Well, after several false starts and broken promises, I am back to blogging. The purpose of this post is two-fold; firstly, to thank all my readers, especially those of you over at the LAMB, for the continual harassment and support - you guys have been my inspiration to start back up again, not to mention providing me with tons of terrific content to read and listen to in the interim.
The second reason for this post is to announce a change - I will soon be retiring Plus Trailers and starting up a new blog titled (appropriately enough) "Movies Reviews by Tom Clift". Actually, the new blog is already up, and can be found over at: http://reviewsbytom.blogspot.com
I've posted some of my old favourite reviews over there already, and that's where you'll be able to find all my new content. I'll leave Plus Trailers up for a few more weeks so people find the new site; in the mean time, please follow me at my new address!
Hi everyone. Just wanted to apologize for the total lack of content on the blog for the past few weeks - my life's been a bit hectic, especially with university. Hopefully I'll have a few new reviews up soon, although I can't make any promises. I'm also toying with the idea of giving the website a total overhaul towards the end of the year.
In the mean time, I'm still reading everyones blogs and listening to everyones podcasts to keep me in the movie blogging loop.
Apparently this commerical for Johnnie Walker whisky has been around for a while, but I only just saw it playing in a theatre this week. Needless to say, it blew my mind. The director, one Jamie Rafn, doesn't appear to have made any feature films, but I'll definitely keep my eye out in the future.
Before I get into the (semi) serious side of this post, I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank all the folks over at the Large Association of Movie Blogs for voting for me in this years LAMMY awards. I'm proud to say that I won in the only category I was nominated in: Best Overall Poster, for my piece describing my what was without question the greatest cinema experience of my life. I'd also like to offer a huge congratulations to all the other winners (check them out, there's a lot of great blogs out there).
But as glad as I am to have won this award, I can't help but feel a little bad about it. Any regular readers will have noticed how bare the blog has been lately; I'm only churning out about half the reviews I was this time last year, despite the fact that my first year of university has been so far been faaaaaaaaaar less stressful than my final year of high school. I don't have any real explanation for my laziness, other than...well...I'm lazy.
Never the less, I'm determined to turn things around. And yes, I know I wrote a post several months ago saying exactly that. But this time, I'm serious. For starters, I'm planning reintroducing several of my old recurring features including Awesome Scene Sunday and Weekly Film News, and I've had a couple of ideas for new features as well. Secondly, later today I'm finally going to post my long, long, long overdue TOP TEN FILMS OF 2009 LIST. And yes, I know, I wrote a post several months ago saying exactly that. But this time, I'm really serious.
Anyway, I'd better get to it. If everything I've just said turns out to be a load of crap...my bad.
Are you a LAMB member who enjoys reading this site? Then do me a favour and toss me a few votes in the upcomming LAMMY awards. Like so many people who spend an inordinant amount of time on the internet, I am in need of almost constant validation, and winning a few awards would really help bolster the ol' self esteem. Alternatively, not winning may very well send me into a shame spiral that culminates in a night of pills and alcohol. Do you want my accidental suicide on your conscience?
I didn't think so.
So vote for Plus Trailers in the 2010 LAMMY awards in any and all categories. And enjoy this shiny For Your Consideration ad I put together - all praise be to MS Paint.
Thanks to a combination of time zone hijinks, shoddy alarm clock manufacturing and general slackness, it's been quite a while since I've made an appearance on the LAMBcast. However, for those of you who have been missing the sound of my voice (how could you not?), check out the 11th episode of the Trending Cinema podcast, where I made a guest appearance to discuss "the latest greats"; movies from 2001 to now that we felt deserved to be remembered as some of the best of the decade.
A big thanks to Jon and Simon for having me on their show; you can find the Trending Cinema podcast at www.trendingcinema.com
After weeks of computer troubles, Plus Trailers is now up and running once more. It's been a pretty dull few weeks, but I'm eager to get back into things, with brand new features and lots of shiny new widgets exactly the same stuff as I used to post on the horizon.
But while I've been away the internet has been going at break neck speed, so before I get back into things I want to give a few shoutouts. A lot of my fellow LAMB members have been entering the world of podcasting recently, so be sure to check out Big Mike Mendez on Big Mikes Movie Podcast, Jason Soto & Nolahn on The Lair of the Unwanted and Nick Jobe and Travis McCollum on The Demented Encyclopedia.
