On today’s show I get to chat with one of the most powerful men in Hollywood – Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation – about their new film MONSTERS V ALIENS and the introduction of their new 3D technology. I also chat with the director of the film, Conrad Vernon.

Trailer below:

The film was released back in January in the USA, so it’s taken a few months to get here, which still annoys the hell out of me. And the industry wonders why people download films on an ever-increasing basis. Jesus.

The Plot:

Anna, played by Australian actress Emily Browning, is a 16 or 17 year old girl is released from a mental institution where she had been admitted for cutting her wrists. She discusses a strange recurring dream she’s been having with her shrink. The dream involves her sick mother in bed in the family’s boathouse, with a bell tied to her wrist so she can tell the family when she needs help. In the dream there’s also a watering can, something weird is going on inside the family home, crows picking at food on the dinner table, then the boathouse explodes, killing Anna’s mother. The shrink says she’ll work out what it all means in time but now she should go home and finish what she started (the suggestion is that she’s got the hots for a young lad and she should get it on with him).

She goes home to discover that after the death of her mother, who did actually die in the aforementioned explosion, her father has hooked up with the nurse who was looking after their mother. The nurse, Rachel, is played by the very hot and versatile Elizabeth Banks (Scrubs, Zack & Miri Make a Porno).

Anna’s older sister, Alex, tells her that Rachel has been helping their father through the ordeal of losing his wife, “helping him three times a night”. Alex and Anna obviously both don’t like Rachel and you get the feeling that the dislike is mutual.

Alex and Anna start digging into Rachel’s past and determine that she’s a fake and that she might have killed the children of another couple that she worked as a nurse for. The wife of that guy also mysteriously died and he also ended up in a relationship with the nurse.

Meanwhile, Anna is getting visits from dead children in the middle of the night and sometimes even in the middle of the day, telling her she’ll be next. Typical J-Horror stuff, dark, creepy visits, bodies all malformed and blackened skin, spooky stuff, but once you’ve seen one J-Horror film, you know what to expect.

Once the girls work out that Rachel is a phony and she knows that they know, the battle to see who survives is on.

There is a twist at the end, a staple of many American horror films, and this one, while better than some, was a bit of a let down.

MY THOUGHTS:

This film is pretty pedestrian. It tries a little harder than the recent FRIDAY THE 13TH remake and, like that film, it hits the typical scary notes, but it really doesn’t explore any new territory. It’s horror-by-numbers. Apart from the twist at the end, which doesn’t save it, the films is very predictable stuff.

While I was watching it, I ended up pulling out my iPhone and debating someone on Twitter about Israel, only looking up at the screen when I heard the soundtrack go into the “something awful is about to happen” music cue.

I haven’t seen the original film but, from reading the synopsis online, it seems that the ending of the American remake has been significantly altered and watered down. Only go to see this if there’s nothing else on. Better still, go to Quickflix and order a few of the original J-Horror films (The Ring, etc) if you haven’t seen them. They will scare you silly. Don’t watch them in the dark and don’t watch them alone.

6/10.

SO CLOSE is a cheesy-but-awesome Corey Yuen (The Transporter, Hero) film. It’s basically an assassin film with hot Hong Kong babes as the stars. The plot is terribly cheesy, as are the fight scenes, and it has so many plot holes that, if it were an American film, I’d be scathing about it. But somehow they all just make me smile in this. There is something adorable about Hong Kong cheese. The film stars Shu Qi (The Transporter, The Eye 2), famous for getting her start in soft porn before going on to become an award-winning actress. At 32, she’s made over 60 films. Damn, those Chinese know how to work it!

Okay so I saw this last night. While it wasn’t a complete waste of time – it does contain the stock standard horror cliches that make you cringe and jump, even though you know it’s coming, manipulating deep-seated responses in our limbic system – it is a very predictable, very ho-hum remake of a classic film. The final 3 seconds will make you cringe or, as I did, yell out “OH FUCK OFF!” at the top of your voice.

Perhaps for kids who have never seen the original, this will be an introduction to the mostly-woeful-but-highly-profitable Friday The 13th series.

However it doesn’t take the audience anywhere new. Over the last few years we’ve seen the whole ‘horror porn’ films such as the SAW and HOSTEL series, as well as the J-Horror films, which took horror to new levels. The new F13 film doesn’t bother to try to match those. It sticks with the “young hottie gets a machete in the head” approach. There is nothing inventive, nothing surprising, nothing that makes you think or gasp in surprise. It’s straight boogie man in the night stuff.

Don’t bother. Rent out the original on DVD instead.

WATCHMEN MOVIE REVIEW PART 1

WATCHMEN MOVIE REVIEW PART 2

Anyway… I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect to like this. British comedians usually don’t fare well when they make the move to Hollywood. Billy Connolly. John Cleese. Hugh Laurie’s managed, but not with comedy (okay, he had a small part in those talking mouse films). Simon Pegg’s big US film, “How To Lose Friends” was enjoyable, if very predictable, but not up to the standard of his own films by a long shot.

So… surprisingly, I have to say that GHOST TOWN works. It was written and directed by David Koepp (who we normally see writing blockbusters like SPIDER-MAN, INDIANA JONES AND THE CRYSTAL SKULL, WAR OF THE WORLDS) with co-writing credit going to John Kamps (ZATHURA). However, you’d SWEAR this was written and directed by Gervais and Stephen Merchant. It plays just like THE OFFICE or EXTRAS. Gervais has got to be hard to write for. His comedic sensibility is fairly unique. Koepp has managed to highlight his strengths though – you want to strangle Gervais through most of the film. He’s the usual annoying, self-absorbed twat we’ve all come to love. I hope this film makes millions of Americans go out and hire THE (real) OFFICE and EXTRAS out from their local DVD store.

A few other points worth mentioning.

TEA LEONI is getting OLD. And it’s showing. Living with Duchovny has NOT been kind to her. And we all know why. That said, she is still HAWT and it’s really great to see a 43-year-old Hollywood actress who is looking her age still get romantic leads. Meg Ryan and Helen Hunt seem to have been forgotten when their face started getting lines (and, in Meg’s case, bad bad botox) and I hope the same doesn’t happen to Tea. I’ve had a thing for her since The Naked Truth.

GREG KINNEAR. I usually HATE HATE HATE Greg Kinnear. I don’t know why. It’s something deep down in my limbic system that reacts with an instinctive lizard hatred to him. He’s… smarmy. False. Even when he’s not supposed to be. Fortunately, in this film, he’s SUPPOSED to be a prick, so the casting works.

GROUNDHOG DAY. That’s what I kept thinking through the film. They’ve stolen the Groundhog Day plot device (not re-living the same day over and over, just a guy who’s a selfish prick who falls in love with his perfect woman and then needs to learn to be a nice guy in order to win her love). Not that I minded too much, but COME ON guys. Can’t we get an original fucking plot? Of course, Chrissy reminded me that Groundhog Day stole it’s plot from A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and I guess she’s right. Dickens should get a writing credit on all of these films. “Original idea stolen from Charles Dickens.”

