Francis Ford Coppola is probably my favorite director of all time. No, not just because of “The Godfather”, but more for films like “Apocalypse Now”, and “The Conversation”. Not every movie he’s done has reached the levels of “Godfather” greatness, or for that matter been very good. But it’s not just the films that make me look up to Francis as much as I do, I admire him for his spirit and overall attitude toward film making. In these great interviews on Charlie Rose you’ll get a little taste of what I’m talking about (as well as hear a lot about his line of fine wines).
For those that couldn’t wait any longer for another installment in the “Leprechaun” franchise, boy do I have news for you. The GENIUS mind behind the past three not-tedious-at-all Saw movies wants a crack at a new flick! Director Darren Lynn Bousman exclusively told MTV’s movie blog (huh?) that he’s ready for the Leprechaun. “I would do ‘Leprechaun’ in a second, If Lionsgate is listening, give me ‘Leprechaun.’” With his upcoming “Rocky Horror Picture Show” rip-off “Repo:The Genetic Opera”, and 3 Saw sequels under his belt, it’s safe to say that Bousman has a good handle on the horror meets comedy market. I’ll also admit I’ve seen every Leprechaun movie and personally hope that Bousman can deliver on a scene like this:
I know what you’re thinking, “Was this really worth posting?” My answer is simply Yes. I find it quite humorous that somebody’s dream project would be to direct another Leprechaun sequel. Oh, and I forgot to mention he wants to set it in the old west. Honestly, I would see this before I even set foot in the theatre for this…(In no way do I support the Saw franchise. I draw the line half way through part 1)
I don’t get it….The critics that are hating on “American Teen”, the new documentary by Nanette Burstein, are really hating on it. Then there are those that are eating it up. I’m the latter.
“American Teen” is the closest representation of my high school experience I have seen on film. Sure I like the Hughes movies, but most films about teenagers we see today are far too over the top, usually driven purely by sex, and overall just fail to connect with me. It was refreshing to see this in an age where MTV constantly attempts to pass off shows about people our age trying to make it in life as “reality”. There were no coaches waking the kids up every morning to follow a producer approved agenda of their day. Many critics claim that many scenes are contrived or staged, I disagree. Do I think there are scenes in the film that were a bit “enhanced”, definitley, but if people like Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore can make a career off of docs that are almost completely “enhanced”, I’ll let a few scenes slide. I feel this succeeded more story wise than most docs do because of it’s particularly well arranged narrative. I do believe Burstein took some liberties with the continuity of scenes, in some cases having moments from earlier in the year play later in the film to enforce a point, but it was only a benefit to the story. Burstein knew the point she was trying to make with “American Teen” and arranged it too suit, and yes, I ate it up.
…All in one picture. This is a “spy shot” of Jake G on the set of the “film” Prince of Persia. I’m going to let you draw you’re own conclusions.
As for more interesting items:
– The trailer for the adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s “The Informers” is up and I like what I see. I’m finally getting around to reading more of Ellis and Informers is next on my list. I like what I see in the trailer (despite a few spots of bad acting) and I feel like they’ve really tapped into Ellis’s world for this one, much like Mary Harron did with American Psycho (My favorite movie.)
Speaking of Harron, “American Psycho”, and all thing Ellis, here’s an interview from Charlie Rose with the above mentioned as well as Bateman himself. The banter between Bale and the other three is often humorous as they discuss the controversy and film making process surround “American Psycho”. (The interview starts at around 19:00 minutes)
-I’m pretty interested in Darren Arofonsky’s next project “The Wrestler”. Everything I’ve heard and seen from it has me interested in what his take will be on the life of a WWE style wrestler, and honestly I think Mickey Rourke is perfect for this kind of role. I read parts of the script and really like what I saw. Arofonsky is a filmmaker with staying power, it’s just a matter of who he can get to finance his films, but I think his “Robocop” reboot will help him with that.
