Next week, Vin Diesel returns (along with Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordanna Brewster) to the Fast and the Furious franchise, which he’d abandoned after the first movie (he did have a cameo in part 3). When news first hit that he’d be reprising the role of Dominic Toretto for the fourth installment, simply titled Fast & Furious, most of us saw the actor as returning under a veil of shame. Because he initially departed the series with an inflated ego — and with it unrealistic salary demands — it does seem obvious that Diesel is now only desperately crawling back because his career failed to take off the way he’d hoped it would.
This is quite sad considering not even Steve Guttenberg ever crawled back to the Police Academy movies, nor did Burt Reynolds ever get dragged back for a fourth Smokey and the Bandit. But there have been other shameful returns by stars to franchises they’d previously sat out of (whether the hiatus was of their own choosing or not). Only one of these may have been as desperate as Diesel now appears, but it’s worth looking at four additional actors and actresses who should be very embarrassed of their delayed reprisals. …Read more
The fanboys are so serious about The Dark Knight being the best film of 2008 that if the Academy snubs the comic-book adaptation for a Best Picture nomination, they’re liable to storm the Kodak Theatre on February 22 in protest. But why should anyone be worried that it won’t get the nomination? It wouldn’t be much of a coup for the year’s top-grossing blockbuster to be named one of the five Best Picture candidates. In fact, since the very first Academy Awards, the top award has often been handed out to films that were #1 at the box office in their respective year. And the last time it happened was as recent as 2003, with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Thanks to popular and talented filmmakers like D.W. Griffith, Walt Disney, David Lean and Steven Spielberg, it’s hardly uncommon for films to make money and earn critical respect. But this isn’t an opportunity to spotlight overrated top-grossing Best Pictures like Titanic, Rain Man and Rocky, which were decidedly not their year’s best films. Rather, this is a chance to ease the minds of fanboys just in case The Dark Knight doesn’t get the nod. Some of these blockbusters were indeed nominated for Best Picture, and a few even won the award, but some of them were both their year’s biggest moneymaker (in the U.S.) and best film (from the U.S.) without gaining proper Academy recognition.
The song “Star Wars” by a capella group Moosebutter is nearly a decade old, but it’s suddenly becoming a hit thanks to the popular YouTube video “Star Wars - an a capella tribute to John Williams,” which has been showcased everywhere from StarWars.com to an NBC affiliate in Atlanta. The problem with the new video is that it makes its star, paid YouTuber Corey Vidal, seem like he’s the one responsible for both the song and its performance. He does give credit to Moosebutter, whose permission he received prior to making his clip, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. How many viewers actually read the info about the videos they watch on YouTube?
Okay, so Vidal’s lip-syncing is entertaining, but I also thought it was him singing — all four parts — and so initially was impressed by that. Otherwise his talent is merely good memorization skills and simple composite editing. And for that he’s gotten 1.4 million views. In response, the guys from Moosebutter have put up a video of themselves, minus one member, performing the song live in 2005. That’s the clip I’m featuring instead of Vidal’s, and here’s hoping that it gets at least half the views as the clip that’s getting all the fame.
Celebrity death cult where were you? Soul Men, featuring the final performance from Bernie Mac, underperformed over the weekend, placing only sixth with $5.6 million. I guess you preferred his other final film, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which achieved the best debut of 2008 for an animated film with $63.5 million. The other big opener was Role Models, which did better than expected with a second-placing $19.3 million. All thanks to Jane Lynch’s bagel dog trick, I’m hoping.
Despite YouTube video being possibly the worst format in which to watch movies online, MGM is licensing some of its titles (no 007 movies, unfortunately) to the site for full-length streaming.
Joe Johnston, who has a Best Visual Effects Oscar for work on Raiders of the Lost Ark, has been hired by Marvel to direct First Avenger: Captain America. And I’m probably the only one who’s now hoping the comic book adaptation is reminiscent of the Johnston-directed The Rocketeer.
Yes, I could have embedded the cool new Watchmentrailer, but the YouTube clips I saw just didn’t do the visuals justice (watch it on Apple.com instead). And sure, I could have shared the long-awaited Twilighttrailer, but it doesn’t actually look all that appealing — I know the books are popular, but the adaptation just looks like The Lost Boysmeets Dawson’s Creek (if you must, view it on Yahoo!). Anyway, I’m sure you’re seeing The Dark Knightthis weekend (unless you have a really lame excuse not to), so you’ll likely see both those trailers, as well as the one for Terminator Salvation, ahead of the film.
So, here’s something better, or at least cuter. It’s also very, very silly. Almost to the point of not being worth its time. Fortunately, that Bat-kid riding around on his Bat-tricycle is a real gem. And the outtake at the end with him running after the junior Joker is even more precious. I’m a sucker for anything involving little kids and movies (unless it’s little kids at the movies or, often, little kids in the movies), in case you couldn’t tell from that Star Wars review I embedded awhile back (and yet, no, I still haven’t seen either Son of Rambowor the kid-made remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark).
For more with kids and Batman costumes, also check out this video, which, if a comment made on this week’s Project Runwaypremiere is true, might actually be of Heidi Klum’s son. And for more videos made by the people who made the one above, check out Wizard Universe.
