C is for Catch This: "Being Flynn" DeNiro+Drama

I just realized when titling this post that I have now posted two trailers in a row called "Being" someone, but the films couldn't be more different.  This is a trailer for Robert DeNiro's latest, a drama from About a Boy director Paul Weitz.  It follows a father and son, played by Deniro and Paul Dano respectively, who after years of separation discover one another in a homeless shelter.  Dano works there but DeNiro has misstepped his way through life and needs a place to land.  What the two have in common other than their blood is their love of writing.  How can the power of the pen unite these two disparate men?

This one is for all the writers of the world who also love a good movie.  Enjoy!

As Flynn puts it: "Life is gathering material." Hear Hear!

C is for Catch This: "Being Elmo" Doc Trailer

Though I've yet to see this documentary (it opens in NYC October 21st and here in Minneapolis on November 18th) Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey is one of the most critically acclaimed films on the festival circuit and by the looks of this trailer it has the potential to be the most joyous documentary of the year!

Director Constance Marsh's Being Elmo follows the struggles and triumphs of Kevin Clash, the man behind the beloved Sesame Street puppet Elmo.  Check out the films website to learn more and catch the trailer below; be prepared to smile. :)

C is for Catch This: Incredible Poster for Clooney's Latest

George Clooney wears many hats but for his latest film The Ides of March, set to release October 7th, he wore all three: writer, director, star.  Clooney stars alongside Ryan Gosling in this political thriller about an idealistic staffer who slowly sinks into the world of dirty politics during his candidate's run for the Presidency.  Other cast members include Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood.

Check out the creepy and intriguing poster released this morning!

Will you see The Ides of March this fall?

C is for Check it Out: My Review of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris

Hello All!  Head on over to Firstshowing.net to read my review of Woody Allen's latest, a magical trip through nostalgia and the streets of old Pairee.

I give it a 9 out of 10.  But, as I recommend, don't read too many reviews or you will spoil all the fun!

Have you seen Midnight in Paris? What did you think?

C is for Catch This: Magical "Beginners" Trailer!

I have been so excited about this film since discovering this trailer a few weeks ago.  Beginners stars Ewan McGregor as the son of Christopher Plummer in a "wistful memory piece" as New York Times critic Manohla Dargis writes in her excellent review.  I don't want to say much more about the movie, since I think it is worth watching the trailer and discovering it for yourself.  Beginners is in limited release now and should expand out of NY and LA in the coming weekends.  Make a point to look for it and see the trailer below:

Or on YouTube.

So what do you think?  Doesn't this look pretty whimsical and special?

C is for Catch This: "The Descendants" Trailer

Academy Award winning Director Alexander Payne, of Sideways and About Schmidt previously, has a new film starring George Clooney as a father trying to manage his two teenage daughters while his ailing wife is holed up in a hospital room.  "The Descendants" follows the family all the way to Hawaii where they take a trip to tell family about their wife and mother's predicament.  The film will hit theaters December 16, 2011.  Watch below:

Or on YouTube.

So what do you think of Clooney's latest?

C is for Catch This: "Sarah's Key" Trailer

I discovered this intriguing trailer for the film Sarah's Key, based on the acclaimed novel of the same name.  It stars Kristen Scott Thomas as an American journalist in France diving into the country's dark World War II past.  Apparently, in 1942 the French police performed the Vel'd'Hiv Roundup, arresting Jews around the country and locking them in inhumane facilities.  Scott Thomas' character Julia is particularly interested in one family, whose daughter hid her younger brother into a secret cupboard to save him.  The film looks incredible to me, so take a look:

Or on YouTube.

So what do you think?  Is this a movie you'd like to see?

C is for Critique: The Champion Indie "Win Win"

Though the summer movie swing has begun courtesy of Thor and Bridesmaids I wanted to remind everyone of a little film released several weeks ago that is still worth trying to catch: writer/director Tom McCarthy's indie feature Win Win. See my review below!

It seems completely fitting that Alex Shaffer, who plays the rebellious teenager in McCarthy's latest, is a real-life high school wrestler, rather than an actor. After all, the film feels as genuine and true-to-life as any American indie film in recent memory. It’s a gem of a movie that celebrates how funny and frustrating and unexpected and encouraging everyday life can be, especially when observed through the affectionate lens of a movie camera.

