The Movie Thread

[RGMike]

Just came from seeing Hot Fuzz!, the British (same guys who did Shaun of the Dead) spoof of Bruckheimer-esque buddy cop movies.  Utterly hilarious, even better-directed than SOTD (bigger budget, I'm guessing) and really smartly done.  You NEED to see this one, on as big a screen as possible.

This is twice in a row that these folks have taken a genre that was invented and perfected by Americans and parodied it in a very British way.  And a supporting cast with everyone from Bill Nighy to Jim Broadbent.  Great stuff.

[Gazoo]

...but speaking of actors recommended for which parts in a remake...have you seen that Hairspray has come full circle, from movie to musical to movie-musical?  And have you seen who is cast in the Divine role?  Literally had me LOL in the theater, and I had to hold onto the armrest not to ROTFL.  Truthfully.

travolta and latifah together, at last!

They passed the time on the set trading closet stories.

They also played an impromptu card game with Paul Carrack and his band, who were smoking dro throughout.  They won, because two Queens beats Ace high.

i have a feeling you've been waiting for a loooooooooong time to use that one.

Surely you can appreciate how rare it is that such an opportunity arises.

[mshray]

Mike asked for a Spiderman 3 review, so here goes...

Basically a B/B+ movie if you're a fan of the genre &/or franchise.  Not a lot to be said about the plot in the interest of preserving spoilers.  It's like a ten course banquet, you can't get too full on any single offering because you know you have to save room for the remainder.  Comes in at 2:20, but with 3 villains and 2 love interests to deal with Spidey & the audience are kept quite busy.  Great action sequences (really!), most of the non-action scenes aren't too heavy (albeit rather predictable), a couple of cheesy character development sequences, one of which is pure schmaltz.  Maguire is good; Dunst is better; Topher Grace, Thoms Haden Church and James Franco steal a couple of scenes each.  Bryce Dallas Howard is ill-used, but gorgeous.  If you enjoyed the first two it'll definitely be worth a ticket to see this on the big screen.

[Lightnin' Rod]

Just came from seeing Hot Fuzz!, the British (same guys who did Shaun of the Dead) spoof of Bruckheimer-esque buddy cop movies.  Utterly hilarious, even better-directed than SOTD (bigger budget, I'm guessing) and really smartly done.  You NEED to see this one, on as big a screen as possible.

This is twice in a row that these folks have taken a genre that was invented and perfected by Americans and parodied it in a very British way.  And a supporting cast with everyone from Bill Nighy to Jim Broadbent.  Great stuff.

Went for a matinee on Sunday.  I'm a big Shaun of the Dead fan, so this was right up my alley.  Very good, but I think they had the sound a little loud in the theater I was at -- the early booking scenes hurt my delicate (old) ears.  I know it was part of the joke, but it was to the point of discomfort.

[mshray]

Just came from seeing Hot Fuzz!, the British (same guys who did Shaun of the Dead) spoof of Bruckheimer-esque buddy cop movies.  Utterly hilarious, even better-directed than SOTD (bigger budget, I'm guessing) and really smartly done.  You NEED to see this one, on as big a screen as possible.

This is twice in a row that these folks have taken a genre that was invented and perfected by Americans and parodied it in a very British way.  And a supporting cast with everyone from Bill Nighy to Jim Broadbent.  Great stuff.

Went for a matinee on Sunday.  I'm a big Shaun of the Dead fan, so this was right up my alley.  Very good, but I think they had the sound a little loud in the theater I was at -- the early booking scenes hurt my delicate (old) ears.  I know it was part of the joke, but it was to the point of discomfort.

I saw it and enjoyed it too.  In fact I called Mr. Morey last week to tell him to see it because of the Judge Judy pun, and he said he'd put it on his list.

[Lightnin' Rod]

Just came from seeing Hot Fuzz!, the British (same guys who did Shaun of the Dead) spoof of Bruckheimer-esque buddy cop movies.  Utterly hilarious, even better-directed than SOTD (bigger budget, I'm guessing) and really smartly done.  You NEED to see this one, on as big a screen as possible.

This is twice in a row that these folks have taken a genre that was invented and perfected by Americans and parodied it in a very British way.  And a supporting cast with everyone from Bill Nighy to Jim Broadbent.  Great stuff.

Went for a matinee on Sunday.  I'm a big Shaun of the Dead fan, so this was right up my alley.  Very good, but I think they had the sound a little loud in the theater I was at -- the early booking scenes hurt my delicate (old) ears.  I know it was part of the joke, but it was to the point of discomfort.

I saw it and enjoyed it too.  In fact I called Mr. Morey last week to tell him to see it because of the Judge Judy pun, and he said he'd put it on his list.

i remember that!  Juge and jury / judge judy

[mshray]

 In fact I called Mr. Morey last week to tell him to see it because of the Judge Judy pun, and he said he'd put it on his list.

i remember that!  Juge and jury / judge judy

more specifically,

Nicholas Angel: We have to do something, Frank's appointed himself as Judge, Jury and Executioner.
Danny Butterman: [agitated and defensive] He is not Judge Judy and Executioner!

