Feuding Couples and Gothic Sisters

Weekend Theater/DVD options:

In Multiplexes
The Break-Up Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn spar under the direction of Peyton Reed. In case you missed my post about this, it's here. Aside from my fondness for Mr. Reed, I'm excited this movie is finally opening because that means that in only two or three weeks from now Jennifer Aniston will stop being on magazine covers every two seconds. Soooo sick of her. And to think she used to be my favorite Friend...


And I have to ask again. What happened to the major studios competitive spirits? Why do all these films get each weekend to themselves? Didn't use to be this way. Are Aniston & Vaughn that potent a draw that all other studios feared opening against them?

In Theaters: Limited Release (links go to trailers/sites)
Peaceful Warrior Gymnasts are hot. Even physically/spiritually damaged ones. Grizzly ol' Nick Nolte plays mentor again. Plus, this movie is a Film Experience sponsor (see sidebar) so what else you need? (Select Cities)
District B13 and Typhoon two very violent foreign actioners. (From Fance and Korea respectively)
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous New Zealand coming of age comedy (NYC).
Favela Rising Buzzy documentary on Rio de Janeiro slums and an activist movement using music and dance to combat violence.
And a whole slew of very indie product including: Woodenhead (NYC) The Conrad Boys (LA) and The Puffy Chair


New to DVD This Past Week
Freedomland Anyone with a Netflix or similar rent-all-you-want subscription knows that it opens up a whole new world of video watching. When you're paying a subscription fee you can watch whatever you want without guilt and never feel like you're wasting money. Which is a great incentive to watch bad things with good actors --like this one. Count how many things go wrong and how quickly about this production. You'll be amazed at its internal chaos. You'll realize why Samuel L Jackson never cries onscreen. You'll marvel at how Edie Falco can survive anything. You'll scratch your head wondering why Julianne Moore doesn't give her character any of the traits that she reveals skillfully in late film monologues... Did they write this one as they filmed? Did she not read the scenes before she had to perform them?

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane It's a two disc special edition that we MUST all watch. Why? The commentary track is from two of the most brilliant queer performers of our time Lypsinka and Charles Busch. That sound is the sound of my queer self exploding. For more Baby Jane love you can read this Halloween post or watch my "She's a Bitch" video (if you haven't already seen it a hunnert times)

Feuding Couples and Gothic Sisters

Weekend Theater/DVD options:

In Multiplexes
The Break-Up Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn spar under the direction of Peyton Reed. In case you missed my post about this, it's here. Aside from my fondness for Mr. Reed, I'm excited this movie is finally opening because that means that in only two or three weeks from now Jennifer Aniston will stop being on magazine covers every two seconds. Soooo sick of her. And to think she used to be my favorite Friend...


And I have to ask again. What happened to the major studios competitive spirits? Why do all these films get each weekend to themselves? Didn't use to be this way. Are Aniston & Vaughn that potent a draw that all other studios feared opening against them?

In Theaters: Limited Release (links go to trailers/sites)
Peaceful Warrior Gymnasts are hot. Even physically/spiritually damaged ones. Grizzly ol' Nick Nolte plays mentor again. Plus, this movie is a Film Experience sponsor (see sidebar) so what else you need? (Select Cities)
District B13 and Typhoon two very violent foreign actioners. (From Fance and Korea respectively)
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous New Zealand coming of age comedy (NYC).
Favela Rising Buzzy documentary on Rio de Janeiro slums and an activist movement using music and dance to combat violence.
And a whole slew of very indie product including: Woodenhead (NYC) The Conrad Boys (LA) and The Puffy Chair


New to DVD This Past Week
Freedomland Anyone with a Netflix or similar rent-all-you-want subscription knows that it opens up a whole new world of video watching. When you're paying a subscription fee you can watch whatever you want without guilt and never feel like you're wasting money. Which is a great incentive to watch bad things with good actors --like this one. Count how many things go wrong and how quickly about this production. You'll be amazed at its internal chaos. You'll realize why Samuel L Jackson never cries onscreen. You'll marvel at how Edie Falco can survive anything. You'll scratch your head wondering why Julianne Moore doesn't give her character any of the traits that she reveals skillfully in late film monologues... Did they write this one as they filmed? Did she not read the scenes before she had to perform them?

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane It's a two disc special edition that we MUST all watch. Why? The commentary track is from two of the most brilliant queer performers of our time Lypsinka and Charles Busch. That sound is the sound of my queer self exploding. For more Baby Jane love you can read this Halloween post or watch my "She's a Bitch" video (if you haven't already seen it a hunnert times)

How Comic Book Films Will Die

I feel like this has been a terrible terrible month for fans of superhero films. First we had the huge disappointment of X-Men: The Last Stand (I thought I'd be over it but it's lazy mediocrity continues to grate), than that hideous Ghost Rider trailer. Seriously who WHO while watching Daredevil and Elektra thought that this man should ever get near another comic book franchise again?

