THE TWELVE CLIPS OF CHRISTMAS: DAY 6: LET’S CELEBRAKE

You know what, Popeye may have a face that looks like it should be on the opposite side of his body rather than on his shoulders, but when it comes to his heart, I’d say it’s right where it should be…

“The elderly are those who transmit history to us, who transmit doctrine, who transmit the faith and give it to us as an inheritance.” the seventy-seven year old Pope Francis said recently. “Grandparents are a treasure. Often old age isn’t pretty, right? There is sickness and all that, but the wisdom our grandparents have is something we must welcome as an inheritance.” Well, there you go. There may be lots of speculation out there that Olive Oyl is Jewish, but as for Popeye, it sure sounds like he’s been listening to the Pope. So should we all.

These Are Your GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

There've been snaps from the SDCC trailer around for months, but this is the first official heroes-lineup still from James Gunn's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY - the last new Marvel Studios movie before AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and the first test of whether the Marvel brand can extend it's thus-far bulletproof box office credibility outside of the superhero genre; in this case, to a space-set scifi/action-comedy:

From left to right: Zoe Saldana as GAMORA, Chris Pratt as STARLORD, Bradley Cooper (voice) as ROCKET RACCOON, David Bautista as DRAX THE DESTROYER and Vin Diesel as GROOT.

In the SDCC footage, this scene (they're in a police lineup) served for irreverent tone-setting: following a big dump of action/FX footage, there's a hard-cut to this lineup, overseen by a pair of NOVA CORPS officers (including John C. Reilly!) who opine: "They call themselves 'The Guardians of The Galaxy..." [beat] "...what a bunch of A-Holes."

Big Picture: WORST MOVIES OF 2013

The Escapist : The Big Picture : MovieBob's Worst of 2013

THE RAID 2 Indonesian Trailer

In case you missed it: I'll be at MAGFest starting Thursday afternoon. Come say hi :)

Anyway, here's the first full trailer for THE RAID 2: BERENDAL, which supposedly takes place (or, at least, starts taking place) 2 hours after the end of the original. First thing I can say in it's favor: I'm glad they didn't try to contrive a way for this to all take place inside another fortified building. Instead, hero cop Rama (Iko Uwais) will be doing the Yojimbo/Dollars/Last Man Standing thing versus rival local and Yakuza-affiliated gangs in Jakarta. Director Gareth Evans also returns. Honestly, I don't need any reason to see this beyond that baseball-bat beatdown at 1:58...

THE TWELVE CLIPS OF CHRISTMAS: DAY 5: JUDGE FOR A DAY

“Who am I to judge?” Those were the famously misunderstood words spoken by Pope Francis which contributed to his being nominated Time magazine’s person of the year for 2013. Regardless of what some hoped to make of it, though, the Pope’s statement didn’t really approve of homosexual activity, it just reiterated the Church’s teaching that homosexual’s "must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity" and that "every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided." We don’t get to judge other’s souls. Actions, though, that’s a different story. And really, don’t we all occasionally dream about being able to sit in judgment of others when they act in a manner we don’t approve of…

The problem is, there’s that whole pesky “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” clause in the Our Father that kind of puts a damper on our wholesale condemnation of others. We need to be pretty sure before we go casting stones at individuals, lest we risk a little judgment ourselves.

It’s like Jesus said in the verses from Matthew which showed up in today’s study of the Gospels in a Year, "Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.”

Yeah, that’s Jesus, the supposed feel-good hippy, saying that he’s going to pass judgment on people (including us if we’re not careful) and allow them to go to the hell they chose. He gets the final word. Who are we to judge? Humans who can make mistakes. Who is he to judge? Well, come on, it’s Christmas, haven’t you been paying attention?

Come See MOVIEBOB at MAGFEST 2014!

Hey guys! Just a quick FYI: I will be at MAGFest from Jan 2nd to Jan 5th this year, and should you see me on the floor your invited to come up and say hello (unless, y'know, you can tell I'm in the middle of something like or phonecall or whatever.)

Officially, I'm scheduled (you can see the whole MAGFest Schedule Map HERE) to appear at four panels on what they call the "MAGES" circuit:

"THE POLITICS OF GAMING" (Friday 1pm-2pm)

"ARE AAA STUDIOS STILL CREATIVELY RELEVANT" (Saturday 11:30am-12:30pm)

"PROMOTING GOOD GAMING COMMUNITY" (Saturday 5:30pm-6:30pm)

"GAMES AS A NARRATIVE MEDIUM" (8:30pm-9:30pm)

I'm also planning to bring copies of SMB3: BRICK BY BRICK with me to sell (probably cash only, but we'll see how my Square Reader is working) and sign on request, for anyone whose interested.

Look forward to seeing folks there!

THE TWELVE CLIPS OF CHRISTMAS: DAY 4: THE TOOTHBRUSH FAMILY

Well, we’ve just come off the Feast of the Holy Family which, as I’m sure you know, celebrates Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as a unit. It was kind of an odd family at first if you really think about it. An unwed teenage mother marries a man who becomes the adoptive father of the incarnation of the living God. Not necessarily a Norman Rockwell family portrait. Still, it’s not the weirdest family you’ll ever run into. This group from the old Captain Kangaroo show has to be in the running, though…

Yeah, I don’t know. Toy Story was creepy enough if you thought about it too hard. You know, inanimate objects lying around your kid’s room come to life when you’re not looking and follow their own agenda. I saw all those Child’s Play movies, so let me tell you, that kind of thing can go bad in an instant. But the Toothbrush Family is even worse if you ask me. When these things are playing possum, you actually put them inside your mouth. I know, right? You’re scrubbing your teeth with intelligent creatures. And don’t even think about the places you’ve put that sentient intelligent sponge. Just don’t go there.

On the other hand, depending on how you look at it, we Catholics put a living thing in our mouths all the time, don’t we? Have you ever just stopped and thought what a weird belief that must seem to all those non-Catholics out there, the notion that we believe we’re eating the actual body and blood of our God whenever we receive communion. Heck, the idea even freaked out the Apostles when they first heard it all the way back in John 6. It would be so much easier to just dismiss it all as symbolism, as a weekly bit of make believe we all participate in just because Jesus told us to.

But I have to go along with famed author Flannery O’Connor on that point when she penned this oft quoted piece on Holy Communion…

“Well, toward morning the conversation turned on the Eucharist, which I, being the Catholic, was obviously supposed to defend. Mrs. Broadwater said when she was a child and received the Host, she thought of it as the Holy Ghost, He being the ‘most portable’ person of the Trinity; now she thought of it as a symbol and implied that it was a pretty good one. I then said, in a very shaky voice, ‘Well, if it's a symbol, to hell with it.’ That was all the defense I was capable of but I realize now that this is all I will ever be able to say about it, outside of a story, except that it is the center of existence for me; all the rest of life is expendable.”

