tagged w/ John Lichman
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Sure, The Goods looks like a continuation of the "every man" series that the "Guys Who Brought You Talladega Nights" made for us. And it's full of misogyny, jokes about Silence of the Lambs and if Glengarry Glen Ross was a slapstick comedy.
So yeah, we're interested. But we're more interested in the confirmed-but-not-announced cameo by Will Ferrell that takes up a hefty chunk of the film.
[Current]
-John Lichman
Sure, The Goods looks like a continuation of the "every man" series that... more
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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Pixar's Up. Which was released to promote Toy Story 3."][/caption]
Pixar's got a serious one-two combination punch lined up for today! Not only do they leak the Toy Story 3 teaser, but they also released a movie!
Up is about a doughy-egg shaped child that may be Asian and the old man who he has special adventures with far away from other people. There's also talking dogs and death. Sounds fun, right? Well it currently has a 98 percent over at RottenTomatoes.com and now we'll find out what The Good, The Bad and What Pete Hammond Said about Up.
The Good:
Per usual, the nuances of human relationships are conveyed via Pixar's predictably acute attention to detail, coded in a mysterious evocation of mood.
-Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
What's marvelous about Up is how confidently it assumes the audience will smartly follow wherever it wants to take us.
-Dana Stevens, Slate
The look of Up is a world away from Pixar’s usual CGI intricacies -- simple in a way that only artists with a genius for complexity can achieve.
-David Edelstein, New York Magazine
The overall look of the film, with its breathtaking aerial views of South American landscapes and its symbolic interplay of squares and circles, puts every other animation studio to shame.
-Mike D'Angelo, AV Club
Up delivers like no other movie released this year thus far, operating as a massive summer movie and an intimate character study at the same time and with equal impact.
-Todd Gilchrist, Sci Fi Wire
The Bad (a/k/a: "They didn't like a child's movie so they have no soul!")
All this deflated cinema and Pixarism mischaracterizes what good animation can be (as in Coraline, Monster House, Chicken Little, Teacher’s Pet, The Iron Giant). Up’s aesthetic failure stems from its emotional letdown.
-Armond White, NY Press
The characterizations are fairly coarse cartoons, in contrast to the emotionally rich cartoons that have become Pixar's hallmark. They're more schematic than organic, and that applies to the plotting as well.
-Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
Its charms appear to have been applied with surgical precision; by the end, I felt expertly sutured, but not much else.
-Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
And finally, what did Pete Hammond Say?
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Nothing. He didn't see it. See you next week![caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"... more
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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Yes. It Is What You Think It Is."][/caption]
Click here to figure out why.
On a related note, the blog is going dark until later this afternoon! Because we can. (And because we have to be in a meeting that involves Power Points and phone calls. Happy Friday!)
-John Lichman
edit: swapped out dead link.[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"... more
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Because bouncy, naked woman means Zombie Nazis. In Norway.
[via Twitch]
-John Lichman
Because bouncy, naked woman means Zombie Nazis. In Norway.
[via Twitch]... more
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[youtube fwwSf8WeJSo]
We had a wonderful idea: what would happen if Werner Herzog remade other films? Join the fun. [Twitter]
Good Idea: Buy the "Slumdog Kid" a new house. Bad Idea: Call it the "Jai Ho Trust." [Current via BBC]
Dustin Hoffman will play Paul Giamatti's Dad. HAH. [Current via Variety]
BREAKING: OLD COMIC BOOK CHARACTER DOES SOMETHING UNCHARACTERISTIC FOR FIRST TIME IN 60 YEARS. [Topless Robot]
The viral campaign for Funny People continues with Jason Schwartzman's fake TV show. [Cinematical]
Rumors of an Alien remake. That's all. [AICN via Bloody-Disgusting]
-John Lichman[youtube fwwSf8WeJSo]
We had a wonderful idea: what would happen if Werner... more
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[current 90088566]
In honor of The Governator's Dialogg today, we remind you first and foremost: he is a Quipmaster.
But what else was on Current.com/Movies today as we're a scant 24 hours before another episode of The Rotten Tomatoes Show? Well, let me give you six choices of stuff you should've checked out!
Lars von Trier’s ‘Antichrist’: Theopoetry or Cosmic Joke? submitted by thefilmtalk
Hot after Cannes, people are still discussing what this film may or may not be about. Either way, we're intrigued enough to want to see it.
