Kevin Smith Reviews The Dark Knight; New Zack and Miri Photo
Last night was EPIC. I had one of those movie experiences that only happens once in a long long time, where you leave the theater completely blown away by what you just experienced. Folks, this isn’t hype - The Dark Knight is a movie will destroy your expectations.
Not only did I get to see The Dark Knight, but I got to see it with one of my favorite directors / one of my idols - Kevin Smith was my guest. How cool is that? I honestly didn’t plan to name drop, but it seems like Smith talked about it in his latest blog entry. And as cool as that sounds, and was, Nolan was some how able to completely overshadow that fact with his new film. I’m under embargo not to review the movie until release (not that Warner Bros would shoot me over the completely glowing review I plan on posting), but Smith gives his breif spoiler free review which almost completely echos my own thoughts.
“Without giving anything away, this is an epic film (and trust me: based on the sheer size and scope of the visuals and storytelling, that’s not an overstatement). It’s the “Godfather II” of comic book films and three times more earnest than “Batman Begins” (and fuck, was that an earnest film). Easily the most adult comic book film ever made. Heath Ledger didn’t so much give a performance as he disappeared completely into the role; I know I’m not the first to suggest this, but he’ll likely get at least an Oscar nod (if not the win) for Best Supporting Actor. Fucking flick’s nearly three hours long and only leaves you wanting more (in a great way). I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed by it. Nolan and crew have created something close to a masterpiece.”
Smith also released a new image from Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
The director says a theatrical poster and trailer are on the way as well. I’m guessing they will hit the first week of August with Pineapple Express.
Up Teaser Trailer Not Attached to WALL-E; New WALL-E Poster and Video
The Pixar Projection website has confirmed what I have been told by my own internal sources, WALL-E will be the first Pixar film to not offer a look at the Emeryville-based animation company’s next film Up. Instead the trailer for Disney’s Bolt will be attached. We also found out exact running times. The Pixar short film Presto runs 5 minutes and 14 seconds and the final runtime for WALL-E is 1 hour 37 minutes and 43 seconds.
Our friends at Upcoming Pixar pointed us towards this “Love is in the Air” music video which Disney released. Check it out above. Filmz has also been provided with the Russian theatrical poster below which also plays up the love story aspect of the film.
Over Her Dead Body Movie Trailer and Poster
New Line has released a trailer and new theatrical poster for the upcoming supernatural romantic comedy Over Her Dead Body from former Drew Carey Show writer Jeff Lowell. Paul Rudd, Eva Longoria, Lake Bell, Jason Biggs, and Lindsay Sloane star in the story of a woman who discovers her new boyfriend is being haunted by the bitchy ghost of his former fiancee.
I’m pretty sure the only reason I’m posting this is because Paul Rudd is in it. I’m certainly not posting it because it looks hilarious. It looks like a watchable date movie. And by that I mean, a movie that your girlfriend might try to drag you to that you won’t have to make up an excuse for. Watch the trailer and see the poster.
You can also watch the trailer in High Definition on Yahoo. Over Her Dead Body hits theaters on February 1st 2008.
Poster via ComingSoon
Juno’s Opening Credit Sequence
When I first saw Juno at the Toronto Film Festival in September, one of the things I made mention of was the super-cool rotoscoped color-pencil animated opening sequence done by Shadowplay Studios.
Shadowplay has put the sequence online, which can now be watched below. I love this style so much, I wish that the marketing guys at Fox Searchlight had used it more in the marketing materials (ie the theatrical poster). But what do I know?
I just saw the film on the big screen tonight for the third time, and boy does this film play incredibly well in front of an audience. The almost packed theater in a suburb outside-Boston, laughed at every joke, and even clapped for the film when the credits hit.
Director Jason Reitman talks about the opening credit sequence in a blog post from August:
They were created by Shadowplay Studios, the same team who did the bad-ass opening titles for Thank You For Smoking. I met them back in 2000 when we both had short films playing the festival circuit. Their short, “This Guy Is Falling”, was a really impressive have live action/half animation piece they did in college.
When they did Smoking, the titles were rendered on a series of computers in one of their mother’s living rooms. Now they got a fancy place in an art deco building on Wilshire.
The Juno opening titles are out of control. I don’t want to give away too much, but the whole process was really labor intensive. The Shadowplayers would have parties in which friends and family would help construct the whole thing. Can’t wait for you all to see it and then I can explain how it was done…
Juno is now playing on 1,000 screens, and is expected to expand wider across the U.S. in the coming weeks.