Review: WALL-E
June 30, 2008
WALL-E isn’t just another animated family film, or even just another Pixar movie for that matter. Andrew Stanton has created a masterpiece on the same level as current classics like There Will Be Blood, The Departed, Pan’s Labyrinth and Kids of Men. It is a universal film with timeless appeal. I wouldn’t be surprised if […]
WALL-E isn’t just another animated family film, or even just another Pixar movie for that matter. Andrew Stanton has created a masterpiece on the same level as current classics like There Will Be Blood, The Departed, Pan’s Labyrinth and Kids of Men. It is a universal film with timeless appeal. I wouldn’t be surprised if this film gets a nomination for Ideal Picture. And I’m not speaking about the Best Animated Feature category, I’m speaking Best Picture. The fact that I’m not the first person to recommend this possibility must tell you something.
Saturday Morning: 1970 - VIDEOS
June 30, 2008
Filed under: Video, Animation, Children, Retro Squad, Saturday Morning
On a cursory glance at the 1970-71 Saturday morning schedule, one would think it was another year of classic children’s fare. Yet, on closer examination, one would notice something else about the schedule. It was a bit dull. Oh, there were certainly some classics that premiered during this time — many of them remembered to today — but the rest of the shows were somewhat forgettable.
It was almost like the networks and production studios had run out of steam when it came to Saturday mornings and weren’t sure what to do. Understandable, since strict network standards as well as lobby groups like Action for Children’s Television (ACT) put a stranglehold on what could and couldn’t be shown. The result was a mix of animated spin-offs and live-action series that were a bit on the bland side. It would be a trend that continued through the first few years of the 1970s.
The Tale of Despereaux Trailer
June 30, 2008
We have another animated mouse movie that will be upon us just in time for the upcoming christmas season! We have discovered this trailer thanks to the WEBMASTER over at Film Junk. Check out The Tale of Despereaux! A mouse that knows not fear and lives life like nothing will harm him is an […]
We have another animated mouse movie that’ll be upon us just in time for the upcoming christmas season! We’ve discovered this trailer thanks to the WEBMASTER over at Film Junk. Check out The Tale of Despereaux!
David Pasquesi: In the Limelight - VIDEOS
June 30, 2008
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, In the Limelight, Celebrities, Reality-Free
No, it’s not Adrien Brody’s snarky older brother. It’s David Pasquesi, one of the stars of Spike TV’s first original half-hour comedy, The Factory.
Looking at Pasquesi’s IMDb page, he’s done a fair amount of TV and film work, but the majority of his experience comes from both theater and improv. He currently does shows and occasionally instructs at Chicago’s IO (Improv Olympic). Back in the day, he honed his improv chops under the tutelage of the legendary Del Close and was part of the class that developed The Harold. An improv geek’s reaction to that would be “Holy crap!” and everyone else should be thinking, “Who’s Harold?” Yeah, don’t worry about it. If this interests you though, check out this great interview he did back in ‘06, all about his work in improv.
Neal McDonough is Desperate’s new man
June 30, 2008
Filed under: Desperate Housewives, Casting, Reality-Free
One thing you’ve to say about the powers that be at Desperate Housewives, they’re really great with casting. Great looking guys, beautiful women, quirky character actors; we’ve seen them all on Wisteria Lane and usually they leave a lasting impression.
The latest name to check in to Desperate Housewives is Neal McDonough. He’ll be appearing in the new season and Hollywood Reporter is wondering how he’d do with Nicolette Sheridan’s character, Edie Britt. Is that wondering or playing matchmaker? How do we know that Marc Cherry isn’t setting him up as a mystery man from Bree’s past? Cherry is nothing if not inventive, so good luck trying to anticipate his plotlines!
Discuss: Do Politics Belong in Kids Movies?
