Review: Zombieland (2009)

Usually it is with my own sense of avoiding nightmares that I will skip over any horror movies that are released with massive amounts of frightening gore, scary looking villains, and intense moments where the bad guy jumps out of nowhere and says “boo” to his victims right before killing them. Adding a bunch of comedy to the horror movie can make everything more digestible for me to enjoy. Shaun of the Dead (2004) is a riotous horror-comedy film that makes a tremendous amount of fun at the genre of zombie horror. Now the film’s American cousin Zombieland (2009) has arrived on the scene and Shaun has met his match. Although they are graphically horrific in terms of showing body parts thrown about and covered in blood it is a laughing riot from the beginning of the story to the dying end. The only difference between this film and its predecessor would be the focus of the humorous punch lines. Shaun of the Dead was focusing upon making fun of the genre itself, but Zombieland was just making jokes about the personality of the characters and their odd predicament of survival. The four main characters are referred to by the city names in which they call home. The main character, Columbus, is a weakling who has beaten the odds of zombie survival by being a reclusive homebody, which has decreased his risk of being exposed to the infectious disease that would overcome him and turn him into a zombie. Who knew that being a loner could be such a good thing?

The story is about four people who meet each other while traveling on the road trying to find a safe haven that is free from the villainous zombies who want to kill our streetwise heroes. Each one of them has their own personality and style that offers plenty of fun and humor for the audience to be entertained by watching. As the film begins, we are introduced to the weakling of the story, Columbus, who was mentioned earlier. As with any story that contains a primary underdog character, we can expect a bit of humor and a great boost of self-improvement for the character by the time the story is over. Columbus is no exception and he is an ample target for self-deprecating humor. He explains at the start of the film that he has a list of some thirty odd rules of survival that he has created for himself to avoid being over taken by an evil zombie. These rules include avoiding public restrooms since they are dead end for entrapment, always wearing a seat belt in a traveling car, and getting enough cardiovascular exercise to stay a step ahead of the walking dead. They are geeky rules that a mother would want to teach her kids, but no one would figure they would be practical rules for avoiding zombies.

Soon enough the north meets up with the southeast. While on the road to visit his family, Columbus hitches a ride with Tallahassee in a jury-rigged Cadillac Escalade. At face value, it appears that Tallahassee seems to be on the road for the fun of killing zombies and searching for the last edible Twinkie on earth. Seriously? Life must be sweet for him if an entire life’s goal could be boiled it down to such an exciting simplicity as search for Twinkies to eat while knocking off a couple of zombies with a sawed off shotgun. He does have a personal history that is not divulged until later in the story, but in the mean time, the desire for Twinkies makes for several moments of hilarity.

Although their opposing personalities are routinely expected to make an appearance for a comedy film, it is a rewarding friendship. Their flaws and strengths play well off each other. As the two of them travel on the road for a while, they eventually meet up with their female counterparts: Wichita and Little Rock (appropriately named for being the smallest among the group members). Although the two girls claim to be sisters, they never explain to anyone why they claim to be from different cities. A minor detail that it appears to be, I thought it would be worth noting, nonetheless. The women are pair of vigilantes as much as Tallahassee is a rogue fighter with a weakness for Twinkies.

With all four characters in place as a zombie fighting team, the real fun begins! Their experiences together (and shortly apart at times) are funny and action packed. When the group members depart their own separate ways, they seem to be vulnerable to a fault. At one point during the climax of the story does Columbus mention that it had to be the evil zombie clown for him to battle against and it had to be Wichita as the damsel in distress for him to “nut up or shut up” as Tallahassee would say to him before a zombie battle. In their time together, each one of them must learn to be a team player in order to survive the end of the world, also known as Zombieland.

Overall, it must be said that the film would probably become a cult classic hit such as Shaun of the Dead has become for several movie fans. The movie was entertaining for me, but it is clearly not for everyone. Too much horror film violence that appears in the film would scare the crap out of the little kids, of course, and not everyone would find the humor to be very funny. Regardless of how it will be accepted by everyone else, I must say that the highlight of the entire film is the lengthy cameo appearance by Bill Murray. Most cameo appearances would last for a scene or two (at max), but Bill makes a very lengthy cameo appearance as himself and it is a very nice addition for the movie.

Interview with Ellen Page and Alia Shawkat

Ellen Page seems to have appeared into the public eye from practically thin air when she appeared in the title role as Juno (2007). However, it is not the first time she made waves in the movie theaters, because she did leave several movie audiences short of breath in the shocking film Hardy Candy (2005). At the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival she sat down with her Whip It (2009) co-star Alia Shawkat to talk with David Poland about what brought both of the actors to want to participate in Drew Barrymore's feature film directorial debut.

