F'n Cartoon Nips

A Connection to Letters From Iwo Jima

So, I went to see Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima last night. I loved it. It's a pretty damn great war film telling a story about a side of WWII I hadn't seen before.
One of the leads, Tsuyoshi Ihara, who plays Baron Nishi, is friends with my cousin in Japan! I had dinner with him about 2 years ago. He was impressed that I knew him, but alas it was because I was a nerd. I placed him in one of the Gamera films.

David Lynch's Inland Empire

I had the opportunity to see David Lynch and his newest film Inland Empire this weekend in New York.
I loved the movie- it was scary and emotional. The byline says the film is about "a woman in trouble." David Lynch came out before the film and introduced a trumpeter who opened the film with a short piece. Afterwards, Laura Dern and Justin Theroux joined Mr. Lynch onstage for a Q&A.

Fanboys Trailer

The trailer for Fanboys is now online. It looks nerd-tastic- reminding me of the salad days before episode I-III when loving Star Wars was awesome.
How hot is Kristen Bell in a slave Leia outfit!
The trailers got appearances by William Shatner and Seth Rogen, and IMDB has Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, and Ray Park in the credits.
I wonder if the film will show the guys' disappointment in their journey when they learn episode I sucks!

Paprika and The Host at New York Film Festival

I caught a couple films at the New York Film Festival this year. First was an animated film Paprika from Satoshi Kon (Tokyo Godfathers, Millenium Actress). It is now my favorite of his films. The movie is about a group of scientists who have discovered a machine that projects peoples' dreams in the hope that it can help people who have psychologic issues. However, the story starts when these machines are stolen and are being used to make people go crazy. The film is pretty amazing to watch, especially with several crazy dream sequences brought to life.
The second film I saw was The Host by Boon Joon-Ho (Memories of Murder). It's already a box-office hit in Korea, and I think it's coming out domestically through Magnolia Pictures by the end of the year. The film is a monster movie about a giant salamander-like monster that emerges from the Han River and begins to terrorize the populace. The film focuses around a family who run a food stand near the riverside.
The daughter of the family is captured by the beast, and the family, after a futile attempt to get the government to help them find her are forced to take matter into their own hands. The movie is funny, scary, and emotional.

Jackass Number Two!!

I loved this movie. It is pure ingenius hilarity. Knoxville is probably the most insane member of the group, and for most disgusting is a tie with Pontius and England - each eats something that should not be eaten.
The leech in the eyeball is what Dali and Bunuel originally intended in Un Chien Andalou.

Grindhouse Poster

As I mentioned from my Comic-con postings, I thought Grindhouse looked hilarious. Here's the first of 2 new posters for Rodriguez'a part, Planet Terror with Rose MacGowan and her machine gun prosthesis! Second one below.

Baltimore Movie Theaters

I read this interesting article in the City Paper about the plans for a Landmark Theatres complex to open up in downtown Baltimore and what it means for local theaters like the famous Senator Theatre and the Charles Theatre.
Baltimore has some surprisingly excellent theaters in the area considering the market size probably because people like to go see movies around here. A Landmark theater is pretty exciting to have, especially one downtown where there are a lot more people moving back into the city. It actually makes me want to consider buying in the city when my lease comes up.
(photo by zizzybaloobah from flikr)

My Mom Liked The Hills Have Eyes

So yesterday, I had to have my car serviced, and I spent the day hanging out with my parents who live close to the dealer.
My mom has always loved to watch horror films over pretty much any other type of movie, so we watched the recently released unrated The Hills Have Eyes remake by Alexandre Aja.
The story is pretty simple: family gets stranded in the desert and are set upon by cannibal mutants. I enjoyed most of Aja's film High Tension, except for the dumb twist ending. The Hills Have Eyes, though, is great through and through. It's got lots of gore, brutal murders, and pretty messed up scenes of raping threatening a baby with a magnum.
My mom liked it, too.

