Earlier this year one of the most controversial and talked about documentaries was released, Exit Through the Gift Shop.  The movie is out now on iTunes and On Demand, and to celebrate we have a special giveaway  just for you readers.  Hit the jump to find out more.

Labels: Giveaway, movies

If you don't know the name Banksy, you're not alone. When I first heard about his new film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, I had to look him up on Wikipedia. Apparently he's a world renowned graffiti artist, who mainly works in Europe. You can see an example of his work below:


Banksy's true identity is unknown and so, while he's in the movie, his identity remains hidden throughout. The film debuted at Sundance this year and received a lot of praise. The film is in some way about Banksy and a French filmmaker, but other than that not much is very clear. The press release says:

"Exit Through the Gift Shop, the first film by renowned graffiti artist Banksy, became the hottest ticket at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival where it made its world debut. Banksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation whose work can be seen on walls from post—hurricane New Orleans to the separation barrier on the Palestinian West Bank. Fiercely guarding his anonymity to avoid prosecution, Banksy has so far resisted all attempts to be captured on film. Exit Through the Gift Shop tells the incredible true story of how an eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner – with spectacular results. The film contains exclusive footage of Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Invader and many of the world’s most infamous graffiti artists at work, on walls and in interview. As Banksy describes it, “It’s basically the story of how one man set out to film the un—filmable. And failed”

Other that that, the only thing I know is that the title refers to how Walt Disney wanted the rides at DisneyWorld to exit through the gift shop to encourage customers to buy more souvenirs. Below you can find a brand new, exclusive 5 min clip from the film. Watch it and let me know what you thing in the comments.

Labels: movies

As the song says "It's the most wonderful time of the year" and I personally believe it. The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of the year with only Halloween coming in a close second. So with the holidays upon us I figured it was time to give a list of my favorite holiday movies, in no particular order save for number 1.



5. Die Hard
Die Hard is not only The Quintessential Action Movie, it spawned it's own genre ("Die Hard on a ..."), but it's also a Christmas movie. Sure it's set at Christmas but as someone over at Cinematical.com recently pointed out it has all the things that make Christmas, well Christmas. It's got holiday travel, family gatherings, work parties, and of course terrorists...ok so maybe it's not all Christmas, but you get the picture.
If you've been in a crate for the past 19 years, Die Hard is the story of John McClane, a NYC cop whose in LA to see his wife and kids who've moved there without him. His first stop is his wife's office which is having a Christmas party and is quickly taken hostage by a group of terrorists. It's up to McClane, whose evaded the terrorists and stands as the only man between them and freedom.
Bruce Willis is great as a normal guy thrown into an extraordinary situation and forced to do the impossible to save his wife. And Alan Rickman is wonderful as the terrifying Hans Gruber. Definitely one of the best holiday movies around.



4. Love Actually
An R-Rated comedy set at the holidays and all about love what more could you need for the holidays? It's numerous stories all have happy endings and makes you feel all warm inside without having to spike your eggnog.
One of the funniest storylines is also probably the main reason the movie is rated R, the story of two movie stand-ins who met on set and slowly fall in love is made hilarious by the fact that all of the scenes they are standing in on are sex scenes and so they have casual conversations whilst in various states of undress. This may offend some, and sure it's a bit unneeded, but it is quite funny.
But honestly it's the entire cast that make this movie so wonderful. Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman (He's in two of my favorites!), Bill Nigh, Emma Thompson, Martin Freeman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kiera Knightley, Laura Linney, Billy Bob Thorton, and many, many more do a great job elevating the movie. What could have been simply saccerine sweet is instead a holiday movie sure to become a classic.



3. Elf
Will Ferrel as Buddy, a human raised as an Elf, what more do you need to know?
Well how about the beautiful Zooey Deschanel singing "Baby, It's Cold Outside"? What about James Caan as Buddy's grinch of a Dad? Or Bob Newhart as Buddy's adoptive father, whose also an elf?
Well if that doesn't get you then maybe Buddy turning a Macy's type store into a winter wonderland with paper snow flakes and other amazing decorations, or Will Ferrel eating Spaghetti with maple syrup?
It's great for kids and adults alike and quite simply the most fun Christmas movie to come out in years.



