Andy Samberg is a mystery to me. I liked him fine on Saturday Night Live, and I really enjoyed (most of) his Digital Shorts. And the first Lonely Island album, Incredibad, is actually quite great. But I don't find myself that interested in his transition to film: I worry there's not enough of a persona there to make me care. For Gawker, I decided to predict what sort of career Samberg is going to have in film. To make it more fun, I compared him to many Saturday Night Live alums to see if any of them might be a good fit. You can read my findings here.
I was impressed with Under African Skies, the documentary by Joe Berlinger about the making of Paul Simon's seminal 1986 album Graceland. And one of the highlights of the film is watching Simon perform "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" with Ladysmith Black Mambazo on Saturday Night Live back in '86. What I hadn't realized before watching the documentary was that the performance took place in the spring of '86, which was before Graceland came out. As Simon explains in Under African Skies, they had been booked for SNL at that time with the expectation that the album would already be out. But his label decided to push the album's release back at the last minute, so Simon decided to go ahead and perform with the South African choral group anyway, even though nobody in the country had heard Graceland or knew anything about this new sonic direction Simon was pursuing. It makes the SNL performance of "Diamonds" all the more remarkable: As Under African Skies describes it, the jubilant rendition ignited the crowd and suggested just how popular the song (and the album) would be.
The problem is ... that's not entirely factually accurate.
According to SNL's Wikipedia page, that episode (which Robin Williams hosted) took place on November 22, 1986. Graceland came out in August of that year. Double-checking another SNL online resource, SNL Transcripts, it too shows that Simon performed "Diamonds" in the fall of '86.
Now, it is true that Paul Simon performed with Ladysmith Black Mambazo on SNL before Graceland came out, but they didn't play "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes." According to SNL Transcripts, Simon was on the show on May 10, 1986, and he performed "You Can Call Me Al," "Graceland," and (with Ladysmith) "Homeless." (The Wikipedia page on "You Can Call Me Al" provides a little more info on this matter.) Now, it's still rather impressive that Simon performed three Graceland tracks on national television before his album's release -- one that featured a choral group most Americans wouldn't have known -- but it's still a bit dodgy how Under African Skies presents the "Diamonds of the Soles of Her Shoes" performance as part of that earlier appearance, especially when you have Lorne Michaels during the documentary talk about the electricity in the crowd during that May performance. (I wonder if Michaels has seen the final film and noticed the error.)
To make sure my memory wasn't faulty, I checked other Under African Skies reviews and, sure enough, other people had the same impression I did about the "Diamonds" performance. "The film’s happiest moment is its clip of a 'Saturday Night Live' performance of 'Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,' by Mr. Simon with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, that preceded the album’s release," wrote Stephen Holden in The New York Times. (Randy Lewis makes a similar comment about the performance occurring before Graceland's release.)
I'm not accusing the makers of Under African Skies of lying or anything so severe. Maybe it was an honest mistake. But if it was done intentionally, I'll just say that it's the sort of factual fudging that's irritating because, honestly, why did the filmmakers need to do it? I'd love to see -- and I'm assuming other Simon fans would love to see -- Simon's May '86 appearance on Saturday Night Live to witness just how those songs sounded and how they were received by the crowd before anybody knew what Graceland even was. (Doing a quick search around the web, I haven't been able to find any video of the three May 1986 songs.) That's history in the making, and it's unfortunate that Under African Skies decided to substitute that moment with a different one.
(Update: Just realized that Under African Skies is available on Hulu. Start at about 57:00 and you'll see the segment I'm discussing.)
Lots to recommend in this week's Screen Grab column at Back Stage. Prometheus and Madagascar 3 are both worthwhile -- although it's hard to imagine the person who wants to see both movies -- and there are two good indies as well, Safety Not Guaranteed and Dark Horse. The latter is the latest from director Todd Solondz; the former stars Mark Duplass and Aubrey Plaza. Oh, and seriously, avoid Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding. You may remember that I saw it back in Toronto. Yeah, it's not so good. Here's this week's complete column, which has reviews of those movies and others.
"[I]t's not the band's most immediate music, but the album's challenging
mix of heartbroken words and aloof sounds rewards patient and repeated
listening." That's what Heather Phares has to say about Beach House's new album, Bloom, over at AllMusic, and I agree. Except, I thought it was pretty darn immediate from the get-go -- and then it just grew on me from there. Here's the opening track, "Myth."
