So far it's been shrouded in mystery, but now I know the story behind JJ Abrams' Cloverfield:
What's that? A big explosion in a modern-day city? Where have I seen that before?
It can only be ...
That's right: CHRONO TRIGGER: THE MOVIE. This is all misdirection: get ready for a time travel adventure!
(P.S. In all seriousness, I would much, much prefer Chrono Trigger: The Movie to whatever the hell this actually is.)
Plus it's the first time I've ever tried to embed a YouTube clip here:
UPDATE: Well that failed miserably. Anyone know how to embed YouTube clips on Movable Type?
In the meantime, you owe it to yourself to watch this here. It's the only time I can remember bursting out laughing while watching something alone in my room.
Yo, a while back I talked about how much I wanted to see American Dreamz, and how awesome it looked from the preview. I couldn't tell if it was going to be slapstick or serious. Answer: mostly detached semi-intellectual humor, with an occasional bout of thought provocation. Good movie.
Anyway, despite it coming out around the middle of April (maybe smore's birthday?), I got to see an advance screening tonight, sans end credits. I should start off by saying I have no idea what the purpose was of this screening; there was no dial where we could see that Milhouse loves Speedo Man, and no mirrors talking softly. It was actually just a regular theater in the Loews at Times Square. We filled out cards in advance saying how old we were and what race we were, and other than that, nothing. Why were they showing this to us? Did they want to see when we laughed? The climactic scene is pretty tense, or at least it could go either really happy or really sad, and I realized all of a sudden that they might be testing the bad ending on us. The ending wound up being surprising and somewhat bad, so maybe that was indeed their intent.
It was a good movie. I traditionally don't review movies on here because I generally don't have anything interesting to say about them. (Spoiler alert: no exception here.) Nonetheless, this is a movie that's not coming out for a couple of months, so I figure I'll do the world a favor by slightly shaping the buzz. Or something.
Anyway, the most striking part of American Dreamz was that the humor was really effective. It was a complete sendup of popular culture in politics and entertainment, but it was never condescending. It mocked American Idol, with the understanding that it's one of the most popular shows on TV, and it mocked the president, with the understanding that we voted the guy into another term. In other words, the joke was never that the American people are morons, so everyone could appreciate the humor. It felt like we were all laughing at ourselves instead of laughing at morons. As for my own field of semi-expertise, there were a fair number of political jokes, but it was never heavy-handed, and while the president was as flawed as any of the other characters here, he was always portrayed as a reasonably decent human being trying to do the right thing.
This is not a movie that will change your perspective on life and who we are. Ultimately, it's not that serious. There are a few moments though of real insight, like when the al-Qaeda member comes to terms with what he's seen of America, and when all the disparate characters (the president, the American Idol host, the ambitious young singer, her boyfriend, and our terrorist friend) come together at the end, there are a few decent moments as well. Personally, the movie was funny enough and covered enough of my favorite topics that I felt pretty fulfilled watching it. I'm not sure how other people would enjoy it.
My only real criticism is the ending. I said above it's bad, in the plot sense, but it was also bad in that they did a "where are they now" kind of deal that fell pretty flat. None of the outcomes for these characters seemed especially relevant or fitting, and it was as if the life-changing climax didn't change anyone's lives at all. The more I think about it, the more I suspect I was there to judge that ending: the epilogue probably works with every ending they filmed, and they're trying to figure out what fit best. It wasn't this one.
So that's the story of my first advance screening of a movie. Here's hoping I won't get a lawsuit for posting this, especially since I recommend seeing this movie when it gets released to you losers in April.
While I'm here:
This is why I read TechEBlog. It's a shower light that you put over the nozzle. It's self-powered and changes color based on the temperature. How is that not awesome? I could use more colorful showers.
This chick is such an awful human being it's hilarious. Also, I love people are so arrogant that they don't mind when everyone finds out what a jackass they are, because they just assume they're fantastic. Very good times.
Finally, if you know me, check this out. I'm not sure it'll provide actual insight, but, while we're here, we might as well see.
So Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World last night turned out to be a really terrible movie. Quick review: I thought it would be a genuine movie, and it was a facetious movie. Multiple plotlines are never resolved or even halfway developed, and more than anything, the movie's just not funny. It was roughly as funny as my everyday life, except that in my life I care about the serious stuff, and in the movie I just want it to be funny. It's neither funny nor insightful. Don't see it.
Fortunately, the previews were fantastic, and I am only too happy to describe them here. The first is Thank You For Smoking (trailer), in which the tobacco lobbyist is the protagonist. I'm looking forward to this movie for three reasons: one, it looks hilarious, two, movies about people who are the best at making political arguments is right up my alley, and three, how often do we get to hear the tobacco lobbyist's side of the story? In the trailer this guy goes onto a talk show with a kid with cancer, going through chemo. The lobbyist says, "How on earth would big tobacco profit off of the loss of this young man? It's in our best interest to keep Robin alive and smoking." They high-five. Here's another quote, to his son: "if you argue correctly, you're never wrong." How true is that? I can't conceive of this movie not being absolutely terrific, though it may be my kind of movie in the way that, say, Brokeback Mountain (which I did see) was not. Also, it helps when you have a Killers song playing in the background of the trailer.
