Halo-Loving Marathon Xbox Player Now Wears One
My dad used to harp, "Instead of going to the movies, why don't you read a book?" Nowadays, a parent's battle cry is, "Why don't you stop playing video games and go to the movies?" If heeded, the latter admonition …
Free Outdoor Screening of Top Gun Tonight
Liberty Station’s third annual Summer Movie Mania continues tonight with a free 25th anniversary outdoor screening of Top Gun. A favorite of locals, we played to a capacity crowd when I screened the movie at the Oceanside Pier earlier this …
Dig a Hole: G.D. Spradlin
Gervase Duan Spradlin. With a handle like that, it's no wonder he grew up to be one tough hombre. G.D. Spradlin — attorney, independent oil producer, mayoral candidate, and one of the few men brazen enough to dare face down …
Feature: Steven-Charles Jaffe, Writer-Director of Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pffw5EUVt5o Look, every now and then, even a blog has to up the word count a bit. Hence the existence of longform.org, and also of posts like this one. I thought it was worth it; I hope you will, too. …
Dig A Hole: Polly Platt, Production Designer, Producer, and Screenwriter
Polly Platt first met Peter Bogdanovich in the summer of 1961. At the time, Bogdanovich was working as the artistic director for a theatre in Phonecia, New York. The director describes the encounter in his book Who the Devil Made …
It had to happen...AGAIN.
Because you demanded it. From the makers of Gard Haard comes the explosive follow-up: (Still waiting to get fired.)
Interview: Brit Marling, Co-Writer and Star of Another Earth
Brit Marling first met Mike Cahill while attending Georgetown. One of Mike’s short films won the Georgetown Film Festival. Brit saw it, introduced herself and soon began appearing in Mike’s other shorts. It’s been a good working relationship: Brit stars, …
The Eyes Have It: Spider-Man Through the Ages, Animated Edition
Well, that was fun. Let's try another round, this time, with cartoons! I'll wait again. Time's up! Clockwise from upper left: Spider-Man (1981), Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Spider-Man (1967), Spider-Man (1994).
The Eyes Have It: Spider-Man Through the Ages
Quiz time! Can you correctly identify all six Spider-Man eyes? I'll wait. Time's up! Clockwise from upper left: The Amazing Spider-Man TV series, Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man movie (upcoming), The Electric Company, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3. Your summer of superheroes: …
(More) Reviews!
This week, your humble correspondent humbly unleashes his megacritical skillz on Captain America: The First Avenger, Crazy, Stupid, Love (so many commas!), Sarah's Key, and the re-release of The Man Who Fell to Earth. In the capsules: absolutely nothing new. …
Reviews!
Good grief, is it Thursday already? Those tomato-water Bloody Marys - Unbloody Marys? - have a way of blurring the days. Wait, what do you mean it's Thursday of next week? Omigosh - I forgot to link to last week's …
Review: Love Etc.
Love Etc. began with an, “I do.” Executive producer Jonathan Tisch and his bride-to-be Lizzie spent a day standing on line at New York’s City Hall Marriage Bureau waiting for a license. Surrounded by couples united under an umbrella of …
A Re-butt to "Cowboys & Aliens: Daniel Craig, Fitted Chaps. Er, Fit Chap"
Look closer, Mr. Lickona. All that's missing is the DNA taken from Jon Favreau's lip-prints.
Angels & Airwaves Hitting Theaters August 10 with Feature Film Preview
More than 460 movie theaters nationwide will broadcast a live Angels & Airwaves performance, video screening, and a Q&A session on August 10, with Angels & Airwaves Presents LOVE Live. Their new album Love Part Two will finally arrive November …
Cowboys &. Aliens: Daniel Craig, Fitted Chaps. Er, Fit Chap.
A friend who attended a preview screening of Cowboys & Aliens reports on what may be the most noteworthy aspect of the movie:
Kristen Stewart Out As TS Autistic Druggie Convict in Mom's Movie
Photo at left: Tiny Lister Looks like "Snow White" won't be drifting after all. Kristen Stewart, long-rumored to don four hats as a transsexual yardbird with autism and a nasty drug habit, will not star in her mom Jules' directorial …
REVEALED! Alice in Wonderland Producer Joe Roth's Master Plan for Disney Heroines!
Lessee now... Alice in Wonderland: Snow White: Hmmm.... Ah ha! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSS5dEeMX64
Banned 3-D Asian Sexploitation Flick Coming to Clairemont!