Do not forget to visit my article about the sport of roller derby.

Review: Surrogates (2009)

Trying to predict the future of the world can be a tough job for anyone. Just ask a psychic what will happen tomorrow and you will get an answer that may or may not come true. In all forms of entertainment that tap into the genre of science-fiction storytelling there is an amount of future predictions that must be made for the advancement of science, technology, medicine, and social issues. There are varied amounts of writers who have built a fictional future based upon the present course of advancement in any of the previous studies, which I have already mentioned. However, for the standard action packed film that is set some time in the future, I am afraid there is a substantial amount of subtraction in factual truth and plausibility. The science-fiction, action film Surrogates (2009) happens to be one of those stories that appears to promise us great advancement in robotics that would leave human beings to live their lives in the safety of their own homes while mechanical doppelgangers go into their world to experience risky lives for their human owners. Looking upon present day technology there is a strong possibility that the field of robotics could advance to create free standing androids that are able to independently move, but are controlled remotely through some form of wireless communication. This is the basic premise of the robotic technology in the film for the doppelgangers. This is a premise in the film’s story that I can believe in as a possibility. With an attempt at irony, there is a contemporary message within the film that correlates the use of the robotic counterparts as the next step in social disconnection of the human race. The mass consumption of the Internet appears to be barely hidden under the surface as one of the previous steps in the process. The human characters in the film desire to be sitting at home comfortably behind a console instead of interacting in the real world with other people. The characters in the film, such as Tom Greer (played by Bruce Willis), have proven to become physically ill when they leave the comforts of their own home.

So, other than robotic figures wandering the earth aimlessly the film attempts to be the usual run of the mill action film that has plenty of explosions, car chases, heavy artillery, and a couple of pretty ladies loitering around and looking pretty. Tom Greer is a crime investigator in a future America when the crime statistics are reportedly down in record lows. It makes me wonder why the crime scene unit at the police department even bothers to be opulently staffed if their services are not required for anything useful. He is sent out with his beautiful blonde haired partner to investigate the first murder that has ever occurred in a long time. Greer uncovers one bit of detail after another that the murder contains very deep roots that lead to a huge cover up that is bigger than anyone could expect.

Before continuing with the review, I must warn you that the following paragraph contains a spoiler or two that you should avoid reading if you want to see the movie. Personally going into the theater to watch the movie, I must say there was a bit of believability going into the start of the film with the robotic technology, the low crime statistics, a homicide, and a corporate cover up bigger than Enron. However, the fact that the villain of the film happens to be a semi-good person at the start of the film, but turns out to be a self-indignant person with a moral chip on his shoulders and wants to murder the entire world to correct his own grievous error. The story is implying that I should believe that Cantor, the inventor of the robotic surrogate technology, has been portrayed at the start of the film to be offering the world a great service with his invention. Several people who are shown as a disagreeable faction to his work, and these people begin to form small communities throughout the country that are similar to hippie communes. The primary rule of living for these communities is to disallow any form of technology to penetrate their campsites. The cult leader of the group is known as the Prophet who constantly preaches against the use of the technology. The largest piece of material in the story that the audience is expected to believe would be the Prophet is nothing more than a doppelganger robot in an army of other robots. The shocking element here would be that Cantor is using the army of robots to spread the news covertly about the change of heart that he has regarding the technology that he had spent years creating and promoting throughout the world. Cantor had created a corporate empire that mass produced robotic doppelgangers, but wants to use the product to tell other people not to use it. The situation seems pointless, really, and seems too much for me to believe.

Overall, I must say that the film was mediocre at best and the action sequences were fun to watch, but there was nothing of entertainment value for me to walk away with by the end of the movie. It would be worthwhile as a rental flick at best, but I cannot really say that I would consider watching it a second time. The special effects were hyped up as much as any other blockbuster film these days, but the story was disappointing during the third act. I would recommend passing over this film unless you are interested in seeing a halfway decent action movie.

Interview for "A Serious Man"

While at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival three of the stars of the new Coen brothers comedy film A Serious Man (2009) sat down with David Poland to talk about their work on the film. The three actors in the interview are Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, and Sari Lennick.

