Category: Movies

300: The Art of the Film / Z-View

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I received my Art of 300 book today and it’s a beaut!With 300: The Art of the Film you get to go behind the scenes and see how director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) translates Frank Miller’s award-winning graphic novel to the big screen. The book includes more than 100 pages of production photos, concept art, and much, much more. What makes the deal even sweeter is that if you order using the link provided you can save over 33%!Now if the movie’s release date would only get here!

300: The Art of the Film rates an “A”

2006 – My Top 5 Movies

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Last year I watched over 200 films and less than a dozen were seen in a theater. I used to go to the movies on a weekly basis, but I’ve found that as I’ve gotten older and dvds hit the market sooner, I will quite often wait to watch a movie in the comfort of my home. This has both advantages and disadvantages, but instead of discussing them, I thought we’d instead look at five of my favorite movies from last year.

5.  Running Scared  has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster. The movie starts in the middle of a drug deal that suddenly goes bad. An insane shootout takes place and we’re off an running. Along the way we’re going to meet drug dealers, pimps, crooked cops, child molesters, Russian mobsters, and other upright citizens. The movie constantly maintains a forward momentum as Joey Gazelle [Paul Walker] first attempts to retrieve a stolen gun used in a mob killing and then finds himself on a mission to save a kid. The supporting cast is first rate and writer/director Wayne Kramer is a talent to keep an eye on. This movie is not for kids.
Running Scared  rates an A

4.  The Salton Sea  was actually released in 2002 but qualifies for my list since I saw it for the first time last year. Like Running Scared,   The Salton Sea  is full of crazy characters and plot twists abound. I hesitate to say anything about the movie, because the journey and discovery of who everyone is and what is going on is so much fun. Of course when I say “fun” I don’t mean as in comedy fun.  The Salton Sea  is not for kids. The people in the movie are the kind that you’d want to avoid in real life [drug dealers, thieves, crooked cops and killers] but adults who don’t mind gritty dramas won’t mind spending some reel life with them.
The Salton Sea  rates an A+


3.  A History of Violence  was first released in 2005, but again because I didn’t see it until 2006, qualifies for my “Best of” list. Here’s what I had to say after seeing it.
A History of Violence rates an A+.
2. I absolutely loved Casino Royale. In fact I saw it twice during it’s initial release and can’t wait to put the dvd in my movie collection. Tom Richmond, best known for his art, perfectly summarized my thoughts on Casino Royale so if you want to know what I thought about it, click HERE and see what Tom had to say. Casino Royale rates an A+

1. I’ve been a Stallone fan since before the original Rocky, but it was Rocky that sealed the deal and made me the Stallone mega-fan[atic] that I am today. When I heard that Rocky II  was going to be made, I can remember thinking, “there’s no way it can be as good.” I was right, but Rocky II  was a worthy continuation of the story. Rocky III  was even better, but still not on the level of the original. Then came Rocky IV  which was fun, and in turn was followed by Sly’s misstep with the character in Rocky V  and with each of these sequels we moved a bit farther from the original.

Rocky Balboa  is a return to the spirit, the feel, and the essence of Rocky.  Sly’s acting is some of his best work ever. The screenplay has the wit and charm of the original. Rocky Balboa was the perfect way to end the Rocky series.

Rocky Balboa rates an A+

Smokin’ Title Sequences

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If the movie is near as cool as the title sequences, then “Smoking Aces” is going to be a fun ride. There’s no doubt that writer/director, Joe Carnahan can deliver the goods. Add in a cast that includes Jeremy Piven, Peter Berg, Andy Garcia, Alicia Keys, Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta and a bunch of others and I think that we’re in for a blast.

Oh, and just two more things: 1] Mauro Fiore [who did the same job on Sly Stallone‘s remake of “Get Carter”] is the director of photography and Clint [“The Fountain”] Mansell is once again the man behind the music.

Double Your Fun!

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I’m a big fan of double features. Since the demise of drive-ins [yeah, I know, many of you are too young to have ever been to one], we just don’t get ’em anymore.

That’s about to change next April when Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez [roll those R’s Kelsey!] team up to bring us “Planet Terror” [zombies] and “Death Proof” [muscle car serial killer – not that he kills muscle cars, mind you].

Here’s the trailer.

 

Live Free and File Harder

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I have enjoyed all of the “Die Hard” movies. While I totally agree that “Die Hard” was by far the best, that doesn’t take away my enjoyment of of “Die Hard 2: Die Harder” and “Die Hard with a Vengeance.”
So, yeah, I’m looking forward to “Live Free or Die Hard” [although it’s going to mess with my alphabetical filing of my DVDs if it makes the cut]. Unfortunately, the trailer doesn’t convince me that it will.

007: 002 Views – 001 Vision

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The caricature of Daniel Craig aka “The New James Bond” is the work of Tom Richmond. Tom is perhaps best known for his artistic endeavors at Mad magazine. I’ve been following Tom’s work for some time now, and regularly check out his blog. Initially it was Tom’s art that kept me coming back, but that’s not what I’m writing about today.

Tom posted his thoughts after seeing “Casino Royale” yesterday. While I was reading Tom’s review, I kept nodding and thinking, “My thoughts EXACTLY.” I couldn’t agree more with Tom in regard to his take on “Casino Royale” and the James Bond franchise. So if you want to know what I thought about the movie, then click HERE… as an added bonus you’ll get to see a bunch of Tom’s cool art as well.

 

Return of the Digital Dragon!

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Rob Cohen [director of “Daylight,” “The Fast and the Furious,” and “Dragon”] wrote in to the LatinoReview.com to explain his plans for his next picture which will star Bruce Lee. [You read that right Bruce Lee].

Here are a couple of tidbits from the post: “I am creating an entirely photo-realistic Bruce Lee with new, advanced digital technology… This will be the first digital actor and I am very excited about the challenge.”

Let’s consider how cool this will be if it works. Not only would we get to see the closest thing to the return of Bruce Lee, but it will also usher in the next generation of all-star movie casts! Think about how cool it would be to see Sly Stallone, young Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart and Lee Marvin acting along side each other. The possibilities are endless.

So, what would your dream cast be?