gdp's Comments

Film School Rejects : Review: Dance Flick

Fri, 22 May 2009 19:14:41 +0000

I don't know what else they did in the 90s other than in living color and Don't Be A Menace... but Don't be A Menace was a great comedy at the time. I haven't seen it in years to compare how it lasted, but I could see that being an "Ivory Tower" qualification. I thought Marlon Wayans was fantastic in Requiem for a Dream, although that was 2000 and clearly not a comedy. I am continuously disappointed when I see him spit out these bland spoof films when I thought he had dramatic potential.

Film School Rejects : Cannes Dispatch: \'Inglourious Basterds\' Draws Battle Lines in France

Fri, 22 May 2009 19:07:06 +0000

Isn't this pretty common for Tarantino movies though? There always seems to be a great divide, or at least somewhat mixed reviews when his movies come out. Some people praise him, and other people trash him. I mean there was even the shouting match on FSR that addressed that. I try not to listen to any reviews of his work for that reason, and just judge him on what he spits out. Sometimes its enjoyable (in my opinion his early work) and sometimes I think it's terrible (death proof). I'll catch this in theaters, more than likely.

Film School Rejects : The 10 Most Preposterous Ways to Bring a Character Back to Life

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:15:46 +0000

Number 1 makes me think of Beerfest, and how Broken Lizard directly parodies it.

Film School Rejects : Wolverine\'s Origin Becomes a Pirate Story

Wed, 1 Apr 2009 18:28:26 +0000

I guess its not common knowledge outside of the post-production team and the "(pirate) scene" that most of pre-release, pre-dvd rips are done by someone working on the movie. If someone in that scene just saw me call it the pirate scene they would be very upset. There's a whole bunch of politics involved, but you're absolutely correct. And there's nothing new about this part of it either, it dates back to the easy duplication of VHS tapes (and I'm sure betamax as well). The only difference is that now instead of someone in the "scene" giving the video to a friend, it ends up on the internet, and while it's a way bigger field of audience, the people that are likely to find a good workprint / prerelease / screener online are a slim percentage of the movie going audience. As for barcoding the dvd, it would be pointless. the protection would last all of a week before someone cracked it for someone they know blah blah blah, and it would be null and void. It happened with the prerelease cds of a bunch of different bands over the years. Like you said, spending the money on protecting things like that would drive up overall costs, and potentially be detrimental to sales in the long run. The video game industry learned that the hard way. edit: chud also won't load for me, i'm guessing the heavy traffic from digg's front page is causing that

Film School Rejects : Wolverine\'s Origin Becomes a Pirate Story

Wed, 1 Apr 2009 08:30:06 +0000

The actual effect of piracy on the movie/music industry is undetermined, despite what the MPAA/RIAA will have you believe. Both agencies will have you believe that every download = a loss in sale. In a lot of cases, the people pirating the movie never would have gone and seen it in theater/rented etc. and as such it's impossible to accurately gauge the monetary effect of piracy. Especially considering the study done here in Canada, that said pirates were actually MORE likely (by like 2%) to buy CDs over non-pirates. As for the pirated version, I'm not going to say I'm not curious to watch it. This is totally the kind of movie where for me, if I did, uh, pirate it, and it turned out to be good, then I would go see it in the theater. Its an action movie, made to be huge and explody on the big screen. If it's shit, I'd rather watch it at home, turn it off when I'm sick of it, and never feel like I wasted the money seeing it / supporting hollywood's idea that movies like that are good. Regardless of your ethical issues with piracy, the continued success of "shit" movies (*cough* paul blartt *cough* the spirit *cough*) will continue the production of them, even if the critic world slams those movies. Just look at the Meet The Spartans line of films if you don't see credible evidence for that. For myself, I have pirate. A lot of what I pirate, I then go and see in theatre or go and buy the dvd. On top of that, a lot of movies I have pirated I had never heard of before (case in point, Ryan Reynolds' The Nines, which I waited patiently to buy the day it came out on dvd). Its a mixed bag, with pros and cons, and to simply say that any real movie lover knows it isn't cool is arrogant, Cole. But I don't really want to get off into a whole piracy rant which I seem to have done. I may watch this. If it makes me want to kill a small orphanage due to character changes, I won't see it in the theatre. If it's good, I will see it in theatre. That being said, if it's a working print and is missing a ton of effects, then no, I won't let it change my opinion. And of course, this is all assuming that I find the time to download it in the next weeks and actually watch it. So don't demonize me just yet.

