Films seen so far this year: 25
Films seen this week: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Tokyo Sonata, JCVD, Modern Life, Cadillac Records, In the Loop, Traitor
Viral Videos: He's Just Not That Into You
These days, no comedy worth its salt can afford to come out without the accompanying viral videos. Tropic Thunder is the reigning champion in this regard (releasing spoof documentary clips and even the spoof viral video that played at the MTV Movie Awards, both way before the movie came out), but there were also some very funny ones for Zack and Miri Make A Porno (see previous blog), among others. The thing is, that even though I know it's a marketing tool just like any other, it actually works.
Case in point, the viral video for the upcoming He's Just Not That Into You, which features the three male leads (Entourage's Kevin Connelly, Alias's Bradley Cooper and Ed's Justin Long) exhorting male viewers not to write off He's Just Not That Into You as just another chick flick and listing ten chick flick cliches that you won't find in the movie (e.g. singing into random objects or makeover montages). It's pretty funny, even though it also smacks a little of desperation. The movie itself has a terrific cast that includes no less than three Jennifers (Aniston, Connelly and, okay, Ginnifer Goodwin) plus Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore and the always-excellent Busy Philipps, but I confess, I'm more put off by the two hour and ten minute running time than I am by the prospect of chick-flick overload.
Films I'm Looking Forward To: Push
Not to be confused with the recent Sundance winner, Push stars Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning (together at last!) as a pair of psychic powered types (she's a "Watcher", he's a "second generation Mover" - I wonder if that means Camilla Belle is a "Shaker"?) trying to rescue another psychic (Belle) from the clutches of sinister government types (Djimon Hounsou) who also have psychic powers. Wait...does everyone in this movie have psychic powers? Okay, so clearly Push is no Watchmen, but it'll do in the meantime. Anyway, the trailer makes it look like a lot of fun, plus Chris Evans is the perfect actor for this sort of thing (see also: Cellular, Fantastic Four). I'm seeing it next week and really looking forward to it.
Top 10 Films On Release This Week (as recommended by me):
Only two changes this week, with the excellent Revolutionary Road (cruelly overlooked, nay, snubbed, at the Oscar nominations) going straight in at number two and Japanese credit crunch drama Tokyo Sonata also making it into the top ten. Of this week's releases, I also liked JCVD a lot, but that's going to DVD in a week or so anyway. There's a JCVD / DVD joke to be made there somewhere, but I don't think I can be bothered.
1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. Revolutionary Road
3. The Wrestler
4. Milk
5. Frost/Nixon
6. Better Things
7. Waltz With Bashir
8. Rachel Getting Married
9. The Reader
10. Tokyo Sonata
DVD of the Week: RocknRolla (released 2nd February, RRP £19.99)
This week's DVD of the Week is Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla, which was surprisingly enjoyable, despite featuring no less than three of my least favourite actors (Gerard Butler, Tom Hardy and Thandie Newton).
Essentially, the film is Ritchie's long-awaited return to Lock, Stock territory - it's a multi-character thriller about a gang of petty criminals (Butler, The Wire's Idris Elba, Hardy) getting involved with an old school mobster (Tom Wilkinson), a shady Russian billionaire (Karel Roden), a missing painting and a junkie rock star (yet another movie-stealing performance from Toby Kebbell). The DVD only has three extras though: a single deleted scene ("Will You Put That Cigarette Out?"), a featurette involving Ritchie reflecting on his fascination with London and a commentary with Ritchie and actor Mark Strong.