This is my third year down in Austin for the South by Southwest film festival, and I think that I’ve finally figured out the science to covering the event all on my lonesome. Instead of past years, where I’ve done a mix of both full-length and shorter movie reviews, this time around, I’m going to be doing daily blogs with even shorter, capsule-style reviews of the films that I saw the previous day. I’m hoping this will make me more productive than usual, but as my schedule is constantly in flux, please bear with me. And if you can’t wait for my daily posts, be sure to follow me on Twitter @JasonZingale for more.
Category: Entertainment (Page 238 of 277)
This is my third year down in Austin for the South by Southwest film festival, and I think that I’ve finally figured out the science to covering the event all on my lonesome. Instead of past years, where I’ve done a mix of both full-length and shorter movie reviews, this time around, I’m going to be doing daily blogs with even shorter, capsule-style reviews of the films that I saw the previous day. I’m hoping this will make me more productive than usual, but as my schedule is constantly in flux, please bear with me. And if you can’t wait for my daily posts, be sure to follow me on Twitter @JasonZingale for more.
“The Cabin in the Woods”
Leave it to Joss Whedon to take the horror genre and turn it on its head. Though it appears to be nothing more than a typical slasher flick at first sight, “The Cabin in the Woods” (which was directed by Drew Goddard and co-written with Whedon) is an entertaining and completely original genre hybrid film that has more than a few tricks up its sleeve. The setup is simple: five friends head to a cabin located in the middle of nowhere for a weekend of fun, only to find themselves fighting for their lives when they accidentally resurrect a family of killer rednecks from the dead. Of course, there’s much more to the story than that, as the audience learns very early on that there’s a third party behind all the death and destruction. It’s an excellent twist on a tired genre, with Whedon and Goddard’s script not only defying convention on several occasions, but also lightening the mood with deft strokes of humor. Though the film features Chris Hemsworth in a role that precedes his “Thor” days, the real stars are Fran Kranz (from Whedon’s short-lived “Dollhouse”) as the pot-smoking comic relief, and Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford as the men orchestrating all the mayhem. It goes a bit off the rails in the final act, but for a movie this ambitious, sometimes it takes that kind of risk to yield such a refreshing reward.
“The Babymakers”
It may not be an official Broken Lizard movie in theory, but that’s not going to stop some people from comparing “The Babymakers” to the group’s other films, mainly because it was directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and features him and fellow member Kevin Heffernan in supporting roles. But while it definitely shares the group’s brand of goofball humor, “The Babymakers” feels like a cheap imitation without the other Lizards. Fortunately, it still has its share of funny moments thanks to Paul Schneider, who delivers a wonderfully dry performance as a man so desperate to impregnate his wife (Olivia Munn) that he plots to steal the last vial of sperm he donated years before after learning that his current count is too low for conception. Much like fellow “Parks and Rec” alumnus Adam Scott, Schneider has been on the verge of a big breakout for years, and “The Babymakers” proves that he’s a more than capable comedic lead. Munn is better than usual, but she’s definitely not leading lady material, while the rest of the cast fails to do much with a script that goes for the easy joke far too often. And that’s a shame, because with a sharper script and better execution, “The Babymakers” could have been the perfect Broken Lizard vehicle.
God, I miss television. You’d think that, as the writer of a weekly TV column, I’d have all the time in the world to just kick back and watch the boob tube to my heart’s content, but that’s never quite how it seems to work out. Indeed, if anything, I watch less TV now that I’ve got my own TV column that I ever did before I got the column. There just aren’t enough hours in the day anymore to indulge in all of the small-screen scrumptiousness that I’d like…and, unfortunately, that also includes the wide variety of TV-DVDs that I get in to review. This seemed like as a good a time as any, then, to take a quick look at some of the more interesting sets that I’ve had piling up around my desk recently. It’s a pretty diverse bunch, to be sure, but since when is there anything wrong with a bit of variety?
