Friday Afternoon Fry Up (April) (and May and basically June as well)

Wow, its been a long time since i set this blog up with the plan to write it in April, plus its Friday and not the Sunday and its afternoon and not morning, whoa, lots of changes. A lot has got in the way since then, moving home to Scotland for me most time consuming plus the subsequent fruitless job hunt, plus like Red I had my own stand up debut in Yuk Yuks comedy club Toronto to plan for and carry out before i came home. verdict was that I was pretty good. Though I have seen a bit of it back and Im not so sure about that particular verdict. Moving on this post will mostly be about what I have been watchin since last we spoke, which is quite a lot due to my current circumstances. in fact the lesson to be learnt is that if you plan to document a year of movie watching then leaving a 3 month gap to cover is a pain in the tits so il try cut it back down. So we will have that down the bottom, above that a few trailers of upcoming titles and above that some articles (that are better written than our stuff) that you should read including some Scott Pilgrim stuff as I am rather looking forward to it because it is set in my former home Toronto. Sob Sob.

LINKS

JJ Abrams interviewing Edgar Wright at LA film Fest.

A excellent article about Scott Pilgrim, Canada and Canadians from Walrus Magazine.

Make your own Scot Pilgrim avatar like mine above! ^^^^^^^

Variety sticks up for 3d, im not buying it, but then I never bought into mobile phones.

An entertaining look at footballers soirees into celluloid.

40 years of National Lampoon

Where have all the big persons films went? And we don’t mean Antichrist!

TRAILERS

Three films which are commanding my consciousness right now are, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Inception and the new Harry Potter film, and guess what? Heres the trailers.







oh, and Predators



ON Ruud's TV (amongst other places) THIS PAST MONTH OR THREE!

gona steal Red's aye or naw a meter to gauge my reaction for simplicity (sorry!)

Take The Lead (2006, Liz Friedlander, US) naw(ish)
Jesus Camp (2006, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, US) aye
Knowing (2009, Alex Proyas, US) naw naw naw
Four Last Songs (2007, Francesca Joseph, UK) naw
The Bucket List (2007, Rob Reiner, US) aye
Dirty Pretty Things (2002, Stephen Frears, UK) big aye
Music and Lyrics (2007, Mark Lawrence, US) aye(ish)
District 9 (2009, Neil Blomkamp, US) huge aye ya focking prawn
Major League (1989, David S. Ward, US) aye
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008, Nicholas Stoller, US) aye
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007, Dennis Duggan, US) aye
We Own The Night (2007, James Gray, US) aye
Waitress (2007, Adrienne Shelly, US) aye(ish)
Tropic Thunder (2008, Ben Stiller, US) naw
Avatar (2009, James Cameron, US) aye
Gran Torino (2009, Clint Eastwood, US) aye
Definately Maybe (2008, Adam Brooks, US) aye
Mr Woodcock (2007, Craig Gillespie, US) naw
Into the Blue (2005, John Stockwell, US) aye
Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist (2008, Peter Sollett, US) aye
3.10 to Yuma (2007, James Mangold, US) oh aye
Sherlock Holmes (2009, Guy Ritchie, UK) aye
Blind Side (2010, John Lee Hancock, US) aye
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003, Gore Verbinski, US) aye
The Damned United (2009, Tom Hooper, UK) aye lad
Jersey Girl (2004, Kevin Smith, US) aye
Very Bad Things (1998, Peter Berg, US) aye
American Cousins (2003, Don Coutts, UK) aye Sergio Casci wroted it and me and Red love that guy, or at least i do.
Dogma (1999, Kevin Smith, US) aye
Author! Author! (1982, Arthur Hiller, US) aye but only for completionist Pacinophiles
Knocked Up (2007, Judd Apatow, US) aye
Witness (1985, Peter Weir, US) aye
Dan in Real Life (2007, Peter Hedges, US) aye
Rain Man (1988, Barry Levinson, US) aye
Twilight (2008, Catherine Hardwicke, US) naw
Mean Streets (1971, Martin Scorsese, US) aye
Fantasyland (2010, Stephen Palgon, US) Available to watch in its entirity here! aye
Cruising (1980, William Friedkin, US) aye
Celtic Pride (1996, Tom DeCerchio, US) aye
Office Space (1999, Mike Judge, US) aye(ish) grossly overated
Garden State (2004, Zach Braff, US) naw
In The Loop (2009, Armando Iannucci, UK) fucking aye
Anvil: The Story of Anvil (2008, Sacha Gervasi US) aye, eh?
Peeping Tom (1960, Michael Powell, UK) aye

