Red band Cop Out trailer tries to convince us this movie ain’t gonna suck

(Red band trailer means NSFW) I will go see this movie on opening weekend and when I do, I’m hoping that I’ll leave the theater with a few laughs expunged and a smile on my face. To expect greatness would be much, especially after seeing the first trailer and now this red band trailer. There are some aight lines in there but for every good one, there were 2 not so good ones. Either way, I’ll give Kevin Smith the benefit of the doubt and peep it out. So where are you on this movie? You straight out decide it’s a no-go from these early previews or are you already putting this on your early Oscar list for 2011?

Random Goodness: Spider-Man by Wes Anderson

After Spider-Man 4 was shit canned by the studio and a reboot for the series was in order, a few names were tossed around as to whom would be taking over the director’s chair from Sam Raimi. The studio finally settled on Marc Webb, director of (500) Days Of Summer but among the directors whom were speculated was Wes Anderson. Now to see Anderson take on the life of Peter Parker might have been an interesting prospect and thankfully, these guys have decided to shoot themselves a trailer of what such a project would of looked like. Well done, boys! [Via Slash Film]

The Last Airbender Super Bowl spot appears

I know nothing of the source material where the movies comes from besides my buddy’s constant rants about how amazing the anime series is but this spot looks pretty good. Special effects look clean, stylized action sequences from M. Night are enticing and I think this movie just made it onto my list of movies to watch out for in 2010. So are you sold on this yet?

Would you buy a Chevy Volt?

So we’ve been excited for the Chevy Volt here for a while now and as we get closer & closer to actually seeing these things on the road, GM has been releasing more info on how the car will work, including this little instructional video on how exactly the car’s battery & recharging system work. So I know I won’t be in the market for a car for at least another 2 years (hopefully by then the second generation Volt will be out) but I’m interested in seeing how many people are seriously considering purchasing one of these when it drops later this year. I mean the Toyota Prius seems to be the favorite hybrid car right now and I wonder where those sales are going to be after the release of this car. I think the big question lies with the final price tag on this car. The rumors say anywhere between $35,000 to $45,000 but that’s before government tax incentives. So what do you think? Are you looking at picking one of these up or you holding out for jet packs? Comment away!

International red band Kick-Ass trailer hits

(Red band trailer means NSFW) Man, it seem like they’re releasing new trailers for this film every other week nowadays and I’m hoping that they don’t saturate the airwaves with too much of this stuff. Yeah, I know. The irony of a fanboy asking for less stuff to be on the internet doesn’t escape me but I really hope that the film is a success. On a side note, I wonder if Hit-Girl will become a best selling Halloween costume this year.

Movie Music Moments

This might be coming out of left field, but it’s something I’ve been increasingly pondering in my free time (which is becoming increasingly abundant.  Damn youse job market!).

Every so often in cinemaland,  the visuals, the acting, and the story take a backseat to something very underrepresented and special: the music. There are moments in film where the music is so perfectly composed or inserted at just the right moment to really drive home the point of a moment, serving as a layer on top of the rest of the sensory input we’re receiving from performance and speech and sound effects which speaks to something…more. It’s ethereal, summarizing a directorial point in the film, an unseen cue that may speak to the deeper emotional state of the character, or perhaps the writer and director themselves. The background suddenly takes precedence, and an entire film’s worth of emotional weight and resonance can hit with a few opening chords. I’m going to place a few of my own picks below, but please, add your own in to the comments. Also, if you haven’t seen the films, ignore the clips I manage to find. You’d be cheating yourself out of the real feel of things. Too, some of these may include SPOILERS, which I’m vehemently against, so, you’ve been warned.

The Matrix – Spybreak – Propellerheads

“Freeze!”

Neo and Trinity share a look, and then all hell breaks loose. As the first shot is fired, this song kicks in, and never before has a song been so synonymous with a debaucherous orgy of bullets and killins. You know exactly what song I’m talking about, in all likelihood, and if you don’t recognize it by name, you will as soon as you watch the clip. The scene has left an indelible mark on the movie map, and the adrenaline-laced breakbeat here works flawlessly, whether the tempo of the characters is in slow motion or full speed. It is seamlessly and undeniably entwined with the film, the lobby shootout, and the feel of the movie as a whole.

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Spanish-language film series coming to The Tower Theatre

In a few short weeks a new local film series called CineAméricas will begin showing Spanish-language films every Sunday afternoon at The Tower Theatre. Armida Espinoza, founder of the film series, says her inspiration to create CineAméricas came from childhood memories of spending hours watching Mexican cinema at the old Azteca Theater in Chinatown. Espinoza hopes to recreate the same memorable, family atmosphere with her new venture at The Tower. Films will play at noon and 3pm every Sunday. Tickets will cost $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5 for children. The film series kicks off on Sunday, February 21, 2010 with a screening of the Uruguayan film “El Baño del Papa” (The Pope’s Toilet). Check out the trailer above and visit www.cineamericas.com for more info.

Dem Trailers: The Losers

Okay, so it looks like a total rip-off of the A-Team, right? But it’s cool because of this one single fact: Idris Elba plays a character named “Roque.” I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s pronounced and this extra long trailer (which probably means we’ve just seen all the cool parts of the film) doesn’t refer to him by name once. But I’ll pay the price of admission to hear that. Oh, and to see Zoe Saldana get all “teh sex” and whatnot. So what do you guys think? Is The Comedian action star/leading man material? Let us know.

Dem Trailers: Wall Street – Money Never Sleeps

Gordon Gekko makes his triumphant return from a prison stint… apparently. Okay, honestly I’ve never seen the original Wall Street so I’m totally new to this universe but the trailer really drew me in and kinda mad me wanna check out the original. Oliver Stone returns to helm the sequel and lately he’s been a “meh” streak but I have to say, the cast looks pretty damn good. Except, of course, for Shia. But if you’ve seen the original, are you looking forward to this? Let us know!

brodiemash’s top 5 most influential movies of the decade

The decade that ran from 2000 to 2010 was a pivotal one for me as a filmmaker. Many people talk about being influenced by films from their childhood but I honestly can’t say that very many movies from mine have had similar effects. But the films from this last decade have had every little thing to do with me growing into a filmmaker. So for me, these are the most influential films for me in the past decade, and although the first four I cannot rank, I do have a favorite of the decade, which is that last one on this list:

Scratch (2001)
As soon as I finished watching this documentary, I went into my room and started writing. Now, I know that the film has nothing to do with writing but what it did to to see these people dedicate themselves to a craft and focus until they were on top of their game really inspired me. Anytime I’ve been lazy and not keeping up to a satisfactory level of being productive, I throw this film on and I immediately receive a swift kick in the ass and I think sometimes, we all need one of those.

The Fall (2008)
When I was a child, my sister told me the greatest story I’ve ever heard. She was reading from a book as I sat on her lap. After wards, I went back to read the story again and went to the page where she was reading from and it was an ornate picture with the words “Look at this picture and create your own story.” I was crushed to learn that I would never here that story again and to this day it haunts me. Take what you will from that story but Tarsem’s film served as reminder of how a child’s imagination can take something mundane and turn it into something fantastic! Plus the visuals & the use of Figlio Perduto in the trailer did it for me ;) (Continue reading…)