Win Win is the story of a financially desperate lawyer named Mike Flaherty (the perfectly pathetic Paul Giamatti) who volunteers to be the caretaker of his aging client Leo Poplar (Burt Young) only to keep the monthly paycheck and place the poor fellow in a facility for the elderly.  The act isn’t quite as malicious as it sounds, seeing that Leo can’t quite tell the difference anyway, but Mike knows that he is a good guy doing the wrong thing. Still, he pockets the extra dough and we sympathize because Mike is the struggling everyman; he’s got a devoted but needy family, a crumbling practice, and he coaches a despicably bad high school wrestling team. Mike’s secret would probably have remained such were it not for the arrival of Leo’s cigarette smoking, skateboard riding, bleach blonde grandson Kyle (played by newcomer Alex Shaffer). 

Mike and his wife Jackie (the tough Amy Ryan) reluctantly welcome the runaway Kyle into their home after he refuses to take a bus back to his deadbeat mom Cindy (Melanie Lynskey.) She’s in rehab and the boy’s estranged grandfather is slowly losing his memory; neither seem fit to take care of him. What are Mike and Jackie supposed to do? Would we do any differently? Jackie is the most resistant, having only managed young daughters she’s skeptical of the teenage boy – he’s disobedient, a flight risk even -- but she eventually unlocks the basement door and even reveals her own ankle tattoo during a surprisingly charming moment; the two may have more in common than she’d thought. The Flahertys enroll Kyle in the local high school before Mike invites him to practice with the team and fellow coach (Jeffrey Tambour) only to discover – wait for it – that Kyle is a state champion high school wrestler. Mike steps forward at the chance to be a paternal support both on and off the mats, but the team’s skyrocketing success is suddenly interrupted when Cindy appears in town hoping to win Kyle’s affection.
    

You might not know McCarthy’s name or work yet but you really ought to. As an actor his face has popped up alongside more glamorous stars in films like Michael Clayton, Good Night and Good Luck, and Baby Mama, but in 2003 he stepped behind the camera to direct (and behind his laptop to write) the critically acclaimed Sundance hit The Station Agent. His sophomore project The Visitor was released in 2007 and earned it’s lead Richard Jenkins an Oscar nomination. Both films portray ordinary but disheartened characters finding unexpected comfort in surrogate families. Sound familiar?

 McCarthy’s third and latest film version of the alternative family is perhaps his best. Save for a few unnecessarily silly moments with Mike’s best friend, a recently divorced, loud-mouthed bachelor named Terry (played by Bobby Cannavale), McCarthy portrays adults as honestly flawed and kids as smarter than they are given credit for. The script is sharp but never so much so that characters talk in that way which only exists in the movies; Kyle is not Juno and the Flahertys are instead a completely “regular” middle-class group, something not normally seen on the big screen.

Win Win is refreshing. It steers away from the predictability of a teenage sports drama and instead guides us toward a spirited finale where nothing is sweeter than victory on the home front.

9 out of 10.

Catch the trailer here:

Or on YouTube.

So what do you think?  Is Win Win a film you would like to see?

C is for Catch This: "Green With Envy" Trailer

If this trailer hasn't already been spoiled for you by the loads of internet articles, I demand you watch it below!  Green With Envy stars Jason Segel (of TV's How I Met Your Mother and Forgetting Sarah Marshall previously) and the lovely Amy Adams (from Enchanted) but other than that I won't say a thing.  Catch Green With Envy and find the surprising twist yourself here:

Or on YouTube.

So now that you know what this is really about, what do you think?

C is for Catch This: "A Little Help" Trailer

I found this very sweet little trailer for the indie film A Little Help this morning.  It stars Jenna Fischer who may be best known for playing Pam Beasley on NBC's "The Office."  Writer/Director Michael J. Weithorn's film sees Fischer as a widowed working mother trying to cope with the aftermath of her family loss while entertaining her mischievous 12 year-old son.  Hopefully this leading role helps her "break out" as they say, or at least put her on everyone's map!  I am not positive when Fox Searchlight is planning on releasing this, so keep your eye out!  Catch A Little Help below:

Or on YouTube.

Also, I think think the film's poster is great!

Would you want to see this movie? Do you think Jenna Fischer can be a leading lady?