Electroma - A Daft Punk Movie

This looks crazy! What the hell is this about? No talking dog with crutches though, but I want to walk around in a helmet and jumpsuit, too.

I Loved Superman Returns!

Superman Returns was nerd-irific!
I really liked Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel. The opening action sequence was amazing! Bryan Singer's idea to make the film in the line of Richard Donner's Superman was the right one. It was an optimistic superhero film true to the spirit of its predecessor. Poor James Marsden is doomed to play the "other" man in Bryan Singer films.
Man, when the credits zoomed outwards with the John Williams theme playing, I had flashes to my childhood watching the original film and it's sequel. I remember as a kid people cheering in the theater when Superman shows up to fight Zod and crew in Metropolis. Let's hear it for Big Blue!

Summer Movie Fun

I am taking a break from shows this week, so I thought I'd blog about a few movies I've seen in theaters recently. Of course, I saw the X3 and MI:3 - both of which were better than expected, but I felt that they didn't need discussion beyond that.
I saw The Proposition a few weeks ago. It's an outback western written by Nick Cave starring Guy Pearce as a man sent off on a task to murder his criminal brother. It also features Emily Watson and Ray Winstone (the Sexy Beast guy). I really liked it - it was violent, everyone had bad teeth, and the slightly overexposed look and crazy soundtrack (by Cave and a guy from Dirty Three) reminded me of a 70's film.
Cars is the most recent Pixar film directed by John Lasseter. For some reason, I'm never enthused to see their films, but when I do, I always love them. You must see this in Digital Light Projection if you can! My favorite bits: the Car Talk guys (most people missed this one), Jeremy Piven doing his Ari Gold schtick from Entoutage, the insects are all VW Bugs, Cheech as the Low Rider and Carlin as the VW van, the Cars versions of Pixar films, and Michael Schumacher's appesrance (I don't think many people know who he even is!- he ain't NASCAR or Larry the Cable Guy)
Nacho Libre was also worth seeing. I've had a place in my heart for Lucha Libre since I discovered it in the 90's, and this film captures the frenzy and drama of the sport. Jack Black's Mexican accent is hilarious, the skinny guy is so ugly, and the nun is beautiful. I admire Jack Black for taking on the moves of the Luchadores and selling it without making fun of it at all. There's everything- masks, midgets, and ladies' wrestling. I also loved the soundtrack.

Indie Film Saturday

Sue and I killed Saturday while Nick was coaching rowing watching indie movies in Princeton.
We first saw Friends With Money, the new film by Nicole Holofcener. I described this movie to Nick as "a woman's comedy", and lo and behold, I was the only guy in the theater. The movie was really funny - following the lives of 4 female friends - 3 of whom are living affluent successful lives while one woman (Aniston) is a maid - and the men in their lives. It follows the themes in Holofcener's previous films about women finding identity in their work and relationships.
Sue and I then went to go see Brick by Rian Johnson. Great film- it is a classic film noir set in a modern day high school. It has snappy tough guy dialogue, lots of twists, and a femme fatale. Really clever style- it is definitely low budget, but the filmmaker was smart in portraying a lot of events off camera, and the strong script keeps the film compelling. That kid from 3rd Rock From the Sun is the new indie boy, isn't he?

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

I wanted to see this film in the theaters last year, but missed it. I got the UK dvd this week and watched it finally. It's great - very noir in theme. It follows Harry (Robert Downey, Jr.), a thief turned aspiring actor, who hooks up with Gay Perry (Val Kilmer), a detective hired to teach him about P.I. work. They get caught up in a plot involving several bodies turning up and Harry's dreamgirl from the past, Harmony (Michelle Monaghan). It's funny and has a very self-deprecating style. Kilmer is great in it, and I actually enjoyed Downey as well. The real find is Monaghan- she was in the Hollywood Vanity Fair issue as The Knockout, and in this movie, it's very true. Waka waka.

Life in the Steam Tunnels. . .

