Previously known as Stuff and Things, Stuff We Missed is exactly that: stuff we missed. Consider this the Costco of blog posts, where you save time and read your movie news in bulk. Yum.
-- Will Watchmen hit theaters on March 6th, as scheduled, or will those evil demons at 20th Century Fox prevent fans from seeing their beloved film on time simply because they hate human beings and everything they stand for? Okay, maybe there's a little more to it, but good news is both sides have agreed to let a judge settle this on January 20th. It's complicated, but we'll know then whether the film will arrive on time or not.
-- Our friends over at io9 came across a few images of early concept art for that new Judge Dredd flick (see them below). These come from comic artist Jock, who also worked on Losers, 2000 A.D and Green Arrow: Year One. The images are all tagged with the name Rebellion, which is the company behind the 2003 Dredd video game, and is also producing the new film.
-- The ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) have dished out their nominations for best of the year, with nods going to Revolutionary Road, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire (my choice) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Several films are heading into next week's Sundance Film Festival with a giant helping of buzz, and one of those is Paper Heart (pictured above) -- starring Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up) and Michael Cera -- which comes served with this description: "Combining elements of storytelling, reality and fantasy, Paper Heart brings a fresh perspective to the modern romance and redefines the classic love story." Since I kinda dig the randomness that defines the humor of both Cera and Yi, I've been waiting for a teaser of some kind to hit prior to the festival -- and while one has not found its way online, Karina over at Spout discovered Yi's YouTube page which is just packed with little nuggets of hilarity.
Karina highlighted a few videos in her post, but the ones that stood out for me were a series of conversations between Yi and SNL's Fred Armisen. It all started with an audition tape Yi made for Saturday Night Live, which she posted to YouTube in the hopes that it would become popular enough that Lorne Michaels would see it and put her on the show. Well, Michaels didn't see it, but Fred Armisen did and so was born a pretty funny series of videos featuring both Yi and Armisen communicating with one another -- with the last being my personal favorite. Are these real? Are these fake? What's the deal? Nevertheless, it gives us a better look at Yi, and the type of humor we should expect from Paper Heart (see images below).
A brand spanking new Japanese Watchmen trailer has arrived online, featuring a good chunk of fresh scenes not included in any of the other trailers or behind-the-scenes videos. Surprisingly, it's heavy on the Nixon stuff for some reason while also highlighting Fidel Castro, JFK and the threat of nuclear war. The domestic trailers, however, barely showed these political leaders -- instead focusing more on the superhero/action aspect of the film -- which just goes to show the different ways they're marketing this flick to audiences all over the globe. The release date of March 28th at the end is, in fact, limited to Japan, so don't go freaking out yet -- Fox hasn't managed to delay our March 6th release, and if they want Wolverine to be successful with the fanboy community, they'll find a way to work this sucker out and allow Watchmen to hit theaters on time. But enough of my babbling, check out the trailer below and let us know what you think.
It's about to screen during the After Dark Horrorfest, but before it does, a creepy trailer for Slaughter has hit the net and you can check it out above. Not to be confused withthis Slaughter(which is, rumor has it, on hold), the film focuses on two girls who befriend each other. The one has an abusive ex, so she moves to her new friend's family farm. Unfortunately, one horror is traded for another.
The film is a mixture of the premise of how well we know our roommates and their families, and the modern-day interpretation of a true story that happened a century ago. What story that is, however, is under wraps -- supposedly to avoid spoiling the film. It looks pretty cool, and it's certainly a mystery to solve. Which true story is it!? Gah ... The curiosity! They took exactly the right angle to lure me in -- my obsession to read up on the true stories behind truth-based films. But what about you?
If you're itching to find out, the film premieres at the fest on January 9th.
Because it's important to start off the new year on the right foot, here now is a Gremlins-related Fan Made video that's sure to bring back a few monster memories. Essentially, what if Gremlins somehow found a way to break into your DVR player, scroll through it and wreak havoc on the recorded films? Using puppets created from a hard cast of one of the production sculptures, Sacha Feiner created this video (for a total of $3,000) which pays homage to the alternate scene from the VHS version of Gremlins 2.
Confused? Here's Sacha's description: "In the middle of the movie Gremlins 2, there is a sequence where the film seems to break, and where the gremlins invade the projection booth. For the VHS edition in the early 90's, they reshot a special sequence where the VHS tape seemed to be torn apart and in which the gremlins invaded a John Wayne movie. The DVD just kept the original theatrical version. This is the alternate sequence I made, supposed to replace the theatrical one on the DVD." Some of the films featured include Tim Burton's Batman, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Exorcist. Very funny stuff -- check it out below. What do you think: Is it time for a Gremlins 3?