A feast in 3D, Prometheus is a beautiful, glorious experience. From a visual standpoint, anyway -- the storytelling is a bit more problematic. But, once again, Michael Fassbender absolutely kills it. My review is up at Gawker.
I was never particularly enthused about the fact that two revamps of the Snow White story were coming our way this year. Living down to my expectations, Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman were both rather disappointing films. But could their problems be in part attributable to the way the films rethought Snow White for the modern age? That's the thesis that I explore over at IFC Fix.
A little more than two years after I conducted my first interview for it, my book on the Eels, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations: The Story of Eels, arrives today in stores in the U.S. (You can order it here from Amazon.) I can't believe it. After all the interviews and research and writing, I still can't quite come to terms with the fact that a book I've wanted to write for about 10 years is out there in the world.
When my interview subjects would ask me about my interest in writing a book on Eels, I always told them the same story. When my wife and I were first dating, she asked me, "If you could write a book about any artist, who would it be?" She assumed I would want to write one on Bob Dylan because he's my favorite musician of all time, but I responded that everyone has written a Dylan book -- what else is there to say about him? "No, I'd really like to write a book about E. He's really underrated, and someone needs to explain why he's such a fantastic songwriter." Years later, I was approached by Omnibus Press to write an Eels book -- it was a dream come true.
My hope is that Eels fans will love my book and feel that I've expressed their own thoughts about E's genius. During the process of writing this book -- the first full-length Eels biography -- the two most discouraging responses I would get from people were: (1) "You're writing a book about the Eagles?" -- clearly, I need to enunciate better -- and (2) "Didn't the Eels have, like, one hit? Is there interest in an Eels book?" I want my book to help explain why E has been one of the most consistent musical forces of the last 20 years, even if not enough people were paying attention.
I'm still too close to the experience of writing The Story of Eels to fully absorb what it meant to my life. I got to meet some pretty amazing people, who generously shared their stories. And while E didn't sit down for an interview, he was kind enough to let some of those close to him talk to me, which I very much appreciate. I don't expect this book to have a wide audience, but like the Eels' music, it's not supposed to. It's meant for those who care. And I hope they do.
Since today is also Friday, that means it's time for your weekly video. Of course, it's by Eels. Beautiful song, hilarious clip.
After seeing Mirror Mirror, I was convinced that Snow White and the Huntsman would be the superior Snow White project. Alas, no. (Hollywood has a way of surprising you in all the worst ways.) My review of The Huntsman is up at Gawker.
For this week's Screen Grab column, I have lots of nice things to say about two thought-provoking documentaries. One is 5 Broken Cameras, a bracing, intimate look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The other is Pink Ribbons, Inc., a sharp criticism of the breast-cancer awareness movement. They're both worth checking out in theaters or on DVD. My full column is here.
This is neither here nor there, but I'd like to point out that the title Chernobyl Diaries is something of a copy-editing nightmare. "Chernobyl" always looks wrong to me when I write it, and if you're not careful, you'll end up with "dairies" instead of "diaries." (Then again, a movie about a top-secret building around Chernobyl where they make milk and cheese might be your type of flick.)
I was really sad to hear that Handsome Furs were calling it quits. These matters become infinitely more complicated when your band's principal members, Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry, are married. Hopefully they're doing OK. In the meantime, here's "Handsome Furs Hate This City" from their 2007 debut, Plague Park.
Back in the days of The Projector, Will and I used to love doing a regular segment called "Trailer Hitch," which were fun little rundowns of new trailers. Today for Deadspin, I decided to bring back the format for five new trailers released in the last few days. Memorial Day brings with it a ton of new trailers, so the timing seemed perfect. Hope you enjoy.
For this week's Screen Grab column over at Back Stage, I dive into six movies opening over Memorial Day weekend. There are no real stinkers -- Cowgirls 'n Angels is merely a mild bore -- but the best of the bunch is Oslo, August 31st, from director Joachim Trier. Yes, he and Lars von Trier are apparently distant relatives, but their films are nothing alike, except for the fact that they're quite striking. Here's this week's column.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the 10 movies I was most excited about this summer -- as well as the five I was most dreading. Well, surprise surprise, two of the five have turned out to be good. First there was The Dictator. Now there's Men in Black 3, which is a satisfying little romp. My review is up at Deadspin.
