Stop Vin, please.

Remember when you saw “Boiler Room” and “Saving Private Ryan” and you though Vin Diesel was a pretty good actor? Then he decided not to be. From “The Fast and Furious” to “The Pacifier” Vin’s done all he can to  make us forget those early returns. Well somehow I missed out on the news that he and fellow mediocre “actor” Paul Walker were returning to make “Fast and Furious”, see what they did there? Drop the “The” and ready made sequel. Yes after Vinless “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “Tokyo Drift” the magic is back! And by “magic” I mean “ablity to tell the same story, show some cars and suck”

The story has Vin and Paul teaming up with the Feds to take down som heroin dealers blah, blah, blah, and probably fighting freedom haters everywhere.  PT Anderson has to find funding for “There Will Be Blood” but we’re throwing money at another FF flick? Nice. Does this mean Vin will be returning for another stab at the “XXX” franchise? I can only hope.

MicroWii

So for no particular reason, I nerd out and watch all two hours of Microsoft’s E3 press event, where they heralded the new and bestest home entertainment they’ll be offering through the X-Box 360.  I’m not a true console war type fanboy. I always enjoyed my SNES and Playstation 1 and 2,  even owned a Gamecube. (Hey it had Zelda.) But I kinda lost time, intrest, whatever until I was gifted (just like Jesus) last Christmas with a Wii.

Now there seems to be some internet hate that the Wii is only outselling everything because it doesn’t support hardcore gamers, its too popular soccer moms like it etc. Well hardcore gaming to me is a little old school. Mario, Zelda, hours with Metroid. To some it seems its blowing stuff up real pretty like on the X-Box 360. Well I would think the alleged “hardcore” are in denial mode now. After about 10 minutes or so of “hardcore” support, Microsoft’s E3 event went all “Hey, we like family stuff too!” Buzz words/phrases like “Everyone can play”, “fun for families” and “game night” were tossed around by everyone presenting. Avatars (hip Miis) and a redesigned “friendlier” X-Box dashboard? A game that puts “you in the movies”? Really just say you wanna be a Wii that you can also kill people on FPS style and get it over with.

Again, not hating, I credit X-Box for recognizing a demand and trying to cater to its needs. And the Netflix/X-Box partnership seems like its gonna be all kinds of cool. But I don’t wanna see anymore “Wii is a fad ” talk from microsoft peeps again in interviews.

BLTN: Eastern Promises

(Better Late Than Never), in which I’ve had to wait to watch a flick because of limited funds, time, lack of a theatre showing a small film, etc. My job affords me the ablity to watch movies for free once they hit the pay channels (HBO, Cinemax, etc.), and no I don’t work in a video store…………….although I indeed once did. So there are times when the wallet dictates I wait, so is my first viewing of David Cronenberg’s “Eastern Promises”

There are directors that most, if not all, film geeks can acknowledge as “masters” Kurwosawa, Welles, Chaplin, Hithcock, modern ones like Scorsese, Altman, etc. Then there are the cool, “fringe” guys that they fight over whose better, Lynch, Cronenberg, Fitcher, Aronofsky. I personally would watch Lynch and Aronofsky over Cronenberg, but still after his work in “History of Violence” I was more than willing to check out Viggo “I’m more than LOTR Fanboy!” Mortenson and another blonde, this time Naomi Watts, twist in Cronenbergs world. Watts is a midwife who becomes involved with Viggo’s Russian mob family ties after a 14 year old Russian prostitute dies giving birth, leaving behind a diary full of nasty secrets. So, you’ve got your sure fire summertime feel good hit right there……….

Cronenberg’s world is dark and dirty, as the Russian mob should be I assume, the violence is of course, graphic but not gratutious in any way. Cronenberg just wants you to know this is murder, this is mob “justice”, this is the life these people have chosen.  All involved are great, Viggo is convincing, Watts plays her part well and Armin Mueller-Stahl shines as the head of the family. There are secrets reveled of course, the big “twist”,once revelved, is one that I should’ve seen coming, but didn’t. Really, not a whole lot “happens”, it doesn’t wander aimlessly, and there is a story, but its fairly simple………..and I wanted to see it again right after watching it.

I enjoyed “Eastern Promises” more than “History of Violence”, but the two together would make a great double feature.  “Not a watch with mom” kinda double feature mind you. Unless your mom likes sad Ukranian hookers getting it from behind by a tattoed Russian mob enforcer after watching the same actor bed his wife in their country house while she wears a cheerleader outfit in the film before. Which if your mom likes that kinda thing, good on ya mate.

Vertigo at the Tennessee

I was able to escape the heat, the humidity, celebrity news and commercials for “Wanted” this weekend in the cool, beautifully restored Tennessee Theatre to take in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo”. I’ve seen “Vertigo” who knows how many times, and I always see something new, something I’ve never noticed before. Its a film that I liked the first time I saw it, and have grown to love. As perfect a film about obssesion that could ever be, it’d be easy to become obssessed with in and of itself. Wanna nice obssession-themed double feature. Watch “Vertigo” back to back with “Raging Bull”. Good times.

One of the great things about watching an old movie at the Tennessee is the crowd isn’t the normal mix of film watchers and “hey, aren’t I at home? Good, I’ll talk on my phone and ask questions about the movie and make everyone around my miserable.” that you would find at the ole’ multiplex. At least it never was before. Usually you can bet on a mix of film geeks and their friends and older people, which is what appeared to be in line for “Vertigo”. No such luck. People were conversing with one another, on phones, and laughing at points that no sane person would. Hitcock flicks are full of dark and sometimes even silly humor, but Jimmy Stewart begging Kim Novack to change her hair color because “It can’t matter to you Judy!” isn’t one of them.  Maybe people thought since it was an old movie it didn’t matter, I dunno. Even with all the talking, laughing, and even a Kim Novack directed catcall, it was worth not watching on DVD again for two reasons. One: My living room is not nearly as nice or ornate as the Tennessee Theatre, and Two: My living room doesn’t have a guy that rises out of the floor playing a Wurlitzer organ before the movie starts.