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Bob’s August Movie Preview
                  
By Bob 8/1/2008
 
After an awesome July worth of movies that saw The Dark Knight actually exceed expectations (which in and of itself made the month awesome), we the dark nights of August where cinemas near and far typically don’t have much to offer. In recent years, however, the month has brought some comedies to the screens that have been pretty solid. Who knows? Maybe this month will have a film that will be worthy of following in the footsteps of The 40-Year-Old Virgin (August 2005), Little Miss Sunshine (August 2006), and Superbad (August 2007).
 
Typical August Comedies
 
1)      Tropic Thunder: August 13th
Ben Stiller directs and stars in this comedy about a group of actors who must fend for themselves after being dropped in a real war. With Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. along for the ride, this should be a pretty solid comedy to close out the summer season. 
2)      Pineapple Express: August 8th
The summer wouldn’t be complete without another addition to the Apatow brand, and what could be better than Seth Rogen and James Franco reuniting for this stoner action comedy. Written by Rogen and Evan Goldberg of Superbad fame, the film also features other Apatow staples including Bill Hader and Craig Robinson.
 
The Token Indie Films
3)      Hamlet 2: August 22nd
This year’s ‘Sundance Kid’ could prove to be the next runaway indie success. It stars Steve Coogan as a high school drama teacher who decides to put on a sequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet when the drama department at his school is about to be shut down. Needless to say highjinks probably ensue, and everybody will learn a lesson in the end. Apparently the bidding for this film lasted deep into the Utah night, and almost broke the Sundance record set by Little Miss Sunshine.
4)      Bottle Shock: August 6th
The other indie film that will be hitting select theaters this month is a dramady (shocking) about the beginning of Napa Valley winemaking, and a somewhat famous event in Paris where California wine beat French wine in a taste test. I like Sideways, so this could be interesting. 
 
I’m Not Joking, But Seriously . . .
5)      Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: August 8th
. . . this wouldn’t be that bad to sit through. I didn’t see the first one, and probably won’t see this one, but it probably has the most underrated hot girl cast ever. With stars of TV shows that most guys would never watch including Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia), Blake Lively (Gossip Girl), and Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), you wouldn’t have to pull my teeth out to make me sit through this. 
6)      The Rocker: August 20th
. . . This looks to be the reason why Rainn Wilson is never leaving The Office. While I love the show, and enjoy him a lot as Dwight, this doesn’t look the least bit entertaining. It even has Will Arnett in it. But still NO.
7)      Vicky Cristina Barcelona: August 15th
. . .  I would rather see the film that stars Blake Lively and Alexis Bledel than the one that stars Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz. This is even considering the fact that the later film was directed by an Academy Award winner, and the former was directed by a Moroccan American music video director. This is how far Woody Allen has fallen. 
8)      Swing Vote: August 1st
. . .Kevin Costner should really just retire. For starters, the posters for this movie are horribly cheesy, and kinda creep me out. Regardless, the plot of this is completely preposterous, and I was shocked when I found out that Judge Reinhold and Dennis Hopper are actually starring in the same film. Whatever happened to Easy Rider, or even Frank Booth. It appears all Mr. Hopper is good for these days is the occasional TV commercial, and those awesome appearances on Entourage.
 
And this isn’t even the worst of it
9)      Disaster Movie: August 29th
By this point, the summer will be over, and we will have to deal with at least a month of complete shit in the cinemas. At least by this weekend football season will have started, and we won’t have to watch movies till Awards season.
10) The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: August 1st
I just have one question: How does Brandon Frasier have two action films currently in theaters, and why do studios still give the man money.
11) Star Wars: The Clone Wars: August 15th
Since this is George Lucas’s lame attempt to make more money that he doesn’t need, it isn’t going to work on me. 
 
There are a bunch of other movies coming out this month that look even shittier than most of the above crap, but honestly if you want to spend a couple hours enjoying a good flick, I recommend just seeing The Dark Knight again. Nothing that comes out this month will compare, and it holds up very well for the second viewing. In fact, I’m probably more likely to see The Dark Knight a third time than I am of seeing any of the above movies. Enjoy!

   

Could “Avatar” Win Best Picture?

By Brett Hogan

 

Last week, the trailer for James Cameron’s sci-fi experiment “Avatar” debuted. While initially unimpressed with the teaser, I began to wonder: Could this film win best picture? 

 

Buzz has been generating for this movie for years. Years. The technology to make this movie didn’t exist when Cameron conceived it, so he invented it. When is the last time you heard of a director spearheading the invention of anything? The casting started in 2005. Most movies these days, even epics, are done in half that time. I could go on. 

 

The most important thing to take away from all of this is that people are saying this will be the future of movies. Now, I don’t agree with the idea that CGI will become more prevalent than it already is. But I do believe that this will set the bar miles higher for sci-fi. I mean, that is what Titanic did. And that won some awards if memory serves.

 

I’ll bet you’re asking yourself, how can you even suggest that a film like this will win Best Picture when the initial trailer was nothing better than visual stimulation? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, the Academy has expanded Best Picture to ten films. This doesn’t guarantee anything other than improved chances for most films on the cusp.

 

Second, after last year’s Oscars debacle, which saw the best film of the year, “The Dark Knight,” not only get shafted in awards but nominations as well, the Academy is pulling out all the stops to appease those with the loudest voices in the film industry, the fanboys. Now, the Academy probably didn’t lose anything because of that other than some viewers of the award show. Perhaps if people are again outraged with the winners or nominees, the heads of the Academy would lose their jobs. So this is all about the Academy protecting itself, which is not so outrageous.  

 

 

Third, there is an economic motive here. I’ve heard this film will cost $190 million, not counting the R&D costs associated with Cameron’s inventions or the cost of getting 3-D cameras into every theater in the country. The Academy will do everything in its power to get people into the seats and make this the next “Titanic” or “The Dark Knight.” But the Academy doesn’t have much power, besides nominating and awarding, so they will slap the “Nominated for Best Picture” moniker onto every commercial and print ad to get the people who didn’t believe the critics to relent and see this movie.

 

Of course, all of this is pure conjecture, and no revolutionary film (Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, etc.) has ever won the Best Picture category because it changed the game. Except maybe Titanic. But still, could this movie actually win? My answer is no but a nomination is certain and who knows what could happen from there. We’ll know more come February 2010.

   

   


   


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