Author Archives: The Filmsmith

DVD Tuesday: Inside Job

Posted on March 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

When the envelope was opened last Sunday, one of my favorite films from last year, Exit Through the Gift Shop, lost to a documentary I had yet to see. Anticipating some of Banksy’s potential antics, I blamed the result on the Academy voting against the elusive artist instead of voting for any given film. Now that Inside Job has come out on DVD, I see that they were completely right. Exit Through the Gift Shop remains one of my favorite films of the year, but if ever a documentary deserved that Oscar, it’s this one: a film so relevant, so timely, and so perfectly executed that it has earned all of its recognition. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page funny vigilantes in “Super”

Posted on March 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

Kick-Ass brought us the first self-aware skewering of the superhero genre, but it won’t be the last.  James Gunn, director of the horror comedy Slither, returns with Super – which looks to be a pastiche of violence, dark comedy, and Adam West Batman comic graphics. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in News

Tagged , , , ,

Episode 2: Paul, Drive Angry 3D, Valhalla Rising

Posted on March 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

In this episode Scott Molling and I welcome filmmaker and creator of the webseries  The Brew Hunters, Joe Hotek, to talk about Valhalla Rising.  Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Podcast

Tagged , , ,

White collar workers feel the pain in “The Company Men”

Posted on March 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

A cadre of white collar workers making at least $160,000 a year lose their jobs to corporate downsizing to inflate the company’s stock price.  As the wealth disparity continues to divide the U.S. into binary classes (super rich or flat poor), a film that expects audiences to empathize with such characters should sink faster than a lead zeppelin.  Yet the film is able to dodge this pitfall to yield a decent drama. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , ,

The Adjustment Bureau – they’ll steal your love

Posted on March 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

In 1999 we saw Thomas Anderson being told to free his mind from the Matrix; now, in 2011, Matt Damon tries to break free of “The Adjustment Bureau” – for love.  Sounds silly and corny, but that’s the best part of this lumbering conspiracy thriller. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , ,

Trailers that were better than the film

Posted on March 3, 2011 | 2 comments

The art of a trailer is an unappreciated one.  If done properly, you get a sense of what a film’s about without having the entire narrative spoiled.  If done really well, it will make you think a bag of turds is full of cute puppies.  Now maybe some of the films on this list aren’t “a bag of turds,” but you know what I mean when I refer to the trailer for… Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Lists, News

Tagged , , , ,

Don’t forget to tip your foley artist (short video)

Posted on March 2, 2011 | 1 comment

One of my first memories of being enchanted with filmmaking was a Discovery Channel show called Movie Magic (or something like that) detailing how special effects were created.  From squibs (small explosions for gunshots) to miniatures (the helicopter crash from Cliffhanger), I was enthralled – especially when a guy called a foley artist took a chainsaw to a watermelon.  Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in News

Tagged , , , ,

DVD Tuesday: Love & Other Drugs

Posted on March 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

From a young age, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for romantic comedies. Perhaps this is an odd thing for a guy to admit, but there was something comforting to be found in the trope, and in each film’s deviation from it. “Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and boy gets girl back” was told a hundred different ways, and none of them quite matched up to the formula exactly. Love & Other Drugs, then, I was expecting to at least enjoy. Unfortunately, due to the lackluster performance by both leads, due to the irrelevance of the social commentary, and most importantly, due to the complete lack of originality, this is the worst film I have seen from last year. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , ,

HBO fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” has trailer

Posted on March 1, 2011 | 3 comments

George R. R. Martin’s beloved fantasy book series, A Song of Ice and Fire, is being adapted into a tv mini-series by HBO and they have just released the first (info) trailer. Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

Drive Angry 3D makes Nicolas Cage awesome again

Posted on February 26, 2011 | 2 comments

Here is a film directed by the same guy who did My Bloody Valentine 3D, starring the lately lack-luster Nicolas Cage (Season of the Witch, Sorcerer’s Apprentice), and a ridiculous title.  Drive Angry 3D has all the packaging of a sh*t sandwich, which is why you’ll be confused, then delighted, with how awesome it is. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , ,