FastFoodNation Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Bruce Willis returns to cinemas this week with Surrogates, his first starring role since Live Free or Die Hard. It has been 21 years since the original Die Hard, and it seems as if studios and executives are still trying to make lightning strike twice with Willis as an action hero. Fortunately, Willis' finer instincts keep coming through with some of his quirkier choices between the big-budget blow-em-up movies. And though a casual fan wouldn't know it, he has demonstrated over the years a marked talent for acting. That's right. Bruce Willis is an actor, and a damn good one. It's a shame he has yet to earn a single Oscar nomination, and he could have -- should have -- earned some for the following great performances.

1. Butch in Pulp Fiction (1994)
He shows up 20 minutes in, in a single shot that lasts a full two minutes. It's just Bruce, framed in the center of the shot. The background is lit low and mostly out of focus. He doesn't speak for two minutes; we're listening to Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) speak, but we're looking at Bruce. We're looking at that mug. It's a tough, hard mug, but he knows that Marsellus has his number, so his guard is not entirely up. That look of hard disappointment anchors it. Most of Willis' acting is like that: an invisible stamp of quality that makes everything else around him look good. Then, check out the rest of the film, the way Tarantino's dialogue seems to perfectly fit his mouth, and the brilliant way he pulls off his many non-speaking scenes.

Full disclosure: I was a junk food junkie. Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me made me stop and think when I eventually saw it -- after an intervention -- and gradually I've reduced my intake. But, of course, it's not just fast food that can cause health problems, it's everything we put into our bodies. So when Cinematical debuted the poster for the new doc Food, Inc. earlier this month, I got intrigued.

Directed by Robert Kenner, Food Inc. "uses reports by Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser and The Omnivore's Dilemma author Michael Pollan as a springboard to exploring where the food we purchase at the grocery store really comes from, and what it means for the health of future generations." Well-intentioned as it sounds, in the wrong hands the film could easily have been churned into a piece of shrill, self-righteous propaganda preaching entirely to the choir.

Not so, says Russ Fischer at CHUD. Instead, it's "an informative, well-crafted film that wants it's audience to understand where food is coming from ... It's a film that is deeply suspicious of practices that bring food to our table every day. And rightly so." He found the first three and a half minutes of the film on YouTube, which we've embedded below. The credits are cleverly displayed as gentle music plays in the background and narrative voices raise questions that will be addressed. Take a look and see if this clip doesn't whet your appetite. More information is available at the official site. The film opens in theaters on June 12.

While Fast Food Nation might have gotten lost in the Bond - Penguin showdown of last weekend stories about the ugly side of the food business seem to be alive and well in a documentary by Nikolaus Geyrhalter. Both filmmakers made the decision to tackle the subject matter a little differently, Richard Linklater made a narrative film and Geryhalter made what sounds like the Koyaanisqatsi of food production.

The New York Times has a profile on Nikolaus Geyrhalter's film Our Daily Bread premiering this Friday in New York. The film was a success when it screened at the New York Film Festival, but there has not been any word of a wider release. The film focuses on the mechanized side of food production and the loss of connection to the tradition of farming in the new factory-style system. Geyrhalter's film does not use traditional interview segments and voice-overs; instead the film uses pure visuals to get the point across.

Considering Geyrhalter has made a film that is half abstract art film, and half documentary, the film might have trouble finding an audience in either camp. It also might be possible that audiences are becoming overwhelmed by all the bad news in documentary film lately, and when it comes to what's on our dinner plates, is it just easier to tune it all out?

I couldn't wait to read Peter Biskind's Down & Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and The Rise of Independent Film when it first hit the bookstore shelves -- but I was at Sundance at the time and (curiously enough) you couldn't find a copy of the thing anywhere up there! I knew going into the book -- which includes some pretty scathing swipes at both Miramax overlord Harvey Weinstein and Sundance cowboy Robert Redford -- would be half true and half sensationalistic-ish ... but obviously I'd never be able to tell the one from the other. Overall it's a very fun read if you're a diehard movie geek, but doesn't come close to the author's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, which is one of my very favorite books.

So get this: Much like someone (Richard Linklater, actually) took Eric Schlosser's non-fiction tome Fast Food Nation and turned it into a "traditional" movie, director Ken Bowser (he directed the excellent doco based on ERRB) and screenwriter Dean Craig have acquired the right to turn Biskind's book into a narrative feature. How one would turn a collection of Indie Hollywood's war stories into a three-act piece of amusing fiction remains to be seen -- but I know it's a movie that I'll want to see!

Unlike myself, Mr. Bowser has no problems at all seeing Down & Dirty Pictures as a straight comedy: "You couldn't make these guys up. They're like offensive linemen rampaging across the fields of Sundance sacking anyone who gets in their way, while the handsome movie star owner of the stadium smiles benevolently down on his charges. If that's not a movie, I don't know what is." Ha! Something tells me that The Weinstein Co. won't be picking this flick up for distribution -- nor will it be playing at Sundance anytime soon.

