Movie Hawk » Film News

Done to ‘Death’

Jeff Martin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:59:29 +0000

Every time I see a trailer for Death at a Funeral, I get angry. Not because I think that Chris Rock isn’t funny, or because it pokes fun at a vulnerable situation. No, I get angry because the exact same movie has been made before. In 2007, Frank Oz directed a stellar cast in the droll, zany movie, which I saw but never reviewed for some reason. If Firefly hadn’t done so already, the 2007 Death would have endeared me to the work of Alan Tudyk for life. Now Niel LaBute, writer and director of the unknown but brilliant In the Company of Men and not much else of consequence, is helming a remake that seems content to replace understatement with catch phrases and screaming. It’s not that I don’t enjoy Tracy Morgan – I’m a huge fan of his on 30 Rock – and I’m sure this movie will find some kind of audience (probably more than the $8.5 million it grossed in 2007), but it’s completely unnecessary to remake the movie three years after its initial release, especially when the original was so good. At least they had the good sense to re-cast Peter Dinklage in his role.

Again, I’m sure there have been many remakes that have been successful, and I’m sure that I’ve seen a remake of a brilliant British film without knowing of the original, but seems such a sin to remake such a brilliant movie so soon. See the trailer below.

We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Hearse

Jeff Martin — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:01:40 +0000

An old conversation that seems appropriate today:

Me: What’s the best sports movie ever?
Mike: …is fishing a sport?
Me: Sure.
Mike: Jaws.

Rest in peace, Roy Scheider.

Listen to the Music?

Jeff Martin — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 04:30:55 +0000

As excited as I am for the upcoming film version of Sweeney Todd – with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp on board, it’s hard to resist – I can’t help but be a little disappointed that the trailer includes almost no music. The backbone of the show – indeed, the reason it is so brilliantly dark – is the music of Stephen Sondheim. Clearly, this December will be filled with Sondheim’s devilishly good lyrics, but it’s such a tease not to include more of it in the trailer.

[video]http://www.sweeneytoddmovie.com/videoplayer/st_player.swf?defaultVideo=trailer1[/video]

Still Crazy After All These Years

Jeff Martin — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:14:22 +0000

A combination of infrequent circumstances – including my reading of the Philadelphia City Paper – inspired me to travel downtown this weekend to visit the Ritz at the Bourse for the first time since the chain had been bought out by Landmark Theatres. The reason? To catch a limited-engagement showing of the 1986 classic Labyrinth.

I hadn’t seen the movie in full in at least a decade, and like too much visual media from the 1980s, it doesn’t age perfectly. Labyrinth is a movie that makes it hard to believe that Jennifer Connelly ever won an Academy Award, impossible to believe that David Bowie went on to be a serious actor, and easy to believe that Jim Henson did some fabulous drugs. Even so, Henson’s homage to The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and a slew of other children’s stories is a wonderful bit of entertainment, and a must-see for Muppet fans and 80s nostalgists alike.

The Ritz, meanwhile, is happily continuing on with business as usual with the new landlords. The prices are still a bit high (then again, what movie theatre’s prices aren’t), the seats are still among the most comfortable around, and the clientele is still the most respectful in town. Too often I forgive the trespasses of the terrible AMC Marple 10 because of its location – an almost literal stone’s throw from my home – while the Ritz, a half-hour ride into the city, remains a sanctuary of good movie practices. It’s a relief to see that Landmark hasn’t changed the chain’s status as destination moviegoing.

A Long Time Ago…

Jeff Martin — Fri, 25 May 2007 15:29:07 +0000

Thrity years ago today, a strange film about aliens, evil empires, and a mystical force debuted on a few dozen screens and changed the world as we know it. Sure, Jaws officially started the “blockbuster” trend in Hollywood two years earlier, but Star Wars perfected the idea. Films have come since that have outsold Star Wars, but it still stands in history as one of the biggest and most influential films of all time. I won’t try to philosophize about what the movie did to me when I saw it for the first time, because I don’t really remember. And I won’t reminisce on how much the film mean to me, because it doesn’t mean that much. I really really like Star Wars, and I appreciate its part in cinematic history, but I don’t worship at its altar. At the same time, if it weren’t for Star Wars, most of the movies I love today wouldn’t have been made. And for that I thank George Lucas and his space story. So happy thirtieth birthday, Star Wars. I’m sure the people in the comments will have a lot to say about you.

The Summer of Expensive Entertainment

Jeff Martin — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:50:17 +0000

Very quickly, this summer is becoming a burden on my wallet. Over the past two days, I have committed myself to attending four major events, each more expensive than necessary, each an inescapable draw. Not to mention the fact that this summer is rich with potential experiences at the cineplex. Below the jump, take time to enjoy the ways I’ve already figured out to waste my cash over the coming months.

May 4: Spider-Man 3
May 11: The Ex (Zach Braff, Jason Bateman!)
May 18: Shrek the Third
May 25: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
June 1: Ocean’s 13
June 29: Ratatouille
July 4: Transformers
July 13: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
July 20: John Mayer/Ben Folds concert
July 21: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (book)
July 27: The Simpsons Movie
August 2: Kevin Smith Q&A in Red Bank to celebrate his birthday
August 3: The Bourne Ultimatum
August 7: Michael Buble concert
August 18: RENT on Broadway featuring Adam Paschal and Anthony Rapp

And that’s just the things that I’m certain I’m doing.

