FilmBlot

Charlie Sheen continues his spiral of madness with a twitter...

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 08:01:58 -0500

Charlie Sheen continues his spiral of madness with a twitter fight with Roger Ebert. #Winning #Tigerblood

We’re live tweeting funnies from the Oscars. Follow us at...

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 18:16:00 -0500

We’re live tweeting funnies from the Oscars. Follow us at twitter.com/filmblot.

The Wolfpack is back.

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:04:16 -0500

The Wolfpack is back.

Shameless Self Tweet of the Day.

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:31:45 -0500

Follow us on Twitter @Filmblot

148 minutes of Javier Bardem – Biutiful

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 10:02:00 -0500

By Karen Young

This is a sad, sad, sad movie!

Bardem’s character – Uxbal – is dying. We get an intimate look at how he tries to quickly make things right, and build a posthumous plan to support his two young kids, while circumstance and corruption combine to defeat him at every turn. His slutty ex is bi-polar and off her meds. He makes his money exploiting poor people with tragic consequences. His brother’s a swindler who’s banging his ex. Everyone seems suspended in a morbid pool of melancholy.

In all this ugliness, Javier Bardem manages to solicit… sympathy.

Curious, Bardem’s no classic beauty. In the documentary “A Decade Under The Influence” (cataloguing the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema) Bruce Dern talks about the emergence of male leads like his buddies Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, on the heels of 1960’s Hollywood hunks Paul Newman and Robert Redford; “We weren’t good looking but we were fucking interesting!”

Interesting trumps man pretty for me anytime and Bardem’s got buckets of it. He can be handsome, ugly, hard, tender or a monster. In Biutiful he suffers. He is good but he cannot do good things. Watch him closely… his eyes speak agonizing volumes. He carries the movie with a versatile and dreamy face, simultaneously menacing and empathetic.

Up for best foreign flick, and a second best actor nod for Bardem… weirdly his first (and successful) Oscar nom was for “No Country For Old Men” which was also an allegory for death.

Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu - who brought us “Babel” and “21 Grams” - remarkably conveys the densely populated loneliness of a city. Barcelona’s no cruise ship stop over here, it’s gritty, corrosive, dark and visually arresting. He dedicates the picture to the great oak, his father, which suggests why we are invited to sympathize with Uxbal, and see the incriminating parts of his life as a sign of his vulnerability… to focus on his redemptive trials and on his tangled attempts to do good for his kids.

Iñárritu lays the doom and gloom on thick, but Javier Bardem is truly beautiful.

James Franco, now on Twitter:)

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:22:12 -0500

James Franco, now on Twitter:)

FilmBlot Review: It's Kind of a Funny Story.

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 10:50:00 -0500

By Tony King

Well well, it’s been nearly 9 months since Filmblot’s tragic demise, but now it’s back; bigger, wetter, and sexier then ever. Now when I watch a movie I have a place to publish my thoughts instead of just talking to myself in the bathroom pretending I’m having an intelligent conversation with an imagery person who’s fully interested in my opinion. Which I think is not only beneficial to myself but everyone else too.

Why did I choose “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” as my first review? Was it because I had a passionate connection with it? Possibly a view of it unseen by any other which I had to share with the world? No… it was the first newer movie I’ve seen since the site came back up. When you don’t have a life or you have a near unhealthy obsession with movies like myself you spend a lot of time watching older movies or revisiting ones you’ve seen 20 times trying to find split seconds of brilliance within them that add even more value to a movie you already love. I’m trying to think of a good example but I’ve been watching a lot of Scrubs recently so my mind is clouded. I don’t care what anyone thinks, that show is amazing.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this, but ever since 2009’s (500) Days of Summer there seems to be an onslaught of “quirky independent dramedy’s”. I put this in quotes because not all movies achieve what they set out to do. Point in case, It’s Kind of a Funny Story. For the record, I know these types of movies existed long before (500) Days of Summer but with it’s surprising success it seems like the studios are trying to capitalize on this genre more than ever. Another example is Paper Man, starring Jeff Daniels and Emma Stone, a movie which tried way to hard to be something it’s not, although Emma Stone is gorgeous and hopefully my future wife, so it had that going for it.

It’s Kind of a Funny story isn’t a bad movie by any means. It follows a 16 year old kid named Craig who feels stressed out to the point of suicidal thoughts so he checks himself into a mental ward. Over the course of his week there he begins to realize what’s important in life and how to deal. I won’t go into much detail for the off chance you’re excited to see this and haven’t had the chance yet. The trailer and marketing makes this movie seem like you’ll be laughing the whole time, and with the always hilarious Zach Galifianakis in a title role it’s hard not to think this. But that’s not the case at all. Any of the funny moments were played in the trailer. But that’s ok, I knew it would be more of a drama and since I’ve been a fan of Mr. Galifianakis ever since 2001’s Out Cold I was excited to see him in a more serious role. And let me tell you, he did not disappoint, I thought he was great. He showed a lot of emotion and not just by angry outbursts, but you could see it in his face and eyes, which is not an easy feat to pull off.