And when did Marvel lose their smarts about how to manage their lucrative properties? They were so handily beating DC at the superhero movie game and then they just started getting sloppy. Any old director, any old comic will do. Just slap it up there on the screen, make another 100 million. Don't they realize that these things have a cumulative effect and the money will be shortlived. Did they not notice that this is how the very successful Superman and Batman franchise died for DC? Didn't they notice that it took 10 years and a director as talented as Chris Nolan to get the Bat franchise out of the dank laughable cave it had carved for itself? And didn't they notice it took millions upon millions of false starts and decades to restore Superman's luster? If in fact that's what has happened. We are assuming that this new one is good. Don't they realize that a sequel to Fantastic Four will be like when they made a sequel to Charlies Angels? If the public thought the first was kinda dumb, they aren't going to get all excited for a second...

So what put this huge stick up my ass? you may be asking, curious about this sudden rant. It was this little tidbit at 'Coming Soon' about the new Spider-Man film. If we learned anything from Batman sequels and X-Men sequels it's this: The more villians and characters you add, the crappier the movies get. These are not Robert Altman movies. Trust me when I tell you that if Robert Altman's characters had superpowers and were required to go through three or four action setpieces in the course of the running time, he'd have the smarts to whittle down the ensemble.

Movies are 90 to 120ish minutes long. They are not television series. Nor are they monthly comic books. These truths ought to be self evident. There's only so much story you can tell. And why waste an audiences first impression of a great comic book character by making it a cameo? Why don't they just get in the pay cable series business instead?

Now, I trust Sam Raimi. He's made two of the best superhero movies ever. I expect the third will be good too. But four villains in Spider-Man 3??? really? The one villian plan worked pretty darn well in the first two movies, didn't it? You got time for all that backstory? Or will this third film be released in installments like Lord of the Rings?

tags: movies, XMen, Comic Books, X-Men, Marvel, film, DC, Box Office, Spiderman, Batman

How Comic Book Films Will Die

I feel like this has been a terrible terrible month for fans of superhero films. First we had the huge disappointment of X-Men: The Last Stand (I thought I'd be over it but it's lazy mediocrity continues to grate), than that hideous Ghost Rider trailer. Seriously who WHO while watching Daredevil and Elektra thought that this man should ever get near another comic book franchise again?

And when did Marvel lose their smarts about how to manage their lucrative properties? They were so handily beating DC at the superhero movie game and then they just started getting sloppy. Any old director, any old comic will do. Just slap it up there on the screen, make another 100 million. Don't they realize that these things have a cumulative effect and the money will be shortlived. Did they not notice that this is how the very successful Superman and Batman franchise died for DC? Didn't they notice that it took 10 years and a director as talented as Chris Nolan to get the Bat franchise out of the dank laughable cave it had carved for itself? And didn't they notice it took millions upon millions of false starts and decades to restore Superman's luster? If in fact that's what has happened. We are assuming that this new one is good. Don't they realize that a sequel to Fantastic Four will be like when they made a sequel to Charlies Angels? If the public thought the first was kinda dumb, they aren't going to get all excited for a second...

So what put this huge stick up my ass? you may be asking, curious about this sudden rant. It was this little tidbit at 'Coming Soon' about the new Spider-Man film. If we learned anything from Batman sequels and X-Men sequels it's this: The more villians and characters you add, the crappier the movies get. These are not Robert Altman movies. Trust me when I tell you that if Robert Altman's characters had superpowers and were required to go through three or four action setpieces in the course of the running time, he'd have the smarts to whittle down the ensemble.

Movies are 90 to 120ish minutes long. They are not television series. Nor are they monthly comic books. These truths ought to be self evident. There's only so much story you can tell. And why waste an audiences first impression of a great comic book character by making it a cameo? Why don't they just get in the pay cable series business instead?

Now, I trust Sam Raimi. He's made two of the best superhero movies ever. I expect the third will be good too. But four villains in Spider-Man 3??? really? The one villian plan worked pretty darn well in the first two movies, didn't it? You got time for all that backstory? Or will this third film be released in installments like Lord of the Rings?

tags: movies, XMen, Comic Books, X-Men, Marvel, film, DC, Box Office, Spiderman, Batman

Book Worm

You will not always find me with head buried in books. In fact, you'll rarely find me this way. I'd rather watch a movie. Nevertheless I am totally in that groove lately. I have read three in quick succession and am looking for my next victim book. So I have a question for you readers. What should I read next? List a book that really amazes you. Paperbacks preferred since they make ideal subway time-passers.