2. Gremlins
I used to love watching this movie when I was a kid. I've recently reacquired it can't wait to watch it again. But who can beat a movie which borders on Sci-Fi/Horror and is aimed at kids, all taking place at Christmastime with a cute cuddly little animal voiced by Howie Mandell?
The movie tells the story of what happens to a small town when the aforementioned cuddly little creature spawns more cuddly little creatures who turn into horrible little monsters when fed after midnight. The movie features homages to both It's A Wonderful Life and The Wizard of Oz, and features Phoebe Cates.
I'll admit it's probably because it's from my childhood that I like it so much, but I don't care it's a great movie.
Plus, it holds a place in cinematic history as one of two movies from Steven Spielberg (he produced Gremlins) that lead to the creation of the PG-13 rating when parents complained they were to violent for the PG rating, but we deemed not bad enough for R by the MPAA (The other was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
A great little "horror" movie for most ages that's set at Christmas and thus not you typical Christmas fare.



1. The Back to the Future Trilogy
This is my number one holiday movie, and yes I realize it's actually three movies, but it's all one big story to me.
I know this is not really a holiday movie, it's not set around Christmas and in fact has nothing to do with Christmas. But to me it's just not Christmas without watching at least one of the Back to the Future movies.
For years my brother, dad, and I would get together every Christmas and watch the entire trilogy. Last year I actually watched it twice as I watched it once at home and then watched Parts 1 and 3 on my dad's new HD TV, which made them even better than they had always been.
Just today I watched the original and I'm planning to watch parts 2 and 3 before the holidays are over.
I'll be discussing BTTF in more detail in an upcoming entry, so I'll just leave it at that. But know that to me Back to the Future IS Christmas.

So what's your favorite Christmas movies?

Labels: Christmas, movies

I've seen a few more movies since my last post and I thought I'd let you know how I felt about them. Also I take a look back at one of the movies I left off of my awards that I shouldn't have.

“Brick” is an independent film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt released in March of last year. Jonathan and I got the chance to go to a free screening of it in Hollywood a few weeks before it came out. “Brick” is a film noir set in High School, it’s got all the trappings of a classic film noir, the Femme Fatale, the unfortunate man pulled in by a woman into a situation which quickly gets out of hand. It has the fast paced dialogue of the movies from golden days of cinema, much of which you won’t understand until subsequent viewings (or by finding the dictionary on the official site online). Overall it’s a great mystery, with a wonderful cast of characters. Gordon-Levitt gives a magnificent performance and proves he’s an actor who can hold his own.

Here's the movies I've seen recently, 3 of which will likely be the best movies I see this next year: Apocalypto, Eragon, Déjà vu, Pan’s Labyrinth, Alpha Dog, Children of Men, and Babel.

(BTW this was written partially before the Oscar nominations and partially after so I don’t mention the awards for that reason)

Apocalypto

What it’s about: Set during the time of the ancient Mayans, the story follows Jaguar Paw as he tries to get back to his pregnant wife and son after being kidnapped by a savage tribe.

What I Thought: The movie is, of course, the newest movie from Mel Gibson, say what you will about the man himself, but he can make a heck of a movie. This movie is basically just a long chase scene, but it’s one of the best chase scenes any recent years. Gibson and co-writer Farhad Safinia do a wonderful job of weaving a realistic tale of family and one man’s fight to get back home to save his family.

Many people have complained about the amount of blood and gore, but honestly it’s no worse than Braveheart.

The Bottom Line: All and all this is one of the best movies I’ve seen in quite sometime. Don’t let the violence or the subtitles turn you off, you won’t regret it.

Eragon

What it’s about: Something about a kid who finds a dragon egg and involves some old tradition of dragon riders.

