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 (Mar 14th)

LINKS

No article links or trailers this week cos I have decided to put up something a bit different this week. so instead fill your boots wi this website full of shorts, full length doco's, trailers and other stuffs and also full versions of Oscar shorts that are available on youtube.

If you read on you will see that i watched the Bret Hart doco and this is where i watched it. www.nfb.ca Great resource as an alternative to the old youtube.

However youtube is good for other things. Like these nominationed short films at this years Oscars which were last week. Including one of the winners. Not bad haul.

China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province (nominee in this years Oscars in the Best documentary, Short Subject catagory) click thru links as parts finish to see all five parts.




Logorama: The winner of the best animated short Oscar. In two parts.







Best Animated Short nominee: French Roast




and also a nominee: Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty




another best animation short nom: The lady and the Reaper




and finally a nominee for best live action short film: Miracle Fish





ON RUUD'S TV THIS PAST WEEK

Sahara (2005, Breck Eisner, US)
Noi the Albino (2003, Dagur Kari, Ice)
Volver (2006, Pedro Almodovar, Esp)
Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows (1998, Paul Jay, Cdn)
Frost/Nixon (2009, Ron Howard, US)

Penelope Cruz double bill after I fell in love at the Oscars. One is her enjoyable romp in the Indiana Jones type affair Sahara which has another favourite of mine Matthew Maconoghey in it and speaking Spanish and having folk talk about her cleavage in Volver which is the first Almodovar film i have seen in years. Was pretty good. Noi the Albino was also a first for me as i am almost certain its my first foray into Icelandic cinema, was pretty good, nicely shot i should add. Wrestling with Shadows was excellent and the the last twenty minutes in particular were fan bloody tastic. even now 12 years later. Read his autobiography late last year and looked forward to seeing this doco. Wasnt disappointed. Frost/Nixon I enjoyed immensely, it really doesnt have much of a ending though but its really rather goo. I remember i think, reading reviews positing it as a sort of sports moive with no sport. That came across to me. Frank Langella was really good in it.

Sunday Morning Fry Up (Mar 7th)

LINKS

Kick off with Oscar stuffs, this article clears up how the newly expanded Best Film category will be worked out to find a winner. If you though it was just most votes then you would be WRONG!
What happens when the Oscars meets Twitter, whos on and who makes the most of it.

There is a list, would you beleive, that does the rounds in Hollywood about the hottest scripts going and a fair few on these list in years gone by have featured in Oscar nom lists and also as winners of statues. Read all about this list here.

And finally on the Oscars Mark Kermode tells a terrific anecdote about his troubles with turf accountants and also gives his opinions on who will win what tonight. no need to click a link because its below. though you will have to click play.



Moving away from Oscar stuff onto a great blog about the Return of Captain America to the cinema screens. It covers all the points were all thinking i think. Read it, remember it, and use it as your point of view from now on.


TRAILERS

Oscar nominee The Secret in Their Eyes which is my tip for best foreign filmonly cos i have seen it already, Death at a Funeral which is a Chris Rock remake of a British film of same name and Repo Men which looks pretty cool i think. Also a link to a trailer dissection which i think is a great idea, this week the Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant first film together Cemetary Junction. The trailer is in the link as is the teaser trailer introduced by them both. Check out Stephen Merchants shirt, he is so rich now he is getting custom made dress shirts me thinks. that is one loooong fitted shirt.










ON RUUD'S TV THIS PAST WEEK

Calendar Girls (2003, Nigel Cole, UK)
88 Minutes (2008, Jon Avnet, US)
Land of The Lost (2009, Brad Silberling, US)
Flight of the Phoenix (2004, John Moore, US)
Run Fatboy Run (2007, David Schwimmer, UK)
Gone Baby Gone (2007, Ben Affleck, US)

Series 4 of Entourage too. There must be millions of fans of this show who dream of seeing the films Aquaman, Queens Boulevard and Medallin. I know i do.

