list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around How to Lose Friends and Alienate People on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/How_to_Lose_Friends_and_Alienate_People/289906/default.aspx Title: How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Year: 2008
Director: Robert B. Weide
Plot: Frequent Curb Your Enthusiasm director Robert B. Weide makes his feature directorial debut with this screen adaptation of British writer Toby Young's comedic novel of the same name. When self-promoting scribe Young (Simon Pegg) accepts a position as a contributing editor for iconic fashion magazine "Sharps," his subsequent attempts to ingratiate himself with both his egotistical boss, Clayton Harding, and the superficial celebrities who populate the pages of the magazine prove disastrously hilarious. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 40
Number of Lists: 2
Number of blog posts: 2
Number of discussion threads: 3
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:10:45 GMTHow to Lose Friends and Alienate People2008Robert B. WeideFrequent <a href=/films/209189/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Curb Your Enthusiasm</a> director Robert B. Weide makes his feature directorial debut with this screen adaptation of British writer Toby Young's comedic novel of the same name. When self-promoting scribe Young (<a href="/players/P___307202/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Simon Pegg</a>) accepts a position as a contributing editor for iconic fashion magazine "Sharps," his subsequent attempts to ingratiate himself with both his egotistical boss, Clayton Harding, and the superficial celebrities who populate the pages of the magazine prove disastrously hilarious. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide40Tag Target (>10)2233http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s289906.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/How_to_Lose_Friends_and_Alienate_People/289906/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/groups/Coming_Soon/3_20_Guess_what_I_LOVE_YOU_MAN_new_movies_t/216/41069/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: spout
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 3/16/2009 12:47:14 PM
Body: NEW to THEATERS 3/17 I Love You, Man -- Watch trailer. Aww, lok at that hug . . . That's what I want to do to Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, along with the rest of the stars (Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons, and The Office's Rashida Jones). With all of those people, how can this movie go wrong? If you still think it could go wrong, I recommend you rent the exact opposite of this movie; and as far as I can tell, the exact opposite is P.S., I Love You, which stars Gerard Butler and Hillary Swank (watch trailer). Duplicity -- Watch trailer. Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are corporate spies who team up to pull off the ultimate con. Uh oh, can they trust each other??? This reminds me of the old screwball comedies with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Only I'm not so sure this is going to be as good as a Howard Hawks movie . . . Oh well, this could still entertain. (P.S., Duplicity is not a sequel to Multiplicity, which stars Michael Keaton and Andie MacDowell, so if you're not in the mood for a spy movie, watch Multiplicity again (watch trailer). The Great Buck Howard (limited) -- Watch trailer. A law school dropout (Colin Hanks) becomes assistant to a has-been magician (John Malkovich). Al-riiiiiight, Emily Blunt and Steve Zahn are in it! Plus Colin Hanks' real-life dad (Tom Hanks) plays his movie dad! Sin Nombre (limited) -- Watch trailer. Two desperate Honduran teenagers try to start new lives in the US The tagline is "The greatest sin of all is risking nothing." Hey, isn't that also the tagline of Maverick starring Mel Gibson? (Watch trailer to Maverick.) Super Capers (limited) -- Watch trailer. Another B-grade superhero satire, although unlike Superhero Movie, Super Capers looks like it at least has some heart. The story: a regular guy joins a team of superheroes-in-training. During their first mission, which fails, our hero finds himself framed as the mastermind of the crime. He must clear the name of his team by finding the real villain. Some really entertaining actors fill the minor roles--Jon Polito, Tom Sizemore, Adam West, and Clint Howard (Ron's weird-looking brother)--so this might deliver some worthwhile entertainment. __________________________________________________ BONUS VIDEO: Sylvester Stallone's new muscles are lethal weapons ___________________________________________________ NEW to DVD 3/17 The Duchess -- Watch trailer. This is the kind of thing Keira Knightley is really good at: acting powerful and cute at the same time. Baby Mama -- Watch trailer. Starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler . . . which is pretty much all you need to know. FilmCouch's Kevin Buist says it's good, although it doesn't allow the two enough time to improv. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People -- Watch trailer. I've heard it's okay, but it didn't really live up to anyone's potential. Speaking of Simon Pegg movies, I've heard The Good Night is pretty good, and I'm looking forward to the sexy reincarnation of Star Trek. Faust -- Watch trailer. This 1926 silent epic from W. F. Murnau (the guy who gave us Nosferatu) looks like it's a truly mind-bending experience. Punisher: War Zone -- Watch trailer. Punisher reboot #2. I miss Dolph Lundgren; I guess you don't know what you got 'til it's gone . . .
