Category Archives: FILM
Red Band trailer for Spike Lee’s OLDBOY starring Josh Brolin and Samuel L. Jackson
I’m still not convinced whether this should have been done, but it has and there ain’t nothing we can do about it. The Korean cult film OLDBOY has been redone by director Spike Lee and today we get to see the red band trailer for the film. It looks pretty true to the original, so esthetically it pleases me, but they sure as hell give a lot away in the trailer, course not the big surprise and those of you who’ve watched the original know what I’m talking about. But yes the whistles and bells are there. It should be promising.
The film stars Josh Brolin, Samuel L.Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, Lance Reddick, Michael Imperioli, and James Ransone. Oldboy opens on October 25th.
OLDBOY is a provocative, visceral thriller that follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is abruptly kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment.
Check out this amazing “The Making of Goodfellas” documentary
It’s funny, cause when I think back to that evening at Pleasure Island AMC Theaters with my bestfriend Damion and watching Goodfellas, all I remember was how violent the film was and not being able to wrap my mind around it. I attribute that film as being “thee” film that broke my “Rated R” cherry. I don”t think it was until a year later that I could truly appreciate the genius of that film. Even to this day, it’s in my top ten of best films ever made.
This “making of…” documentary, delves a little into the behind the scenes of this amazing gangster drama by talking to the people who were involved like editor Thelma Shoonmaker, writer of the book Nicholas Pileggi and actors Paul Sorvino, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco. The film also talks to Martin Scorcese and a host of other partners who’ve been with Marty since the beginning.
It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come since this film, a fact brought crashing home when you see the use of a flatbed, reel to reel editor. Goodfellas was timeless in it’s execution and artistry, even by today standards. I don’t think Martin has ever made a film that good since, which is a shame considering he should’ve won the Oscar for it. Instead they throw him that sympathy vote years later with The Departed, a film that fails in comparison to Goodfellas, but what do I know?
MITNGTV Episode 4
This week on MITNGTV we’ve got some new clever graphics for ya, showcasing two new spots on our program…The Kickstarters (where we focus on a Kickstarter we are excited about) and Underground Mondays (where we showcase some up and comers to the music scene). Course we will be highlighting all the stuff we’ve been talking about all week Mezo and Dj Micro Connected Remix, IDW’s Locke and Key coming to the big screen, Tom Morello’s work on the Pacific Rim soundtrack, the art of Nicola Verlato and much much more. Be sure to watch and subscribe to our channel or face the wrath!!
Amanda Seyfried makes a pretty convincing Linda Lovelace in new trailer for Lovelace
The world can never have too many movies set in the seventies. I have to believe that there’s a cross section of this world that eats flicks like this up. Zodiac,Boogie Nights,Blow,Crooklyn,Casino, you name it, I love movies set in the seventies,cause if you think about it, they’re all usually pretty good.
It’s like what they really did, movie-wise, in the seventies was crap, but we “in the now” always tend to romanticizes their trivialities and it works most of the time. Such is the case with Lovelace starring Amanda Seyfried and directed by Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman (Howl). In this film they try to uncover the mysteries behind the woman behind the movie that rocked a nation. I must say it was a far out concept even by today’s standards to create a porno about a girl whose clitoris was located in the back of her throat. Then you have Marilyn Chamber’s Behind the Green Door which was another classic that made huge waves in the seventies, but through it all these were all still artist who for all intents and purposes, were trying to make real movies. A point brought up a million times by Burt Reynold’s character Jack Horner in Boogie Night’s.
VHS did screw everything up, but people do still try to make plot driven porn, but it’s no match for the internet’s instant and often times, disturbing reach. I guess that’s what makes films like this “seem” so important. The seventies in America, although sexy enough, was still sexually repressed and people like Linda Lovelace were unintentionally pushed to the forefront of the new sexual revolution of that time. That is until Aids came along and flipped up the whole game.
WOW…this post went in several different directions, but for some reason I needed to get that out.
Lovelace stars Peter Sarsgaard, Hank Azaria, Adam Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Sharon Stone and James Franco as Hugh Hefner.
Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman (Howl) direct Lovelace written by Andy Bellin. Based on Eric Danville’s biography The Complete Linda Lovelace, the film follows Linda Boreman’s (Amanda Seyfried) rise to fame as iconic porn star Linda Lovelace of Deep Throat, the most iconic adult film ever made, and her subsequent transformation into feminist, anti-porn activist Linda Marchiano. The story is told through the perspective of three interviewers at various stages of her life. James Franco, Sharon Stone, Hank Azaria, Peter Sarsgaard and more star in the film which hits theaters later this summer on August 9th.
