Apparently, it’s Star Wars day… or we’ve become The Movie Blog. Either way, I’m sorry. Nevertheless! There’s a fun project running on the content site Vimeo called Star Wars Uncut. It’s a fan-video compendium that takes the original Star Wars (I will not call it Episode IV: A New Hope– nyah!), chops its 121 minutes into 15-second segments. Fans then pick a segment, film it on their own and upload it. When it’s all said and done, you’ve got 121 …
Author: Dan
Waaay back in April, ThinkGeek April-Fooled many a Star Wars nerd with their Tauntaun sleeping bag. Seems everyone wanted to nestle their middle-aged spare tires and a box of cookies children into its fleece-lined innards. Reader Jason even went so far as to say “They had better produce and market this. It could single handedly stimulate our economy out of this recession.” Well Jason, consider your wish Thinkgeek’s command, because dudes scored a license from Lucasfilm and are ready to …
John Woo. JOHN WOO! Yeah. Used to be a time when the name John Woo meant something: Glorious action, slow motion symphonies of leaping, shooting and fiery explosion, doves (he’s a Christian, you know) and over-the-freakin’-top John Travolta. But that was then. Now, it’s 2009 and America’s love affair with John Woo–a brief fling that launched with Broken Arrow, culminated in Mission Impossible: II then quickly hit the skids with Windtalkers— is on the backburner. Woo’s done some producing and …
Here at A(AD!)ATM, we’ve been using the universally recognized “star” system for our film reviews. It’s a system that’s been around a while, it’s well used and it works… but for all its recognition, the star system isn’t all that nuanced. How does a silly, brainless crap fun-fest like G.I. Joe nail three stars, while a well-executed and surprisingly effective film like District 9 receives the same score? They’re both entertaining in their own right, but one feels destined as …
The Coen brothers can be obtuse filmmakers: operating as if to apply their master’s touch on mainstream films solely for building the studio goodwill needed to produce the films they’re really interested in making. Such is the case with A Serious Man. It’s not mainstream. It’s not even midstream. Critics will love it, but the general audience won’t see it and those who do will find it totally, inaccessibly boring. Which doesn’t mean it’s bad- it just means A Serious …
Here in Cache Valley (IE- Logan), there was only one place to go for screenings of indie films like The Hurt Locker, No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood: The Logan Art Cinema. As of today, the only place to go might be Hastings, Hollywood Video and your living room. Thanks to a virtually hidden location and meager attendance, Westates Theaters (Cache Valley’s favorite local monopoly), has decided it high time to give Logan Art Cinema its …
Duh-duh-duh-duh-dun-dun-duuuuuuh! What, you don’t recognize that? That’s the textualized theme from the 80’s TV action extravaganza about ex- special forces turned do-good mercenaries, The A-Team: The show that introduced the world to Mr. T. and a young, impressionable Dan to the fact guns are only used for making dirt shoot up the ground around people’s feet. Casting was only just filled out, but the The A-Team is already cranking in full-on production and is well on its way to hitting …
Both 2012 and it’s film prequel, 2012, march steadily closer. One will entertain us in a thrill-ride of white-knuckled apocalyptic escapism. The other will explode the earth and send us burning, drowning, suffocating and crushed to an early grave. Can’t wait! While 2012 (The Movie!) holds no allure for me –as no massive annihilation spectacle has since 9-11/New Orleans/ Thailand/China– it sure does pack a lot of spectacle. The sheer amount of destruction is a feat of modern CGI science …
Bright Star is what used to be surefire Masterpiece Theater bait. A serious, deliberate and restrained piece of lushly designed period romance and tragedy. A film where moments and vistas swirl around its centerpiece stars, all managed with a steady and deliberate directorial hand. All said in today’s bombastic, spoon-fed world of cinema… that’s some boring crap. And yet, it’s like comparing Bach to Beatles. Where most mainstream films feel like they’ve got a bouncy hook and melody to bring …
First, a confession: Open a film with a vast expanse of stars and you’ve instantly grabbed my inner geek by vice grip right where it counts. Put a knobby starship plowing through that expanse of stars to regions unknown and you’ve won my goodwill. Hello, Pandorum. As the most recent big screen addition to the grime-crusted house deep space sci-fi morphed into circa 1979, German director Christian Alvart’s Pandorum manages to kick off in disorienting fashion, nicely setting up unanswered …