Wow, what a list, nae chance im linking all those films to imdb, ma wee laptop couldnt handle the pressure. Think I have gave enough info for the anyone wishing to investigate further to manage it without too many problems though so will begin with a review of my 3 month viewing. First the trash; Take The Lead, Knowing, Tropic Thunder, Four Last Songs, Mr Woodcock Garden State and Twilight. All mince thought. Take the Lead in fairness i wasnt looking forward to as a ballroom mixed with street dancing film and it wasnt god awful so it misses a lot of critcism, however Knowing is garbage. watched it on a bus back from New York (name dropping) a good premise about numbers and that is ruined by a plot which sucks all sorts of ass. Tropic Thunder had all its funny bits in the trailer, Tom Cruise is over rated in it, Four Last Songs is time i will never get back, British guff set in Spain about a piano or some shite, Mr Woodcock wasnt funny and Garden State was all abit five years ago, dont think it will stand up. Twilight? Well, let me say i read the book and found it poor but so many like it and the movie so i gave the movie a go and I found i liked the book better and i have less of an understanding of women than i thought i did. I mean Edward in the film is rubbish, in the book even i fancied him a bit, he sounded awesome, none of that is in the film. And in the book all her pals are supicious of her, in the film they think she is ace. and also when did they become all varied ethnicities? reading the book i never got a sense that one of the boys was a trendy asian DJ, where did they yank that from? Most of all Edward though, if its true that girls like tall odd pale guys with huge eyebrows and are a bit flakey then i should have done a power more shagging in ma youth than i did.

Those that dodged the rubbish list and might surprise you are The Bucket List, Music and Lyrics, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Definately Maybe, Into the Blue, Jersey Girl, Celtic Pride and Very Bad Things. The Bucket List was fun and not too long, as was Music and Lyrics plus i like Hugh Grant. I find him watchable in everything. Dennis Duggan made Happy gilmore so is instantly absolved of Chuck and Larry which actually had some right good gags in it. Definatley Maybe isnt the worst chick flick ever and Into the Blue is actually very watchable despite starring Paul Walker as a top diver. Jersey Girl is a decent enough Kevin Smith film though I think i prefer listening to the man himself in him many media outlets than watch his films nowadays, Cop Out kinda sucked. Celtic Pride was written by Judd Apatow kinda putting to bed my misguided thought that he appeared out of thin air and made 40 Year Old Virgin and very bad things was directed by Pter Berg who is on of the world most underated directors i think.

3 Docos so will group them together, Jesus Camp had some scary kids who loved Jesus a bit too much. Fantasyland scared me too but in a way that i could see elements of my own life. Its a film based on an idea from a book about Fantasy Baseball and a season in the life of a player. Yikes. Well worth a watch i have to say and free online. Gonna review it proper i think though. Lastly Anvil which had everything, laughs and tears. I also liked how they showed these guys own houses and they were a bit like the house i had in Canada and it made me feel good for a second. I also got to find out the bar in Etobicoke they play in near the beginning as i think i might know it. Hope i do, i like to have those little attachements.

A few Classics in there, Dogma, Witness, Rain Man, Mean Streets and Peeping Tom of which only the latter I was watching for the first time and was suitably disturbed by the premise but blown away by the style and composition of the film. I guess plenty will disagree with me on Dogma as a classic but if its the 20th time you have seen them then they must be classics in your eyes and thats hw it is for me. Mean Streets i watched on DVD for the first time and it was great. I know he gets plenty praise for it but does Scorsese do the best soundtracks or what. Immense. Be My Baby might be my favourite song ever and it all stems from that opening scene (and not Dirty Dancing where it also features)

Sherlock Holmes and The Blind Side i watched on my flight home so probably not the best place to see those, dark scenes were pretty much unwatchable but i enjoyed both immensely. Sherlock Holmes is like a superhero movie. Very very good and Sandra Bullock was well worth her gong for The Blind Side which was about sport which plays into my list of likes nicely so I was always gona be engaged and ultimately not dislike it.