Tony Curtis revisits "Some Like It Hot"

Do you remember Tony Curtis? I could only hope that you would remember him in some manner or another. He is a classic film actor and father to actress Jamie Lee Curtis. He may be recognizable to millions of movie watchers for his role as Joe (a.k.a. Josephine) in the eccentric 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot in which he appeared in drag along with his co-star Jack Lemmon. The film is a classic story of comedy brought to our viewing pleasure by director Billy Wilder. As a side note for a shameless plug, I am sure you might be interested in checking out the upcoming Billy Wilder blogathon hosted by the Large Association of Movie Blogs that will take place October 12th through the 14th. Now back to talking about the movie itself. A prominent portion of the movie was filmed on location at the Hotel del Coronado on the island of Coronado in San Diego. The hotel is a landmark spot in the county and usually attracts huge crowds during the summer. It would make perfect sense that it would be a prime location to shoot. According to one particular random piece of trivia, which I am unsure the validity of factual truth to it, Billy Wilder had selected the hotel for the reason that it was visually perfect for shooting and was a practical set in which he could live on set without having to drive to work. It was during some of the scenes that were shot at the Hotel Del in which Tony had performed a satirical reincarnation of Cary Grant, which was reported that Mr. Grant did not enjoy watching.

Now here we are marking the fiftieth anniversary of the film's release. The management over at Hotel del Coronado is celebrating the occasion during the month of September. With the sad passing of Billy Wilder (in 2002), Marilyn Monroe (in 1962), and Jack Lemmon (in 2001) there was only one person left that could be invited to the celebration. Tony Curtis was invited to visit the Hotel del Coronado for a weekend in September as part of the anniversary celebration. One of the local news channels covered his visit to the Hotel Del by airing the following video package.

Review: 9 (2009)

There were high hopes that I had placed on watching this film from the first moment that I watched the preview trailer in the theater several months ago. The combination of a post-apocalyptic world with the intriguing computer animation and a small dash of “weirdness” added to it made the trailer strong enough to catch my attention. My mom was with me at the movie theater when I had seen the trailer, and she was the one who described the film as looking very weird. What other adjective could be used to describe an animation film that was co-produced by Tim Burton? The term “weird” is adequate, but the film was not his story to tell. The entire film is based upon the 2006 short film from Shane Acker who had created it while attending school at UCLA. For the enjoyment of anyone who is interested in watching the short film I have embedded it at the end of the review. Anyway, the trailer alone had led to me to make a personal promise that the film had to be watched before it was pulled from the theater. Behold the power of successful advertising and promotion!

Now, I must arrive at the nitpicking part of the review by starting with the elements within the film that I truly enjoyed. The animation was fun eye candy to watch for the entire length of the film. Shane Acker mentioned in an interview that his work on this film was inspired by the stop-motion animation films of the Quay brothers, Jan Svankmajer, and the Lauenstein brothers. My curiosity was picking away at me to delve into a little bit of background history on these influential artists and stumbled upon the creepy looking short film by the Quay brothers titled Street of Crocodiles (1986). The twenty minute short film can be watched at Veoh's website. Shane’s personal creativity must stem from his architectural background. He was attending UCLA for the graduate program in architecture while picking up a few animation classes as electives. The computer-animated material he has produced is very good. Within the feature length version of the story, I considered that one of the most interesting visual elements was the appearance of Europe during the 1930s and 1940s as if the continent was near complete obliteration from the two world wars. The domicile in which the nine main characters live is clearly inspired by the architecture of the European cathedrals such as Notre Dame.

It must be said that I am a sucker for the retro-future genre films such as Dark City (1998) and Brazil (1985), but only if the production design is done just right. For 9 I would not even know if I would want to use the term “production design” since it is an animated film; I am used to associating the phrase with live action films. Regardless, the animators have done a great job at creating a fictitious world that resembles an H.G. Wells story if he were to be writing another War of the Worlds type of story that takes place during the 1940s. There is a perfect moment in the film where a giant spider like robot is unveiled as the villain of the movie and I could only imagine that material from the famous science-fiction writer was an influence for the character.

Despite the enjoyment I experience with viewing the animation I must say that I was rather disappointed in the story itself. It was rather under developed and in desperate need of some explaining and further details. The total running time for the film came in just a hair over an hour and fifteen minutes, which barely qualifies it as a feature length film. According to the animated feature film length rules that are posted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences it is implied that...

An animated feature film is defined as a motion picture with a running time of at least 70 minutes, in which movement and characters’ performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique. In addition, a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture’s running time.