It was only a matter of time before the three-buck surcharge for 3-D glasses went towards something other than cartoon birds, redneck roadsters, annihilative tin cans, and Smurfs. The same year that saw Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams join …
Scenes from Comic-Con: Steven Spielberg Gives Some Advice to Peter Jackson
It wasn't quite Clash of the Titans down there in Hall H, but there was a definite sense that school was in session: Alas, the Master's lesson seems to be taking a while to sink in: Now, if only Martin …
Universal Squeezes a Few More Dollars Out of the Back to the Future DeLorean Time Machine
I understand the tactic - Oedipus ain't just a Greek king - but frankly, I question the studio's good taste with this latest interactive feature:
Scenes from Comic-Con: Either there was a mix up with the Ghost Rider 2 display...
...or Men in Black 3 is going to take a turn for the demonic. (Yeah, that's right, we're posting photos from the convention floor. Nothing exclusive here, folks. Well, maybe a little something that is not Spielberg-huge but is nevertheless …
Anatomy Of An Ad Campaign: Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Having grown tired of the limitations a seven-minute cartoon placed on his artistry, Walt Disney couldn't wait to tackle long-form animation. With the success of The Three Little Pigs, Disney earmarked $250,000, ten times the cost of an average Silly …
Arnold & Maria's Son Hospitalized After Surfing Accident
Christopher Schwarzennegger, the 13-year-old son of the freshly split celebrity power couple, has been hospitalized after a surfing accident. According to TMZ, the young Terminator suffered multiple broken bones and a collapsed lung as a result of the Malibu accident. …
Review: Friends with Benefits
The perks are few and far between and no rewards to be gained by befriending Friends with Benefits. The only nugget of eternal wisdom to extract from the film is, as the lead in a romantic comedy, Justin Timberlake makes …
Nostalgia Is a Wound
My Captain America review, alas, won't show up until next week's print edition. But I will note that I totally geeked out when the bad German dude Schmitt found the Norse power thing he's looking for and muttered, "And the …
Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird Screening at Comic-Con
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HP2WdfG2v0 Longtime Reader readers may recall your humble correspondent's middling efforts at single-panel cartooning. (I still think Mudflap Girls was a solid comedic concept, but don't let that scare you off.) The apotheosis of the single-panel gag (with the possible …
DVD Review: The Music Man (1962)
Between the ages of seven and twenty-seven, I was pricked by my Uncle at least once a week. With one of his clinics located just blocks from our apartment on Chicago’s north side, it was seldom that we visited his …
Hey San Diego! See Captain America before the rest of America!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdBO3uQcHgI Much has been made of the movie studios' decision to, um, pull back a bit from Comic-Con this year. (It turns out fanboys are not totally reliable PR machines. Sometimes, they don't like what you do to their heroes; …
Cinepolis: the Bar & Menu
Continuing our visit to San Diego's new luxury theater... Really, you can tell so much about a theater by its bar. Start by ordering something simple - say, a Maker's Mark Manhattan, on the dry side... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAHRJ8Sv0AM Voila! (Two drink …
Cinepolis Luxury Movie Theater Comes to S.D.
Well, Del Mar, anyway. http://vimeo.com/26708258 A word about those social spaces - they really are equipped with a delightful variety of chairs. Here are just a few: This one is tucked in next to the touch-screen ticket kiosks, which may …
SD International Children's Film Festival Starts Sunday at Comic-Con
In his own quiet, unassuming way, Dan Bennett is one of the major forces of cinema in San Diego County. His legion of readers know Dan as the film critic for the North County Times. Behind the scenes, Dan is …
Monkey Business, Part 2
The flip side of our earlier adventure - this time, we're captioning stills from the trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes using lines from the trailer for the documentary Project Nim. Whee! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8D2NIGEJW8
Monkey Business, Part 1
Because you demanded it... stills from the trailer for the documentary Project Nim captioned with lines from the trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxQap9AAPOs
Ten Things I Learned About Ryan O'Neal on The Piers Morgan Show
Forgive me for coming so late to the dance, but a friend just showed me Piers Morgan’s interview with 1970’s heartthrob turned 2011 reality-TV personality, Ryan O’Neal (What’s Up, Doc?, Paper Moon, Barry Lyndon). Out stumping Ryan & Tatum: The …
Lord Voldemort: A Retrospective
Well, given the fact that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 earned all the movie money ever for all time last weekend, it hardly seems right to let Monday past without making some mention of The Boy Who …
Midnight in Paris Woody Allen's Biggest Grosser to Date
It's like I've always said: give the folks in La Jolla what they want, and they'll turn out in droves every time. Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen's 42nd feature, has become his highest grossing film of all time in North …
John Waters Newbie Screens a Waters Marathon
Until recently, I'd only seen bits and pieces of two John Waters movies, and that was way back in 1981. I'm told that I should consider myself lucky, to have witnessed his early "masterworks" in their native environs, an all-night …
Possible Sequel? Harry Potter & the Shoot-Out in the Multiplex Parking Lot
Two cops, hot on the trail of a child pornographer using the opening of a Harry Potter movie as an occasion to test out his pick-up lines, were shot by fellow officers as they tried to arrest the unarmed man …
Thora Birch In Person for Saturday Night's Screening of Ghost World
Last week The Big Reel announced this Saturday night's screening of a 35mm print of Ghost World in conjunction with the San Diego Film Critic's Society, Reading Cinemas, and Fantagraphics Books. At the time, I hinted at the possibility of …
Blow Out the Pilot Light: JLo and Marc Anthony Kaput!
