Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Real Life Love Becomes Movie Love

Michael Cera and his girlfriend, Charlene Yi of Knocked Up, made a little movie called Paper Hearts, which premiered to rave reviews at this year's Sundance. Now the trailer is online, and a lot of people seem to be confused--is this about the two actors falling in love? Not really, though I'm sure they imbued the script with plenty of moments from their own relationship into this mockumentary about Charlene's quest for the definition of love. What would look too cute if anyone else went near it, everyone involved here seems to have tackled the subject quite nicely:



(Much appreciation as always to the beloved Chud.com for the info.)

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Movie of the Week: Michael Mann's Thief

I'm not sure how I feel overall about Michael Mann's new video approach. I know it affords him a bit more when it comes to shooting his large-scope character-action films, but with a period piece like his upcoming Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp, it seems to take a little away from the aesthetic. Judge for yourself below.




With that said, we'd like to recommend his first film, Thief, starring James Caan. The tale of an "honest thief" in pursuit of the American dream, only to become ensnared in the violent trappings of the Mob, Mann gorgeously details the slippery slope of the quest for money at any cost and the downfall it can lead to.

Double Feature of the Week, April 15th

So Mike Judge has a new film due out in September, Extract, featuring Jason Bateman and Ben Affleck, among others. We'd like recommend two of his other great social commentaries, Idiocracy and Office Space.

Extract trailer:



Office Space trailer:



Idiocracy trailer:

Triple Feature of the Week, April 15th

Our triple feature this week includes three great films by the American-Indie auteur, John Sayles.

Matewan



Lone Star

(Watch the trailer here.)

Passion Fish

Tarantino Shows Inglorious Basterds Footage During American Idol

Yes, he was a guest judge last night, supposedly. I'll try and track down some of that footage, but here's a little TV spot they showed during the broadcast...



Here's Tarantino guest-hosting a few years ago...



Quentin vs. a "Movie Reviewer"



On Letterman in '97...

a

Sunday, April 12, 2009

M-O-O-N spells Moon

So some dude, Duncan Jones, made this movie called Moon, starring Sam Rockwell. It's supposed to be pretty great, and here's a new trailer for it.

Valhalla Rising

I've written a little bit on here before about Nicolas Winding Refn, the writer/director who made a name for himself with the Pusher trilogy, and who has not one but TWO films coming out this year. The first is Bronson, which made a big splash at the festival circuit a few months ago, and just today I turned on the computer machine to find the trailer for his next film, Valhalla, a badass movie about vikings.



--co