]]>Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:47:14 GMTspoutComing Soon3/16/2009 12:47:14 PMNEW to THEATERS 3/17 I Love You, Man -- Watch trailer. Aww, lok at that hug . . . That's what I want to do to Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, along with the rest of the stars (Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons, and The Office's Rashida Jones). With all of those people, how can this movie go wrong? If you still think it could go wrong, I recommend you rent the exact opposite of this movie; and as far as I can tell, the exact opposite is P.S., I Love You, which stars Gerard Butler and Hillary Swank (watch trailer). Duplicity -- Watch trailer. Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are corporate spies who team up to pull off the ultimate con. Uh oh, can they trust each other??? This reminds me of the old screwball comedies with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Only I'm not so sure this is going to be as good as a Howard Hawks movie . . . Oh well, this could still entertain. (P.S., Duplicity is not a sequel to Multiplicity, which stars Michael Keaton and Andie MacDowell, so if you're not in the mood for a spy movie, watch Multiplicity again (watch trailer). The Great Buck Howard (limited) -- Watch trailer. A law school dropout (Colin Hanks) becomes assistant to a has-been magician (John Malkovich). Al-riiiiiight, Emily Blunt and Steve Zahn are in it! Plus Colin Hanks' real-life dad (Tom Hanks) plays his movie dad! Sin Nombre (limited) -- Watch trailer. Two desperate Honduran teenagers try to start new lives in the US The tagline is "The greatest sin of all is risking nothing." Hey, isn't that also the tagline of Maverick starring Mel Gibson? (Watch trailer to Maverick.) Super Capers (limited) -- Watch trailer. Another B-grade superhero satire, although unlike Superhero Movie, Super Capers looks like it at least has some heart. The story: a regular guy joins a team of superheroes-in-training. During their first mission, which fails, our hero finds himself framed as the mastermind of the crime. He must clear the name of his team by finding the real villain. Some really entertaining actors fill the minor roles--Jon Polito, Tom Sizemore, Adam West, and Clint Howard (Ron's weird-looking brother)--so this might deliver some worthwhile entertainment. __________________________________________________ BONUS VIDEO: Sylvester Stallone's new muscles are lethal weapons ___________________________________________________ NEW to DVD 3/17 The Duchess -- Watch trailer. This is the kind of thing Keira Knightley is really good at: acting powerful and cute at the same time. Baby Mama -- Watch trailer. Starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler . . . which is pretty much all you need to know. FilmCouch's Kevin Buist says it's good, although it doesn't allow the two enough time to improv. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People -- Watch trailer. I've heard it's okay, but it didn't really live up to anyone's potential. Speaking of Simon Pegg movies, I've heard The Good Night is pretty good, and I'm looking forward to the sexy reincarnation of Star Trek. Faust -- Watch trailer. This 1926 silent epic from W. F. Murnau (the guy who gave us Nosferatu) looks like it's a truly mind-bending experience. Punisher: War Zone -- Watch trailer. Punisher reboot #2. I miss Dolph Lundgren; I guess you don't know what you got 'til it's gone . . . http://www.spout.com/blogs/christhilk/archive/2009/3/2/40778.aspx Post By: ChrisThilk
Post To: ChrisThilk Blog
Post Date: 3/2/2009 6:04:37 PM
Body: If there’s a bright shining light to How to Lose Friends and Alienate People it’s star Simon Pegg. As the main character Sydney Young, Pegg is given a good deal of latitude to be, at turns: irritating, entertaining, obnoxious, endearing, clueless and nostalgic. The movie follows Pegg’s Young from his beginnings as the publisher and head writer for his own British celebrity tabloid through his hiring by an upscale New York-based glossy lifestyle magazine. Young is constantly in search of movie and other stars as he tries to find the tawdry details of their lives, even while seemingly being the only one in any give room that’s willing to call them on their narcissistic worldview. When he arrives in New York he meets a young woman who, though he doesn’t know it at the time, will wind up being his primary co-worker at the magazine. Their story arc is all too predictable but the game performances by both Pegg and Kirsten Dunst as his comedic and romantic foil make it an enjoyable ride. Young gets break after break despite antics that should, by any right, get him fired time and time again and eventually seems on the verge of achieving his ultimate goals: The celebrity access he craves as well as the opportunity to have sex with a young up-and-coming actress played by Megan Fox. But when it’s all within his grasp he decides to stay true to himself and not completely compromise his ideals. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People is an enjoyable movie, even if it is sometimes painful to watch in a way that seems to be unique to British comedies. The pace never really wavers for very long, keeping a light and consistent tempo that mixes comedic and emotional elements very well, something other movies like this don’t often achieve. The DVD comes loaded with two commentaries, one featuring just director Robert B. Weide and one with Weide and Pegg. There’s also a featurette on the film’s making that features interviews with the principle cast and crew, as well as the man whose true-life book the film is based on. There are also a couple trailers for other Fox Searchlight releases. Originally posted on:Chris Thilk