Of course this doesn't mean that the LAMBcast is dead; on the contrary, I'll soon be posting two news episodes, and I'm told a third is on the way.
Finally, I'd like to encourage everyone to head on over to www.thebridgecitizen.com, where some of my reviews have been posted over the last few weeks. It's nothing you haven't already seen posted here, but I still wanna give them a plug, seeing as they've been doing the same for me. So check them out, it's a pretty cool site.
Man I've been slack lately! What with beginning university, some computer issues as well as the perils of life in general, the blog (as you may have noticed) has been pretty bare recently. Hopefully next week I'll be able to post a few new reviews (including the already promised Alice in Wonderland review, alternately titled "How I Learned to stop worrying and hate Tim Burton's guts").
In the meantime, enjoy this poster for The Expendables. Think of it as my way of saying "sorry, but if you complain I'm going to send a team of highly trained bad-asses to blow you to a cinder"
Since I started my blog roughly thirteen months ago, it's given me with a lot of enjoyment. Obviously I love writing about film and this site has provided me with a place to do just that. It's also caused me to take a much greater interest in the world of film, as I follow many other sites and blogs (big and small), which have in turn led to me discovering many great films that I wouldn't have otherwise heard of (some of the highlights include Let The Right One In, The Cove and Samson & Delilah, all films I probably would have let pass me by if not for the online buzz).
That being said, the best thing about having this blog is that it has allowed me to become a part of that same online community. Since becoming part of the Large Association of Movie Blogs I've met (not in person, obviously) many people who share that same passion for film that I do, and since the launching of the LAMBcast I've been afforded the great opportunity to speak with some of them; to Dylan, Mike, Jason, Nick, Travis, Rachel, Alex & Paul (as well as Scott, who I didn't actually get to speak to, but did enjoy listening to talk about ninjas and pokemon), my sincere thanks for the many fun hours of recording, which usually constitutes one of the highlights of my week.
Nawww. Isn't that sweet?
Anyway, the actual reason for this post is to thank Mike of Big Mikes Movie Blog for a parcel he sent me this week. Back in LAMBcast episode 10 (in which we discuss our Top 10 films of 2009 - the episode is no longer available to listen to via Gcast, but can be found on iTunes) the topic of discussion briefly went to Zombieland and in turn, twinkies. As an Australian I'd never had the chance to sample a twinkie and so Mike offered to send me some. And send them he did.
I gotta say, when he offered to send me a twinkie, I was expecting a twinkie. Instead, the dude sends 40! Not that I'm complaining; I may need to invite some friends over to help me finish them all though. I was reading up on wikipedia about deep friend twinkies as well; anyone else got any good serving suggestions. I'm definitely going to save at least one to see if they actually have a shelf life of...forever.
Anyway, another big thanks to Big Mike (I only hope it didn't cost you too much for all this sugary goodness). I'm also a little surprised Australia's stringent customs regulations allowed them into the country (the fact that there's probably NOTHING organic in a twinkie probably helped.) Now I've just got to think of some Australian cuisine to send back your way; you've already expressed you distaste for Vegemite though, so I'm leaning towards ANZAC biscuits or maybe Kangaroo meat (I'll just head out into my backyard and wrestle one to the ground.)
Just to clarify, that Kangaroo thing was a joke.
Also included in Mikes parcel (or should I say crate) was the above card, with a quote from Ghostbusters (tying it back into movies; this isn't a food blog after all).
And below is me, sitting in the exact spot where I participate in the LAMBcast, engaging in one of America's favourite pastimes (oh snap! And notice how I spelled "favourite" with a "u"? That's how we roll in this country).
Recently I've been noticing a lot of the blogs I follow have been winning Kreativ Blogger awards. I'm not exactly sure what a Kreativ Blogger award is or where it's come from, but how it works is if you get nominated by someone, you have to nominate seven other people, and then they nominate seven other people and so on and so forth. Thus it spreads, like a chain letter or syphilis, until the very concept of winning becomes utterly meaningless. There really isn't a whole lot of prestige to be had with this award; there's no criteria or ceremony. It's basically a way for bloggers to feel good about themselves. Except of course when I win one. Then it's like super awesome and exciting!