[princessofcairo]

i've entered a film in the movil film fest (60-seconds or less films made with mobile phones). the title of the film is, "me prestas," and it deals with the problems of communication: misunderstands, love, and asturian slang. Even if you don't speak spanish, you can still watch the film. "me prestas" means "will you loan me..." but it also means, "i like you" in asturian slang. so the girl says, "me prestas," then the guy asks her what he wants him to loan her: a lighter? a pencil? a knife?" then she calls him an asshole. then he is confused. then two days later she is eating some crackers and she says "these crackers me prestas!" then he understands that he likes her. so they kiss.

here's the link to the film:
http://www.movilfilmfest.com/verVideo.php?id=14918#

you can leave comments if you register. feel free to forward it to your friends! thanks.

[RGMike]

Zombies zombies everywhere...

I saw the zombie sequel 28 Weeks Later the other nite and I was rather disappointed. Can't really get into why without giving spoilers, but I'm kinda baffled by the rave reviews it's gotten.

Then tonite on cable I caught up with the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, which I had missed when it was in theaters. And damned if it isn't a much better movie than 28WL.  Lots of dark humor, good cast and very nicely directed (to my surprise) by Zack Snyder, who is now hot stuff in H'wood because he did the recent surprise mega-hit 300, which I didn't especially like.

[ggould]

Zombies zombies everywhere...

We were having dinner at Bashful Bull Too yesterday, and they were playing Van Helsing on the TV, and the contrast between how much money seemed to be spent on it, and how bad it was seemed staggering!

[mshray]

Mick LaSalle alert!

this morning Renee did another of her series of man-on-the-street interviews of folks who had just seen Pirates of the Caribbean 3.  The reactions were favorable but not raves.  In the segment wrap-up Irish Greg quoted our 'beloved' Chron movie critic as having written that PotC "is the worst movie series ever."  Nobody bit on that, and they then talked about a couple of docus that Dave & Renee had seen & went to commercial.

So I called in & we had the following conversation:

Me - Do you guys ever have Mick LaSalle on the Morning Show?
Greg - We always let the fogheads review the movies.
Dave - [something along the same lines]
Me - Well, I only ask that as preface, because I think he's a total idiot...but I wouldn't necessarily say that if he was a friend of yours. [followed by a couple examples of LaSalle being an idiot]
Dave - He's a total idiot.  That's why we don't have him on the show.
Me - [1 more example of LaSalle being an idiot, e.g. his opinion on Ronnie Spector]
Dave - [resigned, what-can-ya-do? tone of voice] I suppose he must get paid to have controversial opinions like that.

[RGMike]

Mick LaSalle alert!

this morning Renee did another of her series of man-on-the-street interviews of folks who had just seen Pirates of the Caribbean 3.  The reactions were favorable but not raves.  In the segment wrap-up Irish Greg quoted our 'beloved' Chron movie critic as having written that PotC "is the worst movie series ever."  Nobody bit on that, and they then talked about a couple of docus that Dave & Renee had seen & went to commercial.

So I called in & we had the following conversation:

Me - Do you guys ever have Mick LaSalle on the Morning Show?
Greg - We always let the fogheads review the movies.
Dave - [something along the same lines]
Me - Well, I only ask that as preface, because I think he's a total idiot...but I wouldn't necessarily say that if he was a friend of yours. [followed by a couple examples of LaSalle being an idiot]
Dave - He's a total idiot.  That's why we don't have him on the show.
Me - [1 more example of LaSalle being an idiot, e.g. his opinion Ronnie Spector]
Dave - [resigned, what-can-ya-do? tone of voice] I suppose he must get paid to have controversial opinions like that.

Nice to know we're not alone...  But it is telling they would say that, as KFOG and the Chron are very tight -- they have Chron people on all the time, not just Tim Goodman but any time the Chron has some sort of major series to promote they head for KFOG.  So LaSalle must REALLY be a moron for them to shun him.

Meanwhile I have No. Interest. Whatsover. in seeing POTC:AWE.  But I'll def be checking out Miss Ashley Judd in Bug tomorrow nite.

[mshray]

So LaSalle must REALLY be a moron for them to shun him.

yep, that's precisely how I took it.  I further got the impression that at some point someone had tried to get Mick on the show & Dave said "No." Or even that he did come on somewhere in the distant past & will never be invited back.

[RGMike]

So LaSalle must REALLY be a moron for them to shun him.

yep, that's precisely how I took it.  I further got the impression that at some point someone had tried to get Mick on the show & Dave said "No." Or even that he did come on somewhere in the distant past & will never be invited back.

He may have been on to promote one of his books, actually.

[Gazoo]

Mick LaSalle alert!

this morning Renee did another of her series of man-on-the-street interviews of folks who had just seen Pirates of the Caribbean 3.  The reactions were favorable but not raves.  In the segment wrap-up Irish Greg quoted our 'beloved' Chron movie critic as having written that PotC "is the worst movie series ever."  Nobody bit on that, and they then talked about a couple of docus that Dave & Renee had seen & went to commercial.

So I called in & we had the following conversation:

Me - Do you guys ever have Mick LaSalle on the Morning Show?
Greg - We always let the fogheads review the movies.
Dave - [something along the same lines]
Me - Well, I only ask that as preface, because I think he's a total idiot...but I wouldn't necessarily say that if he was a friend of yours. [followed by a couple examples of LaSalle being an idiot]
Dave - He's a total idiot.  That's why we don't have him on the show.
Me - [1 more example of LaSalle being an idiot, e.g. his opinion Ronnie Spector]
Dave - [resigned, what-can-ya-do? tone of voice] I suppose he must get paid to have controversial opinions like that.

Did this exchange make it on the air?  Flash burn!