Borgia: Season One: No, not “The Borgias,” although the subject matter is quite obviously similar. This is actually a series by Tom Fontana, best known for his work on such TV classics as St. Elsewhere, Homicide, and Oz, done for the French network Canal+ in 2011. Although it’s only just now come to DVD, Netflix subscribers actually had the option to enjoy the series online starting late last year. If you enjoy a good historical drama, this’ll do the trick nicely.
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father: The Complete First Season: “People, let me tell ya ’bout my best friend…” So went the opening lines of Harry Nilsson’s classic theme song, which I can still sing in its entirety when pressed. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s held up 100% from its original late ’60s / early ’70s run, but Bill Bixby is one of those guys who I always wanted to be my uncle, he was always so darned affable onscreen, and as an adult I can definitely appreciate his storylines far better than I could back when I was still part of the under-10 set. (I was obviously far more partial to Brandon Cruz’s work at the time I originally watched it.)
If you’re wondering why there wasn’t a column last week, it’s pretty simple – there really weren’t any movie or TV-related Blu-rays worth talking about except for “Hugo,” and if you want to hear my thoughts on that film, you can just read my review here. Fortunately, this week is the complete opposite, with so many titles to choose from that I didn’t have the time to cover them all. While one could argue that it might have made more sense devoting a spot to a movie that actually deserved the attention instead of “Jack and Jill” (like, say, “The Deer Hunter” or Alfred Hitchcock’s “To Catch a Thief”), I simply couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to talk about Adam Sandler’s latest cinematic catastrophe.
“Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season”
Forget about “Boardwalk Empire” or “Luck,” because “Game of Thrones” is hands down HBO’s best new series. Based on George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels, “Game of Thrones” is exactly the kind of fantasy epic that you’d never expect to see produced on this scale for television. The scope of the series is massive (from its large cast of characters, to its gorgeous landscapes, to its incredibly detailed production design) and the acting is all top-notch as well, particularly screen veteran Sean Bean as Eddard Stark, newcomer Kit Harington as Ned’s bastard son Jon Snow, and Peter Dinklage in his Emmy and Golden Globe-winning role as the perpetually entertaining Tyrion Lannister. The show has it all – drama, comedy, action, suspense – and the fact that it’s so faithfully adapted from Martin’s source material is just the cherry on top of what is an already very delicious fantasy sundae. The only thing negative to say about “Game of Thrones” is that the first season is only comprised of 10 episodes, because you can never have too much of a show this good.
Blu-ray Highlight: When all is said and done, HBO’s Season One release of “Game of Thrones” will be remembered as one of the best Blu-rays of the year. There’s so much great bonus material packed onto the five-disc set that it’s hard to choose just one highlight, but despite the inclusion of seven audio commentaries, a 30-minute making-of featurette, and an interactive encyclopedia about George R.R. Martin’s expansive world, there’s one extra that goes above and beyond the rest. “Anatomy of an Episode” is an in-depth look at the making of Episode Six (“A Golden Crown”) that features cast and crew interviews and behind-the-scenes footage detailing the various aspects of virtually every sequence in the episode as it plays in the bottom corner of your screen.
Always wanted to have Peter Griffin’s voluptuous form? Stewie’s diminutive outline? Now you can. “Family Guy” fans everywhere can give themselves the full Quahog treatment with the new “Family Guyzer” application, which converts users’ digital photos into their own freakin’ sweet “Family Guy” characters. All you have to do is upload a picture, choose which Griffin family member you want to be most like, answer a couple of questions about your appearance and click the button.
Once you’re been “Family Guyzed,” you can then share your unique character on Facebook and even play as your 3-D avatar in Fox’s free-to-play, browser-based “Family Guy Online” MMO launching this spring. Granted, we didn’t have very much luck getting the application to work at first, but that’s because we tried using a photo from our webcam as opposed to one taken with, you know, an actual camera.
Check out the trailer for the app below and then visit the official site to give it a whirl.
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