Jimmy goes to Comic-Con to pitch his superhero character, "The Recharger."

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I love movies.  I realize as someone who reviews movies for fun, it's probably not a shock, but it's the truth.  I love movies.  And one reason I love them so much is the fact that they can have so many different effects on the viewer.  Some movies are good when you want to do nothing more than veg out and waste a couple of hours watching giant robots explode their way through a nonsensical plot.  Other times you might want to return to the nostalgia of your childhood by watching a group of kids search for pirate treasure while being chased by a family of criminal.  And every so often a movie comes along that can transport you into the movie.  No matter the genre of film these rare gems make you feel as if you are in on the action and make you feel the emotions evoked by the characters on screen.  The Hurt Locker is one such gem.

The Hurt Locker is a small independent film, directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break), that follows the Army's bomb disposal unit stationed in Baghdad during the last 39 days of their tour.  The unit consists of Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), Sergeant JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty).  Sanborn and Eldridge are both dealing with the recent death of their former group leader, whom James has been brought in to replace.  For Sanborn and Eldridge the duty is a very serious job which puts them in risk of dying almost everyday.  But for James working with explosives seems to be a game.  Its obvious that he loves the rush of adrenline that he gets knowing he could die at any second.  And his attitude could get them all killed.

And while the plot may seem simple Bigelow draws us in and makes us a part of the movie.  She does so in many different ways.  On way she does this is in showing us the smaller things that you would notice if you were there, such as a shot of a shell casing falling to the ground in slow motion, while we wait to see if the bullet finds its mark.  And sometimes she does it by showing us nothing at all. 

Towards the end of the movie there is a scene that I absolutely love.  As the unit heads into the dark to try and hunt down a bomber we go with them, but instead of us seeing everything with a nice, unnatural blue tint, we are actually left in the dark for several long seconds.  During this time all we can do is rely on our hearing, just as the soldiers must rely on their remaining senses.  Then slowly we see a little bit of light, which grows brighter as we come out of the darkness, until finally we can see the unit again as they head into a more well lit area.  I applaud Bigelow for this, as most filmmakers would have rather shown you what was going on through lighting than let us experience it for ourselves.  (Personally I wish more movies would use total darkness in such a way)  And this is just one of many scenes in which you experience what is going on rather than having it shown to you.

I'll be honest at times I didn't want to feel like I was there, because some of the movie is so intense and hard to watch.  But it would be a cheat to only let us experience the good moments, we have to understand the loss and pain that they feel as well.  And maybe that's one reason this movie works so well, it gives us the whole picture, not just the good parts.  The Hurt Locker may not be the happiest movie going experience this year, but it certainly is one of the best.

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I have to say I am extremely, extremely saddened that I missed the Awesomeness that is Jeffster at Comic Con today.  See for yourself:

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Jimmy Fallon made a spoof exercise infomercial about H.R.3200 (the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009). This video just went live on the NBC site, so I thought you'd like to see it before it airs tonight!

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Seriously, the title doesn't lie if you don't want to know about the twists in the movie Orphan Do Not Read Ahead!

SPOILERS

So if you watch tv or go to the movies you've no doubt seen the trailer for the pretty awful looking horror film "Orpan" if not it's locate right here:

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The 2009 NYC HorrorFest has announced its dates for this years Festival.  The Fest will kick off on November 18th and run through the 22nd, and will be held at the Tribeca Cinemas.  Details are still pretty scarce but they have announced that they will be working with Monster Mania Con and Fearsmag.com to present the Killer Shorts Sudden Death Competition.  The short film competition is now accepting horror films under 15 min which will screen at MonsterMania.   The audience of MonsterMania will pick one winner whose film will then be apart of the NYC HorrorFest.  For more details see the press release include in full below:

The Dates are set!

November 18^th through the 22^nd 

The 2009 New York City Horror Film Festival will take place November 18^th through the 22^nd at the world famous Tribeca Cinemas. Keep your eyes pealed right here for all the gory details to come!

Now offering promotional & vendor tables!

This year we will be offering a limited amount of promotional and vendor space for the 2009 New York City Horror Film Festival. Tables will be on a first come, first serve basis, so book the affordable space now!

Offering full promo packages for indie films (table, trailers, links)  

For more information contact us at NYCHorrorfest@aol.com

Killer Shorts Sudden Death Competition

Monstermania and The New York City Horror Film Festival team up for the Killer Shorts Sudden Death Film Competition. If you have a short film under 15 minuets and submit to the NYCHFF no later then August 17^th it will screen at Monstermania!!!