Those who know me have had to hear me rave about Will Smith for quite some time. So, on the occasion of Men in Black 3's imminent release, this week's IFC Fix column is about his amazing decade-plus run as Hollywood's best movie star. You can read it here.
As you probably know, I wrote a biography of the band Eels. It arrives in stores in June in the U.S., but folks who have ordered it through Amazon have already started receiving theirs. So with the book's arrival imminent, it's probably only natural that I've been thinking about E and his music a lot lately. I decided to feature a song that may be lesser-known. It's called "I Need Some Sleep," and it was included on the group's 2008 best-of collection, Meet the Eels: Essential Eels, Vol. 1. The song is quintessential Eels: dreamy, wistful, incredibly melodic. Hope you enjoy.
About 10 minutes into Battleship, I was pretty sure I was going to like it. Two hours later, I was right. Well-made blockbuster junk, the movie is no work of art, and thank god for that. My review is up over at Deadspin.
This week's Screen Grab column at Back Stage gives you the lowdown on seven movies opening this weekend. May I suggest you pay special attention to the two films at the bottom of the rundown? They're Elena and Polisse (pictured above), daring and effective foreign-language films that both knocked my socks off. Here's the column.
I try not to take movies personally, but I found it difficult when approaching the horrendous What to Expect When You're Expecting. As someone who's happily married to a woman who (like me) doesn't want to have kids, I feel a certain amount of societal pressure to reproduce. (I realize, by the way, that this pressure is far more intense for the woman than it is for the man.) So, for Deadspin, I decided to lay into What to Expect, which is like a walking advertisement for the You Must Procreate agenda. Ranting felt good. You can read my piece here.
Update: My piece was republished on Gawker, and I recommend checking out the comments section, which features a lot of thoughtful observations on the pros and cons of having children.
I'm not at the Cannes Film Festival, but for Screen International I reviewed this year's kickoff film, Moonrise Kingdom. I'm in sort of a unique position to write about the latest from Wes Anderson. It seems like most people are in one of two camps concerning Anderson's films: Either they've loved everything he's done, or they used to like his stuff but think he's just been repeating himself of late. Well, I'm in a third, less-popular camp: I actually think his movies have improved over time. For my money, The Darjeeling Limited was the best thing he'd done until Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is on its own level of greatness. With that background in mind, here's my Moonrise Kingdom review.
Director Andrey Zvyagintsev made his auspicious debut with The Return. Since then, he's made The Banishment (which, thanks to the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Films That Got Away committee, of which I'm a member, will finally be getting its L.A. premiere next month at the Los Angeles Film Festival), and now his third film is about to be released. It's called Elena, and I think it's his best film yet. For IFC Fix, I do my best to explain why.
For Deadspin, I wrote a little something about Sacha Baron Cohen. The way I see it, he's in a very unenviable point in his career. Yes, he's still popular, but with the release of The Dictator imminent, he's come to a place where his shtick is starting to feel familiar. That can't be easy. Here's my article.
As a huge fan of Graceland, I was curious about Under African Skies, a documentary about the 1986 album's making. Still, there's always that worry that it'll just be a bland puff piece, especially considering that the film is being packaged with a new deluxe edition of the album. But, no, Under African Skies does a solid job examining the controversy as well as celebrating its greatness. My review is up at The Village Voice. And if you want to read the definitive critical essay on the aforementioned controversy, I highly, highly recommend Robert Christgau's piece, "South African Romance," that was published about a month after the album's release. A very nice balance of musical analysis and political commentary.
For months, I've been dreading The Dictator. This is somewhat surprising considering how much I loved Borat, which was only six years ago. So, I'm happy to report that Sacha Baron Cohen's new film is pretty consistently funny. Not great, but consistently funny. My review is up at Screen International.
I haven't listened to Isolation Drills in forever. You'll be happy to know that it holds up quite well. I recall hearing at the time of its release, back in 2001, that it was Bob Pollard's "divorce album." Here's one of the songs that definitely fits with the concept, "The Brides Have Hit Glass."
This week'sScreen Grab column contains one of the year's worst movies (Girl in Progress), but I don't want you to focus on that. Instead, I'd like to spend time singing the praises of I Wish, the latest film from Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda. It may not be as magnificent as Nobody Knows, but it's a charming, moving little drama. The whole column can be read here.
I can't claim to be a fan of the original Dark Shadows TV show -- I've only seen clips on YouTube -- but a film version very much seemed down director Tim Burton's alley. Turns out, it's too much down Burton's alley. My review of Dark Shadows is up on Screen International.
