by David Minkus
Score:  4/4

I have to admit I was a bit nervous going into my screening of Inception. There was a similar buzz going into The Dark Knight and the trailers were just as exciting this time around. Unfortunately, I found myself a bit disappointed by the latest Batman flick and I was scared that the same thing would happen with Inception. Good news everyone! Inception is a masterpiece in every sense of the word and is frankly going to be tough to beat this year in my mind as a better film.

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by David Minkus
Score: 2.5/4

Like was the case with Prince of Persia, I had extremely low expectations for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The trailers looked mediocre at best and it seemed that expanding a short sequence from the legendary Fantasia into an almost two hour long movie would be a miserable failure. While it won’t set your world ablaze cinematically speaking, I was pleasantly surprised with how much fun the film was.

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4/4 - A great film.  This movie will either be on our Top 10 list or at least an honorable mention
3/4 - A good film.  A good time was had and it’s well worth your time to check out
2/4 - A mediocre film.  The movie wasn’t dreadful, but is probably worth waiting for DVD
1/4 - A bad film.  Avoid it unless you want to see a bad movie.

Hopefully, you’ll get more out of our reviews from a rating standpoint.  Please let us know what you think of the changes.

*NOTE* I’ll be posting a link to the details of the Barnes & Noble Criterion sale tomorrow once it goes live.

 Find out more about The Flying Scissors.

by Dave Minkus
Score:  9.5/10

Toy Story 3 is what should be the final chapter in the Toy Story series.  It follows what’s left of our toy friends as they get donated to a daycare and how they try to get home and bond.  I know, that sounds dry and boring.  To me, I thought that was exactly what I was in for, too.  The trailers did absolutely nothing for me and I went into this movie prepared to be let down for the first time.  I tried to work up excitement to see the new Pixar flick and it just didn’t happen.  The only reason I say all this is so you get the full meaning of what I have to say when I tell you that Toy Story 3 is the kind of movie I point to when I want to argue that film is an art form.  It is the essence of film at its most beautiful.  Yeah, that surprised me too.  This might be a long review, so buckle up and get ready for the ride.

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Add Dahmer vs. Gacy to your Netflix queue
Add Official Rejection to your Netflix queue

Postal opening

We will find those one day, but for now we have 75 more films to dissect.

by Dave Minkus
Film Rating:  7.5/10

I don’t know what it was about the trailers, but what I saw of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time just didn’t excite me. Quite frankly, I went into the screening last night thinking about all the other fun things I could be doing with my evening. I had a hard time believing that Jake Gyllenhaal could pull off being an action star and Ben Kingsley has been in some stinkers. This looked like another one. You can never go into a movie without preconceived notions about a film. The important thing is that you have to be open to letting a film happen and take it for what it is. I can’t express how glad I am that I was able to do this because Prince of Persia is an incredibly fun movie.

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Find out more about upcoming play dates for Touching Home at the official website.
You can also find out when Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo is coming to your area.

We highly recommend catching both films if it’s at all possible

I’m not saying that attending StarFest has granted all my wishes. I haven’t actually traveled in the TARDIS. I wasn’t able to watch the formation of a new star or, at least, space confederacy. I didn’t single-handedly defeat hordes of flesh-eating demons or find the cure to a fearsome zombie-creating virus. But if you could get as close as possible to any of those activities without ever actually endangering your life or travelling in space, I suppose that StarFest would be the place to do it.

StarFest is the Neapolitan ice cream of science fiction geekdom. Not into Star Wars? You can take a class on basic Klingon. Doctor Who just not your thing? You can rub elbows with Lord of the Rings enthusiasts. And if anything space or alien-related fails to tickle you pink, it is a few steps away to ComicFest or the Anime room, where furries abound in numbers reminiscent of a Tribble invasion.

When I was asked if I would be willing to act as a blogger for the StarFest website, starland.com, my knee-jerk reaction was an enthusiastic, “Will I get in on the company dime?” My StarFest experience started off on Thursday evening when I met up with my buddy Dave, famous as one of the voices here on www.screengeeks.com, and his out-of-town friends from www.geekradiodaily.com and www.thejesusgeeks.com. But that was just a brief prelude to the official stuff that started on Friday.

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I personally love getting to do interviews where I can geek out a bit.  My talk with Splice director Vincenzo Natali fit that description perfectly.  I get a chance to chat with him about how Cube has its roots in Hitchcock and the state of 3-D before we get to his newest film.  Our thanks to Mr. Natali and the good folks from Warner Bros. for letting us have time to talk.

