The Must-See's of the 2015 Logan Film Festival

The 4th Annual Logan Film Festival is this weekend (Sept 11-12). Below are the films that I deem as "must-see" films.

White Waves
Friday, September 11, 7:00 pm
Lyric Theatre, 28 West Center Street

Our 1/4 Life Crisis

Friday, September 11, 10:30 pm

Dansante Theatre, 58 South 100 West

Relic

Saturday, September 12, 11:00 am

Dansante Theatre, 58 South 100 West

A Teenage Drama
Saturday, September 12, 2:30 pm

Dansante Theatre, 58 South 100 West

Prophet's Prey

Saturday, September 12, 4:00 pm

Lyric Theatre, 28 West Center Street

The Red Thunder
Saturday, September 12, 5:00 PM

Dansante Theatre, 58 South 100 West

In Football We Trust

Saturday, September 12, 7:00 pm

Lyric Theatre, 28 West Center Street

Matinee - It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

Joe Dante's Matinee is definitely one of my desert island, all-time, top-five, favorite movies. I just read Roger Ebert's review of the movie, and he completely captures not just the magic of the film, but the magic of film, for me, going to the movies in a small Wyoming town that had just one, single-screen movie theater -- left over from the 1920s.

"They say if you go to the movies long enough you will finally see yourself on the screen. I had that experience during "Matinee," because in many ways I was just like that kid Gene. At the age of 12, I was fascinated by science fiction, baffled by girls, and starstruck by show business."
-Roger Ebert | January 29, 1993 | 3.5/4 Stars

Where Are You On Cap's To-Do List?

NOTE: This is from the North American version of the theatrical release. There is a difference for other distributions.

Dissecting the New Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer: Ronan, Nova Corps, Carol Danvers, and Thanos' Ship

While I haven't been closely following who has been cast in which roles for MARVEL's next sure-to-be box office smash Guardians of the Galaxy,  I did see quite a bit in the newest trailer that I wasn't expecting. Below I speculate on a handful of frames from the footage.

Ronan The Accuser

Ronan is the Galactic Judge/Enforcer of the Kree Empire, an alien race who is constantly warring with the Skrulls. Take note that Nebula (played by Karen Gillen) hands Ronan his Universal Weapon* which can "disintegrate/transmute/rearrange matter, absorb/project energy blasts, create 'time-motion displacement fields', and achieve interstellar teleportation." *http://marvel.com/universe/Ronan 

Nova Corps / Carol Danvers

This is pretty cut and dry as far as the Nova Corps goes, no surprises here. However, I believe that the woman standing behind Officer Rhomann Dey (played by John C. Reilly) is Carol Danvers, the former Ms. Marvel, aka the current Captain Marvel. My speculation is based on the Captain Stripes on her left label, as is matched by same stripes in the comic panel shown above. Additionally, as focus is made on making sure efforts align in both the comic and movie realms of the Marvel Universe, Carol Danvers is already slated to be teaming up for cosmic adventures with the Guardians in the comics.

Thanos' Ship

This frame comes from the end of the trailer and shows the Guardians in a space ship coming upon... well... this... space... skull...  thing... Again, this is just my speculation, but the space-skull-thing from the trailer is very similar to the ship Thanos piloted in the 1998 Silver Surfer animated series (seen on the right).


With all of this said and done, I need to go take a cold shower... or I might end up in the hospital... I'll let you know in 3-4 hours.

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Trent Hunsaker is the owner/operator of Death Ray Comics
Follow him on Twitter: @apartofhim

The Lifeguard | Rating/Review

The Lifeguard

Director: Liz W. Garcia
Writer: Liz W. Garcia
Stars: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr |

A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager.

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Although I didn't feel the plot's outcome was... well... the right fit for the story, Kristen Bell, Martin Starr and Mamie Gummer flex some serious acting muscle. They nailed their roles. (And why hasn't Martin Starr won a major award yet? Seriously folks, this is Haverchuck we're talking about here!)

While I was shaking my head near the end of the film, it did move me to a response -- albeit frustration -- evoking emotion, the task of art: to pull us out of the apathetic doldrums of everyday life.

