Friday, August 19, 2005

Camera Obscura at the Movies

Yes, dear reader, I want you to know what I've been viewing. And what YOU have been watching too. In a few weeks, I will offer those unfortunates who want to challenge my Vast Film Knowledge a chance to stump me with a movie trivia quote and will have Prizes to award the winners (if there are any).

But feel free to post movie comments, reviews, questions on this regular Friday location of yer Cup of Joe.

What have I been viewing or anticiapting? Send the children away, this is all for grown-ups.

Be sure to watch for the latest releases from Crewless Productions, which is a bunch of Bama boys who've been working on some funny horror/comedies and have attracted the attention of filmmakers Kevin Smith and Film Threat and bloggers like Ain'tItCoolNews.com. I just watched "Hide and Creep," which is a hit and miss comedy-zombie entry that was way better than you might think. Yes, Ultra-low-budget, but some very funny stuff. The DVD includes a very funny short film as a couple of good ole boys battle the Undead during a phone call to a friend. Crewless must have seen a lot of Sam Raimi and George Romero, but then again, so have I. Ah, George -- watching your visions of one culture consuming another is truly American Cinema at its best.

Don't know if anyone else in TN is thinking this but -- where in the sam hill is the movie actress/director Asia Argento made in Knoxville??? "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things" played to terrible reviews at the Toronto Film Festival and I guess she can't find a distributor for it now. I'm hoping for at least a DVD release, but even Asia's web page has no real info into availability. It may be the movie no one ever sees .... It has been playing at festivals in the US and Europe for a year or two and the latest release date in the US I could find is slated for March 2006. Go to the movie's web site, where trailers and details about this oddity are available. Betcha cash money the Knoxville Chamber wants to bury this one in a vault. Warning -- this is a Capital W fer Weird movie.

And now that I've introduced the letter W, that brings up the spankin' new movie from Werner Herzog, "Grizzly Man" is not in ET yet but hits Knoxville screens on Sept. 2nd, but do not miss this one about a luckless loser Tim Treadway, who thought he could just go live with wild grizzly bears and did so until they ate him and his girlfriend. A perfect topic for the astonishing Werner Herzog, whose camera captures Obsession like no one else. If you have never seen a Herzog movie in a movie theater, you have missed one of the great experiences of modern cinema. "Fitzcarraldo" and "Aguirra" are etched into my memory like Proust carved them into my psyche with a razor blade.

For your DVD pick of the week accept no substitutes for "Sin City".
Frank Miller justly gets co-directing credit with Robert Rodriguez. Miller's black and white brilliance shows what all those film noir movies could only hint -- at his dark criminal world makes Batman's Gotham City look like Disney's Main Street USA. Villian of the Year goes to that cute little Elijah Wood, aka Frodo, whose incarnation of Evil Bad Guy would make Hannibal Lecter scream like a girly-man. Brilliant casting all around -- must also mention that Mickey Rourke was born to play Marv. This ain't no kiddie comic book.

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