Here’s the trailer for Wes Anderson’s next film, The Fantastic Mr Fox.
I’ve been pretty disappointed with Anderson’s films lately. The Royal Tenenbaums was brilliant but Life Aquatic was a bit of a let down and The Darjeeling Limited was just terrible. The Hotel Chevalier short was awesome though thanks in no small part to Natalie Portman’s nudity.
All that said, this looks really good. Like a stop motion animal version of Ocean’s 11.
So here’s the trailer for the next Coen Brothers flick A Serious Man.
I have to admit that I just don’t get the appeal of Coen Brothers movies. Fargo was good, but everything else has been average at best. They all seem to be two hours of nothing happening. I don’t think I’m missing anything but with so many people falling over themselves to praise the two maybe I am. Then again it could just be an emperor’s new clothes scenario where everyone is afraid to call the Coen Brothers on their shitty movies.
This one doesn’t look any better than their previous efforts.
I just got around to watching Letterman from the other day and I was pleasantly surprised to see Silversun Pickups as the musical guest.
I’m a huge fan of their music and they did a fantastic live performance of “Panic Switch” from their album Swoon. Their drummer Chris was just insane.
Here’s the trailer for the awesome looking Baader Meinhof Complex.
I remember this got a really good review on Triple J radio here in Oz a while ago, which means that it’s probably come and gone here. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch it on DVD or Blu-ray at some point.
Here’s a charming little trailer to promote the relaunch of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D.
I’d really like to see both of these in 3D but there’s no cinemas in my town which show 3D pictures, and I think there’s only one or two in Sydney. Couple that with the probability that the relaunch won’t happen in Australia and it’s understandable why I’m a little disappointed.
Title: Epitaph One
Written By: Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon and Joss Whedon
Air Date: None. DVD only.
Plot:
It’s 2019 and the world has gone to hell. The technology of the Dollhouse has found it’s way into the general public and propagated the world over. Those that haven’t been imprinted are known as actuals. A group of the actuals stumble upon the Dollhouse and through a series of flashbacks and imprints they seek to discover how the world ended up the way it is.
Wow. That’s pretty much all I can say. This looks and feels absolutely nothing like any of the previous episodes of Dollhouse. It’s infinitely darker than any of the previous episodes and it paints a devastatingly bleak picture for mankind’s future. It drops you into the future right from the get-go, and it was only when they found the entry into the Dollhouse that I figured out where the story might be going. I was thinking that there would be some kind of resolution to the story, but the episode ended in an even better way by simply showing the three remaining characters climbing a rope ladder outside the building to somewhere.
I like episodes which end on an ambiguous note because it allows the viewer to envision the future for the characters themselves. A friend of mine really disliked the ending to Angel I assume because he wanted to know one way or the other whether they would survive the ensuing battle. I liked that the showed ended as it did because it was in line with the overall theme of the show, that of surviving and redeeming yourself, but also because it allowed me to finish the story as thought it would go. I think episodes which don’t give a clear outcome are best served to be the final episode, not one that falls within the flow of the show, and in that regard “Epitaph One” would have been a damn near perfect final episode had Fox cancelled Dollhouse. That being said, I think this kind of non-linear storytelling could work well for Dollhouse because whilst the first half of the first season was OK, it wasn’t until “Man in the Street” that Dollhouse really started to find it’s groove. I think that “Epitaph One” will serve as a great way to give the show a direction and some momentum, an end point if you like.
All of the series regulars return, in a mostly reduced capacity, but a decent amount of screen time is devoted to the future characters. Felicia Day is the noteworthy member of the future group and it’s been confirmed that she’ll be returning in the second season. More pleasing than the presence of Felicia Day is the return of Mr Dominic (Reed Diamond) and his small scene with Miss DeWitt (Olivia Williams). They have a great chemistry and their characters work well together. There interaction during the first season was some of the best stuff on Dollhouse, and I’m hopeful that Mr Dominic will play a part in the second season as it’s obvious that he wasn’t killed when he was taken to the Attic.
As good as the return of Mr Dominic was, the scene between Miss DeWitt and Topher (Fran Kranz) was amazing. Their heartfelt connection and the look on Topher’s face when he came to the realisation that he was the one who unleashed the technology on the world was some of the very best stuff I’ve seen on Dollhouse. I’ve enjoyed Kranz’s hyperactive overexcited performances all season but I wouldn’t have thought that the best scene from the show so far would have come from him. It really was very moving, especially considering how cold Miss DeWitt has been portrayed so far, so it was great to see that she had a connection beyond her liaisons with the male Doll.
Joss Whedon commented at Comic Con that the content in “Epitaph One” will absolutely form part of the second season, but it’s not to be taken as gospel because a lot of it are memories, and memories can distort over time. That seems like a somewhat convenient way to get out of what was shown, but I think that the ultimate end of society is something that’s a set future. That plays too much of an important part of the episode to be anything other than a concrete future.
