Movie Clerks

Filed under: Deals, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom
These days, in some ways, it’s much easier to be a fan — and much cheaper! Instead of having to buy a bunch of teen and gossip mags to clip out pictures, make collages, show your adoration, you can make a website. But then, there are the studios that often shut them down. Unfortunately, it’s been a constant struggle and no matter what well-meaning fans say, there’s always someone out there to ruin it for the rest.
CNN reports that JK Rowling is suing RDR Books because they plan to publish the “Harry Potter Lexicon” — basically, all the info that one fan collected about the series, from a site she had previously praised for its fan efforts. See our original report on this over here. The company says that her acceptance of fan-based websites “justified the efforts.” Rowling states: “If RDR’s position is accepted, […]

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Filed under: Drama, Independent, Music & Musicals, Home Entertainment, Trailers and Clips, Friday Night Double Feature
Landmarks usually don’t get their own films — not to mention a number of films — but the Chelsea Hotel is different. It is North America’s house of art — a simple, red-brick building that was built in 1883 and holds the history of many creative achievements of the last 100+ years. It’s thick with remembrances of writers from Mark Twain to Gore Vidal, Simone de Beauvoir to Jean-Paul Sartre, the vision of actors and filmmakers Edie Sedgwick to Stanley Kubrick, artists from Frida Kahlo to Robert Crumb, and of course, the music. Leonard Cohen, Janis Joplin, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, The Ramones, Jimi Hendrix, and many more have graced its halls with their notes.
So of course, there have been a number of films that have filmed at, or been based on, the famous artistic […]

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Filed under: Fandom, Exhibition
I am a creature of habit. Every Friday, I head to the multiplex. Sometimes it’s to fulfill my professional duty as a film critic, sometimes it’s to catch up with a movie someone else recommended I see, but most often it’s for the pure pleasure of watching a movie on a big screen with an audience.
To decide where and what to see, usually I type “movie: Dallas, TX” into Google. Up until today, that search spec (substitute your city and state or zip code) pulled up an alphabetical list of local movie theaters, with the movies playing at each theater listed alphabetically along with showtimes. It’s a very quick, easy, and convenient way to decide where I want to spend my evening. Today, though, I noticed that typing “movie: Dallas, TX” displays the search results in order of “movie popularity.”
You can still change the results so […]

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Filed under: Animation, Casting, Comic/Superhero/Geek
World’s Finest has learned that Kevin Conroy will be the man behind the mask in Batman: Gotham Knight. Christian Bale was originally thought to be lending his voice to the animated feature, as it will be released alongside The Dark Knight.
Conroy did Batman’s voice in the wildly popular Batman: The Animated Series, so it makes for a nice bit of continuity there. And he won’t be turning in some weird Bale impersonation. I confess to being a bit disappointed, as I always think it’s cool when actors lend their voices to an animated tie-in. But this will probably delight everyone who hated Bale’s Batman growl.

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Filed under: Classics, Independent, Deals, Remakes and Sequels
This really seems like something that should end up in a rejected screenplay collection …
The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on an indie film called Bumped, a story described as a modern day version of The Breakfast Club. The twist is that five twenty-somethings will be stranded in Chicago O’Hare Airport after being bumped from a flight. One is a corporate go-getter, one a flirt, another a musician, and so on. They wouldn’t normally be friends for reasons that aren’t really apparent from the vantage of adulthood … but would probably be apparent within the social structure of high school.
The movie will be the directorial debut by McG protege Anna Mastro, and will be produced by veteran producer Bridget Johnson. The script is by Lizzy Weiss. It will be financed independently, so we can’t really complain that studios are ignoring originality.
Maybe I’m […]

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Filed under: Columns, 400 Screens, 400 Blows

Oscar night is over, and everyone is basking in the glow of the winners. Or, excuse me, the “recipients” of the Oscars. Not too many years back, the politically-correct police changed the language from “and the winner is” to “and the Oscar goes to” because that made the losers sound less like losers. It’s a joke now when someone says, “It’s an honor just to be nominated,” but I believe that’s true. I think it would be unbelievably cool to be nominated, even if you were in the Best Documentary Short category and the bouncers tried to keep you from entering the theater. This week’s column is dedicated to the losers that were honored just to be nominated.
My favorite film of the year, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which is gone from theaters and available on DVD, received two […]

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Filed under: Fandom, Movie Marketing, Contests, Insert Caption, Hold the ‘Fone
Well look what we have here — you’re back again, asking me to feed your caption contest addictions. I’ll do it. Someone has to do it. Just remember, the first one’s free. Wait. Scratch that. They’re all free! Yes, welcome back to another installment of our universe famous caption contest. While you’re probably all dying to find out who won the Vespa we gave away last week (thanks to Penelope and her freaky pig nose), you’re gonna have to wait a little while longer. Sorry folks. In the meantime, how about you give us your best captions for the photo below from Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 B.C. The top three captions from this week will walk away with (deep breath) one 10,000 B.C. The Legend tee, one 10,000 B.C. beanie, one 10,000 B.C. weathered baseball cap, one saber tooth necklace, one […]

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Filed under: Classics, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Disney, RumorMonger, Johnny Depp, Remakes and Sequels
Sometimes it never feels like the film world really moves forward.
A Disney spy reports that Disney has plans to release a bunch of sequels in 2011, one of which is their long-long-long awaited sequel to Tron . That is 29 years after the original was released, which surely must be some kind of record. Hasn’t it been just too long? Even the plan to release it in 3-D doesn’t really freshen it up for me, but I never was a big fan of the film.
But a franchise much nearer and dearer to the hearts of a younger generation may also be revived — word has it that Disney also plans to release a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean. And there are conflicting reports on where Disney wants to go with it. Some within the studio want to do […]

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Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Theatrical Reviews, 20th Century Fox, Toronto International Film Festival

Bonneville, opening today in limited release after mostly sitting and stewing in its own juices since it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival way back in 2006, is another of those “do this before you die” flicks, melded with a road trip movie for spunky older chicks. Take the “great older actor” Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson roles in The Bucket List, replace them with a trio of “great older actresses” in the form of Kathy Bates, Joan Allen and Jessica Lange, throw them in an old Bonneville convertible for a road trip, and toss in the ruggedly handsome and ever-reliable Tom Skerritt as a love interest, and you’ve got all the makings of a flick that practically telegraphs being aimed at the older demographic.
Things get started with the death of Joe, husband of Arvilla (Lange). Arvilla […]

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Filed under: Independent, Music & Musicals, Deals
Things for Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard continue to come up roses. Their little film went from little indie to big international deal. They won an Oscar for “Falling Slowly.” Not surprisingly, their good fortune continues. Variety reports that the pair have signed a deal with Warner/Chappell Music — part of Warner Music Group — to get their catalog of music published.
Warner will go through all of their catalog — not only the songs from Once, but also Hansard’s work with the Frames and the music appearing on Glen and Marketa’s debut album as The Swell Season. Now, to be clear, this isn’t a recording contract — it’s only a publishing deal. Glen Brunman of Warner/Chappell says: “Glen’s and Mar’s songs have touched so many who have seen the film Once. Glen’s work with the Frames we’ll continue to rock, and we’ll make sure […]

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