- Sam Raimi Wants to 'Get Back to the Basics' on Spider-Man 4 (111 Comments)
- Must Watch: Teaser Trailer for A Nightmare on Elm Street! (109 Comments)
- Must Watch: Intense Trailer for Mel Gibson's Edge of Darkness (81 Comments)
- Must Watch: Second Official Trailer for Lee Daniels' Precious (78 Comments)
- Check These Out: High Res New Na'vi Photos from Avatar! (77 Comments)
- Paul Blart Director Steve Carr Hired for the Short Circuit Remake (Oct 27, 2009)
- Hitman's Xavier Gens Set to Direct Action Thriller 'The Fallout' (Oct 27, 2009)
- Bruckheimer & Straczynski Adapting 2K's Shattered Union (Oct 27, 2009)
- Steve Carell on Par for Rick Reilly Golf Comedy 'Missing Links' (Oct 26, 2009)
- Jason Reitman Calls Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim 'Matrix for Love' (Oct 26, 2009)
- Matt Damon & Josh Brolin Joining the Coen Brothers' True Grit (Oct 26, 2009)
- Ricky Gervais to Host the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards (Oct 26, 2009)
- Woody Allen's New Film Titled 'You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger' (Oct 26, 2009)
| Inglourious Basterds | 10/10 |
| It Might Get Loud | 9/10 |
| Inglourious Basterds | 8.5/10 |
| Star Trek | 9/10 |
| Monsters vs Aliens | 5/10 |
London Readers Meet-Up Tonight at 8PM for Some Drinks!
I'm currently in London at the moment for a brief visit surrounding Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox. I'll be heading to the Roald Dahl estate later today for a tour and visit and also talking with Wes Anderson, Bill Murray, and Jason Schwartzman. You'll be hearing plenty more about that side of my visit to London soon enough, but if you're a London-based reader of FS.net and want to catch up for a few drinks tonight, Peter from SlashFilm and I are hosting a meet-up at the Nellie Dean pub (seen in the photo above) tonight, Tuesday, October 13th at 20:00 (8:00PM). Hopefully I'll get to meet a few of you tonight, so stop by later!
Suggested Links: Happy 4th of July from Everyone at FS!
From all of us at FirstShowing.net, we hope you have a Happy 4th of July! Whether you're out at a BBQ, enjoying the fireworks, or just catching up on some patriotic movies (suggestions to follow), we hope you're having a good time. If you need some Independence Day tips (in addition to, well, Independence Day), here are some good sites to check out: MTV's July 4th Holiday Movies To Celebrate Your Independence With, ScreenRant's Three Movies That Represent The American Spirit, CinemaBlend's American Flag's Weirdest Moments On Film, and lastly, Hero Complex's 4th of July Comic Book Suggestions. Enjoy the weekend!
Actor David Carradine Found Dead in Thailand
Multiple sources, including CNN and the BBC, have confirmed that 72-year-old actor David Carradine was found dead in his hotel in Bangkok, Thailand earlier today. The BBC is claiming that Bangkok police told them that Carradine hung himself in his own room. The actor was in Thailand filming his latest film called Stretch, according to his personal manager Chuck Binder. Carradine's death was "shocking and sad. He was full of life, always wanting to work… a great person," Binder said. Most will recognize Carradine as Bill from Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films, but his acting career stretches all the way back to the 1960's.
Take That Michael Bay? McG Finally Says It's All a Big Joke
A few weeks back, at the end of April, we published a new quote from McG in the on-going McG vs Michael Bay battle. Until recently, the "fight" had been about whose robots were bigger and whose robots were more realistic. But then McG took it to the next level: "Michael Bay has a big cock, but I'd like to believe mine is bigger." So how does Bay overcome that? Well, thankfully he doesn't have to, as McG finally cleared the air in a recent interview with E! Online. "That was lost immediately and people gravitated to two spoiled brat directors think they have big cocks," McG said. "Nothing could be further from the truth."
The Basics: Alex's New Editorial Series with Drew McWeeny
On Friday, my colleague Drew McWeeny (formerly of AICN, now of HitFix) and I officially launched a new editorial series called The Basics (read his introduction). Over the few years that I've been running this site, I've been often criticized by readers and fellow critics for not having seen enough of the basic "must see" films from cinematic history. Instead of chastising me like everyone else, Drew called me with an idea for a column where every few weeks he would recommend one film (that I haven't seen) for me to watch. Therefore, as he says, "brick by brick, we'll lay a foundation" and I'll finally get to see these classics.
Alex is Headed to the Cannes Film Festival - Vive la France!
I've been dropping hints about this for a while, but this is the official announcement. I'm currently on my way to the airport to catch a flight to France, then a train to the French Riviera, where I'll be attending the world famous Cannes Film Festival. I'll be covering the full festival - May 13th to May 24th - and will be writing reviews and providing all the normal festival coverage (like I do at Sundance). Additionally, I'll be doing my very best to cover all the daily news, however with time difference (9 hours) and with the schedule at Cannes, updates might be a bit sporadic. If I'm late on getting something posted, now you know why!
Alamo Drafthouse's Cinemapocalypse Invades LA This Week!
If you live in Los Angeles, there's an event you don't want to miss this week! Austin's original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is taking their popular classic exploitation movie series on the road. And this Thursday and Friday night, the Cinemapocalypse tour will stop by the New Beverly Cinema for two special presentations. Alamo Weird Wednesday programmer Lars Nilsen and Terror Tuesday curator Zack Carlson are bringing rare and unseen treasures from their 35mm bunker, which you won't want to miss! This week's line-up: Julie Darling, Poor Pretty Eddie, Psycho From Texas, Surf II, and Carnival Magic.
Check This Out: Peter Nelson's James Bond Museum!
Everyone knows I'm a huge James Bond fan (we had a whole week dedicated to the spy last year) and more often than not I'll feature Bond-related stories just because they have to do with my favorite on-screen hero. A few days ago Wired ran an article on the newly opened James Bond Museum in Keswick, England. I instantly knew I needed to feature this and after some further research, I've determined that this place truly is spectacular. Peter Nelson, a life-long Bond fan, has been collecting Bond memorabilia for 20 years. He has 28 cars, the golden gun and hundreds of other props, and 42-ton Russian tank from GoldenEye.
The Film Feed Broadcasting LIVE Tonight at Watchmen!
Starting at 10:00PM MST (12:00AM EST) tonight, The Film Feed and its hosts, Will, Clark, and Sean, will be broadcasting LIVE from the Watchmen midnight event in Colorado Springs, CO. To tune into the live broadcast, point your web browser to ustream.tv/channel/the-film-feed. They will also be giving away special prizes to listeners that tune in, so don't miss out. In addition to their usual coverage of all the latest movie news and trailers, the guys will be talking about all things Watchmen, including chatting with moviegoers dressed in costumes and so on. Tune in over at ustream.tv or via the video player below.
Reminder: AMC Best Picture Showcase This Saturday
AMC Theatres is keeping up with their tradition of running their Best Picture Showcase on Saturday just before the Oscars. The showcase features all fives of the Best Picture nominees for only $30. It's not only a pretty sweet deal, but I'll be damned if it's not an awesome experience. Most people never get to see more than one of the Best Picture nominees, and it's a damn shame, because they're all usually great movies. This year is certainly no exception and if you haven't seen all of them yet, here is your chance! I haven't yet been to one of these showcases myself, but I've heard plenty of great things, so don't miss it.
Alex's Sundance Recap Live on the /Filmcast Tonight - Updated!
I thought I'd let everyone know that I'm doing a Sundance recap live on the /Filmcast tonight. I'll be joining Peter Sciretta of SlashFilm, Neil Miller of Film School Rejects, and Laremy Legel of Film.com to chat about all things Sundance, including the best and worst films we saw and our favorite memories and so much more. The podcast will air live starting at 4PM PST / 7PM EST over on SlashFilm's live page (also via Ustream.TV). Be sure to tune in if you want to hear all about what went down at Sundance this year, what it was like living in a condo with Bob Stencil for a week, or just more about our favorite films.
Prolific Author John Updike Has Passed Away
Today, novelist, poet, short story writer, art and literary critic, and prolific craftsman of the written word, John Updike died of lung cancer at the age of 76 at his home in Massachusetts. Updike was a compulsive author, releasing more than 50 books since the start of his literary career in the 1950s. He was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes and two National Book Awards along with 1998's National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Updike's trademark stylistic writing quickly became, and continues, to be regarded as one of the most prominent voices in contemporary American literature.
Vote for Us in the TotalFilm.com Movie Blog Awards!
The magazine gurus over at TotalFilm.com have graciously nominated FirstShowing.net in their first annual Movie Blog Awards, "celebrating the best film bloggers over the past year." Aw, thanks for the truly unnecessary, but greatly appreciated recognition, Total Film! Even more awesome is that we're in the Majors category, meaning we're supposedly one of the top movie blogs out there! Also in the running are all of my other favorite movie blogs (that aren't this one): SlashFilm run by Peter Sciretta, The Movie Blog run by John Campea, Screen Rant run by Vic Holtreman, and Twitch run by Todd Brown. We'd love any support you could give FS.net in the polls. Well, what are you waiting for - get over there and vote now!
Rian Johnson's Festival of Fakery at the New Beverly!
Oh, how I love living in Los Angeles! It's indie movie theaters like the New Beverly Cinema that make me so happy to live here. The latest filmmaker-driven film festival to take over the New Beverly is Rian Johnson's Festival of Fakery, kicking off on February 18th. The fest starts with a back-to-back double feature of The Brothers Bloom, Johnson's newest film, and Frank Oz's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Following those two is a selection of 8 more of the finest con man films ever made. If you live in or around Los Angeles, this is a festival you don't want to miss! I know I'll be attending a few of these screenings.
Happy New Years from FirstShowing.net!
Happy New Years! Yet another year has come and gone but it only means bigger and better things are yet to come. As I look back on 2008, I'm already amazed at how far we've come in such a short amount of time and I can't go without thanking all you, our readers, for helping us get to this point. It's still unbelievable that FirstShowing.net is barely over 2 years old but that means with every year new we continue to grow immensely. We're still just beginning and we've already got some exciting things planned for 2009 (one of which is being announced today). So here's to another great year of success and, of course, great movies!