June 30, 2008
Filed under: Animation, New Releases, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Scripts, Newsstand, Politics
A couple of people have been griping about Wall-E director Andrew Stanton’s refusal to admit that his cute little movie about a robot in love actually contains some pretty upfront green politics, but there’s a far more polarizing reference in the film than its harmless pro-environment agenda. It’s no major plot spoiler to reveal that, about an hour or so into the story, Fred Willard appears in a recorded message as the mysterious president of Earth’s corporate government and orders the ship’s captain (Jeff Garlin) to “stay the course.” Wait, we’ve heard this one before: It was the go-to statement used by the Bush administration for about three years or so when describing its modus operandi in Iraq (the term was abandoned when staying the course started to sound like a bad idea). In Wall-E, the context is quite different — it’s an order to not do something, rather than take action — but hard to ignore nonetheless.
Harry Potter Update: Photos of Young Voldemort, Looking Cute and Mostly Harmless
June 30, 2008
Filed under: Casting, Fandom, Movie Marketing, Harry Potter, Images
This morning I got an email from Snitchseeker.com, a Harry Potter fansite, pointing me to some pics they have up of young Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (nephew of Ralph Fiennes, who plays the evil Voldemort in the Harry Potter franchise). Fiennes-Tiffin is playing Young Tom Riddle (aka the Future Dark Lord, Voldemort) in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Nice call on the part of the casting director to have a relative of Fiennes play the younger character.
You can see all the pics over on Snitchseeker; they’re apparently from another film the young actor is in, Bigga than Ben. Fiennes-Tiffin looks oh-so-sweet-and-innocent — he hardly looks like the sort who’d grow up to wreak havoc on the wizarding world, tossing around Imperius curses at his enemies and plotting to rid the world of good guys like Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter. But then again, it’s always the innocent looking ones who sneak up on you and turn out to be evil dark lords trying to take over the world, isn’t it?
Discuss: Do Politics Belong in Kids Movies?
June 30, 2008
Filed under: Animation, New Releases, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Scripts, Newsstand, Politics
A couple of people have been griping about Wall-E director Andrew Stanton’s refusal to admit that his cute little motion picture about a robot in love actually contains some pretty upfront green politics, but there’s a far more polarizing reference in the film than its harmless pro-environment agenda. It’s no major plot spoiler to reveal that, about an hour or so into the story, Fred Willard appears in a recorded message as the mysterious president of Earth’s corporate government and orders the ship’s captain (Jeff Garlin) to “stay the course.” Wait, we’ve heard this one before: It was the go-to statement used by the Bush administration for about three years or so when describing its modus operandi in Iraq (the term was abandoned when staying the course started to sound like a bad idea). In Wall-E, the context is quite different — it’s an order to not do something, rather than take action — but hard to ignore nonetheless.
300 Sequel?
June 30, 2008
Well, I suppose we should have seen this coming. 300 we be the next film to enter the sequel factory, we get wind of this peculiar news from our friends at comics2film: Reporting from the 34th Annual Saturn Awards, Collider.com talked to Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann, the producers of ‘300′. “We’re looking for […]
Well, I suppose we should have seen this coming. 300 we be the next film to enter the sequel factory, we get wind of this peculiar news from our friends at comics2film:
Discuss: Do Politics Belong in Children Movies?
June 29, 2008
Filed under: Animation, New Releases, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Scripts, Newsstand, Politics
A couple of people have been griping about Wall-E director Andrew Stanton’s refusal to admit that his adorable tiny motion picture about a robot in love actually contains some pretty upfront green politics, but there’s a far more polarizing reference in the film than its harmless pro-environment agenda. It’s no major plot spoiler to reveal that, about an hour or so into the story, Fred Willard appears in a recorded message as the mysterious president of Earth’s corporate government and orders the ship’s captain (Jeff Garlin) to “stay the course.” Wait, we’ve heard this one before: It was the go-to statement used by the Bush administration for about three years or so when describing its modus operandi in Iraq (the term was abandoned when staying the course started to sound like a bad idea). In Wall-E, the context is quite different — it’s an order to not do something, rather than take action — but hard to ignore nonetheless.
