The Movie-List Videos section is now open.

It will feature trailers that aren’t available in Quicktime, are no longer online, and Fanmade Trailers.

It’s fully integrated with the forum and this blog… no need for multiple registrations…. one will do.

http://videos.movie-list.com

The new Cloverfield (yes… the title is confirmed as well) has arrived.

http://www.movie-list.com/trailers.php?id=11808

We’ve added a new feature to the site… The Movie-List Player.

If you have a website or blog, and would like to stream new trailers for your visitors, then this is for you.

Just copy the code where you want the player to show, and you’re done.
New trailers are added daily.

You can also customize some of the options including the size of the player.

Check it out

PRIZE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICS (FIPRESCI PRIZE)

The Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) is awarded to Rodrigo Pla’s LA ZONA. This prize is annually bestowed upon a feature film directed by an emerging filmmaker, and making its world premiere at the Festival. The Festival welcomed an international FIPRESCI jury for the 16th consecutive year. The 2007 jury consists of jury president Gregory Valens (France), Pamela Bi�nzobas (Chile), Scott Foundas (USA), and Katherine Monk (Canada).

CADILLAC PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

The Cadillac People’s Choice Award is voted on by Festival audiences. This year�s award goes to David Cronenberg’s EASTERN PROMISES. Cronenberg reunites with his A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE leading man Viggo Mortensen for a new thriller. EASTERN PROMISES follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai (Mortensen), a Russian gangster tied to one of London�s most notorious organized crime families. His carefully maintained existence is shaken when he crosses paths with Anna (Naomi Watts), an innocent midwife who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family. First runner-up is Jason Reitman’s JUNO and the second runner up is Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro’s BODY OF WAR. The award offers a $15,000 cash prize and custom award, sponsored by Cadillac. The Cadillac People’s Choice award was presented by Norm Sawula, Cadillac Marketing Manager.

The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (dir. Andrew Dominik): Seeing No Country For Old Men early in the day - and admiring the way that it kept moving forward with nary a wasted shot or scene - may have fed some of my occasional impatience with Jesse James, which is languorous by design. In delineating the intertwined fates of an outlaw and his assassin, Dominik doesn’t always choose wisely between what’s important to show and what’s not. Partly that’s due to the mood he’s trying to strike: an immersive old west experience that includes all the idle conversations along with the gunfights. Westerns of the past 40 years tend to be either “ratty hat” (revisionist and dirty) or “natty hat” (iconic and pristine). Jesse James tries to be a little bit of both, and as a result it doesn’t feel stock or familiar. It’s a movie to get lost in, even when the movie gets a little lost itself. (B).

See the Trailer

Source: A.V. Club

Saturday night marked my first film of the 2007 TIFF, the world premiere of the offbeat dramedy Juno from director Jason Reitman. Playing to a packed crowd at the Ryerson theater, I knew it was going to be one of those nights when I found myself walking in alongside Jason’s dad (and Hollywood heavy) Ivan Reitman.

I’ve gotta say, in settings like this, it’s got to be nice to be a famous director. While the majority of people may know and love your work, not as many are necessarily familiar with what you look like, so you can walk around relatively unnoticed.

Which was most definitely not the case when another kind of Hollywood royalty entered the building.

A few minutes before the screening began, the crowd started buzzing - more so than usual. When my girlfriend and I turned around to see what all the fuss was about, none other than Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were being escorted down the aisle (Jen’s a principle actor in Juno).

Turns out, their handlers had mistakenly brought the famous couple in the wrong entrance, and now they had to be paraded in front of the entire theater to get to their seats. “This is a disaster,” Jen whispered to Ben as they passed right by us in the front. (I was surprised to see that Jen, who’s never been a favorite of mine, is actually quite pretty in person).

“Affleck, you were the bomb in Phantoms,” somebody shouted. Dammit, why didn’t I think of that first?

Once everything settled down, Juno was actually quite good. Reitman’s follow-up to 2005’s Thank You for Smoking, it focuses on the titular teenager (Ellen Page of Hard Candy fame) who unwittingly gets pregnant by her friend Paulie Bleeker (Superbad’s Michael Cera). But when Juno can’t stomach an abortion, she decides to go through with the pregnancy and give the tyke up for adoption. Enter the aforementioned Jennifer Garner who, along with Arrested Development alum Jason Bateman, make up the yuppie couple who’ll be adopting Juno’s baby.

