Guillermo del Toro Book Signing at Forbidden Planet in October

GUILLERMO DEL TORO SIGNING AT FORBIDDEN PLANET

Diary Date: Wednesday 6th, October 6 – 7pm

Forbidden Planet is pleased to announce a signing by top Hollywood director Guillermo del Toro. He will be signing his new novel The Fall at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Wednesday 6th October 6 – 7pm.

In this fantastic sequel to The Strain, humans have been displaced at the top of the food chain, and now understand what it is to be not the consumer, but the consumed. Ephraim Goodweather, director of the New York office of the Centers for Disease control, is one of the few humans who understands what is really happening. Vampires have arrived in New York City, and their condition is contagious. If they cannot be contained, the entire world is at risk of infection. As the Biblical origins of the Ancient ones are gradually revealed, Eph learns that there is a greater, more terrible plan in store for the human race – worse even than annihilation…

Guillermo del Toro came to prominence with cult horror movies such as Chronos and The Devil’s Backbone and made his Hollywood directorial debut with the classic Blade II. Rapidly followed by the box office and critical hit Hellboy and the Oscar-winning Pan’s Labyrinth, del Toro has established himself as one of the leading directors in the genre.

Forbidden Planet is the largest store of its kind in the world. Some of the biggest names in Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Comics and Cult Entertainment have come to our London Megastore for signing events, including: Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Terry Gilliam, Simon Pegg, William Gibson, Mark Millar, Brian Froud and Stephen King.

For more news about our signings please go to: http://www.forbiddenplanet.com/Signings.html

Review: Excellent "Dogma" Falters Badly in Last Act

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Dogma (1999)
Running time: 130 minutes (2 hours, 10 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong language including sex-related dialogue, violence, crude humor and some drug content
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Kevin Smith
PRODUCER: Scott Mosier
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Yeoman (director of photography)
EDITOR: Scott Mosier and Kevin Smith
COMPOSER: Howard Shore

COMEDY/FANTASY

Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, Janeane Garofalo, George Carlin, Jason Lee, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, Alanis Morrissette, Jason Mewes, and Kevin Smith

Bethany Sloane (Linda Fiorentino) is the last known descendant of Jesus Christ. Metatron the voice of God (Alan Rickman) sends her on a quest to stop two renegade angels from exploiting a loophole in Roman Catholic law to regain entry into heaven, an act that will cause existence to cease. Joining her on her quest are Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (the director Kevin Smith), and the forgotten black 13th Apostle, Rufus (Chris Rock). The two angels, Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), are encouraged in their destructive quest by a fallen angel/muse, Azrael (Jason Lee).

Directed by Kevin Smith (Clerks.), Dogma is meant to be satire of or, at least, poke fun, at Roman Catholic Dogma, and it succeeds at pointing out some of the Church’s eccentricities, although many of the complaints could be applied to Christianity in general, or most other faiths, for that matter. Dogma’s points are mostly complaints that one could hear from any armchair observer or frustrated Sunday mass-goer. The real pleasure of this film, and there are, surprisingly, many pleasures, is the execution of the film and raucous comedy.

Despite moments of long-winded and awkward soliloquies, the dialogue is pointed and funny. Often harsh and abrasive, it ranges from being hilarious and uproarious to smart and dead on in some of the film’s more opinionated moments. Dogma is an unusual film, a comedy that is very much steeped in the fantastique. However, its witty and ribald repartee engages the viewers and draws him through some of the film’s quirkier moments.

The acting is good from top bill to supporting cast, and they all manage to be quite convincing even when choking on mouthfuls of the verbose Smith’s dialogue. The characters Jay and Silent Bob are as funny as ever, and the make excellent sidekicks to the main players and story. Ms. Fiorentino makes a dramatic, but wry, turn as the downtrodden Bethany, she of shaky faith; she is surprisingly good although, at first glance, she seems an odd choice for a Kevin Smith film. Chris Rock also makes a rather nice appearance as Rufus; he manages to both be true to his shtick and to the film.

For all it’s fun, Dogma falls apart in the end. The last half hour’s violence is careless and special effects are not impressive seem a little cheap. Alanis Morissette’s appearance as God is the final straw in the film’s dismal closing chapter.

Oh, well. They almost had it. Watch Dogma for all its fun, especially if you’re familiar with Kevin Smith’s brand of comedy, but expect to pay for the fun with a poor ending.

