When a boxing robot movie was first rumored about, a lot of people rolled their eyes and shook their heads. It’s bad enough that we’ve got adaptations of the board games Monopoly and Battleship coming down the pike, but a Rock’em Sock’em Robots movie just seemed ridiculous.

The result was Real Steel, which is a pretty cool flick, believe it or not. It’s not going to win any awards (except maybe Best Visual Effects, thanks to an Oscar nomination this week), but it’s still an entertaining action film about a father and son and a robot beating the bolts out of other robots. And like any good sporting event, it is more fun to drink while watching it.

And now, to cover our butts… This game is only for people over the age of 21. Please drink responsibly, and don’t bet on robot boxing unless you have the money to cover it.

TAKE A DRINK WHEN…

• A robot dances
• A round of fighting begins
• A robot is completely destroyed
• A robot is powered up or powered down

TAKE A DRINK WHEN YOU SEE…

• A soda can
• A new robot
• Charlie driving
• A robot’s control screen

TAKE A DRINK WHEN SOMEONE SAYS…

• “Max”
• “robot”
• “Charlie”
• A number

CHUG YOUR DRINK WHEN…

• The final fight is over

Click here for more Drinking Games

Back last spring Relativity Media was pretty gung-ho about putting together a remake of the cult classic, Brandon Lee starring, goth-actioner The Crow. They had a director picked out and everything. A snag was hit, however, when The Weinstein Company claimed that they had rights to the worldwide distribution of any Crow remake or reboot and slapped them with a lawsuit. Work on the film got halted and everything was left up in the air.

That’s not the end of the story though. The last couple of days have been full of good news for people who want to see this remake happen (which is, according to your past comments on Crow articles, roughly nobody). It was announced by Relativity yesterday that the Weinsteins and Relativity had come to an out of court settlement, and they were going to go forward producing this film, arm in arm, as partners. Glad that’s settled, I just can’t stand to see indie filmmakers fight.

Now that the lawsuit is over, what’s going to happen with the movie though? Is Juan Carlos Fresnadillo still going to direct? No, according to Heat Vision they’re starting over completely with a new script and a new director. Irreparable Harm and Age Inappropriate writer Jesse Wigutow has been hired to write the new script and Before the Fall director F. Javier Gutiérrez has signed on to helm. Personally, I’ve never heard of this Wigutow guy, but that doesn’t really come as any surprise. I’m sure I haven’t heard of anybody who’s written a Crow movie before.

So there you go, Brandon Lee purists, it’s time to get on your soapboxes and complain again. The crow flies at midnight.

Carlos Gutiérrez (John McInerny) is an Elvis impersonator and while he does not completely look the part, the man sure can sing like the King (and goes so far as to ask everyone in his life to call him as such.) Carlos spends the majority of his time watching and listening to Elvis concerts, planning his upcoming shows and eating Elvis’ favorite food (banana and peanut butter sandwiches), giving way to the idea that singing like Elvis isn’t just something Carlos is good at, he may be obsessed with the man himself.

This idea is further driven home when Carlos’ ex, Alejandra (Griselda Siciliani) expresses her concerns over his affect on their daughter (named Lisa Marie, naturally) and Alejandra announces she is going to try for sole custody. While Carlos seems sad over this revelation, he also doesn’t do much to stop it, seeming to have his mind on other things.

Carlos continues to allude to  something big he has coming up, quitting his factory job and having his band rehearsing non-stop for an upcoming gig that will feature him playing the piano and singing solo. But an unexpected phone call changes everything and suddenly Carlos is forced to focus on being a dad rather the King of Rock and Roll.

A car accident leaves Alejandra (who Carlos calls Priscilla) seriously injured and unconscious while Lisa got away with a only bump on the head, but now no mother to go home to. It is clear that Carlos cares about them both, rushing to the hospital to find out what happened and get Lisa (Margarita Lopez) to bring home with him. The accident turns out to be a bit of a blessing in disguise as it gives Carlos and Lisa the opportunity to really get to know one another and establish a real relationship.

When Carlos gets the news that Alejandra is going to be okay the family reunites and a slight tattoo reveal on Alejandra’s arm (reading “Love Me Tender”) hints at what their relationship was like when it first began. Although Carlos is clearly sad Lisa will no longer be living with him, he shifts his focus back to his tour, packing up and (literally) burning any bad bridges he plans on leaving behind. But rather than joining his band on the road (or even taking any of his Elvis costumes with him), Carlos travels alone to Graceland to celebrate his forty-second birthday.

While on the bus to Elvis’ mansion, the tour guide reveals that Elvis died on the property at forty-two years old and you begin to realize that the duffle bag toting Carlos may have bigger plans for his birthday trip than just getting a few pictures for his scrapbook.

The Upside: The Last Elvis is sharply filmed by director Armando Bo and in hindsight; even the smallest moments were actually hints at where the narrative was headed – a poignant ending that leaves you wondering what it really means to idolize an artist. McInerny turns in an amazing performance and when he is singing on stage, he truly does sound and feel like the King himself.

The Downside: The scene of Carlos and a call girl (at least I assume she was) seemed random and did not help to move the narrative along.

On the Side: The bevy of celebrity impersonators on Carlos’ entertainment circuit were hilarious “cameos” that popped up every so often, ranging from KISS to John Lennon to Iggy Pop.

—

Snuggle up with the rest of our Sundance 2012 coverage

As you may have noticed if you’ve gone online or been anywhere near a TV today, the nominees for this year’s Academy Awards were announced this morning. Along with that always comes the scrambling to contact those nominated to get their reaction to the honor. Usually what they have to say is pretty boring, but hey, it’s a tradition. And it’s one that Variety has been hard at work keeping all day long. As a service to the world, I’ve compiled some of the more high profile reactions they’ve received here in one place.

If you’re talking Oscars, you’ve got to talk Best Picture, and Variety managed to get some quotes from a couple directors who have horses in that race. Martin Scorsese, whose Hugo got nominated for a whole host of awards, said,  “I have two older daughters, but the younger one was the one that recommended this book. To be honest, I thought it was a film for everybody, not just family audiences. After all the screenings, we found that children really enjoyed it and the adults reacted really well too.” You know who else reacted well? The Academy. Good job, buddy! The Descendants director, Alexander Payne, was significantly less self-congratulatory. According to him, “The quantity (of kudos) can grow taxing, but I remain grateful through all of it.” Now that’s how you play it aloof.

The Artist director, Michel Hazanavicius, took a different approach. He gushed that, “You can dream of the Cesar, and you if you’re crazy, you can dream of an Oscar for foreign language movies, but you never dare to consider the major Academy Awards categories.”

Read: The 2012 Oscar Nominees: Silent Films, Surprises and Scorsese

The nominees for Best Actress mostly remained humble and talked about how important the work part of being an actress is. Veteran Glenn Close spit out this bit of wisdom: “If you do stuff for any other reason than believing in the work you do, you can so fast get away from who you really are.” Alright, so if she wins the Oscar I’ll be happy to put it on my mantle. She’s got her work.

Rooney Mara and Viola Davis used the opportunity to talk about other people. Mara referenced the Swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo when she said, “I think if (Rapace’s) performance had been 15 years ago there would still be that pressure (because) it’s such an iconic performance and loved by so many people. I had my own idea of what I wanted the role to be. In the end I was able to make it my own and I think (director) David (Fincher) had a lot to do with that.” Davis turned the praise on her co-stars by saying, “The key to a great performance is surrounding yourself with talent and getting over your ego. One thing everybody gave up was their egos when they got on the set, and I think that showed in the final product.” That’s an amazing accomplishment, I hear that rotten Emma Stone can be a real diva (call me, Emma!).