Calendar Girls is pretty decent, helped no end by a great cast. 88 Minutes is so bad its good, totally gaping with plot holes galore and also a pretty wild Pacino hairdo i emplore anyone to watch it to see what they think is the most "oh my god, what the fuck" moment. Is it a line which is just weird, a obvious mistake or maybe strage product placement? The decision is yours. Once you have watched it, go on the imdb page and see if your choice matches up to the many many favourites in the films forum. Land of the Lost i thought was like a sandwich two cracking scenes in the TV studio are the bread and the filling is mince. Flight of the Phoenix is no bad, Run Fatboy Run was good i thought and Gone Baby Gone was awesome, the Affleck brothers from Boston are on fine form, Ben behind the camera as well too. They should make a triplets film starring the two Affleck brothers and Rab Affleck from Irvine Scotland. that would be a good movie, even if its was just a two hours of Casey and Ben telling Rab he wasnt their brother. All six were first time viewings for me incidentally.

Sunday Morning Fry Up (Feb 28th)

Not too much this week due to time constraints. sorry.


Links

A good blog that I think I agree with 100% about good ol Michael Moore.

A fantastic bit of news about Fox picking up the next great sci fi franchise. I actually know a bit about it already as i have read the first two books which are pretty damn awesome, done right this will be awesome. Its written by a guy called John Twelve Hawks who i dont think anyone knows anything about and its ace.

Other great shit is that The Farrelly Brothers are making a new film, was talking about Kingpin a fair bit last few weeks for no apparent reason so this is a timely cracking surprise.

An interesting article on new PS3 game Heavy rain and its potential implications on TV and Film.

and

I once met Roger Eberts wife, I never knew it was his wife, someone else told me, I knew who Roger Ebert was, I found out that he was a film critic and he used to be on the TV, after reading this though i now know more, wow.


Trailers

The new Nightmare on Elm Street which i will most likely never see (though Red probably will) and Green Zone which really should have featured on her earlier.






ON RUUD'S TV THIS PAST WEEK

Becket (Peter Glenville, 1964, UK)
Beowulf (Robert Zemeckis, 2007, US)
Failure to Launch (Tom Dey, 2006, US)
Funny People (Judd Apatow, 2009, US)

Becket is hands down one of the best films I have seen, maybe ever, really quite funny, and Peter O'Toole is my new hero. Beowulf is weird, Failure to Launch succeeds for me i guess because Matthew Maconoughey isnt Paul Rudd, and Funny People as suspected is better second time round.

and

The Wire Series 5 which a was magnificent end to a magnificent show.

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 14th)

Valentines Day links and trailers (mostly trailers today actually) that will no doubt have nothing to do with Valentines Day.


LINKS

Who knew Pixar trailers had so much in built detail in them for us folks watching. Read this to find out all the little treats for the eagle eyed.

News is coming out that Superman is getting Chris Nolan onboard for a reboot (film word of the decade) and that Batman 3 seems like go, does this just get the Justice League mongerers salivating though?

new muppet movie? Featuring the writing talent from Forgetting Sarah Marshall? Sounds good?
Here is a blog about the poor state of posters, and the UK Whip It poster in particular. Keeps me in mind of The Informant! poster, which readers may know, I bang on about quite a bit.

Bill Murray says he will be in Ghostbusters 3.

Want to see how the weather in your hometown on any given day measures up to a particular planet in the Star Wars universe? Look no further.

Now is a free paper distributed in Toronto every week, this week there is a nice article about how telly is better than films these days, it has a point I guess.

and finally, this is not exactly film based but no doubt it will be in the next few years!

Comic book writer Mark Millar is auctioning off the name of his villain for his new book, if I had the dosh then Ruud Kerouac would be getting bidded up. A villains’ name if ever there was one.


TRAILERS

Lots of new trailers went live thsi week, Get Him To The Greek up first and it looks awesome, surely a redband (love the redband) trailer will appear soon. Below that is The Killers which might be a pretty good date movie, romance and guns? then there is M. Night's return with a live action version of a cartoon called Avatar which now cant be called Avatar and so goes by its sub-title The Last Airbender which just means that the word bender is in your head while watching. Finally we have Toy Story 3 which is dissected in a link above. if the trailer link works that is.


















ON RUUD'S TV THIS PAST WEEK

Yes Man (2008, US) Not as good as the book.
The Ladykillers (1955, UK) Excellent.

