50 Reasons Why Taxi Driver Might Be Best Movie Ever

Obsessed with film posted this great article/feature listing 50 reasons why 'Taxi Driver' is awesome. Since I'm a huge fan of the film and agree with pretty much everything they list I figured I would post it on my site. Follow the link to check out the article.Big Thanks to OWF for doing this.

http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/features/50-reasons-why-taxi-driver-might-just-be-the-greatest-film-of-all-time.php

Super Bowl Sunday Trailers

Anyone who is watching the Super Bowl this Sunday is in for some kick-ass trailers. Here's the films I know about:

**NOTE** These are the films worth mentioning.

'Super 8' directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg (most looked forward to)

'Captain America: The First Avenger' I hope we get a look at Hugo Weaving as Red Skull

'Transformers: Dark Of The Moon' The third transformers that Michael Bay promises will be better than his train wreck of Transformers 2. We'll have to see once the film is released but at least the guy is admitting he made a shit film.

'Kung Fu Panda 2'

'The Muppet's' Jason Segel and Paul Rudd? Should be funny.

'Battle: Los Angeles' When I first heard about this project I thought it sounded pretty solid. Aliens invading the world while the story follows a platoon of Marines fighting them off in LA starring Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez. Then the comic con footage premiered and it's all people could talk about, but after seeing two trailers I can't say that I'm too impressed. An odd decision from the studios to market it on the Super Bowl after two trailers, maybe they don't have confidence in the film? Time will tell.

'Cowboys and Aliens' I for one am very excited for this movie. Just read the title, enough said.

'Priest' No, No this isn't a sequel to one of the worst movies ever 'Legion.' It's about Paul Bettany killing vampires and demons not old ladies who climb on diner ceilings.

These are films that are also supposed to have trailers but I'm not looking forward to and don't see why anyone would. 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides', the Justin Bieber movie, and 'The Eagle' starring Channing Tatum.

Special Thanks to Slashfilm.com for the info.

Slappin the bass man

For fans of 'I love you, man' and friends of mine that really enjoyed the movie I present this video:

Jason Segel & Paul Rudd Meet Rush from Jason Segel

Henry Cavill is Superman

Woke up this morning to a massive amount of tweets and retweets about Henry Cavill being picked to play the new superman in the Snyder/Nolan film. Henry has appeared on showtime's The Tudors and has since earned a lot of respect for it. A lot of people are complaining that he is a british actor to play an american superhero. Some people forget where Christian Bale and Andrew Garfield come from and I did not see a single complaint from anyone when he was cast as the new Spiderman.

There was speculation and wishful thinking that Jon Hamm, the star of Mad Men would be playing the part. I read a quote he gave out where he mentioned being too old to be superman. At least we can still enjoy him being an asshole on Mad Men. I do think he would be the perfect Bond, what does everyone think?

Spidey Real Web Swinging

The following is from Marc Webb's remake of Spider man. As mentioned on Cinema Blend, it's cool to see Webb is doing actual web swinging instead of a bunch of green screen effects. While I haven't had the chance to see any of Andrew Garfield's work, I'm sure he's a fine actor who is going to do a nice job of giving us a new spidey. Can't wait to see some spidey vs lizard action. Thanks again to Cinema Blend for posting this.

"When the top pops, the panties drop"

If you have never seen or heard of the blaxploitation parody film 'Black Dynamite' you should watch it. Having seen trailers for this in 2007 I thought to myself it would be an all out fun time. I didn't really know what a blaxploitation film was so I had to do my homework and check one out for myself. The film I saw was the 1972 flick called 'Trouble Man' played by Robert Hooks as a slick cat who protects his streets from jive mother fuckers. Michael Jai White mentioned Trouble Man as a big influence for 'Black Dynamite' so it only seemed right to view that one in preparation for BD. While 'Trouble man' is regarded as one of the worst movies ever made, from a comedy/action stand point I would consider it a blast. Of course it's ridiculous but that's what makes it great.