Much like Reitman’s last flick, Juno is heavy on style, a slick and witty piece of filmmaking. You’re going to hear “the next Little Miss Sunshine” claims bandied about a lot in the coming months, but in truth, they don’t have much in common other than that they’re both funny, and they’re both very good.

The honest family drama and clever dialogue actually makes Juno more reminiscent of some of Wes Anderson’s earlier work, most notably the underrated Bottle Rocket - the hipster soundtrack, heavy on the Belle and Sebastian, doesn’t hurt either.

But Reitman’s style is far more busy and manic than anything Anderson’s done… not that that’s a bad thing. Diablo Cody’s script is handled ably by Juno’s stellar cast, and The Office’s Rainn Wilson makes a hilarious cameo in the opening scene that sets the tone from there on out.

Allison Janney is absolutely amazing as Juno’s stepmother, pairing with an always-great J.K. Simmons (Spiderman, Thank You for Smoking) in one of the first roles I’ve seen him in when he’s not forced to scream at the top of his lungs. And Michael Cera actually wasn’t in the movie as much as I had expected, but got by far the loudest applause of the bunch (what can I say? people love this guy).

Be on the lookout for Juno when it hits theaters in December, and keep an eye on Jason Reitman’s career, because this is one Hollywood brat that’s definitely going places.

Source: TunaFlix

Movie Of The Day: My Kid Could Paint That (dir. Amir Bar-Lev)A non-critic friend of mine once gave me a good standard for judging documentaries: If reading a description of the movie tells you just as much as watching it will, then maybe it’s not a very good documentary. For about the first 30 minutes, My Kid Could Paint That seems bound to fail that test. Even though director Bar-Lev elaborates on the comically brief biography of 4-year-old abstract art superstar Marla Olmstead with mini-histories of modern art and child prodigies, the relevance of Marla’s rise to success - from a coffeehouse show to NYC galleries - seems at first a little too mapped-out. Just your basic chin-stroker about what the art world fervor over a kid painter says about the validity of modern art, and so forth.

But right around the time Marla turns 5, the story starts to evolve, keyed by a 60 Minutes report that fuels speculation about whether the kindergartner had some outside help with her masterpieces. In an instant, My Kid Could Paint That transforms into a multi-level study of what original creation means, how parents handle gifted children, the cruel voraciousness of the media, and what responsibility documentarians have to the people who allow them into their homes. The implications of all of these questions become cumulatively unnerving, whether you’re a parent, a journalist or an art-lover. (Or in my case, all three.) By the end, Bar-Lev starts crossing the line from passive observer to investigator, culminating in a direct confrontation with the Olmstead family that almost single-handedly raises My Kid Could Paint That from not-bad to great. (A-)

See the Trailer

Source: A.V. Club

The Orphanage (dir. J.A. Bayona): Bayona and screenwriter Sergio Sanchez deliver a legitimately chilling ghost story, set in a beachfront Spanish mansion that was once an orphanage - and that a young couple and their imaginative adopted son are looking to turn into a boarding school. The Orphanage sags a little at times, mainly because the filmmakers over-explain the premise, and the film suffers -albeit slightly- from some familiar horror movie gimmicks, including the well-worn “kid who sees things that others don’t” bit. But the story is rich and involving, the creep-outs are skin-crawlingly effective, and the ending is pretty devastating. Guillermo Del Toro produced, and his gothic Spanish flavor abounds.(B+)

See the Trailer

Lust, Caution (dir. Ang Lee): This WWII-era espionage drama puts everything it’s supposed to on the screen, from the mixed emotions that Chinese resistance agent Tang Wei feels for her brutish lover Tony Leung (a collaborator with the Japanese) to the westernized milieu that makes `40s Hong Kong and Shanghai such a strange place to be. Lust, Caution’s images are sumptuous, its performances strong, and its plot points carefully strung. And yet the movie just kind of lays there, sucked-dry in ways that are hard to account for. This is a smart movie, but not an especially emotional one. Even the already notorious explicit sex scenes feel more calculated than organic. Call this one a noble misfire from a usually reliable auteur - though I wouldn’t be surprised if some people really go for it.(B-)

See the Trailer

Source: A.V. Club

No Country for Old Men (Coen Bros, USA)
I usually don’t see films I know will be opening widely in Columbus, but I couldn’t resist seeing this one, with the rave reviews it has been receiving. I’m not sure I have much to add to the accolades the film has already garnered, but Javier Bardem is quite possibly the best heavy in a film in the past ten years and brings to mind Jack Palance in Shane. The story? A man stumbles on a drug deal gone bad, finds a suitcase stuffed with cash, and spends the rest of the film in a battle of wits with the killing machine on his trail. I would be shocked if Bardem isn’t one of the nominees for best supporting actor at next year’s Oscars. Tommy Lee Jones and Woody Harrelson also appear, and it’s based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy (with a Coen bros. twist). (Celebrity sighting: Michael Moore was escorted/inserted in line right in front of me as the line for the screening was about as long as they get. He was very nice and almost apologetic for the VIP treatment and chatted with all around him.)

