Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Funny Games

When I first heard about this remake of 'Funny Games' I thought it would be a superficial psych-thriller riding on the coat-tails the Saw/Hostel ilk -- I called it torture porn brought to your living room. But, this clip changes my mind. Naomi Watts delivers (as she always does), and the direction by Michael Haneke (who wrote and directed the 1997 original) is crisp -- this guy knows how to handle actors. Haneke also knows story. The relationship between antagonist and protagonist is anything but mindless -- it's sadistic, yes, but not mindless; there's more intimacy in this clip than is found in many love scenes. Haneke's script looks like a winner. This may be a true psychological horror movie -- more in the vein of 'Silence of the Lambs'.

It looks like this will be a success on DVD. Now the only question is will it succeed at the box office. I think that depends mostly on the release date. This is one to watch.


Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Wanted

Wanted

Sort of Matrix meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith


Glorious And Mundane

Photo by Alan Green

Photo by Alan Green

Photos by Alan Green


Monday, October 29, 2007

B-movies

Bad Taste

Okay, if you're into B-movies this site offers some primo viewing options. Since yesterday was a lazy Sunday and I was avoiding work of any kind I headed over to bmovies and enjoyed a few minutes of 'Night of the Living Dead'. The display is about 3x4 inches and looks pretty good at that size -- the rez falls apart if you go full-screen -- and, apparently, movies are interrupted at some point with a one minute commercial, but I didn't watch long enough to see it.

Bmovies offers the best of the worst (including a few classics) from genres that most often produce such gems -- horror, sci-fi, and westerns. The pix are free and go equally well with beer and cold pizza, or, popcorn and champagne.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Steve Carell

With Charlie Rose


Trailer Watch

Looks promising

Awake
Awake

Trailer arrives


Charlize Theron: Esquire's Sexiest Woman (You Know...Alive)

Charlize Theron. Photo by Sheryl Nields

Sheryl Nields' pix for Esquire make a good case for Charlize Theron being the sexiest woman (yes, alive). Here is an excerpt of Theron's interview with herself:

FADE IN:

A man's voice plays over the credits on an otherwise blank screen. This is the writer, speaking to himself

WRITER (VOICE-OVER)

The Chateau Marmont is the kiss of death in a celebrity profile. I see the words Chateau Marmont, and I just stop reading.

ESTABLISHING SHOT of the CHATEAU MARMONT, chichi hotel on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.

WRITER (V.O.)

It's like opening a movie with a voice-over. Who listens?

CUT TO:

EXT. HOTEL COURTYARD -- DAY

The sun falls evenly on empty tables set for lunch. The hotel bears the practiced look of a European castle, re-created where it should not be.

WRITER (V.O.)

No, be positive. It's good. You have a table outside. You got here first. She will meet you at the table, and you will stand and look her directly in the eye. Don't look her up and down. There will be plenty of time to look at her. There will be pictures in the magazine. People only look at the pictures anyway.

CUT TO:

CLOSE SHOT of the previous page of this magazine. A hand turns the page revealing photos of CHARLIZE THERON, Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive, unveiled in full for the first time -- supine, in a black bra, on a bed somewhere.

WRITER (V.O.)

Maybe I should buy her something. A token. I like to give gifts. That's really true. I should write a column on that. Gifting. Don't make verbs out of nouns. That would be a good rule. I could give her candy. Or cigarettes. She smokes.

CUT TO:

EXT. INTERSECTION, L.A.

Men are at work. CHARLIZE THERON, 32, sits in traffic in her SUV. She bangs the steering wheel in frustration. She has dressed in a rush, clothes yanked on: tight halter, clingy top, shorts up to here. Gigantic sunglasses. She looks at the clock, then slides her hand -- longish, slender, adorned by a single tiny ring -- across the seat, pulling an iPhone from her purse, and dials her publicist.

CHARLIZE

I'm late. You need to call and let him know I'm on the way.

(beat)

And find out how you pronounce that name.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. HOTEL COURTYARD

CLOSE ON CHARLIZE's face. She looks into the camera and pulls off her sunglasses.

CHARLIZE

I'm bad.

She stands, waiflike and hard-edged all at once, in front of the WRITER, who sits at a table between two hedgerows. A pack of Marlboro Lights sits in the clean ashtray, unopened.

