Archive for October, 2007

American Gangster (2007)

Wednesday, October 31st, 2007

american gangster posterWhen one describes a film that narrates the rise and fall of a gangster with an ethnic background, throughout several decades, nine readers out of ten will be thinking of Scarface. And that is exactly the prejudice that American Gangster will have to deal with at the box office. (more…)

Technorati tags:

The Kingdom (2007)

Wednesday, October 31st, 2007

The KingdomI’ve definitely done my share of complaining when it comes to the lack of decent storylines in action movies. Usually there’s a very simple motivation, like revenge, that motivates the main characters to chase, fight and defeat their opponents. And sometimes that’s just fine. But more often you feel cheated by plot holes and find the story does not justify the hero’s actions. This can really ruin the moviegoing experience. The makers of this movie should at the very least be commended for trying to add context to what still remains an action movie.
(more…)

Technorati tags:

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Thursday, October 25th, 2007

small-dirty-dancing-poster.jpgDirty Dancing reached its twentieth anniversary this year, and it’s still as popular as ever. It’s shown on tv all the time and a new longer version has just been released on DVD with plenty of special features. It’s the movie that makes people with two left feet wish they could dance. I believe the reason this film has remained so popular over such a long space of time is because it really is the ultimate chick flick. It combines great romance with great music and there are strong performances from the cast. (more…)

Technorati tags:

Hiatus

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

I’m done posting for a while. I may or may not continue with this blog.
There’s only so many times one can fritter away hours putting together yet one more post about NYT bias, Islamofascism, the ravages of political correctness, the scourge of relativism, the psychology of liberalism, and our collective march towards Western suicide. […]

Is Halo Dead?

Tuesday, October 9th, 2007

I’ve just finished Halo 3 and from start to heart-pounding finish, it’s impossible to ignore the sheer cinematic quality of this exceptional video-game series. So why the hell won’t the powers that be get off their sorry posteriors and make us a Halo movie that will surely break the curse of shoddy video-game film adaptations?

The latest in the long-line of disappointing Halo news is that would-be director Neill Blomkamp, has told Creativity Online that the movie is officially no more.

“The film is entirely dead. In the configuration it was in,” said Blomkamp. “Whatever happens with that movie, assuming that movie gets made, will be a totally different configuration. It’s not so much me as the entire vessel sank. Basically, it was a combination of; there were two studios involved that weren’t getting along in the process of making it, Universal and Fox. That kind of stuff happens, it’s a fragile industry. So the film collapsed at the end of last year, and it’s been dead, ever since then. I’ll be curious to see what happens”.

Peter Jackson has long said that he would produce a Halo movie and Blomkamp was a hot candidate for the director seat (check out the live-action trailers he made to showcase his talents.) But when Fox and Universal both backed out from financing the project, things weren’t looking good for Master Chief and pals.

If you ask me, it probably would have been a good idea for them to splash out and get this thing rolling, despite the costs. Halo 3 has already whipped up literally billions of dollars worldwide and a film version would come with an already dedicated fanbase of millions. The name alone is a cash goldmine. However, if ol’ Petey Jackson can’t even get this made, then there may be little hope of ever seeing Master Chief on the silverest of screens.

Source: Empire

Sulu’s Star

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

Oh, man. The late night comedians are going to have a field day with this (”Group renames asteroid for George Takei“).
NEW YORK – George Takei already had a place among the stars in the minds of millions of “Star Trek” fans. Now he’s taking up permanent residence as the namesake of the asteroid formerly […]

On Hollywood’s “Values”

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

There’s been an interesting, and quite revealing, ‘dust up’ exchange in the LAT about Hollywood and the culture wars. Yesterday’s installment is “What are ‘Hollywood values’?“.
On the Left is David Ehrenstein (who feels the need to mention he’s gay and black in every article he writes); on the Right is Andrew Breitbart, whose writing talents […]

Neuroscience and Fundamentalism

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

In Tikkun there’s an interesting article on “Neuroscience and Fundamentalism” (the fundamentalisms in question being both religious and secular):
The evolving and growing complexity of the human brain allowed our ancestors the ability to question, wonder, and consider new possibilities—to be creative. Life altering advances were the result. Is unconditional adherence to dogma (whether religious […]

Board of Supervisors of City and County of San Francisco vs. Michael Savage

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

On a link to the official Board of Supervisors of City and County of San Francisco website (link via Drudge) is the upcoming agenda of proposed ordinances. Among things dealing with Traffic Code, budget, and finance issues is this one:
“Resolution condemning defamatory language used by radio personality Michael Savage against the immigrant community.”
The […]

That’s SOOOO ‘9/11?…

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

Why was the current #1 most-viewed article at NYT.com yesterday Tom Friedman’s “9/11 Is Over“? Because the op-ed’s title alone is sure to draw the attention of every liberal in the country.
Friedman opens his op-ed thusly:
Not long ago, the satirical newspaper The Onion ran a fake news story that began like this:
“At a well-attended rally […]