What I Thought: quite simply the most boring movie I’ve seen in a long time. To be honest I have to admit that I tried listening to the book on tape and got bored with it less than halfway through. So when it came time for the movie I decided that I’d give it a chance and hoped it was better than the book. Unfortunately it wasn’t so.

I checked my watch at least 5 times during the movie, which is not a good sign with me. Usually I might check my watch once during a movie, but with Eragon it seemed to be a constant thing.

Quite simply put the movie was just boring, the only good part was the fighting scenes which were few and far between, and sadly one of the worst things was Rachel Weisz, as the voice of the Dragon.

The Bottom Line: Overall it’s a movie trying to cash in on the Harry Potter, LOTR, Narnia trend, that just isn’t up to par. Unless you have Kids, who might enjoy the film, don’t waste your time.

Déjà Vu

What it’s about: After the corpse of a murdered woman shows up at the site of a terrorist attack, Agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) joins a top secret new government program that has technology which allows them to look 4 days back in time. But in order to save the woman Carlin will have to do more than just watch.

What I Thought: An intriguing mystery, clues that all make since in the end, time travel, and James Caviezel. No, this isn’t a sequel to 2000’s Frequency, but it does have the same basic feel as that wonderful movie. (If you haven’t seen Frequency I beg you to go rent it tonight, you’ll love it or you’re money back, seriously just tell the video store I told them to give it back to you, I promise it will not work)

Maybe it’s because I love time travel movies, but this is the type of popcorn movie I can really get behind. Small things which don’t really seem to mean anything come together in the end in a way that will really make you think.

The Bottom Line: I Loved it!

El Laberinto del Fauno AKA Pan’s Labyrinth

What it’s about: The year is 1944 and the Spanish Civil War has just ended, Ofelia and her mother are going to live with her mother’s new husband, a Captain in the Military whose stationed in a rural area surrounded by rebellious forces. Ofelia escapes to a fantasy world, one that may or may not lie within her own mind, where she is the long missing princess of a long forgotten world. In order for Ofelia to reclaim her place next to her royal family she must complete three tasks given to her by the Faun.

What I Thought: I wrote a really beautiful review encompassing how I felt, but my computer shut down and erased it, so here’s my second try.

This is one of the most beautiful movies I have seen in a very long time. Director Guillermo del Toro artfully brings to life two completely separate worlds in completely different ways. Del Toro’s post-civil war era Spain is brought forth with muted colors to make the world seem dreary and isolating, which helps the viewer to sympathize with Ofelia and her own sense of loneliness.

But the real beauty and vision lies in the Fantasy world. Here del Toro uses brighter colors which makes the creatures found in it seem that much more surreal. While much of this world is dark and scary, the colors still seem to bleed through and almost make the fantasy world more welcoming.

Although I loved this movie I must admit that it is very violent and quite scary. Many of the creatures, most notably “The Pale Man” are almost nightmare inducing in their creation. But some of the scariest scenes may be in the “real world” setting. Ofelia’s new father comes across as an evil man who will do anything to cut down the rebel forces he faces. And two of the most gruesome, gut-wrenching scenes I have every seen in a film come not in the fantasy world, but in the Captain’s presence.

The Bottom Line: I truly believe that I have already seen the two best movies I’ll see this year and this was the first one. I can’t wait to see this movie again and hope it’s while it’s still in theaters. In all honesty I don’t have the words to tell you how much I loved this movie. Go see it while it’s in theaters, but know it’s not for the faint of heart.

Alpha Dog

What it’s about: The true story of Jesse James Hollywood(Emile Hirsch)(renamed Johnny Truelove for the movie) a drug dealer who became one of the youngest people to ever be on the FBI’s most wanted list. When rival, Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster) breaks into his home, Johnny kidnaps his brother, Zack in retaliation. What follows is the story of what happened over the next weekend, while Johnny’s boys held Zack hostage.