Source: WexBlog

No Country For Old Men (dir. Joel & Ethan Coen): I actually liked Intolerable Cruelty and thought The Ladykillers had its redeeming qualities, but neither film felt completely on-point. Taking a few years off seems to have done the Coen brothers a world of good. Here, the familiar Coen signifiers are well-deployed, from the seedy motels to the barren landscapes to the slow dollies in to people not quite able to sleep. But No Country For Old Men is also graver than any other Coen brothers movie, despite their trademark deadpan humor and flavorful dialogue (a lot of which is lifted from Cormac McCarthy’s novel). The theme of unstoppable evil and the lengths we’ll go to avoid confronting it seems to have provoked a steely purpose from our Coens. No Country is quiet for long stretches, and the story perversely withholds some major characters (and the stars who play them) until they’re absolutely needed; but nothing about the movie is in the least saggy or superfluous. It’s a fine-tuned anxiety-delivery device, with a menacing jack-in-the box lurking inside.(A)

Source: A.V. Club

See the Trailer

It’s not as good as the Comic-Con one, but it has most of the same footage with a couple of new scenes.

Plus it’s available in Hi Def Quicktime!

http://www.movie-list.com/trailers.php?id=ironman

After trying out numerous ways to integrate movie posters onto the side.. we decided to go with a right-sided panel that also includes the release dates, official website(s) and link to imdb.

I think it looks quite spiffy. Check it out.

http://www.movie-list.com/trailers.php?id=300

I just happened to run across this today and it excited me. Not like, “holy shit! the Iron Man trailer is online!” -excited… but like… “i heard from someone who heard that the Iron Man trailer might come online sometime this week” -excited.

Anyhoo… Yeah. A Magazine called Fade In made a list of the 100 Coolest Film Sites on the Internet, and we’re on it. The reason I was only kind-of excited was a) I’ve never heard of Fade In… and b) There’s 100 sites on there.

But then I looked closer. Hang on a second… there’s quite a few big sites missing from that list. I won’t name them, because that excites me more. I guess it shouldn’t. A list of 100 sites and some obvious ones are missing? But it does… I look at it more like, A list of 100 sites that we’re on and those other guys didn’t make it! That’s the type of thing that doesn’t happen very often. So now I’m more excited.

Fuck Iron Man. This will hold me off for another day.

Here’s the link.

http://www.fadeinonline.com/the_lists/cool_sites.html

Check it out. And tell all of your friends. And they’re parents.

The Iron Man Comic-Con footage is some of the most exciting stuff I have seen in a long time.

We know it won’t be released in theatres (it’s too long), and the odds of it ending up on DVD are not good (besides… we’d have to wait almost 2 years for that).

So the last, and best option is, get that damn thing online! Put it on the Iron Man website… put it on Yahoo… put it on Apple. I really don’t care. As long as it’s in Quicktime and in High Def.

In the meantime, for us fans who didn’t get to see it, here’s the only available version.

Read the rest of this entry »

Who in the hell thought this was a good idea?

Let’s take a cartoon… make it live action… make the normally child sized Chipmunks into real size, real looking Chipmunks… and wait… let’s make them Gangsta!

Hallelujah! We have a hit on our hands.

But then again, I thought Garfield looked incredibly creepy and sad… and they made a sequel out of that train wreck.

Maybe I just don’t understand kids today.  They’re making a Bratz live action movie with 4 — is it 4? 5? Who the hell cares? — unknowns in the lead. A live action movie based on a doll, based on a cartoon. Or maybe it’s a cartoon based on a doll? Whatever.

If they’re going to remake all the cartoons I used to like… can’t they at least make them animated? The Simpsons Movie comes out today. They didn’t feel the need to make that live action. We’ll see on Monday if the gamble pays off.

Anyways… if you haven’t yet, check out the trailer for this monstrosity.  If you’re over say… 10, keep a bucket handy.

Movie-List - Alvin and the Chipmunks

It’s been a while since we tinkered with the forum, and last night I got really sick of the old layout, so… voila! A new sleek look. There may still be some bugs around (missing images, etc.) so if you find any, let me know. And enjoy!