WRITER

No. Not bad. Just late. Everyone is late.

CHARLIZE

You weren't. You were probably early.

WRITER

I've been late before. I promise.


Read the rest


Friday, October 26, 2007

I Am Legend

Looking better and better.


Thursday, October 25, 2007

The Next Rambo


Sylvester Stallone is on a roll.


Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Bee Movie

Bee Movie

I can't decide whether I like this movie yet. Usually, it takes just one look at a clip and I've got the picture pegged. Here's six minutes of 'Bee Movie'. The footage doesn't strike me as all that innovative but I couldn't take my eyes off it nonetheless (and I watched the whole thing). So, the jury is still out, or to put it another way...my eyes like it but my brain hasn't yet decided. Maybe I should tell my brain and his holier than thou friend, my mind, to take a hike. I mean, look at that still.

SlipstreamSlipstream

My eyes (and mind) are/is liking the look of this trailer.


Rainy Day

Photo by Alan Green

Sea of Light

Photo by Alan Green

Purple Umbrella

Photo by Alan Green

Rain and Fire

Photos by Alan Green


Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Fountain

Photo by Alan Green

Photo by Alan Green


Monday, October 22, 2007

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Worth A Thousand Words

Photo by Simon Norfolk for NYT Magazine

A boat in what used to be Lake Mead in Arizona, shot by Simon Norfolk for NYT Magazine. You have to admit this image stops you in your tracks. Norfolk travels the world documenting the state of things. He offers audio commentary on several of his shots. Worth a look/listen.


Friday, October 19, 2007

Ben Affleck On Morning Edition

Gone Baby Gone

Affleck (Ben) has been doing a lot of PR work for 'Gone Baby Gone' but this interview is my favorite. He's very relaxed and real. 'Gone Baby Gone' is suddenly (within the last couple days) looking like it may do some good business.

Casey (Affleck's) performance is, by all accounts, as convincing as his turn in 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'. Between his performance and Morgan Freeman's natural charm and Ed Harris' sizzle and what looks like a winner of a story based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, this picture should do fine, both in finding an audience and redefining careers.


New Clip/Extended Trailer

'30 Days of Night'. Looks good.


The Mist

Here's the first good look.


Thursday, October 18, 2007

Meet The Spartans

No description needed.


Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Motion Pictures

Photo by Alan Green

Photo by Alan Green


First Looks

Stop Loss

Ryan Phillippe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a movie about soldiers being sent back to Iraq for a second tour instead of coming home.

Things We Lost In The FireThings We Lost in the Fire

Yahoo has several clips totalling about ten minutes. They all strike exactly the right tone but seem too measured with a self-conscious, almost forced, sincerity. This movie was carefully assembled to be an awards contender.

Here's the new trailer for 'I'm Not There'. The snippets are beautifully crafted but seem hollow. The subject is someone, well, few under age fifty really feel a connection to. Cate Blanchett is totally involved, which makes this a must-see on DVD, but only if you're so inclined.

I just don't see these two movies connecting with an audience.

Explicit Torture From Saw IV

Here's a new clip. Not funny, sick, and well put together.

Clip From 30 Days Of Night

Funny, sick, and well put together.


Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Behind The Scenes

Gone Baby Gone

Here's a peek at the making of 'Gone Baby Gone'. I still don't like this title.


Monday, October 15, 2007

Motion Pictures

Photo by Alan Green

Photo by Alan Green

Photo by Alan Green

My commute 10/15/07. Photos by Alan Green


Saturday, October 13, 2007

Remake, Sorry, Adaptation Of Sleuth

Slueth

Michael Caine on Harold Pinter's adaption of 'Sleuth', and John Wayne's acting advice.


Are You Artistic, Logical, Or Both

Which way is she spinning? According to the Herald Sun most of us perceive her as spinning counter-clockwise, which indicates a logical, left-brain orientation. A few of us will see the dancer turning clockwise, which indicates right-brained, artistic orientation.

I see both. When I read text and watch the dancer peripherally she turns counter-clockwise (I suppose because I'm reading -- a left-brained sorta thing). But, when I look directly at her she rotates clockwise. Go figure. Think it's hooey? Try it.

George Clooney And Charlie Rose

Chat


BoingBoing TV

Have you seen this station yet?


Friday, October 12, 2007

Charlie Wilson's War

How much fun is this?