[youtube GeRG0WRh3-M]
Matthew Barney in Little Big Planet! submitted by trelk
Using LittleBigPlanet, someone fashioned an entire level in the vein of Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle.
What Went Wrong with Terminator Salvation submitted by vistapoint
Devin at CHUD explains how Terminator wasn't what we'd expect.
Jonah Hill Promises 'Insane' R-Rated 21 Jump Street Movie submitted by Nettle
Oh. God.
Terminators VS Everything Except Batman submitted by GregSalter
Check it out. Wired lays down a list of who the Terminators would prevail against.
Oh! My Zombie Mermaid Is Coming To US In July submitted by Nettle
I saw this at the New York Asian Film Festival in 2006. It is f'n insane.
And finally...
Bad Lieutenant Trailer Online... submitted by JenYamato
Watch it. (It's also likely a reel for potential investors during Cannes Film Festival...)
[youtube kxB0yXfpQZ8][current 90088566]
In honor of The Governator's Dialogg today, we remind you... more
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[vimeo 4526218]
Seriously.
Because all of this stuff looks awesome.
-John Lichman
edit: "This is an advertisement for a hypothetical Wes Anderson Film Festival. It was created by Alex Cornell and Philip Mills, as part of a larger project for Alex's graduate design program."
God, why do you taunt me so?[vimeo 4526218]
Seriously.
Because all of this stuff looks awesome.
-John... more
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This review was written by blog editor John Lichman and in no way reflects the opinions of The Rotten Tomatoes Show.
It's almost redundant, but the opening of Terminator Salvation is a harsh reminder that we're not under the watchful hand of James Cameron or even witness to Jonathan Mostow's ham-fisted glory. Thematically, it should be the same: orchestral tones, the slow-burn title sequence and jolting futuristic action. Instead we're given a computer code-inspired sequence littered with colons, dashes and brackets to remind us that we're about to see something involving robots and lasers. Instead of focusing on the actors, like the original, the first thing we're told as an audience: this is "A Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek production." Two minutes later, as the familiar "DA-DA DA, NUH NUH" blares across the THX, it is confirmed: this is "[Directed by McG;]"
If you didn't catch that the first time, there'll be a credits sequence redux after we're introduced to Marcus (Sam Worthington) and Brief Female Cameo (Helena Bonham Carter) with a uniformly creepy bit of foreshadowing ("This is what death tastes like"). The entire credits sequence begins again in the same order, but still takes the time to transition to a completely white screen after Marcus' Christ-like murder to make sure we understand: this film is "directed by McG."
So what exactly does this phrase mean since it's important enough to be brought up twice? It means explosions, Virginia.
To read the rest of the review, click here.
This review was written by blog editor John Lichman and in no way reflects the... more
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We get questions about our featuring and editorial practices on a regular basis. So, it felt like the right time to open the doors, spell out our policies, and make sure everyone understands what goes on behind closed doors with regards to editorial decisions. Here's a snippet from the blog post:
"Our editorial team is relatively small on Current.com, especially in comparison with some of the more editorially driven sites out there. We see Current.com as a joint partnership between our internal team, and the community that frequents the site. While we produce content for TV, the amount of content we produce for the web is fairly small in comparison with what our community produces on a daily basis."
To read the details behind our processes and guidelines, please make the jump over to the blog post.
Sources:
Featuring on Current: What do we look for? — [Editorial Guidelines] -- Current.com Blog
http://blogs.current.com/currentdotcom/2009/10/30/featuring-on-current-what-do-we-look-for-editorial-guidelines/
L'ecrivain by gilles chiroleu on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/porcherie/3192488394/?editedcomment=1#comment72157622696422188We get questions about our featuring and editorial practices on a regular basis. So,... more
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Hello Brooklyn!
Our second podcast looks at a film that has its' international premiere tomorrow at the New York Film Festival: Zhao Dayong's Ghost Town.
Split into three parts ( Voices, Recollection, Innocence) this doc explores culture and experiences of Zhiziluo, a town nestled among the mountains in Southern China. Yet you won't find a formal structure with narrator droning on about the town life.
Instead, Ghost Town begins with a stationary shot on a street. As one villager passes by, "Why are you filming this? This is boring."
