Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven: a tense day on the set.
Okay, just one more on this whole "Clint Eastwood, politically conservative movie star" thing. I was looking back on Unforgiven, and I remembered that Morgan Freeman was Eastwood's co-star in that film. Now, Morgan Freeman is not a Republican. In …
Clint Eastwood does not want a free one.
As Mr. Marks has noted, Clint Eastwood gave a helluva performance at the Republican National Convention. And lo and behold, the Internet has responded as the Internet does, although I rather prefer Mr. Marks' decision to use Mr. Eastwood's old …
Isaac Julien's Ten Thousand Waves
Isaac Julien's nine-screen film installation is open at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Downtown (1100 & 1001 Kettner Blvd) through November 4. This filmic tapestry weaves ancient, early twentieth century, and modern day China into a single non-linear narrative …
Free movies of the week: director's trailer park
As much as I applaud Matt's idea of alerting our minions to free movies online, I still cannot in good conscience watch a feature on a 15-inch computer monitor. It's bad enough having to screen so many movies for the …
Huge movie poster sale at Landmark La Jolla Village Cinemas in a month or so!
[UPDATE: Yeah, when I said this weekend? I meant the last weekend in September.] Posters! Posters! Posters! Get your movie posters! Saturday, September 29th, 2012 & Sunday, September 30th, 2012 from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM, at Landmark's La Jolla …
For a good time, read this interview with Ari Graynor, Lauren Miller, and Katie Anne Naylon
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/31/30598/ The prissy concierge at the W Hotel wanted nothing to do with me. "I'm here to interview the stars and writer of a new movie," I pleaded, "and for the life of me can't remember the title of it." …
Free movies of the week: dead and undead edition.
Continuing our investigation of the wonders of YouTube... To mark the sad occasion of director Tony Scott's death, here's Denzel Washington in Scott's Deja Vu. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6caiQSy8W5c&feature=related Nora Ephron also died recently. Here's what is possibly her best-known screenplay work, When …
Dotty Harry makes RNC's day
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/30/30573/ A man's got to know his limitations and Clint Eastwood's performance at the Republican National Convention earned him notices the likes of which he hasn't received since City Heat. "Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic. …
Alt.pictureshows 2012 Tonight at MCASD La Jolla
I am so, so sorry to come late to the dance on this one. My old friend and pride of the local film community, Neil Kendricks presents his annual "art happening" tonight at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, …
Opening This Week
Not much at the movies to get excited about this Labor Day weekend. Sadly, every member of my family went in for surgery this week, so The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure will have to go unreviewed. A screener …
2016: Obama's America: the President as Prince Hamlet.
I wasn't a fan of this one. I wrote a longish bit for this week's print edition, but the short version is here.
Lawless: what is a burgoo, anyway?
Why, it's a traditional Southern stew, of course! You learn something new every day. In other news, it seems Tom Hardy will have to keep looking for that breakout performance.
For a Good Time, Call... Opening on 28 Screens Across America Including 2 in San Diego!
San Diego is something like the 23rd largest film market in the country, yet when it comes to bringing talent to town or other forms of privileged treatment, we are generally treated like vomit-dipped lepers. Such is not the case …
Dig a Hole: Sylvester Stallone’s Half-Sister Toni Ann Filiti
Sylvester Stallone's career has been undergoing a resurgence of late thanks to the smash hit The Expendables 2, but his personal life has been plagued by loss. Less than two months ago, Stallone's 36-year-old son Sage Moonblood Stallone was found …
Are there any movies set in the American South that don't feature English actors?