The NYC Horror Film Festival in conjunction with Monster Mania Con (www.monstermania.net), & sponsored by FEARSmag.com, is offering short filmmakers a unique opportunity to have their short film viewed by a live audience - THE KILLER SHORTS SUDDEN DEATH COMPETITION. The Monster Mania audience will select one winner that will be part of the 2009 NYC Horror Film Festival programming. The audience will have their say on Sunday, August 23, 2009.

MONSTER MANIA is the New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia's premiere Horror film & Memorabilia convention. Found in 2006 by David Hagen in 2003, MONSTER MANIA attracts thousands of attendees to their semi-annual show, and guests not only feature Hollywood legends, but many of the biggest names working in the genre entertainment industry today. Upcoming guests include director John Landis, actors John Astin, Michael Madsen, Michael Biehn, and many more. For a complete list of guests and events visit the convention’s website at www.monstermania.net

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WOW! That's all I feel I can say. Ryan Reynolds one of my favorite actors around has been cast as The Green Lantern, Hal Jordan according to The Hollywood Reporter. THR is saying that although it's not final, everything's done but the signing of an actual contract. If the deal goes through this will be Reynolds third comic book character to play, and he will be the first person to play both a Marvel and a DC superhero (although not the first to appear in both a Marvel and DC movie, as James Marsden was in both the X-Men movies and Superman Returns)

Earlier this week Aint It Cool News reported that Justin Timberlake had screen tested for the role, leading to lots of outcry from fans. I was not one of them as I think Timberlake is a great actor and a wonderful comediane. Soon after that it was revealed that along with Timberlake, Reynolds, and Bradley Cooper had been up for the role. Warner Brothers had a holding deal with all three men, but the deals with both Timberlake and Cooper expired this past Monday. Reynolds deal would have expired tonight, but instead the studio and his people sat down to hammer out a deal.

Personally I'm shocked. This past May Reynolds played Deadpool, the so called "Merc with a Mouth" in the Wolverine movie. Reynolds had been very public about his desire to play this character over the past few years and it was a no brainer that he was also signed to do a spin-off movie. So I assumed his contract with Marvel would exclude him from headlining another big comic book franchise, especially with their biggest rival, DC. But apparently there's no such clause as it seems all but done.

As I said before this will be Reynolds third comic book character after playing Deadpool in Wolverine, and Hannibal King in Blade:Trinity. I think Reynolds will do great as Hal Jordan as it's a character with a lot of humor, and Reynolds has certainly proved he can be funny over the years. But with roles in such diverse films as the recent romantic comedy The Proposal, coming of age movie Adventureland, and Indie fave The Nines, I think Reynolds has proven he also has the acting chops it takes to play a character such as Green Lantern's Hal Jordan.

Martin Campbell, director of Casino Royale, will direct the film from a screenplay by Greg Berlanti (Eli Stone, Everwood), Marc Guggenheim (Eli Stone, Law & Order) and Michael Green (Smallville, Heroes). Green Lantern is the story of hot-shot pilot Hal Jordan, who is chosen by a dying alien to defend Earth from those who would attack it. Jordan is given a green power ring that shapes energy to his will and is only limited by his imagination.

I for one will be there opening night with my power ring and Lantern shaped battery!

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This past week in the UK BBC1 has been airing it's Torchwood "Event" Children of Earth, with a new episode each night. While the final episode aired the tonight, it won't air in the US until the week of July 20th. I watched Day One tonight and I have to say its quite possibly my favorite episode of Torchwood thus far.

For those who don't know, Torchwood is a spinoff of the long running UK series, Doctor Who. Doctor Who tells the story of a Time Lord from another planet who travels around in his T.A.R.D.I.S. (Time And Relative Dimension In Space) going to other planets and times to help out and defeat the bad guys. In the past he's had numerous companions and 10 different bodies. (in order to keep the series going, Time Lords can regenerate when their body dies, hence enabling another actor to play the role and thus allowing the series to run off and on since the 1960s) One of these many companions was Captain Jack Harkness, a seemingly immortal man played by John Barrowman. Torchwood, an anagram of Doctor Who, is a government operation started by Queen Victoria to investigate extraterrestrial happenings and keep abreast of The Doctor. Capt. Jack is in charge of the Cardiff, Wales branch of the institute. The series follows Jack, newest member and former police woman Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles), and Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Llyod) and several former members as they investigate cases, usually once a week. But this year instead of a typical 13-episode season, it's a five-episode "Event" Children of Earth.