C is for Community: A Tourist Town Vanishes

I discovered this incredible short film courtesy of Roger Ebert today.  It's a glimpse at the history of the Salton Sea in Imperial Valley, California.  When the Colorado River accidentally overflowed during the early 20th century, this man-made ocean appeared in one of the largest desserts in California.  A tourist community emerged in the 1920s and population boomed during the 1950s suburban movement, but soon the Salton Sea's salt levels ran higher than that of the oceans wreaking havoc on marine life, and subsequently the neighborhood died.

Watch this sad, strange, and beautiful tale about what the world looks like when people disappear.

Or on YouTube.

C is for Check it out: My Unconventional Review of "Bridesmaids"

Head on over to First Showing to read my latest review of this weekend's box office hit Bridesmaids starring Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph.  The article focuses on my reaction to the film as a woman and a screenwriter!

Check it out here.

What did you all think of director Paul Feig's Bridesmaids?

C is for Character: Leonard Nimoy Gives Some Inspiring Advice

I had the chance to see Leonard Nimoy, known famously for playing Spock on the popular Star Trek television series, speak at Boston University last week and was both surprised and touched by his thoughts.  It felt to me like a pre-commencement commencement speaker and I wanted to share my two favorite anecdotes from his speech.

First, as a small boy in Boston's West End and a child of Ukrainian immigrants, Leonard and his brother often went to a local settlement house for lessons and sports.  But this particular place also had a theater, which was certainly rare, and on the stage was a curtain embroidered with a forest scene.  Leonard recalled that the trim of the curtain had stitched in Gothic letters a phrase he could never forget:

"Act well your part, there all honor lies."

Of course, as a young aspiring actor these words meant that Leonard could find himself honored to perform, even if it was miles away from the work of his laboring parents.  But for me it means that no matter what you choose to do, if you do it well you can feel a sense of honor and accomplishment.

The second story that Mr. Nimoy told which struck me particularly was this: as a struggling actor in Los Angeles he was forced to sell vacuums and insurance and even drive a taxi cab.  One day he received a call to pick up a man named Kennedy at a hotel.  Being a boy from Boston, Leonard was familiar with a Senator John F. Kennedy, a man that no one on the west coast had even heard of yet.  When JFK fell into the back seat of Leonard's cab the actor simply said, "How are things in Boston, Senator Kennedy?" The surprised Kennedy asked Leonard what in the world he was doing in Los Angeles, a whole country between him and his hometown.  "I'm an actor," Nimoy said.  Then the senator, soon to be globally famous President, said: "Actors and politicians, we have a lot a like.  There are too many of us out there, competition is fierce.  But there's always room for another good one." 

Act well your part, there all honor lies.  There's always room for another good one.

And with that, we graduates can step out into the real world with a little more hope and confidence.

C is for Clare: My Sister's Random Find

My older sister Clare discovered this random film tribute that I thought was worthy of a post.  I would explain what it is, but that might spoil all the fun.  Watch below!

Or on YouTube.

Are there any other odes to random objects in films that you know of?

C is for Coolness: SNL's Latest Digital Short

If you missed this weekend's latest musical short on Saturday Night Live, here is your chance to catch up!  A hilarious video that reminds everyone what a good sense of humor Michael Bolton has.

Or on YouTube.

C is for Catch This: "Rejoice and Shout" Trailer

I stumbled upon this lovely trailer tonight.  Looks like a beautiful, uplifting ode to the joys and history of Gospel Music.  Watch the trailer here:

Or on YouTube.

Or on Apple.com

C is for Celebrate: Movies Where School is Cool

Today was my final day of my undergraduate work at Boston University so I'm feeling a bit nostalgic and thought it would be worth glancing back at some of the best films that celebrate school, freedom, and future.  I won't do any analysis (since I am officially finished with that until they hand me my degree and I join the working world) but thought it would be fun to collect images and videos for the chance to sigh with relief and remember how much fun school (and movies) can be.

First up, Ferris Bueller's Day Off:

YouTube.

Honorable John Hughes Mention: The Breakfast Club

YouTube.

Animal House: 

YouTube.

Dazed and Confused:

YouTube.

And last but not least, American Graffiti:  

YouTube.


I feel better already.  What college or high school movies do you like best?

