icine.org » Movieblog

Thank Chaos for engaging films.

Tyrell Choren — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:09:04 +0000

It appears that we’re predisposed to be engaged by certain movies over others. This doesn’t mean that we like or enjoy them more, just that they can hold our attention.

An article over at National Geographic breaks down the findings. According to James Cutting, a cognitive psychologist at Cornell University, the pace of a film is what really draws us to it, and that the closer the pace approaches the nebulous 1/f pattern, the more interesting we’ll find the film. He found this ratio by comparing a film’s average shot length vs. the length of any one scene. The 1/f pattern isn’t anything new; it’s a popular ratio within chaos theory that is found in things like nature, music, and economics.

However, the films that come closest to approaching the 1/f pattern, aren’t necessarily considered the greatest films. Using IMDb as a judge (which we all know is the epitome of determining a film’s worth) he found no correlation between a film’s pace and its ranking. So, while Rebel Without a Cause, The 39 Steps and The Perfect Storm are some of the most engaging films of all time, none of them manage crack IMDb’s top 250 best films list.

Cutting found all this by studying 150 films over the last 70 years, which once again shows that the only difference between me and a professor is that nobody gives me a grant for what I do. He found that within the last 30 years, more and more films approach the 1/f ratio. To me, this suggests that subconsciously directors are aware of this pattern in other films and do their best to emulate it.

Though I probably wouldn’t understand a word of it, I’d love to see the raw data for this study. The article suggests that overall, action films are the best at reaching the 1/f ratio, but I’d really like to see how certain films ranked, and if there were certain genres that didn’t follow the pattern at all. Cutting mentions that film noir don’t adhere to the ratio, but I wonder more about horror and suspense films. Often these are movies that are specifically designed to be off-putting and upsetting to us. It’d be bizarre if they approached this ratio. Imagine if a film like Irreversible, whose director purposefully inserted a low frequency noise in the background designed to make the audience physically ill, had perfect pacing. I’d also love to see how some of my favorite films, and some of my guilty pleasures stack up. Is Armageddon better paced than Jaws? What about 300 vs. The Godfather?

As usually science has answered some questions I never thought to ask, but hasn’t answered the questions I’m now thinking of.

CoverBrowser, the Awful VHS Cover Archive

Amber Lombard — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:48:41 +0000

I’m not sure what the point of all this is, but it’s awesome. I never realized just how many awful VHS covers existed until just now. No doubt future generations will look back upon this memory of late 1970s through early 2000s box art and barf. In between laughing about the concept of big, huge plastic tapes being purchased for the low, low price of $19.99.

There is no rhyme or reason to this site. The videos aren’t in order by any discernible schematic. They aren’t alphabetical. They aren’t in there by date. It’s a glorious mess.

http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/vhs-videos

Twilight: New Moon soundtrack has unexpectedly awesome music

Amber Lombard — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:56:23 +0000

Or perhaps this was a measured attempt to get hipsters to quit bashing the franchise. Ha, good luck to them, though it’s unlikely to happen. This has already been demonstrated by the froth despite the many, many photographs of the stoned age couple out and about, eyelids never above half-mast, and hipster looks they generally sport.

“New Moon” Track List Reveals New Music From Thom Yorke, Killers, Muse

The track list for the upcoming soundtrack for Twilight sequel New Moon was revealed today on author Stephanie Meyer’s official Website. In addition to Death Cab for Cutie’s first single “Meet Me on the Equinox,” the soundtrack will feature contributions from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Muse, Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver (who duets with fellow Breaking artist St. Vincent) and the Killers.

As it turns out, Yorke’s song on the New Moon soundtrack is neither of the two tracks featured on his new single “Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses” b/w “The Hollow Earth.” The Radiohead frontman has recorded a new song called “Hearing Damage” for the disc, which is out October 20th, a month to the day before New Moon hits theaters. The Killers also provided a new track called “A White Demon Love Song,” while Muse remixed their The Resistance song “I Belong to You for the soundtrack.

New Moon will also feature new music from Lykke Li, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Band of Skulls, Sea Wolf, Hurricane Bells, Anya Marina, Editors and the film’s composer Alexandre Desplat. OK Go, who gave the film a new track called “Shooting the Moon,” talked to Rolling Stone earlier this year about their tune, which they described as a sad song written from the perspective of an astronaut.

