This from the guy who starred in Anaconda

(Throwing my hands up to the heavens) God Bless free speech:

" Sen. Barack Obama has grown up with the teaching of very angry, militant white and black people: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers and Rev. Michael Pfleger. We cannot say we are not affected by teachers who are militant and angry. We know too well that we become like them, and Mr. Obama will run this country in their mindset . . .

If Mr. Obama had his way, he would have pulled our troops from Iraq years ago and initiated an unprecedented bloodbath, turning over that country to the barbarianism of our enemies. With what he has openly stated about his plans for our military, and his lack of understanding about the true nature of our enemies, there’s not a cell in my body that can accept the idea that Mr. Obama can keep us safe from the terrorists around the world, and from Iran, which is making great strides toward getting the atomic bomb. And while a misleading portrait of Mr. Obama is being perpetrated by a media controlled by the Democrats, the Obama camp has sent out people to attack the greatness of Sen. John McCain, whose suffering and courage in a Hanoi prison camp is an American legend."

- As told by Jon Voight. I like Midnight Cowboy just as much as anyone, but really, shut the hell up.

Thanks to Crunk & Disorderly

All great things

Even though I grew up a serious dilettante (clarinet, Alto sax, dance, musical theater, track and field, piano, poetry, painting, photography, blah blah blah), I am pretty sure that film is it for me. In thinking about this, I recall two specific things that lead me to this conclusion. The first is this show during the eighties called "Lights, Camera, Action" narrated by Leonard Nimoy that used to air on Nickelodeon. You couldn't have told me this show didn't have a thousand episodes after watching the making of the Dark Crystal. It was like constant music in my ears after that, I didn't know what to do with myself. The second is "At the Movies" with Siskel and Ebert. First of all, to an introverted, movie obssessed 8 year old on a rainy day, the cheesy intro music and movie theater set is the greatest thing ever. And the movie clips! The arguing! And even though it took me a while to warm up to Richard Roeper, I feel a little something knowing that everything I once knew about the show is going away, no more thumbs up, thumbs down. I wish Roger Ebert the best, I owe that show a lot. The new hosts will probably be acceptable and entertaining. There's just no replacing the original. If more people had that kind of passion for movies, maybe so many crappy movies wouldn't get made. Just a thought.

At the end of the day, it's just music

Alicia Keys apparently has given some kind of an interview where she says gangsta rap doesn't exist and that it was made up to get Black people to kill each other. I kind of get what she is saying but it seems kind of hypocritical to comment on violence in our communities when she was in the extremely violent (and god awfully bad) movie, Smokin Aces. Young impressionable black kids are just as likely to emulate her bounty hunter character as they are NWA or Tupac or Biggie. It's not about a vast government conspiracy, it's about idol worship.

Rappers like Tupac fed off of their own hype as gangsta rappers and that is why they are no longer with us. As far as them being Black leaders...eh, that might be stretching it a bit. Icons certainly, I don't know about leaders. Keys should know better than anyone that music is a business and when something is hot, record execs will take it and run with it.That's not just the government's fault, it's the entertainment industry. Violence and the way our country perpetuates it is the root of the problem, not music. Case in point, this unfortunate occurrence back in the early nineties: (don't act like you don't remember when MC Hammer went gangsta for like a week...)











link via AP
image via tbn networks

Raise your hand if you would like to ban catch phrase movies...

I fell just short of harboring violent thoughts when one of my best friends asked me if I wanted to see Step up 2: The Streets (clever!) I chalked her suggestion up to a serious lapse in judgment, possibly sleep or food deprivation....anyway,for the love of all that is right with this world, the producers of Step Up need to be stopped. Now. Their new cinematic masterpiece is called Never Back Down. Djimon Honsou cannot be blamed for wanting a quick paycheck, for capitalizing off of the hotness that he is, right? Who knows, the movie might even be slightly watchable. One wonders if these people are trolling around those tourist trap t-shirt stores in Times Square looking for movie titles. What's the next one going to be, In it to Win it, or Drop that Zero: Get with This Hero? (They can have that one for free.)

I blame Stomp the Yard and You got Served...no wait, those had mostly all- black casts and the first rule of catch phrase movies is that they have to star at least one tough, inner city- white kid, or an attractive white ballet dancer girl who ends up falling in love with the tough inner city white kid. So I blame Save the Last Dance and for that matter, Bring it On and Stick It and Raise Your Voice and...oh crap, you get the point. Enough already with the inspirational three- word titles. (Although, I did like Bring it On...spirit fingers!)

link via IMDB

Am I the Only One Who thought "I Am Legend" Sucked?

I have been in the midst of an almost three week debate about why I thought this movie was probably one of the worst Will Smith/ CGI laden/ pseudo- intellectual/post-apocalyptic action movies ever made and I am tired.

The funny thing is, when I was on line to get into the movie theater (on opening night because some people I live with who shall remain nameless wanted to see it the second it hit theaters), the previous crowd came out highly recommending that I not go in. Being the mild film snob that I am, I thought to myself : "They were expecting a loud, frenetic action movie, they don't know any better." Well, to all the people I dismissed as having no taste in movies....I am sorry. You were right.

Will Smith is becoming a caricature of himself with all the forced, manly screaming, puppy dog eyes when he's vulnerable, macho wisecracking, etc. Monetarily speaking, this is a good thing because he is his own brand. However, as far as the craft of acting goes, if he really wants to be considered for another Oscar nomination, (believe it or not, someone actually tried to do a for your consideration bid for this movie!) he has to stretch it a little more. I realize that having to carry a movie is no small feat but like a lot of other people in the theater, I was expecting more. I couldn't even attempt to give a crap about the story because it was clear that the screenwriters didn't either. Case in point: the plot point about the zombies evolving. It was mentioned once and then never again despite the fact that there was a zombie "leader" who had nasty looking zombie dogs on a leash and everything. And incidentally, the mouth stretching thing that made the zombies look like they were copied from the same code used in The Mummy, was quite unimpressive. How many times did I just type "Zombie" in this sentence? Zombie.

Sadly, I wasn't even all that impressed at the CGI wasteland that New York was turned into and that's probably because there are plenty of vacant lots and neglected parks where I live in New York that look exactly the same. The film opens with a terrific flashback with Emma Thompson of all people, giving an origin story as to what turned NYC into no man's land. This could have been taken in so many directions instead of just copying off of 28 Days later. (still one of the best zombie movies made in the last 5 years) And then Will Smith (kind of unconvincing in a lab coat) goes from being a cynical, mildly insane doctor to a wide eyed mystic in less time than it took for me to swallow my rubbery movie popcorn.

The Oscar should go to the dog, for being able to put up with being in such an underwhelming movie. One plus: Will Smith's body is perfection (go on, try to pretend you weren't swooning during the chin up scene!)

pic via britfilms.tv
link via New York Magazine

heh?

Wasn't this guy a big TV star like a week ago? Stir of Echoes 2? Was this really a movie worth a sequel? Why are straight to DVD movies automatically considered inferior products to their cinematic counterparts? Okay, that was a dumb question. But seriously, Stir of Echoes 2? The homecoming? Are subtitles necessary for crap movies? Are they a prerequisite? Stir of Echoes 2? Why?????





crap DVD photo via The Lions Gate Shop. Support Rob Lowe, buy one now.