This just in via my (real-life) pal @jspeights on twitter: Seattle International Film Festival is re-opening the Uptown Theater in Queen Anne as an art house in October. Very good news for Seattle film lovers!
Posted in Cinemas, Seattle Cinemas | Tagged Queen Anne Uptown Theater, Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle Uptown Theater, SIFF, SIFF reopening Uptown, Uptown Theater | 1 Comment »
By far the most fun movie I’ve seen this summer is Sharktopus.
Granted, I really haven’t seen many movies this summer. I’ve mostly just been hanging out with friends, going out to lunch, and fighting with this young-adult paranormal romance I’ve been writing since January (the book is winning the fight, by the way).
As you know, I have to see EVERY horror movie known to man, so I did see an interesting one a few months ago: Cannibal Holocaust. Made in 1980, I think it was the first “found footage” film and an obvious influence on Blair Witch Project, which didn’t come along until 20 years later.
The premise is that a documentary crew goes into the jungle to film cannibals and, well, their footage is found a year later. The movie is notorious for not only its stark brutality, but also for the fact that several animals were actually killed on camera.
I am not necessarily recommending this film, because if it’s something you’d like, you’ve probably already seen it and I don’t want to be responsible for traumatizing any of you.
Also, the acting by the people who find the footage and watch it to see what happened to the crew is laughably bad. They give “who farted” looks while watching reel after reel of acts that are absolutely horrifying.
Posted in horror movies, movies, wtf | Tagged B-movies, blair witch project, cannibal holocaust, found-footage films, found-footage horror, horror movies, monster movies, Movies, roger corman, shark attacks, shark week, sharks, sharktopus | 2 Comments »
The Emmy nominations came out this morning.
Argh. Vince Kartheiser who plays Pete Campbell on Mad Men got shut out again. What does he have to do to get nominated for an Emmy?
Although Christina Hendricks finally got nommed and Mad Men got nineteen nominations total (including Best Lead for Hamm and Moss, Best Supporting for Slattery, Best Guest for Ida Blankenship and a crapload of artistic nods including two for writing). Yay! Come back, show!
Oddly am pulling for Matt Damon as Best Guest Actor on 30 Rock. He’s really good in that role.
Nick Offerman was not acknowledged in the extremely competitive Best Supporting Actor category for his amazing work as Ron Swansen on Parks & Rec, but he can console himself with the fact that the James Franco-hosted Academy Awards got nine nominations.
It puts things in perspective.
Posted in celebrities, mad men, Television, wtf | Tagged 2011 emmys, emmy awards, emmy nominations 2011, mad men, mad men 19 emmy, mad men's christina hendricks, mad men's vincent karthesier, nick offerman emmy snub, pete campbell mad men, vince kartheiser | Leave a Comment »
Until last night I didn’t know anything about Justin Bieber except for his haircut. (Pro tip: Having a mop-top hairdo and starting your band name with a bee-sound will equal fan mania such as the world has never seen.)
I always get a sense of people rolling their eyes about the Biebs, I guess because he’s a teenybopper and so insanely popular.
As usual what gets lost is the music.
I wanted to know more about him, so I watched Never Say Never, a quasi-documentary about his career leading up to a landmark performance at Madison Square Garden that sold out in 22 minutes.
I was surprised at how gifted he is. He’s an amazing drummer and guitar player, and of course can sing and dance. He started out as a street performer and on YouTube, and you don’t get much more merit-based than that. No, I am not joking. You can dislike his music or his persona, but you can’t argue with them–they weren’t manufactured; they were elected by popular vote.
Bieber himself is extremely engaging and seems to have fairly decent people around him, although I was appalled by his vocal coach who said he sometimes whines about not being a normal 16-year-old. She basically tells him to can it, because “this is your normal.” Yikes, he’s just a kid. An incredibly rich and famous one, true, but everyone should be allowed whining time, especially a teenager.
I would have liked to see an actual bratty, age-appropriate meltdown (but with power and money) in the film, but sadly none was forthcoming since Never is nothing if not promotional.
That doesn’t stop people from looking for bratty behavior, though. According to the HuffPost:
Bieber made his fictional TV debut with a two-episode arc on “CSI” last year, and according to co-star Marg Helgenberger, the kid who played a troubled teen was, off-camera, a trouble-making teen.
“I shouldn’t be saying this but he was kind of a brat [on the set],” Helgenberger told French Magazine Le Grand Direct Des Medias.
“He was very nice to me,” she continued, “but he locked one of the producers in a closet.”
Bieber had this–very mature–response via twitter:
“it’s kinda lame when someone you met briefly and never worked with comments on you. I will continue to wish them luck and be kind.”
I give the kid a lot of leeway. I know adults whose behavior at work is much worse than locking people in the closet as a prank.
Posted in celebrities, movies, music | Tagged beiber, bieber, Bieber brat, bieber CSI, bieber helgenberger, justin bieber, Movies, music, never say never justin bieber, never say never movie, pop stars | 1 Comment »
