Little Children (Movie Watch)

Little Children is based on the novel by Tom Perrotta, centering on a handful of individuals whose lives intersect in surprising & potentially dangerious ways.

Grade: A
Trailer HERE

Little Miss Sunshine (Movie Watch)

See what the tears and laughter are about HERE.

Grade: B +

The Motel (Movie Watch)

Puberty sucks, and nobody knows it better than 13-year-old Ernest Chin. As he watches guests come and go, Ernest finds himself forever stuck at his family’s hourly-rate motel, where he divides his time between taking orders from his overbearing mom, cleaning up after whatever miscreants the Motel may attract.

Grade: B -
Trailer HERE

All The King's Men (Movie Watch)

All The King's Men: Based on the Robert Penn Warren novel. The life of populist Southerner Willie Stark, a political creature loosely based on Governor Huey Long of Louisiana.

Grade: C +
Trailer HERE

Pan's Labyrinth (Movie Watch)

In 1944, during a Fascist regime that followed the country’s Civil War, a young girl named Ofelia and her mother are forced to relocate to rural Spain to live with the girl’s stepfather, Captain Vidal. As the leader of a military unit sworn to fight any rebels in the territory, Vidal is the epitome of Fascism and a brutally abusive stepfather to Ofelia. Her loneliness and vivid imagination lead her to a fantastic discovery of an incredible stone labyrinth near her new home. When she ventures inside, she discovers a surreal world full of mythical creatures that hail her as their princess. Ofelia soon meets the otherworldly Pan, who gives her three dangerous tasks to complete before she can return home. For the 11-year old girl, it is a magnificent escape that will help her cope with the harsh realities of the world she left.

Grade: A +
See Posters HERE
Trailer HERE
Teaser & Clips HERE

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Movie Watch)

Das Die Geschichte eines Mörders, sees Jean Baptiste Grenouille who, born with no smell, develops a superior olfactory sense which he uses to create the world's finest perfumes. His work however takes a dark turn when searching for the ultimate scent.

Grade: A
Trailer HERE

The Queen (Movie Watch)

The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public's demand for an overt display of mourning.

Grade: B +
Trailer HERE

Camera Obscura: Let's get Out Of Country (Music to Hear)

In Let's Get Out of This Country, Scottish indie outfit Camera Obscura may finally have the breakout release they've been waiting on for nearly a decade -- and they had to get out of their country to do it. The six-piece, used to staying home in Glasgow and recording in bursts between day jobs, this time took the plunge and headed to Sweden to work with a producer for the first time. The result takes its familiar sound -- Sixties-influenced beats layered with wry soprano -- and gives it a good dose of rock. The album has already peaked at Number One on the college radio chart, so where have you been?

It's an exciting time for us," says Campbell. "I think we've grown. "

Often linked to Belle and Sebastian -- in sound, and as fellow Scots - Camera Obscura are no rip off artists.

Vist Label Site HERE.

Calvaire: The Ordeal (Movie Watch)

Marc Stevens’ world goes profoundly and utterly wrong. When his car breaks down in the middle of the isolated backcountry, he’s forced to seek refuge in a rural inn. Marc is taken in by Bartel, a lonely and psychologically fragile innkeeper who promises to help. But when Marc catches him dismantling his car, he realizes that the innkeeper has other plans for him.

Calvaire:The Ordeal gets an official poster.

Trailer HERE

The Dark Knight (What to Know)

Exclusive! Dirt on The Dark Knight!

Mean Magazine talked to Nolan about his new flick, The Prestige, but got an ear full on our The Dark Knight. So in addition to talking about the dueling magicians thriller at length, Nolan indulged some of our curiosities about his next little project THE DARK KNIGHT.

You’re going to have to wait until the October 23rd issue Mean hits the streets for the whole lengthy dialogue but in the meanwhile here’s a taste…

Mean Mag: Batman Begins dealt with a range of themes from revenge to how we confront fear. What themes will you be exploring in The Dark Knight?
Nolan: I suppose in loose terms I can say it’s about things having to get worse before they get better.

Mean Mag: It’s that note the first film ends on of escalation?
Nolan: Very much.

Mean Mag: Is there anything to be inferred from the name you’ve chosen for this film, The Dark Knight?
Nolan: Ultimately yes. [Laughs] But I’ll leave that for people to infer.

Mean Mag: This is the cryptic portion of our chat.
Nolan: Yeah. [Laughs] The title has been chosen very specifically. It’s quite important to the film.

