9 posts tagged “movie”
Things to do in Brown County Indiana before you die. Okay, so this is not an extensive list of things to do, more like one thing that you just have to do if you find yourself in the area for a day or two.
Many people brag about going to IMAX theaters, old theaters, digital theaters, the world's largest theater, dinner theaters, adult theaters, or even famous/infamous theaters. What about the smallest theater in North America? Or the 3rd smallest theater in the world? I did that just this last weekend.
Welcome to the Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville, Indiana:
Unlike many theaters that boast large lobbies, and parking lots designed to hold thousands of cars, this theater barely has a lobby, has no parking lot, and seats 35 people comfortably. No that is not a typo, I said thirty-five. On Saturday evening (January 3rd, 2009) my girlfriend and I made our way to see "The Duchess" at the 8:30 showing. We got there a little early and actually met the owner and toured his gallery just behind the theater.
So what can you say about the LPC? 35 seats. Fresh popcorn, friendly and funny counter staff, candy, drinks, and one of the most enjoyable, little, off the beaten path movie theaters you can find.
Sure they were out of bottled water that evening, but if that was the only issue that I had, then I wish that I had the same positive experience in some of the bigger places I have watched movies.
The theater itself is very clean, well maintained, it has real surround sound (not too hard to pull off in a room the size of a small living room), and it actually has a digital projector system. So, the image was better quality than most movie theaters have.
Considering that we were in town during their off season for tourist activities, it was great to find the theater open at all. It was also fun to have to whole place to ourselves.
The movie was presented perfectly, in a small very cozy space; it almost makes you forget that you are in a theater at all. The price of the tickets was quite affordable, as were the snacks from the concession stand. And I must say, it was nice to exit a theater and not have to wait for 500 other people to decide to move before being able to get out the door. I guarantee if I am in town again, I will defiantly make a point to swing by and catch another movie there.
For more images of the theater stop by their photo gallery on their main site.
Red without Blue was suggested because I rented "TransAmerica" and gave it an excellent review.
Okay, up front I will say the subject matter is NOT for everyone. If you saw TransAmerica and it made you uneasy... then skip this movie. But if you like documentaries that deal with the human condition, and give you a different perspective about the world around you, I highly recommend this movie.
The documentary is about Alex and Mark Farley's life struggles over a three year period. Dealing with the fact that they are homosexual identical twins, and Alex's transition to becoming Clair, a straight transgendered women. It includes the views of their parents, their family, and their close friends around them. I don't want to go into too many details about the film, since it is worth watching and it is hard to it justice here in my blog.
If you do pick up this DVD make sure that you watch at the special features; some of the post documentary release interviews by the film makers and the Farleys are really interesting. The language and the subject matter are adult and very real; after all these are two real people, and this is their real life and history.
Go Speed Racer... I am pretty certain I am not going to be seeing this movie in the theater when it comes out.
So, I just finished watching the movie “The Breed.” I felt this unbelievable urge to write a review of it to let everyone know just how remarkably unique the movie was. Normally that would be a good thing, but not in this case. Instead of a straight forward review of the movie; I thought I would write a dialog of what the studio meeting must have sounded like when they asked Nicholas Mastandrea to direct the movie.
Studio: Come on in Nicholas, have a seat and let’s talk about this project that we have in mind for you.
Nicholas: Sounds great, what have you got?
Studio: It’s a Wes Cravens movie about werewolves.
Nicholas: Wow, a Wes Cravens movie about werewolves, sounds great. Tell me more.
Studio: Well, imagine “Dog Soldiers” meets “The Howling” meets “Jurassic Park.” Kind of a scientifically altered werewolf soldier movie that takes place on an isolated island, only with a lot of young nude athletic twenty-somethings accidentally dropped into the middle of it. You know, three hot woman and three athletic men. And we want you to direct. So this would be your first time as the director on a project.
Nicholas: That sounds like it would be a great movie. When can I get started?
Studio: Whoa, hold on a minute. That is how the script was when we bought it, but since then “Underworld” and “The Curse” came out and we were worried that there were too many werewolf movies coming out so we decided to change the plot a little so that it was genetically altered wolves being created by the government on an isolated island. You know and the hot twenty some things show up. We are thinking three couples made up of black, white, Latin and Asian kids. All very hot, and they will be forced to fight for their lives when they are not running around naked and having sex. Well, there was all of those other movies coming out, and the fact we didn’t have money in the budget for CGI or to create werewolves using makeup. It only took a little rewriting of the script, and a minor plot change. But the original story is still there. We even designed the movie poster, take a look, see the wolf right there growling at the young hot girl in the bikini top and daisy duke shorts.
Nicholas: Okay, still sounds like a great idea for a movie. I am ready to start when you are; just tell me when.
Studio: Not so fast. Before we get started, we need to mention a few other changes we had to make. Minor ones, mind you, but we figured that we needed to let you know about them just to be safe.