Anyway, when you get given a Kreativ Blogger award, you have to do seven things:
1) Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
Thanks Jason. In all seriousness, I was really glad to be nominated. Sorry about implying you gave me syphilis in the previous paragraph.
2) Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
Isn't it pretty?
3) Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4) Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
Ok, this could be kind of fun.
- I'm 18 years old and live in Melbourne, Australia.
- I recently finished high school and will soon be beginning an Arts course at the University of Melbourne. Not really sure what subjects I want to take, aside from English and as much Cinema Studies as possible.
- The only sport I'm really passionate about is Australian Rules Football (watching, not playing). I've been a Richmond Tigers support since I was 7 (a consistently heartbreaking experience). I also really like to ski, which I suppose technically counts as a sport.
A game of AFL
- Although I'm a huge movie fan, most of my DVD collection is made up of TV shows. I have almost seventy different series; my favourite shows are Firefly, Buffy, The Wire, Oz, 24, BattlestarGalacticaand many, many more.
- I spent all of yesterday catching up with two of my closest friends. Aside from several very long and profane conversations, we saw two movies (Invictusand In The Loop) and watched another two on DVD (The Cove, Little Miss Sunshine). For dinner we went to a supermarket and bought a box of cookies and a tub of ice-cream and then ate it in a shopping centre food court (fuck you it was cheaper than a restaurant). I love those guys.
- I lived in Bangkok, Thailand for a year when I was 9 and would like to live there again some day. I have also visited Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, India, England, Wales, France & The United States.
My Dad and I in China in 2008
- My favourite film-makers include Stanley Kubrick, Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, David Cronenberg, James Cameron, Danny Boyle, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, The Coen Brothers and Kevin Smith.
5) Nominate seven other KreativBloggers
Hmmmm. I suspect a lot of them have already won Kreativ Blogger awards as well, but whatever.
- Nic Cage as Everyone (because everything is improved by more Nic Cage) - A new level of nerdiness (Australian movie bloggers unite!) - Dark of the Matinee (I know he's already won, but Hatter is still one of my all time favourite LAMBs) - The Jack Sack (a terrific and hilarious blog for fans of 24) - The Movie Encyclopedia (my fellow teenagedLAMBcaster and one of the most prolific bloggers I know. Travis, where do you find the time?) - Big Mikes Movie Blog (consistently the funniest guy on the LAMBcast. My one complaint of his blog is that he keeps posting Arrested Development clips via Hulu, which I can't watch in my stupid country!) - Your status is annoying (because we all know people like this)
6) Post links to the seven blogs I nominated
Yeah, I already did that.
7) Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.
Sigh. This takes way to long. Does a Kreativ Blogger award come with some kind of cash prize?
Presenting the latest directorial work from Michael Bay, the man behind such films as Bad Boys, Pearl Harbour and the Transformers movies.
Now I'm going to be totally honest with you; I thouroughly enjoyed that commercial. And I've got to say, this sort of thing seems like a far better use of Mr. Bay's talents then the already in pre-production Transformers 3. And the man is talented. Even though he made one of the worst and most offensive movies of 2009 and has the public persona of a total douchebag, he does know how to shoot helicopters, explosions and scantily dressed women. In fact this commercial is so typically "Michael Bay" that it almost seems like a very clever self referential parody. And if it was any other director, I'd say it probably was.
I also shudder to think how much money it probably cost.
Well, I just got back from seeing Inglourious Basterds a second time (with my parents of all people!) and as I hoped and fully expected, I liked it even more the second time around. The best thing about Tarantino's movies is their rewatchability; knowing what comes next only builds the anticipation, and I actually want to marry and have children with that strudel scene.
That being said, I stand by my previous criticisms. The violence in the last chapter felt very crude, and the final minute of the movie still pisses me off. Perhaps in time I too will come to believe that the movie is Quentin Tarantino's "masterpiece", but quite frankly, he still shouldn't say it!
Even so, that cannot detract from what is undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year. If I can score free tickets, I might just see it a third time theatrically (it's not like I was going to study anyway)
I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I have only seen six of these picks, although in fairness, I was less than a year old when Tarantino started making movies. Clearly there a lot of movies I need to check out once I finish school in November.