Mean Mag: I take it [the Joker] will be less Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson than the Joker we saw portrayed in a comic like The Killing Joke?
Nolan: Yes. I would certainly point to The Killing Joke but I also would point very much to the first two appearances of the Joker in the comic. If you look at where the Joker comes from there’s a very clear direction that fits what we’re doing very well.

Want to know more pick up Mean on October 23rd... Hopefully more tidbits will become available on such things as Nolan’s thoughts on taking on The Prisoner and another huge franchise character as yet unmentioned… I can't imagine.

Edmond (Movie Watch)

The encounter with the fortuneteller has caused bland businessman Edmond to confront the emptiness of his life and marriage. His wife complains that the maid broke a lamp, and this seems to be the last straw, prompting him to flee the safe boredom of his home for the vortex of the dark streets of the city. This film appears to showcase what I call "Human Abandoment Syndrome" and it could be amasing.

Grade: C
Trailer HERE

Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (Movie Update)

Spielberg, Ford and Lucas on Indy IV

The folks at Empire magazine have apparently gotten the mainstream movie scoop of the year. As part of their upcoming special "25 years of Indiana Jones" issue, they've been lucky enough to site down and speak to Harrison Ford, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg - all at once!

Getting one of the Indiana Jones triumvirate to talk about the fourth sequel is a rare opportunity, but getting George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford to spill at the same time is as infrequent as finding a needle in a haystack under some hen's teeth on a blue moony night at the end of a month of Sundays.

But Empire was lucky enough to speak with the trio as part of our massive Indiana Jones 25th anniversary celebrations and it seems that Indy IV is going to be a tad controversial.

“We’re basically going to do The Phantom Menace”, says Lucas (stay with him here, he’s making a point). “People’s expectations are way higher than you can deliver. You could just get killed for the whole thing…We would do it for fun and just take the hit with the critics and the fans...But nobody wants to get into it unless they are really happy with it”.

The ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ situation has freed up an idea for a plot that was originally deemed too incendiary.

“I discovered a McGuffin,” continues Lucas, still reluctant to name said McGuffin. “I told the guys about it and they were a little dubious about it, but it’s the best one we’ve ever found… Unfortunately, it was a little too ‘connected’ for the others. They were afraid of what the critics would think. They said, “Can’t we do it with a different McGuffin? Can’t we do this?” and I said “No”. So we pottered around with that for a couple of years. And then Harrison really wanted to do it and Steve said, “Okay”. I said, “We’ll have to go back to that original McGuffin and take out the offending parts of it and we’ll still use that area of the supernatural do deal with it”.

“Hopefully it will be different in all the right ways and the same in all the familiar ways,” adds Spielberg.

As for timing, Lucas says that filming is scheduled for mid-2007, for a 2008 release but getting the gang back together is a tricky proposition. “Before I was just working with Steven and Harrison. Now everybody’s a superstar, so it’s a little bit more difficult than it was then”, said Lucas. “But there’s a good chance it will happen,” assures Ford. “There are things left for this character to do”.

Grade: A -
Trailer HERE

LOST Season 3 (TV Watch)

LOST Season 3 is coming... and so are more answers too more questions. Catch up on rumors & theories on LostTalk, 4 8 15 16 23 42 and the LOST link HERE and above. Before then catch up on characters before the season starts HERE.

On: DVD/Blu-Ray

A Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (Graded)

As I watched Monster House for the 3rd time, I watched the trailer to this film thinking what I felt the first time I watched it. "Why couldn't it have been the rumored sequel?" Regardless this masterpiece in 3D (Real-D) is gonna rock. Now even though the sequel is in hiding or on some drawing board hidden in California, hopefully in some haunted mansion there is more mystery. The poster you see here was rumored to have been taken down some weeks back when it was dropped. The original poster for the 3D reissue of The Nightmare Before Christmas appeared like THIS HERE, then very quickly was pulled... Now the question is not where is the sequel but why take this down and then re-promote it? The poster to the left is the new version. What's the difference? Well, a few small details, mainly in color, contrast and so on are all that I can see. There's a discussion waging online some places, however, that the old version contained some kind of rudy sexual reference, now deleted. Can you spot it? If so, please explain to me where it is and what it is - I'm actually feeling left out for once. So if anyone here knows of or sees any sexual reference drop that knowledge, seriously.

