Christopher Campbell
- http://www.cinematical.com/bloggers/christopher-campbell/
Christopher Campbell recently received a Bachelor of Arts degree in film studies from Brooklyn College. Prior to (finally) finishing his undergrad, he studied film production at NYC's School of Visual Arts and then dropped out for an exciting career (on and off) in movie theaters. His writing has appeared in READ Magazine, Where Y'At New Orleans and Lo-Fi Magazine and on YCraze.com, Cinescene.com, BlogCritics.org, The Reeler and his own (mostly defunct) site, LowExpectation.com. He also currently writes for SpoutBlog.
by Christopher Campbell Nov 26th 2009 // 5:02PM
Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Scene Stealers, Scenes We Love
In an attempt to spotlight a scene related to post-Thanksgiving leftovers, I'd like to share a favorite little moment from
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. No, the teen rom-com doesn't directly connect to the holiday in any way, but there is this scene starring a turkey sandwich. And my brain and stomach being the odd collaborators that they are have deemed it appropriate, even if the sandwich is made of cold cuts and not turkey carved from a juicy, roasted whole bird.
Here's one reason it makes sense to my personal post-Thanksgiving activities: while many of you will be braving the crowds at the multiplex following your feast, I'll be at the bar -- hopefully one where I can dance some of the stuffing away -- and at last call, I'll tipsily head home and then stack some leftovers between two slices of bread and enjoy the first of many post-holiday turkey sandwiches.
by Christopher Campbell Nov 25th 2009 // 2:45PM
Filed under: Classics, Family Films, Stars in Rewind
Blogger Kristopher Tapley, of the movie awards site
In Contention,
shares a humorous video spotlighting one of this year's Oscar hopefuls,
Jason Reitman. The young filmmaker, who already received an Academy Award nomination for directing
Juno, is a front-runner this year for helming
Up in the Air, which opens in limited release next week and opens nationwide on Christmas.
Before he was a success behind the camera, though, he was simply the son of Hollywood director Ivan Reitman. And like many filmmakers' kids, he was employed in minor roles in his father's films, including
Ghostbusters II,
Twins and
Dave. The funniest of his cameos is in this make-out scene from
Kindergarten Cop, mainly because it's his most embarrassing.
by Christopher Campbell Nov 24th 2009 // 6:32PM
Filed under: Horror, Paramount, Steven Spielberg, Home Entertainment
If you still haven't seen
Paranormal Activity, I don't know what you've been waiting for. Seeing the horror flick in theaters is one of those great moviegoing experiences -- the more people in the theater to scream and laugh with the better. Besides, I can only imagine that watching the thing at home would be so frightening you'll never be able to sleep soundly again. Oh, that probably appeals to many of you scary movie fans, in which case you'll be glad to know you have to wait only a little over a month more to pick up the DVD or Blu-ray of this
little movie that could.
Paramount will release
Paranormal Activity to home video on December 29, just in time to give you something to purchase with the gift card you got over the holidays. Both the DVD and Blu-ray come with the theatrical version of the film as well as an unrated cut that includes an alternate ending (presumably
the original one). And the Blu-ray includes a digital copy of the theatrical version, so you can play the movie on your iPod and watch it while hiding underneath your covers.
by Christopher Campbell Nov 23rd 2009 // 4:32PM
Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Awards, Family Films
Maybe it's because I saw De Sica's classic
Umberto D. again over the weekend, or maybe it's because I'm excited for tomorrow's release of the 25th Anniversary Edition of
Cujo on DVD and Blu-ray, but I've got movie dogs on the brain. Last night I even randomly spent some time watching YouTube clips of my all-time favorite movie dog, Asta, from the
Thin Man franchise (played by Skippy, who also appears in
Bringing Up Baby and
The Awful Truth).
So it was coincidentally fun this morning learning that
the Fido Awards happened over the weekend. The ceremony, nicknamed the "canine Oscars," occurred in London Saturday, when trophies were handed out in five separate categories. To my surprise, the Fidos don't exclude animated dogs, as the talking dog, Dug, from Pixar's
Up won the Blockbuster Bowser award, beating out pups from
Gran Torino,
Inglourious Basterds and another animation,
Coraline, in the category.
by Christopher Campbell Nov 20th 2009 // 12:45PM
Filed under: Exhibition
Would you have liked
Terminator Salvation more if Moon Bloodgood's topless bit hadn't been cut out? Would you have been more likely to see the movie in theaters if you knew there was a flash of boob? Probably not,
according to a recent psychological study, which looked at 914 movies released between 2001 and 2005 to determine if sex indeed sells at the cinema.
The results of the study say no: "sex and nudity do not, on the average, boost box office performance, earn critical acclaim or win major awards." Well, the research did show that the Golden Globes are more favorable to movies with sex scenes than the Oscars, which might make sense given that many foreign moviegoers (particularly those in Europe) are more accepting of nudity than American viewers, though it's unlikely the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is thinking about sex while determining its nominees.
In contrast, the study actually showed that sex sells even less outside the U.S., which may be because a number of international markets, such as those in Asia and the Middle East, are more censoring of such content.
by Christopher Campbell Nov 18th 2009 // 2:45PM
Filed under: Comedy, Foreign Language, Sony Classics, Remakes and Sequels, Trailers and Clips
The term remake has predominantly negative connotations, but once in awhile we see proof that a redo can be a good thing. Just look at Werner Herzog's new film,
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which isn't quite a remake of Abel Ferrara's
Bad Lieutenant so much as it's a stand-alone sequel or simply another filmmaker's take on the same sort of character explored in the original. It's enough to make me wish we could have seen what
Spielberg and Will Smith's version of
Oldboy would have looked like.