There was a bit of a generation gap when it came to reactions from the Best Supporting Actor Nominees. Jonah Hill’s reaction was full of youthful enthusiasm. He said, “Getting into a Bennett Miller film written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Brad Pitt — to me that was me winning the lottery, and the nomination is just a nice touch. It is so tough as a comedic actor for anybody to see you as anything else but that. I really want to be perceived as a drama actor as well. I hope this film and nomination helps that in the future.”

Christopher Plummer and Kenneth Branagh have been around the block more than a few times, however, and their reactions came from a completely different place. Branagh still seems pretty amused by the whole thing. He said, “I’m sort of speechless, it’s really rare and amazing; even though you are in the business to get an Oscar nominations, in each of those cases it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime moment each time I was nominated.” Plummer, though, sounds quite like a man in his 80s. “It has been a long ride,” he said. “It’s a shame the film didn’t open closer to the event, but it has seen great resurgence and great interest in it with all the nominations.” Gotta love that way grandparents always have to slip a little negativity into everything. That’s grit, I’ll tell ya.

The Best Actor nominees seemed more focused on the business side of things, giving reactions that spoke to the money aspects of making movies. Pitt said of his nomination for Moneyball, “This one was a little more special because of the uphill battle to get Moneyball made. In the past people would have run for the hills when things went wrong but (Sony Pictures chief) Amy Pascal really doubled down and made sure this film happened. So I think this nomination for me carries a little more (significance) than previous ones.”

Gary Oldman gave a pretty lengthy response to the L.A. Times, and among other things he opined that he was, “very proud of the film. And really it’s been quite a ride. We had a huge success in the U.K., and we opened in America to incredible reviews and amazing box office. It continues to make money. I’m proud of my work in it and the film and everyone involved. So, to be nominated is one thing but to be nominated particularly for this film and this role, it’s a nice feeling.” And isn’t that what the Oscars are all about, giving good movies a second chance to get attention and make money? Good work should be rewarded, and despite the quibbles we all might have with who got nominated and who didn’t, I hope everybody keeps going out to the theaters and catching more and more of these nominated films over the next few weeks. It’s either that or we just start handing gold statues to the films that break box office records and leave it at that.

Based on the short film Dennis, Teddy Bear  further explores the story of Dennis (Kim Kold), a body builder who, despite a large frame that can make him seem intimidating, is actually quite shy and has trouble making conversation, especially with women. Teddy Bear opens with Dennis with an attractive young woman on a date that is not going very well. Dennis seems incredibly nervous and the conversation keeps stalling out. But Dennis, despite being thirty-eight, does not return home to life as a solitary bachelor, he is greeted by his mother (Mads Matthiesen) – who he still lives with.

Rather than tell her about his date, Dennis lies and says he was out with a friend. It starts to become clear that there is a reason Dennis keeps his dating life a secret from his mother, who only seems calm or happy when Dennis is at home with her. The two are unquestionably close but their relationship seems to be a bit too close with his mother freely coming into the bathroom while Dennis is showering and constantly needing to know where Dennis is and who he is with.

After celebrating his uncle’s marriage to his wife (who he met in Thailand), Dennis decides to take a cue from his uncle’s happiness and travel to Thailand himself to see if he has similar luck, having been told women are easier to meet there. Dennis quickly learns how true this is when simply walking down the street has droves of women literally pawing at him to get his attention. But this is not the kind of attention Dennis wants, he is looking for love and a real relationship.

The women he is set up with by his uncle’s friend are only interested in seeing Dennis’ muscles instead of getting to know him. Frustrated, Dennis finds a local gym and when his reputation precedes him, a fellow bodybuilder (and admirer) decides to take him under his wing and invite him out for a real meal and real conversation with his friends. The woman who owns the gym, Toi (Lamaiporn Hougaard), is also at the dinner and in this more natural environment, the two strike up a real conversation and connection.

Having originally lied to his mother about his trip (claiming to have gone to Germany for a body building competition), Dennis decides to come clean about his relationship with Toi and his mother does not take the news well. After telling Dennis he must choose between her and Toi, Dennis, the ever faithful son, finds himself at a pivotal crossroad in his life, forced to choose between two women who each make him happy in very different ways.

The upside: A heartfelt story about the painful process of growing up (no matter what your age) and having to eventually live life for yourself. Kold (a real life body builder) plays the part with a quiet sincerity and charm that truly makes Dennis feel like a big teddy bear you want to root for.

The downside: The methodical nature of the film made certain scenes feel tedious (we don’t need to see Dennis repeatedly walking through the streets of Thailand or getting set up on another failed date) and this slow burn could bore some viewers.

On the side: Matthiesen not only plays Dennis’ mother in the film, she is also the film’s director and helped write the screenplay.

Click here for more from Sundance 2012

Director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ documentary About Face: The Supermodels, Then and Now interviews various supermodels who ruled the runways and magazine covers over the past few decades to get an idea of what their lives were like then and what it means now (as they get older) to be beautiful. Many came up during a time when modeling was just becoming a possible career and as Pat Cleveland points out none of them realized they were living history because at the time, “they were just living.”

Many of these women got into the world of modeling not just because it seemed glamorous and exciting, but because it was one of the few ways women could become independent. Working in a photo studio was certainly more interesting than being stuck in an office, but it also allowed these women to work with various artists from designers to photographers to make up artists and hair stylists and be creative.

The irony was that when they were younger (some starting out in the business as early as fifteen), they were made up to look older. And now that they are older, the pressure to look “beautiful” is to look younger. Obviously the idea of plastic surgery was a main topic of conversation and the women seemed fairly split over the subject – some equating it to having the ceiling of your house falling down and naturally wanting to lift it up to those who didn’t want to potentially lose their own expressions in favor of smoothing out the signs of aging. Everyone seemed to agree that beauty is whatever makes you feel good about yourself, but who decided that meant you had to look young? In the past, the wisdom you gained over the years was what was considered beautiful and the experiences that made you the person you are now.

There is no question why these women had successful careers in the modeling and fashion industry, as they are all aging beautifully (enhanced or not) and even at ages fifty and eighty, these women are striking. Isabella Rossellini points out that while people liked her ads for Lancôme’s anit-aging cream that depicted her as her true age, the company still preferred to create ads with young models to appeal to a younger audience. Rossellini fears that plastic surgery is just a new form of foot binding and yet another way to convince women that being how they naturally are is wrong and unattractive.

It may seem that being a model meant that you were constantly told how beautiful you were and while that was true to a degree, modeling is a business and these girls were treated as objects used to sell products, often having their biggest physical insecurities debated right in front of them. Now that many of these women are out of the modeling game (and those that are still in it have the ability to pick and choose their jobs), they feel more self-confident than they ever did then since they can finally feel comfortable in their own skin and not be judged or sold based on their looks.

The upside: Seeing how some of the most iconic faces in modeling have aged only proves the fact that aging is nothing to hide from and these women are able to prove it without even needing to open their mouths. But when they do, it’s their personalities and knowledge that reminder those of us who are not models that true beauty (no matter what your age) is being comfortable and happy with who you are.

The downside: Greenfield-Sanders caught Beverly Johnson and Cheryl Tiegs catching up, but cut away instead of documenting these models talking with each other and comparing their different experiences which could have been an interesting layer to include in the narrative.

On the side: The drawings of some of these women shown over the opening credits proved why (and how) they could have been inspirations to artists like Richard Avedon, Halston and Calvin Klein.

Catch more of Sundance 2012

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly dose of awesome movie news, with a side of other stuff you’ll probably want to read in between all the movie news.

We begin tonight with an image of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg pondering The World’s End, the supposed third film in their “Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy” that began with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. It’s about damned time, as they say. From Scott Pilgrim to Star Trek, the pair have done plenty of great things apart, but now we’ll hopefully see them wrap this thing up. Unless Marvel calls Edgar about that Ant-Man movie…

Cinema Blend presents their list of The Top 10 Lines of Dialogue in 2011 Movies. Their title is awkward, SEO-bending kind of stuff, but the list is pretty good. That said, “Why Cookie Rocket?” should’ve been much higher.