Nicholas: Okay…
Studio: Well. We got a hold of a guy who trains wolves for movies. He gave us a quote for the 100 plus wolves we would have needed trained for the movie, and it kind of out of the range that we had in mind. So we took out word processor software and had it replace the word “wolf” with the word “dog.” And then we threw in the name “Cujo” two or three times to make sure that everyone knew we were talking about mean dogs. The characters talk about how big and mean the altered German Shepherds are compared to normal sized ones.
Nicholas: So now the story is the story is about a secret government installation that is creating large German Shepherds that are big and mean looking, and something went wrong and now they are running around the base killing hundreds of soldiers and government agents on this island; and six hot twenty year olds have to fight for their lives and they join forces with the soldiers to battle the dogs. Still sounds like a really good movie to be involved in.
Studio: Well, it’s not exactly that script anymore.
Nicholas: What exactly then?
Studio: Well. Remember when we said that we didn’t have the budget for a few other things in the movie?
Nicholas: Yes.
Studio: Well. Okay, we de didn’t really have a budget for a hundred dogs, more like half of that, and we couldn’t afford the hundreds of soldiers that we originally had in mind. Actually we couldn’t afford a big military base either; instead all we got is a house, a barn, and a small building surrounded by a very unimposing wire fence.
Nicholas: So other than..
Studio: Wait a second, we’re not done: Actually we could only afford like seven cast members.
Nicholas: So we now have 7 kids trapped on the island with a pack of fifty genetically altered dogs?
Studio: Not exactly. See, we decided to kill off two characters right at the beginning of the movie, so we only had enough left for 5 kids.
Nicholas: Okay so we have a pack of fifty dogs and a group of 5 kids fending for their lives on..
Studio: Did I say fifty dogs? It’s more like nine, well, eight and a cute puppy.
Nicholas: Okay, so eight German Shepherds and a puppy..
Studio: I’m sorry, my bad, I hope you didn’t think that all of the dogs are German Shepherds. Only one and a puppy are, and the rest are more like mutts.
Nicholas: So eight mean dogs and a cute puppy are holding eight people hostage on an island.
Studio: Seven people
Nicholas: Right, seven people. So the five people are two couples and their genius friend?
Studio: Not so much; two people are a couple and then there are two guys that are trying to hook up with the second woman.
Nicholas: And there are a lot of nude scenes and graphic sex?
Studio: Well, we decided to make the movie PG-13 so that more people could see the movie, so no one is more naked other than the women are seen in bikinis a couple of times. But they are hot.
Nicholas: So we have a group of kids that we suggest are sexually active, but never show it, getting graphically torn apart by a group of random dogs that seem really smart.
Studio: Exactly. Well, not exactly. We never actually show anyone getting torn apart. We suggest it; PG-13 you know.
Nicholas: Okay. So how did they get on the island?
Studio: By boat and by seaplane.
Nicholas: Why are they there?
Studio: Two of the boys are left the house in a will by their uncle who used to live on the island.
Nicholas: And the dogs killed him too?
Studio: No, he died of old age.
Nicholas: So the dogs never bothered him?
Studio: Right.
Nicholas: So what happened to the military people on the island?
Studio: We never explain that, we just make it appear that the base is abandoned that way we don’t have to hire any extra actors.
Nicholas: So the kids go to the base and find out how and why the dogs are like they are.
Studio: Well, kind of. They pick up a test tube in a lab and one of them says “Look, they genetically altered the dogs.” That way all is explained.
Nicholas: How does that explain anything?
Studio: It just does.
Nicholas: Okay, so if they got there by a seaplane, why didn’t they just fly back off the island?
Studio: Because the dogs chewed threw the ropes and it floated away.
Nicholas: So they all die on the island then?
Studio: No, they escape on the boat.
Nicholas: So the dogs chewed through the ropes on the plane but not the boat?
Studio: Exactly.
Nicholas: How did they get to the boat.
Studio: They drove the car.
Nicholas: What car?
Studio: The car in the barn.
Nicholas: There is a car in the barn that they drive to the boat?
Studio: Right.
Nicholas: So their uncle just happened to have a bunch of weapons in the house to fight the dogs with.
Studio: No, but one of them did happen to bring a bow and arrow with them on the plane.
Nicholas: So why did you even bring up werewolves at all in this discussion.
Studio: Well, when someone is bit by one of the dogs they start to change a little.
Nicholas: So they start turning into a dog.
Studio: No, not really; they just change. You know, kind of like a werewolf, but not really anything like one.
Nicholas: So basically what we have here is a low budget movie that could be a made for TV movie.
Studio: No, we are a major motion picture studio. We don’t waste our time on TV movies.
Nicholas: So why did you decide to make this script? It doesn’t sound like it is going to make a good movie.
Studio: Because we get to attach Wes Cravens name to the project.
Nicholas: But he isn’t doing anything on this picture.
Studio: Right, but he liked the original script. So are you in?
Nicholas: What the hell, I might as well. I always wanted to be a director.