5 of 10
B-

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62nd Primetime Emmy Awards - Creative Arts Emmys

2010 Emmys Creative Arts: Winners list
(Thanks Gold Derby)

Best Casting of a Drama Series: "Mad Men"

Best Casting of a Movie/Mini: "The Pacific"

Best Casting of a Comedy Series: "Modern Family" (announced by Jane Lynch of "Glee," a losing nominee)

Best Prosthetic Makeup for Series, Movie or Mini: "The Pacific"

Best Makeup for Movie or Mini (Non-Prosthetic): "The Pacific"

Best Makeup for a Single-Camera Series, Movie, Mini or Special (Non-Prosthetic): "Grey's Anatomy"

Best Makeup/ Multi-Camera (Non-Prosthetic): "Saturday Night Live"

Best Guest Actress in a Comedy: Betty White, "Saturday Night Live" (not present to accept)

Best Costumes for Movie/Mini: "Return to Cranford"

Best Costumes for a Series: "The Tudors"

Best Music Direction: "Olympic Games"

Best Choreography: Mia Michaels, "So You Think You Can Dance"

Best Music Score: "24"

Best Music Score for Movie/Mini: "Temple Grandin"

Best Music and Lyrics: "Monk"

Best Art Direction for Variety or Nonfiction Program: "Academy Awards"

Best Art Direction for Movie/Mini: "The Pacific"

Best Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series: "The Tudors"

Best Picture Editing for Comedy Series: "Modern Family"

Best Picture Editing for Drama Series (Single Camera): "Lost"

Best Picture Editing for Movie/Mini (Single Camera): "Temple Grandin"

Best Short Form Picture Editing: "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"

Best Picture Editing for Nonfiction Program: "By the People: Election of Barack Obama"

Best Picture Editing for Reality Program: "Intervention"

Best Animated Program: "Disney Prep and Landing"

Best Short Form Animated Program: "Robot Chicken"

Best Voiceover Performance: Anne Hathaway, "The Simpsons"

Best Stunt Coordination: "Flash Forward"

Best Visual Effects in a Series: "CSI"

Best Visual Effects in a Movie/Mini/Special: "The Pacific, Part 5"

Best Main Titles Design: "Bored to Death"

Best Main Title Theme Music: "Nurse Jackie"

Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series: John Lithgow, "Dexter" (he accidentally thanked HBO instead of Showtime!)

Best Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series: "Glee"

Best Sound Mixing for a Mini/Movie: "The Pacific, Part 2"

Best Sound Mixing for Half-Hour Series (Tie): "Entourage" and "Modern Family"

Best Sound Mixing for Music Series or Special (tie): "Grammy Awards" and "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert"

Best Tech Direction for a Series: "Dancing with the Stars"

Best Tech Direction for a Mini/Special: "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert"

Best Cinematography for Nonfiction: "Life"

Best Cinematography for Movie/Mini: "Return to Cranford"

Best Cinematography for One-Hour Show: "CSI"

Best Cinematrophy for Half-Hour Series: "Weeds"

Best Cinematography for Nonfiction: "Survivor"

Best Lighting: Winter Olympics Opening

Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series: Neil Patrick Harris, "Glee"

Best Direction for Nonfiction: "My Lai"

Best Writing for Nonfiction: "National Parks"

Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking: "Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)"

Best Nonfiction Special: "Teddy: In His Own Words"

Best Nonfiction Series: "National Parks: America's Best Idea"

Best Special Class Program: "Tony Awards" (NHP said at the podium, "I just want to thank Boomer from The Envelope or I wouldn't have gotten this!" then he gave Boomer double thumbs up! -- CONGRATS BOOMER!)

Best Creative Achievement Interactive: "Star Wars Uncut"

Best Creative Achievement in Interactive: "The Jimmy Fallon Digital Experience"

Best Direction of Variety: "Saturday Night Live"

Best Children's Program: "Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie"

Best Variety Special: "Kennedy Center Honors"

Best Variety Writing: "Colbert Report"

Best Children's Nonfiction Program: "Nick News With Linda Ellerbee - The Face Of Courage: Kids Living With Cancer"

Best Commercial: "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like • Old Spice Body Wash"

Best Reality Program: "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution"

Best Reality Host: Jeff Probst, "Survivor"

Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Ann-Margret, "Law and Order: SVU" (she receives the only standing ovation of the night)

Visit the Emmy.tv website or view this PDF press which goes into details about each award and names the actual winner or winners of the trophy in each category.

