CinemaFunk

Having seen "The Last Airbender" gross untold millions despite the worst reviews in many a year, I confess myself discouraged at the prospect of reviewing "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." This is a much better film than "Airbender," which is faint praise, but it's becoming clear that every weekend brings another heavily marketed action "comedy" that pounds tens of millions out of consumers before evaporating.

Is there anybody out there?

In the late seventies, out of accident or curiosity, some unknown stoner put on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon while simultaneously watching a muted The Wizard of Oz. Thus begat music/film synchronicity. For The Dark Side of the Rainbow, the quality of effect is directly proportional to the amount of drugs you have ingested. Sober, the whole is more annoying than the sum of its parts.

More and more I wish for some sort of universal copyright/left system that would allow for easy re-use of existing material:

Why Not Re-Hab Films Like We Do Houses?

This occupied my mind yesterday when I screened the extremely watchable doc THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WHITES OF WEST VIRGINIA.

Documenting a year in the life of an ‘outlaw’ family in West Virginia, (though not nearly as ‘outlaw’ as the trailer for the pic would have you believe), the film is layered with music and graphics that sorta tell you what to think – this is not necessary – but it’s a stylistic choice that moves the pic along at a clip so I understand the compulsion to do it – but can’t help thinking about the raw material – the bags and bags of tapes that must exist after a year of shooting.

Wouldn’t it be a wonderful service to make those available for anyone to remix and reversion?  Because while the film itself is well-crafted, competent and done with obvious love for the subjects, the humanity on display is something special, it transcends the contemporary nature of the filmmaking – so much so that I watched the film through again with the sound off to just watch the faces – a much more powerful experience for me then the film with the sound turned on.

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Just a thought for this humid and wet Monday morning in Nashville;  THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WHITES OF WEST VIRGINIA is at The Becourt Theatre for three days only, July 13th to the 15th.

The pic is also available to watch on demand at home – click here to go the Official Site and find out how.

                               While every film nut is desperately awaiting the release of Christopher Nolan’s Inception, I was able to take in a couple of movies this weekend to try and fill in the void. Now, I am not nearly as confident as everyone else seems to be about Nolan’s latest work (I remain cautiously optimistic), but [...]

courtesy of www.ncm.com  It's been 23 years since the great original Predator film and 20 since the pretty good sequel Predator 2, but after that point this movie monster has only made appearances in Alien Vs. Predator film, video game and comic book mash ups. But now, Robert Rodriguez has successfully produced a sequel actually on a similar level as the originals in the form of Predators. The story is super lean and mean, and the film starts by literally dropping you into it. Random Earthly bad asses and killers are mysteriously transported to a remote jungle. They have no idea what's...

courtesy of www.ncm.com  It's been 23 years since the great original Predator film and 20 since the pretty good sequel Predator 2, but after that point this movie monster has only made appearances in Alien Vs. Predator film, video game and comi...

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TFT 135 running time: 48 minutes 41 seconds – 23.5mb mp3

THE LAST AIRBENDER starts at 2 minutes 55 seconds

ASK THE FILM TALK starts at 26:18

THE KILLER INSIDE ME starts at 32:58

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HELP JETT FIND WORK IN LA– CLICK HERE FOR THE LINKED IN PROFILE

I chose the theme for this week’s Gimme 5! feature in honor of the release of Despicable Me,which stars the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segal, Miranda Cosgrove and Kristin Wiig. The film opens nationwide today and as a fan of animated features, I remain very excited to see it. The Pixar animated film Toy Story [...]

Courtesy of Andrew Betteridge The director is the most important person on any given film set. Movies can be (and have been) made without actors, writers, on set technicians, etc. But it is impossible to make a film without a director. Even if the entire crew works together to make a film, their Group Think mentality fills the role of Director. And directors have the most influence on how a film turns out, what kind of style is employed, how much of that style if used, and so on, to the point where different filmmakers can take the same story and make vastly different films (Wyatt Earp vs...

Courtesy of Andrew Betteridge The director is the most important person on any given film set. Movies can be (and have been) made without actors, writers, on set technicians, etc. But it is impossible to make a film without a director. Even if the e...

"The Kids are All Right" (R, 104 minutes). A sweet and civilized comedy, quietly satirical, about a lesbian couple, their children, and the father the kids share via sperm donation. When they meet him, they like him, he likes them, and their moms are not so sure. What happens is calmly funny, sometimes fraught, and very human. With pitch-perfect performances by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as the moms, Mark Ruffalo as the dad, and Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson as the 20-something children. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko. Three and a half stars

"La Mission" (R, 117 minutes). Benjamin Bratt plays a good man in San Francisco's Mission district--a single dad, hard-working, strong values, doing favors for neighbors. His son (Jeremy Ray Valdez) will be going to UCLA. He's growing friendly with his upstairs neighbor (Erika Alexander). Then he discovers his son is gay, he responds violently, and everything starts coming apart. A well-meaning, sincerely acted film that tries to say too much, too quickly. Two and a half stars

"Despicable Me" (PG, 95 minutes). A villain instead of a hero. That's rare in am animated comedy, but the villain is worth his starring role. He's Gru (voice by Steve Carell), who hatches a dastardly scheme to steal the Moon. Supported by countless little yellow Minions and challenged by there plucky orphan girls, he does battle with his arch-nemesis Vector (Jason Segel). Funny, energetic, teeth-gnashingly venomous, and animated with an eye to exploiting the 3D process with such sure-fire techniques as a roller coaster. But 3D dims the brightness, and the film will look and feel better if you can find it in 2D. Three stars

"Dogtooth" (R, 94 minutes) A bizarre fantasy which takes the concept of home schooling into the realm of home psychopathology. Parents imprison their three late-teen children behind high walls and deny them any knowledge of the world outside. In this sealed world, strange words, customs, beliefs and practices emerge. Beyond weird. Winner of the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes 2009. Three stars

"Predators" (R, 106 minutes). Professional killers from earth find themselves in free fall without explanation, and parachute into a forest where they join up to fight ferocious and frisky half-ton warthog-looking things. Much of the fill is spent in fending off attacks shown in often incomprehensible special effects. With Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, Laurence Fishburne and Danny Trejo. Rating: Two stars

Oh, Mel…looks like you’ve done it again. In 2006, when he was arrested for DUI, he shocked us all when he ranted that, “”The Jews are responsible for all wars in the world” and admitted to saying as much on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer. Four years later, poor Mel is on the proverbial [...]

"9500 Liberty" (Unrated, 80 minutes). A law similar to Arizona's controversial recent measure was passed and briefly enforced a few years ago in Virginia's Prince William County, and what happened there may be instructive. This documentary shows the rise and fall of a movement led by a right-wing blogger, and the groundswell of opposition (including many whites and Republicans) that ended it. The cost of the law in higher taxes, exposure to lawsuits and the city's image was startling. The doc shows the rise and fall of the county law, and centers on the American tradition of citizens speaking out in town hall meetings. Three and a half stars