]]>Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:04:37 GMTChrisThilkChrisThilk Blog3/2/2009 6:04:37 PMIf there’s a bright shining light to How to Lose Friends and Alienate People it’s star Simon Pegg. As the main character Sydney Young, Pegg is given a good deal of latitude to be, at turns: irritating, entertaining, obnoxious, endearing, clueless and nostalgic. The movie follows Pegg’s Young from his beginnings as the publisher and head writer for his own British celebrity tabloid through his hiring by an upscale New York-based glossy lifestyle magazine. Young is constantly in search of movie and other stars as he tries to find the tawdry details of their lives, even while seemingly being the only one in any give room that’s willing to call them on their narcissistic worldview. When he arrives in New York he meets a young woman who, though he doesn’t know it at the time, will wind up being his primary co-worker at the magazine. Their story arc is all too predictable but the game performances by both Pegg and Kirsten Dunst as his comedic and romantic foil make it an enjoyable ride. Young gets break after break despite antics that should, by any right, get him fired time and time again and eventually seems on the verge of achieving his ultimate goals: The celebrity access he craves as well as the opportunity to have sex with a young up-and-coming actress played by Megan Fox. But when it’s all within his grasp he decides to stay true to himself and not completely compromise his ideals. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People is an enjoyable movie, even if it is sometimes painful to watch in a way that seems to be unique to British comedies. The pace never really wavers for very long, keeping a light and consistent tempo that mixes comedic and emotional elements very well, something other movies like this don’t often achieve. The DVD comes loaded with two commentaries, one featuring just director Robert B. Weide and one with Weide and Pegg. There’s also a featurette on the film’s making that features interviews with the principle cast and crew, as well as the man whose true-life book the film is based on. There are also a couple trailers for other Fox Searchlight releases. Originally posted on:Chris Thilk http://www.spout.com/groups/Coming_Soon/Week_of_2_20_fashion_cheerleaders_prison_an/216/40484/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: spout
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 2/16/2009 3:10:31 PM
Body: NEW TO THEATRES 2/20 1. Madea Goes to Jail - Watch the trailer. Until today, I thought Tyler Perry's Madea was like a kooky update of Jim Varney's Ernest P. Worrell. (Considering Ernest Goes to Jail, can you blame me?) Then I started looking into Tyler Perry, and even though I don't think his movies are for me, he seems like a really interesting guy. Two quotes from him on Wikipedia really caught my eye: 1) "I know my audience, and they're not people that the studios know anything about." 2) "Did you know you can't say 'Jesus' in a sitcom? They told me that and I was like, You gotta be kiddin' me...God has been too good to me to go and try to sell out to get some money." I was impressed to learn that Tyler Perry's been writing plays since he was 18, and according to Wikipedia, by 2005 his plays earned $75 million in ticket sales! Who knew? Madea Goes to Jail itself was a stage play in 2006, and a filmed version has already appeared on DVD. Has anyone seen that? 2. Fired Up - Watch the trailer. Teen comedy, whooooooo! Two randy football players avoid summer football camp by becoming cheerleaders. 3. Eleven Minutes (limited) - Watch the trailer. A documentary about fashion designer Jay McCarroll trying to set up an independently-produced runway show. NEW TO DVD - 2/17 1. Quarantine - Watch the trailer. This one looked pretty thrilling to me. An inner city apartment building is subjected to a government quarantine, but what's infecting the victims? 2. Body of Lies - Watch the trailer. Kevin Buist from FilmCouch saw this and didn't love it. Here's his review. 3. Choke - Watch the trailer. Kevin Buist wasn't crazy about this one either, so maybe he's just a big fuddy-duddy. Listen to his review. 4. Changeling - Watch the trailer. This was getting a lot of Oscars buzz until everyone actually saw it. Oh well, Clint Eastwood made a winner with Gran Torino. 5. High School Musical 3 - Watch the trailer. Well, I'm sure that whatever this movie's supposed to do, it does it well. Does anyone else think 'Corbin Bleu' sounds like a gourmet meal? 6. Righteous Kill - Watch the trailer. Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro are in the same movie for only the third time. Since the first two movies were Godfather Pt. II and Heat, this third time is most definitely not 'a charm.' 7. Midnight Meat Train - Watch the trailer. Here's another dose of Bradley Cooper for everyone who's crushing (or man-crushing) on him from He's Just Not That Into You. Myself, I have a bit of a man-crush on the villain, who's played by tough-as-nails Vinnie Jones. 8. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People - Watch the trailer. Simon Pegg starts working for a pompous fashion magazine. Also stars Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox, Jeff Bridges and Danny Huston -- all people I like. The movie didn't get very good reviews, though... I'm looking forward to Simon Pegg teaming up with Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz) again, and I'm glad he's playing Scotty in the new Star Trek movie.
