Tuesday, April 24, 2012
'New Year's Eve' Giveaway
Posted on 3:52 PM by Unknown
I Admire Your Luck, Mr. Bond
Posted on 12:34 PM by Unknown
James Bond has always been a gambler of sorts, he loves to push himself beyond any normal means of rationality, he takes chances, and usually finds himself in the black. An addictive personality, Bond allows himself to experience the pleasures of the world: women, fine alcohol, cars, guns, and gadgets. Yet some of 007's most exciting moments have come at the card table.
In The World Is Not Enough Bond indulges in a little blackjack in order to get information about the murderous Renard from Valentin Zukovsky. The scene is brief, but it is a staple of the Bond franchise: gambling scenes happen at the start of the films in order to introduce characters. When 007 takes part in a game, he usually loses during the first hand, but makes a spectacular comeback in the second bet to embarrass potential antagonists. Along with The World Is Not Enough, there were Dr. No, For Your Eyes Only, Thunderball, Goldeneye, Diamonds Are Forever, Octopussy, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and perhaps the most definitive rendering of gambling in a Bond film, Casino Royale.
In Casino Royale, Bond finds himself facing off Le Chiffre, a man renowned for his banking services for terrorists and his high-stakes poker games. Montenegro is the last chance for Le Chiffre to win back his money if he wants to continue to run in the nefarious circles he does. While the spectacular set-pieces of Casino Royale start and end the film, undoubtedly, the most suspenseful moments of the film are when Bond is holding cards.
Here, we have Bond directly across the table with one of the biggest money managers in the world. If he loses, then M16 will have directly funded terrorism on a large scale. The camera lingers on Bond's and Le Chiffre's faces as each of these men eye each other. They each know that if either man loses, he faces gargantuan stakes. The immediacy of the event cannot be understated. If Le Chiffre walks away from that table with ten million pounds, the world will see an event of massive consequence. Bond must win this game.
Now, James is no stranger to losing money at the tables, but when he does, he takes it in stride (an amazing feat considering his civil servant's salary). However his enemies very rarely show such composure when they lose. Unfortunately for Bond in Royale, when Le Chiffre loses the grand finale of the poker game he does not take it lightly. In one of the more infamous scenes in a 007 film, Le Chiffre hopes to make Bond less of a man, literally. Maybe Le Chiffre should stick to an online casino, or at the very least stop playing with other men's money.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Johnny Depp Hints Lone Ranger Is Tonto's Bitch
Posted on 6:39 PM by Unknown
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Johnny Depp revealed a few keen insights on his upcoming character in Disney's The Lone Ranger. While discussing the aesthetic properties of his vision of Tonto he elaborated that he will not be portraying a stereotype:
The whole reason I wanted to play Tonto is to try to [mess] around with the stereotype of the American Indian that has been laid out through history, or the history of cinema at the very least — especially Tonto as the sidekick, The Lone Ranger’s assistant. As you’ll see, it’s most definitely not that.
How Depp plans on emasculating Armie Hammer's Ranger is beyond me, but I look forward to the passive-aggressive mind games next May.
'The Dark Knight Rises' Has Over One Hour of IMAX Footage
Posted on 1:36 AM by Unknown
Emma Thomas, producer of The Dark Knight Rises and wife to Christopher Nolan spoke with The Wall Street Journal recently about the length of IMAX footage used for TDKR:
“There was a huge irony that we were told it would be too difficult to shoot a Hollywood movie on IMAX when we had this gigantic camera department, grips, electric, hundreds of people working for us,” says the director, whose agreement to direct “The Dark Knight” was contingent on Warner Bros. allowing him to shoot the film in IMAX. “These were cameras that had been to the top of Mount Everest, to the bottom of the ocean and into outer space, but people thought we couldn't make a feature film. It was absurd.”
Nearly every film this summer is going to be in 3D, but only TDKR is pushing for this kind of special experience in movie theatres. Now, cue the people who are outraged that the film is not entirely in IMAX.
(Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal)
“There was a huge irony that we were told it would be too difficult to shoot a Hollywood movie on IMAX when we had this gigantic camera department, grips, electric, hundreds of people working for us,” says the director, whose agreement to direct “The Dark Knight” was contingent on Warner Bros. allowing him to shoot the film in IMAX. “These were cameras that had been to the top of Mount Everest, to the bottom of the ocean and into outer space, but people thought we couldn't make a feature film. It was absurd.”
Nearly every film this summer is going to be in 3D, but only TDKR is pushing for this kind of special experience in movie theatres. Now, cue the people who are outraged that the film is not entirely in IMAX.
(Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal)
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Review: 'Cabin' Only Seems Like All the Familiar Places
Posted on 1:41 PM by Unknown
You think you know the story, you think you know the players, you think you know the outcome. What makes Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's Cabin in the Woods unique is that we don't know anything.
Dana, Curt, Marty, Jules and Holden are all heading to Curt's cabin for the weekend. All the players are to be expected: the good girl, the jock, the pothead, the popular girl, and the bookworm. On the way there they run into a creepy gas station owner, get spooked, and continue on anyway until they eventually reach their destination. Once there, the cabin in question seems like it was last inhabited during the Roosevelt administration and the paintings that adorn the rustic lodge are something that Charles Manson would find cozy. Wait, that is a little odd isn't it? Nearly all of these stories are identical in nature. That can't be coincidence can it?
And the audience finds out it isn't from the onset of the film. Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Hadley (Bradley Whitford) appear to be mundane public sector workers, but once they settle into their office the actual nature of their work is revealed. It is never coincidence that these college students/teenagers/whatever always fit the same five roles, it is manipulated into a certainty. The popular girl isn't really a slut, but her hair dye ensures that will be changed. The jock is not a meat-head, but rather, a sociology major. These twenty-somethings are melded into the characters that we want to see. Not enough lust present? Pump in some pheromones. Are the characters out-witting the villains? Alter their mindsets with some neurological toxin. Sitterson and Hadley are efficient at what they do and they do it well.
The inherent meta-comedy of Cabin in the Woods takes a oft-used storyline and infuses it with gumption. These stories are tried, but true and the audience knows them beat-by-beat. By shifting the overall narrative of why these teens die, this becomes much more than another slasher flick. What further impresses about this film is that in all of the laughter that comes with tearing down genre tropes is that the characters aren't lost. More importantly, they aren't just the cardboard cutouts the film is making fun of, they are fully realized and fighting their outcome. They want to live, badly.
In taking down the horror genre, Whedon and Goddard get a lot of credit and just enough actual scares to make Cabin one of the better satires in recent history. Well done, sirs, well done.
***/****
Posted in bradley whitford, cabin in the woods, chris hemsworth, horror, joss whedon, review, richard jenkins
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Bond Celebrates 50 in Style
Posted on 4:56 PM by Unknown
If you are in the San Francisco area from April 20th to the 22nd, be sure to stop by the Castro Theatre and watch some of 007's best films.
(Courtesy: /Film)
- Friday April 20: Dr. No, 2 and 7 p.m. with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 4:10 and 9:05 p.m.
- Saturday April 21: From Russia With Love, 2:30 and 9:30 p.m., Diamonds are Forever, 4:45 p.m., The Spy Who Loved Me, 7:05 p.m.
- Sunday April 22: Thunderball, 1 and 8:15 p.m., Live and Let Die, 3:30 p.m., For Your Eyes Only, 5:50 p.m.
(Courtesy: /Film)
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
'Magic Mike': The Movie You Never Knew You Wanted
Posted on 8:57 PM by Unknown
Channing Tatum has very quickly become one of the more accepted actors of his generation. Movies like G.I. Joe and Dear John never made him much in my mind, but his turns in 21 Jump Street and Haywire have made him more endearing. I look forward to what Steven Soderbergh will do with this material (based upon Tatum's own exploits as a male dancer).
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