In a spot-on piece, The LA Times’ Nicole Sperling cites the Academy’s overlooking of 2011′s darker performances, the likes of Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin, Michael Fassbender in Shame, Patton Oswalt in Young Adult pretty much everyone in Drive.

Next Tuesday night in Austin, Mondo will hold a screening of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive for the angry mob at the Alamo Drafthouse. According to a tweet from Mondo manager Justin Ishmael, there will also be a poster. If it’s anything like this poster from James White, it will be a highly sought collectible:

Movie lovers in the Washington D.C. area will be interested in this interview The Alamo Drafthouse published with Joseph Edwards and Anthony Coco of Cojeaux Cinemas, the investors who will bring the Alamo brand to the area surrounding the nation’s capital. Will it be as widely read as the transcript of President Obama’s State of the Union address? No, but it should be.

“It’s actually such a beautiful, romantic story set in this incredible, epic setting, this kind of bleak world. But the light, the flowering in the grey areas is this romance that just blossoms; it’s very unlikely, but I’m very proud of it.” That’s Teresa Palmer on Warm Bodies, the upcoming zombie romance from The Wackness director Jonathan Levine.

Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor have joined James Wan’s next film. That’s the guy from Office Space and the director of Saw getting together for a film called The Conjuring. Please wake your neighbors.

Erik Davis at Movies.com takes time away from Sundance movie watching to explore something we’ve all been interested in for some time: Why Does Kirsten Dunst Like Making Out with People Upside Down?

We close this evening with a Filmmaker Magazine interview from Sundance with new indie film producer Ira Glass, best known as the host of This American Life. The man brings his usual storytelling brilliance and verve to an interview about how his friend Mike Birbiglia convinced him to produce Sleepwalk with Me, which premiered at this year’s festival. He was really, really stunned:

Welcome to This Week in DVD! Lots of titles hitting shelves today, and we’re covering nineteen of them below. High profiles like Real Steel and Paranormal Activity 3 are releasing alongside indies like The Woman and Beware the Gonzo. There’s also several older titles worth checking out including Punishment Park, The Arena with Pam Grier and a Criterion release of Godzilla.

As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it.

The Whistleblower

A female cop (Rachel Weisz) from the Midwest takes a temporary but high paid job as a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia and discovers despicable crimes and criminals in her midst. Her instinct as a cop is to help people and bring the guilty to justice, but the systematic corruption may be too widespread and unbeatable. Weisz gives a strong and emotional performance, and the film pulls no punches in its exploration of the sex trafficking trade that exists in Bosnia (and around the world). It manages to be both powerful and suspenseful too while never feeling the need to glamorize or Hollywood-ize the story. This isn’t the sexiest release of the week and there are some better films below, but it’s an important and well made movie with a message worth sharing.

50/50

Pitch: And you thought there would never be a funnier movie about cancer than Terms Of Endearment…

Why Buy? A young man named Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and given a one in two chance of survival. Let the comedy begin! Director Jonathan Levine’s funny and affecting film features a stellar cast including Anna Kendrick in her most well rounded role yet, Seth Rogen as the far less than annoying best friend, Matt Frewer as a pot-loving cancer patient and more. Screenwriter Will Reiser based the premise on his own experience and battle with cancer, and the result is a movie that never shies away from the effects on Adam and his family/friends but also never gives up on the notion that laughter, humor and a positive attitude are amazing medicines.

Godzilla (Criterion)

Pitch: He’s so badass he taught his preteen son how to blow smoke rings…

Why Buy? This Japanese production is the granddaddy of cautionary monster tales, and while there were creature features before him there’s never been one as scaly. Unless you count the dozens of sequels, remakes and ripoffs. The film follows the exploits of a giant bipedal reptile awakened by nuclear testing who descends on Japan with a vengeance while mankind tries in vain to fight back with all kinds of model tanks, rockets and jets on wires. It remains a classic of the genre, a fact that Criterion has cemented by releasing it under their banner. Their disc includes a new transfer, new interviews with cast and crew members, two commentaries and more.

Punishment Park (UK)

Pitch: The Hippie Games…

Why Buy? This pseudo documentary sees a British film crew visit the United States to examine the government’s treatment of radicals, flag burners and draft dodgers. It alternates between a group of young men and women who’ve chosen three days in Punishment Park over a multi-year jail sentence and another group enduring the “trial” that seems predetermined to find them guilty. Writer/director Peter Watkins’ 1971 film offers up an alternate reality response to the protests and violence of late sixties America, and in the process he created a film that stands just as shocking and prescient now as it did forty years ago. What exactly separates a patriot from a threat to national security? **NOTE – This is a region2 DVD which requires either a region-free player or the willingness to watch on your PC.**

Sherlock: Complete Series Two (UK)

Pitch: You could say that buying this set is abecedarian. You shouldn’t of course, but you could…

Why Buy? Haven’t seen this set yet, but my region-free Bluray is currently making its way across the ocean via submarine and should be in my player any day now. Series One set a very high bar, and by all accounts the show-runners behind the scenes including Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have delivered yet again. Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. Watson (Martin Freeman) return for three feature-length episodes adapting the classic stories A Scandal in Belgravia, The Hound Of the Baskervilles and The Reichenbach Falls. The character of Holmes is a big enough creation that he can happily exist through the darkly horrific Murder By Decree, the very funny Without A Clue and the blockbuster antics of Guy Ritchie’s films, but modern day audiences are missing out if they’re not also enjoying this brilliantly executed series. **NOTE – This is a region2 DVD which requires either a region-free player or the willingness to watch on your PC.**

Beware the Gonzo

Pitch: We need to talk about Gonzo…

Why Rent? Eddie ‘Gonzo’ Gilman (Ezra Miller) is a high school rebel with journalism and justice on his mind, but when he starts up his own school paper to combat the cool kids he ends up way over his radically coiffed head. This is basically a nerds vs the world movie, and it works in a lightweight and mildly entertaining way. Miller is joined by a few recognizable faces including Zoe Kravitz, Amy Sedaris and Campbell Scott (who should really be in more goddamn movies). The movie makes a misstep in its attitude toward one character’s date rape experience, but that aside it’s good, forgettable fun.

Happy Happy

Pitch: I think at least one of those happys is meant to be ironic…

Why Rent? Kaja leads an unhappy life with a distant husband and a prickish son, but when a new couple and their adopted son move in next door her life takes some decidedly unexpected turns. While the four adults engage in relationship drama the two preteen boys develop an odd back and forth of their own involving a slave and his owner. It’s a mix of black comedy and real emotional suffering and may not be to everyone’s taste, but if you enjoy strong acting, interesting characters and interludes featuring a four man barbershop quartet singing in English then give it a chance.

Hell and Back Again

Pitch: You’ll never look at Wal-Mart greeters the same way again…

Why Rent? Like many other young men and women, US Marine Sergeant Nathan Harris returned from his tour of duty in Afghanistan a broken and damaged survivor. This often quiet and occasionally jarring documentary offers a visceral and intimate look into one soldier’s life. The filmmakers were embedded with Harris’ unit and they capture some intense firefights alongside the more humdrum side of daily patrols, but as the movie moves between the war and Harris’ efforts to settle in back home his true suffering comes clear. He zones out, gets angry over small things, has nightmares and grows overly attached to two handguns. The scene that flashes between combat footage and Harris playing a first-person war shooter is a bit obvious and on the nose but it’s still some very telling commentary.