Incredible: A Film Made by Us

This is a must watch trailer! The documentary Life in a Day is the result of a global film project that asked people from around the globe to submit videos about their loves and fears on the day July 24, 2010.  Award winning creators Ridley Scott and director Kevin MacDonald are behind the completed film.

Catch it on YouTube here.

Mr. Lumet Made Movies and Wrote a Book So We Could Too.

After the world lost Sidney Lumet this month -- director of (among many others) one of my favorite movies 12 Angry Men -- I decided to reread his book Making Movies. It was the first book about film making that ever fell into my hands and I remember liking it but I was sixteen then and liked practically anything about film.  After scanning over these pages this past week I was struck with how important this book had been in sparking my passion for aspiring to write and direct movies.  In the book Lumet recounts his own personal process and details how stressful and fun film making can be.  Now that I have worked in the industry, studied film fiercely, and remained an avid theater attendee, I realize just how right Roger Ebert was when he called Making Movies "invaluable."

Author Sidney Lumet breaks down the chapters as stages of bringing one film to life from "The Director: The Best Job in the World" to "The Cutting Room: Alone At Last" and finally "The Studio: Was It All For This?"

Perhaps the best part of his book is that Lumet writes with such a conversational tone that it feels as if he is giving you a personal lesson on being a filmmaker.  You might as well have a seat next to him at a table read with Sean Connery or be standing breathless at his side as his talented camera team attempt to get a complicated dollie shot of a moving train in the early sunrise for Murder on the Orient Express. 

It's an exhilarating read that reminds you how simultaneously strictly scheduled and yet surprisingly spontaneous movies can be.  For Lumet there was no other way to shoot 12 Angry Men but to circle the table three times, for the three stages of daylight, and shoot all coverage of one chair at once; the budget was only $350,000 so when one of the juror's was lit in his chair, the crew stayed there until every line from that actor was imprinted on celluloid.  But he also recalls the many "lucky accidents" that occurred on set -- as when Al Pacino shouted "Attica" at the policemen in Dog Day Afternoon -- a combination of passion and circumstance resulting in completely unplanned but memorable moments.

Sidney Lumet was the director of numerous award-winning films including 12 Angry Men, Network, Long Day's Journey Into The Night, The Wiz, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Murder on the Orient Express, The Verdict, Running on Empty, and more recently Until the Devil Knows You're Dead.

Even though he will never make another film, Lumet has left us with an intimate record of his experiences as a director that encourages us to relish in the process as much as he once did.

C is for Check it Out: My Review of 'Jane Eyre'

Hey Everyone -- Check out my latest post to FirstShowing.Net here.

I've reviewed Cary Fukunaga's latest version of the literary classic Jane Eyre starring Mia Wosikowska and Michael Fassbender.  It's a thrilling (near scary) Gothic romance and worth every penny.  A 9/10. Enjoy!

Good Read: Josh Radnor Talks Optimisim in Film

Several weeks ago I came across an editorial written by actor (now writer/director/producer/editor) Josh Radnor, most famously known for his starring role as Ted on CBS's How I Met Your Mother.  

Radnor juggled all the aforementioned jobs to see his script "happythankyoumoreplease" become an independent feature that screened at last year's Sundance Film Festival.  In his article, Radnor describes his confusion over why "feel-good" movies these days are considered not "sophisticated."
 Read Below!

"Why I Chose happythankyoumoreplease Over sadscrewyougetlost." 

by Josh Radnor 

(couresty of HuffingtonPost)

It's probably not spoiling anything to say that "happythankyoumoreplease," the first movie I wrote and directed, does not end tragically. The title pretty much gives that away. At Sundance, where the movie premiered in 2010, one journalist asked me, given that the theme of the festival that year was 'revolution,' what was revolutionary about my 'feel-good, crowd pleasing movie.' What his question revealed, I think, was the strange bias that many critics and cultural tastemakers share when it comes to optimism in film: that which posits a more hopeful vision of things is somehow dismissed as less real or true than a darker tale which ends on a discordant note. In other words, feel-good movies are less sophisticated than feel-bad movies.