Look, it's a music video and it's not from the the 80s. Miracles never cease. I just heard this song again (edited version) on the way into work this morning. It is from the movie "Euro Trip." If you haven't seen the movie, it is a lot better than I expected. It could be because when I rented the DVD I expected a REALLY bad teen coming of age comedy. Which it was, but it was really funny both in the plot and in how the movie was put together. Anyway, sit back and enjoy "Scotty Doesn't Know!"; and yes that is Matt Damon.
For anyone out there either in the Champaign - Urbana Illinois area or within driving distance, and has a love of Asian movies, read this post: Friday and Saturday night (May 11th and 12th) at 10:45 both nights, the New Art Theater in downtown Champaign will be showing a special showing of one of the biggest blockbusters in Korean Cinema, and probably one of their fist really big budget horror films. The Korean title is "Gwoemul" (괴물) the "wonderful" translation of the title to English is "The Host" instead of "Monster." It's the last days of finals on campus and should be a great stress reliever. Below is the Korean trailer and the UK trailer for the movie.
My favorite song from the Kill Bill soundtrack. This video is not the best (three minutes plus of a photo of a windmill; but I like the track.
The title: The title has nothing to do with the movie; Well it may have when the script was originally written, but it didn't in the final product, in fact, I am pretty certain that the term only was mentioned once in the movie, and it was just in passing.
The hero: I like Harrison Ford as an actor. But, he is not a good choice for someone who is supposed to techo-savvy or relaxed around technology. In fact, he kind of comes off like someone who has never used a computer for anything other than surfing a few web sites and checking e-mail. It was especially obvious in the scenes where he explained something that he was plaining to do, or just did. He kind of just mumbled the lines like he was trying to get them out before someone yelled "Cut!" Now ignoring the poor choice of actor for the role. Let's not cast a 60-something actor, and make him the smartest technology person in a large bank. It may have been believable if the actor was someone twenty years younger who may have grown up around technology; or if when they showed his office there was more technology in there than a simple desktop computer. Seriously, no computer manuals, no extra workstations, no dual heads up display, no large monitors that makes it easier to have multiple windows up and running at the same time.
The kidnapping: Okay, so you kidnap a family, and you just let them wander around the house, with the blinds open. Have a half dozen armed men, let the hostages gather unsupervised in various rooms around the house, and only use security cameras to watch them. Then you send a "technology/security expert" out into the world using a pen camera a microphone as way to control him. Wow, and to think that the only two things that he tried to do to get help to his family was to send an e-mail, and put the camera in his secretary's pocket. Wow, this is a guy that I would want running my bank security. During the course of his day they showed him walk past probably twenty different ways for him to communicate with someone, anyone, about what was going on. Instead he runs around whining to himself so the kidnappers can know what he is doing. In one scene they show the kidnappers ripping the phones out of the walls in every room in the house, then ten minutes later in another scene they have the phone ring as a major plot point? They also posted someone on rooftop of the building next door who had the coolest binoculars in the world. It allowed for the user to see in an office 10 stories above and across the street, and still be able to magically see over the shoulder of the person in the room. Some sort of magic physics.
Never mind that there were half-dozen trained kidnappers/mercenaries with guns, who were both bigger and stronger than everyone in the family, one untrained middle aged man who hadn't slept for two days was able to overpower or kill all of them.
The plot: To say that this movie was implausible, or unbelievable would be an understatement to say the least. I have a feeling the original script may have been a lot better than the final movie. There were so many details that could have worked together to make a great movie. But, it was like they tried to do a million little things, but without wondering if it worked or not, of if they even fit together. Such as a security expert that has a four letter password that he announces is the name of the family boat. Yeah, no one would ever guess that password. The Kidnappers know every detail about a family including that the son is allergic to peanuts, but not that the dog has GPS tracking collar on it. How about the chief security expert is dragging a random stranger through high-security areas of a bank no less without prior approval. Or the kidnappers are smart enough to bring their own food and surveillance equipment with them so it is easy to vanish without a trace, but they drink out of the glasses use the silverware in the house, and most of them are not wearing gloves while they touch things all over the house, they damage the home (remember the phones), break windows, and do many other things that would make it easy to find out they were there or who they are. Also keep in mind that the whole idea of the robbery, and what they were stealing (digital money) and how they were stealing it, would have caused red flags to pop up all over the map; the way that they planned to cover their tracks (crashing servers and the bank's computer network, and erasing video files) is a joke. Every bank in the world backs up their data, most do it to large data warehouse companies. So even if they burned the building down, or blew it up for that matter, the data can still be recovered. *sigh*
Character development: Not a single character in the entire movie was fleshed out. Well, maybe the dog; It had a GPS tracking collar because it kept running away. Other than that, there was nothing in the movie to make you feel a connection to any of the characters, or any reason for you to feel for them in any way. There was no depth, no details, and no real chemistry.
I watch some pretty bad, lame, odd movies. But normally I go into them expecting them to be bad. This was built up to be a summer blockbuster. How sad. I seriously think that if a student made this film, I am pretty certain that they would not get a passing grade in school.