I think I first noticed the trend during Robert Altman's 1998 film The Gingerbread Man. "Hey, that's noted Englishman Kenneth Branagh playing Southern lawyer Rick Magruder!" http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/29/30459/ "I guess it's true," young Me thought to himself, "those English guys really …
¡Que Viva! Cine Latino Brings Free Outdoor Movies to South County
The Media Arts Center San Diego knows that a late summer evening with a cool breeze blowing in is the ideal environment in which to savor an outdoor movie. That's why every Wednesday night in September, MCASD presents it's 6th …
Interview: A Sweet Spoonful of Legendary Disney Composer Richard M. Sherman
Along with his late brother and songwriting partner, Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman (pictured) is responsible for providing Walt Disney Pictures with some of the biggest toe-tappers in the studio's history. A Spoonful of Sugar, It's a Small World …
2016: Obama's America: Who's the Target Audience?
Well, let's see if we can get any hints from the trailers they showed before the film. Not the Glenn Beck thing with Fathom - that's a no-brainer. No, let's think mainstream releases. First up: Chasing Mavericks. Okay, this one …
Media Arts Center's September Schedule Offers a Trio of Technology Workshops
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/27/30331/ Have you been considering a future in photo journalism or are you the least bit curious to learn how to animate a storyboard? Perhaps it's always been a dream to build your own optical devices like a Zoetrope or …
What the @$%& is a Cecchi Gori and Why is it Suing Scorsese?
Cecchi and Gori: I’m disgusted with the two of ya's! Excuse me, but I seem to be a bit confused. Is this the rich Italian guy who tailors Marty’s suits or some cannoli-peddler out to smear His great name? What …
New feature: free movies of the week.
I'm going to try to do this every week, just to see if anybody notices just how many movies are available for free on YouTube and comments on the legality of it. I'm not talking bad transfers with subtitles, chopped …
Premium Rush features a bicycle race through Central Park.
It's a lovely park. I'd make a joke about having rushed to get this review in before Mr. Marks, but come on.
Retire this trend: strippers who don't strip.
One of the many reasons I loved The Sopranos was that the show didn't glamorize stripping. Mob guy Tony Soprano operated out of a strip club called the Bada Bing!, and it was just as depressing a place as you …
Review: The Apparition
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/24/30212/ How to Make a PG-13 Horror Film Checklist: ✓ Spooky house ✓ Pre-credit flashback to Super8 footage ✓ Two attractive teenage-ish leads ✓ A Kristen Stewart replica ✓ Paranormal security-cam footage ✓ A first-time director manning the till ✓ …
Opening This Week
David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis opens Friday at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas. Matt was still on vacation when the film previewed. I have never said a bad word about David Cronenberg, and am not about to start now. You folks will have to …
Will the Real Jeffrey Dean Morgan Please Stand Up?
After this morning's press preview of the new demon review, The Possession, friend and colleague Jean Lowerison noted that it had been a long time since she'd seen Robert Downey, Jr. on screen. "You still haven't," I replied. The face …
Shia LaBeouf learns the true meaning of fear.
Some days the blog-gods smile. Let me explain. Shia LaBeouf has been on a tear lately, first with his amazing shot at the studio system, and then with his super-enthusiastic embrace of his role in Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac. Famously, …
Lincoln one-sheet: Daniel Day-Lewis takes on his greatest challenge yet.
How do you give life to a massive hunk of granite? Trust seventeen-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis to find out! Get ready for The Lincoln Memorial, sure to be the most monumental movie of the year! http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/22/30138/ Okay, dumb joke. …
LL Cool J Gets In Too Deep With Home Invader
LL Cool J learned the hard way what it's like to be caught up with a home invader he almost sent to kingdom come. The rapper/actor awoke early this morning to find a burglar in his Studio City home. Before …
The Movie Studio Logo Quiz IV: The New Batch
It's been some time since one of my emblematic emblem quizzes appeared on The Big Screen. What with the heat climbing to a clammy 82 degrees, I figured that you would prefer to sit schvitzing in front of a fan …
Dig a Hole: Tony Scott
Ron Howard tweeted, "No more Tony Scott movies. Tragic day." Matthew Lickona emailed, "This one's on you, I fear. Digging a hole is sometimes a dirty business." Esther Marks instilled in me the following aphorisms at a tender age: never …
ParaNorman likes it ugly.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/17/29845/ Something to consider before you haul the kiddies to the multiplex this weekend.
