Rango
Rango: Me? I-I’m from the West! Out there, beyond the horizon, past the sunset. The Far West. Yeah, that’s right, hombres. The place I come from, we kill a man before breakfast just to work up an appetite. Then we salt ‘im, then we pepper ‘im, then we braise ‘im in clarified butter… And then – we eat him.
Gopher: Ya eat ‘im?
Rango: THAT’S WHAT I SAID!
Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.
Joss Whedon gets a lot of praise for his writing, often at the expense of his skills as a director. He is able to get creative and varied performances out of his actors, though some of that can also be attributed to his writing ability. However, seeing Serenity on the big screen again reminded me how creative he is with a camera. So I decided to take today’s Friday Favorite to go beyond just my usual one item and instead highlight all of my favorite shots from Serenity. Some of these are great examples of Joss’s use of visual storytelling, others are creative or unconventionally framed, and some are just ones that I like the way they look. And while some of the credit has to go Jack N. Green, Serenity‘s cinematographer, when you listen to Joss’s commentary on the film and read his script it becomes apparent how many of these shots he planned far in advance.
Harry Potter is an obsession of mine, but it’s something I have a hard time writing about. The depth of feeling I have about the books keeps me from being able to explain myself in a coherent way, because the emotional experience is so raw and personal that it overwhelms me, and I can’t find the words to express it. I listen to the audiobooks constantly (because I have more time to listen to audiobooks than to read, lately), getting to the end of Deathly Hallows and starting over again with Sorcerer’s Stone. It’s pretty much constantly on my mind, and even if I’m not actively thinking about it, it’s always nearby. (The only piece of jewelry I wear other than my wedding ring is a ring I designed which has 7 symbols on it, one of which is the sign of the Deathly Hallows.) I may proselytize about the church of Joss Whedon, but Harry Potter means more to me than anything Joss has created, though I rarely talk about it due to its personal nature. I find myself disappointed and heartbroken whenever I try and fail, so I often just keep my mouth shut.
This puts me in an odd position with regards to the Harry Potter movies. Continue reading
Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies.
I think even Disney was surprised by the success of 2011’s The Muppets. It revitalized the brand in a way that was unexpected considering the straight-to-DVD languishing that the Muppets had been suffering in recent years. Having a big name writer in Jason Segel and cult favorite Bret McKenzie to write the songs helped, but more than that I think people were eager for a real return of the Muppets they knew. The story had a clever setup, using new character Walter as a way to remind people what they loved about the Muppets, and it was full of stars either in cameos or full roles. (It’s the best film Jack Black has been in in a long time.) But beyond that, The Muppets captured the essence of the Muppets, that crazy, surrealist energy that only a band of misfits could have. It’s too early to tell whether the sequel, Muppets Most Wanted, can recapture that magic, but take a look at the first teaser trailer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcw2Aje5KU0
I could listen to Animal yelling out “Sequel” and other random words all day long. Continue reading
This past weekend was our annual Can’t Stop the Serenity event in Tucson, and I thought I’d share a few observations about the evening. There are still many upcoming CSTS events for 2013 scheduled around the world (including Melbourne, Phoenix, London, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and Philadelphia), so you might be able to find one near you. If not, there’s always next year.
This year’s CSTS in Tucson was at the gorgeous 1920’s Fox theatre, for the 3rd year in a row. Continue reading
Every movie fan has been annoyed by inconsiderate people in the audience. Worst of all might be the people who check their phone during the movie, not caring about the bright screen that’s hugely distracting. Every theater has some sort of pre-show behavior warning, though some are better than others. (We’ve come a long way since the days where “no smoking” was the most important warning that theaters had to give.) Here’s one, from the famous Alamo Drafthouse, which has a very strict etiquette policy.
That’s Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller Continue reading
Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.
After last week’s super-sized Friday Favorite, today’s will be a bit simpler. For some reason, I absolutely love this joke. It might be my favorite part of the whole movie. Take a look and then read on:
Generally speaking, I’m not big into arts and crafts. Writing is my creative outlet, and my hands shake too much for most kinds of artwork. However, cross-stitch is something I can do, and it’s something relaxing and fun that can be done while watching a movie or TV show in the evenings. However, I often get bored with most cross-stitch designs, because there’s not a lot out there that interests me. So I set out to see if I could find one based on the TV show Firefly. (I previously did one based on the Dick Tracy poster, which I might post sometime in the future.) Continue reading
If RED and RED 2 were supposed to be “James Bond with senior citizens”, then Last Vegas is “The Hangover with senior citizens.” Take a look and read on for my thoughts:
This year’s D23, a conference every two years exclusively for members of the D23 fan club, was full of news about upcoming projects, but unfortunately it wasn’t the news that people were expecting to hear. There was no Star Wars casting announcement, no surprises from Marvel or Pixar, no Pirates of the Caribbean sequel. What there was, however, was lots of smaller casting announcements, plus an in-depth look at some films which we previously only knew the title of. I’m a D23 member, but I wasn’t at the conference this year, but read on for the highlights of what was announced and shown, along with some of my opinions. Continue reading
The Love Pirate 