So, this would mean that 9 fulfilled the minimum length requirements by nine minutes with a total running time of 79 minutes (according to the movie's IMDb page). Ironic, isn't it? I thought the film was in desperate need to expand upon the story a bit more, and surely it has plenty more time available to accomplish such a feat.

I thought the film was in desperate need to expand upon the story a bit more, and surely it has plenty more time available to accomplish such a feat. The main points that I wish to be covered in the story would be (1) a more detailed explanation of the purpose for the group of nine dolls, (2) the reason why the last living figures on earth would be hunted down like prey by an army of evil robots, (3) an explanation of what the purpose is when the “mother hen” robot zaps out the soul of each one of the dolls. It seems like the answer to all these statements are barely covered toward the end of the film when character “9” returns back to a science laboratory to find out the group’s origins from a recording made by the scientist who invented them. In his video recording he states his purpose of creating the group of nine dolls was his answer to being responsible for creating an impassioned war robot that was “brainwashed” by the army to be a self-duplicating war machine. This explanation would help offer a bit of background about where the characters and the villain originated, but not clearly define their purpose of war against each other for the majority of the film.

Overall this film has a fair share of potential, but was only half completed. The story is in dire need of more work to be done on it. On the positive side, I do believe the animation is just perfect as it is and there would be no need for further development in that department. Honestly, the short film was just fine as it was and there was an honest attempt at turning it into the feature length film by padding it with dialogue and a bunch of action sequences. There is just no real depth that was added to the story, and that is the sore spot for the feature length version.

Interview with Steven Soderbergh

He is considered a cinematic artist. His debut film Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) spurred the explosion of independent filmmaking. Since then he has wavered between artistic independence and mainstream cinema. The latest Soderbergh film is called The Informant! (2009) and stars Matt Damon in the lead role. At the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival the director sat down for a thirty-minute interview with David Poland. Here is an excerpt of the interview.

Review: The Burning Plain (2008)

Before I really begin writing about the film, I would like to start things off with a question. Why does Charlize Theron enjoy playing putrid, depressing characters? She actually answered that question in an interview for Parade Magazine with this explanation: “I don't necessarily think of them as dark roles. I like conflicted women because I feel like we get so little of that.” Do we really need a little bit more of entertainment films about conflicted women such as the notorious serial killer Aileen Wuornos who Miss Theron portrayed in the 2003 film Monster? The role earned her an Oscar award for best acting performance of the year. Not all of the roles that she portrays are so moody and temperamental. She did star in Æon Flux (2005), Hancock (2008) and Sweet November (2001). Her performance in The Burning Plain (2008) is not far removed from some of the other troubled figures she has portrayed in the past. Her character, Sylvia, is a masochist. She finds emotional and physical release in sleeping around with numerous men if she is not attempting an act of self-mutilation. During one particular scene early in the film there were several people in the theater grimacing in pain as she begins to scrape the inner side of her thigh with a rock made of hardened volcanic ash. Boy, does that sound like fun or what? When Sylvia is not passing the time in utter self-destruction she would spend her time droning through a job as a restaurant manager in order to pay her bills. It appears her career is nothing more than a lackluster job as she has lost any remaining sense of enjoyment from it other than recommending her favorite wines and picking up one night relationships with co-workers and customers. Does she sound like someone who can be an uplifting friend to hang out with on your day off? Honestly, Sylvia is an emotionally disturbed woman with a personal history that she is not quite proud to have lived through.

The film is dark, depressing, and twisted in its own right. All of these elements are what usually draws me into wanting to watch a movie. For some insane notion, I am under the impression that if a story contains any dominant themes that delve in the dark and sad realm of human behavior, then the story may serve as an allegory about real life. The written stories from the Grimm Brothers were filled with sadistic entanglements and dark realities of human nature in order to translate some form moral teachings. Contemporary films rarely include any sense of morals or ethics beyond shallow entertainment. Sadly, it seems like there are no longer any available lessons to be learned from modern storytelling. The Burning Plain is an entertaining film to watch, for what it is worth, but it seems rather shallow by the time the audience has arrived at the end of the story.

In addition, this film marks the directorial debut for the Oscar award nominated screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. His previous writing credits include Babel (2006), 21 Grams (2003), and Amores Perros (2000). He has proven to be a heavyweight writer by covering social commentary and the dark side of human behavior in his stories. For the film The Burning Plain, he wrote the script and directed it, but it appears to focus on the reality of self-destruction, which I had explained in detail already. He has utilized the same techniques of inter cutting separate time lines in order to provide a comparison study between the lives of multiple characters, but I am thinking that it was more of a distraction for this film than being beneficial for the audience. The technique of time line inter cutting has aged rather quickly, although I tremendously enjoyed the use of it in 21 Grams. By the way, I love to announce my opinion to just about everyone that I think Sean Penn deserved his Oscar award for his acting performance in that film instead of Mystic River (2003).

