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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
A Closer Look at the Trailer for Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
So I'm sure you've heard the news that Kristen Stewart, star of the Twilight franchise and girlfriend of co-star Robert Pattinson, got busted snogging with Snow White and the Huntsman director (and married father of two) Rupert Sanders. Both Stewart …
What Remains
I enjoyed lots many parts of this chat about The Dark Knight Rises over at The Awl, but this is the bit that really struck me: EK: There are many times when filmmakers have taken on huge ideas and have …