THINGS TO COME: THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM

With movies like Warrior and Machine Gun Preacher hogging all the attention around the Christian blogosphere right now, it would be easy to overlook some of the really low budget religious themed offerings popping up on the festival circuits right now. For instance, there’s Kevin Smith’s Red State which, truth be told, just sounds too stupid to even talk about. But there’s also Todd Rohal's The Catechism Cataclysm, which creeps into limited release on October 19th and VOD one week later. I have to admit, the title sounds promising, but with a theme song entitled “GOD WILL F*** YOU UP”, I’ve got my doubts.

Basically, The Catechism Cataclysm tells the tale of the world’s most infantile priest who, after being forcefully sent on leave, tracks down the loser he used to idolize in high school and convinces him to go on a canoe trip. Buddy comedy mayhem ensues for awhile until two Japanese girls named Tom and Huck show up with their mute pal Jim and things start to go really, really weird.

Look, I like priest comedies as much as the next Catholic. Even some of the ones that are purposely antagonistic towards my religion, like Father Ted, can have some funny moments. So I don’t want to dismiss this movie right away. But when you’ve got folks like Steven Rea from the Philadelphia Inquirer saying things like “It seems hopelessly without a point - unless the point has something to do with dropping a Bible into a dirty toilet.” and Leslie Stonebraker of the New York Press musing that “rather than use this premise as a set up for bible satire, the film relies on diarrhea jokes and uninspired buddy-bonding to carry us through an ill-plotted tale of damnation and redemption” then, well… let’s just say I’m not optimistic. Oh well, at least Bless Me Father is streaming on Netflix.

"Mortal Kombat" Opens the Fan-Film Pandora's Box

I'm of two minds about the new high-end breed of "fan films," i.e. unlicensed adaptations of properties made by professional-level filmmakers. A lot of them are good, a lot of them are bad, and I won't lie and say I wouldn't relish to opportunity to take a shot at one myself had I the resources... but I can understand the criticism that people at that level might be better served coming up with their own material; particularly since the not-so-secret "dream" behind a lot of such projects - getting hired to make the "real" thing - hasn't happened in any meaningful way yet.

Well, now it has. Warner Bros. liked Kevin Tancharoen's "Mortal Kombat: Rebirth" short (or, at least, the online reaction to it) so much that they brought him on to do the "Legacy" webseries... and now he's getting to helm the real thing - a feature-film "reboot" of the series.

Um... yeah?



I mean, good for him certainly, but I really, truly hated "Rebirth" - just the ultimate apotheosis of the "gritty realism" style of adaptation that I'm completely, utterly sick to fucking death of. Yes, fine, it was well-directed and it was nifty that he got "name" B-list actors to show up, but right around the point where Reptile - in the games a monster from another dimension - shows up as deformed serial-killer I checked the hell out. Fuck that shit. "Legacy" was marginally better, but never rose above "here are spot-on imitations of my favorite beats from recent genre-films but with Mortal Kombat guys in it."

I'm hoping, at least, that the film is NOT a continuation of either previous effort and actually tries to capture the games a little better - part of the reason I loved the recent game reboot was that it so enthusiastically embraced the Kung Fu meets metal album-cover in a halloween store feel of the original games, with absolutely zero effort made to cover up the high-camp insanity of the premise and characters. A movie of that, basically an ultra-gory "Big Trouble in Little China?" THAT I want to watch.

In any case, the bigger story here is that if/when this actually works out, "make fan-film, get hired" is going to REALLY take hold in the up-and-comer film world - get ready to see a lot of recent filmschool grads flooding YouTube with high-gloss takes on their favorite games and old cartoons hoping to catch a rights-holder's eye.

On a completely-unrelated note, anyone have a ballpark figure on what a photo-real CGI Bowser would cost?

Escape to the Movies: "Drive"

Go see it.

"Intermission" is about release-dates.

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : Drive

Harbingers of Fall

If I was sketching out an absurdist one-sentence parody of a present-day Oscar-baity project; "a Sandra Bullock movie where Tom Hanks dies on 9-11, told from the perspective of a precocious pre-teen boy, directed by Stephen Daldry with a trailer set to that same fucking U2 song" would make the shortlist. Easily.

In spite of that, I'd say this trailer for "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" actually looks pretty good...



Seriously, though - is there ANYTHING more irritating than hearing "Where The Streets Have No Name" kick up on ANY soundtrack?

Avengers: Earth's Mugging-est Heroes

Anachronistic puff-piece factory Entertainment Weekly has a bunch of set photos from "The Avengers" this issue, which is reason enough to make it a "cover story" in order to snare wayward fans digging from scraps of information.

Less excusable? The absolutely horrible cover, clearly fitted-together from unrelated images (everyone's eyeline is off) and demonstrative of Marvel not having a finished look at The Hulk ready for distribution yet - otherwise why would they have used that ghastly shot of Mark Ruffalo giving a duckface?

He Speaks For The Trees

From a pure entertainment standpoint, it's been been kind of delightful to watch American "conservatives" turn into a caricature of themselves - i.e. going from "capital punishment is grim but necessary" to applauding Texas' high execution-rate, and adjusting their environmental policy from the generally-reasonable opinion that nature/wildlife should not be placed above commerce/employment on the scale of importance to trying their darndest to become "Captain Planet" villains re: global-warming denial, Hummer-worship, "Drill Baby Drill!" etc. Hell, if they weren't still potentially electable Republicans would be a real riot.

In any case, below you'll find the poster for 2012's "The Lorax," which - thanks to the above-described state of the union - will undoubtedly be one of the most needlessly "controversial" big movies to be released next year...

Film is, of course, an adaptation of the beloved children's book by Dr. Seuss in which a magical creature tries - unsuccessfully - to convince an industrialist that his factory is despoiling a wildnerness. Or, as you'll be hearing it described on Fox News: "Socialist Propaganda Brainwashing Your Children Into Environmentalism As A Scheme To Enable Communist Muslims To Take Yer Freedoms!!!"

I'm a little concerned about this one, myself - apparently they've added some additional characters, which feels a lot like a gateway to cheaping-out on the original downer ending. But even if it's not all that good, the "blowback" should be entertaining as hell.

Somebody Get Oroboros a Losenge..

Good news, producers of "Battleship": your movie will soon no longer be everyone's go-to example of are-you-fucking-kidding-me licensed-property adaptations. Lionsgate has given the go-ahead to a feature-length film based NOT on the video-game "Dead Island" ...but on the trailer for the game.

For my non-gamer readers, "Dead Island" is basically every other fucking zombie game/movie ever, except this time it's on a resort island and therefore toooooootally different. The main reason that it achieved s noteworthy level of anticipation was that it was initially advertised with a pretty remarkable trailer, seen here:



So... yeah, pretty cool short CGI zombie movie. Of course, those aren't the in-game graphics. Or the main characters. And that bleak/sombre tone isn't really replicated in the game. But you can see why it briefly became a viral-sensation. In any case, since the trailer is what drove the hype and got Hollywood interested in the first place, apparently the film will take it's cues from IT as opposed to the game-proper.