Boiled down to the absolute basics of the situation I must say that the film was tolerable, but not quite reaching the top list of my favorite films for the year. It contains enough content of the dark and enriching characters to make them realistically believable, but the method of storytelling that was used in the film seems rather stale these days. Walking into the theater, I was nothing more than a blank slate in terms of what to expect in the film’s storyline. I was not exposed to any of the advertisements or story descriptions read online. It was unclear to me until a third of the way into the film that the story is about a grown woman and her troubled childhood with her mother who had a marital affair. The transition between the two stories of the mom and the grown woman had no clear connection in my mind until the moment when Sylvia says to another person “I no longer go by that name” did it really hit me. All those scenes with the cheating mother and her daughter would be Sylvia’s back-story as to explain why she grew up to be an emotionally distraught adult.

As a little bonus for everyone, I have included a video interview with the film's writer and director. On September 10, 2009, Guillermo Arriaga had visited a morning news show in San Diego to promote the film and to talk about his film career. Enjoy!

Interview with Jane Campion

She is the director of the award winning film The Piano (1993) and now Jane Campion has a new film that has been released. It is called Bright Star (2009) which has recently played at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. While she was at the festival she sat down with David Poland for an interview.

Review: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

To say that it is a film for children would be stating the obvious, but surprisingly the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) was something that I walked away from with a smile on my face. The movie that was produced for kids to enjoy turned out to be a funny movie for the adult crowd as well. According to the trivia page over on IMDb this marks the first film to utilize the new Sony animation technology. I could only imagine Sony is attempting to catch up with the animation films that DreamWorks and Pixar have been producing for years now.

There is an ongoing discussion in several film circles whether the use of 3D projection technology is a mere business gimmick to sell more box office tickets. In my opinion, it is a business tactic, and it has been working successfully. It worked well fifty to sixty years ago, and it works beautifully today. The movie business accountants are smiling abundantly, if it is possible to imagine an accountant even smiling at all. Not very long ago, I remember seeing the trailer for this film and thought it would be interesting to watch, even if it is another 3D gimmick film to rake in the money for the movie studios. The trailer poignantly displayed the humor within the film and that is what has drawn me in to see the film. Although I was sitting by myself without the benefit of hiding behind the excuse of having a child with me, I discovered myself to be enjoying the story, laughing at several of the jokes, and being impressed by the cool 3D animation effects. It must be said that 3D technology sure has evolved quite a bit since the glamour of its infancy years during the 1950s!

Therefore, it is to be said that the film production department over at Sony Pictures has jumped aboard the train that has been filled with 3D animation goodies and 3D projection effects. They did not want to be left out of the profit race at the box office. The result of the company’s efforts is an animated film about two young people who are a hybrid of the nerd and geek kind. Flint Lockwood is the typical curious child who would take apart and put back together any mechanical device so that he could figure out how it works. Then after figuring out the mechanics of an invention, he would proceed to create a grandiose invention so extraordinary that it would almost be pointless to use in one’s everyday life. For example, Flint’s ultimate creation is a machine that converts water into soluble food for consumption. In essence, it sounds like something NASA has created for astronauts to use as a means to create food rations on a short supply while floating around in space. When the pair joins in a friendship there is a mystical change in the weather that only the combined geeky talents of the two of them are able to handle.

Flint’s alter (geek) ego is Sam Sparks, who interns for Weather News Channel at the time when the pair first meet. When she was growing up as a child Samantha was a weather nerd. She loved to calculate weather formations, and even requested the “Doppler Radar 3000” (or whatever it was named in the movie) as a birthday present from her parents. Her super geek power of weather prediction is quite convenient for Flint when his super food producer robot goes on the blitz and starts converting rain clouds into a mass production line of food that pours down in super sized portions. Sam must use her skills to interpret the old school Doppler radar machine to predict when the next wave front of bad weather is going to hit the small community.

The film is a family friendly story that comes with the morale that it acceptable to be yourself even if you are a invention creating nerd or a weather predicting geek. If you just so happen to be one of those types of intellectuals who have a strong passion for engineering or meteorological and atmospheric conditions then there may be a great chance that you could save the world from meteor sized hamburgers and hot dogs! I must admit that I found the film exciting and enjoyable, in spite of the gimmick use of 3D projection technology, and thought it very entertaining to watch how even the cartoon films seem to have a little fun with the "end of the world" disaster films.

