Charlie Chaplin Filter.
posted on May 26, 2008 - View this thread

Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, a pro-Intelligent Design, anti-evolution polemic, arrived in theaters Friday to overwhelmingly negative reviews and anemic ticket sales. In response to the claims made in the film comes Expelled Exposed, a website which seeks to "show you why this movie is not a documentary at all, but anti-science propaganda aimed at creating the appearance of controversy where there is none."
posted on Apr 20, 2008 - View this thread

Lumbergh and the Bobs
bring layoffs and misery
white collars, dark times

- An excerpt from the "Office Space" Haikuvie. What's a Haikuvie? A Haikuvie takes a movie and sums it up in 7 haiku. It is an attempt to capture the essence of the film and mix in bits of commentary and humor along the way. Warning: Haikuvies contain spoilers (if you haven't seen the movies).
posted on Mar 11, 2008 - View this thread

"But, it's a post on film noir!" I told her. She jerked away from me like a startled fawn might, if I had a startled fawn and it jerked away from me. I knew that caving into my desires meant I might lose her. But I didn't care. I went out to the kitchen to make coffee -- yards of coffee. Rich, strong, bitter, boiling hot, ruthless, depraved. I knew she'd be back.
posted on Jan 11, 2008 - View this thread

Indiewire put out their second annual film critic's poll recently. There Will Be Blood tops the list, with Zodiac, No Country for Old Men, Syndromes and a Century, and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days following behind.
posted on Dec 28, 2007 - View this thread

The American Film Institute decided the need for more money an update to their 1998 list of the 100 Greatest Movies was so pressing that they made a new list. Ebert (and friends) ask where's Fargo?. The IHT wonders why the past decade has only spawned four new, worthy movies. And, generally, no one seems super excited about it. (some links go to wikipedia to avoid registration on AFI's site).
posted on Jun 21, 2007 - View this thread

onBeing: Videographies That Capture People. The Washington Post is running a fascinating series of videos, each of which is a little snapshot into someone's life, personality, and quirks. Here's one about Sunun Assavarunsrikul, a Thai waitress who feels she gives but just can't seem to get. Here's one about an "unconventional lawyer."
posted on Jun 6, 2007 - View this thread

The most inspirational film ever has an underexamined dark side, including a 1947 FBI memo that branded the film as subversive and "a rather obvious attempt to discredit bankers." The film's script was influenced by the liberal populism of the 1930s, used suicide as a plot point, and was criticized by a Christian Right website for "lax attitudes on alcohol and drunkenness." The film also inspired a feminist art project on "bad girl" Violet Bick and a dead-on parody of a right-wing Christian movie review. Meanwhile, Jimmy Stewart paid back Frank Capra for reviving his post-WWII career by spying on him for the FBI. The hidden backstory behind It's A Wonderful Life.
posted on Dec 15, 2006 - View this thread

This Film is Not Yet Rated (SFW trailer) and a hilarious (audio NSFW) version. (2:05) "How does one follow-up an Oscar-nominated documentary (2004's Twist of Faith) about sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the Catholic Church? If you're Kirby Dick, you deliver another exposé of institutionalized misconduct by taking direct aim at the ratings system of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)." Interviews with the director, Kirby Dick: 1,2,3. Not available on DVD until January '07, but the Amazon Reader Reviews are worth a look see.
posted on Nov 28, 2006 - View this thread

The Movie Binge. 85 major motion pictures will be released in the US this summer. These guys will watch them all.
posted on May 30, 2006 - View this thread

The top entry* (turn up the volume) in the Scanner Darkly remix contest is already better than the (turn it back down) official trailer.
posted on May 21, 2006 - View this thread

Samuel L. Jackson and other Snakes on a Plane cast called in for reshoots. And yes, it has been confirmed that Samuel L. Jackson will say (shout it with me)... [more inside]
posted on Mar 23, 2006 - View this thread

The inevitable deal for a Welcome Back, Kotter movie has been struck. It will be scripted (and DIRECTED) by Tom Brady, responsible for not one, but two Rob Schneider vehicles. And in the lead role as Kotter we have ... Ice Cube???
posted on Mar 14, 2006 - View this thread

What became of Whit Stillman.
posted on Mar 6, 2006 - View this thread

There was a time when his scowling, oversized visage, his battered black fedora, and his long black coat, were as familiar to horror fans as such characters as Frankenstein and Dracula. This character, who appeared in three films, was called "The Brute Man" or "The Creeper."

