FilmMattic

The Oscar Guy        The best film has to offer us is mere moments away. I should rephrase that as the best film has to offer its members. Awards shows bestow neither social nor artistic benefits. They do not make me feel more culturally enlightened. Viewing them does not constitute a deduction on my tax burden. The luster of the show is simply an acknowledgement of hierarchy. The opportunity for us non-entertaining folk, at least those of us not recognized for being entertaining, to be immersed in the expensive pageantry of stars celebrating other stars. Ultimately  the Oscars are more a promotional tool than some kind of finite declaration of enduring appeal.        To maintain this spirit of affectation, I have decided to live blog the event. The splendid witticisms of Melissa Bradley of Melissa's Imaginarium  have been enlisted. Providing exciting commentary is her expertise.      ...

Choosing My Cinematic Religion       I always suspected the Force could drive me towards the unknown. Obi-Wan Kenobi communicating some inscrutable power with such conviction. It's intoxicating. Omniscience inhabiting that purest of manhood is impossible to deny. The possibilities of extraordinary reflex, manipulation, healing all within my arsenal is just too amazing a possibility to compute coherently. And knowing all along that Alec Guinnes is Ben Kenobi, well, please indoctrinate me into the cult of believing right now. Like Tom Cruise and Scientology, pull the rug of common sense from under me and I'll still follow. I'm a ride-or-die disciple. Paul Thomas Anderson, you are my Master. Accept me as your stowaway and allow Phillip Seymour Hoffman to teach me the process.

Creative Coup d'etat...Maybe?       Like all great, or once-great properties that have come before it, Star Wars has been seized by the mechanisms of commerce and vicissitudes of time. Disney, the ubiquitous merchant of magic, which for some is now an unbecoming title—well, the magic part at least—is the new owner of that cherished timespace. While its current profile inspires neither uniform applause nor outright derision, Disney's capacity for magnificence is uncontested. With a catalog of films that stretches as far back as  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , the first full-length traditional animated feature in motion picture history, Disney has demonstrated time-and-again an ability to sustain feelings of wonder and awe, and a primal adeptness in the management of story and fantasy. These statements spotlight a reputation that is owed primarily to its founder, Walt Disney, a brilliant visionary who carved a lineage that is steeped in fantastical...

Spider-Man's Coming To Dinner. Why is He A-May-Zingly Grace-Less?       Languid would be the adjective that properly encapsulates my expectation level for The Amazing Spider-Man. It is a reaction I can exaggeratedly equate to a convulsion: Neither violent nor humorous but a reaction wrought with uncertainty. For a visual manifestation, recall the look of disbelief on Spencer Tracy's face in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner,  when he realized his beloved daughter, Joanna (played by Katharine Houghton) fell in love with a black man (Remember: Stanley Kramer's film took place during the 1960's when race relations were routinely characterized by tumult) named Dr. John Prentice, a "perfect" man played by the legendary Sidney Poitier. As the news registered with a startled Mr. Drayton (Spencer), his iconic stone-cold face began to intimate a blinding incredulity. And then he uttered this famous refrain: "What the hell's goin' on ...

Pretty But Perfunctory *Editors Note: Pretend Clint Eastwood is narrating this entire post!       Beyond an investment of $3.5 million (per 30-seconds, up from $3 million last year) and a critical mass upwards of 90 million, what distinguishes a Super Bowl spot from any other spectacle-less day of advertising? Well, because of the exorbitant monetary outlay and the mammoth exposure, the biggest distinction is, presumably, creative disbursement. All that money—enough to feature Taylor Kitsch in two prominent spots—has to go to good use, correct? The answer, of course, is yes. But, more important, do the yeoman efforts, from marketers, actors, directors, and sponsors, produce effective results? Sadly no. In the hotbed of filmic fanaticism, the 2012 Super Bowl will be synonymous with three words, transitively etched in the amorphous footprint of Twitter: Pretty but perfunctory.

Gangsters, Gangsters, Read All About It!      A real palpable odor, which is both discomforting and disorienting, overwhelms me: Something stinks...and no, I'm not talking about Slider from Top Gun , because as you know, Maverick proved him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead, what reeks has the unfamiliar tinge of frustration. Maybe it's the frustration of Boardwalk Empire , a de facto must watch show from last year, which, on the eve of its season finale, has miserably underperformed; naturally high expectations, for me at least, unmet. 

Warner Bros Spearheads a Majestic Cause         In a fantastic and transparent effort to influence the Academy, Warner Bros. has produced a mesmerizing 5-minute featurette of Christopher Nolan's Inception. Rarely do I highlight the work of a major studio. On this occasion though, I applaud Warner Bros. Any institution that staunchly champions the cause of Nolan is a worthy institution in my book. Well-done, WB.  

Sundance Film Festival       For the first time with my "Person of the Week" segment, I will award a non-person. It's my blog and I wield all the power. Therefore, I am entitled to make these kinds of ironic judgments. It's a refreshing exercise of opinion boosting. Don't expect me to break rules like this all the time though. I tend to be very methodical. My mechanisms for content generation, generally, are defined by a purposeful consistency, as well as a scrupulously high standard of excellence. It is in this spirit of genuine irony that I award the Sundance film festival as my newest, " Person of the Week."

