Pet Peeve 2.5

I cannot stand poor writing. Guess what! I am guilty of poor writing. One must only look at my last post to see the truth in that. I promise not to post when I am half asleep and suffering from fatigue. Too late. I already broke that promise. Okay... I promise to think before I write. W

What to Watch tomorow?

I've got to stay home with the animals tomorrow night, while my better half is at work. Here are my film choices to get me in the mood but I need help picking one. Any suggestions?

HORROR DVDS WE HAVE AT HOME
The Abominable Dr. Phibes/Dr. Phibes Strikes Again
Alucarda
Anatomy
Army of Darkness Limited Edition
Audition
The Beyond
Black Sunday
The Blair Witch Project
Bollywood Horror Collection vol. 1
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Bubba Ho-Tep
Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter
The Car
Cat O'Nine Tails
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
The Corpse Bride
Count Yorga Vampire
Cronos (SE) 10th Anniversary Ed
The Crow 2 disc Collector's Series
Dark City
Dawn of the Dead (2004), Unrated Director's Cut
Day of the Dead
Day Watch (Russian) Super Happy Fun DVD
Dead Ringers
Deep Red
The Devil's Backbone
Donnie Darko
Dracula
Edwards Scissorhands 10th Anniversary Edition
Eraserhead
Frailty
Frankenstein the True Story
From Hell
Gargoyles
Hellboy 3-Disc Special Edition
Hellraiser and Hellraiser II Box Set
Hellraiser: Hellseeker
Hour of the Wolf
Ichi the Killer
Imprint
Incubus
Inferno
Jaws Collector's Edition
The Holy Mountain
The Johnsons
Kill Cruse
The Killer
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
The Kingdom (TV) Danish Edition
Kiss Me Monster
Kung Fu Zombie
Kwaidan
Lady in the Water
Legend 2-disc Ultimate Edition
Lenara: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural
Lifeforce
Lips of Blood
Manhunter Limited Edition
Mark of the Devil: Anchor Bay Edition
Martin, George A. Rome’s
The New York Ripper
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Night of the Living Dead
Night Watch (Nochnoy dozor)
Opera (Argento)
The Others 2-disc Collector’s Edition
Pan’s Labyrinth
Phenomena
Pi
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pitch Black the Director’s Cut
Quills
Razor Blade Smile
Ravenous
Repo Man Special Edition – Anchor Bay Collector’s Tin
Return of the Blind Dead – Anchor Bay Edition
Return of the Living Dead – Special Limited Edition
Ringu Anthology of Terror
The Ring Virus Special Edition
The Rocky Horror Picture Show 2-disc set
Rosemary’s Baby
Santo en Atacan Las Brujas
Saw
Seconds
Shaun of the Dead
Silence of the Lambs
Signs
Sleepy Hollow
Spawn
The Stendhal Syndrome
The Stepford Wives
Suspiria – Limited Edition 3-disc Set
Tenderness of Wolves
Tombs of the Blind Dead
28 Days Later
Twin Peaks (TV Pilot)
Unbreakable Special 2-disc Edition
Unholy
The Vampire Collection II
- El Vampiro
- El Ataud Del Vampiro
Vampyros Lesbos
The Village
The Wickerman – Anchor Bay Special Box Set
Young Frankenstein

NO, you can't borrow any, we don't lend them out!

Pet Peeve 2

Okay. I admit that this was handed to me. A friend has this as one of his movie peeves and I can not help but notice it as well (Thanks Dave). Teeth. White as snow teeth. Big giant horse teeth. It seems like every actor in the world has super bright pearly white teeth (as perhaps they should be movie stars and all), or they have those huge fake teeth so it seems they have implanted horse teeth. Their teeth are not a problem until they star in a period piece. The art direction goes to great extremes to get hair and costumes just right. There should be no out of place fabrics or modern hair cuts (hair pieces) but then the actor talks. Giant white teeth from a time when there were no tooth brushes, much less a time with dental cleaning. You becomes distracted by the incongruous teeth. What? Don't the costumers have a way to make the teeth look natural? You will now be noticing this, now that I told you about giant shiny white teeth. Go ahead and smile your shiny smiles in your next western, war, or middle ages film. We will not notice that your smile detracts from all of the hard work that the art director did. We won't notice that your teeth seem to take up the entire frame. Go right ahead and smile. W

Marque Mash Ups

Dan in Real Life Across the Universe Feels the Noise
That's what new around here this weekend.
My first choice? Across the Universe - I didn't think this would EVER get here.
I still want to see Gone Baby Gone very much, so that's a maybe.