Exactly. If the Eucharist is nothing more than a symbol, it’s simply not worth the trouble. Ah, but if it’s true… well, J. R. R. Tolkien may have said it best…

“Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament… There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth, and more than that: Death. By the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste -or foretaste- of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, which every man’s heart desires.”

I couldn’t agree more, and next Sunday, conscience allowing, I’ll happily stand in line to receive the real body and blood of my Lord placed on my tongue.

I still don’t want anything to do with those living toothbrush people, though. That’s just too weird.

ASM2 Blog Starts Teasing Venom. I Know, You're Shocked.

I called yesterday's rumor/speculation that, if Green Lantern turned up in JUSTICE LEAGUE he'd be the John Stewart version "one of the easiest" things to predict in genre film right now. THE easiest thing to predict? That Venom will turn up in the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN movies. Because it's always the mid-90s somewhere, and because Venom has always moved a shit-ton of merchandise for Marvel - so long as you don't include "comic books" as part of the merchandise.

Anyway, Sony has a Daily Bugle Tumblr running as cheezy viral marketing for the movie (attributed to Fredrick Foswell - heh) that basically blogs references to Spider-Man characters as fake news articles. he most recent update is a bit about Herman Schultz - aka The Shocker, but what jumped out at me was the name "NYPD Special Crimes Unit Detective Stan Carter."

Ah. Okay, then.

I'll err on the side of not totally spoiling what may or may not be a plot detail in the movies (go HERE and read the entry if you don't care), but Stan Carter figures prominently in a mid-80s storyline revolving around a serial shotgun-murderer called "Sin-Eater" (for awhile it was trendy for every "city" superhero to get at least one "what if he fought a real-life style killer?" story) that also involved Daredevil and the death of long-recurring character Captain Jeanne DeWolfe.

The main thrust of the Sin-Eater arc was that his identity was especially hard to suss out, with only Daredevil's recognition of his heartbeat to go on. The long-term ramifications come in when Daily Bugle reporter Eddie Brock lands what he believes is an exclusive interview with a guy who confesses to being Sin-Eater... and, suffice it to say, he's not the guy. Brock didn't so much lie as jump the gun, but he's disgraced and unemployable as a result; which is why/how he winds up contemplating suicide in a church that happens to contain the The Symbiote Suit and... you know the rest.

THE TWELVE CLIPS OF CHRISTMAS: DAY 3: HECTOR’S HECTIC LFE

Seems you can’t go more than a couple days of studying the Gospels in a Year before you run into yet another odd phrase buried in Scripture somewhere. This time around it comes from Matthew 7:6 which informs us “Do not give dogs what is holy.” Really? What’s so bad about dogs? Well, you know, besides the fact that they’re destructive, promiscuous, and all around self-centered. At least that’s what this little Christmas story would have us believe…

Huh, apparently dogs have a conscience and fear the fires of hell, at least according to this cartoon. I guess if that was true in real life it actually would be okay to toss them something holy. Alas, that’s not the way things are though.

According to Msgr. Charles Pope, when Jesus said not to give what is holy to dogs, he was referring to “a Jewish saying that was rooted in tradition. Some of the meat that had been sacrificed to God in the Temple could be eaten by humans, especially the Levites. But in no way was it ever to be thrown to dogs or other animals to eat. If it was not eaten by humans it was to be burned. Hence holy and sanctified meat was not to be thrown to dogs because it was holy… So what is being said? Sacred matters, sacred things, wisdom and participation in sacred things should not be easily offered to those who are incapable of appreciating them.”

And who are these folks incapable of appreciating holiness? According to the monsignor, “There are those who despise what we call holy. There is little that can be done in such cases except deny them the pleasure of tearing apart holy things or trampling them underfoot. Jesus is saying that some people are like dogs who tear apart sacred things and have no concept of their holiness… They simply trample under foot anything that does not please them or make sense to them in the same way that pigs would trample pearls underfoot or dogs irreverently tear apart blessed food dedicated to God.”

Okay, so he doesn’t give out names, bit I’m sure we can all think of a few comedians and political personalities who fit the bill. Not sure it’s politically correct to call such people dogs these days, but hey, if the collar fits…

Here Comes MAN OF STEEL 2's Innevitable Stupid Racial Controversy

I was chatting with a good friend about the MAN OF STEEL sequel recently, and the one thing we could both agree on is that it feels very, very likely that Warner Bros. etc has no real binding plan for this thing (or that, at least, they don't have one anymore) and that the film is probably going to be one of those projects that goes into production without a final script. That's not necessarily a bad thing - IRON MAN was being shot while they were still figuring out the third act and who the villain was.

Maybe we're wrong. Maybe it's a complete misreading of the production stories. But right now, the image emerging is that something that went into pre-production (prior to the release of MAN OF STEEL, back when WB was sure that Nolan/Snyder/Goyer had delivered an AVENGERS-level game-changer or a TRANSFORMERS-level moneymaker) as a Superman sequel with maybe some "world-building" cameos from Batman etc morphed into a "Batman vs. Superman" movie, then a "Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman movie - possibly also featuring The Flash...

It's like we've blown right past the point where we could've been making "MAN OF STEEL PART II: SORRY ABOUT MAN OF STEEL PART I" jokes and the Cosmic Treadmill is rapidly taking us in the direction of "MAN OF STEEL 2: OKAY, WE FUCKED UP, WE'RE SORRY, HERE'S JUSTICE LEAGUE, PLEASE STOP YELLING AT US."

This weekend's gossip started out in the ever-fertile realm of race-swapping casting rumors, namely that DC was talking to prominent black A-list stars - Hollywood-to-English translation: "Denzel Washington" - for an important role in the film. The initial guesses were that they wanted him for Lex Luthor, but I don't see that happening. Not that he'd be bad casting, more that it's A.) just inviting more DAREDEVIL jokes in the press and B.) I can't imagine even Warner Bros. being dense enough to drop a "group of white superhumans beating up the ONE black guy in the movie, who is evil" tableau into a situation where the lack of diversity in the genre is already so widely criticized. But I did find it plausible, at least in one scenario, that Warners could be talking to "Denzel or Denzel-types" for the movie...

Now, gossip site "Nuke The Fridge" says maybe that scenario is correct. Their guess (and mine?) That if Warners is talking to "name" black stars for this project, it's for John Stewart - aka The Green Lantern.