Dying Sunflower

Photo by Alan Green

On my way home 10/12/07. Photo by Alan Green


Thursday, October 11, 2007

On The Way Home

Photo by Alan Green

Photo by Alan Green

Shot on my way home October 11, 2007. Photos by Alan Green


Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Cool Ride

Cool Ride.  Photo by Alan Green

Photo by Alan Green


Tony Gilroy On The Treatment

Tony Gilroy

Having accomplished something of a coup by writing all three Bourne movies, Tony Gilroy makes his directorial debut with 'Michael Clayton'. He talks with Elvis Mitchell on The Treatment on KCRW in Santa Monica. 'I go from not being able to work to not being able to stop working.'


Jumper



I've been waiting for a look at this.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Vudu Rundown


Katherine Boehret over at All Things Digital gave the online movie service a test run:

I downloaded two romantic comedies: 'Music and Lyrics,' starring Hugh Grant, a $4 rental, and a Diane Keaton movie called 'Because I Said So,' which I bought for $20. I also rented 'Zodiac,' a suspense movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal, for $4. Movies that you own never expire, but rented flicks must be watched within 30 days and expire 24 hours after you start watching.

Aren't those prices essentially what you pay for rental/purchase at a store? I'm not sure how that's competitive. Katherine continues:

As is, its lackluster selection, high prices and slow downloads make it more of a letdown than anything else.

Unless you live several miles from a store that sells and/or rents DVDs, or you don't own a car and the only way you can get to such an outlet is by cliffside goat trail, I don't see why anyone would want one of these boxes. But still, I think there's a great future for online movie services...someday...somebody's going to get it right.


Photo Shoot

Here's video of William Waldron's shoot of Diane von Furstenberg for the next Vanity Fair.


Monday, October 08, 2007

Wahlberg On The Fighter

Here's a nice tidbit on 'The Fighter' with Mark Wahlberg and Brad Pitt. MTV story


Sunday, October 07, 2007

Red Leaves And Rain

Photo by Alan Green

Ghost Car Burnout
Photo by Alan Green

Photos by Alan Green


30 Seconds Of Film

Have you seen this clip from '30 Days of Night'? If the film is as good as this clip they have a winner.


Saturday, October 06, 2007

Get The Alcotrol Patch

Do you use the patch?


Fall Color Study #1

Photo by Alan Green

Photo by Alan Green. 1 of 5. Others here.


Newline Cinema Showrunners

Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, the top dogs at Newline, talk with Charlie Rose. '...Distributors of diversion'.


Thursday, October 04, 2007

The Heartbreak Kid Bloopers -- Up Front

The Heartbreak Kid

Here's a new approach. Sell a picture with a blooper reel. I like it. Making movies is fun.

Coming This Christmas?

Sweeney Todd

Yes, that's Johnny Depp holding a straight razor. And yes, that's Helena Bonham Carter looking her frampled witchy best in this still from 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'. According to the trailer, exclusively presented here, this musical -- a sort of mix of Dr. Phibes and Saw -- is due for release this Christmas. Not exactly family fare and it doesn't strike me as good counter-programming, either.

This could be another poor choice for a release date. Recently, we saw 'Grindhouse' limp out in its debut Easter weekend. And, one of the most perplexing Christmas releases: the super-serious 'Munich', which came out X-mas of 2005 and promptly proceeded to fall flat. As dumb as it sounds, I think Sweeney should open over the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm not sure why I think that would be better -- maybe it's the association between carving up a turkey for dinner and slicing innocent victims up with a razor. I'm writing a letter to Santa to ask his opinion. Dear Santa...


Wednesday, October 03, 2007

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men

This picture is picking up steam. Here's the new poster, and trailer (which has me rooting for all the characters, good, bad, dumb, sociopathic...you name it)


Tuesday, October 02, 2007

My Commute Today

Photo by Alan Green

Leaving downtown Seattle 7:32 AM. Rain, 48 degrees.

Photo by Alan Green

Heading south on I-5 7:36 AM.

Photo by Alan Green

Downtown Seattle, heading home. 5:36 PM cloudy 60 degrees

Photo by Alan Green

Walking home from the bus stop. 6:12 PM

Photo by Alan Green

6:14 PM

Photo by Alan Green

6:15 PM


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