Sal Mineo

Did anyone know that the great Sal Mineo did a guest spot on S.W.A.T.. The real star of Rebel without a Cause reduced to episodic television.

Suggestions?

Well we saw 30 Days of Night and we liked it. I have a thing for vampire films and I suspect that I have given it to my lovely wife as well. The trouble is that there are so many bad vampire films, that one has to wade through a lot of muck to get to a good one. So I am open to suggestions about good, perhaps even great, vampire films. I am not going to list my favorites as not to add suggestion to your lists. Don't create a list of what you think I might like but rather to what you like. Please feel free to open this to a wider suggestions of "horror" films. If you can keep to a single topic then so much the better, such as favorite vampire films, zombie films, or nature attacks films. I look forward to your lists.

Vampire, Zombie, Monster, Giant Monster, Killer, Nazi's, Attacking Hamsters.....

What's at the cineplex this weekend?

30 Days of Night - It's that time of year. And Will has gotten me to love vampire films. This will be our first choice.

Gone Baby Gone - Our secnd film of the weekend if we get the chance.

That leaves three others to choose from and maybe one free night next week.
Michael Clayton - which I fear will not be here much longer.

Rendition - I still haven't decided wheather this will be worth going to see or not.

Things We Lost in the Fire - Oh, I do love a good weepy movie, and Benico isn't bad either.

The Best Picture race: my thoughts

1. Atonement – the frontrunner, because I have not read one single bad thing about this film anywhere, although it reminds of “the English Patient.” And I don’t think that is a good thing. I am looking forward to seeing this, although I probably won’t get a chance until after the New Year maybe even only after the nominations come out and it gets those 9 or 10 nominations I’m predicting it to get.

2.There Will Be Blood – The second most critically reviewed film so far. With comparisons to “Citizen Kane,” that could be good for or bad, for a dark period drama with phenomenal acting that may not have wide appeal. Again, unfortunately another film that I won’t get to see until probably some time early next year.

3.Charlie Wilson’s War – With two of America’s favorite actors, though Tom Hanks seems miss-cast, people will go see this film for Tom Hanks and for Julia Roberts, but they may not like it, and more importantly the critics and the Academy may not like it. Especially if we get beat over the head with a message film. It’s got to be great! But we will have to wait and see, and for us it will have to wait probably until the New Year, this is not our priority holiday film.

4.Sweeny Todd the Barber of Fleet Street – (this is our priority holiday film!) It’s Johnny Depp and Tim Burton together again! BUT, it’s a musical… so? So I happen to like musicals. (We don’t get but maybe two Broadway shows down here a year, and not any of the new touring stuff, i.e., “Cats” played for the first time two years ago). We had serious doubts about Johnny in the first Pirates film way back in the summer of ’03; we couldn't’t believe that he was in a Disney movie, and that the film was based on a Disneyland ride. If this film can match just half of that success “Sweeny Todd” could prove golden.

5.This 5th spot is tricky it could be any one of these next five….

Juno – A festival favorite this year’s “Little Movie That Might.” And because of last year’s “Little Miss Sunshine” success, this film has a chance. But it has got to go into a wide release no more than two weeks after its limited release, and go big. (we will not get to see this before the New Year)

American Gangster – Another Gangster/Mob/Cop drama, this type of film, I think can compare to the Western in its 1950’s heyday – everyone loved a western then like everyone loves a bad guy (or rather a gangsta) today. But Ridley Scott will not win for this film, God, I hope he won't. His time WILL come, just not this year with this film.

No Country for Old Men – The Hit n’ Miss Coen Brothers are back,(some people just don’t get them) and most of those people are voting Academy members. The violence might be too brutal but the performances could save it. As Coen Bros. fans, we can’t wait to see it – this is probably our Thanksgiving Holiday film.

Michael Clayton – An Oscar bait film, but George Clooney is not drawing them in with that weak opening weekend, although as this is targeted towards adults, word of mouth and critical success could keep this film from falling by the way side, but the test will be if it survives this weekend.

Gone Baby Gone – So far so good; wait for it … we’ll know more by Friday. This is could take the fifth spot.

Eastern Promises – A very good film, deserving of a nomination, but it can’t compete with what else is out there this year.

3:10 to Yuma – A very good remake, most say better than the original, but it’s still a REMAKE!

Into the Wild – Too small, too early, and too sad. It suffers from the same effect “Little Children” had last year. It’s on everyone’s list but not seriously. Still a must see for me. But like “Little Children,” we won’t get to see this until it hits Netflix.

