Jessica Barnes
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Watch This: Spike Jonze and Kanye West Make a Short Film
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, DIY/Filmmaking, Trailers and Clips
Most people look at Kanye West as a bit of a joke these days, and to be fair he's responsible for most of the damage to his own reputation as an egomaniac and a bit of a blowhard. But I guess it takes the directorial genius of Spike Jonze to remind us that there's probably more going on underneath Kanye's surface than we give him credit for, and no matter what you may think of West he does have pretty good taste in his pop culture 'associations' -- and the latest is an 11-minute short film directed by Jonze that premiered at the Los Angeles Film Fest earlier this summer and is now available online.
Unfortunately I can't really tell you much about it, because frankly, you have to see it to believe it. But here is what I can tell you: the film is titled We Were Once a Fairytale and it starts out with Kanye being his usual drunken and obnoxious self (though luckily Taylor Swift is nowhere in sight). But keep in mind this is Jonze's short, and as to be expected, things take a very strange (and somewhat disturbing) turn.
Hopefully the success of Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are this weekend means we will be seeing more from the director this year, because this short reminds us that there's nobody that makes movies like Jonze -- not to mention that he does the impossible with this short: he makes Kanye West seem almost human.
After the jump: West's life imitates Jonze's art in We Were Once a Fairytale...
Five Horror Movies You Can Show Your Kids
Filed under: Horror, Fandom, Family Films, Lists
As 'secular' holidays go, Halloween is easily my favorite. You can keep your Valentine's Day hearts and your St. Patrick Day benders, and give me a jack o' lantern any day of the week. It's a holiday that I never fail to celebrate with too much candy and as many horror movies as I can get my hands on, and even though I may not trick or treat anymore, I am highly observant when it comes to All Hallows' Eve. Maybe my love for the season is that it really is the perfect holiday for the movie lover, and I always remember gearing up for the big day as a kid by watching scary movies. I still keep that tradition alive as an adult, but like they say; it's all about the kids -- unfortunately for parents, most horror movies aren't.
There is plenty of horror for the grown-ups of the world, and we've got our choice from everything to high concept ghost stories to so-called torture porn, but it's a lot trickier when you start to look for something for something that is a little more family-friendly. So there has to be some middle-ground between G-rated fare like The Great Pumpkin and a Dario Argento splatter fest, right? Well, of course there is, so I thought I'd share five movies that you could show kids without worrying about dooming them to a lifetime on a therapist's couch:
After the jump; my recommendations for kid-friendly scares...
Watch This: Eric Idle and The Roots 'Always Look On The Bright Side'
Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Trailers and Clips
I'm not known to be the sentimental type, but occasionally even I can get a little choked up (and trust me it can come at the oddest times). Well, the other night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon I had one of those moments when that goofy little girl I used to be and the goofy grown woman I am today came together to watch Eric Idle perform Always Look on The Bright Side of Life with Fallon's house band, The Roots -- who to my delight joined in on the trademark whistling refrain. The troupe was on Late Night to celebrate their NY Reunion show to mark the 40th anniversary of the comedy troupe and to promote the Pythonathon on IFC this Sunday.
Watching The Life of Brian as a child guaranteed that most of the jokes went right over my head, but it's effect was lasting, and I was never able to look at my Sunday school lessons the same way again. The flick was even charged with blasphemy when it was originally released, but over time has been recognized as one of the best British comedies ever made.
It's been a long time (30 years to be more precise) since Idle and Chapman climbed up on those crosses for the final musical number in the story of Brian, but when I watched this clip it didn't matter, and I was right back to being that little geeky girl I used to (and probably always will) be.
After the jump: Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin. Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow...
Scenes We Love: Blade
Filed under: Action, Horror, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Trailers and Clips, Scenes We Love
It might seem to be strange to love a scene in a movie that frankly you are not all that attached to. But for today's Scenes We Love, I decided to pick one of my 'bittersweet favorites': the opening from Blade. Now why is it bittersweet? Well, because as much as I love this scene, when it comes to the rest of the movie, I kind of felt like it was all downhill from here. This is just my personal taste, but Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) was never all that scary as the bad guy in the story, and, well, that chick kind of got on my nerves (hey, just my two cents!). But, I'm going to stand by the fact that despite a heck of an opening, the rest of the movie never quite lived up to this set up. I guess that's the problem with a great entrance -- it isn't easy to keep up the pace.