Grade: A
Trailer HERE

Arcade Fire: Funeral (Music to Hear)

Who says a Funeral has to be energy sucking sad? Well thankfully for us, The Montreal, Quebec, Canadian band The Arcade Fire prove it doesn't. The 7 member band originally formed around the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. Joining together as recently as mid-2003, the current lineup solidified in late 2003/early 2004, when their first full-length and amazingly presented album Funeral was recorded. The band employs a vast array of instruments—mainly guitar, drums, and bass guitar—but also piano, violin, viola, cello, xylophone, keyboard, accordion, and harp. With several able musicians, Arcade Fire showcases with ease their instrumental diversity.


Their first full-length album, Funeral, debuted in September 2004 and was very highly acclaimed by critics but almost never heard by moi, your's truly till late 2005.

The title of the debut album was chosen because of the deaths of several relatives of band members during recording. These events created a somber atmosphere which influenced songs such as "Une année sans lumière" ("A Year without Light"), "In the Backseat", and "Haiti", Chassagne’s elegy to her lost homeland. Without a major label backing, the success of the band and the album Funeral has been acclaimed as an internet phenomenon, with much of the early push coming from reviews on sites such as Pitchfork. The band initially booked small clubs for their 2004 tour but overwhelming interest forced many venue changes, far beyond the band’s expectations. Now the album has garnered this band the well deserved hype and recognition of a band that tears out your heart, polishes it and then sets it back better then when torn out. The follow up is currently being worked upon and awaited with held breaths. Long live the Arcade.

Three Important Questions Regarding Nintendo's Wii

1. When will the Wii be here?
Official: Before Thanksgiving holiday in America.
Officially: November 19th

2. How much?
Official: $250
Unofficially: in Black or White

3. What will the Wii do?
The Wii will use a single self-loading media bay which will play single- or double-layered 12-centimeter optical discs for Wii, as well as 8-centimeter GameCube discs & have four ports for GameCube controllers and two slots for GameCube Memory Cards. Wii will play original titles & have downloadable access to 20 years of fan-favorite titles originally released for Nintendo 64, SNES, NES and a "best of" selection from Sega Genesis & the NEC TurboGrafx 16 libraries.

For More Info Go HERE

Let the Next Gen Gaming Wars Begin!

As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I was going to get into many aspects of entertainment. Now for most if not all of us, We have loved at one time or another to play a videogame system and game. I know most females loved the occasional Pacman/ Mrs. Pacman fest despite games having gotten to photorealistic levels. Now I'm not saying all of you girls/women dislike a game like Resident Evil or even the infamous Street Fighter series but it's safe to say that Mario was as far as most of you have gotten to gaming madness. Now this is not a Girl vs. Boy gaming debate, NO! NO! NO! This is a heads up at those two additions to Xbox's 360 system for the next gen war for the crown of game systems. This generation's systems and games are like no other. I have referred to the PS2, GameCube and Xbox as the best our gaming systems and gaming worlds could produce. The upcoming PS3, Wii and Xbox360 are harbingers of gaming shock. Games run and look like nothing before. That consistent pattern the programs would do that were nothing more then memory exercises have been technically done away with. No more are the numbing repetitions and mini worlds of old. NO! NO! NO! This is war if it's war, game time if it's game time and a quest if a quest. Games are worlds onto themselves. Now don't start worrying about gaming worlds and characters getting their own laws and civil rights just yet. Because the best bet is worrying about how you will be paying for these gaming mammoths and gaming worlds.

Three Important Questions Regarding Sony's PS3

1. When will the Playstation3 be here?
North America (U.S. & Canada) Nov 17th, 2006

2. What are the Differences between the $499 & $599 models?
Both solutions include Blu-ray the latest standard in high-definition video, Bluetooth, four USB ports, 1080p video, and the world’s most powerful microprocessor, the Cell. Additionally, the $599 solution includes HDMI, memory stick, secure digital and compact flash readers, Wi-Fi, and a 60GB hard disk drive (HDD), the $499 system comes with a 20GB HDD. The 20GB is removable so it can be upgraded in the future if desired. (Unofficial Color options are: White, Silver and Black)

For More Info Go HERE

Infamous (Movie Watch)

