Once. Again.

We saw the touring Broadway version of this last night. Forgot what a great story it is. If you've seen it, see it again. If you haven't, well, you know what to do. 

Brilliant!

Gravy. Err....Gravity.

I saw it last weekend and I liked it. Sure there are scientific holes in the plot (as if I'd notice), but it was truly suspenseful and, in a rare display of Hollywood moderation, clocks in at only 90 minutes. Definitely see it in 3D, if not in Imax. Good popcorn fare.

Passage à l'acte By Martin Arnold

Wikipedia says:

Martin Arnold (born 1959 in Vienna, Austria) is an experimental filmmaker known for his obsessive reworkings of found footage. He is also a founding member of the Austrian film distributor Sixpack Film. Arnold studied psychology and art history at the University of Vienna. He has taught filmmaking at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, the San Francisco Art Institute, the Academy of Fine Arts in Frankfurt, the Kansas City Art Institute, Bard College, and at SUNY Binghamton. His films are distributed by Canyon Cinema in the United States and by Sixpack Film in Austria.

Arnold's films are intensely cut sequences in which several seconds of found footage are taken and stretched out into much longer works. The figures on the screen flip back and forth between frames, as the motion is repeated, reversed, and numerous single frame cuts are made. His intent is to create, or possibly unearth, narratives concealed within the mundane films from which he samples. Passage à l'acte (1993) uses several seconds of the film To Kill a Mockingbird to create a bizarre story of aggression and tension within a traditional American family.

Martin Arnold is representative of the generations of artists making the transition between experimental film and video art. Pieces such as Passage à l'acte (1993) were composed on film, with Arnold writing an edit decision list (EDL) for a film editor, who then recreated the choppy and intense works from the found source material. In the mid-1990s, Arnold was given access to an Avid digital editing machine, which allowed him to work directly with the footage and cut it into the intensely repetitive sequences himself. His first digitally cut project, Alone: Life Wastes Andy Hardy (1998), made use of footage of Mickey Rooney's character Andy Hardy from the popular film series.

First X-Men: Days Of Future Past Teaser

Not coming out 'til next May, of course.

Oh Hi Mark

The Room is widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made. (See above clip for proof.) Now, one of the actors, Greg Sestero, has written a book about the experience. The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made won't be out until October, but boy, does is sound like a fun read.

Siskel & Ebert Bicker

I saw this years ago and was reminded of it by Eric's post. However you remember Ebert, don't ever think of him as having been cuddly.

Apparently "JJ" Stands for "Jar Jar"

JJ Abrams (Felicity, Lost, Star Trek) is set to direct Star Wars VII. Have at it.

Just Make Up Something... Anything...

I don't know if it's all true, but apparently all these lines we unscripted. "Take the cannoli" ?! Are you kidding me?

Get Your Beast On

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a really fine film.  The "southern wild" is lower Louisiana, outside the levees, in a ragged community of homemade shacks and independent spirits.  It's in limited release, but catch it if you can.  

I'm Gonna Wreck It!

This looks indescribably good.

On YouTube, No One Cares If You Scream

I found this really, really well done Alien documentary the other day and thought I'd pass it along. Ridley Scott, Dan O'Bannon (R.I.P.), Ronald Shusett, H.R. Giger, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton and a few others weigh in with their memories of this horror classic.

All seven parts can be found here.

Oh, Baby

Tarantino redeemed himself with Inglourius Basterds, and he seems to be on a roll.

My Weekend Plans Include ...

Joss Whedon script with lots of twists and turns. 72 on Metacritic!

I'm in.

Oh, Baby!

Saw this trailer last night before The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  (The brief glimpses of the space jockey's ship gave me geek wood.) I know Ridley Scott's good movies are few and far between these days, but color me cautiously optimistic.

Cinema 2011: It Occurs To Me That I Don't See Enough Movies

What convinced me that I'm now officially out of touch:  I kept waiting for scenes from Lord of the Rings.  I guess that must've been last year (or earlier). 

Har Har

Anybody see the remake? Anybody planning to?

Check Me Out

Josh Cooley.

See You There

Premiered at SXSW in Austin, and opens next week in select cities, which includes Nashville but none of the other bastard burghs. Wi not trei a holiday in Nashville this summer?

Avengers Assemble

A promo poster for Marvel's The Avengers was spotted at the Licensing International Expo in Las Vegas. (Whatever the hell that is.) The Avengers comes out next May.