For those keeping track: Mega Man, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, Kirby, Metal Gear, sonic etc? All still lacking (proper) movies. Dawn-of-The-Dead-but-in-a-different-place-and-interactive #1,698? Coming soon to a theater near you.

Big Picture: "Gender Games"

The Escapist : The Big Picture : Gender Games

"Rum Diary" Has a Poster

Pictured on the right: American film-actor Johnny Depp, waking up to the realization that he really did sign on the dotted-line for both "The Lone Ranger" and another shitty "Pirates" sequel.

Hat-tip to Hollywood-Elsewhere

"Final" Catwoman Looks Like This

JustJared (which I despise linking to as it's just the worst kind of "People"-esque paparazzi hit-baiting celebrity site, but fair is fair) has snaps from the "Dark Knight" set of Anne Hathaway in the 'default mode' of the Catwoman outfit that underwhelmed everyone a month or two ago. Wouldn't you know, it actually looks  a lot better; which maybe means that "spy" photographers are now doing a better job of promoting this movie than Warners is (or maybe means that I was right...)

As it turns out, everyone and their great aunt was right that the silly-in-a-bad-way goggles seen in all the other photos convert into silly-in-a-good-way cat ears when not in use, but evidently left out that she's wearing a wraparound eye-mask under them. Also, it appears that Nolan and company have at long last found one wholly-impractical superhero design-staple that they wanted to keep: Catwoman is doing her thing in high-heels (I'd be inclined to say they're just to make her look taller; but in some of the shots she's actually running in the damn things...)

Y'know what I like about this? Other than the obvious, I mean? That the basic design skips right over the more recent comics and "Batman Returns" and instead looks more than anything like a quasi-practical version of the getup from the Adam West series - which is otherwise the antithesis of the oh-so-serious mode that this whole series has been running in up to this point.

STILL VOICES #006

"Lone Ranger" May Ride Again - or - Why Everything Sucks: Exhibit A

Disney's proposed movie retooling of "The Lone Ranger" - a movie that nobody asked for, in a genre that doesn't make money, whose two most-recent comparative cousins (Green Hornet and Cowboys & Aliens) both bombed spectacularly, being reworked in such a fashion as to alienate the dwindling fanbase that none the less compromises the ONLY people likely to give a shit, so troubled as a production as to have become an industry-wide laughingstock - is apparently close to getting a second lease on life, according to Deadline.

Why? Mainly because the good citizens of Earth just handed Disney another boatload of cash to watch Johnny Depp mug his way through a shitty fourth "Pirates" movie, also a little bit because (supposedly) Depp actually wants to bring some kind of mystic/main-character version of Tonto to the big screen.

But I'd say it's ALSO probably because Disney's non-animated/non-Pixar tentpole slate isn't in spectacular shape right now. It's hard to notice because nobody spins bad news like The Mouse; but the fact is Disney doesn't have an all-but garaunteed blockbuster on the schedule other than "The Avengers" this coming May. Their other "big" projects - "Oz: The Great and Powerful" and "John Carter" - are both HUGE question-marks at this point: "Oz" has James Franco, not himself a proven boxoffice draw, in an "origin-story" for the Wizard of Oz being directed by Sam Raimi, who's had some difficulty getting back on his feet after getting sucker-punched off the "Spider-Man" franchise... the only place up to this point where he's been able to back up his considerable fanboy street-cred with serious boxoffice. "John Carter," meanwhile, is supposedly seriously overbudget ($250 Million officially, said to be waaaaay more than that unofficially) had a trailer that interested pre-aware fans but confused the crap out of everyone else; capped off by a reception at D23 that was largely described as underwhelming-to-disasterous by the very web-press most eager to get a look at it.

That's two potential big-budget duds in the offing, and it'll be doubly-humiliating for The Mouse if "Avengers" is the only project that makes money - since it was already in planning/production before Marvel was part of Team Mickey, the narrative will be that while the subdivisions (Marvel and Pixar) are hitmakers "Disney proper" doesn't know what it's doing. Incidentally; "Oz," "Carter" and "Ranger" all "belong" to the same producer team; Rich Ross and Sean Bailey. Thus, however much of an expensive mess "Lone Ranger's" production might already be, the aforementioned knowledge that audiences evidently cannot get enough of Johnny Depp galavanting through bloated CGI setpieces is hard to ignore from a financial standpoint.

Incidentally, how likely do you suppose it is that someone at The Mouse has already floated the idea of trying to fit Depp into "Tron 3" as some kind of waaaaaaaacky program?

GOP Debate Audience Boos Gay Soldier

Ideas are priceless. Beliefs are worthless.

I don't like to play the "what if the OTHER SIDE did it!!??" game, because it's mostly pointless; but sometimes it's pretty damn stark. Can you imagine what might've happened if, during the 2008 Democrat primary, a member of the military asked a question of a candidate and was BOOED by members of the audience? Every single candidate would've had to cut TV spots denouncing the action, and we'd still be knee-deep in repeats of it as "proof that The Left HATES soldiers!!!"

Here's the clip from the most recent GOP debate, as a gay soldier calls in from Iraq with a question assigned to Rick Santorum (hilariously placed directly beside a giant "Google" logo) about repealing DADT:



Listen to (some) in the audience boo the soldier, THEN listen to damn near the whole room wildly cheer Santorum's rambling, ridiculous "social engineering" response.

At the end of the day, there are two kinds of people in the world: Thinker and Believers (and before anyone asks, that is NOT code for "atheists and religious people," I'm talking about broad intellectual approaches to life not specific ideologies.) So long as American "Conservatives" are beholden to the "B" side over the "T" side they are unfit to hold lawmaking authority, and this is Exhibit A.

Hat-tip Jeff Wells

Escape to the Movies: "Machine Gun Preacher"

Holy, crap.
Frankly, this week I'm more enamored of "Intermission," which compiles all of the questions still unanswered from the pre-"Avengers" Marvel movies.

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : Machine Gun Preacher

If I Had a Creed, This Would Be It...

"There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance."
-- Socrates

Will Patty Jenkins Become Marvel's (Literal) First Lady?

THR and Deadline both report that Disney/Marvel may have made up their mind as to who will direct the sequel to "Thor," (yes, already greenlit - that's what that monster of an overseas boxoffice gross will net you) and that the selection will be yet another Marvel Studios head-scratcher: Patty Jenkins, primarily known as a TV director (late of the pilot for AMC's "The Killing") save for 2003's "Charlize Theron Needs An Oscar" (released in most territories as "Monster.")

If selected, this will make Jenkins the first woman to direct a Marvel Studios feature. The extremely-underappreciated "Punisher: WarZone" was directed by Lexi Alexander but produced and released by a different studio.