Film School Rejects : Why Variety is Wrong (and Right) About Film Blogs

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:20:31 +0000

I think the reason that blogs are so popular is because of the interaction between the audience and the author. We can have in-depth conversations, however joke filled, about the subject. But like you said, that does raise the issue of "us" deciding what is newsworthy, which can lead to the rumour-monging. It can also lead to incredibly frustrating weeks where all that is seeming newsworthy is a video of christian bale getting angry at the workplace. The blogging world is a mixture of "legitimate" journalism and the office watercooler. I use legitimate in quotation marks because since journalism is an industry, you get bullshit in print media too. You get slights and twists, ignoring that journalism is supposed to be the Fifth Estate. Print/Radio/TV media looks down at the blogging world because it's new (as Fure said, they have a history of doing this) and because it threatens their livelihood. These are also, sometimes, people who have degrees in journalism or communications, and are uncomfortable with the blogger the same way they'd be uncomfortable with a new anchor/reporter/journalist who has no background and is suddenly in the limelight. Let the ol' crones complain all they want. Keep voicing your opinions, keep the humour coming, and keep interesting news coming and you'll keep me coming back.

Film School Rejects : Massive Wolverine Spoilers & Deadpool News

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:58:55 +0000

Yeah you've got good points, and they could definitely make it work fairly easily, especially with a post-credit clip. Even something simple, like uh, "Deadpool" was part of clone batch based off Wade wilson and everyone else, and the final clip is Reynolds running by Xavier or something the like that. I guess it is good that they have the luxury to work with a fairly open universe where ridiculous is the norm

Film School Rejects : Massive Wolverine Spoilers & Deadpool News

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:10:44 +0000

I don't know about this, Fure. The movie sounds like it would be good, but only if it wasn't an X-men movie. The basic plot structure, intrigue, etc sounds very interesting, but the basic skull fucking of Deadpool sort of tears it apart. I still don't see what the point of turning a 'beloved' character into... whatever this weapon xi is supposed to be, was. They could have easily introduced Wade, had the conflict arise, a fight and wade screwing off, and then Weapon XI just being someone else. I am going to keep hoping that that's the case, and that 'deadpool' is simply the code name the project uses for Weapon XI.

Film School Rejects : Solving the Deadpool Mystery

Fri, 6 Mar 2009 21:39:22 +0000

Hopefully that "10 minutes" is more of a "he's in the movie for the first 1/4, then disappears due to the accident(s), and then is back for the last 1/4", and isn't just Reynolds showing up, cracking 5 lines and then leaving.

Film School Rejects : Solving the Deadpool Mystery

Fri, 6 Mar 2009 19:37:58 +0000

Ok, so ToplessRobot has some more info (again) http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/03/the_deadpool_... Uh, big ass Spoiler Warning. More speculation but this time there's a "guy" on the inside, trying to clear up the mess. I don't know. Anyway, you were warned: "• Ryan Reynolds shows up for 10 minutes in the beginning of the film. He's part of Stryker's team, and his mutant ability is mostly being a badass with swords, cutting bullets and the like. He is called Wade Wilson during this period. • Stryker's big plan (or one of 'em) is to make Weapon XI, a mutant with a shit-ton of mutant powers. • Stryker uses Wilson's body as the mutant power receptacle, and because of the scarring (I'm not sure whether that's from a previous fight, or as a result of all the mutant powers getting packed into him), Weapon XI is played by Scott Adkins. Weapon XI appears for about ten minutes near the film's end, and has the claws seen above (a la Wolverine), Cyclops' optic blast, Wraith's teleportation ability, and Wolverine's healing factor, too. Also, his mouth is indeed sewn shut. • Just like Weapon X is given the name "Wolverine," Weapon XI is given the name "Deadpool.""

Film School Rejects : Review: Watchmen (Embargoed. Or is it?) 3/6/09

Fri, 6 Mar 2009 19:22:56 +0000

What I said was "I would venture that 50+% of general movie going population hasn't heard of the Watchmen, or if they have, know very little about it." meaning that even if a person has seen a trailer or a mention of it, they don't know what it's about. Keep in mind that the average target audience starts at age 13, and also includes 40+ audiences in a total movie going population. What you're seeing is them marketing to your age group. Etc Etc. You may have seen a ton of 'making of' shows, but I've seen a ton of 'So What's Watchmen all about?' articles on sites like MSN etc. Meaning, again, if people have heard of Watchmen, they probably don't know what the hell it's about.

Film School Rejects : Solving the Deadpool Mystery

Fri, 6 Mar 2009 08:15:11 +0000

Ok, Robert, let us hope that we're both wrong, that ToplessRobot is wrong, and that they are just rying to fuck with us. Because let's be honest here, this is the only way any of us will keep our sanity in the next coming year. Yes the evidence from the toys points to that being deadpool, and we both know it's unlikely that they're wrong on so many occasions. Yes we're probably fucked. But let's look at the other side. Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool? Come on, that's the perfect storm other than these shit fucking picture bullshit toy god damn it, Gambit's messed up etc etc. Let's stop trying to figure out what's going on, and absorb that child like innocence and see some form of this movie and go from there. If it's not Deadpool, then we're ok. if it is deadpool, we know the names of the writer, and we can "firebomb" their houses.