Only that terrifying face wasn't a mask or a creation of makeup. It was an actual face, a product of a condition called agromegaly. And The Creeper never planned to be an actor at all, he was simply decorated war veteran-turned-Tampa reporter who had shown up one day to cover a film. The movie's director noticed him and recommended he move to Hollywood and pursue a career as a character actor.

He was Rondo Hatton.
posted on Mar 5, 2006 - View this thread

Sometimes movies don't finish the way we'd like. Short, off-beat, animated re-imaginings of selected movie endings, in torrent and .wmv format. The archives are yet young, but might be worth keeping an eye on for future chuckles.
posted on Jan 25, 2006 - View this thread

Empire Online's 50 Greatest Independent Films
I had no idea The Terminator was an independent film but they explain (a little) how they choose the movies as being made with "an independent spirit".

And if you think they got some wrong or missed the boat entirely, let 'em know. I, for one, wholeheartedly agree with #1, though I'm sure some of you will not.
posted on Nov 8, 2005 - View this thread

Stick Man Movie Scene Quiz combines the simplicity of the stick figure drawings with the frustration of the well known invisibles quizzes.
posted on Jul 4, 2005 - View this thread

I don't know what "independent film" means. At a time when the Weinsteins are trying to extricate themselves from Disney, it seems an appropriate question to ask. There are Indie films (non-industry money) that are supposed to imitate fancy hollywood films, there are new studios being opened outside of LA by Wealthy Christians in Denver hoping to convert through CS Lewis movies and there are Garden State, Lost in Translation, Eternal Sunshine etc. which are like other Hollywood films: have stars, and studio money but are marketed as "Independent Films." What makes these independent? Finally, and seemingly too infrequently, there are privately financed and self-distributed unusual films like Assisted Living which despite their obvious merits and the critic's adoration are presumably ignored by the studios, blasted by the brain-numbing EW and distributed instead by the two young first-time filmmakers Why can't we see more non-hollywood and non-hollywood espousing independent ART on the screen? Why do we let every other multi-million dollar romantic comedy be sold to us as "indy" just because it has a quirky soundtrack or aesthetic sensibility. What can we do about it? I'm going to the movies. You?
posted on Apr 15, 2005 - View this thread

Adding images to words makes things easier to remember. The 14 defining characteristics of Fascism as a flash movie. I know, I know, it's been discussed quite a few times at MeFi, but I only post this as Thursday fun. Only. Really. Fun.
posted on Apr 7, 2005 - View this thread

The American Film Institute, striving ever harder for relevancy, announces their latest movie list: 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes, to be shown in June. Here's the list of 400 nominees [PDF]. What was unjustly left out? Let the debates begin!
posted on Nov 18, 2004 - View this thread

"This is frankly one of the greatest films ever made." Harry Knowles reviews "Return of the King."
posted on Dec 13, 2003 - View this thread

Watch this trailer and see if you can guess who made this movie. And if you check imdb, you'll also see that the one of the stars isn't shown or mentioned anywhere in the trailer or on the site. Interesting marketing tactic. I wonder if it will pay off.
posted on Aug 1, 2003 - View this thread

Here's a fine way to start a Thursday: pour a cup of joe, settle into your ergonomic chair, and enjoy 80s Ending, a funny little film by Douglas Jordan. Six minutes long, well worth the watch.
posted on Jun 5, 2003 - View this thread

New 'Matrix: Reloaded' Trailer. Best one yet, .zip, 94mb. Via /.
posted on Apr 11, 2003 - View this thread

Startup.com the movie...I guess it was only a matter of time before a documentary like this was made. It's produced by the team that did "The War Room." (There's an NYTimes article here.)
posted on Apr 30, 2001 - View this thread

My wife and I watched 'Notorious' last night. We weren't far into it before we realized the plot had been lifted for 'Mission:Impossible 2'! It makes us think even less of the latter movie. What's more, we couldn't find anything in their publicity about stealing the plot. It had to be left to the critics.

Can you name any reworkings of original plots that actually turned out good or better? (more inside)
posted on Jan 1, 2001 - View this thread