Read the graphic novel of the Wolverine: The End series of comics. Not as good as Origins i think.

So that's a big fat zero about Valentines Day then? figures.

Awrite muckers, Red here and I'm ignoring Love Day as well. The films about it are shite, and not just the mushy yins that the ladies like. The horror films based around it are shite as well. So let's ignore it and look at what else is happening this week, that's right, Pancake Day:



Ah Pingu I'll never outgrow you.

Oh aye and it's also Chinese New Year which means I won't be getting my weekly takeout for dinner for the next fortnight. Ah well I'll just have to watch some Chinese films to make up for it.

I'm recommending you check out the movies of Zhang Yimou, who'll you'll know as the director of Hero. But before he went all kung-fu he made some absolutely gorgeous dramas about Chinese life. Trust me that isn't as boring as it sounds. Some of the films are a bit difficult to get a hold of but Red Sorghum and The Road Home are highly recommended.

The finest of his films though is the epic, funny and tragic To Live. Seriously hunt this down, it's one of the best films of the 90's.

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.

The Sunday Morning Fry Up (31st Jan)

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

Not much this week, mostly Miramax related stuffs.

Disney closed down the mini mega studio Miramax this week, sad news indeed for any film fan especially those who grew up with their films basically forming the background of their life (Red and myself in particular) here is a lookback by the Guardian and also one by Eye Weekly and a even further lookback to the first day of the first film at EW.com. RIP Miramax. Like to think something will appear from either of us, but dont count on it. soz.

Back to Sundance which draws to a close this weekend, heres a look at whats been happening.

Empire magazine have announced the results of their poll which counts down the top 50 worst films this week. how many have you seen? i have only seen 8. Im particularly happy that The Sweetest Thing features, as i thought it was horrible but my girlfriend thinks it rocks. i feel somehow vindicated.

(Red here, the list has some worthy shite on it but as always when the public vote for stuff it has too many recent films and it's a bit too populist. Spiderman 3 and Transformers 2 are indeed dreadful but do they genuinely belong on this list? The problem is most people haven't really seen truly terrible cinema of the level of Roger Corman or Coleman Francis so their films don't appear. Corman could fill the list himself! Plan 9, The Room and the Uwe Boll films are of this level I'm talking about but they are only the popular peak of awful cinema. Batman and Robin at number 1 though might be the best shout of the whole thing.)

and

Edge Of Darkness out this week sees a return to the big screen of Mel Gibson, here is a look at the projects he could have made his return with however, all totally serious.


TRAILERS

Zoe Saldana is my burd du jour and the trailer for The Losers which shows her in hot pants at some point is here. Also a trailer for Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe together again in Robin Hood and lastly Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps which is a silly title but still a good short trailer.








ON RUUD'S TV THIS PAST WEEK

The Bands Visit which was a funny wee Isreali film about a Egyptian band lost in Isreal.
The tail end of the Lost season 5 in preperation for the final season starting this week!

and I have started reading a book called Fake! by Clifford Irving which is the biography of a famour art forger called Elmyr De Hory, which in turn is the subject of a Orson Welles doco from 1974 called F for Fake actually. The author himself actually went to prison for forging letters to write a autobiography of Howard Hawks which ended up being a hoax. This actually led to another film, The Hoax in 2007 starring Richard Gere as Irving. Funny how things work, i just saw the book sitting and thought it look interesting, never knew anything about it. Click on both the author and the subjects names to read their Wikipedia entries. Very interesting.

Red here with a wee video that Empire linked to via their Twitter. Some bloke made this jaunty wee tune out of music, speech and sound effects from Up:



If you don't smile after that then I just give up...

The Sunday Morning Fry Up (24rd Jan)

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

Here goes nothing; lets start with Spiderman, the story has been covered a bit on Splice in past few weeks and now we have a new director. If movies were fitba then tabloid writers would have a field day with the new mans name.

Sundance Film Festival started on Thursday just passed, and taking its bow there is our blogs namesake Splice starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley. Its actually a Canadian film and is mentioned here alongside the other Canuck fare the Utah filmlovers are getting to see over the festival.