After seeing Black Dynamite in 2008 I knew it was something I wanted to own but it wasn't the top priority on my list. Recently it went on sale on Amazon for $10 bucks so it was a steal. It is currently priced at $17 which isn't that bad. If you can get a copy for $10 you won't regret it. Even if you don't buy it, this is a netflix for sure if your a fan of action comedies.

Friday the 13th Sequel?

Since I was a kid I always had this attraction to horror films, the 'Friday the 13th' series to be exact. I would make my dad find one on direct tv or some other slasher horror movie but would helplessly cover my face with a pillow in all the scary parts. Never the less I loved the series and always made it a point to watch them if they were available. A few years back when the remake/reboot/re imagining was announced I got excited. Especially when I saw the leaked comic con trailer, oh man did that look good. However the film managed to disappoint. Now don't think I went all movie critic on it and didn't think the acting was good or that the plot didn't make sense, like I said I've been a fan of these films since I was a young lad and it wasn't for the story, it was to see teenagers get hacked up. There was just something about the film that was wrong, it felt too Hollywood. While the elements were all pretty much a like to what made most of the originals it still lacked a certain integrity. It could be that they're trying to do a modern movie from an un-modern time. Friday the 13th with Abercrombie guys and silly pot head ping pongs isn't the 70's college kids fans of the originals knew. Again I am not expert, there was just something about the new one held to the other ones that didn't feel right.

Recently Brad Fuller has been tweeting about a script being ready. Here's what he had to say: "I want to set the record straight on Freddy and Jason... First, let's talk Jason. [Damian] Shannon and [Mark] Swift wrote a great script. We are ready to go, when New Line is ready. But as of yet, they are not ready."

Hmmmmm. Well Anyone excited for a new Jason? I think I'll give it another shot once time comes around, until then 'The Thing' prequel is #1 on my list for upcoming horror films.

Two Brilliant Minds Collide

I figured since I opened up to portal to my Guillermo Del Toro love on the blog that I would post something rather fascinating about one of his upcoming projects. GDT will direct and James Cameron will produce H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. When I first heard of GDT and Cameron working together I pooped a little from excitement. Two of my favorite people in cinema, scratch that, two of my favorite people in the world adapting a mysterious tale in the Arctic featuring monsters? Well I guess I know what my most anticipated movie of 2013 is. GTD has given word that financing has gone through and that the movie will begin shooting in June 2011.

Here is a brief plot description on the movie:

A group of scientists and archaeologists travel to Antartica on an expedition. There they stumble upon the ancient relics of an abandoned city hitherto completely unknown to mankind and uncover a prehistoric species that is awakened only to wreak havoc on their victims.

Audio Commentaries

Once again big thank you to everyone who replied through facebook. It's pretty much the reason I'm posting immediately after waking up.

I remember the first time I checked out an audio commentary was with 'Resident Evil'. It was one of the only movies I had at the time since all my favorites were always on direct dvd. I always liked checking out interviews and making of's but audio commentary sounded interesting too. I remember a big part of the cast rambling on about German beer, yogurt, Milla Jovovich's sexiness and how they cut the ending out when Milla Jovovich killing the licker with the huge machine on the cover of the DVD. I have to say even though resident evil is not that good a film, the commentary was awesome. Everyone talked like if they were good friends always keeping the track interesting to listen to. I enjoyed it so much and re heard/watched it multiple times
after words.

Audio commentaries are the first special feature I look for when buying a movie. However I also check who does it. I like my commentaries done by directors and producers or cast members because they always seem to have this great bond since they all worked together extensively on the movie. I love them so much that I own a copy of 'The Devil's Backbone' with commentary by Guillermo Del Toro and his director of photography Guillermo Navarro.(awesome by the way) However there is another DVD with a different commentary done just by Del Toro where he rambles about all the meanings and quotes in the movie. I'm actually going to buy that 2nd DVD just for commentary, thats how important they are too me.

