Trailer Friday for November 25, 2011

An all new set of trailers... and hearty commentary. Enjoy.

The Sitter (December 9)

"Adventures in Babysitting meets Superbad with a smattering of Sex Drive."

"Adventures in Babysitting is right. The movie's already drawing tons of criticism around the internet for copycatting. And deservedly so -- it's the exact same movie, only with tons of f-bombs!"

"It really is disgraceful how much they stole from that movie -- reluctant babysitter, same number of kids (3), taking them into the city to an all-black nightclub, criminals chasing them... The list goes on and on."

"This seems really raunchy. What kind of parent would let their child act in a movie like this? Still, I did laugh when he whispered, 'I f**king hate you too. I'll destroy you,' to the little girl."

"Bruh, I want 'Soul Baby' to be my new nickname!"

Melancholia (Now playing)

"Melancholia is the perfect title for this film. I wanted to like that trailer but it was really depressing."

"In fairness, it's a movie about a shaky marriage set against the backdrop of a rogue planet crashing into the earth. So what's there to be happy about?"

"By the way, Kirsten Dunst won Best Actress at Cannes for this."

"That's also where the director Lars von Trier sabotaged himself by making jokes about Nazis during a press conference. It's painful to watch."

"Nazi jokes to a roomful of Frenchmen?... Dude, know your audience!"

New Year's Eve (December 9)

"Ensemble pieces like this (Valentine's Day, He's Just Not That Into You) that have the multiple storylines going on at the same time, always seem really gimmicky to me."

"Box office poison Ashton Kutcher in the same movie with box office poison Katherine Heigl... Why didn't they throw in Nicholas Cage too? This film has no chance."

"Zac Effron, Jon Bon Jovi, Carson Daly, Seth Myers... I can't imagine any heterosexual men would want to see this."

"My focus is on the women. Halle Berry is still hot. Jessica Biel looks great too. But someone needs to tell Sofia Vergara that her spicy Latina schtick is wearing thin."

"I guarantee you, Robert DeNiro will only be in that one scene you saw at the very end."

The Hunger Games (March 23)

 "I know this movie's based on a popular novel but there's not a lot of originality here. I see elements of Orwell's novel 1984, Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery", "The Most Dangerous Game", Stephen King's "The Long Walk", and The Running Man."

"It's also very similar to The Condemned, which was distributed by the same studio -- Lionsgate."

"The release date is what concerns me. March and April are typically months where studios clear the decks for summer releases they think are going to make a lot of money. Scheduling this for March 23rd makes me think execs in the know don't believe this movie's any good."

"Stunt casting Lenny Kravitz and featuring him so prominently in the trailer should also be a warning sign."

My Week With Marilyn (Now playing)

"So I heard this is based on a supposed real-life incident that took place when Marilyn was filming The Prince and the Showgirl."

"I'm planning on seeing it. Michelle Williams is the new Jennifer Jason Leigh. Young actress who started off doing light, teen-oriented stuff. You didn't think much of her at first but she turned out to be really talented."

"Absolutely. Shutter Island, Blue Valentine... She always chooses interesting roles and she's always really good."

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Trailer Friday for November 11th, 2011

USC-UCLA "I Love L.A." Music Video

With college football season starting to wind down, this weekend features a full slate of games between the sports' biggest rivals -- Alabama/Auburn, Pittsburgh/West Virgina, Georgia/Georgia Tech, Ohio State/Michigan, Florida/Florida St., and one my personal favorites, USC/UCLA.

In honor of the occasion, I dug into the Pop Culture Fiend Archives and tried to find something relevant. What'd I come up with?...

Two things. An old "Beat UCLA" button I got at the USC bookstore, and this VERY old video of an ABC-TV produced promo for the game.

There was no date on the tape I culled this from but I'm pretty sure it's circa 1989. I was able to deduce this based on clues in the video -- shots of Larry Smith (USC head coach from 1987 to 1992), USC 1989 All-American defensive back Mark Carrier (#7 in the group of players you see at the very beginning), and a cameo from Richard Lewis and Jamie Lee Curtis from the ABC comedy Anything But Love, which premiered in 1989.

I have to say, no matter who you root for in this rivalry, you gotta love this video's highly apropos use of Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." Also, if anyone sees this and can identify the blonde majorette grooving in front of the UCLA band, please hit me up on email cause I've had a crush on her for 20+ years!

Oh, and in case you're wondering, this game ended in a 10-10 tie -- the seventh and final tie in the 82 year old rivalry.