GHOST CONTINUITY. Okay. I know it’s a film about ghosts and ghosts don’t exist (no, really, they don’t) and therefore I shouldn’t worry too much about logic. BUT I DO. Why is it that the ghosts can walk through doors and cars and people and can’t pick up a drink but they CAN sit on a chair? Lean on a wall? Walk on the floor? Stand in a lift? Shit like that just bothers me. And it takes away my enjoyment of the film. I sit in the cinema asking myself “why don’t the writers THINK about this stuff??? why is it just me???”

Final point. This film made me tear up at the end. I hate that. Not that I hate tearing up per se, I just hate it when Hollywood screenwriters are able to push my buttons successfully like that. I’M ABOVE YOUR FEEBLE MANIPULATIONS YOU BOTTOM FEEDING SCUM. Or at least, I’d like to think I am. But yeah, I teared up, then needed to spend a few minutes while the credits were rolling, pretending to be checking email on my iPhone so I could leave the cinema without being seen having wet red eyes. There. I said it.

Go see this film. It’s quite funny.

Tonight I went to see Ben Stiller’s new film “TROPIC THUNDER”. It’s awesome. WARNING: review contains spoilers.

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KUNG FU PANDA is a pretty good animated film from Dreamworks. My kids enjoyed it a lot – Tay, who joins me on the podcast, gave it a nine-and-a-half out of ten. I enjoyed it as well – especially Ian McShane (aka the aptly-named Al Swearengen from DEADWOOD) as the evil Tai Lung – and it’s got a good message for the kiddies, as most of these films do.

RETURNER is a terrific 2002 Japanese film I caught on DVD during the week. It’s part-Hong Kong triad film, part-Matrix, part-Terminator, and part-Transformers. Lots of fun and cool scenes, definitely check it out!

That was my initial impression when I heard that one of the best character actors working in Hollywood was making a sequel to one of the worst superhero films made since Batman had nipples.

I finally saw the film on the weekend and this is my review.

Listen to my review:

Or download via

Watch the trailer for “NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN”

Read about the film in Wikipedia

Download The Show

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The music on this episode is:

Shaun Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra
“Birdman of Alcatraz” (mp3)
from “Cinematic: Classic Film Music Remixed”
(Six Degrees Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store

Shuta Hasunuma
“OK Bamboo” (mp3)
from “OK Bamboo”
(Western Vinyl)

Buy at iTunes Music Store

On this Movie Show episode, the dynamic duo of Steve and Michaela try to settle into the saddle to review Michael Clayton. We also talk about the new release of Blades of Glory on DVD and compare two war movies; Flags of Our Fathers and We Were Soldiers.

Tell us what you think of our style, or lack of it, by emailing us at themovieshowpodcast@gmail.com You can also check us out on Facebook, just search for Michaela Walsh and request to be friends.

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Michaela and Steve take the helm on their first Movie Show to review The Bourne Ultimatum. Tell us what you think by emailing us at themovieshowpodcast@gmail.com

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On the Movie Show #41, I review:

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On this podcast I talk about the film and also reveal a little of the backstory (Allen Dulles, the Bay of Pigs, etc) behind the film, which is actually only a fictional account of the CIA.

I give the film 4 out of 5.

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“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”

I recently pulled out Bob Zemeckis’ 1985 classic “Back To The Future” to show my kids. They were reluctant at first but really got into it and it was a joy to watch their tiny minds being dazzled by the concept of time travel. So I did some research about the film and thought I’d share some of the highlights with you.

On the show you will discover:

And a whole lot more.

Of course the most interesting question is – What if Michael J Fox had had a real time machine back in 1985 and could have jumped 20 years to see his own real future?? Would he have still made “Doc Hollywood”?

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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

My man Daniel Craig… no I mean Daniel Krause aka Dark Meat aka Ladies Love Dark M joins me on the podcast today to talk about CASINO ROYALE aka James Bond 21.

It’s a long one – an hour and twenty! Almost as long as the film itself and we didn’t spend anywhere NEAR the $150 million they did.

On the show we talk about our reactions to the film, the production costs and current box office returns, the plot, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Caterina Murino, Sir Richard Branson, the producers, the screenwriters, parkour… hell we just don’t know when to quit!

I hope you enjoy it (and live long enough to get to the end).

Oh by the way, at the end, during a short rant about Melbourne boy Eric Bana, I talk a little about his film CHOPPER. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the trailer. Hope it wets your appetite.

So yesterday I watched the god-awful “Superman Returns” again on DVD and it prompted me to go out and watch Superman II again so I could recall exactly how Lois Lane is supposed to have become pregnant. I knew the salient details but I wanted to see it for myself. As I watched it with my kids (and reminded myself how terrible it was), I did a bit research on the film and discovered this whole story about the brand new “Richard Donner Cut” which was in the cinema in the US in November 2006 and is now out on DVD (in time for your Super-Sized Xmas stockings). This prompted me to resurrect the Movie Show podcast. We also talk about Little Miss Sunshine, which despite my huge reservations, actually isn’t a chick flick and is very enjoyable, even if you see it like I did with a group of straight blokes.

Joining me today is my friend and giant Superman nerd Scott Sherman.

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download link

Superman II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_II:_The_Richard_Donner_Cut
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_II
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081573/

Little Miss Sunshine
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449059/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little%20Miss%20Sunshine

The shownotes are kept at The TPN Movie Show Notebook.

First let’s talk about the film.

For those of you who haven’t seen it yet and who might be thinking "Meh, the last few Smith films didn’t quite hit the mark, I might give this one a miss", I say unto thee – GET YOURSELF TO THE CINEMA (opens in broad release across Australia on August 31st).

This film is a cock knocker.

The audience at the session last night – admittedly, Smith fans – laughed themselves silly and cheered at the end. This is one HELL of a sequel. Now – I’m a fan of Smith’s. Huge fan. Tried to get in contact with the guy so I could get a podcast interview with him while he was here but "his people" didn’t get back to me. Anyway… I’m a huge fan but I thought all of the films since Chasing Amy fell a bit flat. Not that I don’t give the guy massive kudos for doing what he does – hell, I’m not making films. Good luck to the fat bastard. But I just didn’t think the last few films were as good as Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy which are all, IMHO, classics. Clerks II is up there with them. It is tighter that a fish’s asshole. The laughs are non-stop and the requisite Smith themes of finding a purpose, hetero-male-on-male love, and modern relationships are all covered off in perfect style.

Dante and Randall are back and as funny and annoying as they were when we first met them 12 years ago. The Quick Stop has burned down (because Randall left the coffee pot on overnight again) and they are now working at a Moobys for manager Rosario Dawson, along with young Christian nerdy colleague Elias. Dante is engaged to a gorgeous blonde (played by Smith’s real life wife) but he has also found love with Becky (Rosario Dawson). During the film he needs to decide between leaving New Jersey (the movie takes place during his last 24 hours in NJ) to head out to Florida with his soon-to-be-bride to work for her father in a car wash or stay in NJ with manager Becky. Add to this mix Jay and Silent Bob, very short cameos from Jason Lee and Ben Affleck and Ethan Suplee (and a milk lady), a dance sequence, and you have a very entertaining film. As i said earlier, it’s got a million laughs that all worked.

Then we got to the Q & A with writer/director/editor/actor Smith which was scheduled to run for 90 minutes but instead ran for over three hours, past midnight, and only finished because the cinema kicked everyone out.