Depending on which one you check out commentaries can be like film classes. They director will go on about how they achieved certain shots and usually throw in fun stories about the performances and effects. It's pretty much a run through of the film where you constantly learn about how things played out and what changed throughout the making of the movie. Listening to someone go on about something they love is a truly unique experience. I'm sure not all are awesome, but you have a movie you like and there is an audio commentary feature with cast and crew, I'm sure it will be fun to check out.

Some of my personal favorites so far are commentaries done by the J.J. Abrams crew like on LOST, Star Trek, Mission Impossible 3 and of course Guillermo Del Toro. I know I cyber jerk him off but he is truly one of the most fascinating people I have ever heard talk. Watch the commentary on Blade 2, Cronos, and Devil's Backbone, you won't regret it.
*Editors Note* I forgot to mention how awesome Robert Rodriguez's commentaries are. There is pretty much one for every film he does with like 10 other special features on each disc. A man who cares about his fans. Definitely check those out.

Making a Comeback

I know I never really update this thing, truth is, I don't feel that anybody cares about my blog or when I talk about movies in general so I figure I'll just do my thing, keep watching the movies I love and finding out about as many as I can. However, moments ago a distant friend brought up to me if I still updated my blog. I said no, but that since he cared I would start it up again. To me even if one person really cares about this and checks it at least once a day is enough for me. Let me go over a few things since I've been away.

I've recently found fascination with two directors, John Woo and Guillermo del Toro. Without going off about them too much I can say that by listening to they're commentaries and interviews I learned they are some of the most dedicated film makers of our time. Once again without ranting too much check out John Woo's 'Hard Boiled' a film I neglected about 2 years ago, but since then I think it's ok to say I have grown more mature and have learned an even bigger appreciation for movies since when I first started with the legendary viral marketing of 'Cloverfield'. Since I bought hard boiled to give it another chance I have seen it 3 times, introducing it to friends and family. Aside from my childhood action favorites like Die Hard, and anything with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it this has to be my favorite action movie to date. Not only because of the detailed choreography of the gun battles and the non stop violence, but because John Woo was able to use the film as a metaphor for problems in Hong Kong in so many ways. Point is check it out, you will not regret it.

Next would be Guillermo Del Toro's first film 'Cronos'. I have to say buying Criterion releases recently has been one of the best movie experiences a geek could ask for. The way Criterion packs it's releases with supplements and features takes my movie experience to a completely more joyful level. If you find yourself often looking at interviews with directors and like hearing about how a movie was made and the thought put into it, Cronos will be a movie you want to check out. (If your a Del Toro fan) The menu opens up to a beautiful piece of the score with gears twisting in the background endlessly. It's such a pleasant sound that will surely change the atmosphere around you and instantly put you in a calm, happy mood. One of the features on the dvd/blu ray is a tour of Del Toro' second house for all his treasures, paintings, props, movies, comics, you name it. His own batcave. Watching this feature instantly made me watch his 20 minute interview he recorded for the new criterion release. IT WAS AMAZING. You really understand Del Toro's passion for movies. By the end of it I wanted to write him a letter thanking him for such an insightful interview and for being a devoted film maker who doesn't do things for the check, but because it's what he loves. I was very emotional after watching this interview because I felt so moved knowing there are people like Del Toro making movies. I cannot stress it enough how divine listening to him speak is. I used to not understand why everyone was so fond of this man but now I know. Be sure to check out the most important special feature, the commentary. He provides so much good info on how the movie was made and all the struggles he went through to get it just the way he wanted it. A truly beautiful film that I will never forget and am glad to own. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
***Be sure to check out his other films like 'The Devil's Backbone' and 'Blade 2' one of my favorite movies as a kid.

I hope whoever reads this understands what I'm talking about and finds all my information useful. All I can say is I'm a guy that really loves movies and become more involved with them everyday. Enjoy my blog.

I also recently saw a fantastic drug war movie called, 'Elite Squad'. Netflix it.