Okay, quick bit of catch-up: In the comics there've been four "modern" (read: post-Silver Age) Green Lanterns: Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner most prominently. But during the character's stint as part of DC's GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW double-act, Hal also had a "backup" in the form of John Stewart; an ex-Marine from Detroit who started out as an extension of GL/GA's recurring "Hal needs to get over his weird race issues" theme but proved popular enough that he started spending good chunks of time as "the" Green Lantern whenever Hal would be unavailable for this or that reason.

Honestly? That John Stewart would wind up being "the one" if Green Lantern ever turned up in a Justice League movie has been one of the easiest calls to make all along for two simple reasons: 1. a non-white face is the most visible way possible to immediately tell the entire world "This is NOT in any way the same as that terrible Ryan Reynolds movie you all hated;" and 2. while WB/DC has the advantage of the Justice League being a much more widely known entity in popular culture than The Avengers were prior to their movie, the "catch" is that very (VERY!) few audiences under 40 are primarily familiar with them from comics. If they know them, they know them from the DC Animated Universe JL/JLU cartoons. I don't think that's an exaggeration in the slightest: I'd bet that, if polled, there's a sizable part of the target-generation for this movie for whom Stewart - NOT Hal Jordan - is "the" Green Lantern.

If this turns out to be true (I'd say Denzel being considered is a 50/50 but Stewart being in the movie and/or JL is more like a 70/30), it would make him the biggest "name" on the team by far, with Affleck a close second as Batman. Maybe this is part of WB's overally strategy for this series: "We have the bigger-name heroes AND the bigger stars?"

UPDATE: Yes, I agree it's also possible that he could be reading for J'onn J'onzz, The Martian Manhunter. The reason I'd call that a remote possibility is that I seriously doubt even half of the people making decisions on this movie know that "Martian Manhunter" is a thing that exists.

Escape to The Movies: "THE WOLF OF WALL STREET"

The best movie of 2013.

...and also WALTER MITTY, which is not.

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : The Wolf of Wall Street

THE TWELVE CLIPS OF CHRISTMAS: DAY 2: RANKIN & BASS’ THE THING

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… two turtle doves? That’s nice, but why are there two of them? Is this some kind of trick? What if one of them isn’t a dove at all, but just something that looks like a dove? What if it’s not a bird at all, but someTHING else!?! AIEEEE!!!!

Blasted Things, they’re worse than roaches, almost impossible to get rid of once one of them gets in the house.

Fortunately, that’s not really what’s going on with the two turtle doves. Along with the usual connotation of peace that a dove symbolizes, that line from The Twelve Days of Christmas could also be a reference to the practice of sacrificing two doves mentioned in the Bible. As the Biblical Archaeology Society points out, “Several passages of the Torah (especially Leviticus) specify occasions that require the sacrifice of two doves (or young pigeons)—either as a guilt offering or to purify oneself after a period of ritual impurity (including the birth of a child). Several columbaria, or dovecotes, have been excavated in the City of David and the Jerusalem environs. These towers were undoubtedly used to raise doves for sacrificial offerings, as well as for the meat and fertilizer they provided—a popular practice in the Hellenistic and Roman periods that continued into the modern period.”

As pointed out in the Gospel of Luke, Mary and Joseph followed this tradition after the birth of Jesus. “When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,’ and to offer the sacrifice of ‘a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,’ in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord… When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.”

Interestingly enough, this passage is the only one in the New Testament which directly alludes to the financial status of the Holy Family. While Joseph is referred to as a craftsman (tektonos) in the Gospel of Matthew, that could mean anything from a day laborer to a master in his field. But the offering of two turtle doves, which Leviticus points out was a practice reserved for the poor who couldn’t afford one dove and one lamb, strongly suggests the Holy Family wasn’t very well off. That doesn’t mean they were dirt poor as Joseph obviously had a job, but they weren’t rolling in the dough either.

So who knows, by giving you two turtle doves on the second day of Christmas, your true love might be wishing you peace, but it’s also possible she could be suggesting that (a) she’s too poor to give you anything else, or (b) you might just have your very own Nativity on the way. Hopefully it’s ‘a’, because if it’s ‘b’ then you’ve got some confessing to do as the golden rings don’t show up for three more verses. Still, if it is ‘b’, at least you’ve already got the two turtle doves as a guilt offering.

You know what, let’s just stick with the peace thing.

THE TWELVE CLIPS OF CHRISTMAS: DAY 1: THE HAND IS PINKER THAN THE EYE

Last year (Church year that is) I had some fun with the Catechism in a Year mailing list, so this year, it seemed natural to sign up for studying the Gospels in a Year, a short daily reading accompanied by notes from the Ignatius Study Bible.

Today, this little verse from Matthew 6:22 popped up. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” What is that supposed to mean exactly, if your eye is sound? Is Jesus warning us not to trust our eyes? Well, that can definitely be a problem sometimes, as the Pink Panther once learned firsthand…

Actually, according to the Ignatius Study Bible, “the eye is the lamp” is “an ancient metaphor (Tob 10:5; Prov 15:30; Sir 23:19),” one which references the poetic concept that our eyes are the windows to our hearts and minds. In other words, what we focus our vision on (metaphorically speaking) is what our hearts treasure. In the context of Matthew 6, Jesus is using it “to advocate generosity. Those with evil or unsound eyes are stingy with their belongings (Deut 15:9; Sir 14:8-10; cf. Mt 20:15); they are full of darkness (6:23). Those with sound eyes share their goods with the needy (4:7); they are filled with light.”

So if your inner eyes are focused on your own selfish desires rather than on helping others, then you need a little spiritual help. However, if your problem is that your actual physical eyes are seeing things like the Pink Panther did, perhaps a psychiatrist might be of more immediate benefit.

Very Early Predictions - 2014 Oscar Nominations

As we know the Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 16, 2014 but as the majority of critics groups have already announced their 2013 winners plus we have at least one guild nominations and because some of you have been asking for how I see the possible Oscar nominations, will dare to play the guessing game this early.

Please recall that -with exception of the guilds- NONE of the critics are Academy members consequently do not vote in the nomination process, but definitively they are viewer's influencer and after all, like it or not, Academy members are also viewers.

My crystal ball says that for the following categories probable Oscar nominations are ...