Review: God Awful = "Mallrats"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 182 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mallrats (1995)
Running time: 94 minutes (1 hour, 34 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong language, including sexual dialogue, and for some scenes of sexuality and drug content
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Kevin Smith
PRODUCERS: Sean Daniel, James Jacks, and Scott Mosier
CINEMTOGRAPHER: David Klein
EDITOR: Paul Dixon

COMEDY

Starring: Shannen Doherty, Jeremy London, Jason Lee, Claire Forlani, Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Renee Humphrey, Jason Mewes, Ethan Suplee, Stan Lee, Michael Rooker, and Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith hit the almost inevitable sophomore slump with his awful film Mallrats. It the tale of two buddies, both dumped by their girlfriends on the same day. Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee) is a slacker comic book collector who lives in his mom’s basement, and his girl, Rene Mosier (Shannen Doherty), just can’t put up with being mostly ignored by Brodie for comics and videogames. T.S. Quint (Jeremy London) is an aimless college student who always fights with his girl, Brandi (Claire Forlani).

So Brodie and T.S. seek solace at the local mall, but they can’t get away from their girlfriends. Rene is there and has found a new boy toy in the form of Shannon Hamilton (Ben Affleck), a salesman at an upscale men’s clothing store, who is a bully to both friend and foe. Brandi is a replacement contestant on her father’s game show, an episode of which is filming at the mall, so Brodie and T.S. plot to ruin shoot. Meanwhile, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) are lurking about the mall, looking to cause mischief.

The dialogue that was so riotously funny in Clerks. turns to crap in Mallrats. It’s just line after line of meaningless filler that when spoken sounds awkward and unnatural. The actors are game and give it their best shot to make Smith’s words seem cool and witty, but it just comes out as noise. The script is so bad that it actually keeps the cast, for the most part, from being able to act at a professional level.

Smith is at his best when he takes a group of characters and gives them funny, insightful, and outrageous things to say. The moment he tries to construct a plot around the dialogue the scenario begins to crumble. And the more he tries to fit it into a plot or the more he tries to create a situation around the talking heads, the worse the movie gets, especially when the repartee is really more important than the plot. Smith began to solve this problem in his later films, but Mallrats is still trash.

2 of 10
D

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Zach Snyder's "Legend of the Guardians" Gets a Soundtrack CD

WaterTower Music to Release Soundtrack to “Legend of the Guardians” on September 21

Features Brand New Music from Multi-Platinum International Phenom Owl City

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On September 21, WaterTower Music will release the original motion picture soundtrack to the fantasy family adventure “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole,” based on the beloved Guardians of Ga’Hoole books by Kathryn Lasky. The film opens nationwide in theatres and IMAX on September 24 in both 3D and 2D.

The exciting soundtrack features an epic musical mix that is anchored by “To the Sky,” a brand new song from internationally acclaimed multi-platinum sensation Owl City. The song is featured prominently within the film and then plays again as it soars over the end title sequence. “It is such an incredible honor to be a part of this film,” says Owl City’s Adam Young. “As a fan of both the children’s book series growing up, and Zack Snyder’s work as a director, having my music included is pretty surreal. I've been waiting for someone to make a movie like this for some time now. I’m endlessly grateful to be involved.”

The past year has been a whirlwind for Owl City, whose debut album, Ocean Eyes, was released in July 2009 and went platinum on April 1, 2010. The first single, “Fireflies,” is now triple platinum and hit the #1 spot on the Hot 100 twice, as well as going #1 in 23 countries around the world.

Additionally, the soundtrack features the heroic musical landscapes of David Hirschfelder’s score. Hirschfelder, an Academy Award® nominee (“Elizabeth,” “Shine”), earned a BAFTA Film Award for Best Original Film Score for “Strictly Ballroom,” and has also won Australia’s Aria Award for Best Original Soundtrack Album for his work on “Elizabeth,” and an Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award for Best Original Music Score for “Shine.”

A must-have for every “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” and Owl City fan alike, the original motion picture soundtrack will be available on CD Tuesday, September 21.


About “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole”
Acclaimed filmmaker Zack Snyder makes his animation debut with “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.” The film follows Soren, a young owl enthralled by his father’s epic stories of the Guardians of Ga’Hoole, a mythic band of winged warriors who had fought a great battle to save all of owlkind from the evil Pure Ones.

