Wednesday, September 26, 2007

cinematic blather

Here's some stuff I've been perusing on the Worst Previews website--



Stuff in theaters now that I might check out--

3:10 to Yuma - I like Westerns. I am by no means a Western enthusiast...it's one of those areas I dabble in (I am a great dabbler). Usually for a Western to pull me in, it has to star someone I dig. Christian Bale certainly fits that bill...

Shoot 'Em Up Yeah... "action" isn't really my genre but this film seems to offer up some PRIMO Clive Owen ogling. In case I've not mentioned it previously, I HEART Clive. I'm pretty sure I have mentioned that. A few weeks ago US Weekly had this pointless little blurb (it may or may not have been in their insipid "Stars--They're Just Like Us!!" section..it was of like caliber, anyways) about Clive and how devoted he is to his wife. It had some quote he'd given about how his wife is a queen and he would never endanger what he has at home (awwww) and accompanying this blurb was some snapshot of him shopping with the Mrs. which instantaneously brought out the petty bitch in me...as my initial response was "My...the Mrs is rather frumpy...somewhat dumpy" and that THRILLED me. Is that wicked of me?

Anyways..the WP page for Shoot 'Em Up has the TV trailer we've all seen, but then it has a clip that's uhh, ahem... not for general audiences...due to incidence of graphic violence and the much less offputting incidence of Clive Owen getting nakey.

Some upcoming flicks of note--

PS I Love You - Basically any project starring Gerard Butler (siiigh!) I consider noteworthy. This one is a total SKIP though. He must have committed to this prior to 300. I feel certain of it. He is soooo much better than this. I could totally have overlooked this being formulaic pap (hell, I do indulge in formulaic pap from time to time) but to watch Ger be all in love with Hilary Swank? UUGGH..I don't think I could bear it. I know she's this multiple Oscar winner/ karate prodigy, but I can't stand Swank. Is she too horsey for my liking? Too Swanky? I just can't pinpoint what specifically is about her that irks me so... Also irksome is how in this PS I Love You trailer, I'm pretty sure the announcer dude says "JARED Butler". I'm pretty positive that is NOT how it's said, you ill-prepared bastard.

Virgin Territory - This looks like Shakespearian Porky's or somethin'. A costume piece + teen flick? HOW can I resist that? This is such a guilty pleasure, I probably will just wait & rent it (or go to the theater in deep disguise)

No Country for Old Men First off, I really dig the Coen bros. Fargo was terrif, and O Brother Where Art Thou & The Big Lebowski are 2 of my absolute FAVES. With this movie, they're working with Tommy Lee Jones whom I also rather fond of. Plus the story looks good...all advance reviews I read on IMDB were positive. I may even read the book.

August Rush Ok, the big draw here, I confess, is Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as one of the romantic leads. And it's not just Meyers playing some hot dude (effortlessly playing a hot dude, on account of his innate hotness) but he's playing some guitar god/rock star type and you know a guitar and an ounce of musical talent increases one's hotness exponentially.

Juno --this looks really good. Ellen Page is a promising young talent (is that snooty and condescending sounding?? It was supposed to just be complimentary) And I do enjoy Jason Bateman (even if I never did watch any of his TV shows)

Enchanted-- this looks like a good one to take the nieces to . I am always pleased to see James Marsden get work too.

Southland Tales -- I am *very* eager for this one. It's the 2nd film from the creator of Donnie Darko...so it should be interesting (not sure whether or not I can count on "enjoyable") It has this giant oddball mixed bag of an ensemble cast ...headed up by The R-- um, I'm sorry, Dwayne Johnson.. who I really dig for some inexplicable reason. (Hell, I might even see The Game Plan...y'know, if somebody was buying my ticket for me..) and he's reuniting with Seann William "Stiffler" "3First Names" Scott whom I also enjoy. Another enjoyable male in this cast is Justin Timberlake, but it looks like, from the movie's image gallery, that JT plays some deformed cretin. So I'm not so much looking forward to his part in this epic. Other interesting casting choices--
*Wallace Shawn (very prolific actor...but he will always be Vizzini in The Princess Bride to me)

*lots of past & present SNL folk: Jon Lovitz, Cheri Oteri, Janeane Garofaolo, Amy Poehler

*celebrity alien Bai Ling

*Will Sasso -who (even though he's been in some movies) I think of as a TV actor... I'm always interested to see TV actors "transition" to the big screen . Which brings me to the most intriguing casting choice of all...

*John Laroquette-- Don't get me wrong..I like this dude. He is by far my FAVORITE Night Court alum. So odd & yet cool that he got picked for this big production. True, he did land a role on "Boston Public" but as far as movies go, when was the last time he did a movie that wasn't for the Hallmark Channel??

The IMDB genre classification for Southland Tales calls it a "Comedy / Drama / Musical / Sci-Fi / Thriller" Who could resist that? I'm particularly curious to see how it's a musical??

Now, watching the trailer I thought "Oh..well this looks pretty nutty, but doesn't look like it will rival Donnie Darko for WTF?? Factor" But I'm no longer sure about that..I went to the official website and that made me think this movie might even surpass D.D. in the WTF?? dept. I'm torn, really. You watch the trailer proffered on its Worst Previews page and then go to http://www.southlandtales.com/ and then you come up with a verdict...

since I've got Movies Present & Movies Future covered, let's bring it full circle with..

Movies I Regret Missing this Summer

Two big regrets-- I read the novels Evening and Stardust and fully intended to see their film versions. In my defense.. neither movie got a very widespread release (at least not in my part o' the country) Still, I can't shake the feeling that I've done a poor job at supporting Claire Danes this summer.

Speaking of super-limited film releases...it's not even evident that Eagle Vs Shark was ever released (only that the mighty IMDB & Worst Previews sez that it was) But if it hadn't had a wee, miniscule, top-secret premiere, I think I woulda seen the thing. I don't get HBO, but from what little I've seen of the Flight of the Conchords guys, I've become rather smitten. This isn't really a Conchords film but it does feature 1/2 of the duo (the towering, bespectacled half) Jermaine Clement who I find oddly alluring... (his co-Conchord Brett is pretty attractive as well, but as he happens to be a traditionally handsome fellah, I would , in his case, omit the "oddly" part of the compliment)

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