I was never a big fan of flash trailers. They didn’t look as good as Quicktime, and were usually impossible to save. But I have to admit that the quality has gotten better and with the majority of people having some form of high speed internet, I find I don’t fill my hard-drive with trailers anymore. It’s just easier to stream now.

As a sort of test case, we’ve added the trailer for Trick ‘r Treat in a streaming flash format. It wasn’t planned really, it was just the only format available. So rather than not list it, and wait for a Quicktime version to show up, we decided to post it and see what happened. So far, we haven’t gotten any angry letters.

If things go well, we may add more flash versions (when no Quicktime is available of course).

Let us know what you think.

We haven’t really done anything with the blog since the last TO Film fest, so I thought it was time to dust her off and active again.

In the near future, you’ll be able to read about changes and new features to the site, and we’ll also be asking your opinion about what you like, don’t like and what would make your visit a more enjoyable one.

We’ll also be covering the 2007 film fest in September, so that will be here too.

For now, get yourself registered so you can stay informed and send us your feedback.

JP

The Fountain

JP:
Paul: *

* Paul keeps flip-flopping on his rating. (4… 4 1/2… 4…) Needs to see it again.

Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.

Being huge fans of Requiem For A Dream, we were highly anticipating this film.
This is a one-of-a-kind experience that you just will not be able to define.
See it on the big screen… it is visually stunning.
Hugh Jackman gives a gut-wrenching, impressive emotional performance.
Audiences will be split by the film. You’ll either love it or hate it.
It is not a mainstream film but an art film.
We talked about it for a long time trying to piece it together and decipher all of it. It is left very vague as to what actually happens to the characters… What is real? What is not?
Awesome score by Clint Mansell, Kronos Quartet and Mogwai.
Finally, the best thing I can say about it is, I already want to see it again.

Read the rest of this entry »

Trapped Ashes

JP:
Paul:

A complete failure on all fronts. Shit acting, shit story, shit production values, shit, shit, shit. Extremely dull too… we strained to stay awake. Comparing it to a B-movie is unkind to B-movies.
You know what sucks, watching a movie this shit while sitting behind the writer of it — just makes you feel bad.

P.S. The best part of the film was when they had to stop the film to fix the projector.
Look for it on TV at 3 or 4 in the morning.

This Is England

JP:
Paul:

Based on childhood experiences of director Shane Meadows and the lead actor, Joseph Gilgun, the story follows a group of skinheads in the 1980’s.

The film felt very real, almost documentary-like (as if we are just following people around).
Great performances all around.

Joseph Gilgun playing the young boy looking for a father figure was outstanding.
It was nice to see a movie about skinheads that included non-racists skinheads (the original, true skinheads).
It balanced comedy and drama very well. It was as funny as it was ’scary’.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dog Problem

JP:
Paul:

The second movie directed by Scott Caan (his first was Dallas 362 which we very much enjoyed), we really looked forward to this one. Giovanni Ribisi and Scott Caan (together and seperately) pull off their roles and click together. Funny and amusing script. Jimmy the Dog stole the show. He was amazing. Best dog ever.
We had a few problems with some elements of the script such as some of the dialogue felt unnatural and forced, and a couple of characters (Mena Suvari and Keving Corrigan) were underwritten or included solely to spout “cool” offbeat dialogue.
Look for the scene with “the Dog” ‘walking through L.A.’.
In the end it bring nothing new to the table, but it’s enjoyable enough as a fun coming-of-age Comedy. Take a date.
Seek out Caan’s first film Dallas 362 first. It’s a lot better.

Little Children

JP:
Paul:

JP’s favorite of the festival (so far).
Kate Winslet is fantastic as a bored suburban housewife falling for Patrick Wilson a fellow stay-at-homer. As they take their kids to the local parks and pools, the two build a relationship to the point of having an affair. The film explores why and what is lacking from their lives.
Jennifer Connely stars in a throw-away role as Brad’s (Patrick Wilson) wife. Largely underused.
Jackie Earle Haley who plays Ronald James McGorvey, the local sex offender is fabulous. He may or may not like hearing it, but he is completely believable from beginning to end.
The film is narrated (a lot like Dogville was) adding a dry sense of humour to the “goings-on”. This may turn off some viewers. JP thought it worked, Paul didn’t like it as much.
Paul felt it was just another “bored suburbanites having affairs to fill there lives”. Even though it’s very well done, it suffers from having seen it a million times before.

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