The Movie Blog

How Can We improve?

Hey there folks. John here.

Just a heads up... pre-existing technical issues that have been causing occasional site down time, as well as a sudden new surge in Audio Edition popularity (I can't imagine why) has forced us to yet again pack our bags and changes servers and Hosting companies. Onward and upward! This means very little (if any) posting over the next 24-48 hours and perhaps a little bit of downtime (Don't worry you crack junkies, your "fix" will only be down for a matter of hours).

But I thought this would also be a good opportunity to ask all of our International Friends what YOU would do to improve The Movie Blog. Over the last couple of years, some of the best changes around here have happened as a result of reader suggestions. So now is your time to be heard!

Your suggestions can be about ANYTHING Movie Blog related. Technical, style, Audio Editions, Video... you name it! Your help is appreciated!

So leave your thoughts in the comments section, and make sure to read over other peoples thoughts as well to see if their ideas spark new ones for yourself too!

Audio Edition - March 15th 2006

Today on the 2006 Podcast of the Year "The Audio Edition" Doug and I discuss the stupidity of the Brokeback Moutain Author, the new HILARIOUS trailer for The Moglus, Peter Jacksons pre-recorded acceptance speech for The Empire Awards, some Ghost Rider trailer news, Welcome Back Kotter being re-made into a movie, Uncle Ben coming back in Spider-Man 3, an alternate idea for the origins of Venom in Spider-Man 3, the Alpha Dog trailer and a few things more.

You can download this installment of The Audio Edition here.

To subscribe to the podcast of The Audio Edition on iTunes copy this link and then paste it into iTunes-Advanced-Subscribe to Podcast.

Brokeback Author is a Whinny Sniveling Pathetic Little Suck

This issue just isn't going away. The conspiracy theorists about Crash winning the Best Picture Oscar over Brokeback Mountain just keep poking their ignorant little heads up to keep stirring the pot. This time it's Annie Proulx, the author of the Brokeback Mountain Story.

The good folks over at M&C are reporting that Proulx did an interview with Guardian where she spouted off some of the stupidest, self pitying, ignorant garbage I've heard. Basically she was crying over the loss of Brokeback Mountain to "Crash". And she repeatedly referred to "Crash" as "Trash". What a pathetic pouty little bitch. Here's a snippet of the cry fest... ummm... I mean "interview":

'We should have known conservative heffalump academy voters would have rather different ideas of what was stirring contemporary culture,' Proulx wrote.

'And rumor has it that (Lionsgate) inundated the academy voters with DVD copies of `Trash` -- excuse me -- `Crash` a few weeks before the ballot deadline. Next year we can look to the awards for controversial themes on the punishment of adulterers with a branding iron in the shape of the letter A, runaway slaves and the debate over free silver.'

Oh that's right you moron. You're right on the money! Hollywood is being run by nothing but conservative heffalumps.

I guess that's why they nominated Brokeback for Best Picture (A nomination I still say they didn't deserve).

I guess that's why they gave the Best Director award to it's director.

I guess that's why they nominated 3 of it's actors.

I guess that's why an actor portraying a gay character won Best Actor

I guess that's why an actress portraying a trans-gender character was nominated for Best Actress.

Yup, that's right Proulx... you really nailed it... Hollywood is sooo damn conservative. That must be why Brokeback Mountain lost to a better film. This "lady" redefines the term "poor sport". Somebody shove an apple in the mouth of this pig and shut her up. And will someone tell this lady that it's ok to disagree with the academy (I do all the time) but to bring it in the mud and to be so disrespectful of not only the industry you were just trying to win an award from, but also to your colleagues (the makers of Crash) is just unacceptable.

Isn't it ironic that a woman who writes a story that she says was partially intended to promote tolerance, then comes out with statements like this? What a hypocrite.

The Moguls Trailer

STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW AND WATCH THIS TRAILER!!!! The Moguls trailer has hit the web... and aside from Superman Returns, it is now the movie I am MOST looking forward to seeing! This trailer is HILARIOUS!

Here's a quick summary of The Moguls from the good folks over at dTheatre:

Jeff Bridges, Tim Blake Nelson (Oh Brother), Joe Pantoliano (Sopranos), Ted Danson (Cheers), and Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) lead an all-star cast in a flick about a group of small-townspeople that decide to make a porno together to get rich and or make it big.

There were no "fall on the floor" funny moments in The Moguls trailer, but just the whole feel of it had me wearing a grin the entire time. I can not wait for this film! Jeff Bridges is a god!!!!