Lethal Ladies Collection 2 – The Arena, Cover Girl Models, Fly Me

Pitch: “I want to hear your ass bumping good and hard on the floor…”

Why Rent? Roger Corman and Shout! Factory strike again with this trio of exploitation flicks with naked ladies kicking ass, posing for photos and serving drinks. The Arena is a flesh and violence-filled romp that sees Pam Grier and some white chicks enslaved by the Roman Empire and forced to fight as gladiators. Cover Girl Models finds a group of models caught up in espionage and kung fu in Hong Kong, and yes, they do get naked along the way. And finally, Fly Me sees kung fu terrorists foiled by sexy stewardesses. It’s almost not at all like United 93.

Paranormal Activity 3

Pitch: You sheet in my bed I keel you…

Why Rent? The ghostly box office behemoth continues with a second sequel that moves the story back a couple decades in the form of a prequel. The two sisters whose adult lives have been turned upside down in parts one and two are seen here as young girls, and we’re shown the story behind the origin of their family’s haunted curse. Like its predecessors this found footage film relies on a handful of spooky as hell scenes set amidst a lot of bland exposition and chit chat. The answers, explanation and ending may not suit every taste, but it deserves credit for offering a bit more than the first two. And seriously, the sheet in the kitchen scene? Crazy creepy.

Punished

Pitch: Only a fool would kill Anthony Wong’s daughter and expect to get away with it…

Why Rent? A business tycoon’s (Anthony Wong) bitchy daughter is kidnapped for an enormous ransom, but when the bad guys leave her for dead after getting their payoff the businessman decides to get his hands dirty. This Hong Kong flick is produced (but not directed) by Johnny To and it lacks his signature visual style, but it still manages to engage through plotting, structure and character. It’s Wong’s right-hand man who does the heavy lifting while his boss stews in anger and sadness, and the dynamic is an interesting one. Also interesting? The DVD cover’s double reference to Mel Gibson films! “First the ransom. Then the payback.” Indeed.

Real Steel

Pitch: More emotionally satisfying than The Fighter? Yeah, I said it…

Why Rent? A down on his luck robot-boxing manager (Hugh Jackman) takes his estranged son on the road with him as they try to find success with a new bot named Atom. Director Shawn Levy injects the movie with a lot of shmaltz, no doubt about it, but he also makes room for entertaining fight action and real heart. Oh, and several shots featuring Evangeline Lilly’s deliriously sexy shoulders. The effects used to bring the robots to life are top notch, the kid transcends his early annoyance factor to become mildly appealing and Jackman proves once again that Dr. Cox’s hatred of the man is unfounded.

Revenge of the Electric Car

Pitch: “It would be a good time for a little humility…”

Why Rent? The makers of Who Killed the Electric Car? return to explore the resurgence of electric and hybrid vehicles in the US and abroad with the Toyota Prius, Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and more. Tim Robbins narrates, and while we all know the overall story it’s the smaller character studies that truly engage. Tesla founder Elon Musk, GM’s VP Bob Lutz and Greg “Gadget” Abbott are fascinating characters and offer real insight into the motivations and personalities needed for this revolution to succeed. The film ends on a high note, but consumers are a fickle breed and all it will take is a major drop in gas prices for people to fall back into their own ways.

Shut Up Little Man!: An Audio Misadventure

Pitch: The profanity here gives Casino a run for its money…

Why Rent? Two college grads come to San Francisco in 1987 and discover their neighbors are a couple of loud, abusive and occasionally hilarious older men. They record the verbal battles, share them with friends and years later discover the recordings have become a viral sensation eventually becoming comic books, recreations and even a play. This documentary starts as a simple look at some humorous recordings but quickly becomes a fascinating exploration of friendship, curiosity and even avarice.

Today’s Special

Pitch: I enjoy eating Indian food. I just don’t like looking at it…

Why Rent? A sous chef (Aasif Mandvi) in NYC thinks he’s in line for a chef position, but when he’s passed over he quits in frustration and plans a trip to Paris. Those plans are interrupted though when his father falls ill and he’s forced to take over the family’s rundown Indian restaurant. Mandvi does a fine job with his first lead role and maintains a good balance between the comedic persona he’s known for and a more dramatic sensibility. Jess Weixler injects some white into the otherwise ethnic proceedings, but the entire ensemble works well together to tell an American tale with real flavor.

Two-Lane Blacktop (UK) (Blu-ray)

Pitch: Features the only lead performances from James Taylor and Brian Wilson. You’ll understand why once you’ve watched it…

Why Rent? Two young men (James Taylor, Brian Wilson) driving without a destination cross paths with a free-spirited young woman (Laurie Bird) and a thirty-something guy (Warren Oates) undergoing a midlife crisis. Their universal aimlessness stands in for the country’s own uncertainty just as their attempt at a singular focus (racing) serves as a much needed distraction. I poke fun at Taylor and Wilson’s performances because they’re clearly not actors, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exhibit a certain degree of charisma. It’s a dated piece of cinema and a fascinating time capsule of the people, cars and attitudes of our past. **NOTE – This is a region B Blu-ray which requires a region-free player.**

The Confession

Pitch: Kiefer Sutherland stopped saving the world one day a year so he could do this? For shame…

Why Avoid? A hitman (Kiefer Sutherland) enters a confessional booth and begins sharing his sins with a priest (John Hurt), but soon his real plans are revealed… and they just may be exactly what you expected. This film originated as a webisode series online, and as such the budget and scope are pretty limited. Most of the movie is spent in the confessional with the two leads, and while they both give fine performances the story is too obvious and uninteresting to really maintain viewers’ interest.

Essential Killing

Pitch: It’s basically the opening to a cool action movie but stretched to 85 minutes…

Why Avoid? A Taliban fighter (Vincent Gallo) is captured in Afghanistan, tortured and moved to an undisclosed location, but an accident en route leads to his escape and run for his life. Director/co-writer Jerzy Skolimowski executes some solid action sequences early on, but once Gallo’s unnamed and silent terrorist escapes it becomes an odd, seemingly pointless exercise in moral obfuscation. It opens with him killing two Americans, and his actions that follow don’t earn him any additional sympathy. It’s unclear what the point of it all is exactly… is he the bad guy? Is the US government the aggressor? Is the fat lady who unwillingly breastfeeds Gallo the true mastermind? I don’t know, and sadly, I also don’t care.

The Woman

Pitch: She is woman, hear her growl…

Why Avoid? A supposedly normal family man who runs a tight ship at home finds a feral woman in the woods, captures her and chains her up in the barn. All in the name of helping her to become a good woman. The film has plenty of fans so consider my dissent to be the minority opinion, but it simply never worked for me. It’s neither frightening nor shocking, and while it teases black comedy at times it becomes far too frustrating. Character behaviors are nonsensical and stupid, there’s no one worth caring about and the point, that civilized people can be the truly animalistic and cruel ones, is obvious and uninteresting. The ending has a couple small joys but it’s too little too late.

Also out this week, but I haven’t seen the movie/TV show, review material was unavailable, and I have no blind opinion:

The Moment of Truth (Criterion)
Restless
Time Traveler: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Read More: This Week in DVD

What are you buying on DVD this week?

I’ve listened to Paul Simon’s Graceland at least a thousand times (no exaggeration), so if you’re looking for an objective analysis of Under African Skies, Joe Berlinger’s documentary about that seminal work, you won’t find it here.

Perhaps someone who doesn’t have virtually every lyric of every song on Simon’s masterpiece memorized, someone who doesn’t tear up just thinking of the “Mississippi Delta shining like a national guitar,” could do a better job of telling you what’s what when it comes to this movie.

All I know is that as I sat and watched it I felt my childhood come alive on screen. Each familiar chord reminded me of those countless hours I spent listening to these songs over and over again, whether as the soundtrack to family dinners, the accompaniment to late-night homework sessions or the auditory salve on a long, boring car trip.