Just thought I'd put a quick question out into the ether; can anyone recommend any good podcasts? I listen to SModcast religiously - it's basically the weekly ramblings of Clerks director Kevin Smith and his producing partner Scott Mosier - topics can range from movies to Nazi's to their respective sex lives. I also listen to a handful of film podcasts - my favourites are The /Filmcast, Scene Unseen and Filmspotting. Additionally, a friend of mine recently started her own movie podcast called Screen Sirens, which you can find at screensirens.podomatic.com, and another friend got me hooked on The S-Words Podcast, in which every week the hosts discuss a pop culture topic beginning with the letter S.
Anyway, those are my suggestion; does anyone out there have something to add? They don't necessarily have to be focused on movies. I'm starring down the barrel of a ton of homework in the next few weeks, and the only thing that can get me through it is my trusty iPod and the voices of total strangers. Thanks
With the amount of stuff in the graphic novel, Zack Snyder's adaptation of Watchmen was always going to leave a lot of things out. When a beloved property is made into a film, directors have to walk the tightrope of both paying service to the source material and it's hardcore fans. as well as ensuring the film is accessible to a mainstream audience (and of course, keeping the run time under control). For the most part, I think Zack Snyder was successful in doing this.
However, I am a Watchmen fanboy, and as such I cannot wait for the 186 minute directors cut version of the movie to hit DVD, with all those easter eggs and deleted scenes reinserted. Below is one of those scenes, featuring Zack Snyder's unique take of Hollis Mason's death (something that was entirely absent from the theatrical cut).
I really enjoy about half of this scene. The opening part with the gang members planning their assault is cringeworthy, and the phone conversation is pretty uninteresting. However, once we get into the fight scene, it is truly glorious. One of my problems with the film was how Zack Snyder would add his own little flourishes (like in the overly bloody 300-esque alleyway scene), but the way he has adapted what was a fairly standard scene in the comic is really ingenious; the slow motion actually feels appropriate and the use of music is incredible. It's also good to get a glimpse of Tales of the Black Freighter in the opening shot.
At the same time, I'm actually glad that this was cut. Despite liking the way the scene was shot, I have to admit that, given that Mason wasn't really fleshed out as a character in the film, his death doesn't really add much to the story, nor would it have much of an emotional effect on an audience not familiar with the comic. Cutting this scene also gives them the ability to cut the scene later on in the comic when Dan (Nite Owl II) finds out about Mason's death and flips out (another scene that will be reinserted in the directors cut). So while I do like the scene and will enjoy seeing it in the context of the movie on DVD, from a theatrical point of view I think it was a good omission.
The Watchmen Directors Cut will be available in the United State on DVD and Blu-ray from July 21st. There are no details available on the Australian release date.
Australians pay attention! JB Hi-Fi is having an awesome TV on DVD sale; tons of shows for either $19.99 or $32.99 AND it's buy 2 get 1 free!!! It's on until August, so get down there now! I picked up copies of Mad Men Season 1 (which I've already seen, but loved it and had to own it), My Name Is Earl Season 3, NCIS Season 5 (yes I know it's bad but I don't care), South Park Season 5 & 6 and The Sopranos Season 1 (I've never seen it but I've heard a lot of good things). This would normally have cost me close to $300 dollars, but on sale it was a cool $132.
I also picked up a copy of Jersey Girl for $12; it's the only Kevin Smith film I haven't seen, and I thought it was time to check it out
UPDATE: I watched it and really liked it. It's a bit overly sentimental and utterly predictable, but really funny and sweet. Plus Affleck, Tyler, Carlin and that little girl are all great. But I digress...
Other awesome shows on sale include The Wire, Buffy, Angel, Dark Angel, Battlestar Galactica, Spooks, Weeds, The Tudors, House, Lost, Alias and many, many more (of greatly varying quality). A full list can be found at the JB website, here.
P.S. This post is in no way sponsored by JB Hi-Fi...although I wish it was. Marketing people, drop me an email!
As you can see, I'm back home in Melbourne after a week holidaying with my family. I had a great time, but was glad to get home and reacquainted with two very good friends; television and the internet! Anway, I thought I'd write a little about what I've been doing since I left.
The trip from Melbourne to Sydney takes about eleven hours by road, but thankfully we had some family friends in Canberra who put us up for two nights as we looked around the nations capital. It was probably a good thing too, because after spending all day in the car, our GPS system started to sound homicidal.
