Yikes, it's been way too long since I have written here on the ol' blog. A quick explanation:
a.) It's been nuts at work, as we are in the final legs of prepping for the upcoming Fall TV season.
b.) My brother moving to LA next week = much family drama.
c.) Been a slow week for pop-culture, thus not much truly jumped out at me as great subject matter to write about.
d.) I wrote not one but two posts over the weekend, so less to say during the week ...
- Okay, so ... maybe it hasn't been THAT slow a week for movies and TV. I mean, this week did mark the release of the long-anticipated trailers for both AVATAR and THE WOLFMAN. Personally, I thought the Avatar trailer was pretty great, but I do think that seeing it in a smaller window on a computer screen makes it much harder to appreciate just how detailed and fluid the motion-capture CGI truly is. I think when people go today to see the 15 minutes of "Avatar Day" pre-release footage in IMAX 3-D, they will be a lot more pumped than they were post-trailer. Now, I'm not going to just immediately claim that Avatar is going to be the best thing since sliced bread, etc. For all I know, it will not live up to the hype. But, what I can say is that the footage I saw back at Comic-Con, as I reported back in my giant-sized show wrap-up post, was indeed pretty freaking amazing. Meanwhile, the trailer for Wolfman was just flat-out awesome. I love seeing Universal pay homage to its roots by giving one of the classic Universal monsters the kind of serious, prestigious treatment he deserves. The cast for this one looks amazing, the look and feel and tone is great, and the f/x look kickass. Can't wait to see this in 2010.
- At the same time, it's funny because of the somewhat unexpected impact of DISTRICT 9. The movie has positively rocked the pop-cultural landscape over the last week. I mean, a couple of weeks ago, how many people would have thought we'd be saying things like "well, Avatar looks good, but will it be able to top District 9?". Crazy, I tell ya'.
- Now, for the past week, everyone, including me, has been raving nonstop about the awesomeness of District 9. And hey, that's cool - the movie flat-out rocked. BUT ... what does bother me is when people seem to jump on a bandwagon only to ignore all the other cool stuff that's out there. My point here is: there are a couple of other AMAZING indie-ish movies still out in theaters that are very much must-sees.
For one, there's MOON. If you enjoyed District 9, please run out and go see Moon as soon as possible. Not only is it one of the coolest overall sci-fi movies in years, but it also features perhaps the single greatest acting performance we've yet seen in 2009, from Sam Rockwell, who plays one of the most demanding and challenging roles you can imagine. Moon is one of those movies that, like District 9, is much better to watch with little to no prior knowledge about the plot. That said, go see it now!
For another, as much as part of me might want to declare District 9 the best of '09 thus far, there's simply no way to have that conversation without also including THE HURT LOCKER. Katherine Bigelow's masterpiece is an absolute stunner of a movie, and is one of the most intense and gripping films I've ever seen. If you are scared off because you think this is just another dry war movie set in Iraq, don't be. While The Hurt Locker is, at it's heart, a character study, it also features some of the most balls-to-the-wall action you'll see this summer. In that way, it's a lot like District 9 - it's a pretty profound movie that makes you think, but, man, when the action cranks up, it's full-throttle.
So yeah, after you go out and see INGLORIOUS BASTERDS this weekend (hells yes, can't wait!), please go out and check out these two still-somewhat-under-the-radar films.
- Anyways, keeping it short and sweet today. Check back soon for the full BASTERDS review. Until then, have a great weekend!
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