Of course, I’m just one of millions of admirers of Simon’s masterpiece, an album that sold millions of copies, won Grammys, launched a massive tour and is today widely considered one of the most important cultural achievements of the past century. So Berlinger’s got that going for him.

The filmmaker hooks you in by playing on that enthusiasm and keeps you riveted by thoughtfully tackling the improbable journey of the Apartheid-defying record. The picture traces the initial source of Simon’s fascination with South African music and journeys behind the scenes of the recording sessions with a wealth of great artists (from Ladysmith Black Mambazo to the late Miriam Makeba).

Intriguingly, Berlinger delves into the maelstrom of controversy that greeted Simon’s defiance of the cultural boycott on South Africa by making his record there with local artists. And by structuring the picture from the point-of-view of Simon’s return to the country in 2011, for a 25th anniversary concert with many of his original collaborators, the filmmaker is freed from a simple, straightforward recap of the familiar story. Instead, the distance of time affords a new perspective on just what the album represented politically, as the film incorporates deeply personal testimony from Simon, his collaborators and Dali Tambo, the co-founder of Artists Against Apartheid, which opposed Graceland.

A 2011 clear-the-air conversation between Simon and Tambo serves as a compelling framing device, fraught with emotion. No one is unfairly portrayed here. The picture unabashedly takes Simon’s side in its depiction of Graceland as a collaborative effort that offered South African artists the chance to perform on an unprecedented global platform, promoting a message of unity and drawing a different, positive sort of attention toward the black community suffering under Apartheid. At the same time, Berlinger respectfully presents the counterargument, which holds that the decision to go ahead on the album unfairly valued the lives of Simon’s musicians over the greater good of a people fighting against a horrendous, institutionalized wrong.

But above all, this is a movie about the magical, transcendent music that Simon and his colleagues made, an unlikely harmonious blend with lyrics that in their own abstract way evoke the human condition. Consider this verse, from the title track, and the hopeful message it espouses about the experiences of falling in love and falling apart, before finding communal redemption.

There is a girl in New York City
Who calls herself the human trampoline
And sometimes when I’m falling, flying
Or tumbling in turmoil I say
Oh, so this is what she means
She means we’re bouncing into Graceland
And I see losing love
Is like a window in your heart
And everybody sees you’re blown apart
Everybody feels the wind blow
In Graceland

From the thrilling, opening accordion chords of “The Boy in the Bubble” through the driving drum beats and enthusiastic saxophone of “All Around the World (The Myth of Fingerprints),” the final track, Graceland delivers a masterful fusion of South African and American sounds, a lyrical, emotional and never less than beautiful cross-cultural journey. It offers an artist at the absolute height of his creative powers, joining an extraordinary array of top-notch South African artists to collectively create a one-of-a-kind joyous sound that you just can’t forget.

And that sound lives anew, again, in Under African Skies.

The Upside: This is a deeply moving, personal tribute to my favorite album, which has played a hugely important role in my life.

The Downside: Can’t think of one.

On the Side: Director Joe Berlinger just earned an Oscar nomination for Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory. If there’s any justice in the world, he’ll be back at the Kodak Theatre next year for this one.

Click here for plenty more Sundance 2012 coverage

Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) seems to lead a charmed life – she has a loving husband, friends and a job she is passionate about teaching first grade. But the one thing that is always present in Kate’s life is alcohol. She and her husband, Charlie (Aaron Paul), spend every night getting (wait for it) smashed on beer, liquor, really whatever alcohol is available. The drinking (while excessive) appears to be just a harmless part of their lifestyle, but when Kate shows up hungover to work (and throws up in front of her class), one of her students asks if she is pregnant and Kate confirms the lie, figuring it is a better excuse than the truth.

Unfortunately the news makes it to the school’s principal, Principal Barnes (Megan Mullally) and scared of what will happen if she tells the truth, Kate continues to pretend the news is true. However the school’s Vice Principal, Dave (Nick Offerman, in a very un-Ron Swanson like role), recognizes what is really going on since he himself is a recovering alcoholic. Kate assures him she is fine and takes her personal day to – go to a bar and get drunk. As she leaves the bar, she takes pity on a girl in need of a ride and on their way home (thanks to her inebriated state) Kate agrees to smoke some crack with her. Having never done the drug before, once high Kate ends up hanging out with some homeless people and finds herself passed out on a discarded couch the next morning. The incident scares Kate and pushes her to take Dave up on his offer to be her “wingman” at an AA meeting.

Kate doesn’t think she has a problem, but the fact that she keeps a flask in her car and will take a pull from a leftover beer in the morning suggests otherwise. Kate grew up around alcohol and to her, drinking a lot is normal, but as she starts to really look at her situation she begins to realize that she may in fact be (weird as it is to say) an alcoholic. Situations that had been funny when she was younger are now becoming scary. Kate takes to the program and makes it a month sober, despite Charlie’s continued drinking and the constant presence of alcohol in their house. But now the problem is that while Kate is changing, Charlie is not and she starts to realize that their relationship may have only worked because they were both constantly drunk together.

Smashed starts out fairly light hearted with Charlie just happy Kate would come home from all night benders rather than getting upset, but as Kate gets sober and her real issues start to come to light (much like her drinking) things go from fun to serious. The most upsetting thing is it is clear Charlie truly is in love with Kate, but love may not be enough as Kate is struggling with real problems and needs real help. Winstead and Paul shine on screen together, making the moments when their relationship starts getting off track all the more heartbreaking. Alcoholism is an upsetting disease that never fades away quietly (or quickly) and neither director James Ponsoldt or Winstead shy away from portraying Kate’s struggle in a real way that keeps your eyes glued to the screen while still leaving you feeling hopeful.

The upside: Winstead turns in a stunningly honest performance of what it means to struggle with this disease that keeps you engaged and caring about Kate (even in her darkest moments) from beginning to end. Paul keeps pace with Winstead and proves that he is definitely a talent to watch, both on the small (Breaking Bad) and big screen.

The downside: The literal “smash” cut towards the end of the film was the only part that felt like a bit of a cheat, but the scene with Winstead and Paul that followed it almost made the jump ahead in time worth it.

On the side: The inappropriate admission from Dave when dropping Kate off one night was brilliantly played by Offerman and does offer good advice to men about how to (or in this case, not to) talk to women.

Get drunk with us on more Sundance 2012 coverage

A man places an ad in a local paper looking for a partner to go on a journey with him – but this particular man is not looking to make a love connection, he is in need of a companion to travel through time with him. He’s done it once before, but you’ll have to bring to your own weapons because, as he tells it, “safety not guaranteed.” From this seed of an idea, director Colin Trevorrow and screenwriter Derek Connolly have crafted Safety Not Guaranteed, a low-fi romance that benefits both from charismatic performances and the intriguing background that the time travel element provides.

The film is loosely based on a true story – an ad did appear in a Seattle paper, exactly as it appears in the film, but Connolly and Trevorrow have taken their film in a different direction – stuff mentioned in the ad (payment, that it’s been done before) never comes up after its first read, and no one ever says anything else about it. Instead, the film focuses on a trio of intrepid reporters (really just one mild douchebags and two interns who don’t have a choice in the matter) who decide to craft a piece about the man who has placed the ad. A fluff piece, something silly. Of course, they find much more than they bargained for once their investigation commence.

Jake Johnson stars as douchebag reporter Jeff (who is using the trip to a beach town that he spent some of his formative teen summers at to also pursue an old flame), Aubrey Plaza as unsmiling skeptic intern Darius, and Karan Soni as nerdy intern Arnau. Upon hitting Ocean View, Washington, Darius flexes her prodigious investigative muscles to find the ad’s writer – Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass), a loner and a rebel who is indeed building a time machine and who is convinced that people know and are thus out to get him. Darius poses as a possible companion for Kenneth and, despite his latent paranoia, he falls for it hook, line, and sinker.

