This is great, because these are two of my favorite movies of all-time. I love trailer remixes. (via kottke.org)
Archive for the 'movies' Category
In anticipation of seeing WALL-E tonight, I started re-watching on Ratatouille. First of all, I had forgotten what a great movie it is - likely Pixar’s best to date. Pixar has made 9 feature length films and 5 are on Imdb’s Top 250 movies of all-time: Toy Story (#177), Toy Story 2 (#225), Finding Nemo (#139), The Incredibles (#145), and Ratatouille (#127). Halfway through the film I realized an amazing secret - the film is a metaphor for Pixar and Disney (the microwaveable Gusteau meals are kind of a giveaway, think of all those direct-to-video sequels). This blogger gives a more in depth analysis of what it all means. What’s also funny about it all is that part of the Disney mythology is “it all started with a Mouse”, but with Pixar and Ratatouille its all about the rat. And the scene where Anton eats the Ratatouille and is immediately reminded of his youth - well that’s the kind of goosebumps feeling when I saw Finding Nemo the Musical in Disney World two weeks ago and the kind of experience I’m expecting at WALL-E tonight. Disney magic, reinvented.
Update: Since I posted this yesterday, WALL-E has shot up to #110 on Imdb’s Top 250 list. I’m sure it will drop a bit over time, but it deserves to be up there. It was really spectacular and probably the best science fiction film of the decade.
I rented an independent film called Cashback on Netflix this weekend and was surprised to find a cameo appearance of a Penn State sweatshirt. The 2006 feature film is an adapatation (really more an extention) of 2004 short flim that was nominated for an Academy Award. The Penn State girl’s scene appears in both versions. Certainly Penn State’s a well known school in the United States, but I was surprised to see it represented in a British film. It made me wonder whether the actress or maybe another crew member has a connection the the University, but I couldn’t find any details about it on Google. Ironically, I looked on a couple Penn State clothing Web sites and couldn’t find any sweatshirts exactly like this one. Anyway, its fun to see Penn State reach expanding across the Atlantic.
Update: FYI, as College OTR humorously pointed out, the film is NSFW in case you go looking for it. I think its pretty tasteful though and the whole movie is pretty original.
NY Times: Disney and Pixar: The Power of the Prenup. Pretty good story about the fruits of the Disney-Pixar merger. John Lasseter does seem to be making a pretty noticeable impact on the creative direction of the company and I love that they’re breing back cell-animated features. Interestingly, this story was sent around in of our internal ESPN newsletters, which normally focus on sports media.
I was listening to the incredibly catchy I’m F*cking Matt Damon video again today and I realized it’s not the first catchy cheating-with-Matt-Damon-confession-via-song. In the 2004 film EuroTrip, Damon makes a cameo appearance as a punk singer who sings about being the other man in the main character’s (Scotty) recently ended relationship.
Saturday Night Live returned from the strike this sketch about Daniel Plainview’s Food Network TV show: I Drink Your Milkshake! Bill Hader’s impression was spot on. Interestingly enough, the milkshake line from There Will Be Blood actually came directly from the transcripts of hearings on the Teapot Dome Scandal. (via kottke.org)
Guardian: Del Toro to take charge of The Hobbit. This is great news. I was a little worried when Peter Jackson was not going to be directing (he will executive produce the films and Weta Digital will provide the effects) but Guillermo Del Toro is a perfect choice. With Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth he’s established himself as wonderful visual storyteller with a talent for fantasy. I think I’m more excited about these films with Del Toro than I would have been with Jackson.
Cloverfield Mythos Explored. Following up the best of 2007 with the best film of 2008 (so far), this post explains the story behind Cloverfield. Apparently through marketing and hints in the flim, the creators have given a lot of clues as to what actually happened. Also interesting for film geeks, a story about the real camera that was used to film the movie.
Well this weekend I finally got around to seeing There Will Be Blood and had way too much free time with the holiday weekend, so I feel its safe to put out my best of 2007 list. It turned out to be a good year for movies, although in truth it was actually a pretty disappointing year until the fall hit. For example, I was going to put out a list of biggest disappointments which would have included almost every summer blockbuster. Still there were a lot of films that overachieved, so without further ado, here’s this year’s list.
- There Will Be Blood - Jaw dropping. Daniel Day Lewis is perfect, Paul Thomas Anderson tells a remarkable story and the final scene is perhaps one of the greatest in film history.
- No Country for Old Men - You sense that all the crime stories, dark humor, and beautiful cinematography of the previous Coen Brothers films were building up to this movie. Javier Bardem’s Chigurh is the most intense antagonist in recent film memory.
- Once - This is a simple love story achieved more with less than any other film this year. Filled with great music and a lot of heart, I couldn’t help but feel swept and inspired.
- Juno - Funny, touching, and thought-provoking, this film marks the arrival of two formidable new talents: screenwriter Diablo Cody and actress Ellen Paige.
- Ratatouille - It’s hard to imagine that this is a children’s movie when you consider the story is an elaborate defense of art. Beautiful animation and a clever story help continue Pixar’s proud legacy which is quickly surpassing that of its owner, Disney.
- Superbad - The Apatow comedies are all about delayed or prolonged adolescence, so making a movie about actual adolescents makes a lot of sense. Hilarious and endearing, I think I like this the best of their bunch because it doesn’t try to be something it’s not.
- Eastern Promises - A solid thriller that I found genuinely suspenseful and surprising. I would argue this is Viggo’s best post-Rings performance.
- American Gangster - A facinating story that married two of my favorites The Wire and The Godfather. Unfortunately I was more interested in the Godfather angel (more Denzel, less Russel please).
- The Bourne Ultimatum - The final(?) chapter of the Borne series is my favorite with fantastic action sequences. These movies have succeed in creating its own, original niche in the spy genre apart from 24 and James Bond.
- Atonement - This last pick was the toughest for me. I chose Atonement because it illuminated and engaged me in a story I wouldn’t be interested otherwise.
Honorable Mention: 28 Weeks Later, 300, 3:10 to Yuma, Breach, Charlie Wilson’s War, Hot Fuzz, Knocked Up, Margot at the Wedding, A Mighty Heart, The Namesake, Sunshine