Posterizing the Movie Industry

     A Fantastic Array of Movie Posters

      Humans have three-thousand thoughts a day, and today, all I can think of is damn....there are some cool ass movie posters circulating the web, concentrating mainly around some of the most anticipated upcoming releases: Tree of Life, Cowboys & Aliens, Captain America, X-Men: First Class, Thor, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Super 8, Hangover 2, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.     

Movie Review: Sucker Punch

Suckered Into a Film But Not The Punch

"At its sincerest essence, Sucker Punch is a film mightily heavy on stylization, but morbidly bear on substance."

      Zack Snyder's latest cinematic exploit (no pun intended) has been met with a furious onslaught of sneering criticism. The question I had to reconcile in my head, to avoid any damning preexisting bias, is can an awareness of negative expectations severely impact an unfettered viewing of a film? The answer is, of course, a resounding yes, but in my case only slightly.

Movie Trailer Parody

You Won't Like Me When I'm Angry...Birds!

 

      The boys at Rooster Teeth Productions, a diverse consortium of comedic talent, put together another video. The video is a dually motivated trailer for the extraordinarily popular mobile video game, Angry Birds. While trying to maintain the consistently hilarious parodying qualities of past Rooster Teeth Shorts, the video is intended as a live-action feature film directed (but not actually) by the Wesleyan Graduate behind the immensely successful Transformers, Michael-Keep-Him-At-Bay (this may be the only time I am this kind when referencing Bay; keep reading to see if I hold true to this claim). Well regrettably, the guys at Rooster Teeth disappoint, as both of these key elements (overtures of Bay's direction or a hint of hilarity) are conspicuously lacking.

Movie Poster Contest

Good Matt Hunting for a Creative Concept

*Robin Williams has a big head...not as big as mine!

      TheMovie411 (run by Dempsey Sanders, male model extraordinaire), in association with 1Minime & 1Paintme, is running a fantastic Movie Poster Contest. The details of the contest can be found @ TheMovie411. Essentially, the purpose of the contest is for you to create a Movie Poster featuring your mug shot. It does not have to be an original poster (i.e. you can use an existing one), you just have to incorporate your own artistic spin. For all you creatively minded thinkers, this competition will be a perfect vehicle to highlight your fancy graphic skills.

Movie Review: Limitless

A Limited Hodgepodge

"Ultimately, Limitless suffers from the very same implication its title suggests, an infinitely frenzied scope."

      The word limitless implies an environment of boundless and unrestricted vastness. Such an implication, however broad, insinuates a certain immeasurable quality. Well Director Neil Burger's (The Illusionist) newest film, so aptly titled Limitless, is far from illimitable discussion. Quite the contrary, Burger's visually frenetic, extravagantly plotted science-fiction thriller is easily quantifiable, unfortunately to such a finite degree, that the ambitious film markedly loses credence.

FILMMATTIC DOMAIN CHANGE

The Birth of FilmMattic

      For all my blogging friends, I just want to alert you to my domain change. It is no longer http://www.filmmatty.blogspot.com. My new domain is: 

http://www.filmmattic.com. 
      
      I please urge all of you that follow my blog to update your links. All you have to do is eliminate the "blogspot" piece.
      This is merely just a cosmetic change, though I am also excited by the prospect of increased site control. I am still going to provide the same content.

Thanks a bunch!!

P.S. I am going to watch Limitless later today, so expect a review very soon!

Person of the Week: Tom Hooper

 A King On The Most Important Day

 

      This post may be a tad belated, but I consider its contents to be critic-ally important; sort of a referendum against the mass of online film critics. Although, you can include me in the increasingly animus ranks of filmgoers who reacted in objective dismay at the coronation of The King's Speech during the Academy Awards, I still cannot discount it's resounding triumph of the four major categories—a film viewed by many as "Oscar Bait" proved to be Oscar Great, winning Best Picture, Actor, Original Screenplay, and in terms of this post, Director. Despite my preference for Fincher or Aronofsky for Best Director, Tom Hooper took home the coveted award...and much less importantly, my infinitely inconsequential, "Person of the Week" title.

Movie Review: The Adjustment Bureau

      In Need of An Adjustment

"George Nolfi's film; however, grand in scale, fails to thoroughly command my requisite suspension of disbelief because of its insufficient faithfulness to the complex narrative design. More needed to be said and a lot more needed to be done. This gaping lack of narrative totality, and subtle lack of cohesive 'adjustment,' is precisely why the film falls short of completely knocking my socks off." 

      The Adjustment Bureau is one mighty and ambitious film. For all its grandiose philosophical layers, the least ambitious element of the film—the sentimentally Shakespearean souvenir we call romance—is the single most invigorating, uniquely compelling aspect of the story. The plot is, at times, woefully impractical and logically implausible. However, damning these flaws may seem, the film succeeds as a testimonial for the power of love.

Short Film Review: Smoke

Where There's Smoke, There's Fire

      Last week, I received an email from a budding Belarusian filmmaker by the name of Grzegorz Cisiecki. What excited me most about this email, beyond the ensuing realization of a unique visual talent, was the email itself. The impetus for this email exchange is tantamount to the very nature of my blog. My primary goal is to provide unique film-related content. As a self-ascribed film geek, I value any opportunity that lets me interact with the film community. 

Academy Award Winning Movie

      Parody...Schmarody!

      Let's face it. I love to impose my love for parodies on my blogging audience. Today—still ruminating in a post Oscar hangover—I will once again temper my dismay at Sunday night's proceedings by bringing to your attention a hilarious parody of "every Academy Award winning movie ever."