Film School Rejects : Wolverine Trailer: Check Out Some Sweet Mutant Action

Fri, 6 Mar 2009 00:33:39 +0000

Yeah, I don't know what the hell was going on with Gambit either. He makes the cards float with his energy? Wouldn't that defeat the limitations of his powers and make him just be able to charge anything in eye sight and fuck everyone up anywhere ever? I hope we are just reading way too much into all of this and he has the cards on a string like a street magician or whatever

Film School Rejects : Discuss: Is Graffiti a Viable Means of Film Marketing?

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 21:27:10 +0000

I think in this case, it's only really targeted towards people who know what the movie is. If you were just someone who didn't know about the movie (or its 'tagline') you would probably a) ignore it as just being normal graffiti in the area and just blends into the background or b) would notice it and not put it together with a movie. Of course, if you heard about the movie, it might pique your interest, but I'm not convinced about that. But at the same time, there's going to be a lot of people who are interested in the movie that would think it was cool, like people who like the AR games and so forth.

Film School Rejects : Wolverine Trailer: Check Out Some Sweet Mutant Action

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 20:50:22 +0000

well we may be screwed... From Topless Robot: "If you can't read that text (besides the big label reading "Deadpool"), it says ""With the ultimate mutant, Deadpool, on the loose, Logan and Victor Creed are forced to team up- or be destroyed." Tipster Kris emailed me to let me know that text is actually a sticker. Want to know what's under it? Text which reads: "The Weapon 11 program has created the ultimate mutant-DEADPOOL! As the mutant menace rampages across Three Mile Island, Logan and Victor Creed are forced to team up--or be destroyed." In summary: Weapon XI is scarred Deadpool played by Scott Adkins. With claws. Enjoy." http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/03/final_wolveri...

Film School Rejects : Wolverine Trailer: Check Out Some Sweet Mutant Action

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 20:14:35 +0000

That link is broken...

Film School Rejects : Wolverine Trailer: Check Out Some Sweet Mutant Action

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 20:13:55 +0000

I'm really hoping that the toy was just mislabeled, now that these screen shots are out. For awhile, We thought that they may not 'scar' deadpool in the movie until maybe the end so that you don't lose the fact that it's Reynolds, and maybe that's why they turned the character into whatever that mutant is supposed to be. But that doesn't look anything like Reynolds, so that theory's out the window.

Film School Rejects : No, Thank You: Eddie Murphy as Richard Pryor

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:10:09 +0000

Pryor was the biggest influence on Eddie Murphy's early career, and he is a talented comedian, even if in the last 10 years he's put out mostly garbage. I'm going to keep hope alive on this one. If Murphy and Condon make an R rated movie with good writing, I think it will be ok. As long as no one tries to kiddie up the film (and really, how in the fuck could you), it should be fine. Murphy's biggest "failing" has been trying to do accessible family / kids movies.

Film School Rejects : Review: Watchmen (Embargoed. Or is it?) 3/6/09

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:25:35 +0000

Yeah I think it's unlikely that any thing will reach TDK opening or general box office numbers for a while, but because it's the 'comic book movie that could', people will be drawing parallels to it all the time. But in the months leading up to its release, everyone knew about it. I would venture that 50+% of general movie going population hasn't heard of the Watchmen, or if they have, know very little about it. I agree that Transformers 2 & Terminator: Salvation will do well, and I doubt at this point, anyone could argue against that. If either of them are good movies isn't really the point. I caught a synopsis of a review of Watchmen on digg that said something the effect that everyone he knew who hadn't read the book loved the movie. Some reviewer on joblo.com? I've never heard of the site before, but that doesn't mean anything. Anyway, i assume most people he was talking to were film critics who have an appreciation for film in general rather than your movie goer that helped Paul Blart make 33M on the opening weekend. I have no idea how it's going to be received by the general population (not having seen it, obviously) and with the generally bleak nature of it, it may not get "word of mouth business." An example of that, for me, was Before The Devil Knows You're Dead. I absolutely loved it, and recommended it to a friend who also like darker movies, and he couldn't finish it (because it was "so depressing") but said it was well crafted. I think that's the kind of response that we'll see. "It was well made but the story was too dark, or too confusing, or too etc etc for me to follow." Now completely off topic, another friend and I thought that physically speaking, Charlie Hannum (Sons of Anarchy) could pull off the Joker look fairly close to Ledger's, though I don't know about how close his performance would be. He also likes to play "psychos" or fringe characters. Just a thought anyway.

Film School Rejects : If You Trust Twitter: Michel Gondry Directing \'Green Hornet\'

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:48:36 +0000

I apparently have not been paying attention to... anything. What happened to Stephen Chow?