Check Out the Trailer

I’m tired of waiting for modern horror series to live up to their potential. SAW and HOSTEL have lead the pack for what detractors call torture porn. The haters believe the films are all about upping the gore factor, and in some cases that’s true, but it’s not the whole story. I can handle the gore, but I’m tired of the cynicism.

The survivor of the original, Paxton (Jay Hernandez, CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL), shows up in the hospital. And if you know horror sequel cliches you can guess his fate. So we jump forward to three young college-aged students on a European tour. Beth (Lauren German, 2003’s THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE) is the rich girl looking to break free from her father’s watchful eye. Whitney (Bijou Phillips, BULLY) is her party-girl best friend. Lorna (Heather Matarazzo, WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE) is the annoyingly naïve nerd. Anyone who has seen the original will know that model Axelle (Vera Jordanova) is bad news when she hangs around the girls. She works for the company that auctions the chance to murder young men and women. The company’s latest clients are alpha male Todd (Richard Burgi, IN HER SHOES) and his wimpy, browbeaten follower friend Stuart (Roger Bart, 2005’s THE PRODUCERS).

Read the rest of this entry »

With Ed Harris’s APPALOOSA now on DVD, This Weekend’s Film Festival takes a look at classic buddies in Westerns. The once popular genre might have faded from the spotlight, but not from the minds of filmmakers looking to make classic archetypical tales. The genre represents freedom and camaraderie. This week’s lineup shows off those qualities well in the friendships of the main characters. We have outlaws. We have two Wyatt Earps and two Doc Hollidays. We have a classic comedy duo. And we have laconic friends.

Read the rest of this entry »

Check Out the Trailer

There is a free spirit that drives George Roy Hill’s Western masterpiece. With its use of pseudo-silent film looks to the sepia toned opening scenes to the carefree musical choices and the comedic interplay between the anti-heroes, the film makes us smile and laugh more than dozens of straight comedies. But there is also death hanging over everything as well. It relentlessly chases these two outlaws. Their ways are a thing of the past, and all the references to old-time cinematic techniques underline that fact.

Butch Cassidy, played by Paul Newman, is a laid-back lawbreaker who uses his smarts when he has to, but only when he has to. He’d rather be living the easy life. The Sundance Kid, played by Robert Redford, is a cocky killer who seems irritated with all the peons that he has to deal with. His good looks and dangerousness have brought excitement into the life of schoolteacher Etta Place (Katharine Ross, THE GRADUATE). But she probably would be happier with Butch if she had met him first. For their crimes, the Pacific Railroad’s head E.H. Harriman has hired top assassins to hunt them down. Have they reached the end of the road for their thieving ways?

Read the rest of this entry »

Check Out the Trailer

Westerns were the most popular genre films during the first part of the 20th century. Gritty thrillers took over the mantel in the ’60s and ’70s, and sci-fi and fantasy are leading the pack today. At the time they were most popular, the Wild West was not distant history yet. The subject of this film was an advisor on early Westerns even. As much as the popularity of the genre has faded with the public, its respect has not faded with filmmakers and true film fans. Ever so often, a director, or even a studio, will dust off a Western and give the genre one more try. For all involved with this production, they threw everything at it, and made a humdinger.

Kurt Russell stars as Wyatt Earp, the legendary lawman from Kansas who has moved to Tombstone, Arizona. He’s got himself a wife and says he wants to settle down like a man is supposed to do. He’s looking to make a mint in town with his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliott, MASK) and Morgan (Bill Paxton, ALIENS). Also looking to make a killing in Tombstone is notorious gunman and gambler Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer, THE DOORS), an old friend of Wyatt. However, the Earps’ quiet retirement from law is challenged by the unruly gang of cowboys, led by Curly Bill Brocius (Powers Boothe, FRAILTY). Wyatt is determined to stay out of problems with the cowboys, but as Virgil says, Tombstone has made them rich, so don’t they owe it something back?

Read the rest of this entry »

Check Out the Trailer

Condensed from Evelyn Waugh’s classic book, this feature film version of the story presents a conflict of faith. How difficult is it to love a person that doesn’t believe in heavenly things as you do? How difficult is it to be considered a lost soul by someone you love? How difficult is it to be a person looking, frustrated, into an oppressive world that you want to change, and be a part of, at the same time?