The Americans Idle judge and her singer/actor husband, Marc Anthony, tell People Magazine (the divorced celebrity tabloid of record), "We have decided to end our (seven-year) marriage. This was a very difficult decision. We have come to an amicable conclusion …
So, What Are You Doing Tonight?
I don't want to beat a dead horse, but if you haven't yet visited Cinema Under the Stars this summer, then perhaps tonight is your night. I mean, you already saw the midnight show of Harry Potter, right? And now …
Trailer: Martin Scorsese's Hugo
"You're doing 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' and 'Fockers' and I'm directing Oscar-bait and kids films. What the fuck happened to us?" Repeat after me: You can't judge a movie by its trailer. You can't judge a movie by its trailer. You …
Dig A Hole: Deranged Character Actor Roberts Blossom
Character actors seldom get a chance to command more than a few intermittent moments of screen time. Roberts Blossom didn't exactly fit the Jeff Chandler leading man type, but he did have his shot at a starring role. The cult …
Anatomy of an Ad Campaign: The Marx Bros. Duck Soup
The magic number is 227. That's the amount of times that I've seen Duck Soup. That's more than Kane (152), The Rules of the Game (126), His Girl Friday (88), The Nutty Professor (79), Sherlock, Jr. (60), Annie Hall (54), …
Reviews!
This week, David Elliott bids a very fond farewell to the kids of Harry Potter, smiles at the father-son film A Better Life, and even has kind words for the latest Winnie the Pooh. Oh, and he considers The Names …
Anatomy of a Press Photo: Sarah's Key Premiere Afterparty!
I'll have a review out for Sarah's Key closer to its release date, but all you need to know right now is that it's a tender-hearted film starring Kristen Scott-Thomas with a Holocaust story at its heart. Which makes it …
Your Terrifying On-Set Image of the Day: Brett Ratner and Shaquille O'Neal
Because we all have such fond memories of Kazaam and X-Men: The Last Stand. Not to mention their initial collaboration in the noir classic After the Sunset... Naw, just kidding. Shot is taken from here.
SD Film Critics to Host 10th Anniversary 35mm Screening of Ghost World
Has it really been 10 years since Ghost World was released? And is it possible that I have been a member of the San Diego Film Critics Society for a decade? 2001 was the first time I cast my ballot …
Video Tyme: Balboa Park in Citizen Kane
Sixty years ago, Orson Welles gave us Citizen Kane, which some people insist on calling the greatest film ever made, despite the manifest existence of Die Hard. Very near the beginning of the film, we are treated to a newsreel …
Anatomy of an Ad Campaign: The Marx Bros. A Day at the Races
The Marx Bros. output at M.G.M. was nowhere near as uncontrolled as that of their Paramount years. Credit cultivated producer Irving Thalberg for starting the Marxes on their long, slow celluloid decline. Thalberg snatched the boys away from Paramount in …
REVEALED! Grown-Up Harry Potter Characters' Endorsement Deals! [SPOILERS]
Look, wizarding is all well and good, but unless you're going into academia (read: teaching at Hogwarts), you're going to need some income after you graduate. The good news is, if you're a wizard with a little bit of fame, …
Big Screen Reader Poll: Energy Bolt Collision Roundup
Saw this at the Harry Potter screening up in Mira Mesa last night. The whole "good guy/bad guy energy bolts meeting in the middle" thing looked hugely familiar, but the Big Screen databank is offline for some reason. So I'm …
Anatomy of an Ad Campaign: The Marx Bros. A Night at the Opera
It was in seventh grade that I first met the Marx Brothers proper and have the "Boone Booster Club" of the Daniel Boone School to thank for arranging the introduction. The "Club" was a pre-home video perk for students attending …
EXCLUSIVE: First images from Pacino's Lear.