Best Picture
Very Sure
12 Years a Slave
Gravity

Maybe
Her
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Dallas Buyers Club
Inside Llewyn Davis
Saving Mr. Banks
Philomena

Wouldn't mind if are NOT nominated
Captain Phillips
Nebraska
The Wolf of Wall Street
Lee Daniels' The Butler

Dare the Academy to nominate
Blue is the Warmest Color
Jagten (The Hunt)

Best Foreign Language Film
Very Sure
Jagten (The Hunt)
La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty)

Maybe
The Broken Circle Breakdown
L'image manquante (The Missing Picture)
Omar
The Notebook
Two Lives

My Winner: The Hunt

Best Director
Very Sure
Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity
Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave

Maybe
Spike Jonze for Her
David O. Russel for American Hustle
Joel and Ethan Coen for Inside Llewyn Davis

Wouldn't mind if are NOT nominated
Paul Greengrass for Captain Phillips
Alexander Payne for Nebraska
Martin Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street

Dare the Academy to nominate
Woody Allen for Blue Jasmine
Abdellatif Kechiche for Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Actress
Very Sure
Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock in Gravity

Hope the next three (to make the 5 nominees) are:
Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks
Judi Dench in Philomena
Meryl Streep in August: Osage County

Maybe
Brie Larson in Short Term 12
Kate Winslet in Labor Day
Greta Gerwing in Frances Ha

Dare the Academy to nominate
Adèle Exarchopoulos in Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Supporting Actress
Very Sure
Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years a Slave

Maybe
Amy Adams in American Hustle (should be nominated in this category to have better chances)
Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine
June Squibb in Nebraska
Octavia Spencer in Frutivale Station

Wouldn't mind if are NOT nominated
Julia Roberts in August: Osage County
Oprah Winfrey in Lee Daniels' The Butler

Dare the Academy to nominate
Scarlett Johansson in Her (already read that will not qualify BUT absolutely disagree, voice only require great performances; if not agree, have you seen dubbed movies with awful voices that have absolutely nothing to do with what you see in the screen?)

Best Actor
Very Sure
Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave

Maybe
Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club
Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips
Bruce Dern in Nebraska
Forest Whitaker in Lee Daniels' The Butler
Joaquin Phoenix in Her
Michael B. Jordan in Frutivale Station

Wouldn't mind if are NOT nominated
Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street
Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis
Robert Redford in All is Lost

Dare the Academy to nominate
Mads Mikkelsen in The Hunt

Best Supporting Actor
Very Sure
Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

Maybe
Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave
Daniel Bruhl in Rush
Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips
James Gandolfini in Enough Said

Wouldn't mind if are NOT nominated
James Franco in Spring Breakers

Best Documentary
Very Sure
The Act of Killing
Stories We Tell

Maybe
20 Feet From Stardom
Blackfish
The Square
The Crash Reel (because director is Lucy Walker)

Movie that will win most tech awards, similar to what Life of Pi did last year, Gravity.

Up-to-date most critics predictions for all categories rotate around the SAME movies, let's hope that when the nominations are announced they include a larger number of films and not only the 5+ that many predict will be nominated so will not be too easy to guess who will win in what category. Sigh.

That's it. Wont guess more as is too early. But if you ask me which movie(s) I believe is the best that have seen during 2013 have to say that there are three choices that make very difficult to select only one: The Hunt, Blue is the Warmest Color and The Act of Killing.

December Expiration Watch: This Time It's Personal (2013)

Where to begin? There are so many good and great movies expiring from Netflix Instant this month, it's the cinematic equivalent of getting hot chunks of coal in your stocking (Merry Christmas to you, too, Netflix). I haven't seen this many notable titles getting the axe since May's so-called Streamageddon. And these are only the titles I can personally vouch for, not ones that are popular but off this blog's radar. So, in light of there being simply too many movies deserving individual attention, I'll simply group them by category and add brief notes as the mood strikes:

Classics

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) - Dick van Dyke and his magic flying car (don't quote me on this, but this title may be getting a reprieve)
In Like Flint (1967) - James Coburn gets in on the James Bond spoof industry in this second of the Flint series
Roman Holiday (1953) - See review
The Odd Couple (1968) - Matthau and Lemmon--the original Oscar and Felix
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) - Billy Wilder's flawed, late-career classic--and an early attempt to scrape beneath the surface of the immortal detective
Shane (1953) - Come back, Shane?
A Shot in the Dark (1964) - Peter Sellers and Elke Sommer in one of the earlier, funnier Inspector Clouseau films (before "Pink Panther" was needlessly incorporated into every title)
True Grit (1969) - Kind of creaky (I prefer the remake), but still essential John Wayne
War and Peace (1956) - Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda in the classic Tolstoy tale
The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) - Catherine Deneuve (and her sister) make music with Gene Kelly, in Jacques Demy's spiritual successor to his The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Read more �

PODCAST 79: Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 & Santa's Slay [Killer Santa Edition v2.0]

This week the gang celebrate the Holiday Season by reviewing two more killer Santa flicks. Forest continues the tradition with Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 and Cory covers Santa's Slay, starring WCW/WWE titan Bill Goldberg.

CONTINUE READING

PULP CATHOLICISM #048

Big Picture: BEST OF 2013

Here's a few minutes of distraction from The Holidays. Enjoy!

The Escapist : The Big Picture : MovieBob's Best of 2013

WEEKLY NEWSREEL

Good evening Mr. & Mrs. Catholic, and all you other Christians at sea, welcome to another edition of the Newsreel. We’ve been away for a short while, but our recent review of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues at Aleteia has prompted our return. Now off to press.

DATELINE: BETHLEHEM – Unless you’ve spent the last few weeks in cave, then you’re probably well aware that Christmas, the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary, will soon be upon us. Parthenogenesis, the act of reproduction in which an unfertilized egg develops into a new individual, is actually pretty common amongst certain insects and invertebrates, and occurs much less frequently in some of the lower vertebrates. But it is nigh impossible for a highly developed creature like a human, at least according to Marisa Bartolomei, a molecular geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania, due to the overwhelming number of random mutations which would be required to make the process work. “Is there a mutation that could eliminate all imprinting, so we would see that we didn’t need Dad or Mom in order to have normal development?” the doctor asks. “This is a question that people have asked a lot, and we don’t know the answer.” So unfortunately for all of us who celebrate the virgin birth of Jesus, science appears to say that no such event is ever likely to occur barring an act of God. Oh, wait…

DATELINE: INNERSPACE – In other news that comes as absolutely no surprise to Christians, but appears to have flummoxed a few scientists, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (they sure are busy there this year) have determined that the brains of men and women are different. The study, one of the largest of its kind, indicates “greater neural connectivity from front to back and within one hemisphere in males, suggesting their brains are structured to facilitate connectivity between perception and coordinated action. In contrast, in females, the wiring goes between the left and right hemispheres, suggesting that they facilitate communication between the analytical and intuition. Ragini Verma, PhD, suggests, “These maps show us a stark difference--and complementarity--in the architecture of the human brain that helps provide a potential neural basis as to why men excel at certain tasks, and women at others.” Blessed John Paul II, who in his 2004 letter to the Bishops on the collaboration of men and women in the Church and in the world, wrote, “The second creation account (Gn 2:4-25) confirms in a definitive way the importance of sexual difference.” could not be reached for comment on the scientists’ findings, but we imagine his general reaction would be something along the lines of, “Well, duh!”