Related Links:

USC-UCLA Football Rivalry on Wikipedia

Trailer Friday for November 11th, 2011

Hi folks, it's Trailer Friday again. Check out the in-the-moment commentary on an all new crop of movies.

Immortals (November 11)

"I missed Clash of the Titans and was kind of disappointed by Troy but still enjoyed it. This looks way better than both."

"Not enough audience for this movie. It's probably gonna do poorly at the box office. Too bad -- I love my Greek mythology movies."

"I dunno, the last big picture the director [Tarsem Singh] did was that JLo movie The Cell, which was one of the worst pieces of crap I ever saw."

Snow White and the Huntsman (Summer 2012)

"This film has a lot to live up to. The writer got an unbelievable $3 million for what was essentially a spec script. That said, the trailer looks awesome! Of the two Snow White movies, this is definitely gonna be the one to see."

"Someone needs to return that magic mirror to Home Goods. There's no way that skinny, pasty, Kristen Stewart is "fairer" than Charlize Theron. Also, it's hard to buy Stewart as an ass-kicking action hero."

"Agreed. Seriously bad casting for that lead role. Stewart always looks so mopey and bored. Like she's thinking, 'Yeah, being a movie star sucks.'"

Project X (March 2)

"Can't Hardly Wait meets Risky Business with a smattering of The Blair Witch Project."

"First of all, they need a more original title. Project X is the name of an 80's movie about astronaut monkeys... No bullshit, Matthew Broderick was in it."

"Sex-starved teens have a wild party and wreck the house while their parents are away -- how original!"

"Here's a red flag for you -- Todd Phillips [Old School, The Hangover] is listed as producer but DIDN'T write or direct."

Justice (November 18)

"Why, oh why, do they keep giving Nicholas Cage starring roles?... Box office poison he is."

"I say the exact same thing about Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl, and Anna Faris. But seriously, this could be good. Roger Donaldson [No Way Out, Thirteen Days, The Bank Job] has a lot of great thrillers on his resume.'"

"Seems very predictable. Did anyone NOT think the favor the guy was gonna ask for was for Cage to kill someone?"

A Thousand Words (Coming soon)

"Broad, high-concept comedies like this (Liar, Liar comes to mind) often work. Wish I'd thought of that premise."

"High-concept... or gimmicky? It worked for Liar, Liar, not so much for Yes Man. It's all in the execution."

"I agree it's a great premise but judging from that trailer, they're not doing enough with it. I was expecting to laugh out loud watching that preview and it just didn't happen."

"This movie would work better with a stronger supporting cast. Someone like Chris Tucker as the best friend and Halle Berry instead of Kerry Washington as the girlfriend."

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Trailer Friday for November 25, 2011

Hey Everyone, It's Trailer Friday!

Every other Friday (or so) I get together with the crew to view a bunch of the latest movie trailers. So check out what we watched and enjoy the commentary:

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas [red band trailer]

"Yes! Harold's girlfriend [Paula Garces] is back, wearing lingerie and talking dirty!"

"Geez, Kal Penn is looking kinda old... and pudgy."

"This movie actually looks like it could be okay. Babies doing drugs is always good for a laugh."

Tower Heist 

"Tea Leoni's Hollywood career is like a Wack-a-Mole game. Every so often she pops up completely unexpectedly, then disappears again."

"It's been 25 years but Eddie Murphy's still got it. It's like as soon as you see his face, you smile."

"Is anybody else looking at Matthew Broderick and thinking, 'Wow, Ferris Beuller really let himself go."?

Piranha 3DD

"Was that Doc Brown from Back to the Future?"

"Cool -- Ving Rhames has guns for legs just like Rose McGowan in Planet Terror."

"Ten bucks says this movie never makes it theaters and goes straight to DVD."

"Campy, low-budget crap... But hey, can we watch that 'Double the D's' part again?"

The Mighty Macs

"The producers of this movie are targeting a very specific demo -- Catholic, women's college basketball fans."

"Isn't Marley Shelton supposed to be in this movie -- cause I don't think I saw her in that trailer."

"That 70s Show meets Hoosiers with a smattering of Sister Act."

In Time

"Interesting -- this is from the same writer who did Gattaca."

"Love the premise. Very Logan's Run-ny-ish."

"This could be a great movie. I seriously hope that puss Justin Timberlake doesn't ruin it."

"They had me the second Olivia Wilde's face hit the screen."


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Trailer Friday for November 11th, 2011
Trailer Friday for November 25th, 2011

Signature Songs: The Bangles

Starting a new series today called "Signature Songs". In it, I'm going to be talking about the songs that are the best examples of the work of individual recording artists. For example, the signature song for Madonna would be "Like a Virgin". Why?... Because in addition to being a major hit, it includes many of the musical elements Madonna is best known for.