To see The Moguls trailer you can just go here.

Hilarious King Kong Outtakes

Recently, King Kong won the Empire Awards for Best Picture. In one of the best pre-recorded acceptance speeches off all time, Peter Jackson talked about some of the "problems" with the production of the film... and the fact that he'd rather have another Oscar. Seriously... it wasn't disrespectful at all... it was just really funny.

Then, Jackson included a whole bunch of King Kong outtakes. MAN THERE IS A LOT of creative swearing in it! I almost spit up my water a couple of times I was laughing so damn hard. You really have to see this.

You can see the King Kong outtakes and Peter Jackson's acceptance speech here. (via)

Kevin Costner And Ashton Kutcher In Coast Guard Movie

Oh my goodness. It looks like Kevin Costner And Ashton Kutcher are teaming up for a film about the US Coast Guard. And Ashton Kutcher's decent in to Hollywood obscurity continues!

According to the good folks at Yahoo Movie News, the project looks something like this:

Costner's character in the film teaches Coast Guard rescue swimmers, including Kutcher, who plays a cocky swim champion training to become a rescue swimmer.

Oh good grief... haven't seen this before 1000 times. But oh well... it's a paying gig I suppose. Haha... remember when just a year ago some people were saying Kutcher was going to be the next "Big Thing"? Funny what flop after flop after flop will do to the ol' career huh?

Chow Yun Fat In US Remake of Hard Boiled

Any serious action film fan knows the John Woo classic Hard Boiled all too well. It has been suggested that it could very well be the greatest action film of all time. Today it looks like actin fans have a reason to celebrate! According to Movie Blog Allumnist Todd (who now runs the fantastic TwitchFilm) is reporting that a North American version is planned, and to once again star Chow Yun Fat.

Here's what Todd had to say:

It appears as though Chow Yun Fat has finally struck upon a sure fire method of repeating his massive Hong Kong success in North America: by repeating his biggest role. Word in Hong Kong's Apple Daily is that Chow Yun Fat will be starring alongside an American actor in a remake of Hard Boiled, arguably one of the best action films ever made.

Now, I normally don't like the idea of Asian films being "remade" into english... but for some reason I think this particular project would be suitable for the transition. What do you guys think?

Ghost Rider Trailer To Play With X-Men 3

Big new for all you folks anxiously awaiting the new Nic Cage film "Ghost Rider". It's being reported all over the web today that the first official Ghost Rider trailer will be playing in May in front of the new X-Men 3! That's pretty good screen real estate to be playing in front of.

I find it a little weird that they're giving the Ghost Rider trailer such valuable screen time (in front of X 3) when the film is still almost a year away (from what I understand it set for a January or February of 2007 release date). Aren't good comic blockbusters supposed to play in summer?

Nonetheless, I personally am excited to see Ghost Rider. Not just because I'm a comic book movie junkie... but also because I'm still one of the dying breed of Nic Cage fans. To each their own. :)

Around The Web - March 15th 2006

Here are some of the other things going on in Movie News today:

- Michael Douglas slams Brad Pitt for leaving wife and Renee Zellweger and Julia Roberts for Short marriages Ummm... I like Michael Douglas an all... but shouldn't someone remind him that he left his wife once too?

- Theater owners excited about upcoming films this year

- Benicio Del Toro is The Wolf Man Ok, I think this is a GREAT idea

- Jennifer Lopez, Luke Wilson, John Travolta and Shirly MacClaine all set for Dallas the Movie

- George Lucas talks Star Wars TV Series

Press Release of Will Ferrell's Death a Hoax

Within the last 24 hours or so, there had been a rumor on the Internet stating the death of actor Will Ferrell. Up until recently I-News Wire had the spotty press release published.

Certainly a scare and shock had run through many -myself included-, but thanks to the keen investigative journalism of Defamer, we can put this hearsay behind us.

Some internet prankster seems to be spreading around a link to this fake (and, quite frankly, very poorly written) press release claiming that Will Ferrell has died in a paragliding accident, apparently trying to stir up some buzz for a hoax ... Ferrell might remember that his funeral-haunting character in Wedding Crashers mocks a hang-gliding accident, an irony that would be too obvious for even the most malevolent of gods to inflict on Hollywood.

To reiterate; Will Ferrell is not died, he did not fall victim to a para-gliding accident yesterday and there will be no singing "Dust in the Wind" in his memory - well at least not for some time to come.