Old School Nostalgia

With the full capacity of awareness that I usually focus as much of the attention of Matte Havoc upon such stories, reviews, and articles that are related to the movie industry and cinema in one form or another I have chosen to temporarily break rule with this published article.

I present to everyone a Matte Havoc article that boldly states Happy 24th Birthday, Super Mario! Yes, it is true that on September 13, 1985 the famous game was released on Nintendo Entertainment System (NES, for short). It is with my own personal belief that this game may have been one of the strong contributors in uniting popular culture with the game playing world, and this partnership has wrought mental destruction for everyone. Ha, ha! Has the world devolved into a large group of frustrated game playing addicts? Maybe. So, in honor of the plumber brothers, Mario and Luigi, here are a couple of entertaining videos to watch.

Cheating at Super Mario Bros.

The way the rest of us plays the game.
Beware: This video contains foul language!

Now here is one of my personal favorites that is a short live action film that chronicles the downfall of Mario.

Mario: Game Over!

TIFF 2009 Interview: Terry Gilliam

Terry Gilliam is the visual master of cinematic directing, according to how I envision his work, and now he is actively promoting his new film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). For those who have not heard about the film may not realize that it was the last film that the late actor Heath Ledger was working on when he passed away in January of 2008. The remainder of the material that was not yet filmed when he had died was a challenging task for director Gilliam to figure out how to complete. He hired veteran actors Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law to finish the remaining scenes that were needed to be filmed for Ledger's character before Gilliam could start working on the post-production for the film.

In the following interview with David Poland from The Hot Button while they both were visiting the Toronto International Film Festival it is with interest to me to hear Terry Gilliam talk about how he was pushed into the art of film direction and the state of filmmaking in general. Oh, and he also talks about a little known favorite film of mine: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998).

Review: Extract (2009)

In all honesty, I must admit that I did not see Office Space (1999) until many years after it was released on to DVD. However, can anyone tell me if you had personally watched the movie during its initial exhibition run in the movie theaters? With the film being a box office flop, I am afraid to observe that Extract (2009) is another jinxed failure for director Mike Judge in terms of box-office successes. During the film’s opening weekend, his new comedy film about an extract manufacturing business owner seems to fumble into the Weekend Top 10 at a paltry ranking number nine with a meager $4,367,000 in gross weekend earnings (source). In terms that Hollywood executives would usually hope for in a way to measure financial success it could be said that Extract is a doomed failure. However, I am not here to base my opinion about doom and gloom of box office business, but rather to state my disappointment that the business of movie making has been doomed to the numbers that are pulled in during the first few days of a film's released date.

It is with no sense of irony that I describe Mike Judge to be a poor, downtrodden director. It is ironic, however, that the focus of his feature films tends to be about lower middle class characters who are making every effort they can to financially earn a living and earn their way to achieve the American dream. Could it be a blessing in disguise for him? To be forever enslaved to poor box office earnings in order to maintain that sense of eternal financial drudgery that his characters are forever enslaved to experiencing is the greatest piece of cinematic irony that has ever befallen a film director. Well, sort of. You would have to overlook Ed Wood, Jr. as being the director who holds the greatest aspirations of cinematic history only to lack the any inkling of true artistic talent ever to break into the film industry in order to view Mike Judge as being a modern day Don Quixote.

In a culmination of this personal interpretation of his film career I would like to point out that it seems rather fitting for Mike Judge to make a cameo appearance in Extract as a blue-collar warehouse worker. As seen in the picture embedded below, his character “Jim” emphasizes with his fellow co-workers and their struggling condition, but he also plants the idea of a labor strike in the minds of the other warehouse workers at the extract factory. All of these characters believe to be hard working laborers who deserve better pay and treatment from the management of the company. Does this theme sound loosely familiar to the workhouse grind of the film Office Space? Would it be possible that the rather minor storyline of a worker’s strike allude to his desire for a bit of box office stability for his films?

