guardian Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Watch This: 'Guardian' Writer At (Sort Of) Real-Life Fight Club
Filed under: Fandom », Exhibition »
"Like many of you, I was stuck," narrates Guardian writer Paul MacInnes in his best Chuck Palahniuk-style monotone. "I looked at blog after blog, trying to find some Star Wars fan site that would justify my existence. This was my life, and it was ending one minute at a time." In a very funny take on Fight Club, MacInnes' short video has the frustrated blogger receiving an e-mail that invites him to a "dodgy warehouse," and finds him taking part in a stage-fighting workshop where he gets the chance to beat up a writer from Men's Fitness magazine.The workshop, it turns out, was a publicity event put on by Jameson's Irish Whiskey's Cult Film Club, a London film series that features movies like Trainspotting, This is Spinal Tap and, of course, Fight Club. The movies are all free, and the website promises a complimentary glass of Jameson's, as well.
For those of us who blog for a living, the intro to MacInnes' video holds an additional bit of entertainment. An e-mail he receives from his editor contains the subject line "FWD: RICKY GERVAIS DOESN'T LIKE AUBERGINES" (aubergine being the proper European word for eggplant) followed by the note, "Paul - great story. Give me 900 words in 20 mins. And make it good." Indeed. Thankfully, the Cinematical editors would never make us blog about celebrity vegetable preferences.
It's a clever take on an equally clever PR stunt, and a fun few minutes to watch. You can check it out here.
Should Critics of 'Time Traveler's Wife' Ignore the Book?
Filed under: Fandom »
There's an interesting piece over at the Guardian's film blog on how critics should tackle their reviews of film adaptations. It's one of those topics of conversation that I've seen turn perfectly reasonable cinephiles into frothing-at-the-mouth adversaries -- do you critique a film based entirely on its own stand-alone merit, or do you discuss how well the director brought the original material to the screen, as well?Both sides of the argument have validity. Here at Cinematical, Jeffrey M. Anderson's review of The Time Traveler's Wife didn't compare it to the source novel at all, and he still managed to illuminate the movie's many flaws. Me, I wrote a review of the same film for another venue, and I came at it from the perspective of someone who had read, and loved, the book. I considered omitting that information from my review entirely, and just focusing on the specifics of the film, but conversations I had with colleagues after the screening kept bumping around in my head.
A couple of the folks with whom I saw the movie were confused by some elements of the plot -- elements that I, as a reader of the novel, could fill in while I was watching. Once I explained to them what they were missing, they nodded and said that, oh yeah, now they got it. But shouldn't the movie have been able to stand on its own without a crib sheet? And shouldn't my being able to compare the book with the movie inform my review?
Tips for Tuesday: New to DVD on January 23
Filed under: New on DVD », Home Entertainment »
Brokeback Mountain -- Last year's controversially Oscar-snubbed romance drama earns itself a brand-new 2-disc special edition. Word is that this re-release contains only a trio of new featurettes, so don't be so quick to give in to that double-dip sensation. On the positive side, this edition DOES come with eight Brokeback Mountain postcards ... for that special someone.The Guardian -- Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher star in a water-logged remake of An Officer and a Gentleman ... or any other military drama of the past 25 years in which a brash and headstrong recruit butts heads with a grizzled old veteran only to rely on the old guy's help when his lack of experience does indeed catch up with him, (Insert yawn here.) Extras include a director's commentary from Andrew Davis, a few deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and a pair of featurettes, one on the production and another focusing on the Coast Guard.
Jesus Camp -- Some people called it a stick in the eye to religion; others called it an impressively objective look at religious zealotry. I call it a pretty fascinating documentary either way. This eye-opening look at one particular religious camp may warm your heart or it could chill your blood, but it's a pretty compelling look at a section of people I don't normally come across, and that's generally a worthwhile way to spend 90-some minutes. Extras include a filmmaker commentary and some deleted scenes.
Think you know Disney?
Filed under: Fandom »
Bloody hell! I've always considered myself a fan of animation so I'm a tad bothered by the fact that I only got 9 out of 10 on The Guardian's fun little Disney movie quiz (click that "Read" link below). Okay, I guess 9 out of 10 is pretty good, but now my ability to impress people with a daily cavalcade of utterly useless information has been called into question. I'd like to see how others fare, so leave your scores in the comments.
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