Kenneth accepts Darius as his time-traveling companion and the two embark on a series of amusing and energetic training exercises meant to ready them for what’s ahead, both in terms of prepping the mission and the actual mission itself. Kenneth admits that Darius has come further in the process than anyone else, and that they will now be learning alongside each other. Clearly, Kenneth is not just talking about the training exercises. The pair bond over shared scars – both emotional and physical, and it’s obvious from Plaza’s goofy grins (side note: it’s unspeakably wonderful to see the normally frowning Plaza light up with a smile) what’s going to happen here, but that doesn’t make their love story any less charming.

Kenneth and Darius are both outsiders, and while the time travel construct of the film is what brings them together, it’s the pursuit of something more (and possibly better) than what they are that bonds them together. Plaza and Duplass have a wonderful chemistry with each other, and their ease with each other feels natural and right; it’s just lovely to watch them grow into each other. Yet, Safety Not Guaranteed never quite reaches its full potential – though it’s short, certain parts drag and, while it’s lovely and sweet, it never feels significant.

The Upside: Duplass and Plaza have lovely chemistry that’s quite nice to watch unfold and they put in a pair of great performances. Up-and-comer Jake Johnson has the most compelling and emotion-mining arc of the film. It’s an all-around charming and sweet misfit love story.

The Downside: The film doesn’t keep up the pace in the third act, sagging a bit as it attempts to jump to its next important steps. As fun of a watch as it is, it’s just not particularly memorable.

On the Side: Here, have a giggle.

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Snuggle up with the rest of our Sundance 2012 coverage

It seems that there is always at least one film at Sundance that stirs up some sort of controversy – the kind with people running out of screenings and people screaming at post-movie question-and-answer sessions. Last year, it was Lucky McKee’s The Woman, this year, it’s undoubtedly Craig Zobel‘s Compliance. Much like McKee was taken to task about presumed misogyny in his film, Zobel has already endured two Q&As where the film was damned as being exploitative. In both cases, those hecklers were quite wrong. Compliance is an exceedingly well-made interpersonal drama that hinges on the limits (and, oftentimes, depths) of human nature and people’s response to certain carefully calibrated psychological tricks.

The film centers on fast food cashier Becky (Dreama Walker) on a day when her boss, Sandra (Ann Dowd), is already on edge and suspicious of her employees. So when a man calls up the Chick-Wich, claiming to be a police officer conducting an investigation that involves Becky, Sandra doesn’t blink at taking her to the back room and assuming the role of authority in the situation. The cops can’t get there just yet, and the investigation is ongoing, and Sandra, wouldn’t it be wonderful if you just helped out nice Officer Daniels (Pat Healy) until back-up arrives? You’ll help, Sandra? Wonderful. Great. Except, well, no, it’s not wonderful, and this is no regular police investigation. In fact, it’s not one at all.

As Sandra stays on the phone with Daniels, she continues to fall under his sway, obeying and complying with his every request, he is a cop after all. Right? The techniques that Daniels uses to manipulate Sandra, Becky, and later other members of the Chick-Wich family are quite transparent to an audience – he undermines Becky and Sandra’s responses (telling them to calm down when they already seem calm enough), he interrogates them, he pushes them to recognize and respect his authority, he makes attempts to relate to every person he speaks to, he dispatches threats, he compliments them. And Compliance spins on, horrifying and unstoppable.

But while Daniels’ most basic tricks are intriguing enough, what’s most compelling and twisted about Compliance is the way its characters respond to things that Daniels frames as choices. When presented with only two options (the first being Becky’s “choice” to either except a strip search from Sandra or get hauled off to jail), the characters of Compliance never question that there are are other options – they only see the two that “the law” is telling them they have. Few people in the film ever step back and say a firm “no” or ask a real “why?” that demands a true answer, and the film is utterly unnerving for it.

The commonplace setting of Compliance increases the film’s sense of terror, and Zobel intersperses scenes involving Becky and her ordeal with those showing diners blissfully ignorant to what is happening mere feet from them. While the film’s soundtrack and long shots on certain inanimate objects frequently feel heavy-handed and overbearing, Compliance is a riveting watch when it’s focused squarely on conversations between its characters – terrifying, maddening conversations with no comfortable end.

The Upside: Compliance will undoubtedly engage audiences and force them to think about the most uncomfortable and unfathomable of situations. It’s remarkably well-crafted, as it looks good and sounds good and features a tight, economical script.

The Downside: The film is a tough watch, and one that doesn’t ever abate. While many of the tricks that Daniels uses to coerce his victims are classic ones, and though it’s based on a true story, it’s still a tough pill to swallow, one that will make it hard to look at your fellow man the same way for awhile.

On the Side: Yup, true story.

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Snuggle up with the rest of our Sundance 2012 coverage

It is day four of the festival (although it feels like we’ve been here much longer) and I realized this morning as I sleepily boarded the shuttle that since I have only been going to P&I (press and industry i.e., you don’t need a hard ticket but you do need credentials) screenings, I have only been to the Holiday and none of the other venues. That will change tomorrow morning when I finally hit up Eccles (one of my favorite theaters here), but it was strange to realize I haven’t really been outside the Holiday, Yarrow, Sundance HQ radius the past few days. (This may also explain why things are starting to blend together for me.)

Averaging about five hours of sleep a night (better than last year’s two!) and one real meal a day, I try to make that one meal count. Today I (along with almost every other critic and blogger here at the fest) hit up Flippin’ Burgers, which not only has amazing burgers, fries and shakes, but also free WiFi and plays a constant loop of terribly hilarious songs and yes, Enrique Iglesias’ “Baby I Like It” has been stuck in my head all afternoon. Hopefully this place sticks around for another year (although, rumor has it that it’s been around and we just now discovered it) so if you make it to Sundance next year, add it to your list of places to check out. Granted, you have to Frogger your way across the street to get there, but trust me, it’s worth it.

But beyond my confusion and hunger (two things that are not Sundance exclusive), I saw some movies! Started the day with a little documentary called  About Face that looked into the world of modeling through the eyes of those who helped create it and how they have reconciled the idea of beauty as they age. It was an interesting film with an important message that lasting beauty comes from being comfortable in your own skin and doing what makes you feel beautiful.

Next up was The Last Elvis, a little film out of Argentina about an Elvis impersonator whose dedication to the King may actually be a dangerous obsession. And while the last fifteen minutes were devoid of talking, they were also the most pivotal. After Elvis I nearly missed the screening of The Surrogate (which just got picked up by Fox Searchlight) and after a standing ovation at an earlier screening this week, it was clearly one everyone wanted to check out. Luckily I made it in and I am glad I did thanks to an amazing performance by John Hawkes who plays a thirty-eight year old man with polio looking to lose his virginity. Hawkes proves he is a true chameleon, morphing into this role with a good dose of humor and heart, creating a performance I won’t soon forget.

While in line for my last screening of the night (John Dies At The End) I was joking that nothing really exciting had happened to me to put in my daily wrap up to entertain you all and just like that, Moviefone’s Mike Ryan stepped it up and tried to get one of the Sundance volunteers to tackle him to keep him from jumping the line to head into the theaters. She, of course, declined, but just seeing the shocked look on her face when we asked her to do it was worth it.

I am still not sure what to think of John Dies At The End – it had some funny moments, but things went from silly to very strange. Although I did appreciate things that seemed random at first ended up coming back around as the disjointed narrative finally caught up with itself.

Tomorrow: GOATS, The Words, Shut Up and Play the Hits, and V/H/S.

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The girl with the eyebrows won’t be playing the man with the chin. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “scheduling issues” (which they also put in quotation marks) have forced Lily Collins to back away from taking the lead role in the remake of Evil Dead being produced by Sam Raimi and directed by Fede Alvarez.

