The great thing about zombies being so in style is that you can write about then after Halloween without feeling guilty! So it’s with pleasure that I can share this Night Of The Living Kev Inaction Figure which captures director Kevin Smith who is sporting the Monroeville Zombies t-shirt as worn by Seth Rogan in Kevin’s film Zack & Miri Make a Porno: Read more…
Today is the 82nd birthday of Sir Roger George Moore, who sadly is known to most folks as “the James Bond that isn’t Sean Connery!” Now I know it’s a classic fanboy argument to rate each James Bond and then chastise poor Roger Moore for being too slick, too smooth and too English to be James Bond. Yet I think that’s an unfair argument because to really appreciate why Moore got the 007 role you have to go a few years back in time to 1962 when Moore made his name as The Saint. Read more…
On this day in 1968 the French erotic science fiction film Barbarella was released in the United States. The film failed on pretty much every level as the critics hated it and it made no money at the box office, however thanks to the wonders of home video Barbarella became a cult hit in 1977 when it was re-released. Read more…
If this was a straight out comedy I think I’d appreciate it, but sadly Me and Orson Welles has chick flick written all over it. On one hand the subject matter is so very rich, but on the other hand Zac Efron seems so very shallow. Why can’t Hollywood get anything right?Read more…
Hollywood thinks we’re idiots, and sadly for the most part they’re right. Oh sure some great films will do well from time to time but sadly it’s stuff like Transformers 3 that makes the big bucks. If we want Hollywood to make great films we’ve got to vote with our dollars. Shown above is the latest trailer for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and I don’t have to tell you how much grief Gilliam went through to make it. Send a message to the schlockmeisters and the bean counters that creativity counts for something.
I always wrongly credited George Lucas with introducing that infamous Princess Leia hairstyle but alas it looks like I was wrong! Shown above is a clip from the Gene Roddenberry television series Planet Earth which aired as a pilot in 1974 and it looks like the population of post-apocalyptic really likes to put their hair in a bun.
This film looks silly, stupid and dumb — but I’ve got to see it! Yeah sure the plot reminds me a bit too much of Buffy meets The Lost Boys but that passes with me if you do it with a good sense of humor, and seeing John C. Reilly on the screen makes me feel sort of happy from the get go. And then add Salma Hayek doing her goth thing and we know we’re going to have some fun here. The Vampire’s Assistant opens on October 23rd.
On this day in 1961 the classic film The Hustler opened to both critical and popular success. Frankly before this film Paul Newman had an amazing body of work behind him, but this was the film that made him a star for years to come. The reason is that in this film Newman fine tunes his anti-establishment personality on the screen which would resinate with audiences in the 60s and 70s with films like Cool Hand Luke and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This trait allowed his career to continue after the 50s while many other actors from that decade fell out of style. Sadly as of tomorrow (September 26th) Paul Newman passed away exactly a year ago — but this film is a treasure worth revisiting for every fanboy of the cinema. Read more…
Above is a featurette promoting the film Pandorum. Of course I’m a sucker for sci fi so any film with a spaceship goes to the top of my list, although being an old fanboy I’ve become cynical over the years anytime I see something that I think I’ve seen before. Pandorum looks like a number of other films I’ve seen on the surface but I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. So I guess this film goes on my “got to find out some more” list which is bad as it opens this week on September 25th.
No this isn’t a film based upon the life of Charles Bronson the actor — this is a film based on the life of Michael Gordon Peterson an English criminal who changed his name to Charles “Charlie” Bronson who has earned a reputation as the “most violent prisoner in Britain”. The hype being pushed on this film is that it’s suppose to be a modern Clockwork Orange but actually it reminds me a bit of The Krays which was a very well done true life crime film from the early 90s. Bronson is due to hit theaters on October 9th. Read more…
On this day in 1958 the then controversial film Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened up, and while we live in a much more liberal society than that of 51 years ago I wonder if this film (or something on the level of this film) would get made today? The film was based on a play by Tennessee Williams; now when was the last time that Hollywood put major bucks and star power behind a story that didn’t start life as a comic book or television series? Read more…
Shown above are the latest TV spots for Where the Wild Things Are, the only different between the two spots are the quotes from the critics. In an age of bad Pixar copies it’s so refreshing to see a lack of technology on the screen for a project like this: Yet even in these shot clips there’s a sense of wonder that so many bad computer animated films never seem to capture. I guess I know I’m going to be standing on line for this one…Read more…
I never quite respected the film Rambo, but that said Brian Dennehy is a brilliant actor so I have to give his opinion some consideration. In this interview he talks a bit about the first Rambo film and how he feels that it was a good film, but what ruined it was the fact that Hollywood (i.e. the producers) had Rambo live instead of killing him off in the first film as shown here in the alternate ending: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 4, 2009 in Cinema, Horror