In a span of ten years, he has only released three films, Office Space, Idiocracy, and Extract, each one of them not earning any form of financial notoriety in the movie business. His fans are lucky enough these days when a studio executive is willing to take a risk with financially supporting any of his new projects. After all, it can be said that by this point in time for the movie business the majority of the studio executives only light up when the dollar signs are flashing like neon lights at the box office ticket windows. Despite the decreasing chance that he may ever be picked up again by another major movie studio for a movie project to be massively released into thousands of movie theaters, I think he will still find a way to produce films and television stories about blue-collar workers and middle class Americans in some fashion or another. I must admit this entertainment value of the working person being honestly portrayed in each of his projects is what draws me to watching his movies and television shows. He adds a sense of reality to the characters and places them in humorous situations that allow the audience to relate to the characters and laugh at their antics.

In certain circles it may be wrong to admit that not once have I ever watched an episode of the television sitcom Arrested Development in which Jason Bateman has appeared quite prominently. However, I have seen him perform as the subtle straight man in the family friendly comedy film Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (2007). His comic performance is very subtle in that film, but for Extract he appeared to open up a bit more with the emotional antics while still balancing it out with the occasional toned down subtlety that appears in his other roles. Even during an interview with a San Diego entertainment reporter (video has been embedded below) he appears to sneak his humor in very slyly that gave me a good chuckle or two. I think that his knack for subtle humor works well for him with the movie characters he portrays. Oddly enough, I begin to wonder how much humor has played a role in his family when he was growing up as a child. After all he is related to Justine Bateman of Family Ties fame and she also has a perfect knack for the subtle style of comic humor.

In my opinion, there is an even tie between Jason Bateman’s performance as Joel, the small business owner of an extract manufacturing factory, and Ben Affleck's performance as his best friend and personal bartender. Although it must be said that I believe it is with great importance that Ben Affleck does a tremendous job playing the supporting role than he does as a leading man. No offense intended to Ben, or to his dedicated fans who love to see more of him on the big screen. This film proves that he surpasses the art of comedy acting by portraying the supporting dimwitted friend, and it can be added to the other similar roles including: Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Good Will Hunting (1997), and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001). Yes, I am completely aware that three out of the four titles that were just mentioned were Kevin Smith movies. Do not shoot the writer, please!

The primary attribute of storytelling that I believe works very well for Mike Judge is the focus he draws to the condition of the blue-collar worker who labors for the meager paycheck that only comes in small dosages. The working environment may be petty at times as clearly demonstrated on several occasions in Extract when the factory workers are bickering about who does more or less work in comparison with the other factory workers. On the other side, there is the hard working business owner who strives to build up his company as high as he can take it, but he still has to experience the humdrum of a middle class lifestyle just a few notches above his blue-collar workers. He is no stranger to the drawbacks of the daily grind at the factory as he dreams of an early retirement and striking it rich. Every day he attempts to wrap up his work as fast as he can so that he may rush home to be with his wife, only he must face the challenge of avoiding an overly talkative neighbor who allows no room for personal privacy.

The way the story is told there is enough room for the audience to relate to any of the characters; there is very little of exposure to rich, upper class characters that endeavor out on extravagant adventures to the Himalayas, which only set them apart from a personal connection with the audience. It is with a perfect example to proclaim Extract as proof that Mike Judge is the contemporary, cinematic voice of the American middle class worker. Each one of one his characters are optimistic for financial success as they work the rather bland day-to-day strife commonly known as a full-time job.

Warner Bros. grabs hold of "DC Entertainment"

Here is a press release from Warner Brothers in regards to the new business venture with D.C. Comics.

WARNER BROS. CREATES D.C. ENTERTAINMENT

• Diane Nelson to Serve as President, DC Entertainment.
• Paul Levitz to segue from President & Publisher of DC Comics to Writer, Contributing Editor and Overall Consultant to DC Entertainment.

(Dateline – Burbank, CA) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI) has created DC Entertainment Inc., a new company founded to fully realize the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms, to be run by Diane Nelson, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, and Alan Horn, President & COO, Warner Bros.

DC Entertainment, a separate division of WBEI, will be charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses. DC Entertainment, which will work with each of the Warner Bros. divisions, will also tap into the tremendous expertise the Studio has in building and sustaining franchises and prioritize DC properties as key titles and growth drivers across all of the Studio, including feature films, television, interactive entertainment, direct-to-consumer platforms and consumer products. The DC Comics publishing business will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment, releasing approximately 90 comic books through its various imprints and 30 graphic novels a month and continuing to build on its creative leadership in the comic book industry.

In her new role, Nelson will report to Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, in order to best capitalize on DC Entertainment’s theatrical development and production activities and their importance to drive its overall business with each of the divisions of Warner Bros.

[ READ THE ENTIRE PRESS RELEASE ]

And here is a professional letter from the new acting president of D.C. Entertainment -- Diane Nelson.

