Film: Red Cliff (John Woo)

John Woo’s latest, the overblown, action-packed historical epic, Red Cliff, gets reviewed here.

Trailer: 2 Turntables And A Microphone – The Life and Death of Jam Master Jay

Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay was murdered in his studio in 2002, and the crime remains unsolved. This new film, due out on DVD 12/1, attempts to shed some light on what really happened. Another Kennedy-Tupac-Jimmy Hoffa conspiracy in the making? Perhaps…

Film: George Romero – Survival of the Dead Trailer

George Romero’s newest zombie installment, Survival of the Dead, has screened at several prominent film festivals, but has yet to find a distributor in the U.S. Why is this? Maybe, six films in, he’s run out of steam. Maybe, as Andrew and I have discussed lately, we need a high quality, seriously written movie or TV series, injecting fresh vigor into the zombie trope. This doesn’t look like that. Still, I can’t wait to see it. Watch the grainy trailer below.

Film: The Crazies – New Film Poster

As a fan of all things George Romero, be they good (Dawn of the Dead) or bad (Diary of the Dead), I wanted to post the new poster for the loose remake of The Crazies, coming out on February 26th. It would seem that this “reinvention” of the original film could only be better (although Romero’s does have its merits), but odds are that it will be worse.

The Crazies stars Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker, and Joe Anderson, and the plot centers around a town that is “beset by insanity and then death after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply” (from the press release). Breck Eisner directs.

Film Review: Big Fan (Dir.: Robert D. Siegel)

Robert Siegel’s new film, Big Fan, ranks in the top tier of this year’s releases. Patton Oswalt delivers a remarkable performance, which you can read about here or below. Enjoy.

Robert D. Siegel’s new film, Big Fan, is a marvelous, funny, depressing, and sometimes frightening looking at obsession, loneliness, and the weird world of intense sports fandom. Siegel wrote 2008’s The Wrestler, and the same working-class, sad sack essence that infused that film is present here as well.

Comedian Patton Oswalt plays Paul, a parking garage attendant who lives with his mother and spends his nights crafting perfect phone calls to his favorite local sports radio talk show. He is the ultimate Giants fan, and for him and his only friend, Sal (Kevin Corrigan), the perfect day consists of tailgating and watching a Giants game in the parking lot of the stadium. One day, they spy their favorite Giant, Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm), at a Staten Island pizza parlor, and follow him to a midtown strip club. Their gawking, stalking, fan-boy maneuver comes to a violent end with Paul getting beat down and hospitalized by Quantrell. Though he was almost killed, he refuses to talk to the police about the incident for fear of lengthening Quantrell’s suspension and continuing the Giants’ demise, especially against the dreaded Philadelphia Eagles. From here, Paul teeters on the edge of self-destructive delusion and unhealthy idolatry, climaxing in yet another act of violence.

Shades of Scorsese’s King of Comedy abound, especially in scenes where Paul’s late night sports tirades are interrupted by his mother pounding on the wall, screaming for him to shut up. Taxi Driver is another reference point here, although Paul’s obsession and self-deprecation are far from Travis Bickle’s anti-social psychosis. Oswalt plays Paul with a tinge of humor but a great deal of pathos. It’s a quiet and really quite powerful piece of acting. When things go wrong for Paul, the shadow that washes over Oswalt’s face says more than the script.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the film is watching Paul carefully write out his sports tirades. For a brief moment, when he is given his airtime, he is a part of something. Sure, it’s armchair coaching built upon a lexicon of sports terminology and clichés, swagger, and after-the-fact advice, but for just a second, he is a part of something. The rest of his life may be a mess, but when “Paul From Staten Island” is given a chance to voice his sports opinions, however trite they may be, he’s a member of the club.

Big Fan is one of the best films of 2009, a triumph for its writer/director, Siegel, and a testament to Patton Oswalt’s ability to subvert his comedy background with intense dramatic flair.

Film: Taking Woodstock (Ang Lee)

Ang Lee’s new film, Taking Woodstock (which opens in select theaters tomorrow), is kind of a mess. The main culprit is Demetri Martin in the lead role, but overall the film is a saccharine, piecemeal affair. Read my sneak peak for Blurt here.

Film Review: The Baader Meinhof Complex

The Baader Meinhof Complex, a new film from director Uli Edel, opens in limited release in New York this Friday. The film is a fast-paced and frenetic look at the turbulent 1970s in Germany, an era when the Red Faction committed almost daily acts of domestic terrorism. Read my review here.

Interpol’s Carlos Dengier’s Film Production Debut

Interpol’s bass player, Carlos D., will premiere his debut as film producer on April 17 at NYC’s Anonymous Gallery. The short, titled My Friends Told Me About You, was directed by Daniel Ryan and filmed in Chicago in 2007. Dengier also scored the film. Here’s what he has to say:

“Making MY FRIENDS TOLD ME ABOUT YOU was a chance to explore the narrative potential of sound and spectacle. The idea was to achieve the expression of film as a composition, a tone poem of carefully selected cinematic effects and gestures.”

Watch the trailer here.

Drag Me To Hell

I guess making big blockbusters can get kind of tiring. Sam Raimi has had his hands full with Spider-Man as of late, but he’s getting back to his horror movie roots with the May 29th release of Drag Me To Hell.

The film stars Alison Lohman as a loan officer who is cursed by a on woman after denying her some funds. Her boyfriend, played by Justin Long, tries to help her out, but she seems fated to wake up next to the old hag at least a couple of times, like something out of one of Raimi’s Evil Dead movies.

Ghost House Pictures has made a few decent horror movies over the past few years, like the remake of The Grudge, so hopefully this will follow suit. Watch the trailer below.

The Limits of Control

Jim Jarmusch’s new film, The Limits of Control, will see a limited release on May 22nd. The trailer is up now for you to view here.

The film stars Isaach De Bankolé, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, and Gael García Bernal, and looks kind of like Jarmusch’s version of Desperado, although undoubtedly much better. Welcome back, Jim, we’ve missed you.

Vicky Christina Barcelona

I thought this was one of Woody Allen’s better movies of late. It’s now available on DVD, with no bonus features at all. Thank God. Read my review here.