New Moon soundtrack track list:

1. Death Cab For Cutie – “Meet Me On The Equinox”

2. Band Of Skulls – “Friends”
3. Thom Yorke – “Hearing Damage”
4. Lykke Li – “Possibility”
5. The Killers – “A White Demon Love Song”
6. Anya Marina – “Satellite Heart”
7. Muse – “I Belong To You (New Moon)”

8. Bon Iver and St. Vincent – “Roslyn”
9. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Done All Wrong”
10. Hurricane Bells – “Monsters”
11. Sea Wolf – “The Violet Hour”
12. OK Go – “Shooting The Moon”
13. Grizzly Bear – “Slow Life”
14. Editors – “No Sound But The Wind”
15. Alexandre Desplat – “New Moon (The Meadow)”

A farewell, for Henry Gibson

Amber Lombard — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:06:31 +0000

“A poem, by Henry Gibson.” That’s how audiences first got to know the actor on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, who left us today at 73. He leaves behind an impressive body of work. While he was never a leading man other than in such turns as Nashville (for which his fans insist, quite rightly, that he was robbed of an Oscar), his career is an inspiration to anyone who’d like to work in the business. Be good, be reliable, be long-lived. Sadly, not long-lived enough. It was cancer that took him from us, cancer that ended his life after many decades in which we were able to enjoy his presence, but too soon still.

Rest in peace, Henry, and thanks for the memories.

Milla Jovovich completely, gorgeously bares all for Purple magazine

Gnome Sayin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:40:42 +0000

I doubt it’ll work as advance promotion for the latest Resident Evil scheduled for August 2010, because this is sorta all you want to see. In fact, I would have sooner laid down ten smackeroos and bought popcorn for the unveiling of these shots on the big screen than another Paul W.S. Anderson (her husband) turd. Magnificent, these are. Advance to the next page for all the goods (nudity, NSFW).

An Education (2009) with Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson; written by Nick Hornby

icine.org — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:15:23 +0000

Nick Hornby of “About a Boy” and “High Fidelity” fame returns to adapt Lynn Barber’s memoir of her 1960s London experiences.

http://festival.sundance.org/2009/film_events/films/education

The 1960s were a time of change. So is life when you are 16. That combination propels An Education, set in London in 1961, and makes it an unforgettable coming-of-age story.Attractive, bright, 16-year-old Jenny is stifled by the tedium of adolescent routine; she can’t wait for adult life to begin. One rainy day her suburban existence is upended by the arrival of a much older suitor, David. Urbane and witty, David instantly charms Jenny and introduces her to a glittering new world of classical concerts, art auctions, smoky bars, and late-night suppers with his attractive friends. He replaces Jenny’s traditional education with his own more-dangerous version. Just as the family’s long-held dream of getting their brilliant daughter into Oxford has seemed within reach, Jenny is tempted by another kind of life. Will David be the making of Jenny, or her undoing?Every so often a performance comes along that is so captivating that it becomes an instant classic. Carey Mulligan’s enchanting performance as Jenny is one of them. Channeling the spirit of a young Holly Golightly, she makes Jenny’s character blossom on screen from a girl into a woman, and transforms herself from an actor into a star. Director Lone Scherfig’s complete understanding of Nick Hornby’s extraordinary script brings its many dimensions to vivid life.

Recipient of the World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic and the World Cinema Cinematography Award: Dramatic.

CAST
Peter Sarsgaard, Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1174732/

Trailer:

Teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010)

icine.org — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:07:25 +0000

“Inception” is director Chris Nolan’s follow-up to “The Dark Knight.” He also directed “Memento” and “The Prestige.” “Inception” stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

More details and information here. Image Credit: Slashfilm.

Redbox and Netflix vs. the studios

Tyrell Choren — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:13:42 +0000

This can only end badly…for the customers.

First Fox wanted to put a hold of 30 days on their dvds before you could rent them from Redbox

So Redbox decided to sue

Then WB decided that this all sounded like fun and upped the ante with a dick move to Netflix

Basically, the studios think that Redbox and Netflix are destroying DVD sales. Apparently they haven’t heard of that whole ‘recession thing’ that people keep blathering on about.

