Monday, February 20, 2012

Movies With the Title in the Movie


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If you Haven't Been Watching Supernatural...

English: Network logo for The CW Television Ne...
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By W.B. Preston @prestonwb
Don't Start Now! This would be the worst time to flip to the CW at 9 P.M. on a Friday night. Believe me, this goes against my best interests, cause I love the show, and would enjoy a few more seasons of Dean and Sam kicking demon ass all over the country. But It's because of my love for the show that I must beg you not to tune in now. If everyone that reads this blog tuned in to watch the show next Friday, the network would certainly extend it another season. (We are well aware of our readership, and yes, the CW is that desperate.) And if you did tune in, you would see a show that is a shell of its former self. Bad scripts, worse dialogue, terrible direction, and a fragmented plot, with zero focus and even less drive to get to whatever hazy finish line there might be. No, I'd rather you go watch Season 1 on Netflix watch instantly, take the ride in the Impala at the beginning of the road trip, and thank me in a couple days, cause you will binge watch. And don't worry about getting addicted to a show that goes off the hinges in its final two seasons, that won't matter much because for all intents and purposes, the season 5 finale is the the true end of the show. Believe me, you will be satisfied.
For those of you still unconvinced, I will catch you up to speed- Dean and Sam are hunters. They hunt demons and ghosts and urban legends. They are brothers and Dean is the oldest. Their father raised them to be these demon hunting warriors, but when Sam turned 18 he went away to college. He was pre-law at Stanford on his way to law school before his older brother Dean came along and brought him back on the road to find their missing father. Needless to say, all hell breaks loose from there. Now if you are not dying to see these guys hunt ghosts, well then you're probably on the wrong website. So if you haven't been watching Supernatural, go. Watch. It. Now.
Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester (left) and Ja...
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If You Haven't Been Watching Saturday Night Live...




By W.B. Preston @prestonwb
Congratulations! You have a life. The show is unfunny, uninspired, and mostly terrible. Which is odd considering the wealth of talent the cast has to offer.(Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, Taran Killam, Andy Samberg, Bobby Moyniham, and Keenan Thompson). This is a veteran cast with years of experience and comedic chops, yet some how most of the skits miss more often than they hit. This failure I must lay at the feet of the writers. But more accurately perhaps the blame lay at the feet of the institution. Perhaps this just is what SNL is. A mostly unfunny vehicle for a few comedians to showcase their work. Sure there are a few bright spots here and there, but the show is largely about promoting the host and the performer. The rest is just filler. Going back into the 70's and 80's most of the skits are corny and safe. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule, just this Saturday the intro poked fun at race relations in sports concerning Jeremy Lin and his new-found fame. It was shocking at how risky some of the jokes were, but considering the target, not surprising. Not much risk involved, but well more than anything the show has put on in the last few years.
Another problem the show has is a suspicious lack of diversity. I know, Jewish comedians in New York is a staple, but to have a show, in 2012, without a single Asian, Hispanic, Indian or Arabic person, or a Black woman, speaks to some of the issues the show is having in being fresh and boundary pushing. I think most people agree the early 90's is the golden age of Saturday Night Live, but this cast has such potential, it's sad to see it wasted like this. Obviously I can't speak to whether or not there are egos among the cast or if there are jokes that are not making it into the skits, but the product we get on a weekly basis is not up to snuff. In the past it was the hosts job to match the witty and outrageous cast, now when the show is good, it is the cast trying to match wits with Galafanakis or Deshanel or Emma Stone. And they called in Maya Rudolph, Amy Phoeler and Justin Timberlake this past week to add some energy to the lackluster bunch. So in summation, if you haven't been watching SNL, you aint missin much.
Fred Armisen at the premiere of Baby Mama in N...
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Comic-Con 2006 - Snakes on a Plane Keenan Thompson
Comic-Con 2006 - Snakes on a Plane Keenan Thompson (Photo credit: PopCultureGeek.com)

English: Photo of comedian/actor Andy Samberg....
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Jason Sudeikis at the 2009 New York Television...
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Movie Posters!

Check out these movie posters. There's more over at http://www.thepopcornjunkie.com


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The amazing Spider-Man New Trailer

New Spider-Man trailer, with a few new scenes.