Not surprisingly, most obituaries for Adam Yauch focused on his career with Beastie Boys. But for Deadspin, I wanted to write about his impact on the world of independent film. He and his company, Oscilloscope, did a lot in a short amount of time. You can read my article here.
I still remember when Spider-Man came out in May 2002. Summer event movies always seem like a big deal, but this one really seemed like a big deal. Superhero films had gone out of fashion -- you can thank Batman & Robin for that -- but this was an unabashed superhero movie. Adding to its enormity was that fact that it seemed for a while that we'd never get a Spider-Man movie because of insurmountable legal hurdles. Well, you know the rest. For IFC Fix, I wrote about the movie's 10th anniversary and how we're still living in the film world it helped create. Here's the piece.
Since I was a kid, I've been in awe of Sight & Sound's once-a-decade greatest films poll. It's the king of all best-film lists, and the latest edition will happen this summer. In the poll's honor, I decided to speculate about which five films from the '90s could possible crack the Top 10 someday. Newer films take a long time to reach the upper echelon of the poll, so I'm really just guessing. But I think a couple of them have at least a chance. And, hey, it makes for fun debate. (And, to make it clear, these aren't my favorite films of the '90s: I'm just saying they're the most likely to be the favorites of S&S voters.) You can read my article over at Deadspin.
There's a film that's coming out in the next few weeks in which the central characters have a conversation about classical music. One guy loves it, the other guy hates it. So to convince his friend that classical is great, he plays him some iconic songs. The joke is that the second guy recognizes all the songs -- but only because they've been used in lots of TV commercials. That's how he can appreciate classical music.
What's funny to me is that another song used on the soundtrack, Ludovico Einaudi's instrumental piano number "Fly," is meant to underscore a dramatic moment. But, of course, I only thought, "Hey, that's the music from the NBA playoffs commercial that was quickly parodied all over the place." I guess we're all uncultured slobs in our own way.
This week's Screen Grab column over at Back Stage lays out six films choice for you this weekend. Do you need to hear anything more about The Avengers? Probably not, so let me suggest that, among the indies, the documentary Last Call at the Oasis is the strongest offering, although it's hardly the most high-profile. You can check out the whole column here.
For most of his career, writer-director Joss Whedon has been a favorite of the Comic-Con crowd. He's the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly and other shows that that one geeky friend in your life really, really likes. But even if you've been able to dismiss the guy up to this point, it'll be hard to ignore him much longer: He wrote and directed The Avengers, which will make a ton of money. For Deadspin, I wrote about the rocky road Whedon walked to get to where he is now. As someone who doesn't consider himself a fanboy, I tried to write this piece from the perspective of a non-apostle, essentially explaining what's special about Whedon to those who may have a knee-jerk reaction to such an article. Hope you enjoy.
The Five-Year Engagement is an unusual Hollywood rom-com in one important way: It's about what happens after the happily ever after. For IFC Fix, I did a quick rundown of other recent comedies and dramas that have covered similar ground. (And, yes, I worked in a reference to the great Modern Romance.) You can read my piece here.
For as much press as John Cusack is doing for The Raven, you'd assume he's rather proud of the movie. After seeing it, I'm not sure why. Though hardly a disaster, it's a misshapen mash-ups of ideas and tones that doesn't work. I go into more detail in my review over at Deadspin.
The Five-Year Engagement isn't a great movie, but on occasion it poignantly illustrates how a romantic moment can be a bit of a double-edged sword. At first, the memory of the moment fills the couple with happiness, but when the relationship starts to suffer, the memory becomes a cruel reminder of what used to be. Engagement has been compared to Like Crazy, and one element they have in common is that they both use a song to illustrate a specific moment in time for the young lovebirds. In Like Crazy, it's the repetition of Paul Simon's "Crazy Love, Vol. II," a bittersweet post-breakup song that Jacob and Anna first heard when they were falling in love. In Engagement, Van Morrison music is all over the soundtrack, but it's "Sweet Thing" that's the most crucial tune. I love the song anyway, so I'm happy to have an excuse to feature it today.
Some weeks, my Back Stage Screen Grab column is an embarrassment of riches. Unfortunately, this weekend's slate of films is filled with some pretty mediocre offerings. The one bright spot is Sound of My Voice, a solid indie starring Brit Marling, whom you may remember from Another Earth. My whole rundown of Friday's eight new film releases can be read here.