Day One begins in Scotland in 1965 as a busload of children are taken into a bright light, which appears to be a spaceship. It then jumps to present time where Jack, Gwen, and Ianto are trying to keep Torchwood going as they deal with the tragic events of last season. But before they can do much every child on Earth stops moving at the exact same time and starts to chant "We Are Coming!" Now, simply putting this in writing can not convey the terror this scene causes. Almost anytime children are involved with science fiction it's scary, but the sight of all these children standing on playgrounds, streets, etc and chanting the same thing together, some with looks of pure hatred on their faces, is enough to make you want to cower under the covers.

Now Torchwood must discover what is using the children to communicate, and why it is they are coming, as well as whose trying to have Jack killed, and why. During the episode we learn a bit more about our characters with a few shockers about Jack and Gwen, and get a look into Ianto's family. Personally I loved getting to know a little bit more abouth these characters, since in the past two seasons we've only seen glimpses of Jack's long, long life and the rest of the background has seemed to fall onto Gwen, who serves as our eyes in the series. Also we see that Jack and Ianto's relationship has grown since the flirtations of last season. Just don't go calling them a couple.

All in all Day One was a brilliant episode and left me wanting a lot more. There are enough plot threads left dangling and several cliffhangers that all I really wanted to do was watch Day Two. But sleep is a priority and so I'll put it off until tomorrow. I plan to have reviews of Days Two through Five up Next Week, so come back for more, mostly non-spoilery reviews.

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I recently sat down to watch 12 Rounds, which was released on DVD and Blu-Ray last week. Now I'll say upfront that I'm a fan of action movies, even the dumb ones, because sometimes its just fun to watch stuff explode. And 12 Rounds delivers the explosions and action, heck it even has a couple of plot twists at the end that I didn't see coming, just don't expect great acting (it is a WWE movie after all) and Oscar-calibre dialogue. In fact I wouldn't expect much more than a fun way to waste roughly two hours, because if you expect anything more you will be disappointed.

12 Rounds was directed by Renny Harlin, who made one of the best worst movies ever with Deep Blue Sea, and stars John Cena as Danny Fisher, a New Orleans beat cop who get tangled up with a terrorist in the course of doing his job. The movie begins one year ago as the FBI is on the tail of Terrorist Miles Jackson with the help of local police. But when their set-up goes bad Miles escpaes with his girlfriend and looks to be gone for good, until Officer Fisher finds them and begins a chase that ends with Miles' girlfriend getting hit by a truck and dying.

Cut to one year later and Detective Fisher gets a call from Miles, whose escaped from jail, and has Fisher's fiance hostage. Miles tells Fisher to get her back he just has to survive 12 Rounds. Its a game to Miles and he plans to get revenge for the death of his girlfriend by pushing Fisher to his limits. His "Tests" include breaking into a security deposit box, surviving a fire, keeping his firlfriend from exploding, and 9 other breathtaking tasks. But it's really the final act where the film all comes together and the tasks begin to make sense as a whole. And its the ending which really helps the movie to stay afloat. As I said the acting and dialogue have some problems, but the twists and turns at the end of the movie really make it worth watching.

Now this movie is no Taken or Bourne, but if you're looking for a decent way to waste some time and want to fill it with action and explosions, 12 Rounds isn't a bad way to do it, although you could always just watch Die Hard for the umpteenth time.

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Hope everyone enjoyed there July 4th holiday, I myself missed having new episodes of several of my favorite shows including, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, True Blood, and the guilty pleasure, Harper's Island.  Luckily they're all returning this week with new episodes, starting tonight with USA's Burn Notice and Royal Pains. 

I don't know about you but I'm really enjoying Burn Notice this season, I think it's been brilliant and at the top of it's game.  And USA has done a great job of pairing it with another truly funny original series, Royal Pains.  If you haven't been watching, now is a good time to catch up. 

Now for me one of the best parts of Royal Pains is Paulo Costanzo, who plays Evan Lawson.  This last week I missed out on a spur of the moment round table interview with Paulo, which was apparently amazing and hilarious, but I was able to get some of the highlights for you to enjoy.


Q: What was it about the show Royal Pains that made you originally want to be a part of it?

