Cinema is Dope

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I love this picture of George Clooney and Frances McDormand in a movie theater in Burn After Reading. The most important question for those that prefer their Coen Brothers cinema to be more No Country serious is when will they return to a film like that? At the moment there really isn’t such a film in their pipeline until Hail Caesar (2009 or more likely 2010 after they make dark comedy A Serious Man), which is a 1920’s period piece centered around a William Shakespeare stage play, Julius Caesar (wiki). stage play. As for me, the film of theirs that I most look forward to is their take on one of my all-time favorite films, Gambit. I discovered Gambit at one of the Tarantino film festivals and mark the poster I have for it as one of the most cleverly conceived - you can spoil the ending, just don’t spoil the beginning.

Burn After Reading recently screened at the 65th Venice Film Festival and upcoming will be at the Toronto International Film Festival. The US release follows shortly thereafter.

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Vintage Movie Wallpaper of the Day
Saturday, August 30, 2008

I don’t know if it’s the best WWI film ever made, but it certainly is one of the most haunting. With Kirk Douglas as Col. Dax and Stanley Kubrick behind the helm, this film takes patriotic grit and the hell of war and asks the timeless question on the sanity of mankind always waging wars with itself. At least that is my take on the film and it certainly is a work that is open to multiple interpretations.

Amazon.com Link:
::: Buy the Paths of Glory DVD
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Good silly Coen Brothers fun is about to be on the menu in short order for US audiences with Burn After Reading opening in early September. The film also bows at the 65th Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.

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My last visit with There Will Be Blood was literally on its hollowed ground where it was made. Back in May I visited the Marfa Film Festival which had a special Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow on its set of Little Boston (report of this visit that I filed on Twitch). It seems fitting on the verge of Fantastic Fest 2008 that I came across these two stills I hadn’t previously seen. Since the last festival in September of 2007, I traveled the world to many film festivals and the profile of the festival based on having the world premiere of There Will Be Blood was considerably raised. Many people didn’t necessarily know the name of the festival, as they called it, “that festival that first screened There Will Be Blood!” It still seems unbelievable that we screened it first and still revel in its magical screening and atmosphere… I just don’t know if I’ve ever had as good of a film going experience.

And so now we turn our gaze and attention to Fantastic Fest 2008 and many wondering if we can equal or top last year. Which the simple answer is some film screenings are just priceless and will never be equaled or repeated. Each film and its related screening carries its own magic and ambiance… it’s own place in our hearts and minds that feels timeless. As such we can still carry on this legacy with new nights and screenings with new cinema magic. It’s not so much about trying to recreate what has come as expanding upon it and continuing to seek out new ways to celebrate cinema. To that end, 2008 will be no exception as Fantastic Fest has once again pulled out all the stops and now it’s almost time again to bask in cinema glory for 10 days in the movie capital of the world - Austin, Texas!

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With this new still, Terminator Salvation keeps looking more and more promising (previous image)! Will it be more balls to the way post-apocalyptic robot fury or something more akin to sci-fi melodrama scored to Metallica? The film features a pretty long list of producers who should be able to rein in director McG to a tight and more terse narrative that hopefully has more bite than random stylish excess. Stylish excess to me is good when it fits and supports a film or reinforces what is going on at any given moment. Stylish excess falls dead in its tracks when it feels like what your watching onscreen, while interesting, might as well be a commercial break and work more to disconnect a viewer than immerse them. You can look at the works of say Melville and see immediately where excess style can be a good thing, where every single light, shadow and stylization works to further reinforce and better tell the story with cinema.

Synopsis:

Action/Sci-Fi. In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.

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The next Harry Potter as we will know by now has been moved back to next year and I certainly think it will be the one film in the series to convert many new fans. The last two books of Rowling’s series certainly raise the bar, transcendence and spectacle for everything that came before it in very sweeping fashion. Half-Blood Prince is simply one of the best stories I’ve ever read and I can’t wait to see it realized on the big screen.

Related Coverage:
::: Official Site
::: Teaser Trailer
::: MugglesNet - Best Harry Potter Fan Site
::: Official J.K.Rowling Site

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I have to wonder if everyone is taking the new Coen Brothers Burn After Reading too seriously!?! Over at GreenCine Daily (read here) there is a very engrossing and expansive post covering critical reaction to the film from the 65th Venice International Film Festival. It would seem like if Raising Arizona had a cousin that was a spy film, then Burn After Reading would be that film.

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Vintage Movie Wallpaper of the Day
Thursday, August 28, 2008

As far as boxing films go, it gets no better than this 1980 Martin Scorsese one!

Amazon.com Link:
::: Buy the Raging Bull (Special Edition DVD)

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Vintage Movie Wallpaper of the Day
Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The mythic place of this bar/hotel ballroom is one of the real treasures of cinema. This hallowed ground serves a place in the heart of film lovers where cinema can transport us into places where we have no idea where reality and fantasy begin and end. Places that capture our hearts and imagination. Places that leave us forever in debate on their true meaning.

Amazon.com Link:
::: Buy the The Shining (Two-Disc Special Edition DVD)

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New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Woody Allen romanticizes one of my favorite cities in the world in Barcelona in his latest film. I can’t wait to see all the locations shot in the film and think the setting of Barcelona should serve as an amazing back drop for its story. If you have never been to Barcelona, I can’t recommend it highly enough from its historic offerings to its fine dining along the Mediterranean coast, there is something for everyone there!

Related Coverage:
::: Cannes 2008 Press Conference
::: Cannes 2008 Photocall Video
::: Cannes 2008 Steps Interview
::: Cannes 2008 Clip from the Film
::: GreenCine Daily Post

Synopsis:

Vicky and Cristina, two young American girls, go to spend the summer in Barcelona. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is straight-laced and about to be married. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is a free-spirit and very sexually adventurous.

They meet a flamboyant, Spanish artist (Javier Bardem) and his beautiful but insane ex-wife (Penelope Cruz). They all become involved in romantic adventures that are either hilarious or harrowing, depending on your point of view. Barcelona is seen as a very beautiful, romantic city like New York was in the movie, Manhattan.

- Woody Allen

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