Making a determination like this requires a lot of generalization, because over the course of her  career, Madonna recorded songs in many different styles. For example, consider "Hung Up", which features an ABBA "Voulez-Vous" sample and is very "techno-ey"; "Take a Bow" is a sad ballad replete with violins and other classical instruments; and "Physical Attraction" is classic, "synth-ey" 80's dance-pop.

But the reason "Like a Virgin" is Madonna's signature song is because it's the best representation of  "classic" Madonna. In other words, if you were forced to time capsule, that is, choose one song to save for future generations to understand what type of artist Madonna was and what type of music she made, the best choice would be "Like a Virgin". This has less to do with how big a hit "Like a Virgin" was than it does the fact that "Like a Virgin" includes a large combination of ingredients from classic Madonna's musical style. "Like a Virgin", for example, includes a lot of synthesizers -- as did most of Madonna's early hits ("Everybody", "Borderline", "Lucky Star", "Angel", "Dress You Up", "Into the Groove".) Additionally, like many Madonna songs, "Like a Virgin" is danceable, and to top it off, it's also overtly sexual, both in title and lyrics -- and we know that Madonna certainly put her sexuality at the forefront of much of her music and her life.

Again, I'm generalizing somewhat and I understand that whether it's a solo act, a group or a band, an artist's music typically evolves over time. Almost invariably, they begin to explore different genres and musical styles, draw inspiration from new sources, collaborate with other artists, and otherwise begin to make music that's entirely (sometimes radically) different from what they're most well known for and/or created earlier in their careers.

Notice I said, "almost invariably." There are in fact some music artists who don't evolve very much and continue to churn out the same type of music. Their sound never (or barely) changes and they remain pretty much the same from the start of their careers to the finish.

Punk-oriented bands like The Ramones and Green Day come to mind. Certain "heartland" rockers like Springsteen and John Mellencamp also seem to be making pretty much the same type of music they did when they were first starting out. For example, recent Springsteen tunes like "Radio Nowhere" off 2007's Magic and "The Last Carnival" from 2009's Working On a Dream, would fit in perfectly next to cuts like "Badlands" and "Prove it All Night" from Bruce's 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town. (And judging by the two photos above, it looks like Bruce's wardrobe hasn't changed much either!)

The presumption is that heartland rock and punk rock are extremely well-defined sub-genres that are closely married to very specific attributes, attitudes and ideals. When the music an artist produces is so "rooted" this way, it's understandable how their output might only minimally change, even over a long haul.

Punk rock is also deeply rooted in very strong and specific ideals. It's stripped-down, fast-paced, angry, and anti-establishment. So as soon as a punk rocker begins making music that moves away from these core themes and attributes, that artist immediately loses their "punk identity" and starts to become something completely different. (They also run the risk of completely alienating their fan base and the core audience they worked so hard to gain.) This may help explain why the sound of bands like The Ramones and Social Distortion barely changed over their 20+ year careers.

Okay, that was quite a digression. I was talking about "signature songs" and the artist I'm going to begin with is the Bangles. Their signature song is "If She Knew What She Wants".

No, not "Manic Monday", the Bangles first major hit and their most enduring song. And not "Eternal Flame", the band's only #1 record. "If She Knew What She Wants" gets the nod because the Bangles were formed largely based on founding members Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson and Debbie Peterson's shared love of the Beatles, the Byrds, and sixties psychedelia. "If She Knew What She Wants" represents the perfect blend of these three influences. Not only does it borrow the "jangly" Rickenbacker guitars exemplified in the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" and the Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn! and "Mr. Tambourine Man", but it also adds a ton of terrific harmonies, reminiscent of not only the Beatles, but the Beach Boys and the Mamas and the Papas as well. Also, if you listen closely, you'll find "If She Knew What She Wants" is structurally similar to the Beatles' "Nowhere Man" (which also features Rickenbacker guitars by the way.)

I dug through the Pop Culture Fiend Archives and found this clip  of the Bangles performing "If She Knew What She Wants" on Late Nite with David Letterman (circa 1987, I believe.)

I've heard the group sing this song many times (including live) and this is arguably their best performance. From Susanna's distinct croon, to their clothes (check out Vicki's 60s-style go-go boots and hairdo) to their impromptu dance moves, this was the Bangles at their peak. The only question is, as an all-girl band that almost certainly had to go through a lot to be taken seriously, why are they not playing their own instruments?...

Oh well, in any case, enjoy!