(I’m determined to get a lot of pics of shirtless men in this post)
As for what I’ve been watching:
– I’m Not There, This film is sorrily overlooked by everyone. It was one of my top 5 films of 07 and I think anyone could enjoy it. It certainly isn’t your standard biopic, what with cutaway stories of 6 different people portraying aspects of Dylan’s personality. The performances and direction in the film are fantastic. The fact that Todd Haynes was able to keep this ambitious project from running of the rails is a feat in itself.
-Match Point, This is one of those movies I’ve been sitting on for awhile. I’m a huge fan of Woody’s work, and I’ve continually heard this is his “return to form” of sorts. For some reason I’ve never been terribly interested in seeing it….but I do sincerely regret all the times I chose to skip watching it. It certainly is like anything he’d done before and it almost rose to the level of regard I have for films like “Manhattan” and “Hannah And Her Sisters”. The movie is a slow burner, and the first hour certainly had me questioning this film, but in the end I appreciated the slow build up to the extraordinary climax.
-On a side note I really enjoyed “Pineapple Express”, but I’m sure you all saw it.
I feel like a total slacker for not getting out to the theaters to catch “Pineapple Express” yet (It’s because I’m taking my fellow friend/blogger Taylor for his birthday on Sunday..so I have reasons). I’ve been extremly excited for the film for quite sometime, but I must say there is something about the way it’s being handled that really bothers me.
I really don’t mind that Judd Apatow has become the Hollywood boy of the moment, I mean he writes/directs/produces quality entertainment for the most part, but I’m dissapointed in the way he’s overshadowing the man behind the camera of “Pineapple Express”. When “Superbad” was released a few weeks after the Apatow hit “Knocked Up” last summer it instantly became the “Summer of Apatow”. The common movie goer had no clue that Apatow had very little to do with the film’s success (I’ve always had a thing against producers), but that didn’t matter because his name was slapped all over the marketing and promotion leading up to the film. The director of “Superbad” was Greg Mottola who’s resume’ includes the very underrated Liev Schriber film “The Daytrippers”, as well as directing various television episodes of Apatow’s televison two cult T.V. series. Many people complained that Mottola deserved some credit for the success behind “Superbad”, and I kind of agreed. Though I feel like the major creative drive behind the film was Seth Rogen and life long buddy Evan Goldberg’s script, a good comedy needs to have a director who can pull performances out of his actors that are well timed and most importantly….funny. Though Mottola had some work behind him, he certainly wasn’t a name that could be slapped on every poster branded with the dazed looking Michael Cera and Jonah Hill saying “From The Guy Who Brought You ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’ and ‘Talladega Nights'”.
It’s been almost a year since “Superbad”, and we’ve had one more Apatow branded comedy since then, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, in which marketing decided to follow in the very same footsteps of those cleverly bannered posters of the summer before (though I will let this go because he was a first time director). This brings me to “Pineapple Express” and the man truly behind the camera. Apatow was on Conan the other night and nary a word was said about independent cinema auteur David Gordon Green. Green is known for his down home films about family, love and morality. At the beginning of his career many compared his work to that of Terence Malick (and if you see his film Undertow, you’ll know why), but films like “All The Real Girls” and “Snow Angels” showcase a creative mind who has truly come into his own. Each of his films have been widely praised and received by both critics and audiences (though none have been overwhelming financial successes). So why is such a talented up and coming filmmaker being so atrociously downplayed? I’m by no means an Apatow detractor, but it really pains me to see that if he really is the uber producer he’s portrayed to be, and if he really respects Green as much as he claims he does, why isn’t Green sitting in that chair on Conan? Why isn’t he allowed to get his name out there, and maybe allow a few more people to check out his fantastic films he’s already done? I can totally understand the allure of working on a project with some of the most talented guys in Hollywood right now, and I’m sure the mega success “Pineapple” will be nothing but gold for Green’s career, but why is it all about Apatow, an established named all over again? From what I’ve seen of “Pineapple”, through various clips and trailers, Green’s influence on the film is obvious. I’ve also heard and spoken to many people who’ve already seen it and have told me that he is certainly the driving force of “Pineapple”. I just don’t understand, it would be nice if Apatow was more about supporting the unique talent behind “his” films rather than maintaining his status as Hollywood’s king of comedy (ok, maybe I’m a bit of a detractor.)