On the one hand, this is good news. On the other, it seems likely that the production team is still trying to make the film about a young drug addict trying to get clean when bad people with melting faces start biting at her. Why they’re moving so far away from the original concept is unknown, and whether or not the finished product will even resemble the original movie is also unclear.

The real victim here? Alvarez – who has the impossible task of recreating a cult phenomenon. Too much to the right, and he’ll have a bland retread with no outside appeal. Too much to the left, and he’ll piss off fans. If he teeters both ways, he might fall off the tightrope altogether. Can’t we just pop in the discs in our Book of the Dead Box Set and forget about all this?

It’s always refreshing to hear a filmmaker talk candidly about the concerns and difficulties of creating something as large as, say, a blockbuster comic book movie that’s expected to draw in millions of fans and even more millions of dollars. Today’s burst of honesty comes from The Avengers director Joss Whedon, who told Empire Magazine (via Comic Book Movie) a ton about the project. Check out the link for more.

The money quote: “It was an up-all-month job. Finding the characters’ voices was not only easy, but glorious fun. It doesn’t suck to write Tony Stark, yet finding the structure was just brutal. I haven’t had that much trouble making a screenplay work since Serenity and, embarrassingly, for the exact same reason: there’s just too many characters.”

It’s fair to say that’s also a concern for fans, but it’s less that there are so many characters and more that there are so many massive, super-powered, enlarged egos in the film. How do you give them all space to shine brightly?

Fortunately, the best reason to be optimistic that Whedon stuck the landing with the script is his work on “The Astonishing X-Men,” a comic book series that might just be the best X-Men storyline in Marvel‘s catalog. If the man can handle that universe and that many larger-than-life characters, it seems reasonable he can do it in the condensed format of film. It’s also fantastic to see him talk about how much fun he had crafting the heroes. Joss Whedon effectively got paid to role play as Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk, Hawkeye, Thor, and Black Widow (although that last one is a little gender-bending) on a large scale and then see his fantasy played out with costumes and huge sets. How cool is that?

When Sony released the “Untold Story” tagine for The Amazing Spider-Man, it rang about as true as a career politician and lobbyist claiming to be a Washington Outsider (or, for a less current joke, like Hot Pockets claiming they wouldn’t cause your bowels to erupt). It’s a rebooted franchise – essentially a remake of an earlier film that came out of the same studio a decade ago. However, there were always elements that hinted at Sony and direct Marc Webb going big instead of going home.

A new synopsis, uncovered by the Times of India (via Screen Rant), shows off exactly what they mean by an untold story, and as it matches up to the original Sam Raimi film – it’s pretty damned untold. Sure, there are the teenage elements of angst and that certain feeling of being lost in a sea of hormones without a rudder or a helping hand. Hopefully there will be some playfulness and some sarcasm. Of course there will be a spider bite.

All of it rings familiar, except the rest of the plot. In fact, much like a comic book, it reads like an alternate history of a character delivered by a new writer. Check it out for yourself:

The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets.

As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.

Definitely a different direction, but will Uncle Ben put his suit jacket on with both arms at the same time? West Wing fans everywhere demand to know.

There are plenty of reasons to wonder whether this film will succeed even if it succeeds. That’s a strange thing to say, but it’s the best way to describe a movie that might be excellent (both artistically and economically) and still feel unnecessary. Hopefully Team Sony and Marc Webb will thrill everyone with something truly new (even if it is wearing the old clothes of someone we know well).

Is it possible?

Why Watch? In this bizarre work (half authored by the internet), artist and academic Sebastian Schmieg loaded a transparent image into a search engine, nabbed the top result, searched with that new image, and repeated the cycle. Almost 3,000 images later (2,951 to be exact), he created a 12 frames per second flip book that is both stunning, confusing, and somehow also banal. It’s our everyday extrapolated and turned into what might be called Found Object Short Film.

Or it might just be true Found Footage filmmaking. How do you go from images of the universe, to breasts, to Rage Comics, to Google (the search engine itself), to graphs? Let the internet do the directing. Ingenious.

What will it cost? Only 4 minutes.

Skip Work. You’ve Got Time For More Short Films.

The critics and movie fans who attend Sundance can take to the web, Twitter, Facebook and any other outlet to report on the various films shown during the festival (and what they think of them), but it is the distributors that come to this snowy mountaintop to decide which of those films will make it to you. Having gone to college in Los Angeles you are bound to spend those years alongside classmates who graduate and become a part of this crazy world of entertainment. Nick Donnermeyer is not only a fellow Loyola Marymount University graduate (and good friend), he is now a producer and distributor for Bleiberg Entertainment who have released such films as Adam Resurrected and Robotropolis. We turned to Nick to get the perspective of someone attending the festival to not only watch new movies, but potentially purchase and distribute them as well.

Nick is returning to Park City this year to see what new titles Bleiberg may want to add to their release list while also taking in the unique experience that is Sundance and proves that no matter what your reason for attending the festival there is one thing that unites us all – a love of film.

How many times have you been to Sundance?

I’ve been 5 out of the last 6 years.

What is your favorite Sundance memory?

I would say the entire first time is the best. Isn’t that true for most thing? I was young, not long out of school and I came up with two of my friends, one was at an agency, the other at a production company. It was great finally going to this amazing festival that we had only HEARD about all our lives.

What is your favorite film that you’ve seen at Sundance?

That’s too hard. Honestly. So I’m just going for most memorable and that was Crispin Glover’s “It is Fine. Everything is Fine!”  Did that ever even get released?

What other festivals do you enjoy going to?

I think Telluride is cool and really focused on just the love of film. And Cannes is pretty damn amazing. Those two and Sundance all have very different energies so it’s definitely good to experience each of them.

What are you most looking forward to at Sundance 2012?

Celeste & Jesse Forever, Black Rock, V/H/S. Can I keep going?

What are your tips for those going to Sundance for the first time?

Check the weather. Make dinner reservations. Know your alcohol tolerance. Try not to use your mobile every goddamn minute. Smile. Remember that you’re there for movies.

What is your favorite venue at Sundance and why?

I usually have a good time at Eccles. It’s such large audience and it’s a good gauge of how a variety of people respond to the film.

Is there something you must always do (or see) while at Sundance (besides movies)?

There’s plenty of time to ski throughout the winter, so I don’t mess around with that. I’m here for the movies. Though I might sneak in some football. This is America, right?

What is the craziest thing that has ever happened to you at Sundance?

Nothing too wild. Though one year I did find myself slung over the Main street moose toward the end of the night.

Why do you think Sundance is important?

It feels like the beginning of the season. For the most part, the festival is full of world premieres. So it really is the very first time anyone is seeing these films and it’s great to be able to go into them without too much expectation or hype. Plus the addition of the NEXT section has been crucial is preserving the concept of screening some films that are truly independent.

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Snuggle up with the rest of our Sundance 2012 coverage

This week’s merchandise world has gone loopy for The Dark Knight Rises with two stellar announcements by two of the world’s biggest collectible players, in DC Direct and Hot Toys, and 2012 looks like it’s going to be a good year for anyone who collects Bat Merch. There’s also a couple of entries from Mattel, making this the most bumperest Merch Hunter column ever. It’s been a thrill-ride, and I’d like to thanks Jesus Christ and Chris Nolan for giving me the strength to achieve this monumental feat.

So anyway, this week’s Merch Hunter is dedicated to Chris Nolan’s upcoming trilogy-ender, and the news that has got collectors’ tongues wagging and seats wet in the past week or so. So put away your wallets for now, because you won’t be able to buy what is listed here just yet – and in all honesty, saving up for them is probably going to be a pragmatic decision, given how much dough is likely to be needed to buy them.