This is the part where we're all supposed to speculate that the script may have a heavier emphasis on the relationship drama and/or Natalie Portman's Jane Foster (the issue of "how did Thor come back to Earth?" will, of course, be answered by "The Avengers" because Continuity Is Your Friend) or that female villain The Enchantress may make an appearance; but the truth is probably closer to Marvel's "Moneyball"-style management (re: right fee, right availability, project is producer-driven enough to afford a directorial risk, etc.)

In any case, it's pretty interesting as a development: Female directors have a tough time in the feature realm unless they're working in the "chick-flick" ghetto, and women getting assigned to big-ticket genre fare is basically unheard of; to say nothing of getting assigned to the follow-up to what is thus far Marvel's second biggest-earning screen hero. Kenneth Branagh turned out to be an inspired choice, so we'll see.

What The Hell is "Monstrosity?"

It's kind of strange for me to realize that Tim Burton has now been around for so long that it's time for film students to add him to the "stylistic homage" pool, but there ya go. With that in mind, below you'll find what is apparently the "teaser" for a movie called "Monstrosity" which appears to be - I shit you not - a mashup of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Dragon Wars."



As near as I can determine, the premise here is that Earth and a planet of Monsters (which looks more like Planet Halloween, actually) get fused together somehow. The director is Colton Tran, who (again, near as I can determine) is a youngish dude mainly doing shorts and spoofs on the YouTubes, and the film itself is a feature(?) extrapolation of an earlier short called "Unpleasantville," which appears to be an Addams/Munsters riff with a kiddie/Halloween aesthetic.

For what it's worth, the project's "official site" can be found HERE. Anyone who may have a better idea of what the hell it is I'm looking at here is invited to tell me ;)

"The Grey" trailer

Via Hollywood-Elsewhere:

Director Joe Carnahan aims to one-up "The Edge" in the respected-British-actor-in-silly-killer-animal-flicks game with "The Grey;" in which Liam Neeson leads a group of plane-crash survivors through an Alaskan wilderness beset by a pack of hungry wolves. Given that they've evidently managed to survive against both the elements and a psychotic governor's bloodthirsty helicopter death-squads, I'm inclined to bet on the wolves...



The title, of course, likely refers to both the breed of wolves themselves, the bleakness of the harsh Alaskan landscape they inhabit and also the morally and ethically ambiguous depths of both psychology and behavior the characters will have to plumb in order to blah blah blah WHATEVER. Did you SEE that last beat?? Qui-Gon is wearing improvised DIY "Wolverine" knuckle-claws so he can fight the Boss Wolf hand-to-hand. That's gonna be fuckin' awesome.

Two Uncomfortable Observations

In case you're given to ask; the reason these are getting posted as blogs instead of new "American Bob" episode is that A.) I'm tinkering with that format and B.) This takes five minutes whereas the videos take several hours...

OBSERVATION #1:
There is not a single "radical" thing about either President Obama or the era in which his Presidency is taking place. Everything from his policy proscriptions to his general tone to his fixation on centrist-compromise are the polar opposite of "radical." The non-superficial differences between him and the last 30-40 years of Democrat Presidents and politicians in general are essentially nonexistant. What's more, the economic downturn currently occuring is, while grim, not meaningfully worse for most Americans than the economic/energy crisis of the late-70s to the recession of a decade or so later.

Despite this, both Obama and his Presidency have been regarded AS "radical" to such a wide and fervent degree that an entire movement, the so-called "Tea Party," has sprung up specifically as a "counterweight" this supposed radicalism. Given the (empirically provable) lack of actual radicalism or even meaningful policy difference between Obama and pretty much ANY Democrat or even moderate-Republican who has taken the national stage in any of our lifetimes... what, precisely, would be the "Occam's Razor" answer to the question of what it is about him that really fills the "Tea Party" - on the primal, subconscious level - with so much panic and consternation?


OBSERVATION #2:
The key problem facing Obama's so-called "Buffet Tax" or "Robin Hood Tax" is that - despite the fact that a plurality of Americans tend to favor such a measure - 40 years of an incredibly successful campaign of subtle race-baiting subterfuge on behalf of conservative/Republican political strategists has successfully conditioned huge chunks of Middle America to hear "Tax the wealthy to help the poor" as "steal from hardworking Whites to give away to 'undeserving' Blacks and 'illegal' Latinos." (What, after all, do you suppose the repeated dog-whistle stump phrase of "Real Americans" is supposed to mean?)

BMC MOVIE OF THE WEEK: THE LAST LOVECRAFT: RELIC OF CTHULHU

The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu (2011)

• Kyle Davis,
• Devin McGinn,
• Matt Bauer

Jeff is an ordinary guy that is stuck at a dead end job with a boring life, but when a strange old man gives him an Ancient relic and tells him that he is the last bloodline of H.P. Lovecraft, He and his friend Charlie embark on an adventure to protect the relic piece from falling into the hands of the Starspawn and his minions that wish to reunite the relic and release Cthulhu back into the world.

54% want to see it

Unrated

Director: Henry Saine

 

September 18, 2011: Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

What with flicks like The Dunwich Horror and Dagon, we’re certainly no strangers to Lovecraft inspired movies here at the B-Movie Catechism. But Lovecraft inspired comedies? Yeah, not so much. I suppose that’s because tales of near omnipotent cosmic aliens whose very existence causes madness and mutations in those who perceive them just doesn’t seem like the kind of material designed to induce belly laughs. But you know what, The Last Lovecraft manages to pull it off for the most part. It does so, like a number of recent movies, by taking the template of Sean of the Dead and replacing certain superficial elements while keeping the overall tone. So, instead of Sean’s circle of underachieving working class Londoners, Last Lovecraft gives you a handful of underachieving aging comic book fanboys. And instead of zombies, you get fishmen. Gooey fishmen. Suckered fishmen. Hapless half-breed gill-slitted fishmen. Lots and lots of fishmen.

Now, it’s true that The Last Lovecraft never quite generates the same level of emotional investment in the characters that Sean of the Dead does, but the humor mostly makes up for it. If you’re at all familiar with H. P.’s mythos, then you’ll probably find plenty to smile about. There’s the cliff notes style animated history of the elder gods versus the dinosaurs, the sequence in which the boys train to battle Cthulhu using swimming pool noodles as tentacles, and, of course, the reclusive Captain Olaf, who lives in an RV in the middle of the desert (because there’s no water around) and beguiles strangers with his charming tales of “whole heapings of fish rape”. But even if you’re not up to speed on the entire Lovecraft library, you can still laugh at the all too real stuff such as the portly comic book freak in his XXL “my other pet is a shoggoth” t-shirt who tries to flee from the fishmen only to run out of breath after about 20 yards.

