Film.com Movie Blog

Review: Bangkok Dangerous Just Sort of There

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:38:00 PDT

I had grand plans for this review. I was originally going to run with the notion that Bangkok Dangerous was some sort of odd metaphor for our current political situation. It was going to be completely silly, and I was going to wait for the first person to comment "I don't think the movie has anything to do with anything you are talking about." Then I was going to pop some champagne, satisfied that I'd outwitted the Internets.

Sadly, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. And it's not…

The Best Movie-Film Podcast Ever: Episode 16

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:36:00 PDT

We've completed episode sixteen! Laremy (Movies Editor), Natalie (Celebrities Editor), and Garrett (Tech. Producer/Surveillance Target) once again take you through the latest in movie, television, and gossip news.

Give us a listen and you'll find yourself basking in a 35-minute listening experience some have described as stupendous, super-duper, and "rocking."

Note: As always we're available for subscription on iTunes too, just search for film.com.

Here are the topics discussed: (note: once…

Is Bangkok Dangerous Just Hitman All Over Again?

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:12:00 PDT

The Seduction: Hitman, the Trailer
Agent 47, a genetically engineered global assassin, is caught in an intricate web of good and evil. His very existence is a sin. Or is he a "necessary evil"? It's a smooth-talking trailer saturated with color and a rich tapestry of religious Da Vinci Code-like mystery; Bourne Supremacy-style betrayal; and bald, bar-coded, Minority Report-esque science fiction and political intrigue. It's lethal grace and operatic destruction. A film with the soul of an aria and…

Eric's Bad Movies: Anaconda (1997)

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:44:00 PDT

The phrase "so bad it's good" is a misnomer. What we usually mean by it is that we found a movie's particular brand of badness entertaining. But just because we've gotten enjoyment out of it doesn't mean it's "good" -- it merely means that we've made lemonade out of lemons. "So bad it's entertaining" would be a more accurate phrase.

Anaconda falls under this category. It was intended as a scary, suspenseful horror film about a giant snake that pesters travelers on the Amazon. Its flaw is that…

Big Hitter: De Niro / Pacino DVD Giveaway and New Burn After Reading Stills!

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:37:00 PDT

Contest

Righteous Kill comes out next week (September 12th) and in anticipation we're giving away a few Al Pacino / Robert De Niro classics.

So then, would you like to win a copy of:

The Godfather
Heat
Scarface

I'm guessing you would. All you have to do is email me your favorite line of dialogue from any Pacino or De Niro film. I'll pick the winner, announce it, and send off your free DVDs. Easy as pie. Note: Anything from Meet the Fockers will be automatically disqualified. Sorry, that's…

Mondo Culto: The Big Lebowski (1998)

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:27:00 PDT

Ten years later, the Coen brothers would be winning Academy Awards. But in 1998, they made a movie that still shows up at midnight screenings, and has a solid place in the heart of a certain kind of movie fan.

It's loosely based on the idea of dropping a '70s stoner-throwback into a Raymond Chandler novel; let's call it hippie noir. It's also a long overdue ode to bowling.

The accidental private eye is Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), known simply as "the Dude," who gets dragged into the story…

Ten Guys Who Could Step In For Don LaFontaine

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:43:00 PDT

It has already been widely reported that Don LaFontaine, part of the holy trinity that make up the "Voice of God" (the other two parts are James Earl Jones and, of course, Morgan Freeman) has passed away. It was sad news indeed; yet the Hollywood mantra is that the show must go on. But how will it go?

Who could replace LaFontaine in this holy trinity? Freeman is too obvious and has his place already. Earl Jones is too Darth Vadery and CNN-ish. John Facenda, the original "Voice of God," has been…

Aaron Sorkin's New Movie Is About Facebook? KTHXBAI

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:52:00 PDT

Aaron Sorkin has made a career of showing us the behind-the-scenes sausage-making of everything from TV sports in Sports Night to the White House in The West Wing to late-night sketch comedy in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I'm a huge fan of two-thirds of those shows (I'll let you guess), but Sorkin recently signed up for a Facebook account to announce that his next movie is going to be about ... Facebook.

Just ... what the. What the hell?

I'm still convinced this might be a hoax, fishing in the…

The 2008 Summer Movie Awards

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:57:00 PDT

With Labor Day weekend now behind us, the summer movie season is officially over. But before we start gearing up for the prestige pictures of the fall that will have the Academy salivating, let's give out some awards for the summer movies that we probably won't be hearing much about when the "real" awards season comes around.

The Award for the Most Repeatedly Typecast Actress of the Summer:
Angelina Jolie, who played it dangerous in both Wanted and Kung Fu Panda. She might have failed at the box…

Here's Why The Strangers Sequel Is a Bad Idea

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:07:00 PDT

Editor's Note: This piece is all about a sequel to The Strangers. Thus, we'll be talking about the ending of the original. You've been warned; ahead there be spoilers!

When a $9 million movie grosses more than $50 million at the box office, you can be sure of two things: that everyone will rush to make copycat films to duplicate its success, and that the film will spawn a sequel. It doesn't matter how un-sequel-worthy the movie is. If it makes a significant profit, Hollywood law requires that…