DATELINE: THE DEEP BLUE SEA – Speaking of the creation account, perhaps you remember the episode from Genesis wherein God allowed Adam to name all of the animals. “So the Lord God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals.” Well, you know us humans, we couldn’t just let it go at that. Take the octopus for example. A recent article in the Scientific American informs us that having now given a name to each of the creature’s tentacles, scientists are now working feverishly to individually identify each of the 2,000+ suckers that line the appendages. Ah well, the Catechism does tell us that “basic scientific research, as well as applied research, is a significant expression of man's dominion over creation.” So if nothing else, this research will show those octopi that from now on there’s no way that they can sneak in an extra sucker without us knowing about it. We were left in charge here, after all.

And on that note, we’ll close out the latest of the Newsreel, ending it, as is our custom, with the immortal words of the great Les Nessman. Good evening, and may the good news be yours.

"TRANSCENDENCE" Gritty-Reboots "THE LAWNMOWER MAN."

This feels like the fastest we've gone from a teaser to a full trailer - literally a matter of days. I wonder if that has anything to do with the teaser essentially being a slow-reveal of Johnny Depp's face, and "Oh, it's Johnny Depp!" having gone from a boxoffice-benefit to a punchline over the last couple of years...




Anyway, this looks pretty damn good. Depp is a TED-Talky computer whiz with a mad on for The Singularity who gets assassinated by some kind of anti-technology terrorist group (the guy has "UNPLUG" tattooed on his writst), leading his colleagues to preserve his work by uploading his brain patterns into digital space which - spoiler alert for people who've never seen or read ONE other brain-uploaded-to-technology story - leads to him manifesting as a vaugely malevolent cyber-god.

Should be interesting, though I'm getting the sense I'll have to just accept that this is one of those stories where the back-asswards luddite guys wind up having been right all along or at least "had a point." Just once, I want to see one of these "tampering in God's domain!" movies where the visionary dudes trying to drag the damn species across the next goal-line of evolution are the heroes. For cinephiles, the main attraction is likely finding out if cinematographer Wally Pfister - making his directorial debut - is going to be the real deal. He's talked a lot of shit, and "Cinematographer of Great Movies Becomes Director of Middling-to-Bad Movies" is VERY common career story in this industry.

86th Academy Awards Foreign-Language Film - Shortlist of 9

To my surprise late yesterday the Academy released the names of the nine (9) films that will advance to the next round of voting in the category and to must Oscar season followers the selected films meant surprises and huge snubs. We know that every year this is one of the most controversial Oscar categories and this year is NO exception.

There is an article written by Scott Feinberg that if you wish to read in full go here, that could help us understand more about the selection process. The following is a cut and paste paragraph from the article.

The Academy's best foreign-language film Oscar short-list is determined in two phases. During the first, all of the eligible submissions -- which this year numbered 76 and included three documentaries, two animated films and 16 films directed by women -- are divided into groups, as are the members of a foreign-language committee which consists of several hundred Los Angeles-based Academy members, all volunteers from a wide cross-section of the Academy's branches whose names are never released. Each group of members is then assigned to a different group of films. In order to retain the right to weigh in on the short-list at the end of the process, members must attend screenings of a certain percentage of the films in their assigned group. This year, screenings of all of the submissions took place between mid-Oct. and Dec. 16, and members had to attend no fewer than 17. Those who maintained their eligibility then got to vote, and their six highest-scoring films were passed along to an executive committee.

So we know that watching 76 films is almost humanly impossible in a couple of months (unless you really enjoy films like me) so the shortlist is generated by selecting films from each of the groups with eligible voters. From this exercise six (6) films are selected giving to the executive committee the task to add 3 more films that they considered HAVE to be in the shortlist. If you don't remember this decision came after excellent non-commercial films were left out of the race. Even if the process has improved a lot than in the past, still is not infallible and excellent movies are left out of the race in the first phase.

From the films I have seen major snubs for me come from countries like Argentina, Chile, Iran, Mexico and Romania. These five films are absolutely must be seen and strongly recommend you do not skip them. But then let's be honest, if you enjoy great cinema there are about 50+ movies that were submitted to Oscar that are must be seen for me and most of you that read the blog regularly, so I assume that all the fuzz and buzz about snubbing is that some USA distributors already had commitments with movies that they hoped will made the list of nine at least.

From the list of 9 films, haven't seen more than half BUT can share with you that definitively The Hunt and The Great Beauty HAVE to be nominated plus if one of them wins the Oscar I would not be upset at all. Still my Oscar goes to The Hunt even when Sorrentino's La Grande Bellezza was a true cinephile pleasure like the ones that Fellini used to give us back then.

These are the nine (9) films that advance to the second phase that ends with generating five nominees to be announced on Thursday, January 16, 2014 at 5:30 am PT.

Belgium: The Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen (Berlinale)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Epizoda u životu berača željeza (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker), Danisa Tanovića (Berlinale Jury Grand Prix winner)
Cambodia: L'image manquante (The Missing Picture), Rithy Panh (documentary) (Cannes Un Certain Regard winner)
Denmark: Jagten (The Hunt), Thomas Vinterberg (Cannes 2012)
Germany: Zwei Leben (Two Lives), Judith Kaufmann and Georg Maas
Hong Kong: 一代宗师 Yi dai zong shi (The Grandmaster), Kar Wai Wong (Berlinale)
Hungary: A nagy füzet (The Notebook), János Szász, (Crystal Globe for Best Film at 2013 Karlovy Vary)
Italy: La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), Paolo Sorrentino (Cannes)
Palestine: Omar, Hany Abu-Assad (Cannes Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize winner)

Basically we have 4 Cannes films, 3 Berlinale films, 1 from Karlovy Vary and 1 film from Göteborg (Germany), so ALL are festival films, which only assures an above average film quality. Let's go more in-depth.

Belgium: The Broken Circle Breakdown by Felix van Groeningen
From all the films in shortlist perhaps this is the one that pleased audiences the most as many of the film accolades are Audience Awards in festivals like Berlinale, Karlovy Vary, Tallinn Black Nights, etc.

