Cinematical

Yesterday, Scott posted a terrific month-by-month report card looking back the 2008 movie scene from the halfway point. With the interval between theatrical and DVD release dates shrinking steadily, a lot of the movies from January through June are either already available on DVD, or soon will be. For your consideration, here are what I consider to be seven underseen, underexposed, and/or unfairly overlooked gems from the year to date. Something to consider next time you log on to Netflix.

In no particular order:

1. Charlie Bartlett - I'll clamber out on a limb and call Charlie Bartlett the most valuable movie for young teenagers this decade (despite its R rating). Most films for kids and teens unthinkingly implore them not to worry about being popular -- do your own thing! Don't worry about what your peers think of you! Good advice in the abstract, maybe, but completely detached from reality for most school-age kids, who have to, you know, go to school, and eat in the cafeteria. Charlie Bartlett is smart enough to realize this. Rather than imploring kids to "be themselves," it wants to say something about what the ones who are actually popular should do with their popularity. For once, it's a movie with a message aimed not at the misfits but at the leaders: the kids who are smart, charismatic and capable; the schoolyard trendsetters and tastemakers. It powerfully suggests the importance of using that influence for good instead of evil. Oh, and it's bright, sincere, and very funny, with a downright miraculous performance by Anton Yelchin.

Call it performance art, savage prank behavior or audacious social satire. Call it whatever you want, but there's no question Sacha Baron Cohen is at it again. As Erik reported back in March, the Borat star began surfacing as his Bruno alter-ego in a variety of absurd situations likely intended for the movie starring the effeminate European character. Wearing chains at a Kansas church? Check. Weirding out Ben Affleck? Check. Airport dancing? Yep. Now, bizarre reports of a cage match in Arkansas, where attendees paid for admission expecting to watch a fight and instead witnessed two men get naked and lock lips, suggests Cohen is still at it, more than three months down the line. Not only that, but he appears to have pulled the stunt twice: First on June 5 at the Four States Fair Grounds in Texarkana, then again at Fort Smith's convention center, where a character named "Straight Dave" apparently selected a planted audience member to challenge him.

Whether or not you agree with Cohen's brash style -- he claims to take inspiration from Michael Moore's stunts --
the actor definitely constructs his gags with very specific ideas in mind. Borat took a stab at American stereotypes of foreign cultures, but Bruno looks like it's geared more towards attacking homophobia -- specifically as it manifests in middle America. However, it's hard to say whether or not such excessive spectacles will manage to correct misinformed perspectives or reinforce them.

School may be out for the summer, but documentaries about teens may become a hot topic anyway. Nanette Burstein's American Teen, focusing on seniors at a small town in Indiana, was a smash at Sundance and will hit theaters on July 25. Caroline Suh's Frontrunners, about four teens running for elective office at a prestigious high school in New York City, had its world premiere at South by Southwest and has just been picked up for distribution by Oscilloscope Pictures, according to indieWIRE.

Distributor Paramount Vantage has been promoting American Teen like crazy over the past couple of months, so marketing Frontrunners as something different and worthwhile will be the challenge for Oscilloscope, which is the distribution arm of Oscilloscope Laboratories. The company was founded by Adam Yauch, who's best known as one of the Beastie Boys. Frontrunners will be just their third release (after Gunning For That #1 Spot and Flow); Yauch said in a statement: "I was taken by its Rushmore meets Spellbound meets Election quality."

Frontrunners will open at New York's Film Forum on October 15, well-timed to capitalize on election fever, followed by a national theatrical release before hitting DVD next year. Kim Voynar saw the film at SXSW and compared it unfavorably with American Teen, though she says she enjoyed the film overall despite her frustrations. We'll see how audiences react in three months. Until then, the official site has a trailer and more information.

Broadway producers have been mining the Hollywood archives for new material for several years now, and it would seem they're beginning to scrape if not the bottom of the barrel, at least the sides of it. The latest movie to get the song-and-dance treatment: Kinky Boots.

Remember Kinky Boots? It belongs to the genre of Movies in Which British People Band Together to Do Something Odd in Order to Raise Money. Other examples include The Full Monty (schlubby guys perform a strip show) and Calendar Girls (old ladies make a nude calendar). Kinky Boots, mostly nudity-free, is about a small-town shoe factory that's struggling to stay afloat until it hits on a niche market: high-heeled boots for drag queens. The drag queen who provides the inspiration is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. (Yes, that's him in the picture. No, it's not Jackée Harry from 227.)

The film isn't terribly original or clever, and it made less than $2 million during its limited U.S. run in 2006. But it made another $8 million in the U.K. and elsewhere, suggesting it has its admirers -- and, more importantly, it lends itself readily to a stage treatment. It ends with a climactic production number (a fashion show launching the new line of boots), it's saucy without being raunchy, and it's a feel-good, upbeat kind of story.

What do you get when you mix a dude who dined and dated Rory Gilmore (and tricked Logan Echolls), with another who once hacked the planet, and another who got holy with 7th Heaven? You get carnal, beer-drinking hell.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Matt Czuchry, Jesse Bradford, and Geoff Stults have signed onto Bob Gosse's adaptation of Tucker Max's I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. Like earlier this year, when I spoke of the original deal, I can't do better than the intro to describe this flick: "My name is Tucker Max, and I am an a**hole. I get excessively drunk at inappropriate times, disregard social norms, indulge every whim, ignore the consequences of my actions, mock idiots and posers, sleep with more women than is safe or reasonable, and just generally act like a raging dickhead. But, I do contribute to humanity in one very important way: I share my adventures with the world."