After three hundred metres, turn right Dave
Canberra was pretty good; the Australian Film and Sound Archive was the highlight for me, but Parliament House wasn't to bad either. I did feel that, as an Australian citizen, I should be entitled to free food at the cafeteria, but no dice. Instead my mother nicked seven or eight pairs on plastic cutlery, as a ways of fighting government oppression.
Sydney was also a lot of fun; we did all the tourist-y type things, visiting the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Of course, I was more excited by seeing the street where they filmed the Agent Training Program scene in The Matrix. We went to the movies a couple of times to see Sunshine Cleaning and Samson and Delilah (reviews are coming). I loved them both, although the latter left me feeling incredibly depressed. The other interesting thing that happened in Sydney was that I got yelled at by a bus driver for getting in the middle doors instead of the front one. Not sure why though.
If you go through the wrong doors in a bus in Sydney, it will EXPLODE!!!
On our last night, we went to the Opera. We saw a double bill - Acis and Galetea followed by Dido and Aeneas. I had never been to the opera, and was pretty excited by the prospect, especially seeing as we were in one of the most famous opera houses in the world. I wasn't a huge fan of Acis and Galetea; it tells the story of a shepard who falls in love with a demigod, but is then murdered by a jealous cyclops. The plot was minimalistic at best, and although the singing was great, I got kind of bored of hearing the same thing over and over again (yes, I know that's basically what all opera is like). Also, they kept projecting images over a screen in front of the singers, which was really distracting.
I liked Dido and Aeneas a lot more - the pacing was much brisker, and the direction was far more innovative. Given that I don't have much of an ear for music (I couldn't have told one opera from the next), I was more interested in the cinematic/theatrical elements of the performance. The staging in this second work was really clever, and overall it was just far more entertaining. Overall, I think it's clear that opera will never have the same place in my heart as film or even theatre, but I still had a good time, and would happily go again.
The journey home was uneventful - I spent most of my time listening to back episodes of SModcast; hearing about Scott Mosiersvasectomy never seems to get old! Stayed overnight at some other old friends (this time in Wangaratta), and then got home Saturday afternoon in time to hear Richmond get beaten by Carlton.
Anyway, I should have some new reviews and other content up soon; school starts on Tuesday, but I've never let that stop me in the past. I will however be away again this weekend as I'm going skiing at Mt Buller.
Greetings readers! Just wanted to let you know that this might be my last post for a while. I’m off on a family holiday to Sydney, and I’m not sure how much time/internet access I’ll have over the next week. I should get a chance to do some review writing (and I am currently working on a colossal feature article), but whether I’ll be able to post is a different matter. So if you don’t hear from me until late next week, don’t be concerned (as I know you are inclined to be). I’m probably just chilling out in the opera house or getting mugged by drug dealers in a back alley off George Street. Or maybe our car broke down seven hours into the journey and my entire family was slowly picked off one by one by radioactive mutants with a thirst for blood and raping.
Additionally, there’s no Weekly Film News post this week because there really wasn’t any news that interested me, other than some photos from Jennifer’s Body, the new teen horror film from Diablo Cody (the writer of Juno). It’s Megan Fox, in a cheerleaders outfit, or covered in blood. How could I say no?
Also, last night a bunch of my mates and I had a movie marathon, and amongst the DVD's was The Usual Suspects. Now this was my second time watching this film, but those who have seen it will know that much like The Sixth Sense or Fight Club, it improves infinitely on second viewing. Additionally, there is something awesome about being the only one in a group of people watching a movie who knows what's coming; I kept glancing over at them to see if they'd figure it out. And for the record, none of them did. Anyway, I thought I'd post the final scene from the movie, because it's just so satisfying. If you haven't seen The Usual Suspects, then I cannot stress enough how much you shouldn't watch this video; go rent the DVD and have your mind blown. If you have seen it, then enjoy watching again one of the best endings ever put to film.
I am very happy to announce that Plus Trailers has recently become a part of The Large Association of Movie Blogs. The LAMB is a collection of over 300 sites, and is an excellent resource for both movie bloggers and for people who just like reading about film. Anyone interested in joining the LAMB and being part of the interactive community should visit http://largeassmovieblogs.blogspot.com. To any new readers I may have picked up (can you hear the crickets chirping?), welcome to my site and I hope you enjoy reading. Please don't be put off by my constant use of profanity, frequent spelling errors and utter disregard for anyone's opinions other than my own.