Interesting to note that while busheling only 4.4/10 stars on Rotten Tomatoes, it's carrying 3.5/5 stars on NETFLIX.

Trent's Rating: 3.5/4 ATOMIC BETA MeV's

Kevin Smith's TUSK: A Prequel to The Big Lebowski?

For years to come, cinematic scholars and graduate students alike will argue about the subject of Kevin Smith's TUSK as a twisted prequel to The Big Lebowski.

Was Donny's continual repetition of "I Am The Walrus" just a mis-interpretation of the famed Beatles song, or is it really a subtle confession of a past too horrid to tell...?

via @ThatKevinSmith http://instagram.com/p/g0LNraRyzE/

Song to Opening Credits

Just like every other "writer" in America, I've got a screen play inside of me. This would be the perfect song for the opening credits.

Logan Film Festival 2013 - Day Two

Best films I've seen so far have been Imagine, Equilibrium, (and my personal favorite) Pyro & Klepto that also has an amazing soundtrack (buy it on bandcamp, ya dingus).

Some photos from today:

 

Logan Film Festival - Thur, March 21, 2013

I will being MCing and hosting viewings as well as Q/As and panels this weekend. Here is a brief synopsis the stuff I'm involved with this weekend (Thurs. 3.21.203)

Thursday / Dansante / 6:00pm

Wir Malen (Nick Reddoch, San Diego CA) 8 min Student (Q&A)
A group of people are trapped in a room, compelled to paint it over and over again, until an outsider questions their world.

Paulie (David Haskell, California) 11min narrative
A short comedy about Paulie, a child prodigy who goes on a quest to take down the school bully after the bully beats him in the big essay contest.

Leaving Earth (Joshua Lester, Canada) 17 min student narrative
In the far reaches of space, an astronaut lives out his final moments, and relives his most
important memories.


Pipelines (Jesse Mcclung, Arkansas) 15min student narrative
Based on the Short Story from well known Novelists, Edgar Keret. Pipelines is the story of an abused young man whose life is the result of him being an outcast and misfit to society.

Imagine (Jonathan Steven Green, Salt Lake City, UT) 30 min Narrative (Q&A)

Imagine is about a paramedic, who lives under a cloud of guilt after being unable to save his daughters life.

Thursday / Dansante / 10:30pm

Born & Raised 95 min. Narrative

In a small, seaside town, a young man learns a thing or two about love, luck and life from his welltraveled, outlaw grandfather.

This link has much more info with a detailed map of the events: http://loganfilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2013LFF-Program2edition-v0321-for-web-download-only.pdf

Cool vs Stool: Young Adult

Grade: B+
Cool vs Stool: Cool
Directed by Jason Reitman (Up In The Air, Juno) and written by Diablo Cody (Juno, TV Series: United States of Tara).

An austere comedy/drama about a young adult fiction writer who believes all of her problems (recent divorce, an ending to her once-popular series of novels, etc) can be reconciled by reuniting with her high-school sweetheart; despite the fact that he is happily married and is the father of a brand new baby.

Charlize Theron gives an outstanding performance as the lead character, Mavis. Patton Oswalt brings the audience into the film and balances Mavis' obtuse view of life, with his portrayal of Matt, a former high-school cohort of Mavis, who suffered a (not)hate crime and now lives life as a person still struggling to deal with the disability that has been inflicted upon him. The film succeeds as audiences can relate to the common feeling of reflecting on the days of "being at our best" in high school.

Watch this film if you like High Fidelity, Juno, or the TV series Freaks and Geeks.

Space Jockeys in Daredevil?!

I've always loved the myth of the Alien "Space Jockey." Prometheus was a load of fun, and I was happy with it (though the fan boy in me has a few... um... fan boy problems with it). That being said, I swear I am seeing Space Jockeys everywhere now. Here is the terrorist group in the Marvel Universe, the Black Spectre. They're similar, right? Or are they both just Gonzo knock-offs?

Swingers in Couples Retreat?

This is a quote from Barry, Jack Black's character in High Fidelity.

Rob, top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the '80s and '90s. Go. Sub-question: is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins, is it better to burn out or fade away?