]]>Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:10:31 GMTspoutComing Soon2/16/2009 3:10:31 PMNEW TO THEATRES 2/20 1. Madea Goes to Jail - Watch the trailer. Until today, I thought Tyler Perry's Madea was like a kooky update of Jim Varney's Ernest P. Worrell. (Considering Ernest Goes to Jail, can you blame me?) Then I started looking into Tyler Perry, and even though I don't think his movies are for me, he seems like a really interesting guy. Two quotes from him on Wikipedia really caught my eye: 1) "I know my audience, and they're not people that the studios know anything about." 2) "Did you know you can't say 'Jesus' in a sitcom? They told me that and I was like, You gotta be kiddin' me...God has been too good to me to go and try to sell out to get some money." I was impressed to learn that Tyler Perry's been writing plays since he was 18, and according to Wikipedia, by 2005 his plays earned $75 million in ticket sales! Who knew? Madea Goes to Jail itself was a stage play in 2006, and a filmed version has already appeared on DVD. Has anyone seen that? 2. Fired Up - Watch the trailer. Teen comedy, whooooooo! Two randy football players avoid summer football camp by becoming cheerleaders. 3. Eleven Minutes (limited) - Watch the trailer. A documentary about fashion designer Jay McCarroll trying to set up an independently-produced runway show. NEW TO DVD - 2/17 1. Quarantine - Watch the trailer. This one looked pretty thrilling to me. An inner city apartment building is subjected to a government quarantine, but what's infecting the victims? 2. Body of Lies - Watch the trailer. Kevin Buist from FilmCouch saw this and didn't love it. Here's his review. 3. Choke - Watch the trailer. Kevin Buist wasn't crazy about this one either, so maybe he's just a big fuddy-duddy. Listen to his review. 4. Changeling - Watch the trailer. This was getting a lot of Oscars buzz until everyone actually saw it. Oh well, Clint Eastwood made a winner with Gran Torino. 5. High School Musical 3 - Watch the trailer. Well, I'm sure that whatever this movie's supposed to do, it does it well. Does anyone else think 'Corbin Bleu' sounds like a gourmet meal? 6. Righteous Kill - Watch the trailer. Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro are in the same movie for only the third time. Since the first two movies were Godfather Pt. II and Heat, this third time is most definitely not 'a charm.' 7. Midnight Meat Train - Watch the trailer. Here's another dose of Bradley Cooper for everyone who's crushing (or man-crushing) on him from He's Just Not That Into You. Myself, I have a bit of a man-crush on the villain, who's played by tough-as-nails Vinnie Jones. 8. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People - Watch the trailer. Simon Pegg starts working for a pompous fashion magazine. Also stars Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox, Jeff Bridges and Danny Huston -- all people I like. The movie didn't get very good reviews, though... I'm looking forward to Simon Pegg teaming up with Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz) again, and I'm glad he's playing Scotty in the new Star Trek movie. http://www.spout.com/groups/Coming_Soon/New_Movies_10_3/216/35686/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 9/29/2008 1:26:48 PM
Body: The playing cards are shorthand for how good I think these films will be. No sure-thing aces this week, but we've got some face cards... How to Lose Friends and Alienate People has a lot going for it. Director Robert B. Weide's work on Curb Your Enthusiasm has shown he's got the chops for comedy. Plus, the main actor is Simon Pegg, that talented star and co-writer of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. It'll be interesting to watch Pegg's chemistry with the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox, and Jeff Bridges. Let's be honest, though -- this is just another film about fatuous asses at a fashion magazine. Looks like The Devil Wears Prada: Part Two. Which is fine as far as it goes, but I feel like seeing something a little more substantial this weekend. Appaloosa -- Reviewers are saying it's "just" a good old traditional western. I don't know about you, but a western can be "just" good and still get under my skin. Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen are tough-as-leather lawmen who protect a town from gangster Jeremy Irons. Also, Harris and Mortensen are two sides of a romantic triangle with Renee Zellweger. Why do Westerns keep getting made? I don't know, and I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. I know part of why I keep watching them: Westerns create an atmosphere where it takes courage to do what's right. To me, that atmosphere seems like a symbol of what life is always like. I need courage to stand up for someone; I need perseverance to get up and go to class. If you're interested in a meditation on what's worth risking your life, I recommend 3:10 to Yuma. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist -- In this Michael Cera vehicle two lonely teens connect over music. Looks kind of sweet, like the younger sibling of Garden State.Flash of Genius -- Drama based on the life of Robert Kearns, who invented something very boring but very useful: the intermittent windshield wiper. Kearns' invention was embraced by automobile manufacturers, but Kearns himself was discarded. Kearns started a long legal battle that no one expected him to win. It appears Kearns wasn't merely self-serving, but was spurred on by the principle that people should be acknowledged for the work they accomplish. Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert is a stand-up comedy show featuring Muslim comedians like Azhar Usman, Preacher Moss, and Mo Amer. Beverly Hills Chihuahua -- Have you seen the clever edit of the scene from Sixth Sense? Religulous -- Bill Maher and director Larry Charles (Borat) team up to humiliate organized religions. SpoutBlog's Karina Longworth takes a look at their dubious interviewing method. This film might be funny in a preaching to the choir kind of way. Who doesn't agree that religious fundamentalism can be dangerous and absurd? Any favorite flicks that satirize religion in way that actually gets people to open their eyes? I thought Talladega Nights was a pretty artful critique of health-and-wealth Christianity. (No, I'm not kidding.)An American Carol -- Airplane! director David Zucker and a Michael Moore lookalike team up in this parody of leftist politics. The trailer for An American Carol makes the film look about as fun as an afternoon at the DMV. LIMITED RELEASE RocknRolla -- Guy Ritchie's third flick is being called a return to form, an equal of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. We know it'll be all style and no substance, so it'll comes down to whether you're a Ritchie fan or not. Rachel Getting Married -- Anne Hathaway gives a great performance in this story about a prodigal daughter's return. Ballast -- A man's suicide makes three people realize they need community. Karina was impressed when she caught it at Sundance.The Pope's Toilet -- (limited release) It's 1988 on the Uruguay/Brazil border. The town of Melo is eagerly anticipating the visit of Pope John Paul II and 50,000 others in his wake. Melo locals such as Bob, a smuggler, are getting entrepreneurial: Bob builds a port-o-potty on his property and charges for its use. Chaos ensues.