Paulo Costanzo:  Well, you know, as an actor in L.A. between projects it’s very competitive right now.  So you pretty much, if there’s a role that you like, usually there’s at least 80 other actors who are petitioning for the same role.  So I was in audition mode and this is one of the things that came across my desk because I have a giant desk as an actor, full of thousands of scripts.  It’s just a room that is a desk that I can also dance on top of if I want.  Across that desk came this script and I thought the character was kind of easy for me.  It just kind of fit instantly.  A lot of roles you read and you’re like okay, I know I have to start the character work and try to get to this place where I can play this guy.  This one is just I already had it, kind of, inside me.  So yes, I just went in with that in mind.  That was a horrible answer to that question.

Q. You have great on-screen chemistry with Mark.  Is it something that happened instantly between you guys or did you do something to develop such a great rapport?

P. Costanzo: Well when I went in for the first audition, I got the callback pretty much the same day.  The callback was for a chemistry read, which means that they bring you in to read with other actors who have already been cast to see how you get along with them.  So I went in for this chemistry read, and at that time I was reading for the best friend, not the brother.  There was no brother in the script.  It was just Hank’s best friend, Evan, with some other last name.  So I went in and I walked in the door, and I looked at him and he looked at me and I said, “Wait a minute.  You look exactly…” and he finished my sentence by saying, “Like me!”   And we both went, “What the hell?”  And in my head I was like, I lost this role.  There’s no way I can play this man’s best friend.  I look exactly like him, just younger.
So at that point I said, “It looks like…”  At that point I threw caution to the wind.  It was just, like, I honestly feel like our Jew-fros, like if they got too close in proximity, they would just magnetize together and be almost impossible to separate, like Velcro.  And he went, “Yes, I agree.”  And I said, “Let’s try it.”  And we got close and we somehow strangely mimed this head mashing, which made the room laugh, which I thought was really funny.  And I was like ah, and that’s how we began our relationship.

Q: They showed off some of your amazing dancing skills on the show.  Is it something that was choreographed or did you improv?

P. Costanzo: That was written as a very short thing.  Evan dances around the kitchen preparing for the thing passionately.  And I came to Don Scardino, who directs a lot of 30 Rocks.  I believe he’s the producer of 30 Rock.  And I said, “I’m going to go this week and get a choreographer, so I actually have a couple ballet moves I can throw in there.”  And he goes, “Aw, don’t worry about it.  No, I’ve got this great girl.”  And God strike me down I can’t remember her name right now, but she choreographed everything for 30 Rock and everything for Saturday Night Live over the last ten years.  So she’s like a pro.  And she showed up, and we worked for about an hour, and between the three of us we came up with that strange dance, which still makes me feel slightly uncomfortable to watch, but people seem to like.

Q: Even though you’re not a medical person on the show, what’s the coolest thing you’ve learned around all the medical speak?

P. Costanzo:  Oh, dude, that’s crazy.  Well, I’m going to jump the tracks for a second here.  This weekend I went to the Hamptons.  This doesn’t have to do with the show, specifically, but I’m interested in medicine more.  And I met a surgeon up in the Hamptons and he told me, I said, “What’s the craziest thing you’ve done?” just because he told me he loved the show.  And he said, well, this one time there was a car accident and I stopped on the side of the highway and there was a guy in cardiac arrest.  And he said with a pocketknife that he carries, a very sharp pocket knife, he cracked his chest, reached inside and massaged his heart, and he said he saved his life

Q: With a pocket knife?

P. Costanzo: With a pocket knife in his hands.  No sterilization.  Nothing.  He actually managed to save this man’s life.  So, these things do happen in life.  They really do, and being a doctor is an incredible thing in life.  Having one around changes the dynamic of any accident that happens around you.  Suddenly, a fatal accident becomes something that’s not fatal anymore. 

Q: What are the major differences between acting on Royal Pains compared with your experiences on Joey?


P. Costanzo: Well it’s a sitcom versus a single camera drama – completely different mediums.  A sitcom, you rehearse for four days of the week and then you shoot it all in one night in front of a studio audience.  It’s like a play every week, whereas this show, you just shoot it over a seven or eight-day period with a single camera.  I enjoy this format of show much more.  I’m a feature guy.  I like making movies.  So the four camera thing I didn’t love it that much.  I found myself slightly out of my element.

Q: It’s good to know that you’re enjoying this one a lot better.

P. Costanzo: Well, that’s not what I said, lady, but it’s what I meant.  I am enjoying this much, much, much more than Joey.

Q: Good to know.  How did you get into acting in the first place?