I’ve made a quick list of subjects Smith touched on (mostly prompted by questions from the audience) to give you an idea of the breadth of the evening:

pluto is no longer a planet which leads him to believe that a death star really does exist
getting sued by darth vader
the joel siegel story
superman returns, how much it sucked
how life changed since 94
yes, jen (his wife) is a milf
storyboard that had silent Bob dead pulled down from "train wreck" after an hour deliberately to get people talking
clerks animated movie Harrvey Weinstein wanted a theatrical version. "Clerks Sell Out", will probably come out on dvd. Smith yet to write script. Storyline – Randall & Dante make a film about being clerks.
A favourite moment – when Homer Simpon said "prove me wrong silent bob"
Another fav. moment, 1997, Ben Affleck goes to Thanksgiving dinner at Spielberg’s house, Lucas is there, Ben asks if he’s ever heard of "Clerks", Lucas replies "Yes, Death Star contractors, very funny".
How his sister feels about being cast as the animal masterbator in the original film
how does he feel about Affleck / Damon / Lee success
Mewes’ rehab to get off of heroin & crack addiction
Taking jay to meth clinic
AfflecK in same rehab, Jay says "check out this morose muthafucka"
Jay driving around with a deployed airbag really happened
Smith likes to LOWER expectations of his films to people treat him like a retarded Kid
How hard it was to get Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson to make the new film
Anderson runs a successful tile import business, never wanted to be an actor, has a love/hate relationship with the first movie, was just a customer at quick stop when Kevin was writing script
Keeps pitching tv show to HBO, gets accepted, but never makes it
37 episodes set in view askew universe
If first film hadn’t worked he would have Kept working at quick stop
Mewes had been doing the tuck thing for years, before Silence Of The Lambs
Duchovny was nearly in J&SBSB, wanted to play Cock knocker
big fan of rim job but Kevin Is a no for ass to mouth
big fan of Internet porn
spend ages describing Brazilian fart porn
Kevin’s brother gay married 12 years to a man
5 fav films:
jaws
jfk
do the right thing
a man for all seasons
last temptation of Christ
Clerks II already made $24 million from budget of $5
maybe in his 40s or 50s will make a Clerks III
likes to make up his own curse words
degrassi next gen going back to the well inspiration for Clerks II
advice to young film makers: write it and make it
"if a chimp like me can direct…"
next movie is a horror film, wants to cast no regulars just unknowns
jon peters rise to power
commercial failure of Jersey Girl didnt hurt his career, Gigli copped the blame for it
put him off big budgets for a while
prefers writing editing & q&a to directing
myspace addicted
loves friend approval, has 96000 friends
jay was on myspace a year and a half before Kevin. Jay gets laid from it.
MySpace brought in more people than view askew.
Shannon Doherty’s german attack dog
On directing his wife make out with other people – he likes to watch
she was sposed to play becKy but Weinstein wanted a name
if she was making out with affleck he might be worried but not o’halloran, women trade up but not trade over
backlash from prince – Smith walked out with the nda from Prince World in his pocket. The film he shot is being turned into a jehovahs witness recruitment film by Prince
Would he open a secret stash in Australia
The success of Clerks had a lot to do with timing. People felt over educated, under employed. 
His fascination with Koala’s taking a poo
Will there be a sequel to Dogma?
His thoughts on the "brown coats"
hasnt seen firefly but mewes is a big fan
loves his fans to death
which is why this 90 minute Q&A now running over 3 hours 
The story of Walt Flanagan’s dog – "Kill the baby brodie"
thought about buying the quick stop which was his fav Job outside of this one
rst video is shuttered
passion of the clerks original title people hated it
On getting slagged on entourage (cool with it)
because you edit your own films does the film change much from the original vision uses avid
how Mewes feels about smith putting his story out there, the story about mewes fucking Nicole Richie in a bathroom
The pussy troll scene inspired by Mewes who has fucked 300 chicks
harvey wanted him to show the troll in the film

ROCKY BALBOA 

Come to think of it, isn’t it time for another Rambo film? Wouldn’t you love to see Rambo in Iraq, hunting down terrorists, only to discover that …. oh shit. It’s in pre-production! I just went to IMDB and there it is. I’m in heaven. I was going to suggest that he goes to Iraq and finds out that Col. Trautman is still alive and working for the Pentagon to stir up trouble in Iraq, you know, lead a team of blackops to blow up a few Sunni temples and blame it on the Shi’ites, or vice versa, so Bush can go “well, heck, they are blowing themselves up, we need to save ‘em from themselves.”

BORAT 

And why, in the flashback to Clark as a teenager, running through the cornfields, is he wearing glasses? I though Clark only donned the glasses as a disguise after he became Superman? It’s not like he really has bad eyesight.

Just two more things about the film which annoy me as I sit here and watch it again with my kids….

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Our special co-host this episode is Scott Sherman from both the Digital Photography and Gay Parenting podcasts on TPN!

REVIEWS:

Superman Returns

The Constant Gardener

Aliens Vs Predator

TRAILERS:

Spiderman 3

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My special co-host this episode is Dan Krause from the Box Office Weekly podcast on TPN. Check it out!

REVIEWS:
Mad Max 2

Evil Dead 2

Planet Of The Apes

X-Men 3: THe Last Stand

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REVIEWS:

Stay

Underworld: Evolution

Intacto

TRAILERS:

Superman Returns X3 Trailer

NEWS

‘Deadwood’ axed!

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REVIEWS:

Histoire de Marie et Julien (2003)

Rumor Has It… (2005)

Marnie (1964)

Alien Autopsy (2006)

The Last Hangman (2005)

TRAILERS:

Superman Returns

Leonard Cohen I’m Your Man

X-Men – The Last Stand

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FILM REVIEWS:

• V For Vendetta
• Combien tu M’aimes
• L’Enfer

DVD REVIEW:

• The League of Gentlemen

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Here’s what I’m thinking;

Step One – Click Here

Step Two – record a short movie review

Step Three – I’ll edit the best reviews into the show

Step Four – Ewan and I can finally retire to a villa in Umbria (separately of course) and enjoy the fruits of your labour

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

Special Guest host Scott Sherman, host of TPN’s Gay Parenting Show, joins me today to talk about the big gay cowboy movie that everyone is upset didn’t get Best Picture.

Links for the show:

Brokeback Mountain – budget $14 mill, domestic box office $78 mill

Wolf Creek


Steven Soderbergh’s “Bubble”

Sin City 2


Two Hands

Julie Louis Dreyfus – The New Adventures of Old Christine

The New Series of The Sopranos ROCKS

Marie-Antoinette


I didn’t know Bryan Singer (director of Superman Returns and the X-Men films) is gay

Scott’s new show on TPN – The Digital Photography Show

This film is the crowning achievement so far in Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney’s Section Eight production company. If the rumours are true, then it could also be one of the last films we see out of Section Eight, which in the last couple of years has produced such excellent titles as:

Good Night and Good Luck
The Jacket
Criminal
Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind

Okay, they were also behind the Ocean’s Eleven series (with Ocean’s Thirteen scheduled for 2007), but I can forgive them this big budget fluff if it funds everything else.

So, on to SYRIANA. This is the second film to be directed by Stephen Gaghan, his directorial debut being the little-seen ABANDON from 2002. He’s best known for having written the screenplay for Soderbergh’s film TRAFFIC, for which both guys won an Oscar.