I really likedThe Avengers, but I had to admit that I got a little worried about what the repercussions of its success will have on Hollywood, specifically when it comes to future comic-book movies. For Deadspin, I took a stab at predicting what The Avengers will bring in its wake. Feel free to check back in five years and laugh at how ridiculously off I was.
We are now four months into the film year. Yes, you had to suffer through some dreck (Dark Tide, Beneath the Darkness, This Means War), but there have also been some terrific films, too. For my IFC Fix column, I decided to single out a few highlights, including the beautiful, devastating movie depicted in the above still. My article is here.
Jason Statham remains his steely self in Safe, but this latest action-thriller isn't one of the action star's best. (I may have to save my pennies to help finance a Bank Job 2: That's a Statham vehicle I'd very much like to see.) My Safe review is up at Screen International.
Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary, which has put me in a loving, romantic mood. (Hey, I'm just that type of guy.) That sensation runs counter to the emotions I felt while watching the two big date movies that just opened, Think Like a Man and The Lucky One. So, for Deadspin, I decided to write about why Hollywood movies give such bad dating advice. I also reflected a bit on how the movies and TV shows I watched as a kid influenced my own thoughts on relationships. You can read my article here.
Marvel's The Avengers (or, as it's known in the U.K., Marvel's Avengers Assemble) is a lot of fun. It's also a bit of a mess. But, mostly, it's a lot of fun. I reviewed the film for Screen International.
Bonnie Raitt was on The Colbert Report this week to promote her new album, Slipstream, which reminded me how much her 1991 album Luck of the Draw meant to me back in the day. So, here's the closing track, "All at Once." Just a beautiful, heartbreaking song about a kindhearted woman who realizes her life hasn't worked out at all. And the last two lines are particularly crushing: "Why the angels turn their backs on some/Is just a mystery to me."
This week's Back Stage rundown of the weekend's film offerings is filled with a lot of duds. But I do want to recommend Goodbye First Love, a melancholy little French film from writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve, who previously made the quite good Father of My Children. That's my pick of the week. For the rest of the rundown, go here.
For Deadspin, my partner-in-crime Will Leitch and I both listed the 10 movies we're most excited about this summer. If that wasn't enough list excitement for you, we also ranked the five summer films we're most dreading. If you know me or Will at all, you won't be surprised we had the same No. 1 most-anticipated film of the summer. We've only been babbling about it since the last film in the series came out four years ago. OK, to the lists!
The Lucky One will be as good or bad as you're expecting it's going to be. At this stage of the game, being annoyed by the Nicholas Sparks romantic-drama machine is just silly: Filmmakers adapt his books because they know the movies will hit a target audience, and who cares what anybody outside of that niche thinks of them? Still, it's a sign of how unaffected I was by The Lucky One that I mostly just wanted to spend more time with the Blythe Danner character; she sure seemed more fun than the central couple. My review is up at Screen International.
For Deadspin, I wrote about Mel Gibson and why it's been so hard for society to forgive him, even though people have been willing to forgive lots of other celebrities that have done terrible things. I recognize that some folks simply want nothing to do with the guy -- and I'm not trying to defend him -- but it's saddens me that it appears that some people haven't even read the article all the way through. They just assume I'm a blanket Gibson apologist or that I support the horrible things he's said. I don't recall doing either thing in my piece. Anyway, here's the article.
Shame was my favorite English-language movie of last year. I raved about it a little back when I first saw it in Toronto, and on the occasion of its DVD release, I decided to devote this week's IFC Fix column on the film's greatness. Michael Fassbender is just too good, folks.
This week's Screen Grab column at Back Stage surveys eight movies coming out this weekend, and I'm sad to say most of them aren't so hot. Blue Like Jazz, L!fe Happens, The Lady, Lockout (hey, a Luc Besson double feature), Detention ... yeah, there are some duds out there. So why not take a chance on Monsieur Lazhar? Or The Cabin in the Woods? You can read my complete rundown here.
For Gawker, I decided to put together a list of five memorable "serious" actors who took the plunge and became action heroes. It's worked out pretty well for some of them. Others are cautionary tales.
Around the time that Warren Zevon was diagnosed with cancer in 2002, Bob Dylan took to covering a couple Zevon songs at his concerts. His version of "Accidentally Like a Martyr" was particularly strong, and while I'd always liked the song, it really struck me at the moment how affecting it was.