I believe that film has excellent performances, great screenplay, and good director which makes a very unusual non-commercial crowd pleaser film.


Bosnia and Herzegovina: Epizoda u životu berača željeza (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker), Danisa Tanovića
To be honest I was going to skip this film but now I know will watch it as not only won the Jury Grand Prix at 2013 Berlinale but now is being honored by the Academy.

From trailer and images imagine that will be not easy to watch; still story reminds me of a great Romanian movie about how hard life can be when you deal with state institutions.

Cambodia: L'image manquante (The Missing Picture) by Rithy Panh
The most interesting facts about this film is that is a documentary, is animated plus tells a story that IF told not this way surely could be unwatchable. Film has collected major honors like the Un Certain Regard Award at 2013 Cannes, Best Documentary Award at 2013 European Film Awards and 2013 Jerusalem Film Festival's In Spirit for Freedom Award.

No doubt that 2013 is the year when documentaries told unthinkable stories in the most unthinkable way (bordering beauty) that definitively touches viewers deep. Also think Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing.

Denmark: Jagten (The Hunt), Thomas Vinterberg
Thomas Vinterberg masterful opus won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury in 2012 Cannes as well as Best Actor for the incredible performance by Mads Mikkelsen; also won Best Screenwriter award at 2012 European Film Awards, 2013 Nordic Council's Film Prize Award and was not 2012 Denmark submission to Oscar because was released after the Academy deadline. So one year after was sent and made the shortlist of 9. Not a fan of ranking movies I see BUT this year will be the exception as The Hunt is my number 1 movie of the year, the one that has my Oscar and the one I hope wins.

Strongly suggest you watch movie as film is fantastic but watching Mads is truly, truly an awesome experience I highly recommend to many people that call their profession "actor".

Germany: Zwei Leben (Two Lives) by Judith Kaufmann and Georg Maas
Have not seen movie and yes, I am "dying" to see it especially because lead performances by Liv Ullman and none other than Juliane Köhler that many of you will remember from great Aimée & Jaguar. Film was not screened in major festivals but was a selection in 2013 Göteborg Film Festival running for the International Debut Award.

It is the second film by Maas (documentary filmmaker) and the first by Kaufman (cinematographer) and know their work as have seen Maas Liv Ullmann documentary and many movies were Judith Kaufmann was the cinematographer like 4 minutes, When We Leave, Unveiled and more.

Update: film has extraordinary cinematography, good performances more Scandinavian than German style, an interesting story told in slowish pace but believe is not Oscar worthy material as is entertaining but not much else.

Hong Kong: 一代宗师 Yi dai zong shi (The Grandmaster) by Kar Wai Wong
Some of you know my blind love for Wong Kar Wai and his master filmmaker style so masterful developed in films like In the Mood for Love, 2046, Chungking Express and more; add that I still believe that the greatest actor in the world is Tony Leung (thanks to his extraordinary performances in Wong Kar Wai's films and other directors) and you have an idea of the expectations I had for this film. Perhaps my expectations were too high but film doesn't look/feel much like great Wong Kar Wai (perhaps the close film style is Ashes of Time) so in a way I was disappointed but not much as film is absolutely outstanding when you think cinematography, truly awesome visual pleasure.

Still film has already won 14 awards plus more nominations, including Ziyi Zhang winning Best Performance by an Actress at 2013 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Best Cinematography in 2013 Golden Horse Awards where also won the Audience Award. Worth watching but try to minimize the effect the director may have in your expectations.

Hungary: A nagy füzet (The Notebook) by János Szász
Not really interested in watching as many will remember that do not enjoy war movies and need someone/something to force me to perhaps consider watching.

Still seems that film has impressive cinematography and already collected accolades at 2013 Karlovy Vary where won the Crystal Globe and Label Europa Cinema awards.


Italy: La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), Paolo Sorrentino
My second favorite actor in the world is Toni Servillo and see everything with him, not really a fan of the director (but loved Il Divo with Servillo) and had no expectations. This film gave me the greatest surprise this year as never, never imagined Sorrentino could make a movie so decadent that gave me the chills as almost felt I was watching early Fellini. One of the best five movies this year and one that already won great accolades from being in competition at 2013 Cannes to win several awards in 2013 European Film Awards including best film and best actor. If you ever loved (and miss) great Italian cinema then this film is must be seen for you.

Palestine: Omar by Hany Abu-Assad
Not in my film watching queue (even when won 2013 Cannes Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize) but called my attention when won Best Film at 2013 Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Surely will not be easy to see but accolades suggest that maybe story has something different, especially when story has been told too many times in many different ways/points-of-view. Will watch.

Does AGE OF ULTRON Have a Second Villain? (It Probably Does)

Latino Review has the best track-record of the independent movie gossip-hunting sites, even if they're by no means "always" on-target. But their big post-holiday (possible) "get" makes all kinds of sense. It doesn't sound like something that'd be a "spoiler" for the movie itself, but it does sound like it could be a spoiler for one of the other (by then previous) movies, so I'm putting it after the jump.

POSSIBLE SPOILER SPACE

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According to LR's sources (which a few other industry journos appear to be backing up) the secondary villain is BARON WOLFGANG VON STRUCKER, a perennial Captain America enemy and (traditionally) one of the surprisingly large number of immortal Nazis running around the Marvel Universe. In the comics he's technically the founder of HYDRA, but in practical terms he's become the guy you get when The Red Skull and Baron Zemo have been used too recently (or are dead.) 

According to Drew McWeeny at HitFix, the plan is for The Baron to be more of a guest-villain than a co-nemesis: He'll the threat The Avengers are dealing with as the film opens, and will primarily serve as a means by which the team encounters Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen). Even before McWeeny had jumped in, that's where my mind immediately went: The important things (character-wise) about Pietro and Wanda, in the books, are that they're siblings, they start out as villains and their father is a supervillain.

This is where it gets wonky: In the comcis, dad is Magneto and the twins are mutants (make no mistake, though - otherwise the pair are tied almost exclusively to The Avengers, they're not considered "X-Men characters"), which of course isn't going to work out because of movie studio business stuff i.e. only Fox can make X-Men movies. Strucker, meanwhile, traditionally has as lieutenants twin offspring of his own, Andrea and Andreas. McWeeny's story only says that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will be "working for" The Baron, but it's easy to imagine Whedon etc. wanting to preserve that crucial "kids of a villain" element by making them Strucker's children in this incarnation... though it's equally easy to imagine Marvel waiting until the last possible moment to decide that, shooting dialogue "both ways" or having them be adopted on the off chance that Fox wants to start playing ball on crossovers (remember: it was supposedly only a matter of logistics and time that kept "AMAZING SPIDER-MAN's" Oscorp Tower out of "AVENGERS'" New York skyline.)