That which truely blew me away was such, District 9, Major League, Dirty Pretty Things, Avatar, Nick and Norah, 3.10 to Yuma, Damned United, Knocked Up and In the Loop. All awesome and well worth repeat viewing ad naseum throughout my life. They will be mentioned again. I think its fair to say they were all better than i was expecting, District 9 blew me away as i was expecting some sort of sci fi horror or something and was enthralled, same with Avatar which i had no real clue what it was about, ferngully in 3d was my assumption but it was so much more. Damned United did good things with an excellent source though some of my favourite parts of the book were omitted but for good reason. Dirty Pretty Things is my film for telling folk about so more folks see it cos it was really rather good and a great twist at the end. Knocked Up pisses all over Superbad which i unfairly always compare it with like a pair fo warring twin brothers for some reason. 3.10 to Yuma becomes the 4th western i have ever seen and everyone gets better than the last, i should watch more! Nick and Norah is proper excellent and having been to New York and recognised some parts it made abig difference, good music too. as for In the Loop, well i have no idea what it was about really, probably nothing and also the TV series its based on i have never seen but no matter Malcolm Tucker is now my hero, expect this to feature in Fry Up most every month!

The rest, ach there is too many, im bored writing, your probably bored reading or probably havent even got this far as i have rambled on too much. Fitbas due on soon too as i write this so im signing off.

thanks for reading. Back next month.

Ruud

Sunday Morning Fry Up (Mar 28th)

Double effort this week as missed out last week. Though in now way does that mean double amounts of links, on the contrary in fact.

LINKS

Vinny Jones wants Beckham to star in a Escape to Victory remake, which must mean he is lined up to be in it too. Whats the worst aspect of this scenario? Vinny want Beckham in the Bobby Moore role apparently which must mean Vinny is in line for the John Wark or Russell Osman one.
(actually, having seen Beckham in the Smithy Sport Relief skit i have no fears over this at all, i thought he was pretty good in it)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/mar/23/escape-to-victory-remake-david-beckham

Kevin Smith has been getting a bit of hassle from the critics about his new film which coupled with his problems in the air the other week has led to this article having a look at his lately rather angry and vitriolic twitter account.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/mar/24/kevin-smith-twitter


TRAILERS






ON RUUDS TV THIS PAST WEEK (or rather fortnight)

Stop-Loss (2008, Kimberley Peirce, US)
Adventureland (2009, Greg Mottola, US)
Cop Out (2010, Kevin Smith, US)
Made of Honour (2008, Paul Weiland, US)
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009, Neal Brennan, US)
An Inconvenient Truth (2006, Davis Guggenheim, US)
Mission: Impossible III (2006, JJ Abrams, US)
Doctor Strange: Sorceror Supreme (2007, Jay Olivam Frank Paur, US)
Bull Durham (1988, Ron Shelton, US)
Terminator Salvaton (2009, McG, US)

Ten first viewings for this guy so heres briefly what i thought. Stop-Loss was pretty decent, Adventurelnad was terrific, much better than Superbad which it was plugged as being a semi follow up, its better but aslo totally different. I liked it a lot and feel that Red's review last year was a bit harsh. everyone to their own opinion though. Cop Out was not bad, but i should have a full review in the near future on this site. Made of Honour is an insult to my Scottish sensibilities and also my intelligence. The Goods has some funny moments but both that and Made of Honour left me thinking that maybe i could write a green lit film if these not only get made but released. An inconvenient Truth was certainly interesting and M:I3 was certainly entertaining. Doctor Strange is one of the animated movies Marvel were putting out before Disney bought them up, dunno if anymore will be made or whether it will just be straight up every character in the cannon will get a live action effort. Bull Durham was immense and i am now getting into the mood for the new baseball season, more ball films to be watched in the next few weeks. Finally the new Terminator film had all the same things that the new Star Trek film had but whereas in Star Trek it was good in Terminator it wasnt so good. the links like repeated lines from T1 and T2, "follow me if you want to live" seem forced and fake. Also who would have thought someone would do a Michael Beihn impression playing a young Kyle Reece. it was like Ewan MacGregor doing an Alex Guiness impression in Star Wars Prequels.

Sunday Morning Fry Up (Feb 21st)

best photo ever below. then a few links and some trailers. something to read ye know?

LINKS

Had planned on linking to the Kevin Smith is too fat to fly stuff which happened last saturday which i found out about on Monday. i listened to his Podcast to find out what happened, you can too by going here and just go to Smodcast #106. if your in any doubt that you may be in the wrong place, its called Go Fuck Yourself, Southwest Airlines so its pretty self explanitory.

If you listen to that and find you actually care what happened next then just google it, really, every man and his dog has an opinion. I will point you in this direction, which is a article about it which i am assured by fat burd pals that it is well written. Hmmm.

Excellent blog about Hollywood hating redheads. Whether or not its true, what cant be argued is that in regular life redheads are always a instant aye or no. there is no maybes. Nicola from Girls Aloud? no. Christine Hendricks from Mad Men? aye. See what i mean?

In totally holy fook can this be true news, its been reported that Marty Scorsese might remake Taxi Driver with Lars Von Trier. Good grief, I have saw The Idiots and heard about Antichrist, the thought of where this might go is mindboggling.

Tim Burtons latest is due out soon. A Johnny Depp chain of command of his mad characters like the Morgan Freedman one above would be interesting, where would the Mad Hatter fit in? and to link the both here is an article about the evolution of the Alice story which frankly is nuts.

Baftas tonight, will Red give us a beat by beat report ala my Golden Globes effort?

TRAILERS

Here are some trailers that appeared on my TV this week, must be out in next few weeks over in US, dunno whether that means they are a bit away from UK release or not, nowadays there sometimes is no difference. first up Brooklyns Finest which is directed by Antoine Fuqua who did Training Day which instantly got me excited about this then i checked back and Training Day was 2001, he has done some stuff i have never fancied seeing since then. Regardless, this looks good. Then there is the Jennifer Aniston/Gerard Butler love vehicle The Bounty Hunter which is sort of like Midnight Run i guess and finally Defendor which was shown and picked up at TIFF last year which i sometimes mention i was at. Woody Harrleson plays a reluctant superhero in this Canadian film which was filmed in Hamilton which i was in a few weeks ago, it was dark though, i dont really know much about it. Casey Jones from the Turtles is in it too.








ON RUUD'S TV THIS PAST WEEK

Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore, 2004, US)
White Palms (Szabolcs Hajdu, 2006, Hun)
Balls of Fury (Robert Ben Garant, 2007, US)
Ashes and Diamonds (Andrzej Wajda, 1958, Pol)

First time seen all those, Fahrenheit is alright, White Palms is an excellent sports film, Balls of Fury isn't and Ashes and Diamonds came in a box which said Arthouse Essentials whichj probably should have put me off but I am glad it didnt.

finished that Fake! book too. It would make a right good film i think.

Sunday Morning Fry Up (Feb 7th)

Here is some more links to some articles and other such stuffs online (trailers or such like) that tickled our movie fancy this week and are perfect fodder for a lazy Sunday in front of the computer. Enjoy.




LINKS

As Red posted this week Oscar noms are out and here is a look closer at the main catagories, help you work out your choices for your pool.

Jeff Bridges has picked up awards already and could be a shoe in for Oscar glory too, heres an article on the Dude.

Snubbed by the Oscars was Watchmen shamefully, but no matter a sequel is in the offing it would seem. I havent read the graphic novel, though i am sure Red has, but im sure the film tied up the story that was in it. Will they make up something new? Is this sacrelidge?

Coen favourite and by extension I would say Splice favourite Steve Buscemi is getting a rare leading role this year in Saint John of Las Vegas. Read all about it here.

Have you ever seen Man on the Moon with Jim Carrey about And Kaufman? Remember Tony Clifton? read on for your entertainment.

and Sports movies, dont you just love them? Here is a look at the must haves when making a good one.


TRAILERS

I have just discovered that there is something called red band trailers and that there is loads of them over the years. Its just a trailer for a movie with usually some swearing and they are awesome. could fill up here with loads from down memory lane but instead here is the red band trailers of trailers o posted a few weeks ago. Cop out and Kick Ass, Cop Out looks much better with some cursing thrown in. Also a further red bander in She's Out Of My League which i think looks ok.








ON RUUD'S TV THIS PAST WEEK

First episode in final series of Lost (if anyone reads this and has some theories please post them in the comments, cos i am stumped mostly)
Dont Mess With The Zohan
Eastern Promises
Cool Runnings
Junior (not the Arnie pregnant nonsense from years ago rather a Canadian doco about junior hokcey team in the Quebec league. Really interesting.

Red here. Check this wee interview with Armando Iannucci about In The Loop being the sweariest film ever to be Oscar nominated.

Sunday Morning Fry Up: Trailers, Catch Ups and Link Dump (10th Jan)

Here is some links to some articles and other such stuffs online (trailers or such like) that tickled our movie fancy this week and are perfect fodder for a lazy Sunday in front of the computer. Enjoy.



LINKS

Spiderman 4 is going through more studio red tape than is surely necessary, the studio and director Sam Raimi seemingly at loggerheads over who should be the villain for the upcoming sequel, here is some info and some villains to get you all thinking. will the geeks win, will Raimi win, will the studios win. Will we, the public who arent geeks or directors or studio execs win? Since we only want a return to the first two films rather than the quite messy third, are we not the majority?