It seems to me that DVD prices have risen sneakily since I bought them on a regular basis. The standard used to be $20 for a new disc, regardless of whether it was a single disc edition or deluxe 2 disc edition packed with extras, and it would always be cheaper on the week it came out. Now it’s $20 for the single disc edition while the extra special 2 disc editions are $25 dollars. There’s also a huge drop off in prices if you just wait a couple months. The other problem I had with the ‘buy it the day it comes out’ mentality is that you amass a huge collection, most of the discs being watched only once. When I had a disposable income this wasn’t a problem, but now it’s ridiculous to think that I’d end up buying something that I would only watch once every couple of years when I could just as easily add it to my Netflix queue numerous times.

Here’s the other, big thing that could contribute to the lower dvd sales. DVDs are now the inferior product, with Blu-Ray being the new standard of excellence. Blu-Ray discs have gone down significantly in price since they came out, and you’d expect DVD prices to lower accordingly, but they haven’t. Even though I don’t yet own a Blu-Ray player, I sometimes find it ridiculous to think of buying a new movie on DVD because I imagine myself just replacing it down the road with a Blu-Ray. It makes more sense to rent it, and wait than to buy it twice.

Anyway, I hope Netflix and Redbox win, because this just seems like a way for the studios to screw over the consumers.

AMC’s Future of Classic asks ‘G.I. Joe’ or ‘Team America’?

Gnome Sayin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:05:58 +0000

Several humorous parallels from columnist Bilge Ibiri within that don’t so much successfully argue for Joe being a rip-off of World Police, but do get to the heart of why Parker and Stone helped make a straight-faced telling near-impossible at this stage.

Full Future of Classic post, excerpts below:

“The Fall of Paris
G.I. Joe: Attempting to keep supervillains The Baroness (Sienna Miller) and Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) from detonating a nanotech-fueled warhead, G.I. Joe’s Team Alpha levels half of Paris — culminating in the Eiffel Tower collapsing into the Seine.
Team America: Attempting to keep terrorists from detonating a WMD in the City of Light, Team America levels half of Paris — culminating in the Eiffel Tower collapsing into the Arc de Triomphe. Sound familiar? ”

“Our Team’s Secret Lair, Destroyed
G.I. Joe: The Joes’ secret HQ, hidden deep under the Sahara Desert in the shadow of the Pyramids, is trashed by The Baroness and Storm Shadow after its location is leaked.
Team America: Team America’s secret HQ, hidden deep in the recesses of Mt. Rushmore, is blown up in a burst of anti-American rage by documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. “

An increasingly rare instance of pitch perfect casting

Gnome Sayin — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:25:03 +0000

Yeah, looks like it. Amidst today’s news that the author of The Ice Man, the chilling profile of prolific hit man Richard Kuklinski, has axed a film adaptation over the production team’s choice of star, bland b-boy hunk (or is it punk?) Channing Tatum (a true WTF if there ever was one), these new snaps of Paul Bettany’s upcoming turn as Chuck Darwin (he who had the gall to ask) in the upcoming Creation serve as reminder of how not often we’re treated to thoughtful lead casting anymore, as opposed to squarepegroundholeism. And picking the right actor is so crucial for biopics. Remember Bettany’s buoying supporting performance as Russell Crowe’s naturalist friend / foil Stephen Maturin in Peter Weir’s Master and Commander a primer, and it’s immediately apparent that Bettany has just the right temperament and mix of difficulty and soul to fill these very tall shoes. I’m sure the studio wanted one of the Gossip Girl guys, so how this accident got past everyone, who knows. But we’re happy it did.

I suspect Bettany is wearing prosthetics in addition to make-up for this, because he’s darn near unrecognizable. As for the casting of his wife Jennifer Connelly as his, uh, wife Emma Darwin, I’m not so sure. Not because of Connelly, still a talented presence, but because the choice of a real-life husband / wife often curiously results in a limp pairing. We’ll see, but the photos make for an appealing tease.

Images courtesy of Empire Online.