What do you get when you mix up Dracula, a cloned version of the comedy team of Martin & Lewis and a guy in a gorilla suit? Well on this day in 1952 you got the opening of the cult classic comedy film Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. Frankly poor Bella was always an afterthought, in fact he only spends a few minutes on the screen although it’s his name that has kept the flame going for lovers of camp films all these years later. The film was made at the height of fame of the comedy act of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis — in fact the duo sued to stop the film but failed. Read more…
On the face of it Inglourious Basterds looks like a clear cut “World War II guys film” if there ever was one, but the inclusion of the character Shosanna Dreyfus made me realize that there was a bit more going on here. In fact in interviews Quentin Tarantino states that Shosanna was “always a main character”. Which made me reflect on the wealth and diversity of ladies that Tarantino has always featured in his films — in fact it’s something that makes his films into something much more interesting than what you see out of Hollywood. Of course part of his magic is that often Tarantino will write a role with a particular actress in mind. Here are my favorites characters that he’s conjured up over the years: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 13, 2009 in Animation, Cinema
We like to think of sci fi films as something new, but the fact of the matter is that the genre is now over a century old. On this day in 1909 the French film Le Voyage sur Jupiter opened in the United States. Directed by Spanish filmmaker Segundo de Chomón in 1907 the movie is quite similar to Le voyage dans la lune from 1902 by Georges Méliès. Although to his credit Chomón was very good at special effects and shows off a few new tricks here. Read more…
My good friends Carolyn Lengel and Mike Enright are running a very cool Bollywood film series up at the Ossining Public Library (in Ossining, New York of course!): This Saturday they’ll be showing the 1998 film Dil Se (दिल से which translates to From the Heart). Shown above is their wonderful video promotion for the film which gives you a very good taste of the plot. And below is a fan made trailer for the film: Read more…
At long last The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is starting to see the light of day! This first trailer looks amazing, it sort of reminds me of what Terry Gilliam was doing with Brazil in a roundabout way. Many folks are focusing on the fact that this was Heath Ledger’s last film, but for me th real story is that this is a make-or-break moment for Terry Gilliam. Read more…
If you told me a few months ago that I’d be looking ahead to a live action version of Where The Wild Things Are I’d say that you were crazy — however it looks like Spike Jonze is set to change that! I also love the fact that Maurice Sendak really seems on board: When was the last time that a book author was behind a Hollywood film? I think the last director to pull that off was Stanley Kubrick…
I was heartbroken to hear that John Hughes passed away: Not only had Hughes shaped my generation in the 80s, but even today teens are rediscovering his films and identifying with them. It’s a bit too early to tell, but to me this hints that some of those films will without a doubt be seen as future classics in the years to come. And maybe that’s because there’s something for everyone to identify with in those films, the Breakfast Club is a great example of this which featured almost every teen archetype of the era. So without further ado here are ten reasons I admired John Hughes: Read more…
This is the latest viral video promotion for Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds — it’s a film within a film trailer. I spotted this last night on YouTube but I didn’t click on the thumbnail to make the connection (shame on me). But one thing I know for sure: Come August 21st I’ll be waiting in line to see this film on opening night. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 27, 2009 in Animation, Cinema
On this date in 1949 — yes that’s exactly sixty years ago — the film Mighty Joe Young was released in the United States. I grew up with this film because it was always paired up as the double feature with King Kong during holidays on ancient broadcast television (this wasn’t the major networks by the way, something you’d see on an independent channel like WOR-TV here in NYC). King Kong was of course an iconic film made in 1933 and even watching in the 21st Century it still is a powerful film — but sadly like a lesser little brother Mighty Joe Young never quite measured up in my book. Read more…
This is nice mini-feature promotional film that was just released to promote Where the Wild Things Are. What I love about this video is that they really showcase Maurice Sendak here, I mean when was the last time you found the author of a book promoting the film? Also I know director Spike Jonze is going to have fun with the film given his previous track record — and I also think that Catherine Keener is one of the most underrated actors I know of: So i can’t wait to see this film!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 25, 2009 in Animation, Cinema
I hate to say it: But it looks like director Joseph Kosinski is doing a nice job with this Tron update! What’s great is that they’ve kept to vision of the original art direction of the film and given it just the right dash of slick. I also like the fact that Jeff Bridges is in this film as well. Hats off to Disney for getting this one right…
On the face of it Inglourious Basterds looks like a clear cut “World War II guys film” if there ever was one, but the inclusion of the character Shosanna Dreyfus made me realize that there was a bit more going on here. In fact in interviews Quentin Tarantino states that Shosanna was “always a main character”. Which made me reflect on the wealth and diversity of ladies that Tarantino has always featured in his films — in fact it’s something that makes his films into something much more interesting than what you see out of Hollywood. Of course part of his magic is that often Tarantino will write a role with a particular actress in mind. Here are my favorites characters that he’s conjured up over the years: 
I was heartbroken to hear that 
On this date in 1949 — yes that’s exactly sixty years ago — the film