Jay Cheel, director of “ Beauty Day ,” wants your money. Why should you fork over your hard-earned money to help this relatively unknown Canadian filmmaker fund a documentary based off an allegedly elaborate hoax about time travel? Well, if that intriguing rhetorical question didn’t do anything for you, take a quick gander at this Doc Ignite trailer for “How to Build a Time Machine“… Crowd funding is an interesting concept. It’s been all the rage as of late, with Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions raising over 600K in under 24 hours via KickStarter [...]
Pass the Popcorn: “The Woman in Black”
A small part of me feels sorry for Daniel Radcliffe (at least as sorry as I can be for someone who, at nearly three years my junior, has already made more money than I will ever see). After starring in the monolithic Harry Potter series for a whole decade, it’s hard to imagine he’ll ever be able to break free from that iconic role. So when trailers began appearing for the new film The Woman in Black, I think everyone’s [...]
Pass The Popcorn: The Found Footage Debate
“ Chronicle ” made 22 million last weekend in the U.S. domestic box office. That’s not bad considering it’s a film cast with relatively unknown actors and for a film released in the dead season of February. This is far more impressive when considering it cost only 12 million to produce the film. How did such a film get away with such a small budget and still bring in a large audience on its opening weekend? The answer can most likely [...]
Pass The Popcorn: “Safe House”
Denzel Washington plays the bad guy once again in “Safe House.” Is this movie as good as “Training Day,” the movie that won Denzel his second Oscar? Check out our review.
Pass The Popcorn: “The Amazing Spider-Man” Trailer
Although my favorite super hero of all time will always be The Hulk, Spider-Man has always been where my heart is. He’s not rich playboy or a scientist or a God. The lure of Peter Parker is that he’s just an ordinary kid who had something extraordinary happen to him. Don’t we all wish that was our origin story sometimes? Anywho, billed as “The Untold Story”, The Amazing Spider-Man (Out July 3rd) looks to have some new twists and turns [...]
A Much-Needed History Lesson: “Nice & Rough: Black Women In Rock”
I urge you to follow the Black Rock Coalition’s Facebook page . Not only is it important for us to preserve and extend our legacy, but they put together and promote some pretty cool stuff. Case in point… My buddy David Middleton often bemoans the lack of black female rock singers in contemporary music. The modern-day music industry has become so ingrained in formula that the thought of a sista belting to rock seems almost laughable, despite the fact that blues singers [...]
Pass The Popcorn: Oscar Nominations (Pomp & Predictability)
It’s Oscar nomination time. Blake sizes up the choices, some of which are surprising, many of which are predictable.
Pass The Popcorn: Base Humor & the Decline of the R-Rated Comedy
2011 was not a good year for comedy. Arguably the best comedy of the year, “ Bridesmaids ” was, at its best, an adequate The Hangover -esque comedy for women and, at its worst, an unnecessarily long and meandering plot with a funny diarrhea scene somewhere in the middle (fecal-spoiler). The R-Rated comedy has had a checkered past, but now that the Judd Apatow-Renaissance is upon us (“ The 40 Year Old Virgin ,” “ Knocked Up “), the theater audience has been treated with some good and often great [...]
Dave Rullo Presents: Aging Hip Replacement #28
Rom-com, that’s the phrase that did me in. Last week while watching what’s supposed to be one of the hipper shows on network TV a character uttered the phrase rom-com like everyone would recognize it. I didn’t. With an irritated bent to my voice I asked my wife, “what the hell’s a rom-com?” She, doing what she does, took a deep breath, and said it’s a romantic comedy. She knew it was coming, what I’m famous for, what she hates [...]
Pass The Popcorn: “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
The first trailer for the “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” was released this week and it can be described in one word: EPIC. The film acts as a prequel to the J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and Peter Jackson returns as the director, producer, and co-writer. Guillermo del Toro also joins the team as one of the film’s co-writers, and it’ll definitely be interesting to see his take on this well-known fantasy story. The film was shot in [...]
The Popblerd Holiday Gift Guide: 2011 Edition
At a loss for what to get that special someone (or not so special someone) for the holidays? Check out Popblerd’s 2011 Gift Guide and take notes!
The Viewfinder: Will “Men in Black III” Be Thrice As Nice?
Will Smith has finally taken time out from forcing his kids to take over pop culture and is making his own path back to the box office: Columbia Pictures released the trailer to Men in Black III yesterday. Call it hyperbole, but Men in Black (1997) was the closest thing the ’90s had to Ghostbusters. A science fiction-heavy plot (based off a cult comic book series ), a comic actor poised for superstar status, a stupidly catchy theme song – it’s all there. MiB‘s retro-chic, World’s Fair style of spacemen and a story that made enough room [...]
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