Okay, so that last one sounds a little mean, but it’s all in self-deprecating fun. The movie actually lovingly plays up to the fantasy of every comic book geek in the world… the chance to defeat a great evil and save the world. In that aspect, the movie leans more towards August Derleth’s interpretation of the Cthulhu mythos than it does to H. P. Lovecraft’s original vision, at least according to the various works cited on the Cthulhu Wiki. “Common themes in Lovecraft's fiction are the insignificance of humanity in the universe and the search for knowledge ending in disaster. Humans are often subject to powerful beings and other cosmic forces, but these forces are not so much malevolent as they are indifferent toward humanity. Lovecraft called this viewpoint Cosmicism, a doctrine which holds that humankind's religious beliefs are a mere conceit and that ultimately humanity is alone and defenseless in an uncaring universe.” In contrast, “Derleth had his own take on the mythos and tried to make it conform to his own Catholic values and dualism. Instead of a universe of meaninglessness and chaos, Derleth's mythos is a struggle of good versus evil… Derleth further distorted Lovecraft's vision by concocting a parallel to the Christian narrative of Satan warring against Heaven, pairing the devils of Lovecraft's mythos (the Old Ones) against a race of benevolent Elder Gods with humanity's fate hanging in the balance.”

Well, whether Mr. Derleth distorted or (gasp) improved on Lovecraft’s Yog-Sothothism is an argument I’ll leave to the frothing fanboys, but the comparing and contrasting of the two approaches is telling in some respects. You see, a lot of the horror in Lovecraft hinges on the sheer alien nature of the old ones and the inability of the human mind to comprehend them. What you don’t understand will drive you mad. But things don’t quite work that way when you overlay Christianity on top of it all. And it’s not because religion offers answers to everything. You see, while the Catechism makes it explicitly clear that God “calls man to seek him, to know him”, this week’s first reading reminds us that our knowledge of God has its limits. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.” In a certain sense, excepting what small portion of Himself He’s reveals through Christ and The Holy Spirit, the eternally omnipotent, omnipresent, omnibenevolent, omniscient, Christian God who exists both inside and outside of time and space is just as ungraspable and alien to the human mind as any fictional elder god poor old Lovecraft’s fevered little brain could ever cook up.

The difference is that while Cthulhu and his pals, consistent with Lovecraft’s real life atheistic worldview, couldn’t give a rat’s ass about humanity and see us only in utilitarian terms, the vast unimaginable creative force behind the universe that is God knows each and every one of us individually. And while that’s scary in its own right, especially if you’re up to something He doesn’t like, it’s also comforting because, as this week’s responsorial Psalm points out, “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.” So go ahead and keep searching for God, keep trying to grasp what little of himself He has revealed to us, even if there’s no way in this life you’ll comprehend but a fraction of it all. Trust me, the amount of peace and love you’ll find in that little bit is more than enough to bring about a continuous tentacle-free transformation in your life. Really, given the benefits, the only madness in searching for God is not searching at all.

2011 European Film Awards – Animated Film Nominations

Three (3) films are nominated for the EFA's award and here they are. Included trailers to check how different European animation can feel and look.

Le Chat du Rabbin (The Rabbi's Cat), Antoine Delesvaux and Joann Sfar, France



Chico & Rita, Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba, Spain and Isle of Man



Une Vie de Chat (A Cat in Paris), Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, France and Belgium



To read official announcement go here.

Big Picture: "Junk Drawer Reloaded"

The Escapist : The Big Picture : Junk Drawer: Reloaded

"J. Edgar" trailer

Hat-tip: Jeff Wells.

Leonardo DiCaprio has the title role in director Clint Eastwood's biopic of FBI founder J. Edgar Hoover. This is the sound of Oscar season beginning.

THEY’RE BAAAAACK!

It’s time again for the annual Catholic Cannonball Awards (or as we like to call them around here, the no-chance-in-hell-of-winning awards) over at the Crescat. Looks like this year we’ve been nominated for Best Under Appreciated Blog (not true, but thanks anyway) and Best Bat Shit Crazy Blog (not sure about the best, but I concede the rest). Hop on over if you have the time and vote for someone. Oh, I think you can vote daily, so be sure to visit more than once and spread some love around.

STILL VOICES #005

This one’s in honor of yesterday’s release of… Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace. Seriously, it’s great, you should watch it immediately. And it absolutely won’t tick you off like some high priced super fantastical special edition Blu-Rays I can think of.

Fire Burns. Water Flows. Ellison Sues.

Folks in my circle who fancy themselves fans of serious science-fiction movies are seriously excited for Andrew Niccol's "In Time;" set in a world where they've cured aging. To keep overpopulation from being an issue, nobody physically ages past 25... but all hearts are on a "timer" and "minutes left to live" is now the sole form of currency - rich people get to be immortals, poor people live day-by-day. Justin Timberlake is the hero, a working-class schlub who winds up with a suicidal rich guy's massive time-surplus and ingratiates himself into wealthy-immortal society, ultimately becoming a Robin Hood-esque figure stealing time and giving it to the poor. I like this concept because it's the best kind of "idea scifi," using a "what if?" hook as a metaphor for something relevant to the real present (in this case, social-economics.) Hollywood, on the other hand, no doubt likes this concept because it provides a story-driven excuse to cast every single role with model-gorgeous twenty-somethings (Olivia Wilde and Amanda Seyfried co-star, so... there ya go.)

Now, as if the incidental tea-leaves weren't already looking good for this one, the film has now crossed into a potential-scifi-blockbuster rite of passage: Being sued for copyright infringement by Harlan Ellison.




Ellison believes that the film shares enough similarities with his 1965 short story "Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman;" and is suing to block the film's release and for compensatory damages. This sort of thing happens a lot in genre film - typically it's quietly "taken care of" by a settlement to avoid bad press. Ellison, however, prefers to go big with this stuff - famously, he sued "The Terminator" for similarities to two of his "Outer Limits" episodes.

FWIW, "Repent" is prescient less of this film and more of "V For Vendetta" - the main character dresses like a clown and commits acts of vigilante nuisance in order to disrupt a dystopian society where timely schedule-keeping is federally-enforced and punishable by lowering life-expectancy.

How To Torpedo Your Own Point

Depending on your level of investment in interwed-outrage memes, you may either have forgotten or never been aware of the "#NotRightForAlyssa" incident of a few weeks ago. In which case, Long Version HERE; Short Version: Gizmodo tossed up an altogether-poor article in which an intern publically-humiliated (by name) a guy she'd met on an online dating site because he was a professionall "Magic: The Gathering" player (or, to use her words, "champion dweeb.") Subsequently, the author was made to endure an Internet piling-on that was - at least in the initial moments, more or less well-deserved from my perspective.

Of course, since The Internet tends to accelerate "justifiable irritation" up into "reign-of-terror-level-overreaction" almost overnight; eventually some late-comers to the "event" had to go and take things too far - which means it's now time for the "backlash against the backlash" articles...