What I Thought: I went in not knowing what to expect. I knew the basics of the movie, but I didn’t know how the story ended or what would happen in between. But I really did like the movie. Hirsch and Foster do a fantastic job playing to old friends who’ve come to hate one another. And the extended cast of Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Harry Dean Stanton, and others all do a great job. But two actors really blow you away with their talent. The first was Anton Yelchin as Zack Mazursky, Yelchin gives an amazing performance as a sweet vulnerable kid who everyone can’t help but love. But I think the person who blew me away the most with their performance was Justin Timberlake. Here as the wise-cracking, right hand man, Frankie Ballenbacher, Timberlake proves that he’s got what it takes to not only act but as a comedian.

The Bottom Line: An enthralling story that will have you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Children of Men

What it’s about: The year is 2027 and every woman on Earth is infertile. The last person was born in 18 years before. Britain is one of the remaining countries of power and has started deporting everyone who is not a citizen. Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a former activist, is contacted to help smuggle a young woman out of the country, only Theo doesn’t know that the young woman is miraculously pregnant.

What I Thought: Two Words: Breathtakingly Amazing! I have to admit, after seeing the preview I had no interest to see this movie, but luckily my friend Jon told me to go see it, and I am so glad I did. This is another movie where I just don’t have the words to describe it.

The movie is set in a dreary, hopeless world, and Alfonso Cuaron does an amazing job of conveying that despair in the sets and the characters. But Cuaron’s real genius is shown in the filming of two scenes in the movie. Both scenes are seamlessly cut together so that they look like one long cut. I won’t ruin these scenes for anyone who hasn’t scene the movie, but I think you’ll know them when you see them.

The movie also does an amazing job of conveying the hope that one pregnant woman can bring to an infertile world.

My only word of advice is that the movie is fairly violent, so you’ve been warned.

The Bottom Line: The 2^nd of what is likely the two best movies I’ll see this year. It’s another movie with lots of great story and content and is so amazingly shot, you won’t forget the movie any time soon.

Babel

What it’s about: Because I don’t know how to describe it From IMDB.Com:

This is a complex tale of four interlocking stories. A poor Morrocan family acquires a rifle to protect their goats. An American couple's bus tour holiday is shattered when she is accidentally shot. That couple's children, at home in the USA with their nanny/housekeeper, accompany her to Mexico to attend her son's wedding. A Japanese father, whose wife has committed suicide some time ago, is unable to communicate with his teenage daughter. A tragic tale for all concerned.

What I Thought: A film that’s done amazingly well, but something that I can honestly saw had I not heard it was such a great film, I’d never have wanted to see. The entire movie is sad, depressing, and as it says above tragic.

And don’t get me started on the copious amounts of nudity. Had I been warned about the nudity I wouldn’t have seen it.

Truthfully I saw a better “Everyone’s connected in strange ways” movie last year. It was called “Crash” and won the Best Picture Oscar, something it deserved, unlike this film. Also I’ve seen the “Everyone’s Connected in Strange Ways” movie several times in the past few years it’s been called “Magnolia,” “11:14,” and several other titles. It seems to be the new trend in Hollywood, and to tell the truth it’s gotten out of hand.

Everyone isn’t always connected in some way, so stop trying to make them all connected, it’s been done.

The Bottom Line: A good movie, shot well, but nothing I can recommend because it’s so depressing and sad. Honestly, nothing I want to own or watch again.

Labels: Alpha Dog, Apocalypto, babel, Children of Men, Deja vu, Eragon, labyrinth, movies, new, pan's, reviews

The Best Movies of 2006!

Well I promised these would come soon so here they are, my best of 2006. I couldn't rank them numerically so I decided to hand out awards, which I have dubbed "The Tiddies" (Pronounced Tid - dee's), from my last name Tidmore, So without further ado, the award goes to....