But this is called Scenes We Love after all, so let's not dwell on the negative. Because as opening scenes go, this one is a winner, with a pumping soundtrack, some pretty cool fighting moves, and last but not least -- the chance to see Traci Lords explode into a pile of ember and ash.
After the jump: Blade fun facts, and the number one reason you should never go to a rave in a slaughterhouse...
Villains We Love: John Doe in 'Se7en'
Filed under: Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Fandom, Brad Pitt, Trailers and Clips
I'll always remember David Fincher's Se7en for a few different reasons (I even had to write an essay once about the opening credits) but the number one reason this film sticks in my brain is John Doe. Now usually when it comes to on-screen villains, you tend to remember the big personalities. In the words of Buffy, "strait up, black hat, tied to the train tracks, soon my electro-ray will destroy Metropolis," types. But as scary as the big bad wolf can be, sometimes the evil you never see coming is the one that becomes the stuff of nightmares.
In Fincher's thriller about a serial killer with a penchant for Dante and the wrath of god, we don't even get to see the bad guy until about half way through the movie. But when Doe (played to perfection by Kevin Spacey) calmly walks into the police station to hand himself over, you know that this is not your run of the mill psycho. Recently I took a look at some movie villains that manage to win you over with a little charm and charisma, and Doe definitely isn't one of those guys. He's the kind of guy you would cross the street to avoid, but only if you got to know him -- and that's what makes him scary, he is completely average. Instead of letting the audience get used to the idea of him, we only see his handiwork (as gruesome as it may be), and just like Mills (Brad Pitt) and Somerset (Morgan Freeman), we are just witnesses to the aftermath.
After the jump; Why Doe still scares the crap out of me, and his horrible plan is made complete...
Real-Life Romances On The Big Screen
Filed under: Thrillers, Deals, Mystery & Suspense, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Lists, Nicole Kidman, Trailers and Clips
It's not that strange for two people who work together to fall in love, but it does seem to happen an awful lot in Hollywood (although to be fair, most of us don't spend our days rolling around half-naked with our co-workers). So even though it might be easy to fall in love at work, it isn't as easy for a couple to stay in love once they're spending every waking moment together -- and the latest celebrity couple who will put my theory to the test is Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer (better known as Sookie and Vampire Bill) from HBO's True Blood. The two fell in love (and got engaged) while working on the vampire soap, and now they're heading back to work together in the thriller, Open House.
According to IMDB, the story will center on a couple whose marriage is on the rocks, and are trying to offload their palatial home during a weekend 'open house'. But, things start to get a little weird when it turns out one of the potential buyers never left. The film was written by Paquin's brother Andrew (who will be making his directorial debut), and the cast will include Tricia Helfer (BSG), Rachel Blanchard (Spread), and Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker) in unspecified roles while the True Blood stars will play the married couple.
Moyer and Paquin aren't the first real-life couple who like to work together, and over the years plenty of Hollywood power couples have tried and failed to translate that relationship onto the big screen. After the jump: some other famous real-life couples on the big screen...
Fan Made: The "I Can Read Movies" Poster Series
Filed under: Fandom, Images, Posters, Fan Made
Does anybody remember movie novelizations? They've made a bit of a comeback in recent history, but whoo boy was I a fan of them back in the '80s. Of course, as an adult that love has turned into nostalgia, and to this day, my Lost Boys novelization holds a prominent location on my bookshelf. But I'm not the only one with a soft spot for those books, because over at Spacesick they have won my heart by creating the "I Read Movies" series. Granted, these books don't exist (and how I wish they did), but you have to love these retro covers they've created for everything from Shaun of The Dead to Ghost Dad.
We do plenty of poster launches around here, but sometimes it seems like we just don't see the same effort being put into our movie one-sheets like we used to. You know you're in trouble when fictional book covers are more impressive than your average studio marketing campaign. But before I start to sound too much like a crotchety grandpa, I'm going to focus on the positive and that's where the fans come in. Take a look around and you'll see some pretty awesome work being done, so we can only hope that some of that creativity rubs off on actual studio releases.
Check out some of our favorites in the gallery below.