Geordie Tait has used the "Alyssa" story as the jumping-off point for a lengthy and overally rather worthwhile (with HUGE caveats that will be dealt with in a moment) article for Star City Games - in the form of an "apology letter" to his own hypothetical future daughter - about the thorny problem of misogyny in gaming culture; primarily focused on the way sexual/romantic "entitlement" often manifests within a culture that paradoxically considers itself to be an oppressed and/or disregarded minority (i.e. the "Women prefer assholes over Nice Guys like me... THOSE BITCHES!!!" mentality.) It's a long piece with a fair amount of rambling, unnecessary digression and cutsie-poo self-deprecation, but I reccomend everyone give it a read - especially if you plan on reading the rest of this.

Seriously. Read it and come back. I'll wait.

...

All set? Okay, then...

For about half of the piece, I was mainly feeling sad for Tait. See, I'm very much in agreement with his overally point: For all the pride geek-culture has in itself as a "haven" where a certain segement of overlooked-outsiders can find a community of shared-interest... it tends to have REAL serious problem accepting any perspective on the content of said interests that doesn't come from (or isn't willing to conform-to) a white/male/heterosexual/western viewpoint. Too often geeks/gamers are raging against their own ostracization from mainstream society/culture... while in the same breath delcaring that anyone who offers a "feminist" or "race-conscious" criticism of a given game, movie, comic etc. needs to "shut up" and fall into line. So, on that level, I think that the discussion Tait wants to have is vital, necessary and long, long, LONG overdue...

...but, because he chose to "ground" it in what amounts to a defense of fairly indefensible behavior re: Alyssa Bereznak; his otherwise VERY worthwhile points were going to go unheard. When your trying to make a bigger point via a specific example, it's HUGELY important to pick the right example: The fact that O.J. Simpson was made the poster-child for racist-persecution by the  probably did more to ensure that the LAPD's massive institutional-racism and corruption remained in place than anything else possibly could have.

But, yeah... up to that point I was reading and thinking "This is SUCH an important, thoughtful piece... WHY did he have to throw away it's chances of being heard by making it a 'Leave Alyssa Alone' thing?" So imagine my surprise when, about halfway through the piece, Tait opts to simply blow his own point completely to smithereens...

In Part C of Section 4 (it's a loooong article), Tait ascribes a portion of the blame for the "overreaction" to "Internalized Misogyny;" helpfully-explained by a quotation about "House Negros" from Malcom X. Here, Tait criticizes the female voices in geek/gamer culture who wrote/spoke against the article for - as he sees it - attempting curry favor with the overwhelmingly male demographic through their condemnation. Or, as he puts it:

"[Tait] is very interested in integrating the gaming industry and is always ready to encourage any budding Jacqueline Robinsons. However, it is hard for girls to be taken seriously in gaming when dozens of wannabe FragDolls are tap-dancing on top of the dugout and offering opposing players “a shine.”"

He goes on to single-out Gizmodo Australia's Elly Hart, who wrote a response-piece to the original Gizmodo (U.S.) article. Tait psychoanalyzes Hart thusly:

"She's a female writer for a tech website, and that is a very, very difficult job. In order to fit in, she has had to internalize all the ways that boys in her industry treat girls poorly and take them for granted."

The level of presumption and condescension here would make for hillarious irony if it weren't so shocking to find in the midst of an article that not only tries to be studiously even-handed otherwise but is also largely dedicated to telling it's readers NOT to engage in the kind of  misogynist or inflammatory language he is now employing - right down to refering to Hart's article as "shucking and jiving" to "appease the multitudinous, nerd-raging masses."

"In her defense, master's house was on fire, and there was a warm corner in the attic waiting for her if she was able to dump some water on the blaze."

Holy crap. I mean... what do you eve SAY to something like that?

Don't get me wrong - I understand the genesis of where he's coming from: The fact that the "gamer girls" most often focused upon by the media are those willing/able/eager to don a catchphrased baby-tee and/or revealing cosplay outfit as walking embodiments of "sexy nerd" fetish-iconography isn't 100% "helpful" to the problem of intrinsic nerd-misogyny - agreed.

But the idea that Tait can't percieve ANY woman disagreeing with him on this issue other than by assuming that they are lying, kowtowing or suffering some sort of Stockholm Syndrome is the height of arrogance - and the language he uses ("Wannabe Frag Dolls") and the condescending "oh, those poor foolish little girls" tone come perilously close to what actual feminists often call "Slut Shaming." Agree or disagree with their point, but pieces like Emily Hart's condemnation of the Gizmodo article or even the "Apology on Behalf of Ladies of Nerdland" spearheaded by Susan Arendt (the Escapist editor responsible for me look like I know what I'm doing every week) or Skepchick's Rebecca Watson do not strike me as anything deserving of the snide "Wannabe Frag Dolls" moniker that Tait blanketly ascribes to any woman on the "other side" of this incident.

This is the point where it all becomes utterly perplexing to me - clearly, Tait has a solid and well-reasoned grasp on what the problems and solutions to the misogyny he's talking about in his own culture are... so what could possess him to go and drop a misogynistic mini-rant of his own right into the middle of it? I don't know that it completely invalidates the bigger picture - Tait's overall call for male gamers with what could politely be called "issues" in dealing with the opposite sex to grow the fuck up is needed and well-taken, in the end. But still - why taint the point with this AND the unnecessary (and bound to make people miss-the-point) defense of Bereznak; especially when it turns out what really spurred him to action was an entirely-unrelated Todd Anderson article.

So... that happened.

I Saw 8 Minutes of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"

An 8-minute "sizzle reel" of David Fincher's adaptation of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" was shown to critics and audiences at various screenings throughout the U.S. this past week. I was at one of them, here's what I saw:

It's already a given that this movie is going to be the stuff of a three-way public spat between film geeks for whom David Fincher can do no wrong, fans of the book who will resent any changes and OTHER film geeks annoyed that this is being made at all when it was already turned into a wholly-decent movie in it's native country. Now, as before, I remain comfortably in Fincher's camp - everything about this material is comfortably in his wheelhouse, and he's assembled a hell of a team.

The footage itself wasn't "in order," it was more of a very long trailer explaining the basic plot and who the two main characters are. From the looks of things, it appears a certain amount of tinkering has gone on with the structure of the story in terms of streamlining the complicated process of events it takes for the two heroes' stories to intersect; but people who were worried things are going to be "toned down" should chill - the 'iffy' stuff (Salander's bisexuality, the 'payback' sequence, the murders) seems to have made the transition more than intact.

The interesting thing will be to see how Fincher chooses to "play" the material. The odd thing about the series (book and film) is that they're that strange mix of very-silly and very-serious that often informs pop-phenomenon bestsellers, "The DaVinci Code" being the best recent example. Storywise it's a giant grab-bag of lurid pulp: A crusading activist/journalist teams up with sexy goth/punk/biker/computer-hacker girl to root out the culprit in a decades-spanning series of unsolved Biblically-themed murders from among a wealthy family of decadent ex-Nazis; but all that kitchen-sink oddness is actually there as lead-in to mini-polemics about misogyny and political-corruption.