I'm not sure how many times I've eaten fast food in my lifetime. I would guess the actual number would at least be in the hundreds, if not thousands. Scary, ain't it? However, I know, that each and every time I shove a McDonald's hamburger into my mouth, there's a chance I would be utterly grossed out if I knew every detail of the gritty journey that burger took on its way into my stomach.

Though Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation isn't due to hit theaters until the fall, its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival is already conjuring up thoughts of protests and controversy. McDonald's has prepared a fierce campaign against the ideas presented in the film, just as it did after Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me. While Spurlock's documentary caused damage to the fast food industry, all but eliminating the super-size option and forcing chains to provide a healthier menu, he was but one man on the outside of an enormous monster. Fast Food Nation, although fictionalized for the screen, will delve much deeper and certainly has the potential to significantly damage the Happy Meal.

But is it worth it? There's obviously a demand for fast food throughout the world and, ever since Spurlock's adventure, the industry really has made a conscious effort to step up the health factor. Look, the point's been made -- eat this stuff at your own risk. We know this. We understand it. Is there more to say?

So, I ask you: Should we or should we not just leave the fast food industry alone?

Obsession. What does it mean, why does it happen and why can't we stop it? I never asked Burger King to invent chicken fries, but now that they're here, those delicious little fried pieces of heaven have destroyed my life. Now, every time I pass by a Burger King, I must stop in and grab an order of chicken fries. Even if I just had some the day before, I wonder, "What if there's a new dipping sauce and others have tasted it before me? What if this new dipping sauce is only out for one day? What if I miss this golden opportunity?"

I'm sure there are other chicken fry addicts out there who feel my pain. And, trust me, it's okay to come forward -- we need your support. However, the need to consume fast food constantly is only one type of obsession. We can obsess over people, places, events -- I know one person obsessed with a chair. Don't ask.

This week, we're taking a look at films that have themes of obsession running through their veins. Though I'm not sure whether or not we'll become obssessed with these films once we've watched them, I will admit that, after staring at those fries in the picture above, I'm suddenly craving, um, you know. Welcome to another fantastic edition of Trailer Park:

A 10-year contract between Disney and McDonald's is about to expire ... and The Mouse House has no real interest in continuing the relationship. Yes, synergy-fans, sad but true: Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald are getting a divorce -- and you can thank all the fat little children they created together.

A recent (and rather excellent) article in the L.A. Times indicates that the New Disney (now with added Pixar!) wants nothing more to do with the deep-fried fat-making that's made McDonald's a corporation wealthy enough to purchase the sun. Thanks to people like Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), the population of Earth seems to have (just now) realized that, hey, fast food is pretty rotten for your insides ... especially if you're a three-year-old kid who couldn't care less about nutrition but realllllly wants that stupid little plastic Narnia keychain.

Plus it looks like DreamWorks has signed a deal to hawk Shrek 3 under the Golden Arches, and one would assume Mickey doesn't exactly dig that relationship. DisneyCo will undoubtedly lose a very healthy revenue stream with this divorce, but it looks like Steve Jobs & Co. are looking to improve Disney's image just a bit ... and it's about time.

It's the last day to toss in your input on our new name, so get to it. Otherwise, today's show has a recap of the Cannes lineup, and news regarding Woody Allen, Julia Roberts, and films new in theaters.

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Hosts
Karina Longworth

Editor
Randall Bennett

Music
Love as Laughter - I'm a bee

Format
4:26, 28.6 MB

Program
00:00 - Cannes film fest listings released
01:22 - Woody Allen pulling out of Paris, back to London for him
02:40 - Give Julia Roberts some credit for hitting the stage, since no one else is
03:37 - What's poppin' at your local cinema

The big cheeses at Cannes just revealed the competition slate for this year's festival, and it turns out that most of the rumors were true. Among the high-profile films competing for top honors will be Pedro Almodovar's Volver, Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation, Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette, Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, Richard Kelly's Southland Tales, and Nanni Moretti The Caiman.

Screening out of competition (in addition to the previously-announced titles) will be Johnnie To's Election 2, which just had its premiere at the Hong Kong International Festival and was very well received.

The full list is after the jump.

As New York frantically prepares for the arrival of Tom Cruise (by speedboat, no less!), McDonald's has bigger (Filet O') fish to fry. Also: felons are getting their Fiddy, and Fred Durst is totally getting his directorial debut on, beeyotch.

Get the podcast
[Watch] Online (please make sure you have the latest version of Quicktime for best results).
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[RSS] Add the Cinematical Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator to have all of Cinematical's rich content delivered automatically.

Hosts
Karina Longworth

Editor
Randall Bennett

Music
Love as Laughter - I'm a bee

Format
5:30, 32 MB, MPEG4 (iPod / PSP compatible)

Program
00:00 - Cruise is coming to town!
02:04 - Bizkit's Durst sez' he's the next Scorsese
02:49 - McDonalds preparing Fast Food Nation counterattack
03:52 - While Brokeback ain't fit for prisons, 50 Cent's masterpiece apparently is