Splice comes out in theaters on June 4, 2010

We really lucked out at Starfest this year.  It’s seriously almost impossible to pick out a favorite of the convention.  Barry’s talk with the true gentleman, Gary Lockwood, definitely ranks up there.  It’s not often that you get the chance to talk to a man with a varied a career as Mr. Lockwood.  I talked with people who were at his Q&A, spent considerable time with him at a special meet and greet and I got to listen in on every interview he did.  The man didn’t repeat a story in all that time.  I get the feeling we could have spent days with him and have died happy hearing all his stories.

If you EVER get a chance to see Gary Lockwood live, I can’t urge you enough to make the trip.  You won’t regret it.

We’re back with another of our interviews and this one ended up being a bit of a shock to me.  I figured that Dahmer vs. Gacy would be a bloody good time, but I didn’t expect what I saw on the screen.  What easily could have been simply a b-movie schlockfest had some great social satire and commentary hidden in plain sight for anybody who wants to find it.  I’ve included the trailer below.  As you’ll see, this movie is definitely for the more adventurous filmgoer, but you’ll be rewarded with some great absurdism if you want to take the trip.

Editor’s Note:  This interview is intended to mature listeners due to the discussion of adult subject matter and language.

 Just click the play button below in the flash player to hear the interview.

You’ll be able to hear more about her new upcoming show, The Cape, in the interview she did with Jonja.net when they post it.  It sounds like a fun show.

Sorry for the poor audio quality.  I’ll be exclusively using our podcasting rig for interviews next year.

It’s impossible to think of Starfest without immediately thinking of the convention’s MC, Kevin Atkins.  Known for awful jokes during lulls and keeping the ship on course, Kevin’s an awesome guy and we jumped at the chance to talk to him right before Starfest.  We’ll talk about how Starfest stacks up to other conventions, the state of the US space program and other interesting things.

 We also do a mini-Starfest preview and Nate joins us for the fun.

Today, director Michael Paul Stephenson announced the first dates of the film’s US theatrical tour.  If this movie comes anywhere near you, you absolutely owe it to yourself to make the drive and catch it.  I can tell you for a fact that if/when it comes ANYWHERE in CO, I’ll be making the at least 2 hour round trip to catch this.  It’s definitely worth it.

Here’s the short list of screenings (most of which will be attended by cast and crew).  For full info, check out the film’s official website.  If your city isn’t listed here, fret not.  More cities are to be announced.  Above all else, GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

April 23 – Austin, TX: Alamo Drafthouse
May 14 – New York, NY: Village East Cinema
May 21 – Los Angeles, CA: Landmark Nuart
June 4 – San Francisco, CA: Landmark Lumiere
June 4 – Berkeley, CA: Landmark Shattuck
July 2 – Washington, D.C.: Landmark E Street Cinema
July 16 - St. Louis, MO: Landmark Tivoli
July 23 - Atlanta, GA: Landmark Midtown Art Cinema

You can also hear our interview with Dr. George Hardy and Michael Paul Stephenson at the Starz Dever Film Festival here.

If you’ve been watching the retail home video market at all for the past few months, you know that Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video is in dire financial trouble.  It’s even more obvious if you’re a customer of theirs.  In the city I live in, all five Hollywood Video stores have either closed or are in the midst of liquidation within the last six months.  What you may not know is that Blockbuster Video isn’t fairing much better.  They closed 567 stores last year and plan on closing at least another 250 stores this year.  With these once-mighty corporations on the verge of oblivion, could it be the perfect time for the “mom and pop” video stores to rise again?

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Philips DVP3982 DVD Player

How to hack the player

Jonja.net Podcast

      Zatoichi the blind swordsman is an iconic character that has never quite seen the poplarity outside of Japan. He has been the inspiration for many charcaters. Inspired filmakers like Robert Rodriguez. There was even a fun, if uneven, American take starring Rutger Hauer called Blind Fury which features Terence O’Quinn and a swordfight between Hauer and Sho Kusgi!
     The movies are basically a variation on a theme but they feature some amazing fight seqeunces. Some great ones include the inevitable group of bad guys getting completely owned by the seemingly harmless blind man. If you liked Kill Bill you will have a very good time following the exploits of one of Japan’s most enduring film series. There have been 27 films in all. Oh..and the best part is this is all possible due to a partnership with Criterion.

So revisit or begin your journey with Zatoichi.

     Catch them while you can… and if you can,,, it is Hulu after all.

Yeah, so we interviewed a LOT more people than just Lloyd Kaufman, and we couldn’t possibly be happier about it.  Joining us for the interview (from left to right) are Matt Morris, Lindy Starr, Richard Taylor and Zach Beins.  What results can only happen when visiting with denizens of Tromaville.