Like TRAFFIC, SYRIANA is a very serious film. Instead of the drug business, this time Gaghan focuses his attention on the dirty aspects of the oil business and the geo-political machinations of the USA and the Middle East that keep the oil flowing – to the USA.

There are several complex plotlines interwoven in this story but, as Roger Ebert pointed out (hell, I’m agreeing with Ebert??? what has the world come to?!), you aren’t supposed to follow the plot – you’re supposed to be surrounded by it, overwhelmed by it.

If you don’t walk away from this film bothered as hell about we are going to do to divorce ourselves from our addiction to black gold, then I disown you. I’ll talk about it more when we do the next show. In the meantime, go see it. Now.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

Reviews:

Walk The Line
Jarhead
Lord Of War
The Boondock Saints
The Last Horror Movie

trailers
- Mission Impossible 3
- Hostel
- V For Vendetta
- A History Of Violence

News:
Christopher Walken in a new film by Cuban’s 2929 Productions
Bond villian named

And if you are one of that very rare breed of people who DOES like our little podcast, do us a biggie and vote for us in these places:

Podcast Alley

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

Reviews:

Proof
Underworld
Fallen Angels
The IT Crowd

Trailers:

Basic Instinct 2 trailer!

News:

Ricky Gervais – more OFFICE, SIMPSONS and a film!

And if you are one of that very rare breed of people who DOES like our little podcast, do us a biggie and vote for us in these places:

Podcast Alley

The Day the Saucers Came

That day, the saucers landed. Hundreds of them, golden,
Silent, coming down from the sky like great snowflakes,
And the people of Earth stood and stared as they descended,
Waiting, dry-mouthed to find what waited inside for us
And none of us knowing if we would be here tomorrow
But you didn’t notice it because

That day, the day the saucers came, by some coincidence,
Was the day that the graves gave up their dead
And the zombies pushed up through soft earth
or erupted, shambling and dull-eyed, unstoppable,
Came towards us, the living, and we screamed and ran,
But you did not notice this because

(…continues…)
Link: Spiderwords: The Day The Saucers Came

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

In this episode of The Movie Show, we start off by cussing Tim the sensitive A-MERRY-CAN, and then get straight into reviews of…

A Cock And Bull Story (4 Stars)
Munich (5 Stars)
Switchblade Sisters
(4 Stars)
What the Bleep Do We Know? (3 Stars)

In other news…

Ewan is heading for the Razzies

The Oscars nominations and what we think of them…

Tarantino and Rodriguez go into production on GRIND

The Rock to re-make EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE

And if you are one of that very rare breed of people who DOES like our little podcast, do us a biggie and vote for us in these places:

Podcast Alley
Yahoo Podcasts
or in iTunes!

Along with coverage from ABC, CBS, TPN, FOX and NBC are a number of international organisations-

- Hold on… TPN? Yes, that’s right folks! The Podcast Network will be at The Red Carpet, covering the event for an extra special one hour “Razzies” show on The Movie Show. Host Ewan Spence and his Kilt will be there with microphone in hand, grabbing interviews with all the nominees, award winners, members of the Razzie Acadamey, and anyone else who decides to turn up to the celebration of all that is bad in Hollywood from 2005.

Often called Tinsel Town’s tackiest Trophy, the Razzie Award itself is an intentionally cheapjack tchotchke featuring a golf-ball-sized, handcrafted RazzBerry atop a mangled Super 8 film reel that’s spray-painted gold and has an estimated street value of $4.97. Will The Rock get Worst Actor for his turn in Doom? Can Will Ferrrel walk away with Worst Remake for Bewitched? What about a Worst Supporting Actor for Alan Cummings? And will any of them follow Paul Verhoven and Halle Berry and turn up in the hope they can collect their awards?

We’ve no idea, but you’ll be able to get as close as you can to the berry best awards ceremony in Hollywood thanks to The Movie Show on The Podcast Network.

Soderberg said yesterday on Fresh Aire (NPR program) that this was the last year for Section Eight, that running the company was taking too much time and holding him up from doing more films.

If you want to listen to the program here is the link.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5167394

“Bubble”, which opens in the US onJan 27, will follow Cuban’s  “day-and-date” model, which means it opens in the cinema the same day it is broadcast in HDTV. Four days later, it comes out on DVD. Rock and roll.

In Pod We Trust – Edinburgh Evening News’ Podcast Article

Musician Lou Reed has blasted Sienna Miller’s new movie “Factory Girl ” in whichshe plays Andy Warhol muse Edie Sedgwick reports Ananova.

Reed, 63, who knew Sedgwick, told the New York Daily News, “I read thatscript. It’s one of the most disgusting, foul things I’ve seen – by anyilliterate retard – in a long time. There’s no limit to how low somepeople will go to write something to make money”.

Director George Hickenlooper defended the script saying it was a “complex story about a wonderful young woman”. The movie also stars Hayden Christensen while Guy Pearce plays Andy Warhol. Sedgwick died in 1971 from a combination of barbiturate poisoning and alcohol.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

I went to see GOOD NIGHT & GOOD LUCK tonight with my mate Michael Sewards and then we had a few beers and chatted about it afterwards. Yet again I feel the Section Eight / 2929 team, this time with the added money of Ebay Employee #001 Jeff Skoll, have knocked it out of the park. George Clooney has put together a brilliant cast, co-written an inspiring screenplay, and directed a tight, observant film that deserves all the accolades it has been getting. Let’s see… the guy has money, talent, looks, he’s as smooth as hell… how is this possible? Where are his demons? Anyway… go see it.

Mick and I also chatted about some of our other favourite films, including:

THE HITCHER
GET CARTER

and what a disgrace Sam Jackon’s career has been outside of the films he’s made with QT.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

This week we review Peter Jackson’s KING KONG and Kirk Jones’ NANNY MCPHEE.

Listen to the show so you can hear Ewan postulate that Peter Jackon has ripped the plot of KONG from CROCODILE DUNDEE (despite the fact that the original Kong film was from 1933).

Anyway the bottom line is… I’m going to be actively looking for more SECTION EIGHT films. I think they are onto a winning formula.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

Our first show for 2006 is crammed pack of nutritious goodness, now with added septathataline!

This week (in no particular order, so no skipping!) we have:

Movie Reviews:

Kung Fu Hustle
Criminal
Delicatessen
Broken Flowers
The Jacket

Trailer News:

Match Point – Woody Allen
Miami Vice – Michael Mann
Clerks 2 – Kevin Smith

Podcasts to check out:
29 Guide movie trailer video podcast

Rumours:

Butch and Sundance
Where The Wild Things Are

Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice.

Chuck Norris is 1/8th Cherokee. This has nothing to do with ancestry, the man ate a fucking Indian.

There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.

Chuck Norris is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.

The quickest way to a man’s heart is with Chuck Norris’ fist.

Chuck Norris died ten years ago, but the Grim Reaper can’t get up the courage to tell him.

And what does Mr Norris think of these facts?

I’m not quite sure what to make of it. It’s quite surprising. I do know that boys will be boys, and I neither take offense nor take these things too seriously.