Book Worm

You will not always find me with head buried in books. In fact, you'll rarely find me this way. I'd rather watch a movie. Nevertheless I am totally in that groove lately. I have read three in quick succession and am looking for my next victim book. So I have a question for you readers. What should I read next? List a book that really amazes you. Paperbacks preferred since they make ideal subway time-passers.

Superman is Sixty-Eight

Superman was born in 1938. He looks damn fine for a sixty-eight year old, don't you agree? I've read several different dates of birth as his actual birthday. At first I was under the impression that it was today, June 1st. But I keep reading different things. From my very limited knowledge of the comic character (never been a big Supes reader) I think February 29th is the character's birthday within the comicbooks. Am I right? wrong? Do you care? I'm hearing differing dates for the official birthday of the character in actuality. May 30th? June 1st? Who knows?

At any rate, Superman Returns flies into theaters on Wednesday, June 28th (two days earlier than planned --which is nice. I like Wednesday openings. They used to be all the rage but seem to have faded in the past few years. So Happy Birthday Supes, whenever that actual day is!


Suggested Super Sites to Search:
Superman Super SiteMany Men of Steel and more...
Superman Homepage news, trivia, comic reviews
Blue Tights Network Production video of the new film and more...
Superdickery Galleries of Superman behaving badly. Funny.
Wikipedia's Superman Page
& two blogs carefully ogling those blue tights for you:
My New Plaid Pants
Towleroad

and a final interesting article to look at:
"The Myth of Superman" from Loonyblog

Superman is Sixty-Eight

Superman was born in 1938. He looks damn fine for a sixty-eight year old, don't you agree? I've read several different dates of birth as his actual birthday. At first I was under the impression that it was today, June 1st. But I keep reading different things. From my very limited knowledge of the comic character (never been a big Supes reader) I think February 29th is the character's birthday within the comicbooks. Am I right? wrong? Do you care? I'm hearing differing dates for the official birthday of the character in actuality. May 30th? June 1st? Who knows?

At any rate, Superman Returns flies into theaters on Wednesday, June 28th (two days earlier than planned --which is nice. I like Wednesday openings. They used to be all the rage but seem to have faded in the past few years. So Happy Birthday Supes, whenever that actual day is!


Suggested Super Sites to Search:
Superman Super SiteMany Men of Steel and more...
Superman Homepage news, trivia, comic reviews
Blue Tights Network Production video of the new film and more...
Superdickery Galleries of Superman behaving badly. Funny.
Wikipedia's Superman Page
& two blogs carefully ogling those blue tights for you:
My New Plaid Pants
Towleroad

and a final interesting article to look at:
"The Myth of Superman" from Loonyblog

JUNE !

The movie ends. The lights go up. But we're always having the film experience. Things do happen outside of the cinema (unfortunately) so we filter them through the movies. If the arrival of June has you humming here are some thematically appropriate subjects to fill your next song.

Did you know that June is...


and...


I bet you didn't know that, huh. They always try and cram too much into each month which is why none of these ever get much press on their own. But to give you a fuller picture of June it's also Gay Pride Month (more on that later) and National Dairy Month, Zoo & Aquarium Month, and Turkey Lovers Month.

And finally. It's National Adopt-a-Cat Month. If you love pussycats, please please please consider picking one up. Felines have brought me much joy in my life and they're great pets (much easier than dogs) and you know... you're saving a life. If shelter animals don't find homes they put them to sleep. That's right. If no one wants them, they die...


...and that is almost always a terrible tragic thing.

JUNE !

The movie ends. The lights go up. But we're always having the film experience. Things do happen outside of the cinema (unfortunately) so we filter them through the movies. If the arrival of June has you humming here are some thematically appropriate subjects to fill your next song.

Did you know that June is...


and...


I bet you didn't know that, huh. They always try and cram too much into each month which is why none of these ever get much press on their own. But to give you a fuller picture of June it's also Gay Pride Month (more on that later) and National Dairy Month, Zoo & Aquarium Month, and Turkey Lovers Month.

And finally. It's National Adopt-a-Cat Month. If you love pussycats, please please please consider picking one up. Felines have brought me much joy in my life and they're great pets (much easier than dogs) and you know... you're saving a life. If shelter animals don't find homes they put them to sleep. That's right. If no one wants them, they die...


...and that is almost always a terrible tragic thing.

Ed, Dennis, and Brad

The Top 100 Countdown, the Actors of the Aughts, has resumed. It'll be happening daily now until we finish with numero uno. Where were we? OK... "Pollock" himself, Ed Harris, Angelina's boytoy Brad Pitt, and comeback kid man Dennis Quaid kick this round off...


Read the Rest...
Two more will be posted tomorrow. I am too tired to finish this group of five. So you get three.

Must. Sleep. Now.