So... how does he play it? Do you trim down on the "silly" and aim for the 'serious' movie that it's bestselller-stature would be assumed to demand, or do you keep all the wacky business and go for broke? The footage shown seems to be looking at the second option, which strikes me as the better option.

Escape to the Movies: "Straw Dogs"

You think YOU hate the end of Summer? I've got to keep reviewing "dump it in early-fall" nobody-cares movies like THIS...

"Intermission" shows you some of the more unusual stuff you can see on Netflix Instant RIGHT NOW.

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : Straw Dogs

"We Bought A Zoo"

Here's the trailer for Cameron Crowe's "comeback" movie. I'll give him credit for going with that title, since Variety is now just itching to write that "Crowe's 'Zoo' Bought The Farm" boxoffice-failure headline... but ye gods, could this look any more like a PARODY of the very genre/style it's trying to be sincere about?

SHORT FEATURE – JUST YOU, JUST ME

You know, after all the garbage I had to deal with last month, you can’t blame me for thinking I might catch a little break this month. Alas, life had to get in just one more slap in the face today. But you know what, sometimes I just can’t seem to get too worked up about things. It’s like the Catechism says, “true happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in human fame or power, or in any human achievement - however beneficial it may be - such as science, technology, and art, or indeed in any creature, but in God alone, the source of every good and of all love.” And having internalized that truth as best I can, well, sometimes I just feel so grateful and full of God’s happiness that I get a little giddy, no matter what’s going on. And that’s okay, because as the Bible tells us, there is a time to weep and a time to mourn, but darn it… there’s also a time to dance.

“Dear Lord, I do not know what will happen to me today. I only know that nothing will happen that was not foreseen by You, and directed to my greater good from all eternity. I adore Your holy and unfathomable plans, and submit to them with all my heart for love of You, the Pope, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen.”

Beautiful Mario 30th Anniversary Video

There are no words...

"Breaking Dawn" full trailer

The great hope for "Breaking Dawn" to be the first "Twilight" movie that - while not concievably GOOD on any level - is at least entertaining goes something like this: It's the part of the series that most of the fanbase seems to like the LEAST for the very reasons I liked it BEST... namely, that the various characters stop staring longingly into eachother's eyes and get down to the business of making baby daywalkers, having monster-battles and assembling big international vampire armies. It doesn't LAST, of course, thanks to an ending that screws up the landing so massively even Stephen King must've been impressed.

Which is why I like that Bill Condon is taking a (well-deserved) paycheck-job to finish up the series; as Condon very definitely gets "camp;" and "camp" - or, at least, a willingness to embrace the fact that the material really, really sucks and having fun with it - is what "Twilight" has always DESPERATELY needed:

It's certainly "broad" enough, and the sound-alike of "Journey to the Line" (or is that ACTUALLY "Journey to the Line!?") underscoring the wedding/honeymoon buildup bullshit is probably an accurate representation of how "Twilight's" audience FEELS (as opposed to 'reads') it.

Big Picture: "Out of The Park"

In which I risk incurring the wrath of die-hard "South Park fans."

ALSO! The Game OverThinker episodes are back up on ScrewAttack!

The Escapist : The Big Picture : Out of the Park

Republicans CHEER For Letting Uninsured People DIE

Below the jump, everything you need to know about what's left of American conservatives...

I'm not what you would call a great humanitarian. On my better days, any extended amount of time in traffic or in crowded public transit makes me want to know why anyone thinks abortion-on-demand and over-the-counter birth-control are bad things. I'm on record that my own personal solution to the overly high costs associated with healthcare would be to let morons die if their injuries are the result of their own idiocy. Example: Meth-heads ODing? Oh yeah, let `em. It's not like we're talking about the Spotted Owl - human beings, especially useless ones, are not something we're in danger of running out of.

I lay those cards out so that it's understood that my reaction to the following clip from tonight's GOP/TeaParty debate; which at times resembled a race to see which candidate could be the most gleefully dismissive/callous toward the "others" (read: anyone not white, rural-American, Christian or willing to lionize white rural-American Christianity as the highest possible tier of human civilization) the Tea Party believes is responsible for their problems and/or recieving all the precious, precious tax money Uncle Sam is "stealing" from The Real Americans.

In the clip, Wolf Blitzer asks Ron Paul (who, if nothing else, is probably the only person on the stage at this point who ISN'T an unbelievable asshole) what his doctrinaire-libertarian view on healthcare has to say about a (hypothetical) healthy 30 year-old who gets into a car accident without insurance. Dr. Paul goes on to once again invalidate himself from winning any American elections by giving a measured, thoughtful and nuance response - granted, it's a nuanced response predicated on the existance of the kind of Little House on The Prairie human-to-human community kindness that idealist libertarians like Paul can't accept simply not EXISTING anymore, but it's thoughtful all the same - so Blitzer gets down to brass tacks: Do you just let him die? Paul, of course, says "NO" and attempts to re-explain his carefully-reasoned position... but he's cut-off by the audience, who are APPLAUDING at the words "Let him die."

Okay, so... the clip speaks for itself and I imagine the the title has probably lured in some folks willing to "defend" the GOP as a whole on this; so I wanna take this opportunity to ask the following flippant-sounding but utterly sincere question:

WHY DOES ANY INTELLIGENT PERSON VOTE REPUBLICAN THIS POINT?

I mean this 100% seriously. I understand why the brutes cheering for "Let him die!" here or giving Perry a big "yee-haaaaaw!" for the Death Penalty at the last debate go for it. It's only logical - the Republicans are giving them what they most want. Same deal with pro-lifers, climate-change deniers, creationists and other backward-looking flat-earth dolts, That all makes complete sense - the GOP (claims to) believe what they believe. Hell, I'm even willing to grant that it makes a certain amount of sense that the "eternal vigilance" crowd still convinced that a Cold War-sized military machine is a huge necessity sticks with them.

But what about everyone else? I know for a FACT that there are intelligent, thoughtful, not-overly-religious, not-paranoid people who are also Republicans. Teachers. Students. Doctors. Lawyers. Engineers. Scientists. You get the picture. I need to ask these people... why? What are intelligent people getting out of supporting a nakedly anti-intelligence (oh, I'm sorry - "intellectual") political party? I know what the Holy Rollers get out of it. I know what the 2nd Ammendment fetishists get out of it. What is the GOP giving YOU, the nominally-intelligent Republican voter, to stick with them?

A tax cut? Is that REALLY it? A tax cut is worth letting people PROUDLY ignorant of proven scientific facts set public policy? A tax cut is worth having schoolchildren being taught about talking snakes and magic apples in science class? A tax cut is worth unbreathable air and undrinkable water? A tax cut is worth letting policymakers attempt to rewind the tide of social-progress back to an era that wasn't even really THAT nice for the white christian males who had the ONLY power in it?

Cause, I gotta tell ya... I'm a pretty selfish bastard when you get right down to it, but DAMN!