Following the success of Capote, we are now being treated to (I hope) or forced fed (I'd rather not) to Infamous, a film in which we are to be shown just how truly free speaking and flamboyant the famous writer was. Philip Seymour Hoffman, who in my un-humble opinion ruled the screen as Truman himself, in his Oscar performance in Capote, is an actor of the highest caliber. Yet I must say, Toby Jones looks eerily close to Truman's true likeness here. I love when Truman is given his just dues, as some of you may know why, but after reading up on production, listening to insiders and watching the trailer for Infamous, I fear this film might try more in shocking viewers with its possibly apparent portrayal of the writer's association with convicted murderer Perry Smith as having been more then just a convenient curiosity no matter how much sexual under tone existed. In being fair, let's just prey for a bi-op that is not a Hollywood celebrity martyr viewing with dropping of Tinsel Town hype and strained facts that we are usually conned into accepting as adequate celluloid and then as Oscar material.

I much would have preferred a film on Harper Lee starring Katherine Keener with the occasional appearances by Hoffman to be more interesting then a retelling.

The casting here seems blown up and forced. Then again, in trying to stay fair, let's just prey for a bi-op that is not the run of the mill Hollywood celebrity martyr viewing with dropping of Tinsel Town hype with strained facts that we are usually conned into accepting as adequate celluloid and then as Oscar material. Capote was a gem that should not be tarnished but could be enhanced. A true bi-op of an un-slanted and un-fluffed angle would be the bee's knees.

Grade: C +
Trailer HERE

The Departed (Poster Release)

The Departed gets poster and site.

Grade: B -
Trailer HERE

Ratatouille (Movie Watch)

Pixar's next film should save all of those eyes that wandered helplessly into Cars from another visual and economic lashing. Ratatouille is a traditional French provençal stewed vegetable dish of which tomatoes are a key ingredient and can be served as a meal on its own. How do I know this? Well we'll leave that to those who already know. But to all of you film lovers, its a film that showcases Pixar's talented army of animators and their bouncing back abaility from Cars.

Plot Synopsis: Remy dreamins of becoming a great French chef despite his family's wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the sewers of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unlikely - and certainly unwanted - visitor in the kitchen of a fine French restaurant, Remy's passion for cooking soon sets into motion a hilarious and exciting rat race that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down.

Grade: A
Teaser HERE

Tales of Earthsea (Movie Watch)

Studio Ghibli's Japanese Tales of Earthsea Trailer here. This should be a nice Christmas gift to American viewers.

Tales from Earthsea (Teaser Poster)

Studio Ghibli is at it again with the adaptation of Tales from Earthsea, based primarily on the third book of the Earthsea series, The Farthest Shore, by American Author, Ursula K. Le Guin. I hope this film is as good as Spirited Away and better then their last effort Howl's Moving Castle (Which was not a bad film but it's source material appeared to be apparently too much for a film of its length to handle). But who really cares?! Hayao Miyazaki (Japan's Disney) and his Studio Ghibli (Japan) are the only production houses that pump out films consecutively that we all (Children and Adults) love and cherish as much as their Pixar (American) films over here. So as tiny a disappointment as Howl appeared to be over the eye numbing Spirited, Miyazaki is still the man! So from Miyazaki's son Goro, comes (Despite Pappa Hayao's intial disaproval) "Tales from Earthsea".

Day of the Dead (Graded)

In Leadville, Colorado, the army seal off the town to contain an influenza-type epidemic. The locals are not allowed to leave the town & the Pine Valley Medical Center is crowded with people infected with a virus. Corporal Sarah Bowman, born & raised in Leadville, breaks rank on a private run to her home to visit her brother & sick mother. However, they come to find that the infected suddenly transform, after death, into flesh eating zombies who attack the non-infected.

Grade: F
Trailer HERE

Rocky VI (Teaser Poster)

I can't help it, I like Rocky. Why? Because he's such an icon of film history & pop culture. This character brings back enough childhood awes for me not to feel "NO more! Pleeease..." I forgive Rocky III and V. Without III, we wouldn't have seen & gotten Mr. T & some Hulkster madness but there really was no excuse for Rocky V, was there? Anyhow here's to a hopeful return to Rocky I & not the over the top boxing silliness of the series' two lowest installments.

p.s. I'll miss you Adrian!.. but I understand.

Grade: A

Half Nelson (Movie Watch

An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.

See one of the best young actors, Ryan Gosling, bring another screen character to life. I know, I forgive him for Murder by Numbers... Anyhow enjoy the HALF NELSON.

Grade: A +
Trailer HERE

America Freedom to Facism (Movie Watch)

See one of America's Major Problems HERE

Grade: A + +