Blogs We Like: Slashfilm

Slashfilm, otherwise known as /Film, is the kind of blog film geeks like me die for.  Back in 2005 the blog was launched by film critic Peter Sciretta, and in the six years since its inception /Film has become one of the blogosphere’s largest film communities. Run by Sciretta and a team of four or five contributing writers, it’s heaven for both the casual moviegoer as well as the more serious film connoisseur.

/Film is the go-to for industry news, trailer premieres, film reviews, interviews, information on special deals and random finds from the web–something I tend to geek out over. Over the years, the blog has expanded to cover topics that extend beyond the film universe, including television and the occasional tidbit on celebrity gossip. The blog has also added its weekly podcast series /FilmCast, which has featured interviews with and commentary from big names like directors Kevin Smith (“Clerks”) and Rian Johnson (“Brick”).

As a frequent /Film visitor, I have found it to be a great forum for discussion with other film geeks like myself. It’s one of the few blogs where I find the comments section equally as intriguing as the actual content of the posts. I would especially recommend browsing the comments of anything having to do with comic books.

-Dee Lockett

This Fan Film is Born of Awesome!

Get ready to go back to Middle-Earth, because this looks good…

Born of Hope is a feature length prequel to the Lord of The Rings trilogy created by Kate Madison, an aspiring director, actress, and obvious fan of LOTR.  Coming in at a price tag of $39,310, Kate spent her entire life savings on this project and has been greatly rewarded.

With the amazing, and I imagine mostly free, help of hundreds of actors, actresses, and obviously talented make up and digital crews, this film has managed to pique the interest of some of the big shots at WETA Workshop (the people who made the Hollywood films).

It’s available online for free, and any person who considers themselves a fan of the fantasy genre in general should take a look at this.

[via Nerd Salad]

~Beckett Noyes, Asst. Blog Editor

Coming This Valentine’s Day: Valentine’s Day

So once again, I will be valentine-less this February the 14th. But hey, why not go out and see this romantic comedy with the girls? And then if one of them is attached, tell her to go screw herself. And then possibly her boyfriend.

I have never seen so many big names in one production–can we say, all-star cast? We’ve got Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, Patrick Dempsey, and Queen Latifah, to name a few. Oh, and don’t forget Taylor Swift and her ever-dreamy boyfriend Taylor Lautner (Yes, New Moon surely has turned me to Team Jacob).

Dodge This

I don’t know why, but I feel like I’ve been hearing a lot about dodgeball lately. It’s been a theme in my friends’ facebook statuses, they were playing dodge rock on an episode of the Fairly OddParents ealier (yes, I still watch that show) and, you guessed it, the movie was on this afternoon.

Problem Island

With an all-star comedic cast, Couples Retreat was destined for greatness from the get-go.

Vince Vaughn, John Favreau, and Jason Bateman are as hilarious as I expected them to be together. The crowded theatre roared with laughter as Jason (Bateman) pulled an imaginary gun on his therapist, Dave (Vaughn) got bitten by a shark, and Joey (Favreau) tried to seduce his masseuse (needless to say, he wasn’t successful). Oh yeah, and let’s not forget when they were all violated by a man in a banana hammock (Carlos Ponce).

The movie begins with four couples that get a great deal on a vacation, but their island paradise quickly turns into hell when they find out they have to participate in couples therapy and attempt to save their failing marriages in order to stay.

"Is his junk out? Now it's a party"

So it is a tad predictable, but what romantic comedy isn’t? Let’s face it, we’d be mad if they didn’t end up the way we wanted them to, and yet we still complain about being able to guess the ending as soon as we see a preview.  When you think about it, romantic comedies can only end in one of two ways anyway: either the boy gets the girl or he doesn’t. And we all know what a piece a crap the movie turns into when he doesn’t (cough, cough, The Break-Up, cough). I guess Vince learned his lesson.

All in all, Couples Retreat made for a wonderful afternoon out (hooray for matinees and poor college students), and I suggest you see it if you’re looking for a laugh with a little romance on the side.

~Kelsey Benett

An Ironclad Hit

In the next three years, over 100 comic book movies are expected to come into existence (see the list here). Obviously this whole comic book-turned-movie thing is kind of a big deal, so I decided to get in touch with the times.

As an X-Men (and Hugh Jackman) fanatic, I saw Wolverine almost immediately, but Iron Man took me a bit longer to see. To be honest, I thought it looked dumb, but boy was I wrong.

Robert Downy Jr. blew me away for the first time in, well, a while. There’s a reason many people call this his comeback movie. And what a comeback it was. Not only was he able to show off his drool-worthy body, but his acting skills were pretty up there too.

Top 5 Music Movies!

Haven’t you always wanted to be present for one of those moments when everyone simultaneously breaks into song with Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer?” The mood changes, everyone is connected and smiling, and nobody has to say it, but everyone’s thinking it–damn, life is good.

Music has that general effect on the world; we have Cameron Crowe to thank for this particular scene and the emotion that follows. Crowe found a way to get a glimpse into that inexplicable thing about music that makes it so amazing and put it into a movie.

Lorna’s Top 5 Music Movies (in no apparent order):

1.  Almost Famous

So That’s Where That Came From…

 

When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way

Big news people: I finally watched West Side Story for the first time. I know, I know, as a self-proclaimed movie fanatic, it’s about time right?

Now that I bit the bullet, I must say the film was pretty good. Aside from the occasional boring and extremely corny parts (I mean who really falls head-over-heels in love to the point where they are planning their wedding after one day?), it made some valid points about how dumb gangs and violence can be.

Even though I disagree with the extremely tight pants worn by all of the men in the film, (thank God I didn’t live during the 50s) everything is a bit clearer now.

I finally understand the parody West Bank Story and realized that it is, in fact, a parody. Yes, the title similarity was lost on me.

Badass Superheroes

one of the many badass quotes from Rorschach's journal

I have always loved superheroes. There is just something about believing in people that can fly and see through walls and have tons of other superhuman powers that can fuel my imagination enough to keep me daydreaming through entire classes.

Today in Spanish I decided that if had one power I would want it to be the ability to control time. Not only would I be able to fast-forward through my classes, but I would always get enough sleep and spring break would be a hell of a lot longer.

The Crew

What got me on the subject of superheroes is the movie Watchmen. The movie started off sort of like The Incredibles, where vigilante activities have been outlawed and superheroes are forced to live normal lives and neglect their powers.

But then it turned dark, and in a surprisingly good way.