The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Teleth...Marathon
Grocery shopping is hell of late. No images of Jerry Lewis' cropped head adorning Sara Lee cheesecake boxes. No "Aisles of Smiles." No robotic checkout gal asking, "Would you like to donate your change to Jerry's Kids?" Last year the …
It's "Kick Michael Bay Thursday" at The Big Screen
First Matt reported on Transformers star Shia LaBeouf's recent findings after being on the receiving end of the Hollywood version of a Colo-rectal exam. Now, adult film superstar James Deen is jumping on the bash-Michael Bay bandwagon. No one expects …
Shia LaBeouf - Finger Method Actor?
Terribly sorry for the descent into bad taste, but it's nigh unto impossible to be handed a quote like Shia LaBeouf's recent declaration and not explore the, um, possibilities. Just a refresher: LaBeouf, in declaring himself done with the studio …
Landmark Blows Out Ken's 100 Birthday Candles With a Yawn
The Big Screen was the first to break the news: Landmark's Ken Cinema will celebrate its 100th birthday this year. Am I the only one who thinks it's a big to-do that our town boasts one of the few 100-year-old …
Shia LaBeouf Tempts the Fickle Finger of Fate
As y'all know by now, the Transformers star (you know, besides the Giant $#&@^@! Robots) recently gave an interview to the Hollywood Reporter in which he declared himself "done" with the studio system that made him a star. And to …
Reminder: Oceanside International Film Festival Hits the Screen Tonight
The red carpet had been Rug Doctored and after months of preparation, Dmitriy Demidov and his staff are ready to unveil this year's Oceanside International Film Festival. The 50-film (shorts and features), 4-day festival commences tonight at 5 pm. The …
Does the Musical Version of Nutty Professor Really Need Hamlisch's Score?
The passing of composer Marvin Hamlisch, who died last week at 68, may have caused the Broadway bound musical adaptation of Jerry Lewis' fun and funny The Nutty Professor to hit a reef. Without the composer to guide them through …
VIDEO: Violently Insane Bob Hope Interferes With Jimmy Stewart's Thought Patterns
Bob Hope: world's most beloved comedian or violently insane ventriloquist bent on tampering with Jimmy Stewart's thought patterns and American freedom of speech? Bob Hope first started talking to me though mom and dad's Philco when I was still in …
Cronenberg's Capsized Cosmopolis Key Art
Speaking as the Will Rogers of his generation, I never saw a Robert Pattinson film I didn't like. Franchise films by their nature are not my dance. I never made it through a Harry Potter movie and slept through most …
Russell Crowe is Noah - RIGHT!
Y'all know that Russell Crowe is starring in Darren Aronofsky's Noah picture, right? Right! http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29460/ Man, so good to know that even back in the day, fingerless gloves were righteous. Also, I like to think that his little chest pouch …
Where Aren't They Now: Darlene Cates, Star of What Isn't Gilbert Grape's Mother Eating
Comeback kid Darlene Cates recently threw a deck chair off the Titanic by shedding 240 lbs. and the star of What's Eating Gilbert Grape wants to get back into acting. Cates told The Dallas News, "I'm not opposed to doing …
Moment of Truth: ALF Edition
So they're gonna make a big-screen version of ALF. Who knows, it could be great. Maybe make him a sonofabitch one-percenter FOX-news Dittohead living with some Upper East Side limousine liberals, watch the sparks fly. But the real test of …
Is Peter Jackson Morphing into Stanley Kubrick?
I mean, physically, sure, but not just physically... http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/08/29388/ See? Totally different. Jackson is smiling. Kubrick was famous - infamous, famous, tomato, tomahto - for his commitment to detail, so much so that defenders of the "it's all about the …
A Second Look at the Trailer for This is 40: Watch out, Leslie Mann!
