscar reporting and footsoldiering for six writers, so I don't see myself writing too much about the Awardaholic Season, but we'll see.
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