All well and good, but we're still a ways out from the actual shooting of this movie, which makes this kind of early for Marvel to be casting around (and psuedo-secretly, no less) for what might be a cameo at best. Which leads me to wonder if we won't actually be seeing Strucker a lot sooner - like say just a few months from now. At least part of the plot of "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" looks to be that S.H.I.E.L.D is being influenced/overtaken by nefarious forces, and "AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D" has been teasing "The Agency is going bad" as a substory for awhile. That's typically the sort of thing The Baron can be found behind, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if whoever they end up casting (supposedly Marton Csoksas and Dougray Scott are on the shortlist) ends up shooting a quick cameo (or post-credits stinger) so as to be revealed as the real power behind the throne in "WINTER SOLDIER." 

Escape to The Movies: ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES

Not as good as the first time, still good, might as well go see it.

Also some WOLF OF WALL STREET (not a review) because why not?

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : Anchorman 2

Now You Don't Need To See EXPENDABLES 3

The "EXPENDABLES" movies are, objectively, awful - even by the incredibly low standards of the "Hey, remember when action movies sucked but sucked in a different way than they do now?" genre. The sole (and evidently sufficient) reason they have for existing are the handful of shots where a bunch of actors you remember from the 80s are standing together in the same shot and you can get 1/400th of the charge you might have gotten if someone had actually made "RAMBO VS. TERMINATOR" in the early-90s.

Outside of that, there's no reason to watch either of them. And now here's the trailer for Part The Third, which helpfully eliminates any further need to do so by simply having everybody stand a line and acknowledge that yes, they're in this. The "new" blood includes Antonio Banderas, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes and Ronda Rousey as We Couldn't Get Gina Carano:

"The Only Chance For Salvation..."

At approximately 1:12, this red-band trailer for "BATTLE OF THE DAMNED" - initially framed as "Dolph Lundgren Versus The 28 Days Later Monsters," which would be entertaining enough as it its - becomes the Greatest Trailer EVER:

BRIAN FANTANA IS (PROBABLY) AN AVENGER!!!

So, uh... Yeah. Variety says Paul Rudd is Marvel's "ANT-MAN." He has the power to change his size, talk to ants and be considered an integral part of "Avengers" history mainly because he was there that day. No confirmation of whether Rudd will be playing either the Hank Pym or Scott Lang version of the character.

PULP CATHOLICISM #047

PODCAST 78: Devil & Saint Nick

This week Forest & Cory go it alone as John is on leave, visiting with some family for the holiday season. With John outta the way, Forest shares his thoughts on Devil, and Cory reviews the Dutch holiday horror Saint Nick. A Santa movie with "black face".

CONTINUE READING

The Big Picture: "COPYWRONG"

The Escapist : The Big Picture : Copywrong

Wrong Note

Here's a trailer for "GRAND PIANO," in which Elijah Wood is a concert pianist who is informed mid-performance that a mysterious sniper is planning to shoot him if he misses a note. Really.

Where Did "WELCOME TO YESTERDAY" Come From?

Whoa. When was the last time the first 20 seconds of a trailer (for an original movie) immediately made you decide the movie had to be seen? Here's "WELCOME TO YESTERDAY," a Michael Bay produced scifi movie (which clearly owes more than a little to "CHRONICLE") which opens thusly: A teenager is watching a home movie of his seventh birthday and catches a glimpse of himself - as in his present-day teenage self - standing in the background.

2013 Prix Louis-Delluc Winners

Today the jury members of the most prestigious award in France had their annual meeting at Fouquet in Paris with Gilles Jacob, Cannes Festival president, announcing that this year winner is extremely well deserved and is the second Delluc that Kechiche wins in only five years, as his first was for excellent La Graine et le mulet in 2007 and now for La Vie d'Adèle.

Prix Louis Delluc for Best Film: La Vie d'Adèle (Blue is the Warmest Color), Abdellatif Kechiche

For reference these were the films considered for the award.

Elle s'en va by Emmanuelle Bercot
Jimmy P. by Arnaud Desplechin
Camille Claudel 1915 by Bruno Dumont
Mon âme par toi guérie by François Dupeyron
9 mois ferme by Albert Dupontel
Le Passé by Asghar Farhadi
L'inconnu du lac by Alain Guiraudie
La vie d'Adèle by Abdellatif Kechiche

Prix Louis Delluc for Best First Film: Vandal, Hélier Cisterne

To read the news in French go here.

Here's That Shia LaBeouf Movie Critic Short (UPDATED!)

UPDATE III: Un. Real. LaBeouf has taken to his official Twitter to apologize for not giving proper credit for having been "inspired" by Clowes' comic. One small problem with that: The film is effectively a shot-for-shot, word-for-word, panels-as-storyboards adaptation without credit. That's not inspiration, or even homage - it's straight-up plagiarism. LaBeouf is being more or less pilloried for this as we speak - which, since he's been wealthy and famous since his mid-teens will have no real career impact, but for now it's kind of amusing. I wonder if he actually does that "NoNONoNoNononononononoNoNONONOnoNo!" thing in real life?

UPDATE II: The video has been password-locked, in the wake of nobody being able to figure out if LaBeouf asked permission to film Clowes' comic (the author claims he doesn't know what's going on) and no one being able to answer if this is A.) a not-terribly-talented actor doing something idiotic or B.) a not terribly talented actor trying and failing at some kind of elaborate James Franco-style "life as comedy sketch" bit.

UPDATE I: The piece weirdly makes no mention of this, but it appears to be based on this Daniel Clowes comic:


I'll give the kid this: Making your "directoring debut" a short about how miserable, deluded and meaningless movie critics - online critics especially - are when you're best (exclusively?) known for "TRANSFORMERS" and "KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL" displays some serious "I don't care how I'm percieved" swagger. I mean... sure, that sort of thing is generally better reserved for when you've actually done something, but points for brass all the same.



Some of this is actually painfully well-observed in an "Okay, who blabbed?" sort of way - "roundtable" junket interviews really are singularly miserable, bizarre little pageants of feigned mutual non-resentment - which is why it's sort of dissapointing that it doesn't build to anything more interesting than "critics nitpick their betters because they're sad about their lives sucking."

Spaced Gets the Axe, Dick Spared, Garcia Smolders

Well, it looks like The Dick Van Dyke Show's absence from streaming was only temporary. The series is officially back online. That means if you still haven't managed to check out this always funny and engaging program, you've got another chance to see what made it so special and such an integral part of TV history.