2011 European Film Awards – People’s Choice Award

Since September 1st up to October last day, my European friends are able to vote for their favorite film and yes, win a trip to the European Film Awards that this year will be in Berlin (I also LOVE Berlin!). The following are the nominated films and you can VOTE HERE.

Benvenuti al Sud (Welcome to the South), Luca Miniero, Italy (the hilarious Italian remake of Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis)

Hævnen (In a Better World), Susanne Bier, Denmark

The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper, UK

Konferenz der Tiere (Animals United), Reinhard Kloss and Holger Tappe, Germany

Les petits mouchoirs (Little White Lies), Guillaume Canet, France

Potiche, François Ozon, France

También la lluvia (Even the Rain), Icíar Bollaín, Spain

Unknown, Jaume Collet-Serra, Germany

If I could vote I’ll have a hard time deciding between Potiche, Hævnen or the hilarious Italian comedy (yeah for a change!). Have no idea what the animated movie plus Unknown are doing here, but after all is the People’s Choice so there had to be options for all kind of movie tastes.

Hope many of my friends and loyal blog readers VOTE so we can have a better winner that the 2010 winner.

Is Richard Castle an "Avenger"??

No, of course he isn't.

I'd feel worse about running grossly-misleading traffic-bait headlines, but this IS basically Disney/Marvel's whole promotion-strategy at this juncture, so really I'm just playing the game...

I wonder... have "Firefly" fans accepted yet that Nathan Fillion is now "Castle" to about 98% of people who actually know who he is now? (Oh, but don't worry kids - that Trek-level syndication-juggernaut-followed-by-massive-pop-cultural-revival is still toooootally just around the corner. Totally.)

In any case, here's the "story": A month or so back, ABC Network president Paul Lee teased a "secret" about a "marvel superhero character" being somehow related to an episode of the series' upcoming third season, which most people figured was a jokey reference to the title character putting on a Halloween costume (he went "as" Mal Reynolds in Season 2, so there's some precedence for this.) Now, comicbookmovie.com - your #1 source for bizzarely-tantilizing non-news - thinks they've figured it out... and WHAT they think they've figured out is that it's not just a reference but a full-fledged 'real' character(s?)-cameo that would add "Castle" to "The Avengers"-continuity.

The "evidence": Lyle Lovett (seriously?) is listed on the IMDB as playing an "Agent Westfield" ("of S.H.I.E.L.D," presumably) in "Avengers," which is also the name of a vaugely S.H.I.E.L.D./Men-In-Black-esque agent character he played on an episode of "Castle" that involved a UFO/spy coverup.

FWIW, there's a certain amount of precedent for this: It's an ABC show, which puts it under the requisite Disney umbrella, and the series is big on "metafiction" - Fillion's title-character is supposed to be a mystery-novelist who teams-up with actual cops to solve murders (it's that kind of show) and ghostwritten 'real' versions of the books attributed to him are actually sold.

24th European Film Awards – Long List

A few minutes ago the European Film Academy (EFA) announced the titles of the forty-five (45) films on this year’s selection list with films that will be considered for a nomination in current year European Film Awards.

This year the EFA’s will return to Berlin with the award ceremony scheduled on December 3rd; as always nominations will be announced at 2011 Seville European Film Festival – fest will run from November 6 to 14, 2011- on November 5th.

Here is the long list that includes many Cannes, Berlin and festival films in general.

ALMANYA – WILLKOMMEN IN DEUTSCHLAND (ALMANYA), Yasemin Samdereli, Germany and Turkey
AMÉRICA (AMERICA), João Nuno Pinto, Portugal, Spain, Brazil and Russia
THE ARTIST, Michel Hazanavicius, France
AS IF I AM NOT THERE, Juanita Wilson, Ireland, Macedonia and Sweden
ATTENBERG, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece
AVE, Konstantin Bojanov, Bulgaria
BALADA TRISTE DE TROMPETA (THE LAST CIRCUS), Alex de la Iglesia, Spain
BELI BELI SVET (WHITE WHITE WORLD), Oleg Novkovic, Serbia, Germany and Sweden
CIRKUS COLUMBIA, Danis Tanović, Bosnia & Herzegovina, France, UK, Germany, Slovenia and Belgium
CIRKUS FANTASTICUS (SILENT SONATA), Janez Burger, Slovenia and Ireland
DREI (THREE), Tom Tykwer, Germany
ELDFJALL (VOLCANO), Rúnar Rúnarsson, Iceland and Denmark
ЕЛЕНА (ELENA), Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia
ESSENTIAL KILLING, Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland, Norway, Ireland and Hungary
LE GAMIN AU VÉLO (THE KID WITH A BIKE), Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium, France and Italy
HABEMUS PAPAM, Nanni Moretti, Italy and France
HÆVNEN (IN A BETTER WORLD), Susanne Bier, Denmark
HALT AUF FREIER STRECKE (STOPPED ON TRACK), Andreas Dresen, Germany
HITGANVUT YEHIDIM (INFILTRATION), Dover Kosashvili, Israel and France
THE KING’S SPEECH, Tom Hooper, UK
LE HAVRE, Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, France and Germany
LIDICE, Petr Nikolaev, Czech Republic
LOVERBOY, Cătălin Mitulescu, Romania
MAJKI (MOTHERS), Milcho Manchevski, Macedonia
MELANCHOLIA, Lars von Trier, Denmark, Sweden, France and Germany
NEDS, Peter Mullan, UK
NOI CREDEVAMO (WE BELIEVED), Mario Martone, Italy and France
OSLO 31. AUGUST (OSLO, AUGUST 31st), Joachim Trier, Norway
ОВCЯНКИ – OVSYANKI (SILENT SOULS), Alexey Fedorchenco, Russia
PA NEGRE (BLACK BREAD), Agustí Villaronga, Spain
LA PETITE CHAMBRE (THE LITTLE ROOM), Stéphanie Chuat & Véronique Reymond, Switzerland and Luxembourg
LES PETITS MOUCHOIRS (LITTLE WHITE LIES), Guillaume Canet, France
LA PIEL QUE HABITO (THE SKIN I LIVE IN), Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
PLAY, Ruben Östlund, Sweden
PŘEŽÍT SVŮJ ŽIVOT (SURVIVING LIFE), Jan Švankmajer, Czech Republic and Slovakia
RUNDSKOP (BULLHEAD), Michaël R. Roskam, Belgium and Netherlands
SALA SAMOBÓJCÓW (SUICIDE ROOM), Jan Komasa, Poland
SVINALÄNGORNA (BEYOND), Pernilla August, Sweden, Denmark and Finland
TAMBIEN LA LLUVIA (EVEN THE RAIN), Icíar Bollaín, Spain
TILVA ROŠ, Nikola Ležaić, Serbia
TIRZA, Rudolf van den Berg, Netherlands
TOMBOY, Céline Sciamma, France
A TORINÓI LÓ (THE TURIN HORSE), Béla Tarr, Hungary, France, Switzerland and Germany
DIE UNABSICHTLICHE ENTFÜHRUNG DER FRAU ELFRIEDE OTT (THE UNINTENTIONAL KIDNAPPING OF ELFRIEDE OTT), Andreas Prochaska, Austria
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, Lynne Ramsay, UK

To my surprise have seen more than a few and the ones I haven’t seen of course I’m “dying” to see them. Quite unusual but in this long list there are two lesbian interest films and as usual there are more gay interest films in the list, sigh. Most of the new to me films come from Eastern Europe and there are some that definitively am interested in watching, so let’s hope I’m able before November 5th, just in case they’re nominated.