And here’s two trailers from my favorite films of Mr. David Gordon Green:
First we have the great ensemble piece “Snow Angels”. I really didn’t know what to think about DGG doing a larger budget film after growing so accustomed to his smaller more intimate films, but once The National’s “Slow Show” kicked in I knew Green had delivered. I drove a good two hours in order to catch this in Sarasota at the lovely Burns Court Cinema (it opened right down the street from me a week later, but it was well worth the drive.)
“All The Real Girls” was my first foray into Green’s work. It stars the beautiful Zooey Deschanel alongside the impeccably talented Paul Shneider playing two unlikely lovers. The movie revolves around the small southern towns that are the habitat of most of Green’s films, but what’s best is that the burnouts and never beens that inhabit this town are far from two dimensional stereotypes. What I love most about Green is his ability to create characters just quirky enough that their still believable.
Finally, I’ve reached twenty. As weird as it sounds, New Year’s doesn’t mean half as much to me as my birthday does. I don’t measure the years by the first of January, but instead by the years after my birthday, 8/8/88. Twenty years down, and hopefully many many more to go. Thankfully, the music community has given me an great birthday present to celebrate my second decade on earth, in the form of a killer remix. MSTRKFT (one of my favorite electronic duos) remixed John Legend’s awesome new duet with Andre 3000, “Green Light”. Quoted from a MySpace post:
“YO.
JOHN LEGEND IS THE FIRST ARTIST WE HAVE EVER REMIXED WHO ACTUALLY ASKED IF WE COULD LET KIDS DOWNLOAD THE REMIX RIGHT FROM OUR MYSPACE. WE TOLD HIM IT WOULDNT SOUND TOO GOOD AND ASKED IF WE COULD PUT UP A SENDSPACE LINK FOR THE FULL 320 VERSION. HE WAS COOL WITH IT SO AS SOON AS WE GET A BETTER INTERNET CONNECTION, WE’LL POST IT FOR YOU. WE ARE IN THE SYDNEY AIRPORT RIGHT NOW AND THE WIRELESS SUCKS.
IN THE MEANTIME, YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT OFF THE MYSPACE PLAYER RIGHT NOW. HOPE YOU LIKE IT.”
The remix is standard MSTRKRFT fare, drum and bass with a guitar loop to further drive the point home, but if you’re a fan you’ll love it, if not you won’t. It doesn’t hurt that “Green Light” is already one of my favorite songs of the year, and this remix seals the deal for me. You can download it right now at their MySpace, and when they post a higher quality link we’ll forward it to you all. Happy Birthday to me!
As the summer movie season winds down with only Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder left up it’s sleeve, I’ve decided to take this time to reflect on a film that came out this summer you most likely didn’t see. I’ve decided the discussion of this film will be the first in what I hope will be a long line of posts about movies that are truly great, but that you probably hate!……
By the time Speed Racer hits the DVD shelves in September (16th to be exact), I hope to have been able to turn as many people onto this movie as possible. Yeah, there is no doubt that Dark Knight took it for the summer of 08, but right behind that for me was Speed Racer. I really don’t understand why this film was so poorly received because it is just the type of movie I wanted to see this summer. I’ve never been a huge Wachowski fan, sure the first Matrix was good, but what else have they done? When I saw the film opening night I actually believed that the Wachowski’s were the wizards the media always played them up to be. They had not only crafted a fun “popcorn flick”, but had created a film so visually arresting that I doubt I’ll see anything like it anytime soon. It’s unfortunate because I feel as if 5 or 10 years down the line somebody is going to come along and do the same thing the Wachowski’s did with Speed, and receive heaps of praise for it. I hope by the time Speed is available to buy/rent/etc. you will have enough faith in my taste in film that you will check it out. I feel this is a film that will catch on upon it’s DVD release and manage to outlive it’s current reputation as a gigantic flop.
