Coming Soon

New Movies 11/21 -- Sexy vampires in TWILIGHT, ferocious hamsters in BOLT

1. Bolt -- Watch the trailer. In Disney's latest, a puppy named Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) is famous for playing a superhero dog on TV. When he sets out to save his owner (voiced by Miley Ray Cyrus) from harm, he's shocked to discover that he's just a normal dog. Luckily, a cat and a hamster are willing to help him. 

Whoever sees this movie, I'm interested in your reactions. I might see it for that hamster. He gets cuter as he grows more ferocious.

2. Twilight -- Watch the trailer and read the sex-charged press conference from Comic-Con.

Twilight stars a bunch of good-looking teens, and most of them are vampires. Who here has daydreamed about being a teenage vampire? I haven't, but sometimes I daydream about being a tween werewolf, or a toddler from the Black Lagoon.  :)

• Vote in our Vampire Cage Match  Robert Pattinson, who plays Peter Cullen in Twilight, is one of the 16 vampires in Spout's Vampire Cage Match. Should Robert win his first match against Tom Cruise's Lestat (Interview With the Vampire)? Make your vote heard in the pretty-boy bloodletting, humans!

3. Nerakhoon (The Betrayal) -- In this documentary, Laotian filmmaker Thavisouk Phrasavath tells the story of Laotian refugees struggling through hardship and extreme poverty during the Vietnam War.

His family was among the refugees, but the film moves beyond their experience, looking at the political events that caused the refugees' situation. I'm fuzzy on the history, but I know America was waging a secret air war against Laos at the time.

Phrasavath has been piecing this narrative together for 23 years.  It looks like one of those stories that, if told in American history books at all, it's told too briefly. 

4. Special -- Watch the trailer. A lonely, comics-obsessed parking enforcement officer volunteers to try an experimental antidepressant. The side effects: either he's lost his mind, or he's actually developed superpowers. Can he trust his own perceptions?

5. I Can't Think Straight -- Watch the trailer. Two women, one a Christian and the other a Muslim, fall in love. Obviously their cultures are not very ready or willing to accept their relationship. Directed by Hamin Sarif and based on her autobiographical novel The World Unseen.

6. Lake City -- An estranged mother (Sissy Spacek) and son (Troy Garity, who plays Harvey from Sunshine), come together to save their home from villainous Dave Matthews. (Yes, that Dave Matthews.)

Speaking of Sunshine, I haven't seen it. Would you guys recommend it?

7. Yuvvraaj Indian film. Musical drama about a hard-on-his-luck singer who vows to become a billionaire within 40 days, while at the same time trying to mend his broken relationships with his brothers.

I can really relate to this story; it happened to me once.    :)

Re:New Movies 11/21 -- Sexy vampires in TWILIGHT, ferocious hamsters in BOLT

I am going to see Bolt soley for the hamster.

Re:New Movies 11/21 -- Sexy vampires in TWILIGHT, ferocious hamsters in BOLT

SkyPilot:

Vote in our Vampire Cage Match  Robert Pattinson, who plays Peter Cullen in Twilight, is one of the 16 vampires in Spout's Vampire Cage Match. Should Robert win his first match against Tom Cruise's Lestat (Interview With the Vampire)? Make your vote heard in the pretty-boy bloodletting, humans!

Uh, I just checked it out.  Basically the newer the movie the more votes it gets.  Gary Oldman, Christopher Lee, and Max Schreck are all being clobbered in votes by young pretty ladies from the past few years.  Too bad there is no dicussion board attached to the poll to discuss any of it.

SkyPilot:

5. I Can't Think Straight -- Watch the trailer. Two women, one a Christian and the other a Muslim, fall in love. Obviously their cultures are not very ready or willing to accept their relationship. Directed by Hamin Sarif and based on her autobiographical novel The World Unseen.

OBVIOUSLY Adam.  OBVIOUSLY.

Re:New Movies 11/21 -- Sexy vampires in TWILIGHT, ferocious hamsters in BOLT

I second the hampster motion.

And I don't understand what's wrong with a christian muslim lesbian relationship?

Re:New Movies 11/21 -- Sexy vampires in TWILIGHT, ferocious hamsters in BOLT

Risselada:

SkyPilot:

Vote in our Vampire Cage Match  Robert Pattinson, who plays Peter Cullen in Twilight, is one of the 16 vampires in Spout's Vampire Cage Match. Should Robert win his first match against Tom Cruise's Lestat (Interview With the Vampire)? Make your vote heard in the pretty-boy bloodletting, humans!

Uh, I just checked it out.  Basically the newer the movie the more votes it gets.  Gary Oldman, Christopher Lee, and Max Schreck are all being clobbered in votes by young pretty ladies from the past few years.  Too bad there is no dicussion board attached to the poll to discuss any of it.

SkyPilot:

5. I Can't Think Straight -- Watch the trailer. Two women, one a Christian and the other a Muslim, fall in love. Obviously their cultures are not very ready or willing to accept their relationship. Directed by Hamin Sarif and based on her autobiographical novel The World Unseen.

OBVIOUSLY Adam.  OBVIOUSLY.

I think I meant, "foreseeably."   :)    

Risselada, you dog! You're a dog and gentleman. You made me realize I was unclear. For anyone who wants to know, this is what I was thinking...

We probably all know Christians and/or Muslims who find homosexuality to be sinful. I was only partly thinking of thiswhen I said "Obviously their cultures are not very ready or willing to accept their relationship."

I was mainly thinking this: after reading the synopsis to I Can't Think Straight, I felt like I could predict the inner and outer conflicts the characters face throughout the whole movie. This didn't make me very excited to see it. However, I could be wrong about the movie, so I'm interested in the reactions of people who see it.