To check the list at the EFA official site go here or here at the European Film Awards official site.

Not an easy task for the Academy members as in the above list there are TOO MANY extraordinary movies that already collected the Oscar last year and/or are being submitted to Oscar this year. But let’s wait until the nominations are near to play the guessing game for the main categories.

Cheers!!!

"Assault Girls" Trailer

About to Netflix this - wonder how it is?



Y'know, it only just now occurs to me: American trailers generally go "up-tempo-pop-music, dialogue-montage-establish-basic-plot-conflict, swelling-dramatic-action-music;" and Japanese trailers do the exact reverse...

John F***ing Zoidberg Is Tired of Your Sh*t

Is there a particular reason to post this? No. Is there a particular reason to NOT post this? Also no.

STILL VOICES #004

REMEMBERING

The World Trade Center makes an appearance in the background of Robot Holocaust. Trust us, it’s the only culturally relevant thing in the film. This and hundreds of other similar images can be found at The World Trade Center in Movies. (H/T to Kindertrauma) Peruse, remember, and, perhaps, offer a small prayer.

Eternal memory. Eternal memory. Grant to your servants, O Lord, blessed repose and eternal memory.

68th Venice Film Festival Award Winners

Not sure that this festival is as exciting as the other one from Cannes that not only really gets my attention but undoubtedly gets the attention of most of the world. During the fest there was a seminar about the “future of festivals” and I was talking about the same subject -but referring exclusively to La Mostra- with a friend, in our discussion we tend to agree that fest hast to go back to be less American and more non-American (you know what we mean), should be an Italian stage that showcases the world cinema -yes should go face-to-face with the one from France as one is early in the year and the other is later in the year and each year has enough months and days to have two world worthy cinema festivals.

Anyway there are not many films that I’m “dying” to see from this year fest, but obviously there are some that are absolutely must be seen for me. So, here are the Award winners.

VENEZIA 68 (The Competition)

Golden Lion for Best Film: Faust, Alexander Sokurov, Russia
Special Jury Prize: Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese, Italy

Silver Lion for Best Director: Shangjun Cai for People Mountain People Sea, China and Hong Kong
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in Shame, Steve McQueen, UK
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Deanie Ip in Tao Jie (A Simple Life), Ann Hui, China and Hong Kong)

Osella for Best Screenplay: Yorgos Lanthimos for Alpis (Alps), Greece
Osella for Best Cinematography: Wuthering Heights, Andrea Arnold, UK

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Shôta Sometani and Fumi Nikaidô in Himizu, Sion Sono, Japan

Lion of the Future – Luigi de Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Film: Là-bas (A Criminal Education), Guido Lombardi, Italy

To check all the winners go here.

ORIZZONTI AWARDS

Best Film: Kotoko, Shinya Tsukamoto, Japan
Special Jury Prize: Whores’ Glory, Michael Glawogger, Austria and Germany

Best Medium-Length Film: Accidentes Gloriosos (Glorious Accidents), Mauro Andrizzi and Marcus Lindeen, Sweden, Denmark and Argentina
Best Short Film: In Attesa Dell'Avvento, Felice D'Agostino and Arturo Lavorato, Italy

Special Mentions
O le Tulafale (The Orator), Tusi Tamasese, New Zealand and Samoa
All The Lines Flow Out, Charles Lim Yi, Singapore

Short Film Nominee for the European Film Awards: Hypercrisis, Josef Dabernig, Austria

To read Jury statements please go here.

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO

Best Film: Scialla!, Francesco Bruni
Best Documentary: Pugni Chiusi , Fiorenza Infascelli
Best Short Film: A Chjána, Jonas Carpignano
Special Mentions
Black Block, Carlo Augusto Bachschmidt
Francesco Di Giacomo for the cinematography of Pugni Chiusi

To check winners official announcement go here.

COLLATERAL AWARDS

FIPRESCI Prize
Best Film from Venezia 68: Shame by Steven McQueen, UK
Best Film from Orizzonti and International Critics’ Week: Two Years at Sea, Ben Rivers

SIGNIS Award: Faust, Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia
Special Mention: Tao jie (A Simple Life), Ann Hui, China

CICAE Award: O le tulafale (The Orator), Tusi Tamasese

International Critics’ Week Award: Là-Bas, Guido Lombardi, Italy
Label Europa Cinemas Award for Best European Film: Présumé Coupable (Guilty), Vincent Garenq, France

Queer Lion Award: Wilde Salomé by Al Pacino, USA (To check the 12 films that were considered go here, almost all are gay interest)

La Navicella – Venezia Cinema Award: Tao jie (A Simple Life), Ann Hui

Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award: Carnage, Roman Polanski
Cinema for UNICEF Commedation: Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese
Frasceso Pasinetti (SNGCI) Award: Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese
SNGCI Commendation: L’ultimo terrestre, Gian Alfonso Pacinotti
Brian Award: The Ides of March, George Clooney
C.I.C.T. UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award: Tahrir 2011, Tamer Ezzat, Ayten Amin, Amr Salama

Arca CinemaGiovani Award
Best Film Venezia68: Shame, Steve McQueen, UK
Best Italian Film: L’ultimo terrestre, Gian Alfonso Pacinotti

To check all the collateral awards winners go here.

Other Awards

Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: Marco Bellocchio
Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award 2011: Al Pacino
Persol 3D Award for Most Creative Stereoscopic Film of the Year: Zapruder Filmmkaers Group
L’Oreal Paris Award for Cinema: Nicole Grimaudo

Award Ceremony Highlights

NEW Game OverThinker Coming WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14TH!

I know that, as of this writing, you still cannot see the 25 screwattack-exclusive episodes of "The Game OverThinker" on ScrewAttack's new site. I am sorry about that, it's being worked on and will hopefully be fixed by early next week. For now... GOOD NEWS! Episode 57, the much-demanded "Supreme Court" episode, will (if all goes correctly) premiere on Wednesday, September 14th. So keep an eye out for it.

Here's an announcement trailer...



ALSO! If you haven't yet taken a look at ScrewAttack's new site, you should - it's quite excellent. They're also offering something called an "Advantage" subcription, whereby users can sign up to not only get an ad-free version of the site but ALSO see new episodes of shows they've selected as well-liked faves. So, if there are any Advantage members (or prospective members) who're also OverThinker fans... it's REALLY good for BOTH of us (yes, this is NAKED self-promotion) if you make this show one of your "likes."