With a bit of film news as well:
I don’t know how many of you have seen the high school film noir flick “Brick” starring Joseph Gordon Levitt, but the fact that the brains behind it has another movie in the pipeline makes me giddy. Rian Johnson’s “Brothers Bloom” looks like a throwback to classic heist films like Riffi and The Killing with a bit of Wes Anderson’s quirky touch. Though I hate that the trailer for the film makes it out to be another Guy Ritchie Brit Gangster flick, there’s enough to assure me Johnson hasn’t gone down that well worn road.
Man, I love Huey Lewis. Everything about his career, his music, and his on stage persona just screams of a genuine guy that knows what he likes and wants to share his talent and hard work with the music listening public at large. I was already stoked enough for Pineapple Express, but when I heard Huey’s contribution to the score it really sealed the deal for me. I also love the fact that when producers for a film approach him for an original song to a film he doesn’t offer any of his newer experimental stylings but instead puts together something that wouldn’t sound at all out of place in film thirty years ago. He brought it by Kimmel recently, and I’m happy to say it also sounds great live. Check it out below.
If you read my posts frequently, you know how much I admire what I would consider to be a talented singer-songwriter. I cringe at the mere mention of those two words in a phrase, because it usually means legions of DMB worshippers or the dude who plays guitar barefoot at college parties. That said, I am usually in awe of people who “do it right”, trying to further the genre, expressing genuine emotion through meticulous song writing and singing, and trying to make their music sound fresh and interesting. Without further ado, I encourage you all to look into Mr. Noah Georgeson. You might have heard his influence without even realizing it, I certainly did. He’s produced Joanna Newsom and Devendra Banhart (whom he also plays guitar for live). His collection of songs is almost three years old, but it’s news to me, and it’ll certainly fit in well with fans of either of the aforementioned acts. Pass it on to a friend, and check out a few tracks here
Just a few video clips to get your weekend started off right. Our last video post was a little flimsy so we tried to super size this week’s edition.
Vampire Weekend – “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”
I know musically this has already been said, but how David Bryne-ish does Ezra look in this video?
P.S. Sorry To intrude on you’re post Taylor but I had to say that whomever is in charge of selecting the creative teams for Vampire Weekend’s videos (even if it’s the boys themselves) deserve a raise. I haven’t seen such expertly crafted, and fun videos in ages. It was really nice to see that I’m not the only one who’s super excited for “Lost Boys 2: The Tribe”, and has been secretly watching Teen Wolf for all these years. Thanks VDubya for always being there when I need you.
Really cool “Rehearsal Space” video of A-Trak doing his thing. He’s a really inspiring DJ and an unmatched performer, it’s videos like this that make me want to step up my game with Logic.
Coldplay has posted the official video for “Viva La Vida” on their page, as well as a “video cover version” inspired by Depeche Mode and Anton Corbijn. Guess which version I prefer? You can watch them both when you click the 1 and 2 links at the top of their homepage
Black Cab Sessions has an awesome performance by the Cool Kids. If you like hip hop, and you aren’t already in love with this group, you’ve got a serious problem. Hopefully this video helps convince you.
Big Boi ft. Mary J. Blige “Something’s Gotta Give”
Great Fatlip remix.
The Mighty Underdogs ft. MF DOOM
Juelz Santana and Lil’ Wayne go booooooooooowwwwwlin’
Backstage with Other Music has a couple of sweet Stephen Merritt videos:
Snoop Dogg’s “Those Gurlz”
The Killers debuted two new tunes live this past week, and they sound like a triumphant return to the glory days of “Hot Fuss”. Based on these alone, I’m looking forward to their new material. Flowers said recently he wants to have an album wrapped up by the end of the summer, so hopefully we’ll all get “killed” this fall.
Spaceman –
Neon Tiger –
Sadly, I missed Tom Waits “Glitter & Doom” tour because of school, but seeing videos from some of these performances is enrapturing.
This kid absolutely shreds it. Holy crap.
Also, this isn’t very video related, but while I’m here, Kanye West has an audio stream of the set Justice spun for the Dior show over at his blog. He’s also got a stream of a track he produced for T.I.’s “Paper Trail”, and it sounds alright
The Next To Last Mohican 