Director Juno Mak drops a visually insane trailer for his new vampire film Rigor Mortis
Hong Kong director Juno Mak (Dream House, Let’s Go) and producer Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On series) has created one hell of a visually disturbing vampire flick with Rigor Mortis. First off, I’m big on clean cinematography in horror, even if it’s cleaned up in post, it’s always more pleasing to the eye to see well lit darkness and that seems to be what Juno has done with Rigor Mortis. Checkout this trailer, it’s got some pretty iconic moments in it. Well except his take on the twins in Stanley Kubrick‘s The Shining, but in Juno’s defense, I think it’s more of an homage than ripping off.
Synopsis:
Rigor Mortis is set in a creepy and moody Hong Kong public housing tower whose occupants we soon discover, run the gamut from the living to the dead, to the undead, along with ghosts, vampires and zombies. The film stars action movie veteran Chin Siu-ho (Siu-ho) as a former vampire hunting actor who now finds himself reaching the end of the line as a washed-up star who is also separated from his wife and alienated from his son.
Down on his luck and with barely a dollar to his name, he checks into room 2442 in the housing estate which is allegedly a haunted flat. His aim is to end his misery by doing himself in, but instead Siu-ho is interrupted by some of the other “occupants” of the building including a Taoist master-exorcist (Anthony Chan), a traumatized housewife with a tragic past (Kara Hui), as well as a seemingly benign elderly woman (Paw Hee-ching) who has an empty coffin conspicuously hanging in the middle of her apartment. Soon it becomes apparent to Siu-ho that the people around him and the situation are far from normal. Despite his lack of belief in superstition, Siu-ho is soon thrust into the battle of his life as vicious vampires having a lot of unsettled business begin to rise from the dead…
First images from Pablo Escobar biopic starring Benecio Del Toro arrives
I use the term Pablo Escobar biopic very loosely, having just read the synopsis. Directed by Andrea di Stefano (Before Night Falls), the story surrounds a young surfer, played by Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games), who falls in love with a beautiful young girl whom he discovers is Pablo Escobars niece.
I don’t know about this…
I’ll have to see the trailer to make any kind of real decision as to whether to see this or not. My guess is that either there is an official Pablo Escobar movie in the works and Andrea had to skirt the real storyline to do his film or he just didn’t have the money to acquire the rights to the real story. I mean it doesn’t make any sense to me why you wouldn’t just do the damn Escobar movie. Why would I want to follow this kid when the real story is laying right there? Hollywood is weird!
Bullock and McCarthy heat up The Heat
After months of waiting, The Heat arrives in theaters around the States this weekend and I, for one, couldn’t be more pleased to tell you to go see it. No. Seriously. Go see it. Now.
Easily the funniest film of 2013 so far, The Heat had me laughing so hard I would’ve normally been embarrassed. We’re talking fluids-flowing-from-the-nose style laughter. And it’s infectious. The Heat’s humor appears to be more or less universal in its appeal as evidenced by an audience literally erupting in fits of laughter. In fact, I walked out of the theater feeling better than I have in months. It goes to show you what the power of comedy can do.
Starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, The Heat is directed by Paul Feig whose work on TV shows like The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation reads like a primer on how to make tightly woven, edgy comedy for a new generation of attention-strapped viewers. Which is why, coming in at just shy of 2 hours, The Heat may appear long – especially for a buddy-driven crime flick – but Feig, Bullock, and McCarthy squeeze as much as humanly possible out of the film’s runtime.
It’s true that The Heat feels familiar because it draws on the tried and true buddy film formula. There’s the straight-laced, rule-loving Sarah Ashburn (Bullock), who is so lonely and disenfranchised in the male dominated field of the FBI that she resorts to stealing her neighbors cat so she’ll have someone to watch TV with at night. And then there’s the foul-mouthed, hard hitting cop, Detective Shannon Mullins (McCarthy). A woman who plays by her own rules but loves the law enough to collar her own drug-addicted brother.
Without the chemistry between Bullock and McCarthy, and McCarthy’s now-signature-but-strangely-lovable coarse onscreen presence, The Heat may have just faded into the leg-long list of Summer films. After all, there are some seriously decent films out there competing for your hard earned dollars. It would have been a shame, but I think, it’s safe to say, that there is absolutely no chance in that happening. At least not if I have anything to do with it, as I’m grabbing my keys and heading out the door to see it again. Seriously. I am. It’s that funny.