These are the questions that are hinted at, and often outright discussed, in the story of Charles Ryder, played by Matthew Goode (THE LOOKOUT). Charles is a boy of modest means heading off to Oxford, leaving an odd father (Patrick Malahide, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH), whom barely knows the difference when his son is at home or away. At school, he is introduced to Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whishaw, PERFUME) when the young man pops through his window and throws up. Sebastian is a gay man, who loves to drink in the pleasures of life. He knows Charles is straight, but it doesn’t stop him from taking the fledgling painter under his wing. He takes Charles to his family estate, Brideshead, where Charles is transfixed by its grandeur. But Charles also becomes transfixed with Julia (Hayley Atwell, THE DUCHESS), Sebastian’s sister. Sebastian doesn’t want Charles to meet his mother Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson, SENSE & SENSIBILITY), who will play Charles like a chess piece as she does with everyone in her life.

Read the rest of this entry »

Check Out the Trailer

Stanley Donen is best known for his musical classic SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN. But in 1957, he got his first chance to work with the Oscar-winning new star Audrey Hepburn. Unlike her more famous musical, MY FAIR LADY, later in her career, Hepburn actually sings the tunes here. The film combines two musicals FUNNY FACE and WEDDING BELLS, and features assorted songs from George and Ira Gershwin.

The plot mainly comes from WEDDING BELLS. In the film, fashion magazine editor Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) wants something new and fresh for her new edition. Photographer Dick Avery (Fred Astaire, TOP HAT) is having no luck with his empty-headed model. The two decide to take the photo shoot on location to a trendy Greenwich Village bookstore, where they push around the intellectual shopkeeper Jo Stockton (Hepburn). However, after Avery develops the photos and sees Jo in them, he believes she is the new look they need. So with the allure of a trip to Paris, he convinces Jo to put aside her prejudices toward high fashion as a means to an end. It’s a free trip to Paris, where her hero, philosopher Emile Flostre (Michel Auclair, THE DAY OF THE JACKAL), lives.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mark the date - 9-9-09

This is the first Getting Buzzed column of the year. Over the holiday break, a few trailers trickled out for some promising 2009 releases. One is the debut of the English language trailer for an award-winning foreign film. One is the first look at the American remake of a British miniseries. Another is the first international trailer for an Iraq war film. There’s the first look at 2009’s top superhero flick. And the trailer for what could be the most surprisingly animated film of the new year.
Read the rest of this entry »

Check Out the Trailer

I hope no other filmmaker ever has an opportunity to make a film like this one. When you hear this devastating story you’ll understand why. Kurt Kuenne is an independent filmmaker whose been making fictional films ever since he was a kid. His best friend Andrew Bagby acted in every one of his amateur productions. Then he got a call that changed everything. Andrew had been murdered by his ex-girlfriend, who turns out to be carrying Andrew’s child and has now fled the U.S. for Canada. So Kuenne decided to travel the U.S. and England to capture the thoughts and memories of all the people Andrew touched so that his son, Zachary, would have an idea what his father was like.

This devastating film uses home video, news footage, photographs and interviews to combine elements of a personal doc with a memorial and a crime story. From the dozens and dozens of friends and family interviewed for this film, Andrew made a strong impression. As we discover, he was a lot like his amazing parents David and Kathleen. Of course in a memorial film as this one, people are going to make Andrew look like a saint, but there are details that back up the praise. He had been or would have been the best man at dozens of friends and family members weddings. His memorial service drew hundreds from various countries. He was portrayed as a good doctor who cared about his patients. As the saying goes, calculate the greatness of the man by the number of his friends. By that standard, Andrew was a great man.

Read the rest of this entry »

Check Out the Trailer

This true-life story plays like a great heist movie. However, Philippe Petit didn’t steal anything… well maybe he stole some folks’ imaginations. He committed a crime that harmed no one… well maybe harmed the pride of some security guards and policemen. His performance was a precursor to David Blaine’s large public tricks mixed with a more French and less crude Jackass stunt and Christo scale artwork. His caper was comedic, risky and beautiful. It was something that most people would not understand just how beautiful until they saw it.

Petit was a street performer who was self taught in wire walking. When the World Trade Center was being built, he believed he was destined to walk the two hundred feet between the towers on a wire. Because the stunt was illegal, extremely dangerous and seemingly impossible made the attempt all the more exciting. He had previously worked between the towers of Notre Dame cathedral and the Sydney Harbor Bridge, but the WTC was a whole another challenge. He meticulously planned the stunt from how they would get into the building to how they would get the wire from one tower to the next. While the young Petit comes off as juvenile, he was a total professional when it came to his art.

Read the rest of this entry »

Someone says stoner flick and you think about high people acting dumb. But not all stoner flicks are dumb. With PINEAPPLE EXPRESS arriving on DVD this week, This Weekend’s Film Festival takes a look at the five best stoner flicks. We have something fruity. We have something served up with Ice Cube. We have two heterosexual life partners. We have a whole high school class. And no stoner party would be complete without The Dude.

Read the rest of this entry »