In this particular story, he goes to a bachelor party, threatens the wedding, and gets banned from the nuptials. Czuchry gets the jerky honor of playing Tucker Max, while the other two actors play his best friends. Also added is some female flavor with Keri Lynn Pratt and Denise Quinones.

The flick begins shooting later this month in Louisiana. Are you ready for jerky hell?

While researching my post on the Metropolis missing footage that's been discovered in Argentina, I missed a vital tidbit of information. (My brain is still leaking, sorry.) The tidbit? Kino International officially confirmed to The Digital Bits that their upcoming Blu-ray of Metropolis will include the newly-discovered footage, and that a standard definition DVD would also be released. Ta-da!

One of our readers, Eric, noted that Kino's Restored and Authorized Edition DVD, released in 2003, "actually makes sense," plot-wise, and recommended it highly. (Thanks, Eric! I've already ordered my copy.) By coincidence, Kino announced in May that they would begin offering their titles in Blu-ray in 2009, and then said that Metropolis would be their first title offered in the high-definition format, per High-Def Digest, though they did not provide details on a release date, technical specifications, or supplements.

In the UK, Eureka released a Region 2 DVD edition in 2005. DVD Beaver did a detailed comparison between Kino and Eureka and found the Eureka release to be superior: "This appears to be a classic example of PAL-NTSC ghosting derived from improper conversion." If you know what that means, you'll want to read their entire article before making a purchase decision -- and note, of course, that you'll need a region-free DVD player for the Eureka version. Film critic Glenn Kenney recommends the Eureka edition, by the way.

Others will choose to wait for Blu-ray, but whatever your decision, now would be a good time to get caught up with Metropolis so you can fully appreciate the new missing footage. If you need any more convincing, check out the clips and trailer at Kino's site.

Could a cute children's movie about an adorable furry animal ignite change in a country noted for its official cultural restraints? Kung Fu Panda has enjoyed robust returns at the Chinese box office, which prompted a top cultural advisor to bemoan: "Why didn't we make such a film?"

As reported by Variety, Wu Jiang, a key member of the CPPCC Standing Committee, noted: "The film's protagonist is China's national treasure and all the elements are Chinese." The committee recommended that the government "relax its control in order to accelerate the reform and opening up of the cultural market and to enhance China's cultural influence in the world."

Though China produces hundreds of movies every year, most have been described as "stodgy propaganda pics" -- check out a recent post by Grady Hendrix at Kaiju Shakedown to see a few examples -- and only a select few achieve visibility at international festivals. Director Lu Chuan (Kekexili: Mountain Patrol and the upcoming Nanking Nanking) says the problem lies with the government itself, which stifles the creativity of Chinese filmmakers. He wrote in China Daily that he tried to make an animated film for next month's Olympics in Beijing but finally gave up: "I kept receiving directions and orders on how the movie should be like. The fun and joy from doing something interesting left us, together with our imagination and creativity."

Will the Chinese government be making any changes soon? Don't count on it. Sun Zhonghuan, another member of the CPPCC Standing Committee, says that Hollywoood studios have another big advantage: Kung Fu Panda's $130 million budget is nearly 100 times the cost for an average Chinese film. "We might have the ideas," he said, "but we lack the structure to realize them."

I sure hope that by now, you've not only seen Seth Rogen in comedies like Superbad, Knocked Up, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, but also his television work on Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. But ... have you seen him before he got his first role as Ken Miller?

Above you can check him out during his Freaks and Geeks audition, where he talks about his career options, and just how he would run a grow house where "the pot would make me happy." It's pretty much the Rogen we know and love today, just a tad younger.

But there's also another oldie, where he popped up on Dawson's Creek as a loser that Busy Philipps' Audrey sleeps with (the scenes also feature pre-Cruise mom Katie and Kate Hudson's brother). You can check that out after the jump.

Last Rewind Answer: Sorry folks! A whopping 63% of you said that the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad are also the names of the enemies of G.I. Joe. They are the names of enemies of Captain America.

Finally! This is the day you've all been waiting for (well, maybe not all of you -- but I'm sure there's a few of you, if not one or two of you ... or maybe a few imaginary readers too). Our friends over at Warner Bros. sent over a whole group of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince photos so that we can strap them all together and show them off in a big, bright shiny gallery. So, it is with great joy that I introduce you to Cinematical's official Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince photo gallery!

(I'll let you catch your breath from screaming so loud ....)

Done? Good. Below you'll find 16 gorgeous images from the film, all of which feature your favorite characters from the Potter universe. Me? All I want is a pair of those Luna Lovegood sunglasses. What's up with those? Maybe Warners will hand them out at Comic Con so I can run around, freaking people out. So trippy. So cool. Me want. Check out the gallery below.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince arrives in theaters on November 21.

When Kimberly Peirce gave us Boys Don't Cry, it was a critical explosion. She came, she moved us, and Hilary Swank came out of it with an Oscar. The film raised our expectations, and they rested there as Peirce moved out of the spotlight and worked behind the camera. The wait lasted almost a decade, but after nine years, she was finally back with Stop Loss -- another film in the cinematic, Iraq War whirlwind. While it was destined to fall under the weight of Iraq apathy, it was another example of Peirce's commitment to personal stories.

Stop Loss is the fictional account of a real problem: over a hundred thousand soldiers have been denied release when their time in Iraq is up. Instead of best wishes, they're sent back to Iraq, and life beyond the war's struggles becomes a distant, vague hope, rather than a present reality. Ryan Phillipe stars as Sgt. Brandon King, a man who is headed towards the end of his time in Iraq, or so he thinks. First, his unit is tricked and attacked. He loses some of his men, and struggles with the realities of warfare -- dead friends, and the fact that no matter how hard you try, innocent people will fall in the fight.