Basically, if you need me, I’ll be at the movies.

Puttin’ Off the Ritz

Jeff Martin — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 21:05:40 +0000

I’ve been living on the outskirts of Philadelphia for nearly 25 years (that is, my entire life) and have been writing amateur film reviews for only five or so, but, embarrassingly, I have only recently learned to take advantage of the art house Ritz Theaters chain in the city. For the longest time, I was afraid of the big, bad city and relegated my movie watching to big chains in the burbs. Even so, I feel a bit nostalgic and a bit upset to learn that the three Ritz Theaters are being sold to a national indie theater chain.

I first experienced the Ritz 5 when Pat offered me a pass to an advance screening of the extraordinarily awful The Sixth Day and, perhaps in small part due to that experience, erased the chain’s existence from my memory. Then, when I started having Saturday afternoon outings into the city with a friend, we started to take advantage of the fact that the theaters – three within a four-block radius – offered smart, sophisticated movies with little or no danger of selling out and early screening times. Some of my all-time movie-watching memories have occurred in those theaters over the past few years: I took in Pride and Prejudice, The Oh in Ohio, and Little Miss Sunshine at one or another of the Ritzes, just to name a few.

It doesn’t look like the new shopkeepers will change much about the experience – they offer similar film fare in New York and L.A. to what the Ritzes offer now – but the mere fact that a small theater chain, more or less independently owned, is no longer a hidden gem but part of a psuedo-conglomerate is a sad sign of the money-grubbing times, especially when it comes to Hollywood.

Apparently, It’s Easy Being Green After All

Jeff Martin — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 14:39:11 +0000

Surprise winners ruled the evening at last night’s Academy Awards. Alan Arkin took home a well-deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Happy Feet stole away the animation award from Cars and Monster House, but perhaps the biggest shock came from the Best Original Song category. With three numbers from Dreamgirls dominating the nominees, it was expected that it would be an easy category to handicap. And though two of the songs were only half decent, “I Love You, I Do” deserved recognition but had to defer to Melissa Etheridge and her ballad created for the global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

The film also took home tops in the Documentary Feature category, prompting a gushy outpouring for Al Gore. Several times during the night, people broke out speeches about the importance of “going green.” Is this another case of Hollywood applauding itself for its political agenda, or did Etheridge really deserve the nod? All I know is that, by the end of the night, I was tired of seeing Al Gore.

Other thoughts on the Oscars:

Abagail Breslin looked like I’m sure the rest of the audience felt: bored. Were the shadow dancers and clip montages necessary? There no reason to have an awards show telecast last longer than 4 hours.
Even so, the “So Long, Farewell” music to cue someone to finish their speech or else seemed a little rude.
Hooray for Marty Scorsese. I thought The Departed was an exceptional movie, but not his strongest effort of all time. But it was nice that he was finally recognized.
Pan’s Labyrinth, thought by many in the Movie Hawk circle to be cheated out of a Best Picture nomination, didn’t even receive Best Foreign Language Film. I find this unacceptable.

Trailer Park

Jeff Martin — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:48:38 +0000

And now, for a new Movie Hawk feature, the Trailer Park. This will be a sporadic feature (then again, what here isn’t), reserved for when an extraordinarily interesting trailer hits the Interwebs or when I have nothing else to write.

TMNT – I’m still pumped for this movie, even if the trailer affirms fears that the tone will be more cartoonish than dark, forsaking the TMNT origin for the gags that made the cartoon wildly popular in my childhood. I’m all for “Cowabunga,” but it’s a proven fact now more than ever that you can put some dark material in a movie and still have young kids be interested.
300 – Frank Miller gave us one of the better movies of last year with Sin City, but I wasn’t initially interested in this film based on his graphic novel of the same name. This trailer has intrigued me a little more than previous efforts, but it still strikes me as a movie I’ll go see at 10:40 at King of Prussia with my friend and fall asleep.
Blood and Chocolate – I include this because I saw the trailer in the movie theatre and most of the audience cracked up when the title card flashed. Can we discuss the fact that they’ve run out of movie titles? Anyone?

Systemic Anomalies

Jeff Martin — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 16:15:35 +0000

Nothing major to write about today, so instead let’s reach into the grab bag that is the Interwebs.

Speed Racer will be a real life, live action movie, directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, the guys responsible for the mindblowing film The Matrix and the…mindblowingly underwhelming The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Somehow I can’t get the image of Racer X punching Speed in the stomach and slowly turning him into a clone.
Kazakh movie theaters will “probably” not screen Borat. I recommend the U.S. follow suit. Borat is the next step in the devolution of comedy started by Napoleon Dynamite. I, of course, will wind up seeing it, liking it, and hating myself for it.
Fraggle Rock will be a movie. Remember when George Lucas re-released the original Star Wars trilogy in theatres because of all the hype around The Phantom Menace? Might I suggest the re-release of The Muppets Take Manhattan to lead into this release?
And, for what it’s worth, LOST is on tonight. You can follow all the action over at Balls, Sticks, & Stuff as loyal Moviehawk reader Tom G. liveblogs the episode.