But before you catch up on the shenanigans of Rob and Laura Petrie & Co., take a few hours to check out the equally groundbreaking (if not as universally known) British comedy Spaced, scheduled to expire from Instant at midnight on the 17th (that's one minute past 11:59 P.M. on the 16th, for those who get confused by such things). As I wrote back in April, Spaced is far from your average britcom, and not only helped spawn the current era of post-modern television comedy (think 30 Rock and Arrested Development), it introduced the world to the talents of Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Nick Frost, who went on to make Shaun of the Dead and this year's The World's End (among many others). Less well-known but equally praiseworthy is their partner-in-crime, Jessica Stevenson, who co-wrote and co-starred with Pegg and offers a brand of endearing daffiness all her own. Made up of only 14 episodes spread over two seasons, Spaced is perfect for a binge watch before it takes its leave.

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INTERSTELLAR Trailer Teases Return of the Good Version of Christopher Nolan

It's been easy to forget - after the (legitimate) down-marks handed him by "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES" and "MAN OF STEEL" plus the (murkier) transformation of his name into a synonym for inappropriately-grim movie adaptations of... anything, really - why everybody got so excited about Christopher Nolan in the first place. Once upon a time, the "big deal" about "BATMAN BEGINS" was that a legitimately great, exciting new(ish) filmmaker was going to make a Batman movie.

This teaser for "INTERSTELLAR," though, serves as a big reminder of the other reason to be glad the Nolan Bros. are mostly getting out of the superhero business:



Show of hands on who would've thought, even five years ago, that Matthew McConaughey would "work" as a voice of sombre inspiration? I'm in love with this teaser, and not only because I'm SO onboard with the the idea that our semi-abandonment of space-exploration as a virtuous goal worth striving for being a goddamn disgrace - which seems to be the implicit them at play here, or at least one of them (it was also one of the dozen or so interesting thematic points raised but for no ultimately purpose in "MAN OF STEEL," so maybe this is a "thing" for these cats.)

Of note: The screenplay for this, by Johnathan Nolan, was originally developed with input/collaboration from Steven Spielberg for him (Spielberg) to direct. He bowed out, Christopher Nolan stepped in. So this is potentially sort of a reverse-"A.I." in as much as we've got a brilliant, anti-emotional, aesthetically-clinical grump taking over a Spielberg project as opposed to the reverse. That should be interesting...

SHORT FEATURE: THE HOBBIT

Hmm, let’s see.

1. Catholic blogger.
2. Asked to review new releases by Catholic website.
3. Major motion picture being released this week based on a novel by a beloved Catholic author.

Yeah, I’d say all that makes the odds about 1000% that I reviewed The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug for Aleteia this week.

Okay, so if you read the review, you know I opened it with a brief history of the very first attempt to bring The Hobbit to the big screen back in the mid-60s. Well, if that 12-minute long version of Tolken’s novel with no dwarfs and an ending wherein Bilbo marries a princess sounds like something you’d want to see, here you go…

Kind of makes the changes Peter Jackson made to his version of the story seem trivial in comparison, doesn’t it? And make no mistake, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is Jackson’s version, not Tolkien’s, not even close. If you can accept that, then it’s not impossible that you just might find you’re able to enjoy the movie for what it is, an extremely well made fantasy adventure with themes that pale in comparison to the original, but can be worth exploring in their own right. You know, it’s sort of the same thing you have to do when watching Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, which is in no way the same story as Stephen King’s The Shining.

But if your well justified devotion to Tolkien doesn’t allow you to do any more than sit in the theater with a dog-eared highlighted copy of The Hobbit reading along with the movie and tsk-tsking every little deviation between the page and the screen, well, you might as well stay home. You have nothing to look forward to in Jackson’s movie except bitter disappointment.

If any of you do manage to get to the theater to see The Desolation of Smaug this weekend, be sure to drop me a note and let me know what you thought, positive or negative. Until then, I’ll be out in the backyard with my son lopping the heads off of orcs with his Nerf swords.

Escape to The Movies: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG

Relax, it's fine.

Also, "SAVING MR. BANKS"

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Within Five Years, Every Movie Sony Makes Will Be a SPIDER-MAN Movie

Do I still talk about how great "THE AVENGERS" was too much? Probably - but even I'd be doing it a lot less if the success of that particular film (and the Marvel Cinematic Universe) wasn't hovering so much of current Hollywood business-dealing like an omnipresent specter. In the same way that "HARRY POTTER" sent everyone with money to spend in the movie business scrambling to lock down a kids/YA fantasy franchise of their own, the mad rush now is to set up multi-film/cross-genre "worldbuilding" movie brands - preferably using superheroes but not exclusively, since Universal has been making some noise about bringing back the Universal Monsters for a "seperate-films-followed-by-a-team-up" project of their own.

Other than Marvel/Disney, the guys in the best shape in this regard are Fox; who're holding onto the comfortably expansive "X-MEN" franchise strong and hoping that second time will be the charm for "FANTASTIC FOUR." Warner Bros is approximately one Martian Manhunter away from throwing up it's hands and saying "Fuck it! "MAN OF STEEL 2" is now "JUSTICE LEAGUE 1." And Sony? Poor Sony has only James Bond - whom they are obliged to treat gently - and Spider-Man... whom they are demonstrably content to ride hard, put away wet, pass around the yard and rent out to visiting foriegn business associates over the weekend.

The studio has already set up dates for three sequels  to "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN," one of which lands in just a few months. Meanwhile, they've invited five "superstar" writers - Alex Kurtzman (ew), Roberto Orci (eeeeeew), Jeff Pinker (eh), Drew Goddard (oh?) and Ed Solomon (didn't know he was still working) - to work out a "universe" built around the extended Spider-Man mythos. Currently on the docket: A solo "VENOM" feature (because I guess it must still be 1995 somewhere...) and a villain-centric "SINISTER SIX" movie (soooo... will they not be teaming up in the main series? What are these other three movies about, then?) The interesting name is Goddard, since he's also developing the "DAREDEVIL" project for Marvel's "DEFENDERS" run on Netflix.

I imagine the only reason no one is saying "BLACK CAT" yet is solely because they haven't bothered to write her into the movies yet, whereas Eddie "Venom" Brock is being namedropped in viral marketing already. After that, I look forward to seeing what kind of surefire masterpieces can be grown from fertile seeds like Man-Wolf, Rocket Racer, Prowler, Morbius: The Living Vampire (okay, that one could be good) or The Spider-Slingers. What a time to be alive.