Best Fan Lightsaber Fight I've Ever Seen

This little video is just amazing. It's basically 2 KIDS (no really... KIDS) who pull off one of the best lightsaber fight videos I've ever seen. It's amazingly well shot, nicely edited, the sound editing is almost flawless, the lightsaber effects are sharp and the fight choreography with fantastic (did I mention this was all done by KIDS?!?!?!). And it's not some 30 second fight either. This things runs about 5 minutes long!

Seriously, you should go check this thing out. I applaud these guys for what they pulled off. You can check it out here.

And when you see it... forget for a minute about the lightsaber fighting (although that'll be tough), the shots and editing in this thing are really impressive for a couple of young guys.

Welcome Back Kotter The Movie

Oh man it's already a rough day. There's a blizzard going on outside my window (when it was warm enough to go outside in a t-shirt yesterday) and on top of that it looks like they're going to be making a Welcome Back Kotter movie. What's that? That's not bad enough for you? Ok... then how about this... it's going to be staring Ice Cube as Kotter. Still not enough? Ok... the guy who wrote "The Hot Chick" is going to do the screenplay. I'm going back to bed.

Some of you may remember Welcome Back Kotter as the TV vehicle that launched John Travolta's career (at least those of you 40 or older). I remember watching re-runs as a kid now and then. I remember it being a pretty cute show... but a movie? Ug. When will these people learn?

The only thing that would make this whole mess even worse is if they get John Travolta back to play the principle of the school or something. yikes... I should keep my mouth shut... I don't want to give anyone any ideas. (via)

Alpha Dog Trailer

The new Alpha Dog trailer has hit the web, and well... all I can say is that I'm getting less and less impressed with this project the more I see of it. I know, I know... a lot of people are saying good things about it. Fair enough. I have no reason to question that. All I'm saying is that from where I'm sitting Alpha Dog is looking more and more like a bust every time I see something new. This trailer is just a continuation of that.

The first Alpha Dog trailer I saw a few months back really surprised me... because although the buzz has been "This is Justin Timberlake's Break out role!"... the trailer showed him saying NOTHING at all. And now this new Alpha Dog trailer comes along, and it seems to be diminishing his role in the film even further. Actually, this trailer makes it appear that Timberlake is nothing but a 4th or 5th character (which may very well be the case). Either way, it is becoming clear that this is indeed NOT Timberlake's film.

As for the Alpha Dog trailer itself... I'm not impressed. At this point to me it looks like a high school film project gone bad. But trailers can be deceiving, so let's wait and see when the movie actually comes out.

If you'd like to see the new Alpha Dog trailer you can just go here.

Audio Edition - March 13th 2006

Welcome to the "Podast of the Year" installment of The Audio Edition. Today, Doug, Darren and I talk about our excitment of winning the award... and then get on to some actual movie stuff. Stuff like Sin City 2 and Angelina Jolie's reported involvement in it, Tom Cruise apparently learning to keep his big mouth shut and let people talk about his movies, some Hellboy 2 news, Final Fantasy reflections, Halo stuff and a few things more.

You can download this installment of The Audio Edition here.

To subscribe to the podcast of The Audio Edition on iTunes copy this link and then paste it into iTunes-Advanced-Subscribe to Podcast.

Holy Crap!!! The Movie Blog Audio Edition Wins Podcast Of The Year!!!

I got home just a little while ago and there were about 20 emails waiting for me from people congratulating me on the 2006 Weblog Award win for Best Podcast. I thought they just misunderstood the previous post and that the awards haven't been announced yet... but then I checked out the official 2006 Weblog Awards (the "bloggies") site... and sure enough...

THE MOVIE BLOG AUDIO EDITION HAS WON THE 2006 WEBLOG AWARD FOR BEST PODCAST!!!! Holy Crap!!!!! We even beat out my favorite podcast "This Week In Tech"!!!! I'm totally stunned!!!! More than stunned actually!!!

What makes this EXTRA special was the high calibre of the other nominees who I really suggest you check out sometime:

Indie Interviews
This Week In Tech
MobyLives
Girlspoke

Thanks to everyone who listens to us and voted for us. I think this marks an important shift in Podcasting on the internet. The most popular and successful podcasts have always (at least up to this point) been tech related shows (which only makes sense since techies were first to adopt the new technology). But now... a MOVIE site has taken the first Podcast of the Year award for the Bloggies. Podcast are developing a wider audience than just tech related... and I think the wide spectrums of the nominees reflects this.

So, congratulations to all the other nominees for their AMAZING shows... and thanks to all of you for your support. I think it's time to crack open a drink!