Trailer:

International trailer for ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’

Gnome Sayin — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:00:29 +0000

My expectations for this long-awaited Terry Gilliam project were definitely not through the roof. Given the obvious production difficulties, it seemed that it might be best to remain sober about its potential as a film and consider it a fond tribute to its fallen lead actor. But the footage shown off here, and assurance and panache with which this clip is cut bodes considerably better, and suggests that Ledger completed more of the film than we were led to believe. I love the attitude here, and that’s saying something, because fantastical is not exactly my thing. Also, Tom Waits!

Thanks to Zach at postAvant for alerting us to this turning up.

The Bens are no more. A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips hired to rescue ABC’s ‘At the Movies’

Gnome Sayin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:00:25 +0000

Reflecting on the lost critical acumen of one Ben Lyons:

“Over the years, Adam Sandler movies have grossed about 1.5 billion dollars at the box office and I expect this to be one of his biggest hits yet. See it.”

“Bryan Singer did a great job of balancing the intense scenes of dialogue with also moments where no one is speaking and that helped kind of build the tension at times.”

“I just love seeing a buddy film between two guys who you would never pair together.”

“The way in which they constructed Pitt’s facial expressions to match them to the bodies of smaller actors working with essentially giant blue socks on their heads worked seamlessly, brilliantly in fact and will be what the movie is most remembered for.” – his pick for the Best Movie of 2008, which will be remembered as the best for its use of short people wearing head socks.

This is a better-late-than-never move by ABC, as a mainstream weekly movie review show should still be viable with the right talent. Scott and Phillips are both respected, legitimate critical voices, if a tad too similar. But both are improvements on even longtime Siskel sub Richard Roeper, making this the best lineup the series has offered since the original, great S&E days. A Manohla Dargis / A.O. Scott show might have been more fun, but the Chicago-based production obviously felt the need to keep a Chi-town critic front and center.

Trib story

Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem will make the cutest babies in the world

Celebrity Gawk — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:27:02 +0000

This is the best celebrity-impregnates-celebrity news in a while, seriously. The couple are rumored to be four months along on this voyage toward the pitter-patter of little feet. Apparently, the rumor went wide release following Penelope’s “food poisoning” at Cannes. Hat tip to various gossip bloggers.

Trailer for the Coens’ ‘A Serious Man’ (2009)

Gnome Sayin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:30:26 +0000

Positively fantastic teaser cut by the very talented trailer director de jour Mark Woollen, condensing the rhythms of the Coen brothers’ best dark comedy while giving precious little away in terms of plot. Roger Deakins is back as the cinematographer, and you can tell right away here with the crisp, deep colors settling well into the period detail.

Interesting to see which of their work are listed in the “From the Creators Of”. We get last year’s underwhelming Burn After Reading for currency’s sake, and Raising Arizona, but no Barton Fink, which is probably the closest vibe this gives off. It has been billed as more of a straight comedy, but I’m detecting something darker underneath. There can be a fine line between biting wit and arch smugness, and I believe that Burn After Reading too often tipped toward the latter. I hope for this to be a return to form. It looks to be right in their sweet spot.

High quality versions via Apple.

IMDB

A Serious Man will be released on October 2, 2009.

Comic-Con 2009 wrap-up

Gnome Sayin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:36:53 +0000

There are now CC panels and promotions for just about everything that has any trace of geekdom following, and even some things that don’t (2012 was there!). What you consider the most interesting talks obviously has to do with what you’re a fan of. But the most generally noteworthy appearances this year were probably:

Friday’s heavyweight James Cameron / Peter Jackson conference on the future of film, with each citing the other as a key influence and inspiration, and both agreeing that the industry is lagging behind on 3-D adoption. This panel can be watched here in five parts.
The reveal of unseen Avatar footage, which was said to be mind-blowing.
Saturday’s Iron Man 2 panel featuring director Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, and Sam Rockwell. Part 1 of 3 here. There was also a teaser trailer.
The visually promising teaser for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland:

Other trailers and clips galore (District 9, Where the Wild Things Are, Tron Legacy, New Moon) from Trailer Addict
The Onion AV Club provided some excellent blog coverage of the daily events.

And last but not least, our own Barty was on the scene and grabbed some excellent shots of the action.

Many more pics here.

Jennifer Coolidge: Lie on your Resume

Amber L — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:31:52 +0000

Want that job, but don’t have any experience? Stifler’s mom and the nail lady from Legally Blonde tells you what to do. Just work it, girlfriend.