Just in case you aren’t familiar with Troma films, you probably shouldn’t listen to this interview if you’re offended by jokes about Michael Jackson, Pat Robertson, various projectile body fluids and…oh yeah, plenty of swearing.  If you ARE familiar with Troma films, you’ve probably already started listening to the interview half way through this paragraph.

We had a great time talking with everyone and can’t thank everyone enough for taking the time to talk with us!

You’ll notice Ink alumni Chris Kelly, Jeremy Make and Quinn Hunchar return in this fun short that needs to be seen by as many people as possible.  You won’t regret watching this.

Archangel

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H48VtETngA

Being at least somewhat of a hipster, I was legally obligated to post this trailer. This is not really a film but a “visual album” from the best band in the world, Animal Collective. Just judging by this if you’re one of the people who’s only knowledge of the band is through “My Girls” you might be a little freaked out by what you’re seeing. This looks far more “Hollinndagain” than “Merriweather Post Pavillion” and I guess I’m open to that.

ODDSAC is currently playing at Sundance and for all we know could become the next “The Wall“…but it’s far more likely that it will just be some art project that a few weeks from now won’t see more than the closet of Noah Lennox/Panda Bear.

by Dave Minkus
Dave’s Score: 7.5/10

It’s really nice when I get the chance to see a movie that lets me take off my critic’s hat and just enjoy it for what it is. For me, that kind of movie is a true story that’s well made. It isn’t about the “film”, it’s the story that’s important. Extraordinary Measures is exactly that kind of film. I understand people’s trepidation at the commercials that have been airing on CBS seemingly non-stop for the past few months.

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Our thoughts and prayers also go out to Tee Morris and his daughter during this tough time.  If you want to help the family, you can chip in with the below widget set up by Phillipa Ballentine.

Thanks to Jonathan Coulton for recording the awesome song Chiron Beta Prime.

You can listen to all of the Adam Baldwin interview that Chris did at the Jonja.net site.

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of remakes. However, there are times where an idea intrigues me enough that I really want to see how it turns out. Darren Aronofsky’s Robocop is one of those projects. Aronofsky has never once struck me as the kind of guy who will do any project if there are enough zero’s in the paycheck. If he takes on a project, he has a specific vision and idea of what he wants to do.

Well, it looks like he may be walking away from this project now, according to Moviehole.  Apparently, the project is on hold because the studio wants the film to be in 3D and Aronofsky isn’t interested in going that route.  I have to say that I applaud Mr. Aronofsky for willing to stick to his guns.

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Congrats, WB.  You’ve just found a new way to alienate part of your customer base.

Engadget has posted an article talking about how Netflix has agreed to let Warner Bros. delay getting them copies of new releases until 28 days after they’re made available for sale.  Even worse, Netflix is apparently in talks to have similar arrangements with other studios.  The upside is that Netflix will be getting more catalogue streaming content from WB.

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The people who complain about Avatar’s story being “Dances With Wolves meets Ferngully” are like people who claim they don’t like John Goodman because he’s overweight. Goodman’s weight serves his persona as the lovable and funny guy who could very well be your zany Uncle. Ignoring his dominating screen presence and talent just because he doesn’t look like a typical handsome leading man is flat-out dumb. Avatar’s simplistic story serves it’s themes and visual splendor. We don’t need a twist ending where everyone is a robot for a movie to be good, it’s fine to sometimes just have something standardly play out in front of you just so that you can further appreciate what extraordinarily is being done. I don’t need John Goodman to lose 200 pounds and have a shirtless scene to appreciate what he’s doing while watching an episode of Roseanne. (more…)

I haven’t heard Barry rave about a movie like this in awhile.  He’s already seen Everybody’s Fine twice and is planning on taking his whole family to see it when it releases.  Obviously, we jumped at the chance to speak with director Kirk Jones when he brought the film to the Starz Denver Film Festival.  It was a fun interview and we thank the good folks over at Miramax for the opportunity to talk with Mr. Jones.

Even with cold weather, guaranteed snowfall and the temptation to blow $10.00 to see Roland Emmerich destroy the world, audiences still flocked to this year’s Starz Denver Film Festival, and with a line-up of films this great, who could blame them? This is still the best way for movie buffs to get a fix of films they’ve never heard of before but will be raving about for months. You also get a chance to be up close with some excellent filmmakers on the rise and actors and actresses like Rachel Leigh Cook, J.K. Simmons, Hal Holbrook and the fest’s Achievement Award winner, Ed Harris. It also gives film fest junkies a chance to see an acclaimed Oscar hopeful, like Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, which was this year’s SDFF opener.

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