Archive for September, 2008

Another Way To Die music video drops

The Jack White & Alicia Keys theme song for the upcoming Bond film Quantum Of Solace has premiered exclusively over at Yahoo!. Check it out and let us know what you think and where it ranks in the hall of Bond movie themes. I do wonder, however, how would Amy Winehouse’s version of this would have sounded like.

Have you visited They Came From The Valley lately?

So They Came From Valley has been around for a while and we’ve had a pretty good response so far. At this point, users have uploaded 26 different videos (including some of our swedes from the Fresno Swede Film Festival) and I have to say, it’s a pretty good gathering of some of the different talents around here. If you haven’t gone by in a while, I invite you to do so and discover some of the local talent we have here. Also, if you have some stuff to upload, do it NOW! We’re always keeping an eye out for new stuff (but remember, we’ve got guidelines) so bust out that DV tape and send it up over there. We also have some forums over there to discuss all the latest happenings. Vimeo makes it easy and the quality looks 100 times better than You Tube so why are you still reading this and not over there yet?

Random Goodness: Marc Ecko does Star Wars

Just last week, PartyMarty & I were discussing the Marvel Comics license Marc Ecko obtained for a couple of years around 1999 and how it was one of the first times that a license was used in that manner to attract the older generation of comic book fans with dope integration between comic books & clothing design. No longer were we limited to logo stamped t-shirts from comic book stores. Nope, the characters we grew up reading had been implemented in a tasteful manner in which nerds all around wouldn’t have to fear getting ridiculed for wear such things. And now, it seems that era might have returned with Ecko picking up the Star wars license. Fuck….that Boba Fett hoodie is so fucken dope! Sure, it’s $98 but dude……it’s a Boba Fett hoodie! You can head on over to the official site here and place you order right now if you got the skrilla but I’m sure we’ll be seeing these hitting your favorite mall pretty soon. Guess I finally have a reason to return to the mall to shop for clothes. Head on over to Slash Film here to check out the full post including a special code on how to get $10 off any order over $100 PLUS free shipping. Nice!

Dem Trailers: Seven Pounds

I saw this trailer for the first time during last Friday’s Presidential debate as from what I saw, it looks pretty good. Awesome cast, cool visual style…nice. Supposedly, this is the film that will win the Fresh Prince an Oscar (but remember, so was The Pursuit Of Happyness) but we’ll see. Check it out and let us know if you think this is the one for Will Smith.

Dem Trailers: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Lot of trailers today (I guess the studios are expecting Eagle Eye to do big this weekend) and here’s David Fincher’s newest. A lot of speculation that there’s beef happening between the director and the studio heads over the cut of the film but who knows how this’ll end up. Some early reviews have been not so nice. Check out the trailer over here at Apple and see what you think.

Dem Trailers: Extended W. Trailer

W.

Perfect way to start off debate night! This a very extended trailer for Oliver Stone’s comedy/drama/satire project. Is this going to be the sneak attack film of the season? Who knows but it looks good so far. And I’m not a huge Stone fan either!

Dem Trailers: The Spirit

Another trailer from Frank Miller’s upcoming film has dropped in to save us from the crap that was the leaked video out of San Diego Comic Con earlier this year. Did it do it’s job and clear up that entire mess or just make it worse? Sam jackson has described this film as a real life “Looney Toons” movie. Interesting….Head on over to Moviefone here, check it out and let us know: does this mark the beginning of a long movie career for Miller or the implosion of an artist with too much vision.

New Mighty Muggs reveal themselves

Behold the great Soundwave! Aight, I wasn’t too excited about the Transformers line when it was announced at Comic Con but that looks pretty bad ass!

And although these have been announced for a while, here is the first pic of the entire next wave. Classic Iron Man FTW! And finally, it has been announced that the Indiana Jones line has been canceled. WTF!? I want my damn Dr. Henry Jones, dammit! I know people that have picked these up but according to Mighty Muggs Lounge (which is where all these pictures & info come from), all Waves (including Wave 2) have been cancelled. Time to start picking them up on eBay, people!

Dem Trailers: Valkyrie

Damn, that was a pretty bad ass trailer. The music, the cuts…yeah, cool as hell. Through all the trouble this production has been through, it’s cool to finally see something that really gets me hyped up on the film. Hurry up and check out the trailer over here at Yahoo! and let us know what you think.

The Best Films of 08′ (so far) According To partymarty

Any time you have 4 GREAT comic book films hit the big screen in a year, you know it’s going to be an awesome year of film goodness. Seriously, I haven’t been this excited about going to the movies in a loooong time. This also marks the first time I watched a movie in a theater around the same time The Fresno Bee gets delivered in my neighborhood. Who does that?? We do it here at The Drum. Anyways, my top 5 of the year so far:

5. Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr. really delivered a stellar performance as Tony Stark. This is really a no-brainer here. You’ve got a mega-millionaire playboy genius who’s got it all…and on top of that, he’s got a suit of armor that makes him virtually indestructable. He can fly, deflect gunfire, shoot rockets out of his forearm and go 12 for 12 with Maxim cover girls. Tony Stark is the epitome of Alpha Male-ness. Tony Stark is who I wanted to be when I grew up. I like blogging too.

4. Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

When I think of cool documentaries I think of films like Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine and Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size me. Those films are intriguing, have a bit of humor and they somehow manage to keep you entertained without the assistance of huge explosions, CGI, or Megan Fox. Bigger, Stronger, Faster* is a documentary by Chris Bell, a regular guy who, like any kid, just wanted to be like Rambo, Arnold and Hulk Hogan. Bell and his brothers are all powerlifters who have experimented with anabolic steroids and this film gives you a peek into their everyday lives, dreams and issues. BSF* also uncovers the dark truth about steroids and the people that use them. What I like most about this movie is you don’t have to be a gym rat meathead with tubs of whey protein in your kitchen to love this film. But if you are, then it’s f***ing awesome.

3. The Dark Knight

Number 3? Having an epic film like TDK take the third spot really speaks volumes about the kind of year it’s been in film. A ridiculously amazing performance by Heath Ledger, a brilliant screenplay and a big fat IMAX screen at 6:00a.m. For me, this is about as close to movie perfection as it gets and it just happens to be about a comic book super hero. I really want to put this at number one, but these two other films got in the way.

2. The Wackness

Ahh, The Wackness. The best movie of 2008 that you probably didn’t even hear of because it didn’t show in a theater anywhere in the valley. Classic hip-hop soundtrack, a great script and I really thought Josh Peck pulled off the “Shapiro” role pretty damn well. This film really took me back. It reminded me of hanging out with my cousins as we blazed it up and listened to music that would eventually become classics. There were just so many moments from this movie that I could relate to , moments that were so meaningful that I would still remember them to this day like they happened yesterday. This is a movie that you absolutely have to watch ASAP if you haven’t already.

1. Cloverfield

I’ve said it before, I’m a big, fat sucker for epic , “OMG, we’re all gonna DIE!!!” disaster movies. War of the Worlds was my fave in the genre until this mofo came outta nowhere and bitch slapped it. For a whole 85 minutes I sat back and watched 4 people in New York try and survive a Godzilla-style attack on thier home and loved ones, all by way of a hand-held cam. For those 85 minutes I forgot where I was, I forgot what bills I had to pay, and I forgot about the car in my drive way with a blown motor that I had just replaced a few months before. The visuals were amazing, the audio blew my mind and I love how Abrams teased the whole way through, never completely reavealing the giant creature that rips NY a new one until the very end. This is film making at it’s finest. This is quite possibly my most favorite movie of all time.

Didn’t make the list:
Wall-E
The Fall
Hancock

Biggest Disappointments So Far:
The Happening
Drillbit Taylor
The Love Guru

brodiemash’s Top 5 Films of 2008 (so far)

So we’ve made it clear into September (OMG, Halloween is right around the corner) and this year has been one of the best as far as the quality of films released so far. And we haven’t even started Oscar season which will undoubtedly bring us some more good stuff. So to preempt the barrage of films surging this way, here are my top 5 films released so far this year:

5. Wall-E

I was expecting that this film was gonna be good but I didn’t expect what it ended up being: A silent film with so much heart that it leaves you with a good feeling when you leave the theater. You know that age old movie quote “A feel good movie”? Wall-E is the manifestation of that very quote. Pixar has had a track record that rivals any and this one has to rank up there as one of the very best films they’ve ever done.

4. Iron Man

3. The Dark Knight

Some of you might be shocked that this isn’t #1 on my list and I’m right there with you. It’s really hard to describe what a “perfect film” is but this one came so close to living up to that title. There were a few kinks in there that kind of bothered me over all but overall The Dark Knight rocked. We’ll see what happens with this film come Oscar season as I’d be surprised if Heath Ledger doesn’t get some kind of nomination here.

2. The Wackness

I doubt that this film will make it onto most people’s top list (especially here in Fresno since the film never opened up here; according to this the film is going to open in Visalia on Oct. 15th) but I was fortunate to see this awesome film and it touched a brother’s heart. From the script to the music, it was an awesome experience and know that nostalgia played a big factor in The Wackness‘ position on my list. 1994 was a tremendous year in music and life in general for me so this flick really took me back. Awesome stuff.

1. The Fall

Like I’ve said in the past, storytelling is king in my book. And to see this story come to life through a little girl’s imagination just exploded my head. Tarsem’s surreal visuals really did a wonderful job of projecting this world in the film. Sure the script might not have been perfect but the acting (especially from Catinca Untaru, who deserves at least a nomination for her role of the young girl Alexandria) packaged along with the sheer awesomeness of the music, visuals & the creativity really made this the most enjoyable film I’ve seen this year. The film was just released on DVD & Blu Ray so I suggest you pick it up and check it out. Or at least throw it on your Netflix Queue.

And that’s the list so far. We still have some heavyweights coming between now & January so who knows how this list will look like when I do my Top 10 of the year then. So let me know what you guys think. Did I miss anything? Let me know what your Top 5 films of 2008 are so far.

Dem Trailers: W.

Well, the W. teaser came out and now here’s the first full trailer. Oliver Stone doing George W. Bush. Right there, your either really wanna see this or you really wanna protest it. Either way, you can go over to Yahoo! here to check it out and let us know what you think.

Zero Puncuation: Castle Crashers & Bionic Commando Review