However, since the story is based on Shamim Sharif's autobiography, I mean no disrespect to her. In a sense, if the film is predictable, it reminds us of (possibly hostile) religious perspectives that homosexuals must deal with on a daily basis. Whether Sharif's movie is good or bad, her story's real, and I imagine it holds quite a bit of real suffering. That's something I take very seriously.

So Risselada, thanks for making me laugh while highlighting my bias. If I veil my lack of enthusiasm so poorly, I should at least be clear about why I'm not enthusiastic, right?

Most romances bore me.

Re:New Movies 11/21 -- Sexy vampires in TWILIGHT, ferocious hamsters in BOLT

rjsprague:

I second the hampster motion.

"The Hampster Motion is THE official dance craze of 2008! All across North America, teens and tweens and in-betweens are getting in line to spin their wheels! Yeah, dig the Hampster Motion!"

Whoa, sorry, I think I was possessed for a second.

Re:New Movies 11/21 -- Sexy vampires in TWILIGHT, ferocious hamsters in BOLT

SkyPilot:

rjsprague:

I second the hampster motion.

"The Hampster Motion is THE official dance craze of 2008! All across North America, teens and tweens and in-betweens are getting in line to spin their wheels! Yeah, dig the Hampster Motion!"

Whoa, sorry, I think I was possessed for a second.

Speaking of possession, I just read that Korean woman would become Shamans very reluctantly, usually after a severe physical or mental illness, and they were considered possessed by an evil spirit. Pretty crazy huh?

But not as crazy as an EVIL Dave Matthews. I once went to a Dave Matthews Band concert in PA, and it was pretty rockin. I just can't see Dave as a bad guy though, a pothead maybe, although I heard he's not into the stuff, but a bad guy? I can't imagine that one is going to garner much acclaim.

Another note on possession. This morning I was reading through my school's newletter and someone actually come "come exorcise your First Amendment Rights". It reminded me of the episode of "The Man Show" where Adam tries to get women to sign a petition to end women's suffrage. Needless to say I wrote that person an email explaining the irony of asking people to protest by exorcising their First Amendment rights.

Re:New Movies 11/21 -- Sexy vampires in TWILIGHT, ferocious hamsters in BOLT

SkyPilot:

Risselada:

SkyPilot:

Vote in our Vampire Cage Match  Robert Pattinson, who plays Peter Cullen in Twilight, is one of the 16 vampires in Spout's Vampire Cage Match. Should Robert win his first match against Tom Cruise's Lestat (Interview With the Vampire)? Make your vote heard in the pretty-boy bloodletting, humans!

Uh, I just checked it out.  Basically the newer the movie the more votes it gets.  Gary Oldman, Christopher Lee, and Max Schreck are all being clobbered in votes by young pretty ladies from the past few years.  Too bad there is no dicussion board attached to the poll to discuss any of it.

SkyPilot:

5. I Can't Think Straight -- Watch the trailer. Two women, one a Christian and the other a Muslim, fall in love. Obviously their cultures are not very ready or willing to accept their relationship. Directed by Hamin Sarif and based on her autobiographical novel The World Unseen.

OBVIOUSLY Adam.  OBVIOUSLY.

I think I meant, "foreseeably."   :)    

Risselada, you dog! You're a dog and gentleman. You made me realize I was unclear. For anyone who wants to know, this is what I was thinking...

We probably all know Christians and/or Muslims who find homosexuality to be sinful. I was only partly thinking of thiswhen I said "Obviously their cultures are not very ready or willing to accept their relationship."

I was mainly thinking this: after reading the synopsis to I Can't Think Straight, I felt like I could predict the inner and outer conflicts the characters face throughout the whole movie. This didn't make me very excited to see it. However, I could be wrong about the movie, so I'm interested in the reactions of people who see it.

However, since the story is based on Shamim Sharif's autobiography, I mean no disrespect to her. In a sense, if the film is predictable, it reminds us of (possibly hostile) religious perspectives that homosexuals must deal with on a daily basis. Whether Sharif's movie is good or bad, her story's real, and I imagine it holds quite a bit of real suffering. That's something I take very seriously.

So Risselada, thanks for making me laugh while highlighting my bias. If I veil my lack of enthusiasm so poorly, I should at least be clear about why I'm not enthusiastic, right?

Most romances bore me.

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to make you sound like a "doofus" as your mass email stated.  Of course I was bating you or anyone else to a response without really saying much myself.

But of course I see what you are saying.  It's not that you individually would assume that societies of either religions would be hostile towards such a relationship.  But I think most of us are not surprised that a film dealing with such a scenario shows these societies as being hostile.  Again, whether these responses are fairly cliche or more complex or meaningful is yet to be seen without actually watching the movie.  But I think we've heard of enough films like this that it's hard not to expect something in particular.

You always respond so well even when I get a bit captious.

Re:New Movies 11/21 -- Sexy vampires in TWILIGHT, ferocious hamsters in BOLT

Risselada:

You always respond so well even when I get a bit captious.

Hey man, thanks! And nice word, that "captious." I had to look it up. From merriam-webster.com...

CAPTIOUS

1 : marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections <captious critics>

2 : calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument <a captious question>

I don't think you're ill-natured.

Re:New Movies 11/21 -- Sexy vampires in TWILIGHT, ferocious hamsters in BOLT

Risselada:

SkyPilot:

Vote in our Vampire Cage Match  

Uh, I just checked it out.  Basically the newer the movie the more votes it gets.  Gary Oldman, Christopher Lee, and Max Schreck are all being clobbered in votes by young pretty ladies from the past few years.  Too bad there is no dicussion board attached to the poll to discuss any of it.

Great point Rizzo.

Discuss: WTF? Robert Pattinson the Ultimate Badass Vampire?