For those of you who don’t know the backstory, Lorraine Bracco was married to Harvey Keitel for several years. Let’s just say it was pretty stormy. Then she left him for Edward James Olmos and won custody of her daughter with Keitel. Then Olmos was charged (multiple times) with sexual molestation. It’s a long and twisted tale which brings an additional level to their current characters on TV. Can you imagine Commander Adama being charged with sexually molesting a 14 year old girl? Can you imagine Dr Jennifer Melfi snorting cocaine and giving her husband the finger in divorce court? (Actually, yes, I can imagine that one).

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

This week:

Layer Cake


Dodgeball


Extras


Doctor Who

RIP Vincent Schiavelli, 1948-2005
One of my favorite character actors, Vincent Schiavelli, died on Mondayof lung cancer. with an unforgettably unique mug, Schiavelli appearedas all manner of misfit in films such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ghost, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. He was also an accomplished cooking writer, which I didn’t know until I read his obit. Link

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

1:00 First up today, Cam raves about seeing his first Russ Meyer film “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” (1965).

10:20 Suw FINALLY cried all the way through “Finding Neverland” (2004).

24:00 Suw also tells us about the non-PC delights of Billy Bob Thornton in “Bad Santa” (2003).

30:30 Ewan rips through the cliches of The Rock’s “Doom” (2005).

And the rest of the show contains our ramblings about the best movie of 2005. Can you guess our picks?

J-Horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to horror fiction in popular culture. Whereas American modern day horror films tend to rely heavily on special effects and a multitude of sub-genre (i.e. slashers, demons, extraterrestrials, etc.), J-horror tends to focus on the psychological fear factor and tension building (anticipation), particularly involving ghosts and poltergeist.
(From Wikipedia)

I’ve seen a couple, but I’m wondering – what are YOUR favourite J-Horror titles? What should we be reviewing on the show?

Wow… shocking news for WEST WING fans like myself. John Spencer, the actor who played Leo McGarry on the series for the last 7 seasons, died from a heart attack on Friday. It would have been his 59th birthday on Dec 20. As WW fans will know, his character suffered a major heart attack and was forced to retire as White House Chief of Staff, but came back as the VP candidate for Presidential nominee Matt Santos.

I really enjoyed Spencer’s work on WW. Like Leo, he was also a recovering alcoholic and breathed a lot of life into the character written so well (especially in the first few seasons) by Aaron Sorkin. Leo was the boss you always wanted – smart, experienced, committed, who looked out for his team and helped them achieve at their highest level. He was also the guy who stood behind the President, the guy who convinced Barlet to run for the Presidency in the first place, and then taught him how to do the job. Whilst the character was well written, it was Spencer’s performance as much as anything which brought Leo to life.

RIP John Spencer.

Plot Summary for Devot (from IMDB):
In total despair, Anja is about to throw herself from a bridge. At that very moment, Henry drives past in his car. Thinking she’s a prostitute, he invites her home with him. Anja pretends to be what Henry initially thought. She refuses to explain the reasons for her apparent attempt at suicide. The two begin to play strange games, engage in unusual sex, leading Anja to try fleeing the apartment, but Henry catches her. Forced by Henry, Anja tells him about Lilly who was raped and then killed someone, leaving Henry with the impression that Lilly and Anja are one, the same person. They play more mind games, make love, and after Anja going back and forth trying to leave, Henry finally lets her go. She goes, but is back again soon after. And with a vengeance, she causes a series of strange events which will change the course of both of their lives.

The Cinematography by Guntram Franke is also worth a mention. The main characters and props are very brightly lit against dark sets, in a fashion you often see in German films like DAS EXPERIMENT.

See it if you can!

Here’s the plot – Watts plays an Australian actress in Hollywood, running around from audition to audition, struggling to get her big break, her life a blur.

The irony? When they made the original short, that was Watts’ life. She had spent 8 years trying to get a break in Hollywood, with little to show for it. Not long after their short was made, David Lynch’s MULHOLLAND DRIVE turned her into a superstar. And now, in the same year she stars in the $200 million KING KONG, this little DV film, which basically reflects her life of a short 4 years ago, also hits the screens.

Nice.

The trailer for ELLIE PARKER is here.

Although I enjoyed X2, this trailer doesn’t really do much for me. But Kev & Van rave about it on the latest installment of the Geeks Of Hazzard podcast.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

This week, the Scot and I talk about the films we have and haven’t seen recently! Surprise!

Those that we have seen include:

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
DOMINO
ARMY OF DARKNESS

Those that we haven’t seen would include… well … THE THING, the film we were supposed to review this week. Actually Ewan did watch it (he claims, but I have my doubts), but I didn’t. Mea Culpa.

NEXT WEEK – THE SHINING!! Send us your 60 second review (just email it to me) and we will play the best one! Get your voice heard by our listener (hi Barry)!!!

The Karate Kid star Pat Morita has died at his Las Vegas home. He was 73. The actor and comedian, whose portrayal of Mr. Miyagi in the 1984 movie earned him an Oscar nomination, passed away on Thursday of natural causes, according to his wife of 12 years Evelyn.

To recognize his passing, tomorrow has been declared “WAX ON, WAX OFF” day in many countries around the world. If you see someone in the street who looks like a Pat Morita fan, just hold up both hands, palms facing flat towards the other person, rotate clockwise, the counter-clockwise, then repeat.

How cool is Nick Cave though – he was also nominated for the screenplay he wrote for THE PROPOSITION (which I haven’t managed to see yet but the reviews are terrific….). He wrote it in a couple of weeks. Legend.

Two other Aussie legends, Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett, won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards for their brilliant performances in LITTLE FISH.

1. they make it seem easy
2. they make me want to do what they do
3. they make me think i can do what they do
4. they treat it like a job, not “Art”

Watching COMEDIAN tonight re-affirmed those ideas. I’ve been hanging out to see this documentary since it came out in 2002 and it didn’t disappoint.

The documentary follows Jerry Seinfeld around as he tries to create a new stand-up set from scratch, several years after the demise of his television show. Despite his fame, success and wealth, he demonstrates that comedy, as one of his co-comedians says, is “justice”. Watch Jerry stumble! Watch Jerry fall! Watch Jerry pick himself back up and keep going!

The other comedian featured in the show is Orny Adams, a 30-year old comic on his way up. He comes across as completely arrogant, paranoid and self-loathing, so I understood him totally. He obviously felt worried enough about how he comes across in the film that he has a lengthy quote from Seinfeld on the front page of his website, basically saying that the way Orny comes across is honest and the way every comedian, including Seinfeld, feels.

COMEDIAN also has cameos from comedy greats Chris Rock, Bill Cosby, Robert Klein, Ray Romano, Garry Shandling and Jay Leno, as they chat with Jerry over dinner and backstage.

The weirdest thing about watching this film for me was the similarity between it and the original pilot of CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, Larry David’s pseudo-documentary from 1999 which turned into his very successful television series. CYE pretended to follow Larry as he prepared for a return to stand-up.

A couple of the highlights of COMEDIAN for me:

• Jay Leno telling Jerry that he hasn’t spent a dime of the money he’s made from The Tonight Show – he only lives on his stand-up money. It sounds like there are two reasons – it forces him to keep working the stand-up circuit during his downtime from TTS and he half expects to end up fired from TTS and working as a security guard somewhere.
• Chris Rock talking about he caught Cosby’s current stand-up show which went for TWO HOURS AND TWENTY MINUTES and was entirely fresh materials except for one joke. Seinfeld gets to meet Cosby later on in the show, backstage at Cosby’s tour, and you can tell it’s a special moment for him.
• Jerry telling an anecdote about how, many years before, back when he was writing one joke a week, he noticed some construction workers heading back to work after lunch. He could tell they didn’t really want to go back to work, but they did anyway. He realized that he needed to treat his profession in the same way. It’s work. It’s a job. You don’t just sit and wait for inspiration to hit. You work at it.  