My response to his question was that given the cynicism in which much of indie film traffics, the movie is revolutionary in that it's about love and gratitude, and that it's hopeful not bleak. ("Crowd-pleasing" is a curious designation, if you think about it -- shouldn't every movie be "crowd-pleasing?" Who are movies for, after all?) No matter how dark things may get in a story, I feel it's the responsibility of the storyteller to leave the audience with at least a shred of hope. Jonathan Franzen's Freedom recently provided a great example of this for me. For 500 pages, his characters made ever more terrible decisions that brought them nothing but misery. But Franzen, fulfilling his contract with the readers, pulls us out of the nose-dive at the end and gives us something that feels like grace.

When I was writing "happythankyoumoreplease" I was constantly looking to have the characters screw up in bigger and more bone-headed ways. But half the fun of the tangling is the untangling, watching characters grow up and persevere, and all my favorite movies seem to recognize this. A movie can and should have some real dissonance throughout -- rage, heartache, tears, conflict, catharsis and all the other elements Aristotle demanded of a good story -- but the chord has to be resolved. Swelling strings aren't necessary, but by the end there should, I think, be some acknowledgment and evidence that we're not wretched and doomed creatures. Just let me know, in the simplest way, that everything is going to be okay.

Joan Acocella wrote a piece a few years back in The New Yorker about the continuing popularity of Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. She writes of the book being "comforting" (not entirely a compliment) and that Gibran had said that "the whole meaning of the book was 'You are far far greater than you know--and All is well.' To people in doubt or in trouble," Acocella writes, "that is good news." But wait, isn't that good news to everyone?

Apparently not, and here's where we get to the basic fault line of what it means to be a human being. Because we're each, as David Foster Wallace wrote, "marooned in our own skulls," interpreting thoughts, feelings, and incidents through our own specially programmed nervous systems, it's difficult to budge someone from their view of "reality" since all the evidence they need is right there in front of them. One man's uplift is another man's sentimental hooey. And no one is right because -- get this: -- everyone is right. All the time. By that I mean one's thoughts about the world are correct. If you believe the world is dark and frightening and people are not to be trusted, you will seek out evidence to confirm this and that will be what you call 'reality.' If you believe the world to be forgiving and ordered and shot through with grace, you will seek out evidence to confirm this and that will be what you call 'reality.'

The acknowledgment of this basic fact tends to unsettle people, and leads culture warriors to lob accusations of "moral relativism." We want to believe there is such a thing as a right or correct worldview. But how can there be with so many nervous systems wired and conditioned in such vastly different manners? This is not to say we don't need laws and standards of behavior, but we have to acknowledge that the world is endlessly varied and complex. Absolutely everything is available to us -- sorrow and joy, grievance and forgiveness, horror and transcendence -- it's all on the menu. It's up to us where we put our attention because (forgive my dip into metaphysics here) we grow whatever it is we put our attention upon. We're like a gardener with a hose and our attention is water -- we can water flowers or we can water weeds.
The dark and fearful stuff is no less 'true' than its opposite, it just announces itself in a louder, more insistent manner. Joy speaks in more of a whisper and you sometimes have to lean in a bit to hear it. But it's always there for those who can get quiet enough to hear it. I'm not a pollyanna -- I get that the world is rife with horrors. But I also know the world is rife with everything else. There's this great Carlos Castaneda quote: "We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same." I really believe that. Negativity is so reflexive in our society that it takes great vigilance to train yourself anew. But to me it feels worth it.

I've decided that if I'm going to spend years writing, prepping, casting, shooting, editing, sound mixing, color correcting, and publicizing a movie, I'm going to want it to be the kind of movie I would love, where people grow up and get out of their own ways and open up to something bigger than their own egoic needs. Not because this is a truer version of reality, but because it's the reality I wish to grow, the kind of world in which I would most like to live. When so much else is calling attention to the dark and dysfunctional, I just don't feel it's my job to contribute. Too many people are already on the case.

Here is the trailer for happythankyoumoreplease in case you are interested, and the script is also available for download at mypdfscripts. Enjoy!

Rest in Peace Ms. Elizabeth Taylor

Academy Award winning actress Elizabeth Taylor has passed away at the age of 79.

Ms. Taylor began her career as a child actress and appeared in films such as Little Woman and Father of the Bride before performing alongside James Dean in Giant.  Her most famous roles, perhaps even today, are as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and as the titular Cleopatra.  Elizabeth Taylor was awarded two Oscars for her roles in Butterfield 8 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? but she is often remembered for her glamorous Hollywood sex appeal and the scandals of her eight marriages.