This quote rang in my mind when I watched Swingers last night. Why this quote when watching Swingers (1996)? Because I remembered the last time I saw Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau together in a film, Couple's Retreat (2009).

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

2.5 stars because it is a Ghost Rider film. I think this round of the story was better done than it's predecessor in the sense that it doesn't take the subject material nor the content as serious. The film pulls from the Marvel Knights Motion Comics for the exposition of the origin story. This technique is genius. It's a mechanism for getting the backstory out of the way in an engaging medium. Hell, I wish the whole film had been done as a motion comic. The tag team directors from Crank and Gamer don't hold back their fetish like use of low angles, shakey cam, trombone shots, and sweeping crane shots. It is what it is. Poor writing, obvious catch phrases, and typical overacting of Nic Cage. This film deserves 2 stars... but it is still a film about Ghost Rider. Wait for DVD.
Cool vs Stool = Stool

Cool vs Stool - Fright Night

Fright Night is frightfully a boo-bless let down.

If there is one thing I look forward to in a "R" rated horror flick it is getting to see some no-name B actress' breasts. If there are two things I look forward to in a "R" rated horror flick, the first is some no-name B actress' breasts, and the second is scenes that make me jump with unexpected startlements; Fright Night delivers neither of these things.

Based on Tom Holland's 1985 film of the same name, Fright Night tells the story of the vampire next door who is slowly killing off the neighborhood, and it is up to a teenage boy to gather a rag-tag group of would-be vampire slayers to save the day, and hopefully still make it to the prom in time. 

Cool vs Stool - Cowboys & Aliens

Cowboys & Aliens - Welcome to Earth, pilgrim. Now it's time to die.

What happens when the kick assery of James Bond (the good one, Casino Royale) is focused by proven comic book-action direction and driven by masterful sci-fi story telling? Oh, I know! (pick me, pick me) You get Cowboys & Aliens.

The obvious players in this film are Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) and Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones), and both deliver performances worthy of the best westerns (Unforgiven, High Noon, True Grit). Add Sam Rockwell (Iron Man 2) for some comic relief and a super sexy (bra-less) Olivia Wilde (Tron) into the mix, and you have a fantastic western.

HYDRA or COBRA?

In the new Captain America: The First Avenger, the Nazi group HYDRA has a futuristic airship. Does it remind you of anyone else's airship?

Cool VS Stool - Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Enough lens flares to make J.J. Abrams jealous.

If you loved Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, you’ll love the latest installment in the Transformers franchise. But what does it mean for a sequel when the director doesn’t even like its preceding film?

“It was kind of a mess, wasn’t it?” Michael Bay told the LA Times in reference to Revenge of the Fallen.

Cool VS Stool - Green Lantern

Green Lantern - $300 Million of Green!

Today, Warner Bros. releases its first super hero film since last summers colossal flop, Jonah Hex. But unlike Jonah Hex, Green Lantern is actually worth seeing.  

Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) plays Hal Jordan, the overly confident test pilot who is ironically reluctant to take on the mantel of the super hero, Green Lantern.  Reynold's performance is what you would expect: sarcastically funny, endearing, and... well... heroic. With rock-hard abs, a defined chin, and perfect line delivery, Reynolds is the ideal comic book hero.

Cool VS Stool - Super 8

Super 8, combining E.T., Cloverfield, and The Goonies.

Paramount releases its 3rd "summer blockbuster" this weekend with Super 8. This film brought out the big guns with Exec. Producer Steven Spielberg and Writer/Director J.J. Abrams. Abrams, an accomplished screen writer (e.g., Armageddon, ABC's Lost), is perhaps most known for his 2009 directorial take on Star Trek.

The film pays homage to what I can only think was Abrams' childhood with dreams of becoming a film maker, and obviously to E.T. and Close Encounters.The title refers to the use of a "Super 8" video camera. The film is the story of a group of middle schoolers who inadvertently witness an Air Force train wreck while making a film with a Super 8 camera, and the subsequent happenings there after.

Crossbones & Red Skull

Below are Crossbones and Red Skull. Read up, Cap' is released on July 22! (Picked these up at the Hastings)