]]>Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:26:48 GMTSkyPilotComing Soon9/29/2008 1:26:48 PMThe playing cards are shorthand for how good I think these films will be. No sure-thing aces this week, but we've got some face cards... How to Lose Friends and Alienate People has a lot going for it. Director Robert B. Weide's work on Curb Your Enthusiasm has shown he's got the chops for comedy. Plus, the main actor is Simon Pegg, that talented star and co-writer of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. It'll be interesting to watch Pegg's chemistry with the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox, and Jeff Bridges. Let's be honest, though -- this is just another film about fatuous asses at a fashion magazine. Looks like The Devil Wears Prada: Part Two. Which is fine as far as it goes, but I feel like seeing something a little more substantial this weekend. Appaloosa -- Reviewers are saying it's "just" a good old traditional western. I don't know about you, but a western can be "just" good and still get under my skin. Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen are tough-as-leather lawmen who protect a town from gangster Jeremy Irons. Also, Harris and Mortensen are two sides of a romantic triangle with Renee Zellweger. Why do Westerns keep getting made? I don't know, and I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. I know part of why I keep watching them: Westerns create an atmosphere where it takes courage to do what's right. To me, that atmosphere seems like a symbol of what life is always like. I need courage to stand up for someone; I need perseverance to get up and go to class. If you're interested in a meditation on what's worth risking your life, I recommend 3:10 to Yuma. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist -- In this Michael Cera vehicle two lonely teens connect over music. Looks kind of sweet, like the younger sibling of Garden State.Flash of Genius -- Drama based on the life of Robert Kearns, who invented something very boring but very useful: the intermittent windshield wiper. Kearns' invention was embraced by automobile manufacturers, but Kearns himself was discarded. Kearns started a long legal battle that no one expected him to win. It appears Kearns wasn't merely self-serving, but was spurred on by the principle that people should be acknowledged for the work they accomplish. Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert is a stand-up comedy show featuring Muslim comedians like Azhar Usman, Preacher Moss, and Mo Amer. Beverly Hills Chihuahua -- Have you seen the clever edit of the scene from Sixth Sense? Religulous -- Bill Maher and director Larry Charles (Borat) team up to humiliate organized religions. SpoutBlog's Karina Longworth takes a look at their dubious interviewing method. This film might be funny in a preaching to the choir kind of way. Who doesn't agree that religious fundamentalism can be dangerous and absurd? Any favorite flicks that satirize religion in way that actually gets people to open their eyes? I thought Talladega Nights was a pretty artful critique of health-and-wealth Christianity. (No, I'm not kidding.)An American Carol -- Airplane! director David Zucker and a Michael Moore lookalike team up in this parody of leftist politics. The trailer for An American Carol makes the film look about as fun as an afternoon at the DMV. LIMITED RELEASE RocknRolla -- Guy Ritchie's third flick is being called a return to form, an equal of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. We know it'll be all style and no substance, so it'll comes down to whether you're a Ritchie fan or not. Rachel Getting Married -- Anne Hathaway gives a great performance in this story about a prodigal daughter's return. Ballast -- A man's suicide makes three people realize they need community. Karina was impressed when she caught it at Sundance.The Pope's Toilet -- (limited release) It's 1988 on the Uruguay/Brazil border. The town of Melo is eagerly anticipating the visit of Pope John Paul II and 50,000 others in his wake. Melo locals such as Bob, a smuggler, are getting entrepreneurial: Bob builds a port-o-potty on his property and charges for its use. Chaos ensues. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/8/11/33867.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 8/11/2008 4:00:43 PM
Body: Lists of movies within movies are fairly common on the internet, enough that I now realize I need to finally see Bowfinger simply because I’ve counted about a million list makers in love with something titled “Chubby Rain.” And the lists are likely to keep on coming thanks to this week’s hot release, Tropic Thunder, which actually features two movies within (the Vietnam War film “Tropic Thunder” and the festival-winning making-of documentary “Rain of Madness”), as well as the upcoming How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which has spawned a popular fake movie trailer for an NC-17 film titled “Mother Theresa: The Making of a Saint” (previewed above). Yet until someone makes a Wikipedia page for “List of Fictional Films,” these blogged and forumed lists are necessary to keep us movie fans remembering those non-existent movies we wish existed. Narrowing down to ten seemed to be difficult — fictional films have been at least nominally been created for tons of films about filmmaking, otherwise reflexive films, sketch comedies, spoofs, etc. — until I realized that a lot of these films within films