Much to my pleasant, astonished surprise, I thought The Three Stooges was pretty consistently funny. And not just that: When it's funny, it's really funny. It's not a new high-water mark for the Farrelly brothers, but it did help remind me why I used to like them so much in the '90s. Please understand that this is an unabashedly lowbrow comedy, but it finds its groove early on and doesn't overstay its welcome. That's good enough for me. My Three Stooges review is up at Screen International.
If nothing else, Think Like a Man will probably go down in cinematic history as containing the single best joke about Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls ever. Other than that, it's a pretty by-the-numbers contemporary romantic comedy. And by that, I mean that it's all about its game-playing: Everybody in the movie operates under the principle that to find love, you have to treat the members of the opposite sex as a bunch of deceitful creeps you have to outsmart. Dating sure sounds stressful these days. My Think Like a Man review is up at Screen International.
One of the toughest things about writing a review of The Cabin in the Woods is ... writing a review of The Cabin in the Woods. Loathe as I am to reveal plot spoilers, it's pretty darn hard to discuss this horror-comedy without delving into story specifics. (Wired put it best when they called it "The Coolest Movie No One Should Be Talking About.") But I found a way around such problems for my spoiler-free Gawker review. But, seriously: Avoid all trailers and commercials. As DJ Shadow once said, the less you know, the better.
In my constant attempt to keep you as up-to-date as possible, I wrote a little thing for IFC Fix about the actors who will be Larry, Curly and Moe in The Three Stooges. I also wonder aloud if it's a good or bad thing that most audiences don't know who these folks are. You can read the article here.
This is Guy Pearce. This is a new look for him. He's playing the action hero in Lockout, a somewhat fun but also kinda dumb sci-fi film involving outer space prison stations run amok and a beautiful damsel in need of rescuing. If that sounds like your kinda thing, you'll probably really enjoy Lockout. I wish I had more than I did. My review is up at Screen International.
This week's Friday Video presents an interesting dilemma: What do you do when you really like a song but really don't like its video?
Father John Misty is the recording name for Josh Tillman, who used to be the drummer for Fleet Foxes. "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" isn't very Fleet Foxes-y, though, which I consider a good thing. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with them, but as Tillman explained, "I don’t even like wound-licking music, I want to listen to someone rip their arm off and beat themselves with it."
"Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" shouldn't be confused with death metal, but it's powerfully moody and insistent in a way that Fleet Foxes isn't. Anyway, I dig it. As for the video, well, it violates a few rules I have about the medium. First, its plot is way too complicated; it gets in the way of listening to the song, which has something of a plot itself. Then there's the problem of hiring the hip indie actress (in this case, Aubrey Plaza) to be your video's star. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it just seems like some sort of attempt on the artist's part to get an endorsement from a particular audience niche. So even if you hate the video, you might like the song. I hope you do, anyway.
And thanks to the invaluable KEXP for introducing me to "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" in the first place.
Robert Altman's The Player debuted on April 3, 1992. Yup, that movie is now 20 years old. I marked the occasion by writing a little something for Gawker. Above is the original trailer. By the way, one thing I didn't have a chance to mention in my piece: Thomas Newman's score (which is featured in the trailer) is really great.
This week's Screen Grab column is now live at Back Stage. I reviewed seven movies that are coming out this weekend, including the unfortunate American Reunion and the charming Damsels in Distress, but my pick of the week would probably be director Guy Maddin's latest, Keyhole. This weekend's dud is undeniably ATM, a horror-thriller that, sadly, is not about an ATM machine that kills people. You can read my complete column here.
I feel that I've somehow betrayed my generation (and my gender specifically) by admitting that I don't like American Pie all that much. I "get" the appeal; I just don't think the actual movie is that good. Lots of folks disagree with me -- American Pie and its two sequels all made over $100 million each -- and now we have American Reunion. I reviewed the film for Gawker.
This week's column over at IFC Fix was inspired by how uncomfortable "Where Are They Now?" features make me. Sure, I'm mildly interested in, say, what the cast of Pretty in Pink is doing these days, but I always end up feeling bad for those one or two stars who have done ... well, nothing since then. That got me thinking about Titanic (back in theaters in 3D) and how impressive Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet's careers have been in the last 15 years. We just take it for granted, honestly. Maybe we shouldn't. You can read my piece here.