I Knew It! Brett Ratner IS The Anti-Christ
Filed under: Action, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
OK, maybe not literally. I mean, the rise of Brett Ratner probably isn't a sign of the end-times, although anyone who saw Rush Hour 3 might feel a little differently. So say what you want about him as a director, at least he's not deluded about his place in film history. In an interview with Starpulse, the director that everyone loves to hate was promoting his DVD tribute, The Shooter Series, but the conversation soon drifted to Ratner's rep among the comic book crowd where he had a few choice words for his detractors, saying, "You can't make these people happy. I'm kind of the Anti-Christ to these comic book geeks. Every single person that wrote shit went to see that movie multiple times because a movie doesn't gross $200 something million unless people go to see it more than once. Every single person who said, "I'm never seeing that movie," they were the first ones there." It might pain me to say this, but the man has a point.
When it comes to our personal 'kinks' there isn't much that can keep fans away from the theater (case in point: I know I'll be there opening day for a Whedonless Buffy). But let's be honest: getting so-called geeks into the theater for the big-screen treatment of a beloved hero is the cinematic equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. Yet that hasn't stopped Ratner from seeing everything he does as a huge success, telling Starpulse: "Mine [X-Men:The Last Stand] outgrossed the other two by far. Mine was the one that made the most narrative sense." The sound you just heard was my head hitting the keyboard ... repeatedly. But I guess that's one thing about Ratner that will never change: for him, box office will always be in direct proportion to quality.
After the jump: a Beverly Hills Cop IV update...
Villains Too Charismatic For Their Own Good
Filed under: Classics, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Lists, Trailers and Clips
Everybody loves a bad guy. They usually get the best lines, a great entrance, and a hell of a death scene. But our love affair with the dark side is no secret, and as much as we might love the bad boys, we all enjoy a good 'comeuppance', which is usually where our heroes come in. Hell, probably one of the biggest reasons most of us love the world of make-believe is that at least there, the good guys can win. Occasionally, though, you find a villain with qualities that go a little beyond being the 'man/woman you love to hate', and before you know it, that monster has managed to win you over before the credits have rolled -- which isn't always good news for our heroes.
Now this doesn't mean that I think these villains are model citizens, because well, I'm not that psycho. But when these guys are on screen, suddenly the 'hero' of the piece starts to fade away, and when your audience is bummed when the bad guy goes down, you know that you've created a villain who is just too damn charismatic for their own good. These characters can pop up in anything from a comic book flick to a period drama, but the one thing they have in common is their ability to make you think, "Hey, he's nuts, but he might have a point". So that's why for today's installment of our monthly tribute to villains, I've put together a list of my top 5 movie villains with charm to spare.
After the jump; my top five movie villains that will win you over in the end...
Scenes We Love: The Monster Club
Filed under: Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Trailers and Clips, Scenes We Love
Now that it's October, my mind has turned to all things Halloween-y, and I've been digging back through the vaults to find all the spooky movies that I've loved over the years, which brings me to The Monster Club. Despite having pretty permissive parental units when it came to my movie viewing habits (boobs and swearing, A-OK) horror movies were a different matter altogether. Whether that was to protect my sensitive little developing mind or just so they didn't have to be awakened by claims of monsters under the bed, I'll never know. But as a little one, The Monster Club was the perfect Halloween viewing: a little funny, a little scary, but overall pretty kid friendly -- at least to this kid anyway.
The film was a tribute to the work of British horror author R. Chetwynd-Hayes and starred Vincent Price (as a chatty vampire) and John Carradine (as Hayes). The film was comprised of three tales of a vampire family, a movie director who stumbles across a ghoul while scouting locations, and something called a 'shadmock' -- trust me, it's complicated. Sure, the stories were great and all, but my favorite thing about this whole film were the musical numbers that acted as framing devices for each story, and today for Scenes We Love, I have to go with The Stripper, performed by Night -- like I said, my parents were pretty easygoing when it came to 'sexy time'. What I love about this scene is that what could have just been an excuse to throw some nudity into the film goes for something that every horror fan could enjoy -- and I know I'm not the only one (although if you have a weak stomach, you might not want to click on that link) who thought this scene was a great visual gag.
After the jump; a stripper who truly takes it all off, and New Wave bloodsuckers...
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