Up until now, there have been few details about Al Pacino's upcoming film version of King Lear. But Big Screen has spotted a couple of Easter eggs in the trailer for the Adam Sandler, um, comedy, Jack and Jill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA48UG0gkJI …
TCM's Robert Osborne to Take Three Months Off
Robert Osborne, the genial host of Turner Classics Movies, will be taking a three-month leave of absence effective immediately. TCM.com reports Osborne will use the time for minor surgery followed by a three-month vacation. Osborne, 79, has hosted every one …
EXCLUSIVE! Neil Patrick Harris to star in pro-gay-marriage film, Homo with a Shotgun
Hugely Popular, Openly Gay Star Sets His Sights On Opponents in Wake of Historic New York State Ruling to Legalize Gay Marriage "I'm going after Prop 8 -- with a bullet!" A TYPICALLY TASTEFUL BAR IN PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN -- …
Your Short Film Could Land on Landmark Theatre Screens
Landmark Theatres (as in our own Hillcrest Cinemas, La Jolla Village, and The Ken) is joining forces with Porsche and ReelzChannel on the My Daily Magic Short Film Contest. It's an opportunity for budding filmmakers (aka anyone who owns a …
Trailer: Sarah Palin is The Undefeated
. The New John Wayne and Rock Hudson This could be the funniest documentary since Borat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVo_-RAiX3M
What Do YOU Think? Does the Walking Dead Stink, Or ?
Following is an email conversation between myself and comic book scripter (and Blockbuster employee) Jamie Ralph Gardner, that resulted when I commented that I WON'T be tuning in to season two AMC's inexplicably popular series The Walking Dead. JAS: I …
Patti LaBelle's Hairdresser & Bodyguard Charged with Assault
The incident took place on March 11 at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. Surveillance video shows two members of Patti LaBelle's entourage (63-year-old hairdresser, Norma Harris, and bodyguard, Efrem Holmes) mixing it up with West Point cadet Richard King. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTMxFdbbysU The …
Review: Horrible Bosses
I don’t know if Kevin Spacey ever simultaneously frightens and delights an audience the way he does when playing a sadistic Boss from Hell, a man forever finding novel and exquisite ways to humiliate the poor sap in his employ. …
Review: Zookeeper
I know, I know - haven't I said enough about this film already? Apparently not. Look, I’m not going to complain that a monkey suggests flirting-by-flinging-feces in Zookeeper. Actually, given the quasi-creepy sexual vibe that the film is willing to …
Free Outdoor Screening of Megamind Saturday Night
Tomorrow night, the CommCinema traveling picture show stops at the Tierrasanta Community Park for Time Warner Cable's "Moonlite Movies" free outdoor screening of Megamind. I'll be projecting the show, and while it's doubtful that I'll make it all the way …
Nancy Kwan in Person & Hopefully Hou in 35mm at Asian Film Festival
Even though October is still a few months off, it's never too early to tout news of the San Diego Asian Film Festival's upcoming lineup. This year SDAFF will honor Nancy Kwan, the renowned Eurasian actress who helped to shatter …
So, What Are You Doing Tonight?
I can't wait for my betters to tell me why I'm wrong, but I'm happy to throw down for Jimmy Stewart as one of the top five actors ever to star in Hollywood. Surely, he is the beating, bleeding, sweet …
Stop the Presses! Robert Pattinson Gets a Haircut!
This is not the news I wanted to end my week. First Justin Bieber tampers with his trademark sugar-bowl locks and now Twilight's Robert Pattinson gets his ears lowered! Pattinson is in Toronto hard at work on a film that …
BREAKING! Black Jellyfish Heads Up Class-Action Lawsuit Against Avatar Director James Cameron
Claims Blockbuster Film Director Appropriated the Appearance of Numerous Extant Species Without Consent or Even Attribution. "'Trying to create a world from scratch,' my foot. If I had feet." SANTA MONICA PIER - In a move that industry experts are …
Exclusive! First Image from Captain America: Real American Sequel
Marvel execs call new hire Val Kilmer "more relatable" than "that 'roided freak [Chris] Evans."