Cinematical has just received this exclusive clip from the film Taken, starring Liam Neeson as a former spy who must use his old skills when his estranged daughter is kidnapped and forced into the slave trade. Taken is director Pierre Morel's follow-up to the fun and exhilarating District B13, and with a script from both Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, you know you're in store for a little action. In fact, advance buzz on this flick is extremely positive -- so much so that some websites are questioning the late January release date. Personally, I think it's fine to release a good film in January or February. Heck, if it's a great flick, does it really matter when it's released? Last I checked, people were still willing to go to the movies in the middle of winter when it's freezing out and there's nothing better to do.
So bring on Taken this January 30th -- I'm officially stoked to see it!
Not sure if you folks remember, but at the end of 2007 a dude by the name of Matt Shapiro pieced together a couple of pretty cool videos (called 2007: A Year for Drama and 2007: A Year for Action) that were basically a well-edited montage of films from that year. Well, Shapiro is back again with another video chronicling 2008 called 2008: The Cinescape, and set to the tune of Hoppipola by Sigur Ros, the video takes a look back at all the movies we loved to watch and talk about and watch again throughout the year. This time around, however, Shapiro cuts out any and all pieces of dialogue and simply edits the images to the music. The video itself is a tad heavy on The Dark Knight, Cloverfield and WALL-E (or at least it felt that way), but it's fun to watch nonetheless. Check out a list of movies (in order of their appearance in the video) after the jump.
G-Force Guinea pigs in the employ of the FBI? Well, why the hell not? This is a live action film with digital rodents voiced by Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, Steve Buscemi, and Tracy Morgan. I have to imagine this one got green lit after Alvin and the Chipmunks started pulling in the bucks. The concept has a certain goofy charm, but the trailer has surprisingly few laughs. Judge for yourself on July 24. Streetfighter: The Legend of Chun-Li When I hear "Streetfighter" I think more of the Sonny Chiba film The Street Fighter and its sequels, but that's a different franchise entirely. This film is of course based on the long running series of video games (the first of which was released in 1987 as an arcade game) and stars the lovely Kristin Kreuk of Smallville fame. The trailer is a little hard to follow since the narration is in Japanese. What we've got is basically high kicking martial arts action with a sort of comic booky mysticism. Watch for this on February 27. From Paris With Love I've got to admit John Travolta with a shaved head and a bazooka makes for an eye catching image. He's a cop, things blow up. No U.S. release info yet.
Two Lovers Joaquin Phoenix stars as a man torn between the woman his parents have fixed him up with (Vinessa Shaw) and his unpredictable neighbor (Gwyneth Paltrow ) who is dating a married man. Feel the love on February 13. Crank 2: High Voltage This adults only trailer is easily the most foul-mouthed trailer I've ever seen and it's also entertaining as hell. Jason Statham is back and this time he's had his heart swapped out for an artificial model that requires periodic jolts of electricity. This one hits on April 17. New trailers on AOL Moviefone:
X Men Origins: Wolverine - The X-Men's adamantium clawed mutant strikes out on his own in this tale of Wolverine's origin. Check it out right here:
Night at the Museum 2 - Ben Stiller returns in this sequel in which some of the living museum displays from the first film have been shipped to the Smithsonian Institute.
I Love You Man - Paul Rudd plays a man about to wed who is seeking a new guy friend to be his best man. Here's the trailer:
Echelon Conspiracy - A man receives a package containing a cell phone that can provide him with unlimited wealth.
The Pink Panther 2 - Second trailer for the sequel starring Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau.
Knowing - Nicholas Cage plays a teacher who discovers a decades old code that predicts major calamities.
"DE is a way of doing. It is a way of doing everything you do. DE simply means doing whatever you do in the easiest most relaxed way you can manage which is also the quickest and most efficient way, as you will find as you advance in DE." -- William Burroughs
You might already be a fan of the fabulous William Burroughs essay/short story Do Easy, but did you know that Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk) adapted the essay for the screen in the form of a short film called The Discipline of DE(which also happened to be the director's first project wayyy back in 1982). The short, while on YouTube, is also part of the new Wholphin DVD, which is a quarterly DVD magazine from McSweeney's that showcases -- what they like to call -- "unique and ponderable films designed to make you feel the way we felt when we learned that dolphins and whales sometimes, you know, do it." Not only is this a really quirky and fun film to watch (read the essay too!), but it's message is a timely one -- what with the new year and all. So check it out below and enjoy.
Why doesn't Jerry O'Connell get loads of big-screen work? WHY, Hollywood? WHY? The guy has been comedy gold on Funny or Die, and now he gets to impregnate Rebecca Romijn's Mystique, which you can see above.
The clip is set up to be a "classic clip from the sitcom Mystique and Me, where Jerry gets Mystique pregnant with a non-shape-shifting baby." So, while Rebecca might be able to morph into anyone, including Jerry Minor, that baby bump remains, as does her anger over getting impregnated with inferior human sperm.