Penned by Katie Dippold, who is currently writing and producing Parks and Recreation, the screenplay has a freshness and feminine sensibility to it that helps create a new kind of buddy flick. That’s not to say – by any means – that The Heat is soft. There is also a physicality to the film that helps elevate it from being unduly quagmired in the “chick flick” genre. Make no mistake; Bullock and McCarthy spend a good portion of the film drinking, getting in fights, packing guns (not to mention grenades and missile launchers), and getting seriously injured. Rest assured, there’s plenty of action here to keep you engaged.
But, the strongest part of The Heat is its humor. The dialogue will have you slapping your face in disbelief, joy, unabashed laughter, and fits of pure happiness. Bullock hits her stride mid-way through the film and keeps pace with McCarthy who is so at home in the role of Detective Mullins I hope the filmmakers are already considering a sequel.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t give some love to the creators of the film’s opening and ending title sequences. They lend a retro vibe to the film that is simultaneously fun and potentially franchise-building. That’s right. I mentioned it twice. I’m ready for the sequel. Be sure to check out The Heat and you will be too.
Official site: The Heat
VFX artists Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma, Kickstart a visually stunning cryptozoology adventure The Ningyo
Got an email from Miguel Ortega, this amazing VFX artist we did a story on awhile back. In it he told us about a new project he’s working on, that he’s trying to get some crowd funding to complete. My immediate response to the letter was “YES!” and “How can I help?” All this and I hadn’t even looked at the Kickstarter video yet. Why my undying devotion? Cause Miguel is a true autuer/bohemian, doing whatever it takes to transform what’s in his head into something real.
His first project The Green Ruby Pumpkin, was done for $7,000 dollars and he shot the whole thing in his house and he’s doing the same with The Ningyo. I urge anyone reading this article to click this jump and watch that film and you’ll see right away why I am about to get down on the campaign trail for his new project The Ningyo.
What Miguel and his VFX partner Tran Ma, has planned is quite ambitious, but if funded, it will be unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Miguel is a skilled artist with an amazing understanding of light, textures and anatomy, qualities that come in very handy when you consider the scope of this fantastical tale of the “neverwas”. All the pieces are in place for this project, amazing actors, concepts, sets, passion and know-how, all he needs now is for you to watch the Kickstarter video and let it conjure up feelings you haven’t felt since you were a child, well that and whatever you can spare to complete it.
Folks this isn’t like some Kickstarters where huge actors use their celebrity to fund projects they’re too cheap to do themselves. This man is shooting this in his home! If that doesn’t say commitment, I don’t know what does.
The Ningyo KickStarter from miguel ortega on Vimeo.
The Cinefamily presents Persistence of Vision
If I were to mention the name Richard Williams , most of you wouldn’t know who I was talking about, but if I asked you have you seen Disney‘s Who Framed Roger Rabbit you’d all light up like a Christmas trees. Well, Richard Williams is the man behind all the animation in that film. Persistence of vision chronicles a period in Richards life when he was creating The Thief And The Cobbler (via The Cinefamily) (a radical new project started in the Sixties, but finally slated for completion only after Williams’ Oscar for 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit) .
The film was met, as with all truly groundbreaking art, with red tape, revisions, revoicing and slowly all semblance of what Richard had first created was completely gone. It’s a tragic true story of artist working in the corporate world and how integrity is no match for money.
Dir. Kevin Schreck, 2012, digital presentation, 83 min. – See more at: http://www.cinefamily.org/films/persistence-of-vision/#sthash.BI91SBFK.dpuf
Trailer for Ben Wheatley’s “A Field in England” is pure arthouse crazy
I’ve seen fan-made trailers like this before, but most never see the light of day, but this bit of magic compliments of Julian House at Intro-Partnership is what Cinephiles, like myself, drool over. This trailer alone, is enough to warrant a screening at The Cinefamily. It has that 60′s psychedelica/horror vibe and when you read the synopsis you’ll understand why.
A Field in England is directed by Ben Wheatley from a screenplay co-written by Wheatley and Amy Jump. The story follows a small group of deserters fleeing from a raging battle through an overgrown field. As they are captured by O’Neil, an alchemist, they are forced to aid him in finding a hidden treasure he believes is buried in the field. Crossing a vast mushroom circle, which provides their first meal, the group descends into a chaos of arguments, fighting and paranoia as it becomes clear the treasure might not simply be gold. The film opens in the UK starting July 5th and the United States later this year.
A Field In England – They’re over here Devil! from Rook Films on Vimeo.
