James Rocchi Tagged Articles at Cinematical

"I believe that children are our future
(Thank you)
Teach them well and let them lead the way..."
-Randy Watson (Eddie Murphy), Coming to America

It might be presumptuous for someone as young as I am to offer up words of wisdom to any fledgling film critics out there, but in an age where print critics are only dwindling in number and online reviewers are subjected to constantly shifting standards of the industry, the prospect of constructive advice is my effort to provide something that wasn't necessarily there when I started in the field. Just because anyone can start their own review site doesn't mean that they should, but hopefully, some of the following tips will help encourage those of you still determined to give this a go to hold yourself and your work to a higher standard.

Last night Cinematical's James Rocchi was a guest on G4's Attack of the Show, where he and Chris Hardwick spoke about all those crazy Batman rumors spreading like wildfire across the internet. Ya know, how Angelina Jolie supposedly wants to play Catwoman, Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin and/or Johnny Depp as Riddler.

As James points out, these are all "just rumors" right now and there's no way of telling which characters Christopher Nolan and his screenwriter brother Jonathan Nolan have in mind without actually speaking to them. It should be noted that Cinematical has also confirmed that Chris Nolan currently does not have a deal to direct a third film, and if he does hop onboard, they'll have to negotiate something first. But enough of my babbling, check out James above, and much thanks to Attack of the Show for inviting us on.

What's the point of going to a festival like Cannes? Is there really a bigger appreciation of 'art' films in Europe? Why do movie studios spend millions of dollars for stunts and publicity at Cannes? When you're blogging, is anything ever really off the record? Joining us this week from the shores of France is South by Southwest Film Festival senior programmer -- and IndieWire Blogger -- Matt Dentler. Matt and I talk about these topics and much more in this latest edition of The Rocchi Review. You can download the entire podcast right here -- and we hope you enjoy.

And now, the second installment of our new weekly podcast, Coming Distractions. I'm your host, Cinematical.com Editor-in-Chief James Rocchi, and this week's edition of Coming Distractions features myself and Flavorpill film editor Lisa Rosman talking about Pirates, Roger Ebert, DVD picks, movie news and much, much more. Download and enjoy -- and let us know what you think in the comments section! The Podcast can be found ... right here.

(Coming Distractions theme: 'Overdose,' Drew Evans.)

The Da Vinci Code, Ron Howard's controversial adaptation of the best-selling novel, failed to impress critics at its press debut at the Cannes Film Festival. Perhaps the coterie of critics who got an early look at the film a day before its big premiere were tired and jetlagged, or maybe the movie just really does suck. At any rate, response to the film from the critics thus far has been decidedly lukewarm. Cinematical's erstwhile Editor-in-Chief James Rocchi was quoted in an AP piece on the film with this memorable tag: "I kept thinking of the Energizer Bunny, because it kept going and going and going, and not in a good way."

Now, you can take the critics' response for what you will, but I personally take it with a grain of salt. The thing about press screenings -- and I say this as someone who is lucky enough to get to review movies for a living -- is that they are packed with critics, who are, by their nature and by virture of the fact that they see 89,000 movies a year, perhaps a wee touch more cynincal than your average moviegoer. It's not surprising to me, really, that a theater full of critics would snicker and laugh outright at melodramatic lines in a film like Da Vinci -- they've been waiting to sink their teeth into Ron Howard's baby from day one. The real test, for me, is how the film plays to an audience of people who aren't paid to be, well, critical. I'll be seeing The Da Vinci Code myself on Thursday with one very excited guest and a theater packed with real people, and I can't wait to see how this audience will react to the film. The sneak preview audience tends to be a pretty good barometer, and I'm curious to see if they will snicker and titter like the Cannes critic crowd. Be sure to check back here on Friday for my review and the reaction of the real-people crowd.

How about you? Are you pumped up to finally see The Da Vinci Code play on the big screen? Does the critics' reaction impact your desire to see the film? Does Tom Hanks' hairdo creep you out? Would you have cast Audrey Tautou in the role of Sophie? Or could you not care less about Da Vinci and all the hype around it?

 

Hey, here's something new - last night, James Rocchi and I bridged the 3,000 miles between San Francisco and Brooklyn via Gizmo Project and recorded a podcast. We started talking about Tyler Perry, whose latest film, Madea's Family Reunion, made $30 million this weeekend – proving that the studios' recent tactic of witholding their trash from critics is really working. We then make the logical leap to talking about the Oscars – specifically, this year's acting nominees. Admittedly, we're still working out some tech stuff, but give us a shot – we've got some exciting stuff planned for the weeks ahead. The show's about 17 minutes long, and you can check it out here.