Best Romance of the Year
The Holiday
This movie is the Best Romance for one reason and surprisingly it's not the beautiful Kate Winslet or Cameron Diaz, heck it's not even Jack Black, who shows he really can act, or Jude Law. No the best part of this movie is a 91 year old man named Eli Wallach. I'm not saying the rest of the movie isn't good, because it is, but Mr. Wallach pushes it over the top.

Best B Movie of the Year
Slither
I saw this movie twice this year in the theater and once on DVD. Slither is a throw back to the b horror movies on the 80s, its funny, with a good amount of jolts and gallons of over-the-top gore. James Gunn's directorial debut is more fun than it has any right to be, and Nathan Fillion is a big part of that. I met both Fillion and Gunn at the screening I went to in October and they were two very nice guys which makes watching this movie all the better.

Best Guilty Pleasure
Snakes on a Plane
What more can I saw about this movie that the Title doesn't say for me? There's Snakes and they are on a Plane.

Wildest Ride of the Year (Tie)
Crank & Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
This one is a tie, one is a 90 min non-stop thrill a minute ride the other a 2.5 hour Pirate Sequel with thrills on the high seas. Crank is on this list because it knows exactly what it is and doesn't try to be anything else, Crank is one impossible stunt after another, which is no surprise because the directors are to former stunt men, but there are some very cool things they do with various shots and effects. Pirates on the other hand, while not as good as the first movie, is a lot of fun, yes the villains are weird and not nearly as good as the cursed pirates of the first film, but the fights and action sequences made for a bloody good time, especially the Water Wheel fight sequence.

Best Animated Movie of the Year
Monster House
I can't say I saw every animated movie that came out this year, but of the ones I did see this was my favorite. Monster House was by animating actors who had worn motion capture suits. Then end result is a great, if slightly scary (especially for the younger crowd) movie which is both thrilling and funny.

Best “disappointment” of the Year
Lady in the Water
This movie was critically panned (I'm sure the fact that one character is both a movie critic and a jerk didn't help) and didn't seem to get much love from the movie going public either, but I loved it. I have to think that this is another case of bad marketing. Once again a studio chose to market a Shyamalan movie as a horror flick and once again it disappointed that target audience. I believe if they had chosen to market it as the weird Fairy Tale that it was it would have had a more positive reaction and as such the better word of mouth might have helped the boxoffice.

Most Painful to Watch
Borat
Borat was painful to watch in several different ways. First it was painful to see how unintelligent people in America can be, and I'm sure Baron Cohen encountered quite a few people that didn't make fools of themselves, but that doesn't make for a good movie. As a social commentary it is amazing, making you feel in turns ashamed and angry at how ignorant people can be. This movie was also painful to watch because there are several cringe inducing scenes that you want to turn away from, but just can't force yourself to do so. But the main reason this movie was painful was because it literally hurt to watch. I laughed so hard in several scenes that I ha a hard time breathing, and one scene had me laughing so hard I was literally choking. Simple put it was awful, disgusting, and hilarious.

Funniest Movie of the Year
Little Miss Sunshine
This one is a gem. The only thing bad I can say about this movie is the language. But if you can get past that you'll find a Hilariously heartwarming film. One minute it will have you crying with laughter the next it will have you crying because it's touched you. Everyone in this cast is phenomenal, but the two best are probably Abigail Breslin and Alan Arkin, whose chemistry as grandchild and grandfather is amazing.

Best Movie Going Experience of the Year
Superman Returns at Grauman’s Theater Opening Night
Alright, everyone knows I loved this movie, it was Superman for cry out loud, but the experience of standing in line for several hours on opening night at the Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood with thousands of other Superman fans, talking about comics, movies, televisions shows and any number of other topics is enough to put this experience at the top, but the simple fact that the director Bryan Singer was there and that, although I didn't get the chance to talk to him, he was inches away from me made this an amazing moment in my movie going history, and that's all before the movie even started! Hearing the cheers for the Spiderman 3 trailer, listening to the fans reactions to everything from the opening music to the standing ovation at the end of the movie made this movie more than just a movie, but as the name of this award suggests, an EXPERIENCE, and one that I'm proud to have been a part of.