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Super Social Media

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Valentine's Day

HAPPY VALENTINES!!!!
W.B. Preston
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Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Trailer

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter
Image via Wikipedia
Could be fun.
W.B. Preston


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Race in the Phantom Menace

Jar Jar Binks, a Gungan
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By: W.B. Preston
Of course the issue of racism must be brought up when ever talking about The Phantom Menace. There are three main characters in the film that can be seen as racial stereotypes. Watto the junk dealer is supposed to be seen as Jewish, The Neimoidians, whom are the evil Trad Federation are supposed to resemble a caricature of some sort of homogeneous Asian stereotype, and of course Jar Jar represents some sort of minstrel show, Stepin Fetchit  African American stereotype. While the characters themselves are terribly written and 1 dimensional, and this should be enough to offend any first year screenplay student, it is the overt similarities to old Hollywood stereotypes that is offensive to the respective nationalities. Some claim that there is no race involved here and that these are just alien creatures with strange accents and have nothing to do with the stereotypes they seem to resemble quite well. You be the judge. Is this racist or just coincidence?


Neimoidians at 3:30


Jar Jar at 2:23


David Chen has a good article about this.
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Beyond the Black Rainbow Trailer

Beyond the Black Rainbow
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W.B. Preston
Now this looks like something I could get excited about. Surreal.


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R.I.P. Whitney





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The Phantom Menace 3D




     This week I was bombarded with Menace sympathizers. They seemed to pop up everywhere, emboldened by the 3D release of the first installment of the Star Wars Saga. Armed with their talking points, these sympathizers finally revealed themselves to the public as staunch defenders of George Lucas and the prequel that completed his transformation to the dark side. A transformation that began, some say with the ewoks, but i contend with the special edition changes that took place in the mid 90's. I was 14 when the Menace was released, and was well versed in the Star Wars lore by this time. I was not versed in film technique and screenplay format or any of the technical aspects of film making. But this film marked the beginning of my realization that films were made by people, and some people made films better than others.
     
     I had seen The Matrix for the first time only a few months prior to seeing the Menace. Truth is I had seen The Matrix 8 times prior to seeing the Menace. The Matrix opened my eyes to the fact that anything you could imagine could be displayed on the big screen. SO my anticipation was palpable in the days before the Menace was released. If the Wachowski's, who were relative newcomers to Hollywood could do This with film, I could not imagine what the legendary George Lucas was about to expose my 14 year old mind to. SO cut to opening day of the Phantom Menace, I'm sitting midway through the packed theater with my family, at about noon. I got my popcorn and my soda and I'm ready to experience a new Star Wars adventure for the first time since I was 7. And what does the master of Sci Fi give us? A snooze fest. A boring plodding, anti climactic, soulless, trek through the deserts of Tatooine and the swamps of Naboo. This was slightly devastating, for Star Wars had been the Holy Grail of film for me up until that point. I say slightly because there was now The Matrix. A sleek, fast, action packed, psychological thrill ride that I could devour for a few years until it too was ruined by its inferior sequels.
     
     And before you Menace apologists try to attack me with the argument that the Matrix is rated R and Menace is for kids, let me stop you there. The Matrix is amazing, not because there is violence, not because there is cursing. It's amazing because of the focused plot and gripping storyline. Its amazing because it takes you to places you didn't even know you wanted to go. Shows you things you didn't think you could see. So I am completely sick and tired of you Menace sympathizers who claim that The Phantom Menace is just as corny and stilted as A New Hope. Give me a break. Sure A New Hope is not gonna win any awards for it's dialogue, but at least it has a coherent plot line. At least it is fast paced and includes a relate-able central character whom the audience can cheer for, and fear for his life. No one gives a piss about Anakin in the Menace. We know he is going to survive, but if he didn't, would anyone care? The screenplay is incompetent at best, and lazy at worst.
      
 Then there's this sentiment that the Menace contains the greatest of all Light Sabre battles. If you're talking about choreography and technical aptitude, then you are absolutely correct. The Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Maul battle is excellence. Too bad we didn't care about the outcome, cause we didn't care about the characters. We knew Obi-Wan would Survive, so no suspense there, Maul might as well have been a plank of wood cause he had no character development, no story arc, and relatively nothing to do. Qui-Gon Jinn is obviously the strongest link here, due to the fact that he was played by Liam Neeson, and he was the fatherly figure of the film. You could argue that he is the protagonist of the film, but it doesn't bode well for your script when you kill off your most relate-able and liked character. In sum, there is more emotion and audience investment in the 5 minute Obi-Wan Vs. Vader battle in A new Hope than all of the prequel trilogy combined.  The audience is fully invested in Luke by that point of the movie, when Obi-Wan is cut down everyone yells NOOO! along with Luke, because we are completely on board with everything about that movie. So I would argue the best Light Sabre duel is Luke vs. Vader in Return of the Jedi, because there is just so much on the line. Of course Lucas had to ruin that scene as well, with the release of the Blu-Ray boxed set.                  
Jake Lloyd portrayed 9-year-old Anakin Skywalker






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