Anyway… watch this film. It’s a great insight into Jerry Seinfeld, into the psychology of comedians and into the business of making people laugh.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

The One & Only Movie podcast (on TPN) is back from a multi-week hiatus, and I think the way we are all feeling can best be summed up by His Doggfatherness:

From the depths of the sea, back to the block
Snoop Doggy Dogg, Funky, yes but of the Doc
Went solo on that ass, but it’s still the same
Long Beach is the spot where I served my cane
Follow me, follow me, follow me, follow me, but don’t lose your grip
Nine-trizzay’s the yizzear for me to fuck up shit
So I ain’t holdin nuttin back
And motherfucker I got five on the twenty sack
It’s like that and as a matter of fact [rat-tat-tat-tat]
Cuz I never hesitate to put a nigga on his back
[Yeah, so peep out the manuscript
You see that it's a must we drop gangsta shit]
What’s my motherfuckin name?

… yeah, okay, I have NO IDEA wtf Snoop’s talking about… so let’s talk movies.

This week:

PLANET OF THE APES. Not that 2001 pissweak Tim Burton dud, I’m talking 196-muthafrakin-8, Charlton Heston in da house, bringin it home. You KNOW what ahm talkin about.

But what’s it all got to do with Mike?

Dunno, but that’s some funnyass shit.

Also this week we dissect:

Flightplan (2005)
MirrorMask (2005)
Dead Man (1995)
Alexander (2004)

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

Okay so in keeping with our somewhat poorly thought out idea of taking one film each week from the IMDB Top 250 (starting at the bottom), this week Suw and I argue about whether or not SPIDERMAN 2 sux or rulez.

We also chat about NIGHT WATCH (aka Nochnoy Dozor), Suw tells us 50 times that she knows Neil Gaiman, I talk about Orson Welles’ totally brilliant F FOR FAKE and Suw reviews the XBOX game of THE WARRIORS.

Next week – PLANET OF THE APES (1968).

As far back as I can remember I always wanted to beat Citizen Kane in a movie poll.

Yes the Total Film Top 25 list is here, and I think these young upstart writers need to rember that you never ever ever move Citizen Kane off the top spot. You’re not allowed to place Goodfellas, Vertigo, Jaws, Fight Club or even Cam’s favourite, The Godfather: Part II, ahead of Rosebud.

Sort it out for next year or it’ll hang round your neck like a vulture.

Link: The Register.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

A short, special show today, coming to you LIVE from New York City. Last week, Suw and I hooked up with Michael Geoghegan from Reel Reviews to go see Joss Whedon’s SERENITY. Afterwards, walking back up 34th Street and Broadway to our hotel, we had a little chat about the film. Forgive the background noise, that’s NYC baby. And there is some buzzing in my mic as well, which I can only put down to electrical interference. My poor iPod and mic were getting fried by the Times Square billboards or something.

So… what did we think about SERENITY?

Listen in and find out.

• Hugo Weaving’s performance – christ, this guy can create characters. From Agent Smith to  Elrond to Lionel? No fucking way. 
• Cate Blanchett – she has the world at her feet and she makes this small, hard, gritty AUSSIE film.
• The Vietnamese cast, including American Dustin Nguyen. Dustin pulls off a pretty convincing Aussie accent, tinged with American and Vietnamese. Remember him from 21 JUMP STREET? Great to see an Aussie films with a heavy Viet cast.
• The kids choir singing “Flame Trees”. Very moving stuff. Why didn’t I get to do songs like that when I sung in school choirs?

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

It’s THE MOVIE SHOW RELOADED!

Ewan and I had a wacky idea – instead of just… well… rambling each week about stuff we’ve seen, we’re going to review the IMDB TOP 250!

Starting at the bottom and working our way up to the top. Each week we’ll spend 15 – 20 minutes talking about the next film in the list, and then spend the next ten minutes with our usual rambling.

This way we hope we’ll force ourselves to see and talk about films that wouldn’t normally cross our radar.

So… this week, coming in at #250 – MIDNIGHT COWBOY, John Schlesinger’s 1969 movie about a male prostitute and a disabled con man, trying to survive in New York City.

Stay tuned for some really exciting news next week as we kick this thing back into gear, and I know that all of our excellent hosts along with Cam and myself hope that you have enjoyed the great podcasts that we have been providing for your listening pleasure since February 2005…the ride has just started folks.

:)
Mick Stanic
Co-Founder, The Podcast Network

Between the 29th of September and the 3rd of October, The Podcast Network web site will be undergoing some major server work that will increase (fingers crossed) both the speed and the reliability of the service you have come to love and cherish ;)

Access to the web site and the functionality of the RSS feed will at best experience a small blip of down time… and at worst…well..it could vanish into the bermuda triangle that is tech land for upto four days. I have also had to switch of the ability to post comments on all the sites till we are fully operational as well.

Stick with us through this little hick-up and I promise we will return to normal transmission as quick as possible.

Thanks guys and gals…

Mick Stanic
Co-Founder of The Podcast Network

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

Welcome back to TPN MOVIES, the only PORN PODCAST in the world to feature NAKED SEXY HARDCORE BITCHES.

Ahhh, that’ll improve our googlerank no end.

Poor Terry Gilliam. You really have to feel sorry for the guy. The man is an undisputed genius, but he’s had a terrible run of luck. His ideas are too “out there” for Hollywood, but too high concept for smaller studios. If you haven’t seen LOST IN LA MANCHA, the 2002 documentary on the collapse of his film on DON QUIXOTE, you really must. It’s heartbreaking.

MYSTERY MEN, on the other hand, is a bit of a cult classic that came out in 1999. It was a dud at the box office, despite a stellar cast, including Ben Stiller, Geoffrey Rush, Hank Azaria, William H Macy, etc. Based on a comic book of the same name, the films tells the story of a bunch of third-rate superheroes. Definitely check it out.

My trailers of the week: A SCANNER DARKLY
THE ARISTOCRATS

ANd judge for yourself – is Ewan Spence really Terry Gilliam’s evil twin?

Oh, and by the way, this show was recorded using Skylook, the awesome cool plug-in for Microsoft Outlook, based in Melbourne Australia.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

Welcome back to the only film review podcast that makes your sheets whiter than white! Now with extra phenylalalaninaline!

Ewan Spence has returned from the dead (fuck off Romero, that’s MY story idea) to co-host with me today and Suw Charman is being raunchy with someone else.

Ewan and I talk about:

>FESTIVAL
>CONSTANTINE
>CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

We also touch upon:
>HE DIED WITH A FELAFEL IN HIS HAND
>MAX

What’s this?
Christopher Walken is running for President? Who wouldn’t want Vincenzo Coccotti running things?

But he has competition! MacGyver for President?

(this show was recorded using Skylook!)

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

Welcome to the original and best film review podcast!

Okay, I lied about that. We’re not the original nor are we the best. I can’t back either of those up. But we are the humblest. And the best looking. So… you can’t have everything.