Snyder is directing “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” from a screenplay by John Orloff and Emil Stern, based on the Guardians of Ga’Hoole novels by Kathryn Lasky. The film is being produced by Zareh Nalbandian, with Donald De Line, Deborah Snyder, Lionel Wigram, Chris deFaria, Kathryn Lasky and Bruce Berman serving as executive producers.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.” Opening nationwide in theaters and IMAX on September 24, 2010, the film will be presented in 3D and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures. www.legendoftheguardians.com

About WaterTower Music
WATERTOWER MUSIC, the in-house music label for Warner Bros. Pictures Inc., has been releasing recorded music since 2002. Distributed by Fontana Distribution, the independent arm of Universal Music Group Distribution, WTM has released over 70 titles, including the film soundtracks to the multi-platinum “Hairspray,” “Sex and the City,” “Valentine’s Day” “The Hangover,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and “Sherlock Holmes.” Its 2010 release schedule includes "Going the Distance," "Due Date,” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

Review: "Cop Out" Loves the 80s

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 69 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Cop Out (2010)
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive language including sexual references, violence, and brief sexuality
EDITOR/DIRECTOR: Kevin Smith
WRITERS: Robb Cullen and Mark Cullen
PRODUCERS: Polly Cohen Johnsen, Marc Platt, and Michael Tadross
CINEMATOGRAHER: David Klein (D.o.P.)
COMPOSER: Harold Faltermeyer

COMEDY/ACTION/CRIME

Starring: Bruce Will, Tracy Morgan, Seann William Scott, Rashida Jones, Guillermo Diaz, Cory Fernandez, Jason Lee, Kevin Pollack, Adam Brody, Michelle Trachtenberg, Ana de la Reguera, and Sean Cullen

The combination of international box office star, Bruce Willis, outrageous jigaboo comedian, Tracy Morgan, and indie director, Kevin Smith (Clerks.), seems too odd to work. There recent buddy cop movie, Cop Out, however, is funny – surprisingly, shockingly funny.

Cop Out focuses on James “Jimmy” Monroe (Bruce Willis) and Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan), two longtime NYPD cops who have been partners for nine years. Their investigation of a drug ring goes bad when a bad-ass supplier named Juan Diaz (Cory Fernandez) shoots up a neighborhood and escapes. After getting suspended, Jimmy and Paul end up playing cops again after an eccentric thief named Dave (Seann William Scott) steals a rare, mint-condition baseball card that belongs to Jimmy. The hunt for the card leads them back to Juan Diaz and his older brother, Poh Boy (Guillermo Diaz), a merciless, baseball memorabilia-obsessed gangster. Poh Boy will return the card if Jimmy and Paul retrieve a stolen car, but it is what’s inside the car the changes everything.

In a way, Cop Out is an homage or send-up of 1980s buddy cop movies like 48 Hrs. and Lethal Weapon and also cop action comedies like the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. Even the musical score for Cop Out is composed by Harold Faltermeyer, who composed music for the first Beverly Hills Cop film and Top Gun. And Cop Out works… in a sort of off-kilter way. Kevin Smith, whose films are often steeped in pop culture, creates the right mood and squeezes all the right essences and flavors from his cast and from this story until he has a 1980s throwback cop action/comedy that is thoroughly entertaining.

I find Bruce Willis to be so cool, and his resourceful, tough guy screen persona is pitch-perfect to play a cop – even a cop in a peculiar comedy like Cop Out. Tracy Morgan isn’t just another black comedian. His act stays fresh because of his ability to freestyle peculiar and absurd behavior, mannerisms, and dialogue. That’s why he’s more shocking than annoying.

Cop Out’s screenplay does waste a few good characters: the oddly lovable Poh Boy, his delightfully evil brother, Juan Diaz, and the kooky thief Dave. There are some other characters in this story that should have been dropped from the screenplay in order to give this trio more screen time.

Anyway, Cop Out is not just another standard, idiotic, buddy cop movie. The unusual and peculiar pairing of Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, plus a few good supporting characters make this profanity-laden comedy a joy to watch over and over again. I wish for a sequel.

7 of 10
B+

Saturday, August 21, 2010

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Anthony Mackie Smacks Rapper-Actors

"I don't go into the hospital and let the janitor perform surgery on me, you know what I mean?"

Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) on rappers-turned-actors.  The blog entry from "BV on Movies" also brings up some old quotes from Samuel L. Jackson and Nia Long about rapper-actors.

Personally, I'm ambivalent about rapper-actors.  Will Smith and Queen Latifah have turned out some exceptional performances, and Smith has earned two Oscar nominations, while Latifah has one (for Chicago).  On the other hand, guys like Ice Cube, Ludacris, and 50 Cent are average actors, and that's being generous considering some of their performances.  I like Ice Cube and Ludacris, but for the most part, they, like a lot of rapper-actors, are just taking roles that should go to trained African-American actors.

LL Cool J and Ice T have been good in parts tailored towards their personalities, but they're also deficient.  I think that a guy like Mos Def doesn't get enough credit for how good he is as an actor.