Film Bits: Who’s Watching What.

Posted on September 10, 2011 by jlmicek

Once again, it’s time for my weekly spin around the WordPress film blogs to see who’s watching and writing about what. Follow some of these folks, they’re doing good work.

Chuck Cotton honors National Bacon Week by finding .. and I swear I’m not making this up … The Top 10 Bacon Scenes. That is some serious dedication to bacon. I salute you, sir.

No Bulljive sorts out that the big problem with “Mothra” is that the namesake monster doesn’t show up until about halfway through the movie. And when he/she/it does, it’s to unbearably cheesy music. But no one’s perfect.

With the DVD release nearly upon us, Movierevolt reviews “X-Men: First Class” and declares a win.

Knightleyemma reviews a 1946 noir “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” with Kirk Douglas and Barbara Stanwyck.

Tropicopolitan finds two 80s movies worthy of a remake.

Brad D. Studios watched Soul Surfer.

WXRT Radio Chicago has the trailer for the new Pearl Jam movie.

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Paranormal Activity 3 Trailer Online.

Posted on September 10, 2011 by jlmicek

Which is funny, because I didn’t actually realize that they’d released a second installment.

But no matter, for those of you who like your horror with a touch of cinema verite about it, you’ll doubtless be relieved to know that new directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman were behind the weird Facebook thriller “Catfish.”

(Via TotalFilm)

Here’s the trailer:

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“Man of Steel” Has Its Daily Planet.

Posted on September 9, 2011 by jlmicek

The newspaper geek/ex-Chicagoan in me rejoices at this report from Chicago Business:

“Filming of the new Superman movie, “Man of Steel,” lands in Chicago on Wednesday with two downtown buildings playing the role of the Daily Planet.

The Chicago Board of Trade’s imposing Jackson Boulevard edifice will portray the exterior, sources said, while Willis Tower on South Wacker Drive will serve as the interior of the newspaper office where superhero alter ego Clark Kent works as a reporter.

Filming in Chicago is set to take place from Wednesday to Sept. 17 or 18, but few details are available. It isn’t known whether any film permits have been filed for shooting scenes on streets or other public sites, and the Chicago Film Office, which handles film permits, did not return calls.

Read the full story (h/t IO9).

If the building looks familiar, that’s because it pulled duty as The Wayne Tower in The Batman Franchise. And check out the video link below. For some reason, the embed code did not take.

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1

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New “Dark Knight” Filming In Los Angeles.

Posted on September 9, 2011 by jlmicek

Courtesy of ComicBookMovie:
Here’s some footage of shooting from Los Angeles on Thursday night for “The Dark Knight Rises.” If you advance to the one-minute mark, you’ll see actor Gary Oldman as Police Commissioner Jim Gordon.

Be forewarned, there are some serious spoilers on this page. I didn’t even read further because I didn’t want to find out what happens.

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Man Of Steel’s Michael Shannon: “I’m Not Going to Impersonate Terrence Stamp.”

Posted on September 8, 2011 by jlmicek

This from TotalFilm:

Actor Michael Shannon, who’s playing classic Superman baddie General Zod in Zach Snyder’s “Man of Steel,” says he’s going to offer his own take on the character.

“I’m not going to impersonate Terence Stamp,” he told MTV. “I’m not going to have a British accent or anything.”

“I’m still getting my foot into the pool, you know? I just started working on it and all I can say is it’s very well written and there are a lot of great opportunities to reinvent it for myself. The challenge is for me to do that.”

If Shannon looks familiar, that may be because you’ve seen him on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.

Elsewhere, ComicBookMovie has an exclusive clip from next week’s “Thor” Blu-ray DVD release showing how the filmmakers brought the Frost Giants to life on the big screen. Sadly, it’s not embeddable. Grab a look before the copyright lawyers pounce.

And here’s a set video from “The Dark Knight Rises” from shooting in Los Angeles. According to IO9, this is supposedly the compound for the film’s villain, the monstrous Bane. But you can never tell about these things.

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Him Tarzan, She Was Jane: Actress Eve Brent, RIP

Posted on September 7, 2011 by jlmicek

Character actress Eve Brent, who was best known for playing Jane opposite Gordon Scott’s Tarzan in some late 1950s features, has died, the New York Times reports this evening. She was 81.

Brent died Aug. 27 in Sun Valley, Calif. She played Jane in the features “Tarzan and the Trappers” and “Tarzan’s Fight for Life.”

Her later roles included appearances in feature films such as “The Green Mile” and television shows such as Roswell, JAG and Scrubs.

From The Times’ obit:

“Ms. Brent rebooted the character of Jane, Tarzan’s civilized love interest, in the 1958 films “Tarzan and the Trappers” and “Tarzan’s Fight for Life,” after Jane was left out of the two previous Tarzan movies. She said she took the part to please her son, who was around 6 at the time. But although it raised her profile, she later concluded that it had been a disastrous career move.

‘I really couldn’t get work as an actress because of Jane,’ Ms. Brent told a Tarzan fan site in 2007. ‘You get stereotyped, at least in the business at that time.'”

Read the full obit here.

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You Scruffy Looking Nerf-Herder: TotalFilm Names 50 Best Minor Star Wars Characters.

Posted on September 6, 2011 by jlmicek

It’s A Trap!
C’mon, admit it. You love Admiral Ackbar. You always rooted for Wedge Antilles to survive another firefight. And you kinda had a thing for Oola, the slave girl who danced for Jabba the Hutt.

The folks at TotalFilm have put together a comprehensive list of the 50 best minor characters from the Star Wars saga. And the only surprising thing was the number I was able to name. Scary, right? Go test your knowledge and see if you know your Sio Bibble from your Hammerhead.

Posted in Film News, Our Films, Ourselves, Star Wars, Summer Blockbusters | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Watson Reviews Apollo 18 (via SuperDPS)

Posted on September 6, 2011 by jlmicek

A fresh look at what could have been a promising premise.

Watson Reviews Apollo 18 You could say that the best way to describe “Apollo 18” is to say that it’s “The Blair Witch Project” meets “Alien.” Or you could possibly say that it’s “Paranormal Activity” meets “Moon.” Anyway, there are two reasons for this movie supposedly being the meeting place for these four movies. The first reason is that, like “The Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity,” it’s a found-footage film, i.e. it’s filmed by the characters within the f … Read More

via SuperDPS

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More “Dark Knight” Set Pics: Anne Hathaway Fights.

Posted on September 6, 2011 by jlmicek

From TotalFilm, via Just Jared here’s a shot of “Dark Knight Rises” actress Anne Hathaway filming a fight scene during shooting in Los Angeles over the holiday weekend.

For those of you who need reminding, Hathaway plays Selina Kyle/Catwoman in the final installment of director Christopher Nolan’s Bat-trilogy. It hits theaters next summer.

Posted in action, Femmes Fatale, Film News, Spoiler-itis, Summer Blockbusters, Superhero Cinema | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Hard Day’s Night (1964) (via themovieblog8)

Posted on September 5, 2011 by jlmicek

It’s been more than 40 years, but this still sets the pace for all music movies to come. Great choice.

A Hard Day's Night (1964) **** This movie is magical. I want to see it again. I think, easily, it would be in my Top 3 (of all-time). By the way, if you haven't ever heard of The Beatles, then you should stop reading, and go fix that. On this blog, I've focused quite a bit on "different" movies. From The Tree of Life, to Dogtooth… even one I didn't like, Being John Malkovich. These movies are all strange: The Tree of Life has no plot, Dogtooth is like being murdered by … Read More

via themovieblog8

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