Anne Hathaway's Britney moment
So Anne Hathaway got out of a car at a premiere for Les Miserables, and the paparazzi managed to get photographic evidence of her decision to forgo undergarments that evening. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/13/36938/ She's taken the resultant brouhaha in stride, even surviving …
A closer look at the trailer for Pacific Rim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w6Vv2z-QiAI Well BRAAAAHM my BRAAAAHM, it's another movie about punching robots. I kind of hope it opens with a 2001-style bit that traces the development of human warfare, from cavemen punching each other, to one picking up a bone and …
An even closer look at the trailer for Oblivion
"I've been watching you, Jack," intones Morgan Freeman in his best Morpheus voice. "You're curious. What are you looking for in those books?" http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/12/36892/ So what exactly is that book that our hero finds himself reading? Why, it's Thomas Babbington …
A closer look at the trailer for Man of Steel
Whoa. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/12/36887/ And what side is that, Dad? http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/12/36888/ Ah. The flaming side. But Dad also tells his boy, "You just have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be, Clark." Apparently, he thinks it's …
A closer look at the trailers for Oblivion and After Earth
Chalk another one up to Hollywood Synchronicity - you know, the force that brought us Deep Impact and Armageddon, Dante's Peak and Volcano, etc. Cuz here come two films starring weirdly ageless A-listers (Tom Cruise and Will Smith) about space …
Beginnings: Sylvester Stallone
Look, I know that it's hardly news that Sylvester Stallone started his cinematic career in the X-rated Party at Kitty & Stud's (later renamed The Italian Stallion for obvious reasons). http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/12/36861/ But I did think it interesting that the film …
A closer listen to the teaser trailer for Star Trek: Into Darkness
Okay, first off: Benedict Cumberbatch is hugely enjoyable as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock, and I liked him just fine in the remake of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but I'm just not buying the menace here. There's something hollow in the …
Dept. of High Concepts: Christmas caper edition
Philip Seymour Hoffman must infiltrate a gang of high-end mall Santas who are planning to steal a diamond collection currently displayed at a jewelry store in the Beverly Center Mall in Beverly Hills. Take it from there, Hollywood. Here's some …
A few more casting possibilities for Johnny Depp's Don Quixote
Can't help myself; this seems to be sort of a rich vein. Lessee, you could go bro and match up Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill again: http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/06/36554/ (I have to hand it to Tatum: Magic Mike proved that he's capable …
Depp the Don
Hoooooooo boy. Johnny Depp is gonna make a Don Quixote movie, and it's gonna be a "modern re-imagining" of the story (which story, by the by, is about a guy who pretty much detests all things modern). It's true that …
Please stand by
Technical difficulties here at The Big Screen. But to help pass the time, why not watch The Ring? I was chatting with my co-blogger Scott the other night about scary movies, or rather, movies that scared us, and I confessed …
Interview with Starlet director and co-writer Sean Baker
Starlet tells the story of an unlikely relationship that develops between two women - a young aspiring actress and a reclusive widow - living in the San Fernando Valley. It opens Friday, December 7, at the Ken Cinema. On Saturday, …
Hee hee!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q573_hDhTbE Oh, hilarious. New York Magazine film critic David Edelstein put Pitch Perfect on his Top Ten list for 2012. I really did think I was the only one who was charmed despite myself by this. I have no use …
What happened? Anthony Hopkins
My pal Scott was not impressed with Academy Award Winner Sir Anthony Hopkins' performance as Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock. He charges the actor with having "an oscillating accent," and with being unconvincing in general. I'd argue that the one leads …
Free movies of the week - Martial Arts, Hook and Heathers
Who says there has to be a pattern?
Bruce Lee! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIWf9ghLF98 Jackie Chan! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3gRXLmjkuY Jet Li! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d59rUHcAPNM Captain Hook! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iql7-aO5uH0 Heathers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2OPV6iuk2o
What could go wrong?
Hey! Super was about real-life superheroes! Let's hire that guy to direct a superhero movie for Disney!
Oh, good grief. So James Gunn, who directed the nasty, brutish, and short (but also sweet, pure, and almost religious) film Super, somehow managed to get himself hired to direct Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel/Disney. And so naturally, the …
Opening this week
Oh, Hitchcock, you mean thing, you. You broke Scott's heart. As if The Girl wasn't rough enough on the guy. Chasing Ice contains some images of transcendent beauty displayed for moral purposes. You might not think you want to see …
James Bond, brand whore
Wound up seeing Skyfall a second time; found that I was still irked by the branding. There certainly was a lot of it. Heineken was just the most egregious. And of course, there are all those Omega watch ads in …
So, what are you drinking tomorrow?
If you're doing a traditional turkey dinner, and you're planning on drinking wine, please let me put in a word for Riesling. Whether you want something bone dry and laced with singing acidity, or something ripe and round and just …
Opening this week
It's Thanksgiving time, but who to thank? God? Does He even exist? Credit Life of Pi for even taking up the question, I suppose. I guess we can be thankful for our freedoms as Americans, as protected from North Korean …