Yeah, still working on this one... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9Vt9sP8OY8 Okay, so we all know that Judd Apatow is married to actress Leslie Mann, co-star of Apatow's ode to his own impending middle age, This is 40. (Which makes Paul Rudd Apatow's avatar, …
Bob Hoskins Has Parkinson's, Is Retiring
A genuine loss - Hoskins was a pro. Here, somehow, is the Hoskins classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit? in its entirety. (Seriously, can this possibly be legal?) And here is Reader critic emeritus Duncan Shepherd's four-star review of the film. …
OMG Report: This is 40.
So I'm back, diluting the pure, unadulterated Scott Marks goodness here at the Big Screen down to Federally approved levels of hilarity. And it turns out the Internet was just waiting to serve up some welcome-back awfulness, in the form …
The Lobby Art So Nice, We Posted it Twice!
So taken by the Gaslamp's Spider-Man lobby display was I that a friend lent me his camera to get a snap of it. Y'know, it might help if I occasionally read this blog. It seems like Br'er Lickona beat me …
Gaslamp's Spider-Man Lobby Display More Impressive Than Reboot
All it takes is a little imagination and a fairly thick cord made of twisted and intertwined hemp. Next time you're inside the Gaslamp's spacious lobby, tilt your head skyward and behold something more spectacular than anything on display in …
Did Anyone Notice That a New DeNiro Film Opened Last Friday?
You open a film in San Diego that stars Robert DeNiro and I have to find out about it from friends on the street? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4GoalAVE7I Red Lights, a new thriller starring DeNiro, Sigourney Weaver, and Cillian Murphy opened last Friday …
Dig a Hole: Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Hamlisch was an ETOG. He was one of only eleven people in the vaunted history of awards-giving to have received an Emmy, Tony, Oscar, and Grammy. The popular composer didn't stop there. Hamlisch also took home a Pulitzer and …
Dig a Hole: Norman Alden, the Oldest Surviving Member of Julius Kelp's Class
First Henry Gibson, then Skip Ward, now Norman Alden. Will Med Flory be the next student in the Wellman College graduating class of 1963 to leave this earth? Tender but tough-looking Norman Alden was the oldest surviving member of nutty …
50 Years Later: Vintage Newspapers from the Week Marilyn Monroe Died
Where were you when Marilyn Monroe died? I was 6. Being unable to wrap my young tongue around the name Harry, he became known as "Uncle Esh." Esh worked for an advertising firm in Chicago and it wasn't unusual for …
Film Critic Performs Live In Concert Tomorrow Night
Tomorrow night will find me peeling away yet another layer of the onion to reveal a side of myself that will no doubt surprise regular readers of this column. I'll be performing Maurice Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit in the …
Cinema en tu Idioma Kicks Off Tomorrow with Juan of the Dead
The San Diego Latino Film Festival kicks off its yearly Cinema en tu Idioma series tomorrow with director Alejandro Brugués' Cuban zombie romp, Juan of the Dead. In order to survive a massive zombie flare-up, Juan and his band of …
UCSD's ArtPower! Film Announces its 2012-2013 Series
I'll be up front with you: there's nothing that displeases me more than having to write about films I've yet to see. A film's magic should reveal itself on screen petal by petal, not in a blurb, blog post, or …
Bronx or Raging, LaMotta Sequel Sounds Like Bull
According to The Hollywood Reporter, MGM will drop its lawsuit against a planned sequel to Raging Bull if the film's producers agree to publicly disassociate themselves from Marty's masterpiece. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/01/28937/ All of this amounts to little more than the mamalukes …
We Still Have 3 Months Before the San Diego Asian Film Festival Opens, but...
Do not for one moment think that strolling through the lobby of UltraStar Mission Valley at Hazard Center with a SDAFF All-Festival Pass hanging around my neck doesn't make this reporter feel like hot shit. Last year's All-Festival Passes were …