And here's another perfect example of a good remake:
Zhang Yimou's version of the Coen Brothers' neo-noir cult classic
Blood Simple, which
Peter excitedly wrote about back in July.
The film now has a title,
The First Gun (aka
Amazing Tales: Three Guns), and an international trailer, which shows us just how different Zhang's version is. The Chinese filmmaker, acclaimed for numerous Oscar-nominated films, whether recognized in the foreign, cinematography or costume categories, recently confirmed that he added a lot of things and changed the whole tone from the Coens' version.
"We brought in a lot of comedic elements and changed the relationship and personalities of the characters," Zhang told Chinese website
Sina.com.
by Christopher Campbell Sep 25th 2008 // 9:32PM
Filed under: Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Independent, Romance, NSFW, Cinematical Seven, George Clooney
"Well, you tried it just for once, found it all right for kicks.
But now you found out that it's a habit that sticks,
and you're an orgasm addict." – The BuzzcocksThe new movie
Choke, adapted from the Chuck Palahniuk novel, is about a sex addict (Sam Rockwell) who, in one element of the plot, hooks up with other sex addicts who attend the same Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings as him. Ah, the irony. The same thing happened to Sam Malone on
Cheers, if I'm not mistaken, which makes the joke around 20 years old. Yet, despite that fact, sexual addiction as a term and a (non-DSM-recognized) medical problem seem fairly new to cinema.
Sure, there have been sex addicts in films for many decades, but they were more likely to be described as nymphomaniacs, lechers or typical men. Think of Dorothy Malone in
Written on the Wind, a number of the female characters created by Tennessee Williams and certainly the locked up nymphos in
Shock Corridor. In the past few years, however, there have been a slew of actual "sexaholics," both male and female, though some aren't exactly referred to in such a manner.
by Christopher Campbell Sep 14th 2008 // 9:02AM
Filed under: Exhibition
When I learned that the
Fairfax 5 Theatres, in Fairfax, California,
was to be installed with a solar photovoltaic system, I immediately thought of that old joke (unfortunately directed towards a certain nationality) about the idiotic invention of a solar-powered flashlight. Movie projectors running on solar-powered electricity? Absurd. Especially since most people go to the movies at night! But, of course, my initial thoughts were just as stupid as the flashlight idea, even if I was merely trying to think of a corresponding joke and all the time actually knew, obviously, that solar energy isn't only useful during the hours that the sun is out.
The second thing I thought of, though, all joking aside, was the possibility of a lowered electricity bill. One of the costliest parts of running a movie theater is all the electricity used for lighting, projection, air conditioning, etc. It's these costs that primarily keep concession prices up, as they're a major part of a cinema's constant overhead. Certainly Cinema West, the company that owns Fairfax 5 Theatres, is thinking about the environmental benefits of solar energy, and their new system is indeed reportedly expected to offset nearly 1,000 tons of greenhouse gases. But surely the cost cutting was a big incentive, too. Over the 30-year life of the system, Cinema West is looking to save more than $627,000.
by Christopher Campbell Sep 11th 2008 // 10:02PM
Filed under: Classics, Comedy, Fandom, Cinematical Seven, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
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Are you ready to see
Robert De Niro and
Al Pacino as partners in
Righteous Kill? Is it the casting pair-up you've been waiting 35 years for? Or does it feel too strange to watch a whole movie in which they're all buddy buddy? Perhaps you were fully satisfied with their showdown as enemies in
Heat, even though the esteemed veteran actors had much less screen time together. Personally, I like the idea of them going head to head better, but that's mainly because they're both such huge figures that having them team up seems a bit unfair to the other side. As enemies they're like the Incredible Hulk and the Abomination or Iron Man and Iron Monger, to compare them with recent superpowered showdowns in cinema.
It's difficult to choose the better actor of the two, or even decide who's been the more successful Hollywood player. De Niro's been in a lot more films, but his ratio of bad films to good might have suffered as a result. Meanwhile, they've both arguably become too much of caricatures of themselves, to the point where it's sometimes hard to tell which performances are intentional self-parodies and which are accidental. However, despite the difficulty of pitting De Niro against Pacino for a general comparative showdown, there are a number of easily corresponding roles among them. So, just for fun, I've come up with seven specific character showdowns, chosen my pick for which is the better performance, and invite you all to vote on your favorite, whether you agree or disagree with my own.
After the jump ... De Niro vs. Pacino -- it's on!by Christopher Campbell Sep 11th 2008 // 5:40PM
Filed under: Fandom, Newsstand, Politics
When Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain's running mate, people were quick to name the lookalikes who could play her in a movie. But it took Matt Damon to tell us what kind of movie it would actually be. Fearfully predicting that McCain will die in office, the actor says Palin's advancement to the presidency would be like the plot of a bad Disney movie. He even imagines a scene from the movie involving Palin's showdown against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin "using the folksy stuff she learned at the hockey rink." Basically he's described something along the lines of
King Ralph, only with a hockey mom president instead of an American slob turned British monarch.
Of course, Damon's snide comments are probably meant to be a joke, even if he looks 100% serious while saying it. But the thing he fails to realize is that America loves these kinds of "bad" Disney movies involving fish out of water stories and simple folk characters who rise to the top. "The Hockey Mom" would certainly be a bigger hit than Damon's non
Ocean's and
Bourne movies. So, his attempt to humorously describe a bad scenario may in fact be welcomed as a heartwarming and crowd-pleasing possible future. Either way, his intended criticism of Palin is just the latest in useless political commentary from celebrities, something we can't get away from listening to, whether because of the media's attention to it or due to our own obsessions with what's on movie stars' minds.
To hear the rest, check out the clip after the jump. And to see Gina Gershon portray Palin in new Funny or Die spoof, click
here.
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