Staying on Spiderman 4, witht he news above its May 6th 2011 spot which seemed untouchable has now became touchable, hot on the news of above a n other blockbuster moved in on its spot from its own May 20th release, and then another blockbuster took up that May 20th release spot. All the while the Spidey situ could get resolved and the bandwagon could be back on track.

Hitchcock articles appear in papers the world over it would seem every once in a while, they are rarely boring, this one is no different. Undervalued film writer who basically rewrote the book on Hitchcock criticism died recently and a fan of his wrote an article.

I got the best viral email in a long time this week, its a youtube video and is pretty specific about my hometown in Scotland but then I can watch movies about New York and San Fransisco and follow whats going on even though i have never lived there so this shouldnt be a problem for people that arent my fellow townsfolk to enjoy this. If you want to make your own movie in this style you can, do it here, its kinda cool you only need a script, or simply hoof it and make it up there and then.

Ever wonder what would happen if Star Wars was used in one of the orange cinema ads and they were trying to peddle the fact that orange now lets you browse facebook for free and what would Grand Moff Tarkin say? wonder no more.

And staying on a facebook theme, have a read at this piece of fiction which i read in a free paper i picked up when i was down in Chicago at Christmas, its pretty entertaining, at first i thought i was real then i thought, god if this is real where is it going, then i realised it wasnt, im not wasting any of it telling you this i must add. hmmm.


TRAILERS










ON RUUD'S TV THIS PAST WEEK

Dazed and Confused (1st viewing)
The Golden Girls
Weeds
The Express
What Happened in Vegas
Slap Shot

and im currently reading The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard which is cracking and has movie written all over it, but then what Leonard book hasn't?

Kevin Smith in Blighty Watch

Kevin Smith is gonna be on Newsnight Review tonight with Kirsty Wark. Kirsty Wark is a celebrity Killie fan of sorts. Think they are going to discuss the rise of cult fiction to mainstream or some other such stuff. if your in Britain you can watch it on TV realtime tonight or online on the iplayer for a week after or if your not in the UK you can do whatever your (illegal?) thing is to watch it.

Me, i am getting it taped, i will see it in 3 weeks!

that is all.

Kevin Smith Hockey Movie

Hockey, North American speak for Ice Hockey is a really good game actually. Football (soccer, sic) is also a very good game. I am probably wrong but hockey is almost (but not quite) as neglected in the movie world as football but it will soon have a new film in its canon and this one is by a respected and good director (in my opinion at least) and that is reason to rejoice.

As i have given this blog the title of "Kevin Smith Hockey Movie" it shouldnt be too hard to decipher as to which director is taking a pop at an actual sports movie so i suppose i should just get going with some info if you want it and highlight how excited i am about the prospect even at this early stage.

My interest was piqued by a few things, having liked Smiths films a lot over the years i have recently finished his book My Boring Ass Life and thought it was great and kinda developed a wee crush on him when i spot his name in anything i am instantly drawn so while hunting out the hockey scores on Tuesday night, mooching around the nhl website i chanced upon a piece about him and read with interest
that following A Couple of Dicks which is due out soonish, his next project will be a film about hockey!

The link i have put on explains it all in detail but to surmise, its a film based on a song (when at uni my scriptwriting lecturer oftens said that songs could form the basis of decent scripts and i long held the belief that that was bullshit but not no now) by a guy called Warren Zevon and is called Hit Somebody and so now on the imdb page for the expected film that is the title it is going under. Other links on this page have Will Wheaton as the lead, but i Think this was taken from some throwaway remark on twitter. Where else? Though i in no way have any opinion on Wheaton playing a role when i dont know what that role is, god, even if i did know the role i probably wouldnt have much of an opinion!

So, well, a thouroughly thought out blog would have some insight into the song from listening to it but there will be none of that here. I may seek out the song in the future but right now i am just happy that the film is being mooted. I have read its about an enforcer type player who would dearly love to score a goal but is sent out onto the ice simply to beat the crap out the opositions good players. Sounds good, it may even be a period piece which would be sweet.

So there we have it, 2011 is the estimated date of arrival which is kinda vague, but a date of arrival none the less, you could check back here regular to get updates on this project but i recommend Smiths own twitter account or his excellent websites.

Oh and Smith is in Britain right now and is visiting Scotland to talk, and Im in Canada.

Bollocks.