I’ve come to a funny realization: My constant complaints against CGI are somewhat akin to complaints against blogging. Yet, while I admit that my writing isn’t quite the same as print journalism and film criticism of the past, I also don’t cost a ridiculous amount of money relative to the cost of modern special effects.
Anyway, I don’t need to defend or justify my existence as compared to the way things used to be, yet it’s certainly necessary for the people at ILM to defend their use of CG rather than old-fashioned matte paintings and models for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Especially considering how many reviews, both positive and negative, harp on the fact that Indy’s world doesn’t look like it used to.
So, perhaps in anticipation of all the nostalgic moviegoers who leave the theater this weekend wondering why all the locations and creatures looked so bad, the Associated Press has a story on the making of the latest Indy installment, complete with plenty of prematurely defensive quotes from visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman:
With the fourth installment of the adventure series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, hitting theaters in a week, there’s too much debate going on as to the real-life relevance of Dr. Jones. Is he a crook, as was suggested last month? Or is he a model archaeologist, enough to be granted leading membership into the Archaeological Institute of America? Apparently Indiana Jones portrayer Harrison Ford has been elected to the AIA’s board of directors, as a way of honoring the fact that his iconic character has “played a major part in stimulating interest in the field of archaeological exploration.”
Yet in the same week, ABC News has another report on how archaeologists view the guy most associated with their profession. And somehow one member of the Archaeological Institute is quoted as contradicting the organization’s inclusion of Ford as a member. Mark Rose, AIA’s online editorial director, told ABC, “There are codes of ethics in archeology and I don’t think he would be a member. Not in good standing, anyway.”
Indiana Jones’ adventures may be both work-related and dangerous, but you know he’s having fun. And now you can experience some of that fun thanks to Expedia. The travel company has planned ten different vacations inspired by the four Indiana Jones films, including this summer’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, of course, plus the series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. It’s doubtful that you’ll run into any Nazis or booby traps or any other sort of trouble, but considering you’re not Indy, you’re better off as safe as possible.
Expedia has itineraries in nine countries, including the U.S., in which a trip to the Southwest is tied into the Young Indy prologue of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Other vacations related to Last Crusade include Italy (specifically Venice) and Jordan. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles inspired a trip to Mexico, Raiders of the Lost Arkhas inspired trips to Peru, Egypt and Nepal, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doominspired trips to India and China, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull inspired a slightly different trip to Peru.
Alright, it’s not actually a film review, but in a letter of correspondence from 1981, to lover Janet Eagleson, the Catcher in the Rye author does pan the original Indiana Jones film. However, it’s difficult to say the man doesn’t have good taste in movies. In the same handwritten note, he also mention that he enjoyed Truffaut’s The Last Metro. Behold the great American novelist’s actual words:
…Have seen no good movies, except The Last Metro…I got hooked into seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark, which might be excused for its unwitty, unfunny awful socko-ness if it had been put together by Harvard Lampoon seniors…
With each Indiana Jones film comes the obligatory discussion of the title character’s merits relative to his field. So, in anticipation of the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, there’s a story from NPR’s All Things Considered program that calls into question Indy’s heroic deeds. Is he a true archaeologist or is he nothing more than an adventuring thief, no better than the baddies he means to thwart? Real-life archaeologist Winifred Creamer appears to think the latter:
“You could say Indiana Jones is the worst thing to happen to archeology, because Indiana Jones has no respect for anybody and anything. Indiana Jones walks a fine line between what’s an archaeologist and what’s a professional looter.”
We could do without the introduction with clips from the past three films. Just as Spielberg has pointed out in a recent promotional video, all we need is that first shadow on the jeep. Because few characters in cinema are able to be recognized on silhouette alone, and Indy is one of those few. But why should I complain about anything having to do with this long-awaited trailer for one of the most highly anticipated films of all time (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!)? Could it be that we’re all a bit cynical and are just waiting for it to be a Star Wars-prequels-size disappointment? Yeah, it could be that. However, there’s no denying that, aside from a few quips (obviously we knew there’d be jokes about Indy’s age — hence the “Damn, I thought that was closer” gag), it looks really friggin awesome.
Perhaps I’m just giddy over the shot of something with “Roswell, New Mexico” written on it (Raiders meets Close Encounters!). And the definite (but by now not at all surprising) callback to the warehouse where the Ark of the Covenant was hidden away. Or maybe I’m just drawn in by Cate Blanchett and her bad-ass Commie bob. Or is it the score, the whip, the Marion!? Am I too excited? Of course. But so is everyone else. I had planned to link to a number of reactions this afternoon, but unfortunately there are few bloggers or commenters with more to say than “YES! AWESOME!”
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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Indiana Jones’ adventures may be both work-related and dangerous, but you know he’s having fun. And now you can experience some of that fun thanks to Expedia. The travel company has planned ten different vacations inspired by the four 
Alright, it’s not actually a film review, but in a letter of correspondence from 1981, to lover Janet Eagleson, the Catcher in the Rye author does pan 