Even more intriguing is American Dreamz (trailer), which my ever more pregnant sister Laura (happy birthday Laura!!) already discussed like a month ago. In a nutshell, I can't figure out if this movie is the dumbest movie ever created, or if people are going to leave this movie with a whole different outlook on life. Here's the rough premise (though the movie changes names to protect the impeachable): imagine that President Bush finally realizes one day that he's out of touch and decides to spend all his time holed up and learning about the world, then decides to reconnect with the people by being a guest judge on American Idol. The movie focuses on the William Hung joke contestant, here an Arab who gets shoved into a setup where fundamentalists cheat him into the final round of the competition so he can kill the president onstage, plus the Simon Cowell host, who's sick of being a star, and the Carrie Underwood character, who here desperately wants to become a star, and will gladly throw away everyone who cared about her to do it. Sounds like everyone has a lot to learn about becoming who they are and doing the right thing. But is it slapstick? I can't tell. It could work as slapstick, and it could work a lot better if it has a point. Some movies are meant to be transcendent. It stars Mandy Moore, so until it comes out I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt, plus, again, the song in the background is awesome. That should be a prerequisite.
Finally we had A Scanner Darkly, one of those movies with a plot inscrutable from the trailer and probably from actual viewing too, but that doesn't mean it doesn't look fantastic. I mostly include this paragraph so that you'll check out the preview for yourself (though, seriously, see if you can watch it without installing iTunes) so you can see how good it looks. What do they call this, "mostly animated"? They use real actors. I know a creative and cartoonish style worked for Sin City, which is even better than the 1991 Super NES game that inspired it, but I have no idea whether that will apply to A Scanner Darkly.
In any case, these were terrific previews, almost worth the price of admission, and certainly enough to reinforce my well-considered philosophy that missing any of the previews renders the whole movie experience unacceptable. Also, read the reader reviews for this book. Thank you Aaron Clauset for the link.
You know, sometimes it's easy to forget that I live in, more or less, the center of the universe. Check out this blurb on the weekend movie takes from CNN:
Warner Bros. also had terrific results for its limited-release debut of "Syriana," whose ensemble cast includes George Clooney and Matt Damon in a thriller centered on the oil industry. The film took in a whopping $372,147 in five theaters over the weekend and $553,372 since Wednesday. "Syriana" goes into nationwide release December 9.
(For the record, I did see it, I enjoyed it, and the theater was so packed I thought I would pass out before it was over. Fascinating movie though.)
I've already illustrated that Roger Ebert makes awesome points in his print movie reviews, and he really outdoes himself today. I'll give two examples, the first a great insight from his review of the Skeleton Key:
It takes place in a creepy plantation house in a gloomy Louisiana backwater during a very, very rainy season. The district has something in common with every other horror movie set in the deep South: A ramshackle backroads gas station operated by degenerates who frighten and repel their customers.
The movie created a spot of controversy last February. According to a story by Larry Carroll of MTV News, Rob Schneider took offense when Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times listed this year's Best Picture Nominees and wrote that they were "ignored, unloved and turned down flat by most of the same studios that ... bankroll hundreds of sequels, including a follow-up to 'Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,' a film that was sadly overlooked at Oscar time because apparently nobody had the foresight to invent a category for Best Running Penis Joke Delivered by a Third-Rate Comic."Schneider retaliated by attacking Goldstein in full-page ads in Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. In an open letter to Goldstein, Schneider wrote: "Well, Mr. Goldstein, I decided to do some research to find out what awards you have won. I went online and found that you have won nothing. Absolutely nothing. No journalistic awards of any kind ... Maybe you didn't win a Pulitzer Prize because they haven't invented a category for Best Third-Rate, Unfunny Pompous Reporter Who's Never Been Acknowledged by His Peers."
Reading this, I was about to observe that Schneider can dish it out but he can't take it. Then I found he's not so good at dishing it out, either. I went online and found that Patrick Goldstein has won a National Headliner Award, a Los Angeles Press Club Award, a RockCritics.com award, and the Publicists' Guild award for lifetime achievement.
But Schneider is correct, and Patrick Goldstein has not yet won a Pulitzer Prize. Therefore, Goldstein is not qualified to complain that Columbia financed "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" while passing on the opportunity to participate in "Million Dollar Baby," "Ray," "The Aviator," "Sideways" and "Finding Neverland." As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks.
Cinescape prints stuff readers send in about their conversations with George Lucas, which may or may not be made up:
I said what do you think would be more interesting.... telling a story prior to PHANTOM MENANCE or after RETURN OF THE JEDI?(Lucas) said, no question about it, prior to PHANTOM MENACE. He said, that if he did ever do another storyline.... that he would do when the Jedi regained control of the universe from the Dark Lords (there were many of them) 800 years before PHANTOM MENACE. And a young Jedi named Yoda was instrumental in the effort.
Well, the new rumor is that James Franco, who plays Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man saga, has said that Spider-Man 3 will start filming in January - and they're going to start on Spider-Man 4 immediately afterwards. If true, awesome. If not, I love Spider-Man movies. Here's where from I got it.
NYT says Episode III is better than Episode IV. Developing...
UPDATE 5/16: Roger Ebert gives Episode III 3½ stars out of 4.