Category: movies

art

Today in Flux

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On today’s date 54 years ago, Dr. Emmit Brown was standing on his toilet seat attempting to hang a clock in his bathroom, when he slipped and slammed his head on the side of the sink (11/5/55 for those too lazy to do some simple mental math). Upon regaining consciousness Brown reported having “a revelation, a picture, a picture in my head.” A picture which he crudely scrawled down on a piece of paper and subsequently spent 30 years of his life and family fortune to build: the flux capacitor.
As evidenced by three movies, two theme park rides and countless exclaimations of 1.21 gigawatts!The world has never been the same since.

literature

Iron Man on Ice Coming Soon

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There are so many different and funny ways of announcing that Disney is buying Marvel for $4 billion. I was trying all morning to think of something catchy to say like how io9 wrote “The House of Mouse eats the House of Ideas” but sure enough my good friend and frequent lead generator for this blog Mr. Neu trumped me and gave me the title for this post.
I wonder if the Marvel Islands of Adventure theme park is going to be shut down now as its run by Universal and not Disney. I wonder how badly the X-Men would crush Captain Hook and his band of pirates. I wonder what the Incredibles would look like if that movie was remade with the actual Fantastic Four replacing the pseudo-F4 that starred in that movie. I can go on and on but I won’t – I’ll just wait to see how this plays out .
The goal of the sale according to the call that was held to announce the sale “is not to rebrand Marvel as Disney but to shine a spotlight on the Marvel brand.” I sincerely hope that is the case.

movies

Death Star Destroys Enterprise

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Sometimes the title of a post says it all. In a true “Worlds Collide” type moment, two of my most beloved Sci-Fi universes meet as the Death Star destroys the USS Enterprise.
“Military force was authorized yesterday after the alleged time travelers and their craft ignored an ultimatum to stop whale poaching.” Gotta love the nod to ST4. Tres cool.

Little known fact – this is my 750th post – yay – which means my average is about 115 posts a year or one every third day overall since I started WGTCTIP2 back in Jan, 2003. This is not a bad habit that I’ve gotten into and while not all of the posts are Shakespearean, they have been entered into the record. I am significant screams the dust speck.
Film via Neu

movies

Back on the Train

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A few months ago, after singing about the movie insessently over the years (there is a lyric about it in the Beastie Boys song “Sureshot”) without having even seen it, I finally got to watch “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” and I really, really enjoyed the movie.
I just love NYC movies and gritty 70’s ones are especially fun. There haven’t been very many good remakes of 70’s movies though so I was on the fence about the new remake. But, after hearing some positive reviews, I decided to check out the NYT Pelham review and could not stop laughing about its closing thought:

“It has intense violence and frequent repetition of every true New Yorker’s favorite word.”

Hmmm, I wonder what that could ever be…
Even more fun was that I could easily watch the original on my PC using NetFlix’s online VOD service. Sure, movies on a 17″ LCD screen aren’t as good as 42″ LCD screen but there is something to be said about the word “instant.” I am really looking forward to when everything is instant – we are probably 5 years away from that.
Last, since I am just obsessed with Phish lately, here is Phish playing the title of this post “Back on the Train” from Hampton back in March

movies

The Mutant Chronicles

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When you have a movie whose premise is an all out battle between humanity and a mutant horde that stars Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman and John Malkovich, you know you best be watching out because it’s going to be sick. This is what life is going to be like if Wall Street does not recover…
After watching the trailer, I have high high hopes for the The Mutant Chronicles which is scheduled to hit theatres in limited release on April 24th. Living in NYC means limited release is not a problem. I just hope that I can find the time to actually get out and see it. Someone – please drag me away come the end of April…

Via Chris

movies

Too Many Holiday Movies 2008

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Coming five months after my “Too Many Summer Movies 2008” post, I am providing a list of the 12 movies that are being released in theatres before the end of the year that I hope to see. For the summer, I originally wanted to see 20 and thus far I’ve seen six (seeing a movie when you have a kid under one is t-o-u-g-h) but a few of the 20 are no longer on my list – for instance, Speed Racer and The Love Guru will only be watched if I’m on a plane and without a book or if I’m in some other pseudo-desperate state – so I’m hitting a respectable .333. If I was playing in MLB, that would earn me a few million dollars.
I’ve enjoyed my summer post as it has helped keep me focused regarding the movies I eventually watch. It also has helped me keep my Netflix queue up-to-date. So, why not start a trend and post quarterly the movies that I want to see. It doesn’t hurt that the NYT produces a special quarterly “This is what is coming to a theatre near you” section which means I basically circle what I want to see and then post it here.
So, without further ado, here are the 12 flicks I hope to view: The Changling, Rocknrolla, Zack and Mimi Make a Porno, Role Models, Quantum of Solace, Austrailia, Che, The Day The Earth Stood Still, What Doesn’t Kill You, The Wrestler, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Spirit. If there are more, I’ll post them and once I see what I see, I’ll post an update with a mini-review as well.
UPDATE: The Wrestler made me cry. Seriously. ‘Nuff said.

movies

Who You Gonna Call?

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If the first thing you think of is “Ghostbusters!” when you read this post’s title, it means that either that you are a member of Ray Parker Jr.’s family or you are a huge fan of the Ghostbuster movies (or maybe just the first one as number two was just so-so).
It seems that a new GB movie is in the works and I am both very excited and very scared. While I think the premise is good, I’m not sure that having the 40 Year Old Virgin / Knocked Up / Superbad crew taking over for the “old guys” (aka Akroyd, Murray, Ramis and Hudson) as a sort of Ghostbusters: TNG will work out well.
As the latest Rocky, the latest Rambo, the latest Die Hard and the latest Indiana Jones all sucked donkey balls. I pray that the new Ghostbusters movie is at least as good as GB II, which isn’t saying that much mind you.
For your viewing pleasure, below is one of my favorite parts of the movie. I just have two words for you: mass hysteria!

Via Neu (once again)

movies

To Be Batman

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In preparation for the hotly anticipated “The Dark Knight,” it seems that everyone is talking about, as the Joker puts it, “The Batman.” While he may be “at home, washing his tights” (okay, that would never happen, Alfred would handle that chore) it is precisely that that idea which so endears Bruce Wayne’s alter ego to the public. Unlike other superheros, Batman is normal. What I mean is that he (in many ways) is a just an incredibly above average man – he does not have any special powers, period. He is like you and me, in our dreams.
Scientific America has an interview with E. Paul Zehr, associate professor of kinesiology and neuroscience at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and a 26-year practitioner of Chito-Ryu karate-do who happens to have a book titled “Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero” coming out.
After further analysis, it’s true: it would be very, very hard but it could be done. If all the stars in the sky are in alignment, I could be Batman.
Via Steve.