Suw Charman is in da houssssse! Listen in as Suw talks about her sex life. Oh, and movies.

Listen in as we wax lyrical about such gems as:

Hollywood legend AL PACINO is gearing up for another career defining role after signing to play NAPOLEON BONAPARTE in a forthcoming biopic of the French emperor.

After striking up a successful working relationship with producer BARRY NAVIDI and director MICHAEL RADFORD on last year’s (04) THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, Pacino was keen to work with the team again for the Napoleon film.

Oscar-winner Pacino, 65, has been waiting seven years to play the diminutive Frenchman and only agreed to step into the 19th century role when he found the right film-makers.

Producer Navidi enthuses, “We’re going to concentrate on the last few years of Napoleon’s life in exile.

“We’ve based it on the diaries of British teenager BETSY BALCOMBE, who struck up a relationship with Napoleon when he was living on St. Helena, and with whom he subsequently became infatuated. We were overjoyed when Al finally signed this week – we start filming next summer and hope to take it to Cannes Film Festival in 2007.”
16/08/2005 17:35

If I’m not mistaken, this film is based on the novel written by Staton Rabin. Mick and I did an interview with her waaaay back in February where we discussed the upcoming film.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

A special show today – today is the first time I’ve invited a listener onto the show to review his favourite film with me.

William H Johnson III – known to his friends as UnforgivenSpaceCowboy, lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and took the trouble to send me a LENGTHY email review of his favourite film, ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, suggesting I might want to talk about it on the show one day. I said “Hey – I can do better than that – why the hell don’t YOU get yo’ ass on the show and review it with me?!”

And he said yes and I said cool and here is the final result.

Please tell me if you like the idea of having you guys come on the show and, if you do, we’ll do it regularly!

For those of you that aren’t familiar with the film, ANY GIVEN SUNDAY is Oliver Stone’s 1999 ranting and ravings on the goodness and the badness of the pro-football scene in America. It stars AL PACINO, CAMERON DIAZ, JAMIE FOXX, JAMES WOODS, LL COOL J and DENNIS QUAID.

LISTEN HERE

What more is there to say about WAR OF THE WORLDS that you haven’t all already said in the comments section of the review I did here?

Well LOTS! And Suw and I say it this week on the show.

Suw also tells us why Johnny Depp’s characterization of Willy Wonka in Tim Burton’s CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is not, in fact, based on Michael Jackson.

Listen in at about the 30 minute mark as Suw puts me on hold…

Oh by the way, we recorded this show using the in-built recording features of GIZMO which saved the file as a scummy 8khz, so we won’t be trying that experiment again and sorry for the tinny sound.

In her first feature film, Melbourne-based Writer/Director Sarah Watt has successfully tapped into that sense of death anxiety which surrounds us these days. Over the last 6 months, a number of people close to me have been diagnosed with cancer and ever since I’ve had this constant sense of “what if I’ve got it” brewing inside of me. It’s very easy to become paranoid and obsessive about it and this is what Watt explores in her wonderful film. The actors all do a great job portraying the conflicts, fears and doubts of their characters.

She crafts a story about seven people whose lives intersect while they are each, in their own way, trying to deal with life’s challenges, especially as they relate to death – their own or the death of someone close to them.

I really hope you get to see this film. This isn’t usually the kind of film I’d go out of my way to see (and it wasn’t out first choice last night either, it was the only thing we could get into), but it’s one of the best Australian films I’ve seen in recent years and I’m glad I saw it. Even though this is a film about death and dying, it’s also a film about hope and enjoying the eternal moment, because it’s all you’ve got.

Kitamura says he grew up watching “millions” of films and that’s where he learned his craft. He came to Australia to study film-making but quit after a week, when he realized he already knew everything he needed to know from watching ALIENS 90 times and MAD MAX 2 80 times.

He found Tak Sakaguchi, his lead actor, fighting on the street and approached him, saying “You aren’t putting your fists to good use. Why not be in my movie?” The rest, as they say, is history.

Gotta love that.

He also says that the actors he liked working with on set got bigger parts. The ones he didn’t liked got killed off early in the script (which he changed as he felt like it).

The plot? A couple of guys break out of prison. The escape through a forest. Some other gangsters meet them on the edge of the forest. They have kidnapped a female. Escaped prisoners and gangsters argue. Shoot out ensues. People die. People come back to life as zombies and attacked humans. More shoot outs. More zombies. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Sword fight. Limbs and heads are removed in the coolest manner you can think of. People die. People come back as zombies. Repeat. Get the picture?? Turns out the forest in question is one of the gates of hell, The Forest Of Resurrection, not that it really matters. Apparently the main characters have been repeating this battle for hundreds of years, not that it really matters. Who cares about the plot?? This is all about cool fight scenes WITHOUT the CGI.

Director Kitamura is a big fan of early 80′s film-making, before CGI ruined action films. He credits Sam Raimi, John “The Fucking Man” Carpenter, George Romero and Kurosawa as his inspirations, and it shows. According to IMDB, this was shot for $400,000, but it’s a hell of a lot more entertaining that the MATRIX sequels.

Kitamura’s recent film GODZILLA: FINAL WARS is getting great reviews and is showing this week at the Melbourne International Film Festival, so I’m going to try to get along to it. He’s also in production for a bigger budget sequel to VERSUS.

LISTEN HERE

Yo whatup G?

Cam here, just back from seeing a couple of awesome films being shown as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival – NIGHT WATCH and SIN CITY.

Okay, well , SIN CITY isn’t really part of the MIFF, but it’s showing at the moment FINALLY, so I took the opportunity to see it as well!

This show is just moi, partly cuz I can’t seem to lock S&E down, but mostly because they ain’t in Melbourne!

Now that Suw is back from SF, we are trying to synchronize our watches so we can record another podcast… stay tuned!

Takashi Shimizu has apparently made this same movie THREE TIMES. First it was a straight-to-video really, really low budget version in 2000 (and a sequel which followed), then this version I watched today which is a little-bit-higher-budget version from 2003, then last year he directed an American re-make starring Sarah Michelle Gellar with a significantly higher budget of $10 million, produced by Sam Raimi.

Shimizu summarizes the story in this interview as:

It’s a story about ghosts who kill. Once they are killed, their victims become ghosts as well and repeat the cycle.

I liken this movie to some of the work of David Lynch. The plot itself is less important than the pure emotive response the movie creates in the audience. There are pretty much ZERO special effects. The horror is hidden from the eyes of the audience for much of the film, all you see is the expression on the faces of those who DO see it. What makes this film scary as hell is the use of sound effects. You hear stuff you don’t see. You see stuff you don’t hear. You see stuff you ain’t SUPPOSED to see in real life. It’s all peripheral vision horror. You get a glimpe of something, and that’s a thousand times scarier than seeing something face on. The film builds up a tension until, in the climactic scenes, you see the source of the horror, and even though it’s just a woman with white face paint on, cralwing down some stairs, I had goosebumps break out all over my body (and I was pretty much in that state right through the film).

I started watching this film today at lunchtime while working out on my crosstrainer. At one point, a series of quick footsteps are heard running behind the main character. Because of where my crosstrainer is positioned in my surround-sound, it sounded like the footsteps were behind ME. I jumped off the crosstrainer with fright. I swear to god.