are appropriately nominal or trailer- or clip-sized gags and would in reality be terrible (imagine actually watching the entirety of “Asses of Fire” from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut). Even “Je Vous Présente Paméla” (”Meet Pamela”) from Day for Night and the sci-fi film being made in 8½ would probably be major disappointments in actuality if you expected from them the work of Truffaut and Fellini, respectively. So, I went mostly with fictional films that would probably be bad, but would at least be amusingly bad — though I purposefully avoided fictional porns, including those from Boogie Nights and The Big Lebowski, of which there are literally thousands: “Gandhi II” from UHF - There’s just something about watching good people gone bad. But while the idea of the Good Will Hunting sequel, subtitled “Hunting Season”, thought up for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is pretty ingenious, it just doesn’t have the same level of ludicrous exaggeration that a bloodletting follow-up to the Oscar-winning Gandhi has. Dude drives a Ferrari, can punch completely through a guy’s abdomen, and of course he knows how to party. He even eats meat, now. It’s not only funny because it’s the antithesis of what the Indian leader was all about, it’s also funny because it reminds me of all those straight-edge and vegetarian kids you knew in high school who now drink way too much (oh, yeah, I’m one of them). “Odyssey” from Contempt - When Fritz Lang showed up as himself in Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt, he’d already given the world his final film as a director (The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse). If only he’d really given us this one additional adaptation of Homer’s epic poem. Either as an art film, as Lang originally intends, or as a more commercial picture, as desired by the American producer played by Jack Palance. “Ants in Your Pants 1938″ from Sullivan’s Travels - The other famously named film within this film, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” was, at least in title, already made by the Coen brothers (see the side-by-side comparison in the video above — interestingly enough, their O Brother, Where Art Thou? is also an adaptation of Homer’s “Odyssey”, uniting #2 and #3 of this list). But I always try to imagine what a film titled “Ants in Your Pants 1938″ would have looked like. I always picture a cross between the Marx Brothers and Busby Berkeley, yet it’s got to be more shallow than that, according to how it’s referenced in Preston Sturges’ movie. “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure - What fan of the real Big Adventure wouldn’t like to watch it all over again as an action picture starring James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild? Maybe it wouldn’t be as good, but it does have ninjas. Anyway, because I love to relate seemingly unrelated movies via lists, let it be known that an episode of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was titled “Ants in Your Pants”. And now that I think about it, that show was kinda like a cross between the Marx Brothers and Busby Berkeley. Kinda. “Habeas Corpus” from The Player - It’s a common staple for lists like this, and pretty much all Bruce Willis movies from the first half of the ’90s were awful (obviously Pulp Fiction is an exception), but I’d definitely watch the whole of this fake film, even though I’ve already seen how it ends. As with Fritz Lang’s “Odyssey”, I’d be curious to see both the originally planned version and the commercialized final version. “Crossed Sabres of Truth” from The Big Picture - Forget “Home for Purim”, that lame movie within a movie from Christopher Guest’s For Your Consideration. This earlier satire of Hollywood from Guest had far greater fake films, most of them fake student films, such as this one, made by the full-of-himself character played by Dan Schneider. It may not have starred Elliott Gould (as does “The Trial of Janet Kingsley”), or been an overly avant-garde work titled “Afterbirth of a Notion” (which reminds me of the opening to Pee-Wee’s Playhouse), or the actual winner of the National Film Institute’s student film award (that would be Kevin Bacon’s character’s “First Date”), but it has the fat kid from Head of the Class and Better Off Dead riding a horse in a 19th century war movie. How could you not want to see more? “See You Next Wednesday” from The Kentucky Fried Movie - I’m probably a bigger fan of weird movie theater gimmicks than the average moviegoer, but that’s probably because I didn’t get a chance to live through things like Smell-O-Vision, which sound neat in theory but which were reportedly very obnoxious in reality (I recently wrote elsewhere about how the return of Smell-O-Vision in pre-show advertising sounds terrible). The joke about “See You Next Wednesday” (a fake movie title referenced in most of John Landis’ films) is that it’s in “feel-around”, a gimmick that’s clearly annoying to experience. I’d definitely be willing to try it out once, though. Especially if it’s the closest thing I could get to one of the Feelies (tactual motion pictures) from Huxley’s “Brave New World”. “MANT” from Matinee - Movie theater gimmicks also have me curious about experiencing the schlock horror film shown in Atomo-Vision and Rumble-Rama. This is one of those film within a films that you get to see more than enough footage of, but I want to actually suffer it as it’s intended to be seen. “Jews