This is also my first chance at watching Emma Roberts in action. I’ve known about her for awhile but I’ve never seen one of her movies. “Tony, you didn’t see Nancy Drew?” No, believe it or not I missed that gem. But nevertheless Emma Roberts has a new fan, I can’t really explain why, maybe it’s because I have a major soft spot for cute girls, (Cute > Sexy) or maybe a soft spot for girls named Emma (Emma stone do me!) Either way, she’s one I’ll be looking out for in the future. All in all, if you had a long desire to watch this from seeing the trailer, or if your a fan of Zach Galifianakis or Emma Roberts then check it out, if nothing is pulling you towards watching this then don’t sweat it, you’re not missing much. Go watch Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? instead, shit that movies great. But more on that later…

6/10

Classy Tweet of the Day.

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:33:12 -0500

Well played, sir.

Paul Haggis Musings

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:58:00 -0500

By Karen Young

“I came to the stark realization that I had to write about me”…

Paul Haggis - the self-effacing homeboy who morphed a television-writing career (Due South, and yes… Walker, Texas Ranger) in to an Oscar winning gig writing for the big screen - spoke eloquently and effusively about telling stories at the TIFF Lightbox theatre last week.

He talked about his “aha” moment while writing for the Emmy winning relationship series, thirtysomething. When delivering his first episode to TV heavy hitters Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick his waxing about plot twists and character building moments fell sharply on the floor. “That’s great Paul, but what is your script about?” It was at that moment he realized he had to forget the formula, and write from a deeper more personal core in order to craft honest and believable relationships on screen. Love is messy!

Giving himself permission to be vulnerable helped Paul Haggis make the leap to writing winning movies like: Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Letters From Iwo Jima, and my favourite his contemporary adaptation of Ian Flemings Casino Royale. He managed to give new life to the Bond franchise with a story that’s both rich in action and drama, and emotionally raw. Who didn’t ache for 007’s sexy broken heart!

After Haggis’ earnest musings at TIFF, in honor of Valentine’s Day, and on recommendation from a trusted friend, I checked out his 2006 movie The Last Kiss. An adaptation of the Italian film L’ultimo bacio. Here, Paul Haggis finds a way to make a rom-com with emotional intelligence. When does that ever happen?

Haggis talked about crafting characters that are clearly set as the villains and heroes of a story, and once the viewer gets comfortable with those roles he shows the villains innate goodness and reveals the heroes nasty underbelly. It’s a trick that packs repeated emotional wallops in Crash. He embeds that in The Last Kiss too. Early on it’s a story about chicks who: use pregnancy to trap a man and steal his youth, crush his broken heart by flaunting new romantic endeavors, nag nag nag so much he can’t catch a break, or mess around out of boredom. Then, thankfully, he switches it up. They’re not all bad or all good, they just are. They have flaws, are fully aware of that, and hate themselves for it. They make mistakes, and when they try to make it right they sometimes screw things up more. Love IS messy.Add solid performances by Zack Braff, Casey Affleck, Blythe Danner and Tom Wilkinson and you will find Paul Haggis’ The Last Kiss a well-crafted and heartfelt look at commitment, infidelity and the end of youth. It’s not going to change your life BUT it’s without the usual smug rom-com trappings, and credits its audience with some smarts.

Thank you Paul Haggis… more please!

"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can’t utter."

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 10:47:11 -0500

““One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can’t utter.””

- Darth Vader. Err, James Earl Jones.

My Favourite Romantic Movies.

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 10:13:00 -0500

(500) Days of Summer

Blue Valentine

Something’s Gotta Give

Top Gun

What are some of your favourite’s?

"The Dude abides. I don’t know about you but I take comfort in that. It’s good..."

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 17:34:00 -0500

“The Dude abides. I don’t know about you but I take comfort in that. It’s good knowin’ he’s out there. The Dude. Takin’ ‘er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh. I sure hope he makes the finals.”

This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps!

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 17:32:00 -0500

This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps!

Predict the oscars, win $100,000.

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 09:55:00 -0500

This contest has nothing to do with Emma Stone, but there was no way I’m posting Roger Ebert’s face twice in the same week.

Roger Ebert and Mubi.com have teamed up for a pretty cool contest. Correctly guess all 24 oscars categories, and win 100 grand. It’s a bit more complicated than that, because everyone who guesses will be splitting that pot, but still. You were going to make your picks anyways.

http://mubi.com/oscars

Seriously, THIS is why Twitter exists.

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 00:38:27 -0500

Jason Mewes is quickly becoming my favourite person to follow. Except for Bree Olsen, but who can top her, really?

Excellent fan made poster for Kevin Smith’s upcoming film,...

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 00:33:00 -0500

Excellent fan made poster for Kevin Smith’s upcoming film, Red State. Nice Work.

http://momentaries.tumblr.com/post/3103688657/red-state-poster

I just needed to post something to take Mr. Lautner’s abs...

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:44:00 -0500

I just needed to post something to take Mr. Lautner’s abs away from my eyes. Enjoy.

Happy 19th Birthday, Douche.

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:02:39 -0500

Happy 19th Birthday, Douche.

I know this is old, and has been posted a million times,...

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:17:23 -0500

I know this is old, and has been posted a million times, but…FilmBlot would not be officially back until I post my favourite interview of all time. Enjoy.

This is Why Twitter Exists.

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 10:56:00 -0500

We’re all going to die.