Don’t watch it alone in the dark.

LISTEN HERE

This week it’s just Soo TCHarman and I chatting about ZOMBIES.

We start off chatting about SHAUN OF THE DEAD and then finish up with 28 DAYS LATER. If you’re a fan of SHAUN, and haven’t heard the interview that Suw and Ewan did with star Nick Frost about 8 weeks ago, you can find it HERE.

• The Movie Show. An excellent new movie themed podcast has hit the scene. This weeks topic = Batman Begins and True Romance. Warning: thick Australian accents ahead.

I can understand the warning about MY aussie accent, but how in hell do you confuse Ewan’s deep Scottish brogue for an Aussie? Haven’t you guys ever seen a Connery film? :-)

LISTEN HERE

In a desperate attempt to re-invent the Movie Show into something more than two gerbils and a wilting sunflower listen to, this week Ewan and Cameron talk about only ONE film, BATMAN BEGINS. And TRUE ROMANCE. TWO films, this week we talk about TWO films.
TWO… count them ONE… TWO…. films. And a few trailers. Okay, FIVE films, this week we talked about FIVE films, not TWO films, not THREE films… and SIX films is RIGHT OUT.

We talk about:

BATMAN BEGINS

and

TRUE ROMANCE

The trailers we talked about are:

BATMAN BEGINS is the superhero movie I’ve waited my entire life to see. Despite his other excellent films (MEMENTO, INSOMNIA), this is the film that Christopher Nolan will be remembered for. Against all odds, he has managed to pick up a movie franchise that was destroyed worse than Anakin in the lava pits, and re-built is, brick by brick, into a character driven, genre masterpiece. Better than SPIDEY 2. Better than X2. This is the film every superhero franchise will be stacked against in the future.

I’ve been a huge fan of Christian Bale’s since AMERICAN PSYCHO. But his casting as Bruce Wayne was the only casting that didn’t have me terrified with this film. Although I’m also a big fan of Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman and, yes, even Katie Holmes, I had horrorful vision of another superhero film destroyed by needless stars. And Gary Oldman, an much-missed actor who, in films such as LEON, TRUE ROMANCE, and THE FIFTH ELEMENT has delivered some of the most memorable bad guys in the last 20 years, playing James Gordon, the only decent cop in Gotham? Get the fuck outta here. But damn, Nolan knew what he was doing. It’s the casting AGAINST type that makes the role work so well. I don’t know that Oldman could have played this character as successfully 20 years ago, but his recent spell in Hollywood wilderness, being reduced to HARYY POTTER films, has aged him perfectly into the pathos he conveys as Gordon, a good man surrounded by filth.

By big gripe with all superhero films in the past has been inconsistencies and huge gaps. Where do they get those wonderful toys? Who makes their costumes? And Batman most of all. How does the son of a billionaire end up such a badass fighter?

And you’ve NEVER seen such a hardass Batman as you will in this film. Let’s be clear – BATMAN BEGINS is one part superhero film, one part horror movie. Whereas George Clooney’s Batman fought off bad guys with Elvis-style karate chops, Bale’s Batman attacks his enemies in the same way the aliens do in ALIENS. He appears out of the darkness and shadows, swoops up his victims screaming and then disappears with their bodies. When he confronts a bad guy, he doesn’t talk to him – he growls at him, in a voice that conjurs up every demon from your worst nightmares. His cool gadgets, toys, car and costume are all explained. His ninja-like skills of stealth and fighting are also explained – he studied with ninjas for years in the mountains on China.

And the super villians are the most realistic super villians we’ve ever seen on screen. They don’t get around in silly costumes. The Scarecrow is a psychiatrist with access to weaponized hallucinagenic drugs which he has vaporized and sprays at his victims while wearing a simple hooded mask made out of canvas. Ra’s Al Ghul is a warrior of ancient tradition, bent on destroying Gotham just as “The League Of Shadows” has previously destroyed Rome, Constantinople and London when they became too corrupt.

Sure, there were a couple of moments that made me slightly cringe. Batman giving away his secret identity to his childhood girlfriend. The way his cape allows him to fly so far (I’m no expert on aerodynamics, but c’mon). The fact that the car chases in Gotham always seem to happen in extremely light traffic for a city of that size.

Oh and that’s another thing – Gotham. We’ve totally excaped from Joel Schumacher’s overblown architecture. No 100-storey statues. This Gotham is gloomy, over-crowded, filthy, desperate. A city that is collapsing under it’s own weight.

Another element of the film which is thankfully missing is the campy humour. Sure – there are a couple of momements where you will laugh. When Jim Gordon firsts sees the Batmobile and says “I gotta get me one of those”. When Bruce Wayne arrives at a party in a Lamborghini and , when the guy parking his car says “nice wheels”, Bruce says “you should see my other car”. Stuff like that. No stupid one-liners in the middle of an action scene.

My only regret with this film is that I won’t be able to share it with my 4 year old sons for many years. It is WAYYY to scary for kids.

At the end of the screening I went to, the audience clapped and cheered. I guess that about sums up my response as well. I can’t wait to see it again.

Well… I just got out of the BATMAN BEGINS screening and Holy Shit! This is the BATMAN movie we’ve been dreaming of for a long time.

Stunning cinematography by Queenslander Dion Beebe.

Imagine a world in the future, after WW3, where the architecture is all done by Albert Speer, the clothing all designed by people obsessed with “The Matrix” and Bruce Lee’s costumes in “Fist Of Fury”, and the artifacts are all designed by Apple. A world where all forms of feeling have been outlawed (to prevent anger, jealousy and, therefore, another world war) and a drug called “Prozium” is mandated by a Fascist government and is taken by the entire population four times a day. A world where an elite fighting force, trained in “gun katas”, annhilate anyone who doesn’t take Prozium and is a “sense offender”.
A world where… well just a world that is freakin’ cool. That world is envisioned in “Equilibrium”.

WATCH IT.

Postscript: I just watched the film again with Kurt Wimmer’s commentary on. Maaaan. One of the great commentaries. I love a director who not only explains casting and directing choices, but also is self-critical enough to reveal flaws in the film and scenes that he doesn’t think worked. Thanks, Kurt, for a very enjoyable commentary! I was interested to learn that the film was actually shot in Berlin and the Speer-like architecture IS actually Speer’s architecture!
Despite the flaws (mostly due to budget retraints) in the film, it shows a fresh vision and contains new ideas (eg. the “gun kata”) that reveals a writer-director willing to invent new cinematic ideas. That’s rare these days.

LISTEN HERE

This is Part II of the show we did the other day.

YES – I sound stoned. It was 7am on Sunday morning.

LISTEN HERE

Yeah I know. It’s been a while since we did a podcast. I blame it on the weather. Either that or the fact that I screwed up the recording of the last one we did.

Anyway, I’m back on the front foot with this show which is part one of a two-parter (because the whole session went 90 minutes).

Ewan, Suw and I talk about many things, including….

Doctor Who – Listen to Suw’s theories on the Doctor’s survivor guilt.
Star Wars ROTS – yeah yeah we have to talk about it, but we don’t spend too much time on it.
Herbie Fully Loaded (2005)
The League Of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse (2005)
Bagpuss (1974)
Wonder Boys (2000)
Natural Born Killers (1994)
The Goodies (1970)