CONCLUSION
I can understand why Fox didn’t air this, or buy it, or whatever the business reasons are, but I think that had the show not been renewed it would have been a brilliant way to end the show. The episode starts off so different from a typical episode that it’s a little jarring, but once the future group discovers the Dollhouse everything begins to come around. Amy Acker gets a good deal of screen time as Whiskey, but the future group get the bulk of it. By far the best thing about this episode is the amazing scene with Miss DeWitt and Topher. It was just brilliant. Beautiful, heartfelt and moving. Just fantastic stuff, and I have to admit that despite my love of all things Whedon related, I was very surprised that something this good was in Dollhouse. I’d have expected Buffy to have a scene like that, but because Dollhouse has been a little bit of a disappointment so far I was blown away by it. This is one of the best Dollhouse episodes yet, but it goes to show that the show can be so much better than we’ve seen so far.
FINAL GRADE: B+
Frantic Faves is a way for me to review some of my favourite films. Instead of regular reviews which focus on new theatrical releases, Frantic Faves allows me to go back in time and review films I love that may have been forgotten or undervalued by the masses. Ultimately the segment is just like this site, another exercise in self-satisfaction and a means for me to write about the things I enjoy.
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Writer: Joe Eszterhas
Release Year: 1995
Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley) hitches a ride to Las Vegas in a quest to become a dancer and soon sets about clawing and pushing her way to become the top of the Vegas showgirls.
I’m well aware that Showgirls is considered to be a favourite within the gay community, thanks in no small part to Gina Gershon, but I don’t care, I love this flick. There’s an almost neverending amount of nudity that I don’t think you’d ever see in a Hollywood movie nowadays. There’s a great soundtrack and some really impressive choreography too. Taken seperately these are nothing special. But when it’s all combined it forms one of my most enjoyable films. I could watch this thing over and over.
Let’s get one thing straight though, this is not pornography or erotica. Like I said, there’s a ton of nudity and a healthy dose of sex as well, but it never seems to come across as titillating. In almost every instance (save for the rape of Molly) the sex is comedic, the acting is overdone, and the characters are loud and brash stereotypes. But all this is done on purpose. See Verhoeven and Eszterhas had already done the erotic thriller when they worked on Basic Instinct (a film which I think is dismissed too quickly), so Showgirls is something different. Eszterhas has always said that he thought Showgirls was a comedy and I agree. But it’s not an “erotic comedy” because there’s nothing particularly erotic about it. If anything it’s a titty comedy, but that doesn’t seem to do the movie justice either. If you’re after proof that this is a comedy take a look at the image below. When you see the scene actually playing it’s like Kyle MacLachlan is waterboarding her.
The film just exudes that mid-90′s quality that’s so great but so hard to describe, and unfortunately that time has passed. That’s one of the reasons why I was so disappointed when I learnt that there were already plans for a sequel which would have seen Nomi head off to Hollywood to take on the movie industry. Eszterhas even had a treatment written titled Bimbos: Nomi Goes to Hollywood. I’ve been trying for over a year to get hold of that with no success. There’s even a nod to this plan in the closing of Showgirls when Nomi leaves Las Vegas and the sign with the distance to Los Angeles is in frame. Ah, what I’d give to read that treatment.
CONCLUSION
There’s a common saying that “something is so bad that it’s good”. Well I don’t think that’s the case with Showgirls. It’s just good. If you watch this thinking that it’s some erotic thriller or drama then you couldn’t be further off base. It’s a comedy plain and simple. How else do you explain dialogue like this:
Al Torres: It must be weird, not having people cum on you.
That’s actually used in a scene which is meant to be touching. When Al and Henrietta come to see Nomi and admit that they were wrong and she’s done a good job. If that’s not comedy I don’t know what is. If anything it’s having a little fun with the erotic sub-genre which seemed to pop up in the 90′s by fooling the viewer into thinking that’s what they’re watching, and then calling them on their misconception.
It’s also nice to know that although the movie bombed at the box office, it’s since gone on to earn over $100 million thanks to the home video market. I love Verhoeven, I love Eszterhas, and I love this film.
FINAL GRADE: B+
Once again I’m late with this, but here’s the new installment of PG Porn called “Genital Hospital” by James Gunn.
This one stars Sean Gunn and the insanely hot Belladonna.
This one looks fantastic.
The film tells the story of a young William Blake (Dominic Monaghan) who confides in visiting clergyman Father Duffy, recounting fifteen years of adventure in the resurrection trade. His tale leads from humble beginnings as a young boy stealing trinkets from corpses, to a partnership with seasoned ghoul Willie Grimes as they hunt creatures unwilling to accept their place in the ground. The colorful and peculiar history of Grimes and Blake is one filled with adventure, horror, and vicious rivalries that threaten to put all involved in the very graves they’re trying to pilfer.
The film is scheduled for release on 14th August.
A week or so ago I linked to the trailer for the upcoming rock, paper, scissors mockumentary The Flying Scissors. Well today there’s a new trailer up on the official site and it’s in beautiful hi-def (720p).
Click here to check it out.
