On the 8 Spot

Haven’t seen a great performance from Robert De Niro in a long time. Hope he can make something of this role!

Robert De Niro has signed to play legendary football coach Vince Lombardi in ESPN Films’ big screen feature Lombardi. Academy Award-winning screenwriter Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Munich, Benjamin Button, The Insider) penned the script. The National Football League is involved in the project, which means we probably won’ see anything controversial in the movie (steroids, alcohol).

I don’t know a lot about football, but looking at photos of Lombardi, you can certainly see how De Niro would be cast in the role. Risky Business says the plan is to release the film between the AFC and NFC conference championship games and the Super Bowl in 2012. The film will focus on Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers years, although ESPN acquired the entire life rights to Lombardi’s story from his estate, as well as the rights to Jerry Kramer and Dick Schaap’s book Instant Replay.

via Robert De Niro Cast as Vince Lombardi | /Film.

Capone goes in over his head with the marvelously silly HOT TUB TIME MACHINE!!!

Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here.

Sometimes you admire a comedy because of its subtle wit and cleverness, because it keeps a sustained smile on your face that lasts the duration of the film. Other times, you fall head over heals for a comedy because it is balls-out the perfect combination of stupidity and intelligence, with a healthy serving of charm thrown in and a dash of the grotesque. Welcome to HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, folks, a movie that almost dares you not to giggle your way into a frothy stupor. What put this film over the top for me was its complete and utter disregard not only for conventional logic and sensibility, but the film actually bothers to set up its own time-space continuum rules and then breaks them with a wanton disregard for the Butterfly Effect. On the plus side, TIME COP's essential rule about the same person from two different times occupying the same space is cited and dealt with quite effectively. But for God's sake, this isn't a movie about science; it's about partying '80s style, and who better to do that with than John Cusack?

via Capone goes in over his head with the marvelously silly HOT TUB TIME MACHINE!!! — Ain’t It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news..

LOS ANGELES – Nominees in selected major categories ahead of the 82nd annual Academy Awards to be held at the Kodak Theater here Sunday (Monday in Manila):

Best Picture:

“The Hurt Locker”

“Avatar”

“The Blind Side”

“District 9″

“An Education”

“Inglourious Basterds”

“Up in the Air”

“Precious”

“A Serious Man”

“Up”

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Jeff Bridges — “Crazy Heart”

George Clooney — “Up in the Air”

Colin Firth — “A Single Man”

Morgan Freeman — “Invictus”

Jeremy Renner — “The Hurt Locker”

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

Meryl Streep — “Julie & Julia”

Sandra Bullock — “The Blind Side”

Carey Mulligan — “An Education”

Helen Mirren — “The Last Station”

Gabourey Sidibe — “Precious”

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

Christoph Waltz — “Inglourious Basterds”

Woody Harrelson — “The Messenger”

Christopher Plummer — “The Last Station”

Matt Damon — “Invictus”

Stanley Tucci — “The Lovely Bones”

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

Penelope Cruz — “Nine”

Mo’Nique — “Precious”

Anna Kendrick — “Up in the Air”

Vera Farmiga — “Up in the Air”

Maggie Gyllenhaal — “Crazy Heart”

Best Director:

Kathryn Bigelow — “The Hurt Locker”

James Cameron — “Avatar”

Quentin Tarantino — “Inglourious Basterds”

Jason Reitman — “Up in the Air”

Lee Daniels — “Precious”

Best Foreign-Language Film:

“Ajami” — Israel

“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” — Argentina

“The Milk of Sorrow” — Peru

“Un Prophete” — France

“The White Ribbon” — Germany

Best Animated Feature Film:

“Coraline”

“Up”

“Fantastic Mr Fox”

“The Princess and the Frog”

“The Secret of Kells”

—————–

Catch the live telecast and complete coverage of the 82nd Academy Awards on March 8 — red carpet and pre-show at 6:30 a.m. and the main show at 9 a.m. — on Velvet Channel (SkyCable channel 53).

via List of 82nd Oscar nominees | ABS-CBN News Online Beta.

From the Mystic River scribe from the legendary  Scorsese and his current muse DiCaprio. Color me excited!!!

LOS ANGELES – Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio’s voyage to “Shutter Island” has landed them at No. 1 at the weekend box office.

Their creepy crime thriller set at a remote insane asylum opened with $40.2 million. “Shutter Island” is the fourth collaboration for Scorsese and DiCaprio and the best opening yet for both the director and star.

via ‘Shutter Island’ makes waves with $40.2M debut – Entertainment – GMANews.TV – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News.

What is the equivalent term for film of “petrol heads” (car lovers)? If your in the US check out the indie film theaters that may be near where you are.

I’m curios what’s the equivalent of that in Metro Manila? UP Film Center? I used to think so till the people who make moralistic an evil word MTRCB lawyer and head clamped down on Cine Adarna’s privilege to be a place where censorship does not exist. I pray the next MTRCB chief knows how valuable a place where boundaries can be explored and push outward.

The New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles is a great place to see a movie. Not because it is the most comfortable theater or the most state of the art, but because it is operated and attended by people who really love movies. I’ve only been there a few times, but the experiences have been great: seeing Wet Hot American Summer with David Wain in attendance, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 with Frank Darabont and Chuck Russell, and catching a marathon of three Friday the 13th flicks.

Quentin Tarantino bought the New Beverly when it fell on hard times, but his involvement with the theater has been known in detail only to some of the most dedicated friends and patrons of the business. Now Tarantino and the family that runs the theater are talking about the process of keeping it alive.