“The Last of Heath” Ledger – Peter Biskand’s Vanity Fair retrospective

Gnome Sayin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:52:49 +0000

Trudging through this just tends to make one angry and sad all over again over what a goddamn shame this loss was. And is. But it’s a solid, well-researched piece, typical of Biskand’s writing.

Here are excerpts:

Ledger’s fans—a category that now embraces almost everyone who goes to the movies, thanks to his Oscar-nominated performance in 2005 as the emotionally closeted Ennis Del Mar in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain and his Oscar-winning re-invention of the Joker last year in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight—will not be disappointed. There is a lot of Ledger in this picture, which has the added advantage of showing him reloaded or, better, unplugged: without the slathered layers of white goo that were de rigueur for Batman’s clownish nemesis but obscured the actor’s features. This final performance, while not the tour de force of weirdness that was the Joker, is good enough—more than good enough—to remind us that Ledger’s death has deprived the movies of one of their most accomplished, and promising, talents.

When he signed up for Doctor Parnassus, Ledger was coming home, in a manner of speaking. Gilliam and his partner in crime, Nicola Pecorini, the cinematographer, were among the actor’s closest friends. The two filmmakers “come as a package,” observes Nathan Holmes, Ledger’s former assistant. They are so close they finish each other’s sentences.

Gilliam, who looks chicly grizzled with close-cropped gray hair and a shadow of a beard, is a self-exiled American who took refuge in England during the Vietnam era and stumbled upon John Cleese and his Monty Python pals, becoming the sixth Python, which was sort of like being the fifth Beatle but better: Gilliam created the group’s memorable animated titles and transitions and co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail in 1975. He went on to fashion a singular, if checkered, career for himself as the director of, among other films, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), Twelve Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), and The Brothers Grimm (2005).

[...]

After The Brothers Grimm, even as Ledger’s star ascended, the actor had kept tabs on Gilliam, hanging out with him whenever he was in London, always wanting to know what his friend was up to. Gilliam showed him the Doctor Parnassus script, and they discussed the role of Tony, but Ledger kept backing away. “The first thing he would do was pass on almost everything that came to him,” says Alexander. “Or he would commit to things and then walk away from them. As much as he wanted to work, there was a part of him that was always looking for a reason not to work. He was always afraid, insecure about could he nail it. Then finally he would come around and embrace the challenge.”

But after Brokeback Mountain and Casanova, released the same year, in which he had unhappily starred for director Lasse Hallström, Ledger was so distressed he wanted to stop working. (He did stop for a year and a half after his daughter, Matilda, was born, on October 28, 2005.) He told his friends that one of the reasons he had taken The Dark Knight was that it would be such a long shoot it would give him an excuse to turn down other offers. In fact, a few years earlier he had met with director Christopher Nolan regarding the title role in the first of his Batman films, Batman Begins, but the actor was reluctant to become involved in a franchise. Says Alexander, “He was always hesitant to be in a summer blockbuster, with the dolls and action figures and everything else that comes with one of those movies. He was afraid it would define him and limit his choices.” But on The Dark Knight, he had a pay-or-play deal, so he felt he had the freedom to do whatever he wanted as the Joker, no matter how crazy. “We talked about Johnny Depp’s episode on Pirates of the Caribbean,” says Pecorini. “The very first day, Johnny showed up with 40 gold teeth. [Producer Jerry] Bruckheimer wanted to get rid of him. Finally, they said, ‘O.K., keep six.’ And that’s what he wanted, six.” According to Pecorini, Ledger went Depp one better, hoping his performance would be so far-out he’d be fired, and thus become the beneficiary of a lengthy, paid vacation.

Alexander, who now works with Charles Roven, producer of the Batman franchise, insists Ledger was eager to take the part, but wanted to follow up The Dark Knight with something less conventional. Among other projects he was considering was The Tree of Life, a coming-of-age story set in the 1950s to be directed by Terrence Malick (and now starring Brad Pitt).

Full article at Vanity Fair

First look at Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow

Gnome Sayin — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:08:10 +0000

Along with more of Mickey Rourke as Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. Not bad, the Raggedy Ann look works in a weird way. But original choice Emily Blunt would have run circles around Johansson in this role, and it’s a shame she was blocked from doing it.

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