CLOSE TO THE EDGE
These films are still up in the air, because of their potential and because they are good films, but they only have a slight chance; they need a miracle.

In the Valley of Elah
The Savages
Lions for Lambs
Before the Devil Knows Your Dead
The Great Debaters
Once
Lust, Caution
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

The Differences Between US

The wife and I make frequent trips to the darkness of a cinema. Movies have always been a passion of ours though not always in the same way. We spent our "courtship" going to movies. We left our wedding reception and went to a movie. There is one noticeable difference between us at a movie. It is not how we watch a film. It is not how we choose a film. It is not what we do during the film. What is the big difference between us? Popcorn. Yes, I said popcorn. It is not whether we get popcorn, as more likely than not we do. It is not whether we share as we always do. The difference is how we eat popcorn. This difference goes back to how we first saw movies as children. I was effectively a only child as my siblings were no longer in the home. The lovely wife is one of four. I went to movies alone or with friends. She went to movies with her siblings. I most likely had my own popcorn, unless my friends and I were sharing, but usually I had my own. She always had to share. Here is where the difference is: I learned to eat popcorn slowly so that it would last through the movie: and she learned to get what you can before your siblings eat it all. I would eat one kernel at a time. Sometimes I would eat only half a kernel. Savoring. She would try to get what she could before it was all gone. How do we eat popcorn now? Her way or my way? Hers, of course! Should there be a long episode of previews then most likely the popcorn is gone before the film even starts. She taught me to eat "Family Style" though I should have taught her to eat "single kernel style". We share our popcorn and have almost never quarreled about it. Popcorn was the first thing that we learned to share so, in a strange way, popcorn helped cement our relationship (no jokes about arteries hardening). So heres to Popcorn. Hip Hip Hooray.

What are my Choices this week

Well I didn't get to the cinema this week. So I've missed "In the Valley of Elah," but I still have a chance to catch "The Brave One."

New - Elizabeth: The Golden Age for sure, hey its the Great Kate!

New - Michael Clayton This is probably the best bet, I like George and Will likes Tilda, enough said.

New - We Own the Night - It looks like a good "AMC movie" (where one would welcome the commericals and censorship).

New - Death at a Funeral I may just have to read some reviews about this before hand.

Pet Peeve 1

I am jumping in to the middle of this blog. Please excuse the first of many rants. Hollywood rant number one: I hate when a historical biopic is made and important people are left out simply because they get in the way. If your script is so narrow that you must change history in order to tell "your story" then perhaps you should pay more attention to the historical facts. I have learned that "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" omits any and all of the Younger brothers. The book that the movie script is based on has the Youngers as major characters. History has the Youngers as major members of the James-Younger gang (hence the name). I know what we will do because that pesky brother keeps getting in the way, so we won't even mention Jesse. The complaint is that the general audience knows so little of history that they take "movie history" as fact. Don't believe me? Ask how many people whether JFK the movie is factual correct then look for yourself. Film maker have the ethical responsibility to hold historical fact together. I know... I know... Since when is Hollywood the keeper of ethics? Never, but I propose that every action is in and of itself a ethical action. Film makers know that people are getting history from them so the should try to be correct. Ugh... like this is going to make a difference in the scheme of things.
W

Oh, If I Had the Time...for what's at the nearest theatres this weekend

The New stuff at the theatre this week and the old stuff I still haven't found the time to see.

New - The Heartbreak Kid

- I don't think so. I only find the Farrelly Brothers only mildly amusing, and I only like Ben Still when he is playing a wild character, like Derek Zoolander or White Goodman.

New - Feast of Love

- again I don't think so, this just seems too 'Lifetime Movieish,' not that there is anything wrong with that. Wait a minute, yes there is.

New - In the Valley of Elah

- for as much as I like Tommy Lee Jones, this story just seems too depressing.

New - The Jane Austen Book Club

- O.K. this will meet my 1 chick flick quota for the year.

The Brave One

-Still not seen and my next pick should I ever get to the theatre again.

The Kingdom

-if I don't get a say in what we see or for some reason can't make it for the Brave One

Trailer Woes

Hopefully there should be a trailer for "Sweeny Todd" this week, but it may first appear before "The Heartbreak Kid" before in goes online. Frankly I have no intrest in seeing that movie. But, I just found out that the trailer for "Love in the Time of Cholera" should premier online at msn on October 9th. But the trailer for "Charlie Wilson's War?" I have no clue when this will appear, maybe before showings of "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," which dispite the bad reviews I still want to see.