When it comes to children there are only two kinds of movies: The kind you show them to shut them up and the kind you share with them in the hopes they'll remember them for the rest of their lives. By the time my firstborn is six or seven, he or she will have seen more than his or her fair share of Nutty Professors or Shrek Forever Afters, and that's fine. But once your kids are old enough to remember, it becomes important to make sure you're also showing them something better.
Yet you can't wait around until they're old enough to really take in and appreciate movies like Rear Window or Lord of the Rings, let alone get literate enough to handle subtitles. By then it'll be too late. Beverly Hills Chihuahua VII will already own their brains. This weekend fathers around the country are taking their toddlers and pre-teens to see Toy Story 3, and while those kids have probably already forgotten Marmaduke, that Pixar experience is one they may remember for the rest of their lives.
If you watch enough television shows and movies, then you might even start to notice that a bunch of the same props are used over and over again. I first noticed this with a magazine prop in various television shows including Married With Children, which featured a gum advertisement on the back cover. Someone on Reddit recently put together a compilation of photos from various television shows, commercials and movies, showing how one newspaper prop gets around and is reused, and reused again.
I don’t know the story behind this prop newspaper, but I assume it was created as a royalty free prop for television shows. Somewhere along the line, the prop became a reoccurring gag between propmasters. Something like how sound designers reuse the Wilhem Scream in every movie.
Click the image to see more instances of this paper being used.
Jaime Escalante, the East L.A. teacher who was immortalized in the movie "Stand and Deliver," is fighting cancer. His family has run out of money to pay for treatments, according to reports.
Actor Edward James Olmos, who played the teacher in the film, said that Escalante’s family did not want to ask for help, but friends took it upon themselves to get the word out in hopes of making his final days as comfortable as possible. Olmos posted an appeal on his website to friends of Jamie asking them to make a donation.
Olmos said he has been "moved to tears" to hear of the circumstances now facing this "great man."
A fund drive has also been planned at Escalante's alma mater, Garfield High School, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
How far would you go to understand the opposite sex?
That question has helped to fuel the idea behind this site, “30 Chick Flicks in 30 Days: One Guy’s Exploration of Romance Through Movies Loved by Women”.
First, you should know that I’m that “guy” exploring these films. Second, my name is Nick. I’m a husband, and have been for seven years. Third, no one put me up to this. And fourth, I’m not some professional film critic. I live in a small town in southern Oklahoma. I work in communications.
This little experiment will begin Friday, Jan. 15, 2010, and conclude on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010—the day before Valentine’s Day. That’s 30-straight days; 30-straight chick flicks.
The original track of Darth Vader's voice as performed by the man who acted him, David Prowse. Imagine what a different movie Star Wars would have been if they had left it like this. From the Documentary "Empire OF Dreams"
Here's a fairy tale that could only happen in the movies. Man makes YouTube video. Goes to Hollywood. Gets pots of money and a movie deal. Except this story is true.
An unknown producer from Uruguay, Fede Alvarez, shelled out about $300 to create a cool video of a robot invasion in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. The four-minute short, "Ataque de Panico!" (Panic Attack) features ginormous (but slow-moving) weapon-wielding robots that blow stuff up.
I got a tour yesterday of Netflix's distribution center in Irving -- one of four in Texas, and 58 nationwide -- and it was a fascinating peek behind the curtains of a company that has shipped about two billion DVDs since it was founded in 1997 and is gearing up for a future where online viewing will eventually make DVDs as quaint as VHS tapes.
The Irving distribution center handles about 47,000 DVD (and now Blu-ray) discs on a typical day, using U.S. Post Office machines that can scan 30,000 discs in an hour, insert 4,200 outbound discs into envelopes, and sort by zip code more than 17,000 envelopes per hour.
A medium-sized popcorn and medium soda at the nation’s largest movie chain pack the nutritional equivalent of three Quarter Pounders topped with 12 pats of butter, according to a report released today by the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest.
The group’s second look at movie theater concessions — the last was 15 years ago — found little had changed in a decade and a half, despite theaters’ attempts to reformulate.
At the height of the Great Depression, the showman of a renowned circus leads his troupe through the devastated American landscape, lifting the spirits of audiences along the way. During their travels they discover a man without limbs at a carnival sideshow, but after an intriguing encounter with the showman he becomes driven to hope against everything he has ever believed.
You will not regret the 20 minutes you invest in this film.
There is a new football movie coming out around Thanksgiving of this year. I hope the movie is good, because the story it is based on is great.
The Blind Side is an upcoming 2009 film written and directed by John Lee Hancock, and based on the 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. The storyline features Michael Oher, an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens NFL football team. The film follows Oher from his impoverished upbringings, through his years at Briarcrest Christian School, his adoption by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, and on to his position as one of the most highly coveted prospects in college football.
The film stars Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher and Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw as Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, Oher's adopted parents. Kathy Bates co-stars as Miss Sue, Oher's no-nonsense tutor. The movie also features appearances by several current and former NCAA coaches, including Nick Saban, Lou Holtz and Tommy Tuberville.
Watch the movie trailer below and then click the link above to read the story from the New York Times.
A long time ago I came across the phone number (336)226-1488. It is the number for the Graham Cinema in Graham, North Carolina. Being a small town theater it usually shows movies that have already made the big city circuit. Well, each week the owner, Tim Bob (I am not making this up) will give a brief review of the movie and then will tell a couple of jokes. If you ever find yourself bored or in dire need of a corny joke give the Graham Cinema a call and listen to Tim Bob's recorded message.
Click the image above to go to the Graham Cinema website.
HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.
From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.
After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.
The company flew an employee with a DVD of Up, which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie.
The animated movie begins with scenes showing the evolution of a relationship between a husband and wife. After losing his wife in old age, the now grumpy man deals with his loss by attaching thousands of balloons to his house, flying into the sky, and going on an adventure with a little boy.
Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film.
Breakpoint did a review of the new Pixar movie UP in their commentary today. Sounds like a great movie to take the family to.
In recent years, Disney’s Pixar Studios has been something of a godsend for parents looking for wholesome, high-quality entertainment. With great films like WALL-E, The Incredibles, and many more, Pixar has provided family films with heart, films that tell genuinely good stories and avoid the crassness that’s so prevalent in many children’s films today. And their films, without being “message movies,” usually provide plenty of food for thought for both kids and adults.
Mary and I just finished watching Taking Chance, an incredible movie. It was written by Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobl, USMC. It is about his experience escorting the body of 19-year-old Lance Corporal Chance Phelps to his hometown for burial.
I strongly recommend you make the effort to witness this incredible portrayal of “a uniquely non-political film about the war in Iraq, the film pays tribute to all of the men and women who have given their lives in military service as well as their families.”
Click on the image above to learn about this HBO Film. Be sure to click on the menu items on the top corner to see photos, videos, etc. I am also including some links below that you might be interested in.
Remember the Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off? What about the garage it was parked in? Well, the house that garage belongs to is for sale. The 4 bedroom, 4 bath home is listed for $2,300,000.00, but I think I might make a low ball offer.
Click on the picture to see the full real estate listing.
Click either image to see the full list.