P. Costanzo: In high school, my first thing ever was I played Tony in West Side Story when I was about 17.  I was a really shy kid and I just like forced myself to learn how to sing this one month because I loved West Side Story so much and I somehow managed to get the role.  I had an afro and glasses, and the guy who cast me goes, “All right, the first thing to go is the afro and the next thing, I’m going to buy you contacts and we’re going to get you…”  So he kind of molded me into what it had to – that’s still probably the hardest role I’ve every played in anything, the most taxing role.  But yes, that’s where I started.

Q: So how did you go from a play in school to where you are now?

P. Costanzo: Well, I got an agent for commercials and shows, and I think I booked my fourth audition.  I was a guest star in this really hilarious TV show in Canada called Ready or Not, like where every episode is about a girl like getting her period for the first time.  That was …  Did you say hold on?

Q. Oh I just said, “Oh no.”

P. Costanzo: Oh yes.  Oh no.  Correct.  But then I got another series called Animorphs and I played an alien for a couple of years.  And then I just went completely out of work for about eight months and I was honestly considering changing lines of work because none of the casting directors in Toronto liked me and they thought my style was too idiosyncratic.  Like, “Why can’t this guy just say the exact lines on the script?  Why is he always trying to make up his own lines and change the script?”  And then I auditioned for Road Trip as a nationwide talent search and I guess they didn’t feel the same way because I definitely improvised a lot of my audition and they gave me the part. 

Q: What you would advise young actors starting out today?

P. Costanzo: The only thing I would advise them to do is prepare for the amount of adversity that you’re going to come in contact with by choosing to be an actor because before you actually “made it” or get the skills, people are all not going to take you seriously, and many people will try to discourage you from it.  Don’t take any of their advice.  Do it, and do it and do it.  Remember the compliments.  Forget the insults.  I know it sounds cliché, but you have to believe in yourself because there’s going to be moments that no one else does.

Q: Very good.  Thank you.

P. Costanzo: Thank you.  I’m going to say one more thing to everybody.  I would love it if you could, on the USA Web site, they were going to have me do something similar to what Jeffrey Donovan does on Burn Notice and do kind of, an Evan’s tips thing which I didn’t want to do it.  So I came back and I told them that I wanted to do something a little more cinema verite.

So they actually came back and said yes somehow.  And they’re allowing me to do kind of my own behind-the-scenes – they just gave me a camera and I’m shooting behind-the-scenes and it’s going to become kind of a video log on the Web site.  So I’d love you all to check it out because it’s going to be very kind of intimate and personal with just me and a camera.

As well, I’ve set up an e-mail account called evan.lawsoncfo@gmail.com and I would love people, if you’re reading this or if you’re seeing this, just to e-mail me with anything that you’d want to see behind-the-scenes.  Just typically e-mail me and I’ll try to address it because I have another month here, and I have a lot of time and a lot of tape to shoot.

Q: Wow.  Well be ready for the bevy of e-mails that you’re about to get. Evan.lawsoncfo@gmail.com?

P. Costanzo: Correct.

Q: Awesome.  Well thanks again, Paulo, for being with us today.  Remember to tune in to Royal Pains, Thursdays at 10:00/9:00 central on USA.  Thanks!

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Fox's Dollhouse may not have huge ratings, but it has some of the most devoted fans around.  So devoted that they crashed the Fox server in their efforts to get there hands on an exclusive San Diego Comic Con version of the first seasons DVD and Blu-Ray set.  Fox has set up a website on which fans could pre-order the SDCC exclusive, which features a letter from creator Joss Whedon, which they can then pick up at the convention.  But withhin a couple of hours the demand for the SDCC version caused a massive jam, which lead to a complete shut down of the pre-sale.  You can read more from the Press Release below. DEVOTED FANS CLAMOR TO BE AMONG THE FIRST TO OWN JOSS WHEDON'S Popularity Of Show Causes Temporary Sales Disruption Of Exclusive Advanced BD/DVD

CENTURY CITY, Calif.  - Within a couple of hours, fervent fans of Joss Whedon's television hit "Dollhouse," created a colossal traffic jam temporarily halting the pre-sale at Foxstore.com of the special advanced limited edition BD and DVD of the show's groundbreaking first season.  Individually numbered and highly collectible, only 5000 (2500 Blu-ray/2500 DVD) copies were created, each featuring a personal letter to fans from Whedon and special packaging.  The DVD is available for pick-up exclusively at San Diego Comic-Con International.  The Studio has resumed pre-sales.   "Dollhouse" Season One BD and DVD will be available everywhere July 28.

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