But methinks she might be off on her reasoning. What if she was carrying a mutant who caught on fire every time he was completely relaxed? Or a girl whose skin lets loose pointy horns in anything but perfect silence? Methinks she should've just morphed her eggs into something Jerry's sperm wouldn't recognize.
So the first trailer for Crank 2: High Voltage has hit the internets, and the thing is beyond NSFW (not safe for work). It opens with Asian men performing some sort of weird surgery on Jason Statham (who's awake and watching), then leaps into a montage of foul-mouthed obscenities before introducing a character who apparently likes to spend his days slapping the bare behind of an African American woman -- and then we get action, guns, blood, sex, nudity, more cursing and then Amy Smart shows up. Phew. Watching it felt like riding a dangerous rollercoaster through a porn factory.
Needless to say, this is probably the dirtiest and filthiest trailer of the year -- and I kinda like how it's arrived on December 31st. Crank 2, written and directed by those freaks Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, picks up where the original Crank left off and follows a man whose heart has been stolen by a Chinese mobster and replaced with a battery-powered heart that needs jolts of electricity to keep working. We've posted the trailer after the jump, because it's ... just ... nasty. You've been warned ...
I don't know about you, but the Watchmen legal turmoil (get caught up here, and here, and here) is tiring me out. I want the drama to be finished already, and I want to be able to march down to the good theaters and finally watch the film come March 6.
Rather than get all worked up about indecision, why not hunker down and watch Zack Snyder introduce the characters of Watchmen? The video below went up right before Christmas, and gives a very basic overview of our favorite superheroes: Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, Nite Owl, The Comedian, Silk Spectre, and Ozymandias.
If you're not familiar with the story, it's a great little primer. If you are one of the salivating fans, it provides a few more brief glimpses of each of the cast members. And, once again, Watchmen footage has created an insatiable impatience and curiosity. March 6 can't come soon enough!
Are you one of those people who feel Steven Spielberg lost that "it" factor -- that special something that made him so famous? (Or, at the very least, massacred Indiana Jones?) If so, maybe it's time we inspired him with new radio dental implants and fuzzy televisions? (That comment was not out of left field, I swear! Read on...)
Above you can check out a brief old-school conversation between Spielberg, Andy Warhol, and Bianca Jagger. While Warhol was usually tapped as the kooky member of the bunch, ol' Steve steals that honor -- chattering on about his belief that ghosts are trying to get out of fuzzy television sets, and fillings in his teeth that he swears let him listen to radio.
Hmm ... Maybe reminding him of his past beliefs isn't the best idea. I mean, after the ending of Crystal Skull, I'm not sure I want any more fantastical* twists. Nevertheless, it's wild to see Andy looking downright simple in comparison. *For lack of a more appropriate, but spoiler-free word...
Seemingly needless to say, spoilers for the Shia LaBeouf techno-thriller Eagle Eye will soon follow.
Seriously, I don't want to hear any complaints. I done warned ya.
Alright then. So, as much as the film tested my suspension of disbelief in theaters -- which it did, in no small frequency -- I pretty much went with it and enjoyed it, though nothing says studio ex machina like the rah-rah happy ending in which Shia takes several bullets while thwarting an evil computer's elaborate assassination attempt on the President of the United States and his entire Cabinet, but magically manages to make it to Michelle Monaghan's son's birthday party after all, Guitar Hero make that Rock Band in hand (hey, now that bit rhymes!).
Well, according to the video after the jump, bootlegged borrowed from the recent DVD release, another ending was actually considered... and then written... and then filmed where the kids are playing the game before it freezes up and indicates that (duh-duh-DUH!) said evil computer is back online and coming after him, them, and maybe even YOU!
In case you haven't noticed yet, Hollywood has taken the week off and most of your favorite movie sites (including us) are filling in the gaps with best-of and worst-of lists, highlighting the year that was. Which brings us to our friends over at JibJab, the interactive e-card site, who at the end of each year spit out a pretty funny animated video that looks back and shines a light on the year's most talked-about stories. No, it's not entirely movie-related, but it's fun to watch, and if you're stuck at work right now with nothing to do but twiddle your thumbs and watch videos online, then I'm sure this will keep your mind occupied for a few minutes ... even if it does go by a little too fast. Check it out below, and enjoy.
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Because it's important to start off the new year on the right foot, here now is a Gremlins-related Fan Made video that's sure to bring back a few monster memories. Essentially, what if Gremlins somehow found a way to break into your DVR player, scroll through it and wreak havoc on the recorded films? Using puppets created from a hard cast of one of the production sculptures, Sacha Feiner created this video (for a total of $3,000) which pays homage to the alternate scene from the VHS version of .jpg)
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I don't know about you, but the 
Seemingly needless to say, spoilers for the Shia LaBeouf techno-thriller .jpg)