1. DC Direct’s Dark Knight Rising Busts and Statues

Thanks to website Idle Hands, who got their mitts on the catalog from the UK Toy Fair, we now know what DC Direct’s Dark Knight Rises line of statues and busts might look like, and they’re fucking beautiful. And yes, the profanity was necessary.

It looks like DC Direct have made a strong play to take some sales away from Mattel, who cut a deal with Warners to pick up the toy rights for the upcoming mega-blockbuster. But then, the good news for collectors is that it seems DCD and Mattel can co-exist, with the former taking on the higher-end of the collector’s market, and the latter probably focusing more on more general consumer needs. For me, there is little distinction, because neither are going to come out of their boxes, but at least it suggests I’m going to get a broader spread of Dark Knight Rises collectibles this year, and both from companies I’d trust to make an action figure of myself.

Expect the Merch Hunter 6 inch poseable statue some time around 2015…

Have a more extensive look at the statues, as well as the other shockingly good DC Direct 2012 lines here.

2. Hot Toys’ Bane

Those collectible devils at Hot Toys this week posted a teaser image for their upcoming Bane figure – which makes the villain look slightly light on his feet, and very possibly in the midst of a tap dancing routine (a spoiler for the film perhaps?) – with the following post:

The Legend Ends. The terrorist leader Bane will arrive in Gotham City, pushing it and the police force to their limits, forcing Batman to resurface after taking the fall for The Joker’s crimes. The Dark Knight Rises movie will be coming this Summer and this Bane Collectible Figure will be announced in coming months before movie launches! Batman fans, please stay tuned!

Aside from the error in suggesting Batman took the fall for renowned terrorist The Joker (it was Harvey Dent he was protecting), that’s an exciting message. Yes it’s likely to be massively expensive, but who the hell counts when the quality your buying is of Hot Toys’ usual standard? Even from the teaser image, it’s obvious that the merch Gods have executed another essential, exquisite collectible.

3. Hot Wheels’ Bat-Vehicles: The Tumbler, The Bat & The Bat-Pod

I might be in a minority, but I don’t like any of those names for the three vehicles that will appear in the film, and which Hot Wheels are set to release in line with the movie’s release, but the prototype images at least look good. Each will be remote-controlled, and battery-operated, and look pretty impressive from the images that have so far been released.

You can check out images of the (spoiler-ish) prototypes here.

4. Mattel’s Other TDKR Lines

No images yet exist of what the toy giants have in store other than of their Hot Wheels vehicles above- though they are expected at next month’s Toy Fair, so expect to read me getting over-excited about them some time in February – but we do know what to expect, and it would be rude not to share, given this opportunity:

• MOVIE MASTERS FIGURES: This assortment is all about the collector with 6-inch Movie Masters figures designed with authentic detail and supreme quality. Collect every figure available in 2012 and receive pieces that can be assembled into a BATSIGNAL. Not only does the BATSIGNAL light up, but it also projects on the wall! Ages 4 and older.
• THE DARK KNIGHT RISES QUICKTEK FIGURES: This assortment gives fans of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES the ability to gear up with BATMAN and fight all the villains in GOTHAM CITY. Kids can instantly change BATMAN into fighting gear, revealing an arsenal of weapons and accessories with a surprise reveal. Criminals beware! Ages 4 and older.
• THE BAT VEHICLE: The new air attack vehicle of BATMAN is brought to life with launching projectiles, battle sounds and a BATMAN figure that launches higher than 10 feet!

T-Shirt of the Week

The fire rises.

Pick up a viral Bane t-shirt here, before they’re all squirreled away by fanatical collectors for good.

Burn your wallet and read more Merch Hunter

As George Bush once bastardized, “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — [pauses] — shame on you. Fool me — [pauses] — You can’t get fooled again.” Although I have the feeling that the filmmakers behind The Comedy probably enjoy P.T. Barnum’s statement a lot more, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” By filling theaters full of willing film festival audiences at Sundance 2012, they’ve put together groups of suckers, just waiting to be taken in. Just heed our warning and don’t take the bait.

Does that sound drastic? It might, but I hope that a moment of drastic reading for you can spare you from 90 minutes of pain where the only Comedy is the feeling that the filmmakers are laughing at you behind your back. No doubt they would do the same thing upon reading this review. To quote even more (I’m going for a quota of three quotes in this piece, and here’s the last one), let’s remember what Mark Twain said in Huckleberry Finn, “Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

While I’m not hoping that a bullet finds me for muddling through this movie and writing a review, it might have been sweet relief about halfway through watching it if I had been prosecuted.

The Comedy opens with a scene featuring spoiled hipster Swanson (Tim Heidecker) dancing around in slow motion with his male friends in their underwear, while they spew beer all over each other, tuck their penises between their legs, and clown around like buffoons. Like any modern moviegoer, you’ll think to yourself “Oh, this will be explained somewhere in this film. And it is. But the explanation will have your brain’s last caring cell dying as you come to this realization.

From there we jump to the massive home of Swanson’s father, who lies comatose and dying in a bed while tended to by a male nurse. Swanson, wearing flip flops, shorts, and loudly munching on an assortment of cookies and drinking whiskey watches from a nearby chair. He verbally abuses the nurse, subtly, about his job, asking him if he’s ever had his father’s shit under his fingernails, and if he’s trained how to handle a prolapsed rectum. That’s your introduction to Swanson.

From there, you watch as he idly drifts through life, hanging out with his equally dissociative friends (one of whom is portrayed by comic partner Eric Wareheim) who float through life drinking and performing esoteric comedy for each other. He also attempts to connect with “normal life,” from the perspective of someone who has grown up wealthy and privileged, by applying for mundane jobs on an impulse. He tries to get hired at a bar in a distinctly black part of town, offers a cabbie $400 to let him drive his taxi for 20 minutes, and eventually gets hired as a dishwasher at a small restaurant.

He also connects with people in an entirely detached manner, and when he finds a verbal sparring partner on his level of wit and rapport working at the restaurant (he asks her if they can use her vaginal yeast to bake bread, and she says she was directed to ask about his dick cheese), it seems like he’s made a tenuous connection. By after inviting her out to the boat he lives on, he sits idly drinking whiskey while she has a full-on seizure right when they begin fooling around. He then drops her back off at the pier and continues his meandering walk through life.

That’s about the size of things. There are moments where you begin to think that something more will happen, as when Swanson interacts with his sister-in-law or when he meets the waitress, but nothing changes and things continue as they were before. You can almost see the cracks in the shell that Swanson wears as he stumbles into a patient’s hospital room and combs his hair, but that’s as close as you get to anything deeper.

Sundance festival director John Cooper told CNN, “This is not a comedy. It’s dry and ironic, even from the title.” While chief programmer Trevor Groth added, “It’s a provocation, a critique of a culture based at its core around irony and sarcasm and about ultimately how hollow that is.” That’s not a statement I would agree with, and after sitting through this, I feel the Comedy is the fact that this film was accepted into Sundance, and that the filmmakers are laughing behind our backs. That’s the realization you come to while searching for any sort of deeper meaning.

The Upside: This is the first time I’ve seen an indication that Tim Heidecker is actually a fantastic actor. He’s able to deadpan his way through most of this movie, but there are moments where you can read a small semblance of emotion on his face. It’s not easy to pull off and he does it well. It would be fantastic to see what he could do with a proper script.

The Downside: The entire movie feels like an inside joke, one that the audience is the butt of. There is a lot of wasted potential, and a good story somewhere underneath all of this.

On the Side: This is the first movie to be released by Capcom Pictures, the motion picture arm of the video game company that brought you games like Street Fighter, Mega Man, and Resident Evil. Not sure if we’ll see The Comedy: The Game anytime soon.

Click here for more otherwise painless Sundance 2012 coverage