Taylor's manager confirmed that Elizabeth succumbed to congestive heart failure at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles earlier this morning.  The starlet's son released this statement:

"My Mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love. Though her loss is devastating to those of us who held her so close and so dear, we will always be inspired by her enduring contribution to our world. Her remarkable body of work in film, her ongoing success as a businesswoman, and her brave and relentless advocacy in the fight against HIV/AIDS, all make us all incredibly proud of what she accomplished. We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having lived in it. Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, and her love will live forever in our hearts."

Turner Classic Movies's Twitter is filled with exclusive photographs of Taylor and the channel will be airing a 24-hour marathon of her films on April 10th.

Rest in Peace.

C is for 'Check it Out': My Latest Editorial for First Showing

Hey Everyone -- Head on over to Firstshowing.net to read my latest editorial titled:

"Why Documentaries Can and Should be Considered Cool"

Good Read: "The Day The Movies Died"

Mark Harris, over at GQ.com's Entertianment page, has written a fascinating article about how 2011 is already set to be a year of endless sequels, with 2012 following closely in it's footsteps.  Where has all the creativity gone?  As Harris puts it: Hollywood has become an institution that is more interested in launching the next rubberized action figure than in making the next interesting movie.

Check out his article here.

Perhaps the most interesting (or horrifying) note is that Harris missed quite a few movies in his article.  In fact, the amount of sequels (and third and fourth and fifth and even beyond) will break the record for most in a single year.  For a compiled list of the uncreative mass of Hollywood flicks to be released in 2011, look below:

So in the end, the world will see 27 sequels total next year.  Nine second movies (that's up from eight in 2010), five third movies, five fourth movies, five fifth movies, two seventh movies and one eighth movie.

The Sequels: Cars 2, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules, The Hangover Part II, Harrpy Feet 2, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, Johnny English Reborn, Kung Fu Panda 2, Piranha 3DD, and Sherlock Holmes: The Book of Shadows.

The Thirds: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, Madea's Big Happy family, Paranormal Activity 3, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. 

The Fourths: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Scream 4: All the Time in the World and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One.)

The Fifths: Fast Five, Final Destination 5, Puss in Boots, X-Men: First Class, and Winnie the Pooh. 

The Sevenths: The Muppets and Rise of the Apes. 

And Finally, the Eights: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two. 

This list doesn't include New Year's Eve (which is sort of a sequel) and The Thing (a prequel.)

*The List above is courtesy of SlashFilm.

Very Cool Find: hitRECord.org

Ever heard of this?  Today I discovered actor Joseph Gordon Levitt's website www.hitrecord.org.

HitRECord started five years ago as an online community for artists from around the world to collaborate on homemade projects; different individuals provide the writing, the visuals, and the audio which are combined in various ways including to make short films.

 
As of 2010, Joe's website evolved into a full fledged professional production company which has since screened at the Sundance Film Festival and South by Southwest.  Profits of any successful project are distributed among it's online collaborators!  How cool is this?  Below is a video with Joe explaining the concept of the site in his own words:

You can follow Joseph Gordon Levitt on twitter @hitRECordJoe and click here to see the company's site!

Mashup: The Best Inspirational Speeches on Film

I'm not sure if any of you have seen this video before but I think it is hilarious and actually really well edited.  It combines the inspirational speeches from films like Braveheart, King Henry V, Miracle, Animal House, Old School, Newsies, Bring It On, Network, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington just to name a few!

It's a celebration of movies and makes me feel like a giddy kid!  Enjoy!

Find it on YouTube.

Great Scene: Good Will Hunting's "The Harvard Bar"

The moment when Matt Damon's character Will Hunting uses his intelligence to defend his pal.  It's the first time in the film that the audience hears the extent of Will's genius (as does his romantic lead played by Minnie Driver) and we finally believe that maybe this Southie kid can do something important with his abounding knowledge.

Or watch it on YouTube.

C is for Comparison: Dynamic Duos

I stumbled upon two clips that present a fairly odd, but intriguing comparison.  Let's go chronologically in reverse.

Subject Number One: The Club Scene in Robert Zemeckis's 1988 live action/cartoon crossover Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  More specifically, the dueling piano players.  The pianists donning tuxes are manic versions of Donald Duck and Daffy Duck.  Take a look below:

Or via YouTube.