in Space” from History of the World, Part I - Mel Brooks eventually did make a Star Wars spoof, one that featured a lot of Jews in space (Spaceballs), but that doesn’t mean this earlier parody idea wouldn’t also be worth seeing. I’d even settle for seeing the apparently hilarious 2005 Argentine film Jews in Space Or Why Is This Night Different, which unfortunately doesn’t seem to actually take place in space nor, tragically, involve spaceships shaped like the Star of David. “Those Darn Amigos” from ¡Three Amigos! - Because the synopsis of Tropic Thunder reminds me of the plot to Three Amigos, I feel it appropriate to include one of the fake films from the underrated comedy. At the beginning of the movie, we see one of the silent movies starring the Three Amigos (see the clip above), but I’m more interested in the trio’s flop, which diverted from the usual premise to be about three wealthy Spanish landowners who take a little vacation in Manhattan. If it didn’t appeal to the masses, I’ll probably love it. I’d also settle for seeing one of the early shorts featuring Ned Nederlander (Martin Short) known as “Little Neddy’s Knickers.” Considering ¡Three Amigos! is set in 1916, and Short was in his mid-30s, I believe it impossible that Ned could have been a child star of any younger than 30, so I’m pretty curious. BONUS: “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” from Lost in La Mancha - It isn’t a fake film, but it is technically a film within a film. And it’s so far non-existent, really. Terry Gilliam’s attempted loose adaptation of Cervantes was actually being made, with Johnny Depp in the lead. However, due to multiple complications, the production was canceled after shooting had begun, and all that remained was Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe’s depressing documentary Lost in La Mancha. Because sometimes the gods are good to us Gilliam fans, though, it was recently announced that the film is on being attempted again, reportedly still with Depp and possibly also starring Michael Palin. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:00:43 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com8/11/2008 4:00:43 PM Lists of movies within movies are fairly common on the internet, enough that I now realize I need to finally see Bowfinger simply because I’ve counted about a million list makers in love with something titled “Chubby Rain.” And the lists are likely to keep on coming thanks to this week’s hot release, Tropic Thunder, which actually features two movies within (the Vietnam War film “Tropic Thunder” and the festival-winning making-of documentary “Rain of Madness”), as well as the upcoming How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which has spawned a popular fake movie trailer for an NC-17 film titled “Mother Theresa: The Making of a Saint” (previewed above). Yet until someone makes a Wikipedia page for “List of Fictional Films,” these blogged and forumed lists are necessary to keep us movie fans remembering those non-existent movies we wish existed. Narrowing down to ten seemed to be difficult — fictional films have been at least nominally been created for tons of films about filmmaking, otherwise reflexive films, sketch comedies, spoofs, etc. — until I realized that a lot of these films within films are appropriately nominal or trailer- or clip-sized gags and would in reality be terrible (imagine actually watching the entirety of “Asses of Fire” from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut). Even “Je Vous Présente Paméla” (”Meet Pamela”) from Day for Night and the sci-fi film being made in 8½ would probably be major disappointments in actuality if you expected from them the work of Truffaut and Fellini, respectively. So, I went mostly with fictional films that would probably be bad, but would at least be amusingly bad — though I purposefully avoided fictional porns, including those from Boogie Nights and The Big Lebowski, of which there are literally thousands: “Gandhi II” from UHF - There’s just something about watching good people gone bad. But while the idea of the Good Will Hunting sequel, subtitled “Hunting Season”, thought up for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is pretty ingenious, it just doesn’t have the same level of ludicrous exaggeration that a bloodletting follow-up to the Oscar-winning Gandhi has. Dude drives a Ferrari, can punch completely through a guy’s abdomen, and of course he knows how to party. He even eats meat, now. It’s not only funny because it’s the antithesis of what the Indian leader was all about, it’s also funny because it reminds me of all those straight-edge and vegetarian kids you knew in high school who now drink way too much (oh, yeah, I’m one of them). “Odyssey” from Contempt - When Fritz Lang showed up as himself in Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt, he’d already given the world his final film as a director (The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse). If only he’d really given us this one additional adaptation of Homer’s epic poem. Either as an art film, as Lang originally intends, or as a more commercial picture, as desired by the American producer played by Jack Palance. “Ants in Your Pants 1938″ from Sullivan’s Travels - The other famously named film within this film, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” was, at least in title, already made by the Coen brothers (see the side-by-side comparison in the video above — interestingly