  Never Hand Hollywood a Lethal Weapon       A host of online news publications reported today (including my go-to site Slashfilm ) that the collective brainchild of director Richard Donner and writer Shane Black, Lethal Weapon, will be...prepare to gasp....rebooted. If your tastes for film are remotely similar to mine, then the audacity of Warner Bros. to reboot a classically unique— in my opinion, iconic film franchise—is laughably appalling. 

  Death of the Superhero...Film?       With the opening of The Green Hornet upon us , the time has come to address the future of the veritable superhero film.  By definition, a superhero film carries the ilk consistent in an action, fantasy, or science fiction based movie, while predominantly focusing on a superheroes superhuman abilities—in a heroic effort to thwart a grave danger and protect the greater good.         The superhero genre has long been dominated by Saturday serials and comic books; a trademark of DC and Marvel Comics.  But the birth of superheroes in the feature film arena began with Richard Donner's seminal hit, Superman from 1978.  A smattering of other successful entries into the comic book genre soon followed, including sequels to Superman.  Ultimately, the classical take on comic book-based superhero flicks peaked with Tim Burton's Batman in 1989.   ...

Physical Devotion to One's Craft       I was perusing through some stories over at Slashfilm (a routine occurrence for me) and I came across something interesting.  To those of you who consider yourself fervent fans of Christian Bale, take a look at the elaborate image below.          A guy by the name of Matt Ellerbrock took the time to design a mosaic-style image, in order to visually illustrate the abundant physical transformations of Christian Bale's dynamic film career.  It has become something of Hollywood legend whenever an actor undergoes an immense physical transformation, (De Niro in Raging Bull, for instance) but Bale takes the routine a step further.  In order to impeccably match the look of his diverse character roles, Bale exhibits a true perfectionist approach . Personally, I am a big Bale fan so this image immediately aroused my interest.  I was always aware of the depths of Bale's phy...

A Blogger is Thrust onto the Big Stage        In lieu of the impressive work that is perpetrated daily by the diverse slew of talented bloggers in this vast cyberspace, I wanted to take a moment to underscore a recent development from the blogging community.  Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, a 24-year old movie blogger has become the shining example of how hard work, smartly crafted blogging, and a go-getter attitude can benefit from a little fortuity and prominence.  The Chicago native first caught the critically omniscient eye of film's Mount Rushmore, Roger Ebert, by hosting intelligent and informative screenings that Ebert often attended.  Aside from this happenstance scenario, Vishnevetsky also displayed an uncanny, intellectually focused critiquing prowess by writing for Mubi.com , the Chicago Reader and Cine-File.info   Ebert's affection for the young budding film reviewers work grew out of an acknowledgment of Vishne...

      The Writers Guild of America has recently unveiled their nominations for its coveted original screenplay award.  These nominees are as follows: Inception, The Fighter, Please Give, The Kids Are All Right and Black Swan.         Their nominees for the adapted screenplay award are True Grit, I Love You Phillip Morris, The Social Network, 127 Hours and The Town.  The winners will be announced on February 5, 2011 .        Though the Writers Guild's stringent guidelines have disqualified some deserving candidates, notably The King's Speech and Toy Story 3, it is still a tremendously prestigious honor to receive a nomination.  I do not foresee any protest from the soon-to-be winners claiming that the guidelines are flagrantly unfair.        Not to conceal a bias or anything, but I am hoping that Inception takes home the award for original screenp...

A Western Tide Smashes a Familiar Box Office Landscape       This past week at the box office foretells an interesting though surprising story for the future success of the Western genre.  True Grit may have lost out to Little Fockers ( an underwhelming, formulaic comedy) for a second straight week—Fockers managed to capitalize on both it's established name and past two successful entries in the series by taking home $26.3 million for a gross total of $103.2 million over it's two-week run while True Grit totaled $24.5 million bringing it's box office gross to $86.8 million—but the Coen Brothers film provided a more compelling result that requires a more scrutinizing look behind the numbers       The seemingly ho-hum box office number for True Grit is actually quite significant.  The Coen Brothers $86.8 million dollar total (and counting) exceeds the box office receipts for all other Western Drama's since Tombstone in 1993....

True Grit Opens Today       True Grit —a remake of the 1969 original of the same name—opens up today in both the United States & Canada in wide release.  The enormously talented Coen Brothers have enlisted their directing expertise in this remake of a classical Western.  What the Coen Brothers ultimately do with this distinguished property is all the more intriguing.         Late December is usually a time for Hollywood to test its Oscar mettle.  I will be watching the film in the coming days and will post a review.  We shall see if True Grit is as truly firm and unyielding as it's parent name suggests.  Of course, John Wayne earned his only Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role as Marshall Rooster Cogburn in the original film that opened in 1969.       It is very fitting that Jeff Bridges has been tapped to follow in Wayne's immortal footsteps by taking...

       Sequel for Rounders has been Confirmed              The often talked about sequel for Rounders has finally caught some traction.  The Weinstein Company and Miramax have agreed to a deal that would bolster much of Miramax's past film properties and allow for the creation of sequels, most notably Rounders.         For those unfamiliar with the film, it stars both Matt Damon and Edward Norton as two buddies who set upon a precarious path that leads to the biggest high-stakes poker game of their collective lives.  Rounders takes an engrossing look at the underground world of Texas Hold'em poker and it's embittered effects on friendship, trust, love, and ambition.         I am often dubious of film studios that attempt to recreate some box office magic with a cult-level film, which has a certain standalone quality....