Dear DC Colleagues and Friends,

As hopefully each of you now know, this morning Warner Bros. announced the formation of DC Entertainment, and I’ve been entrusted with the honor of heading up this exciting new venture, reporting to Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.

DC Entertainment’s mission is to deeply integrate the DC brand and characters into all of Warner Bros.’ creative production and distribution businesses, while maintaining the integrity of the properties and DC’s longstanding commitment to and respect for writers, creators and artists. The founding of DC Entertainment is about Warner Bros. taking DC to the next level and giving DC an even greater degree of focus and prioritization in all the businesses in which we operate—films, television, home entertainment, digital, consumer products and video games.

You are all an integral part of the success DC has achieved to date and your expertise and support will be essential moving forward – as we raise this brand and collection of characters to even greater heights. Together we can make the next 75 years even more successful and productive than DC’s illustrious 75-year history.

Jeff and I will be in the DC offices next week and will say hello personally at that time. Until then, thank you in advance for your support and continued contributions to DC Comics and the new DC Entertainment.

Best regards, Diane.

[ VIEW SOURCE MATERIAL ]

YouTube is Reeling Toward Renting Movies

The news is “reeling” over the Internet like a mad man about the latest business endeavor between online video site YouTube and a couple of media giants such as Lions Gate Films, Sony Corporation, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. The basis of their rental deals would be to offer movie audiences a chance to watch a movie on YouTube in the same weekend that it is released for purchase on DVD. The price tag for such an intriguing plan would be the catch for the end user. Each film viewing could cost the viewer up to $4 a piece (an educated guess by several accounts). The existence of online movie rentals is a familiar topic for other established company programs such as Apple’s iTunes, Amazon’s Video on Demand. In addition, no one can forget about the free online movie watching service from Hulu with the high quality video streaming that quickly made the website popular.

Here are a few online news articles about the business dealings between the aforementioned companies.

Bloomberg: YouTube Said to Be in Film-Rental Talks With Studios

CNET News: YouTube wants to offer film rentals

Total Telecom: Studios discuss ways to rent films over YouTube

It is without question that YouTube has taken one step closer in the process of advancing technology, although the company is one of the last online companies to join the commercial realm of selling high quality streaming movies over the Internet to any computer user around the world. Personally it is slightly concerning to see one of my favorite websites to emerge from being completely free to every site visitor and move one step closer to including a subscription based service or a “pay as you go” program. A few of the main features on YouTube that I have frequently enjoyed are the large amount of media available for free to be viewed and shared between friends.

Naturally, it is with my own presumption that YouTube will still be offering free services to everyone as it currently does now, but only charge for viewing the high quality movies. It is a nice service that I am looking forward to seeing appear on the website before the year is out. I would not be surprised if there are plenty more people out there who are also looking forward to the additional service on YouTube.

Classic Movies Are Musically Remixed

Where ever has the Australian audio and visual mix master "Pogo" been in the last couple of years? Well, he has been on YouTube since June of 2007 uploading videos of his remixes that includes everything from original material to entire compilation remixes of internationally classic films that strike an inspirational chord for him. One of the earliest catalysts that directed him toward music remixing was the Music 2000 program on a Sony PlayStation. However, he proclaims Marc Sinclair (stage name Akufen) as his ultimate inspiration for his musical endeavors. Not once have I ever heard of Pogo until this morning when I stumbled across a blurb on We Love You So about his latest film remix. Recently he started a new blog conveniently titled Pogo Blog that lists a pile of information about the software he uses and a laundry list of links to online interviews. In case you actually might be wondering about it now he uses "Adobe Audition for sampling, FLStudio for sequencing and Sony Vegas for video editing." I hope that you will be intrigued by his work as much as I have when you watch the remix he created for one of my favorite films from Steven Spielberg: Hook (1991). For everyone's enjoyment, I have embedded the remix video below.

ETA: The remix video for Hook has been removed at the request of the film's copyright owner (read this blog article for more information). In lieu of viewing the embedded video of the remixed version of Hook (which totally kicked butt) I have replaced it with an embedded remix of Mary Poppins (1964). Enjoy!!

If you would like to see the other videos that he has created then you might want to check out his YouTube channel (username: Fagottron) or you can visit his MySpace page (username: pogotracks). However, before you decide to run away and join the circus I would like to share with you just one more of his fun movie remixes. This one is a remix of the classic Disney animated film Alice in Wonderland (1951). It is another one of my favorite films, and this remix video is already making headway around the internet as a viral video.