enough, their O Brother, Where Art Thou? is also an adaptation of Homer’s “Odyssey”, uniting #2 and #3 of this list). But I always try to imagine what a film titled “Ants in Your Pants 1938″ would have looked like. I always picture a cross between the Marx Brothers and Busby Berkeley, yet it’s got to be more shallow than that, according to how it’s referenced in Preston Sturges’ movie. “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure - What fan of the real Big Adventure wouldn’t like to watch it all over again as an action picture starring James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild? Maybe it wouldn’t be as good, but it does have ninjas. Anyway, because I love to relate seemingly unrelated movies via lists, let it be known that an episode of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was titled “Ants in Your Pants”. And now that I think about it, that show was kinda like a cross between the Marx Brothers and Busby Berkeley. Kinda. “Habeas Corpus” from The Player - It’s a common staple for lists like this, and pretty much all Bruce Willis movies from the first half of the ’90s were awful (obviously Pulp Fiction is an exception), but I’d definitely watch the whole of this fake film, even though I’ve already seen how it ends. As with Fritz Lang’s “Odyssey”, I’d be curious to see both the originally planned version and the commercialized final version. “Crossed Sabres of Truth” from The Big Picture - Forget “Home for Purim”, that lame movie within a movie from Christopher Guest’s For Your Consideration. This earlier satire of Hollywood from Guest had far greater fake films, most of them fake student films, such as this one, made by the full-of-himself character played by Dan Schneider. It may not have starred Elliott Gould (as does “The Trial of Janet Kingsley”), or been an overly avant-garde work titled “Afterbirth of a Notion” (which reminds me of the opening to Pee-Wee’s Playhouse), or the actual winner of the National Film Institute’s student film award (that would be Kevin Bacon’s character’s “First Date”), but it has the fat kid from Head of the Class and Better Off Dead riding a horse in a 19th century war movie. How could you not want to see more? “See You Next Wednesday” from The Kentucky Fried Movie - I’m probably a bigger fan of weird movie theater gimmicks than the average moviegoer, but that’s probably because I didn’t get a chance to live through things like Smell-O-Vision, which sound neat in theory but which were reportedly very obnoxious in reality (I recently wrote elsewhere about how the return of Smell-O-Vision in pre-show advertising sounds terrible). The joke about “See You Next Wednesday” (a fake movie title referenced in most of John Landis’ films) is that it’s in “feel-around”, a gimmick that’s clearly annoying to experience. I’d definitely be willing to try it out once, though. Especially if it’s the closest thing I could get to one of the Feelies (tactual motion pictures) from Huxley’s “Brave New World”. “MANT” from Matinee - Movie theater gimmicks also have me curious about experiencing the schlock horror film shown in Atomo-Vision and Rumble-Rama. This is one of those film within a films that you get to see more than enough footage of, but I want to actually suffer it as it’s intended to be seen. “Jews in Space” from History of the World, Part I - Mel Brooks eventually did make a Star Wars spoof, one that featured a lot of Jews in space (Spaceballs), but that doesn’t mean this earlier parody idea wouldn’t also be worth seeing. I’d even settle for seeing the apparently hilarious 2005 Argentine film Jews in Space Or Why Is This Night Different, which unfortunately doesn’t seem to actually take place in space nor, tragically, involve spaceships shaped like the Star of David. “Those Darn Amigos” from ¡Three Amigos! - Because the synopsis of Tropic Thunder reminds me of the plot to Three Amigos, I feel it appropriate to include one of the fake films from the underrated comedy. At the beginning of the movie, we see one of the silent movies starring the Three Amigos (see the clip above), but I’m more interested in the trio’s flop, which diverted from the usual premise to be about three wealthy Spanish landowners who take a little vacation in Manhattan. If it didn’t appeal to the masses, I’ll probably love it. I’d also settle for seeing one of the early shorts featuring Ned Nederlander (Martin Short) known as “Little Neddy’s Knickers.” Considering ¡Three Amigos! is set in 1916, and Short was in his mid-30s, I believe it impossible that Ned could have been a child star of any younger than 30, so I’m pretty curious. BONUS: “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” from Lost in La Mancha - It isn’t a fake film, but it is technically a film within a film. And it’s so far non-existent, really. Terry Gilliam’s attempted loose adaptation of Cervantes was actually being made, with Johnny Depp in the lead. However, due to multiple complications, the production was canceled after shooting had begun, and all that remained was Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe’s depressing documentary Lost in La Mancha. Because sometimes the gods are good to us Gilliam fans, though, it was recently announced that the film is on being attempted again, reportedly still with Depp and possibly also starring Michael Palin. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/funny/MemberTagFilms.aspxfunny
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