I actually didnt know Sundance was this week until i read this preview of what to look out for there in the excellent free paper Eye Weekly as i made my way home on the streetcar so i then went looking for the British perspective to go with the canadian one i read and found it.

In fact the British view is actually a good base to follow the festival all the way through, looks like the blog will be updated regularly.

Last bit of Sundance stuff here is this link to a clip from the new Chris Morris film Four Lions which i actually laughed out loud at but resisted the urge to cut the phrase down to three letters.

Staying on film festival mode, last week I was trying to encourage Red to put Splice about at the Glasgow Film Festival, so far he hasnt told me he has or he hasnt so we still live in hope. If he hasnt yet, maybe this look ahead at the fest will whet his appetite.

Award season is upon us, the Golden Globes have came and went and now the Bafta Nominations are out, still to come are the Oscars and the curtain will come down with the Spliceys, its sure to be a entertaining few months.

The award ceremonys are revelling in the last year of film however there is a season of films on at the TIFF Cinematique for the next few weeks. I still have a few free passes left so have a look at this and tell me what to go see.

And finally, some news to make Big Red smile, Bruce Campbell related you understand.

TRAILERS

Featuring in this weeks trailers is Shutter Island which was supposed to be in last week but I ended up putting Extraordinary Measures in twice. Then here is Legion which is a kind of sci-fi horror type fantasy thing which has been on my TV for weeks now and I think looks cool. After that a quick teaser for Buried which looks interesting and ties into the Sundance stuff in the links as it is being shown there sometime in the next week. And finally MacGruber which is a redband trailer, which i never knew existed, that means there is swearing in it and swearing is funny.












ON RUUD'S TV THIS PAST WEEK

The burning embers of the final episodes of Conan O'Brians tenure as host of The Tonight Show which featured a strange final credit singing of Freebird by Will Ferrell with the Tonight Show band and Conan on guitar and what looked like Beck and Ben Harper also. Very weird. still not sure what the pregnant woman thing was about.


Also
Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Persopolis

Finished reading The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard, I have changed my mind on the film, i reckon it could be a good TV series.

Sunday Morning Fry Up (Jan 17th)

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

During this week I went to a taping of a Toronto based talk show The Hour and sat in the audience when Harrison Ford gave a very rre intimate interview. Would have mentioned it before but it is shown on TV on Monday night coming so if you can see it, watch it and if you cant then I will try get some youtube links to it and give a bit of commentary of my experience, so this is a link into the future in soem ways if such a think exists. Trailer for Harrisons new film is further down this post.

"Friend" of Splice Ivan Reitman, see the TIFF diaries on here for confirmation of this kinship, has hinted that he will be back on Ghostbusters 3. Not that the link tells you much more, but think of it as proof of some sort.

Is Sherlock Holmes a load of garbage? I dont know, I think it looks quite decent and Guy Ritchie is far from the worst director the world has seen. However I have heard that in terms of being a authentic adaptation of Doyles book its a bit off the mark, Holmes is gay for example? But this guy says its actually quite on the money.

The Glasgow Film Festival is coming up in February and that wee link was for Red to click and try chasing up a press pass, cos if you dont ask you dont get. More to follow on the festival as the schedule is announced, right now though the Cary Grant retrospective is sounding good though. Failing a access all areas pass being granted, there is always volunteering, its ace.

But tonight its The Golden Globes. If you live in the UK then this happenes usually when your tucked up in bed and the news of who has won what and what the hell are they wearing usually comes at the earliest when your eating breafast and watching GMTV. I am over in North America so I will enjoy my first big awards ceremony in real time. I get to find out how mind numbingly boring they supposedly are. Heres the runners and riders. Hey, Scorsese is getting the Cecil B DeMille award and Gervais is hosting, it cant be that bad. If i do watch then i will document the event and post on here, hows that.

And

Hey ho kids, it's Big Red here with a wee link for you. It's the Rotten Tomatoes Awards.


TRAILERS







ON RUUD'S TV THIS PAST WEEK

Kids in the Hall Presents Death Comes to Town
American Idol
The Last 7 or 8 episodes of 24 day 7 in preparation for day 8 starting this weekend.

still reading The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard, its good but my brain isnt clicked into reading the now so its a slog.

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?