There is something inherently fascinating about this structured, yet entirely unstructured glimpse of a culture and people who seem unsure whether they want to leave behind their way of life for the big cities, or simply deteriorate with their village.
Joining me is Vadim Rizov (IFC's Indie Eye) and Kevin B. Lee (Also Like Life and Vice President of Programming and Education for DGenerateFilms.)
disclosure: Kevin has been on our original House Next Door podcast in previous episodes and still hosts the original audio files.
[img via Dgenerate Films]Hello Brooklyn!
Our second podcast looks at a film that has its' international... more
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So, I’m out here at the New York Film Festival and things are starting to get a bit more interesting. Well, as interesting as they can on the Upper East Side where my main lunch destination is the Gourmet Garage.
Some days, there are only two films! My mind wanders and then my natural OCD kicks in as I begin counting the things around me. Join me, won’t you dear reader, as I explore some of the more interesting things I’ve counted at the Fest this year!
New York Film Festival 09 By the Numbers: 9/16
Number of people in attendance for free bagels, coffee: more than 20
Number of people who walked out of The Red Detachment of Women: 2. (30 min. in)
Number of people who walked out of The Rape of Pasolini: 6 (during 2nd segment)
Number of people visibly under the age of 35: 9
Number of people visibly over the age of 35: 20+
Number of people who talked about Obama: 4
Number of people who talked about Obama who were in their 60s: 4
Number of women wearing a school marm dress: 1
Number of people using a walker: 1
Number of people who said re: Pasolini, “He sure isn’t like Soderbergh:” 2.
Go to the blog or @current_movies for more updates!So, I’m out here at the New York Film Festival and things are starting to get a... more
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Hello and welcome!
A long time ago (around 6 months) I co-hosted a podcast out of a bar in the East Village. Seeing as how I'm back in New York for the Film Festival, we got the band back together--so to speak.
So join us as myself, Vadim Rizov (contributor to IFC's Indie Eye blog, Village Voice, The Onion A.V. Club), Glenn Kenny (somecamerunning.typepad.com, The Auteurs) and Keith Uhlich (The House Next Door, Time Out New York) sit down and discuss NYFF's opening night film: Alain Resnais' The Wild Grass and best sheep-doc ever, Sweetgrass.
At Grassroots Tavern!
It's All-Grass baby!
-johnHello and welcome!
A long time ago (around 6 months) I co-hosted a podcast out of a... more
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Right now, I’m somewhere hovering over Wisconsin en route to Manhattan for the 47th Annual New York Film Festival. While everyone else is at the Toronto International Film Festival, I figured it be a decent idea to get a head-start on my former home for a few years. So what’s going on? Is NYFF like Toronto or Fantastic Fest?
Well, yes and no.
Join me on a brief history of the NYFF, since I once was goaded into giving a loaded quote for a feature last year. Currently curated by some of New York’s most esteemed critics and writers–not to mention Village Voicers–like J. Hoberman, Melissa Anderson, Dennis Lim and Scott Foundas (LA Weekly, but who cares when you’re all under one LLC?)
Click to read the rest, kids.Right now, I’m somewhere hovering over Wisconsin en route to Manhattan for the... more
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Hi, I'm John. This is the Current Movies group. I made this video just for you. Welcome to our group, please to join us?Hi, I'm John. This is the Current Movies group. I made this video just for you.... more
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The 19 minute, 53 second interview I conducted with Bob Byington and Kristen Tucker (Harmony and Me) along with John Gatins (Dreamer: Inspired By A True Story) that I agreed to shoot & edit in camera.
The film follows Harmony (Justin/Justice Rice) after his girlfriend Jessica (Tucker) abruptly leaves him, unsatisfied with what he represents. From there it’s equal parts mediation on life, sleeping with your neighbor and wondering about the changes in your life. One of the best things I saw while at CineVegas this year, Harmony comforts you with the knowledge that everything won’t be ok; but you’ll wind up doing just fine.
That said, I also brought a copy of Kirk Honeycutt’s review of Harmony with me to ask Bob about his thoughts on one of the few negative reviews he’s received. We also learned Kirk wrote the 1992 film Final Judgment, which is about a stripper and a priest. And the priest fights to clear his name because people think he killed the stripper. Hilarity.The 19 minute, 53 second interview I conducted with Bob Byington and Kristen Tucker... more
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