After a discussion with a friend of mine about how Napoleon's Uncle Rico was Lazlo in a previous movie life as well as a recent Thighs Wide Shut separated at birth comparison, I was excited to see Real Genius on Showtime HD. I had forgotten that Martha Coolidge directed this gem from my youth. She also did one of my favorites, Valley Girl- covering the span of iconic 80's misfits like Freaks and Geeks!
First, I realized that I had never seen this movie letterboxed - it's got an enormous aspect ratio which improves the film when you see it this way, as you don't need to see the Sarah Jessica Parker kid so up close.
Second, what happened to the career of nerd dreamgirl Jordan (Michelle Mayrink)?
The film is as good as I remember -a real throwback - great soundtrack ("All She Wants to do is Dance", Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "One Night Love Affair"), nerds partying with cosmetologists (which I should do), nerdy pranks, a wickedly charming Val Kilmer, and in the end, a message against the Military Industrial Complex. This is certainly no My Science Project, and has a little more heart than Weird Science.

The Academy Awards 2006

Three 6 Mafia winning was a moment to enjoy in 3 1/2 hours of boring white people. I liked Jon Stewart. The attack ads were really funny- my friend Dan (here celebrating with Juicy Jay) helped produce them as well as the opening segment. Stewart did a good job as host, but he could only do so much with the stale format, and I get the feeling his sense of humor went a little over all those Hollywood bigshots.

Reason to Watch the Oscars

My friend Dan (here with red eye on the set of BSG- to continue the thread of most of my blog) is helping write jokes for Jon Stewart on this Sunday's broadcast of the Academy Awards. I should also note that he and his lovely wife are now expecting their first child - a CYLON! Unfortunately, he is not replacing Bruce Villanch, who still writes the uninteresting chatter of all the presenters.

Bollywood Remakes?!?

On the Twitch site, they reported the release of a Bollywood version of Fight Club. It's called, originally, Fight Club and it includes the expected musical numbers in a lot of Indian films. Crazy?!
I also read that there's a near shot for shot Bollywood remake of Oldboy called Zinda. No song and dance numbers here though, thankfully. I heard somewhere there is a version of Reservoir Dogs as well.

Akira Ifukube, 1914 - 2006

Taken from MonsterZero.com

Very sad news for Godzilla and music fans every where, Akira Ifukube has passed on.

Thursday February 9, 1:38 AM

'Godzilla' series composer Akira Ifukube dies at 91

Music composer Akira Ifukube, who is most famous for his work on the movie "Godzilla," died of multiple organ failure Wednesday night at a hospital in Tokyo, his family said. He was 91.

Ifukube was born in Kushiro, Hokkaido. A graduate of Hokkaido University, Ifukube self-taught composing and created music for major movies since the 1950s, including "Gembaku no ko" (Children of Hiroshima) in 1952 and "Godzilla" in 1954.

His theme of "Godzilla," which expressed the horrors of the monstrous creature, has widely influenced foreign movies.

Ifukube's portfolio of work also include the 1956 "Biruma no Tategoto" (The Harp of Burma) and the "Daimajin" series from 1966.

The composer of "Nihon Kyoshikyoku" (Japanese Rhapsody), which is considered a masterpiece, Ifukube served as the president of the Tokyo College of Music between 1976 and 1987.

Ifukube was awarded a Person of Cultural Merit, one of Japan's highest honors, in 2003.

Godzilla's Roar

Godzilla's Theme

Junebug and Amy Adams

Watched Junebug tonight on DVD. How did I miss seeing this movie in the theater? It's great! It's got Embeth Davidtz who I have been a fan of since Army of Darkness. Then, it's got all this indie credibility with the director Phil Morrison, who did Upright Citizens Brigade and videos for Sonic Youth and Superchunk. On top of that, Will Oldham is in it, and Yo La Tengo did the soundtrack.
Amy Adams, who was the "hot chick" in The Office, gives an amazing performance in this film as the pregnant and enthusiastic Ashley. Wow, she made me want to cry.

(ok, i did)