Best Action Movie of the Year
Casino Royale
Daniel Craig is the new Bond and this is the way a Bond movie should be done, forget the naysayers that complain that, this being a prequel, there shouldn't be any cell phones, etc, because this isn't a prequel, it's a new beginning and a relaunch of the Bond franchise. And really is that a bad thing, there's not a lot of franchises that last 22 movie and span over 4 decades, so I welcome this "relaunch" and pray that they keep on this course. But Seriously in a year full of Action movies this one pulled ahead of the pack and lead with such ferocity that the others didn't stand a chance.

Best Movie of the Year: Runner-Up (Tie)
The Departed & Hollywoodland
Looking back I have to say that my favorite movies of the year are not what I though they'd be. I'm usually more of a Action or Comedy type guy but I'd classify all of the top 3 as Dramas. Although they couldn't be any different.
The Departed is a movie that I honestly had no desire in seeing. It was a Scorsese flick, and he does a good job, but I've never been a huge fan that had to run out and see his new movie, and honestly the preview looked to me like it gave away the entire movie, through in Leonardo and you've got a nice combination for a movie I didn't care about at all. But I kept hearing good things about it, so one day while Jeri was studying I went to see it, and a funny thing happened, I Loved It. Not only was it an enthralling plot, but the acting was magnificent. I didn't want it to end, and once again Leo proved why he's constantly employed, even if he was played out after Titanic, he truly is a gifted young man. But he's not the only one, everyone does a fantastic job in this movie, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson, every one of them is fantastic. All in all a great movie, but even better it was a great Film.
Hollywoodland is quite possibly the best performance of Ben Affleck's career, no I take that back it is no doubt the best of his carrier. Ben does a fantastic job of playing George Reeves, a man whose death is still considered a mystery and is the basis for this film. There's really nothing bad to say about this film, it has an amazing cast that includes big names like Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, and Bob Hoskins, but it also has some of my favorite smaller names such as Caroline Dhavernas and Kathleen Robertson. The story is wonderful and doesn't try to shove one theory down your throat. Unfortunately I fear it won't get the recognition it deserves come award season.

Best Movie Of The Year

The Prestige

This is my favorite movie of the year. I have been waiting on this one since before last Christmas. Back then all I knew was that it was directed by Christopher Nolan (he of Batman Begins and Memento Fame) and starred Batman (Christian Bale) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) as dueling magicians. Then I got the novel for Christmas and read it in 3 days. The book was fantastic, but I was unsure how'd they take so much material and fit it onto the screen. But Nolan along with his brother Jonathan adapted the book in a fantastic way, changing a lot of the details and dropping one major subplot and making the material their own. The book and the film are completely different entities and I have to say I think I may have loved the movie even more than the book. Jackman and Bale do fantastic jobs bringing the characters to life and filling the screen with their presence. Scarlet Johansson is wonderful as the girl torn between the two men, but David Bowie steals the show as Nikola Tesla, the master of lightning whose own feud with Thomas Edison parallels the main story, but enough to distract us. The mystery of what has happened and the very creative way in which the Nolans have twisted the timeline so that we only see what they want us to see is until it's time for the final reveal is astonishing. In fact, as I said I'd read the book and it took my over halfway through the film to figure out what was going to happen (apparently I had forgotten) All in all my favorite of the year, and one that should win many awards come Oscar Season, but probably won't since some will see it as a "genre" film, which is to bad, because if more movies were as delightful as this one, there might be more people going to the movies these days.

There you go the Tiddies! If you or someone you know worked on one of these Award Winning films and would like to pick up the statue for the cast and crew please contact me so we can get it out to you. I hope everyone enjoyed the Awards show this year, even if we ran a little long and we look forward to seeing you next year.*

*The Tiddies are not real awards and no statue will actually be given out, because one doesn't exist, but you should feel honored anyway because I said so.

Labels: 2006, best of, best of 2006, favorites, list, movie, movies