THR has a long report on the process that began when Quentin Tarantino offered financial help to Sherman Torgan, once the New Bev’s operator. He started giving the theater $5000 per month to keep it open. But when Sherman Torgan passed away in 2007, the theater faced closure, prompting Tarantino to buy the space outright. “I always considered the New Beverly my charity,” he says, “an investment I never wanted back.”

Tarantino said one thing of his ownership of the New Bev that really sums it up how grand his patronage of the long-running movie house really is:

As long as I’m alive, and as long as I’m rich, the New Beverly will be there, showing double features in 35mm.

Now this is the place where I have to lecture. Did you read this story and think, “wow, that’s awesome”? If so, and you have a local indie house that you don’t visit on a regular basis, what’s wrong with you?

via Quentin Tarantino Keeps A Classic Movie Theater Open; Who’ll Save the Rest of the Country’s Indie Theaters? | /Film.

There is a featurette at the linked site.

I’m a big Ben Stiller fan, even watched night at the museum, hope this one is better than along came polly.

Meet Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller): a dysfunctional 40-year-old at a crossroads in his life. Roger wants to “do nothing” for a while, so he agrees to housesit for his younger and more successful brother, giving him a free place to stay in L.A. While in town, he tries to reconnect with his old friends and band mates but times have changed, and old friends aren’t necessarily still best friends. Greenberg starts spending time with his brother’s personal assistant Florence (Great Gerwig), an aspiring singer and herself something of a lost soul too. During a series of embarrassingly awkward romantic encounters, we sense that perhaps even someone as irascible as Greenberg may have found somebody who is prepared to appreciate him for himself – if he would only stop critiquing Florence’s techniques in bed. Over the course of several weeks, we watch an uncertain and wonderfully vulnerable courtship play out, and learn how funny, and terribly unpredictable, love in the modern world can be.

via New Behind the Scenes Featurette for Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg | /Film.

This is a Pink film waiting to happen. Spartans lose to the Sacred Band even with a 3 to 1 advantage. This could be legendary. hehehe!

The Sacred Band under Pelopidas fought the Spartans at Tegyra in 375 BCE, vanquishing an army that was at least three times its size. It was also responsible for the victory at Leuctra in 371 BCE, called by Pausanias the most decisive battle ever fought by Greeks against Greeks. Leuctra established Theban independence from Spartan rule and laid the groundwork for the expansion of Theban power, but possibly also for Philip II’s eventual victory.

via Philip of Macedon, the Ultimate Authority on Gays in the Military, Speaks! – Grasping Reality with a Ten-Foot-Long Flexible Trunk.

I’m proud of our kababayan!

Oscar best picture nominee ‘Up’ is Pinoy made

First Posted 15:50:00 02/13/2010

AN ANIMATED feature film nominated in the 82nd Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood next month was made by Filipinos.

The animated comedy adventure “Up” produced by Disney-Pixar has joined the select list of nominees for best animated picture and best film in the prestigious Oscar awards.

Two Filipino talents Ronnie del Carmen, story supervisor and Ricky Nierva, production designer played key roles in the production of “Up.”

via Oscar best picture nominee ‘Up’ is Pinoy made – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.

I’m really excited to watch this!!!! Read the whole thing!!

Obviously, Sly is no James Cameron – and he doesn’t care to be. This isn’t a film you watch with 3-D glasses on. This is a throwback to the pre-special effects days and I found that jarring at first – What, a movie with no blue people?! – but as the film went on, I was cheering and pumping my fists with the rest of the crowd.

As for specific scenes, there are a number of memorable ones that I’m sure we’ll be dissecting for ages – Statham on the basketball court, the explosion on the dock, the tunnel fight and especially the extended climax at the end (where nothing and no one is left standing).

At the end of the day, I really admire what Sly has done here. He’s always had this ability to write strong character-driven stories. What makes The Expendables unique is that there are at least 10 compelling characters to follow… Here’s hoping there’s a sequel!

Signing off,

PewPewPew

via PewPewPew on that Test Screening of THE EXPENDABLES — Ain’t It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news..

This has ruined the Star Wars reboot for me, read the whole thing if you dare. Damn didn’t think of that.

Damn reminds me of what a friend says about reboot Spock. Reboot Spock was an asshole counter to the original series spock where he was irritating not for being an asshole but for being sooo damn logical.

ty to Brad Delong for the pointer

Something that really bugs me about the recent Star Trek movie

Mitch Wagner

There’s a scene at the end of the movie—and I don’t think this is a spoiler, the movie has been building to this point the whole time—where Kirk has the bad guy on the main bridge viewscreen. The bad guy is defeated, his ship crippled, and Kirk offers amnesty. The bad guy proudly refuses, and instead dies with his ship.

Spock approaches Kirk afterward and asks if Kirk was really going to help the bad guy out. And Kirk smirks and says, no, of course not. Spock is happy about that.

It seems to me that one scene spits in the face of one of the greatest things about the original Trek. The show was primarily an action-adventure program, with plenty of fistfights and stirring ship-to-ship battle. But in the end, Gene Roddenberry and the rest of the people who created Trek were espousing a philosophy of peace and forgiveness. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise extended forgiveness to enemies many times, including the very first time they encountered the Romulans, in a sequence that the movie echoes.

The message of Trek: It’s better to talk than to fight. It’s better to forgive your enemies.

via Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / Something that really bugs me about the recent Star Trek movie.