Now onto Subject Number Two: A Performance scene from Charlie Chaplin's very own 1952 feature Limelight.  Written and Directed by the Tramp, Chaplin has also cast another famous silent film comedian as his musical partner: Mr. Buster Keaton.  See their, much slower-paced, bumbling performance below:

Or on YouTube.

So what do you think?  A coincidence?  Or might Zemeckis and his producing partner Steven Spielberg be making a nod toward the great physical comedians of the past?

Who knows, but looking at the two clips side by side is a lot of fun!

***Side Note***

It has been said that Friz Frelen admittedly based his cartoon character Bugs Bunny on Clark Gable's performance as the fast-talking reporter Peter Werne in Frank Capra's It Happened One Night (1939.)  Check out the clip below where Gable is even munching on a carrot!

On YouTube.

Now compare with a 1960's Warner Brother's ad featuring the famed bunny.

On YouTube.

So what do you think?

Remember This: Discovery Channel's Incredible Commercial

The world is awesome and this commercial reminds us that it's true.

 

Watch the video on YouTube.

Find this Film: Long Way Down/Long Way Round

Alright, so technically these aren't films, they are a set of television series following actor Ewan McGregor and his pal Charley Boorman (son of famed director John Boorman) as they ride their motorcycles around the globe.  They are mesmerizing and humorous travelogues that happen to be a blast to watch!

The first of the documentary series was titled Long Way Down and consisted of seven episodes, tracing Ewan and Charley as they journeyed from London to New York.  They rode their highly-specialized BMW motorbikes through twelve countries including England, France, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Alaska, Canada, and the US all while followed by a small crew in a two-car caravan.  The trip totals some 20,000 miles.

The duo's adventure is much more than an elongated vacation, though.  Both Ewan and Charley work with UNICEF, making stops in hospitals and care centers around the world.  The stories, of Eastern European hospitals for example, are touching and a humbling break from this extravagant trip we get to take vicariously through the actors.  

After successfully traversing the globe via motorcycle, Ewan and Charley planned another trip, this time from the northern tip of Scotland, through Europe and Africa, all the way down to Cape Town, South Africa.  This second documentary series was entitled Long Way Down.  

The second course included a total of eighteen countries: Scotland, England, France, Italy, Tunisia, Lybia, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.  The excursion spanned 15,000 miles and took the crew 85 days to complete.

In Africa the men face harsh weather conditions including sandstorms and monsoon rains, while managing their heavy bikes in unpaved, sandy roads.  Ewan and Charley visit the pyramids, go on safari, meet the President of Rwanda, and again visit with UNICEF organizations.

 

These shows feature incredible views into worlds we may never get to see and adventurous tour guides in Ewan and Charley. The landscapes are interchangeably lush and coarse and the journey is a feat of endurance.  It's a pleasure to watch.

I highly recommend finding copies of these corresponding series.  You can learn more details on the show and the motorbike excursions themselves on the series' website Long Way Round and you can rent the programs from Netflix (though they are not, currently, available for streaming/play now.)

Enjoy!

Behind the Scenes: Inception

Here is a very interesting featurette on how Director Christopher Nolan and his crew created and filmed the corridor sequence (and zero gravity effects) for his Academy Award Nominated film Inception. Enjoy!

From the Mind (and Hands) of Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert's latest blog post "Goodbye to All That" details his decision to no longer attend the Cinema Interruptus event in Boulder, CO where he has been an annual speaker for forty years.  He tried it only once after his battle with thyroid cancer left him famously muted, but in the dark he couldn't type his thoughts.  He was, without a voice, invisible.  "When you can't run, you can't be in the race" Ebert writes. 

 

But the most poignant line in his piece recalls a time in High School.  An old teacher asked Roger why he wrote about so much death.  He claims it was because he had an appreciation for the fullness of life.  Ebert eloquently writes: "Even in high school I was keenly aware of floating on the river of time.  I was placed in the current at birth, and given the opportunity to experience consciousness for an undetermined number of years as I drifted on the river out of Eden."

Humanity as drift wood or runaway leaves.  Fragile, fast paced, unpredictable.  A journey that we experience rather than control, at least for as long as we're allowed the chance. 

A romantic perspective of life, for a romantic holiday.  Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!