Harry Potter Marathon at AMC
At my house, Harry Potter is like a member of the family. Every book about him was cause for celebration. Each movie was a major event and subsequent DVDs were eagerly purchased. So you can imagine the emotions prompted by …
Reviews!
This week Reader critic John Rubio takes his hat off to Larry Crowne (ha! ha?), takes a head shot at Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and gives a rueful nod to Terri. In the listings, Blank City and Monte Carlo.
Latino Film Festival Announces August's Cinema en tu Idioma Lineup
The name of the series was originally Cine Mexicano, but after a few years, San Diego Latino Film Festival Ethan Van Thillo changed it to Cinema en tu Idioma ("Film in your Language"), a riff on Landmark's old "The Language …
Cult Movie Reviews: Andy Warhol's Bad & The Sentinel
IMDB synopsis: - A fashion model moves into a house inhabited (on the top floor) by a blind priest. She begins having strange physical problems, has trouble sleeping at night, and has some nasty flashbacks of her attempted suicide. She …
Captain No-Place-in-Particular!
When I read the news that foreign countries were given the option of calling Captain America: First Avenger either by its full title or simply First Avenger, and that one of the three countries that opted for the latter was …
Dig Three Holes: Anna Massey, Elaine Stewart, and Edith Fellows
This year's 4th of July festivities didn't take a vacation from the old celebrity "death comes in threes" precept. The trio of supporting players taken during the holiday weekend includes Anna Massey, the award-winning British actress victimized in films by …
Video Tyme: Last Night's July 4th Fireworks as Seen from Bankers Hill
Why is this appearing on the Big Screen blog? You need a reason? Okay, fine. When the helicopter kicks in around 0:45 and the fireworks get all clustery and bright and rapid, it puts me in mind of Apocalypse Now. …
A Closer Look at the Trailer for Twilight: Breaking Dawn
I know you guys have totally been making fun of this, but trust me, you're looking at it all wrong. This trailer is a totally awesome tool for mothers everywhere to use when it comes time for that difficult conversation …
Big Screen Stomach-Bug Blog: Part 2
Yes, you can watch Citizen Kane on YouTube - although doing so will probably call down Cineaste, the Wrathful Hipster God of Classic Cinema, to wreak vengeance upon you for your crimes against aesthetic genius. Maybe you'd be better off …
Big Screen Stomach-Bug Blog: Part 1
Not that you needed to know, but I spent most of last week fighting a nasty stomach bug, and mostly losing. Friday and Saturday were the worst. To help ease the pain, I watched movies that had most likely been …
The Great 4th of July Bronco Billy Wild West & Indoor Fireworks Show!
It was a Saturday matinee at the second-run Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge, Illinois. Some of you may recognize the name from its vast marquee used as the backdrop for the title sequence of Siskel and Ebert’s At the Movies. …
Unlimited Theater Movies for $50 a Month? Nope.
We are all guilty of theater-hopping on at least one, two, or, if hard-pressed, maybe even a couple hundred occasions. Once upon a time, movie theaters stationed stub-checking ushers at the front of each auditorium between shows. Today, most theater …
So, What Are You Doing Tonight?
Stay with me on this one... When I think of Star Wars, I tend to think of this speech from Commissioner Gordon in Frank Miller's Batman story, The Dark Knight Returns: And you, dear reader, may not see what this …
Small Screen: Has George Lucas Taught Us Nothing?
So AMC Networks (Mad Men, Breaking Bad, other stuff) went public just now, and sadly, shares are trading a little lower than expected. (Guess maybe they should have made nicer with Mr. Weiner?) In response, AMC CEO Josh Sapan emphasized …
For Scorsese, Life Is No Longer a "Cabret"
First it was titled The Invention of Hugo Cabret, then Hugo Cabret. Now word has it that Martin Scorsese's 3-D adaptation of mega-selling author Brian Selznick's novel is simply, Hugo. Personally, I call it the Best Picture of 2011...I hope. …
Local Filmmaker Asks for Community Support
Paul Espinosa Paul Espinosa needs our help. The documentary filmmaker (The Lemon Grove Incident, The New Tijuana, In the Shadow of the Law), professor, activist and founding member of the Board for the San Diego Latino Film Festival, is holding …