Bohemian Cinema By Jonathan Pacheco

Carnival of Cinema: A Smorgasbord!

Tags: BlogCarnival, Reviews, Links

Let’s skip the pleasantries. We both know why you’re here, so just get to it. Lots of posts and bad jokes await you.

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Kicking things off, Darrell breaks down the art of using a pop song in cinema. You think it’s as simple as plopping a song into a scene? Dead wrong, my friend. As Darrell points out, the best uses of music in film involve strategy and thought. Learn more by reading Music And Lyrics On The Big Screen, posted at SouthCon: The Southern Conservative.

It’s a tribute to the skills of the director and/or writer when, working completely independent of the song writer, he or she is able to turn a pop song into an important element of a good movie. Put simply, when it’s done right, it’s awesome.

Laces out, Dan! Skully warns you of a disturbing development: Ace Ventura Jr. - WTF???, posted at the aptly named Crack Your Skull. Hmm, this feels very much like Son of the Mask. Need I say more?

Yes, its true. They made an Ace Ventura Jr. (2009 release). It stars a fat kid doing a poor impression of Jim Carrey wearing a cheap wig. How the hell does this happen?

Allow me to take this space to recommend a TV show that never got the attention it deserved. Kitchen Confidential (available in its entirety on Hulu.com) stars Bradley Cooper (that pesky reporter from the early seasons of Alias) as a womanizing chef trying to bounce back from hard times. It’s hilarious, surprisingly bawdy for network television, and definitely shortlived. Why am I mentioning this now? Because at Actorlicious, Mac. has informed you that Bradley Cooper’s Just Not That Into You.

It’s definitely one to watch in the new year, opening 6th February.

vaprak has a Movie Review: Four Christmases (2008), posted at The Critical Critics. Is that any relation to Halloween 4?

I do however get the feeling Four Christmases is one of those movies that was probably much funnier when read aloud than when filmed.

Trailer time! GrrlScientist presents Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2 posted at Living the Scientific Life. After reading the book, I considered creating a few Horcruxes. Thankfully, my girlfriend intervened.

This is another official trailer from the upcoming Harry Potter film; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince—just in time for the big film-going season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day….

She also brings Ghost Bird to your attention.

This film is a documentary about the controversial rediscovery of North America’s largest woodpecker species, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, which went extinct early last century.

What does a slumdog know? The answer. So says Julie D. of Happy Catholic.

This is a story with themes which should be pondered by adults. Those who do so will find themselves enriched on many levels.

Sun presents Knowledge Alley: Trois posted at Knowledge Alley. The synopsis sounds like one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes, “The Switch.” Look it up, friends.

All he wants is to be sexually free, so he coerces Jasmine into trying a menage a trois to put the kick back in their marriage.

Speaking of Seinfeld, Newman’s back, and he’s considering the Outback. I consider myself a considerable Baz Luhrmann fan, but I find myself surprisingly uninterested in Australia. Nevertheless, Newman’s seen Australia and he’s posted his thoughts at Newman’s Own Movie Corner.

Old-fashioned epic-ness is everywhere in Australia. The film never reaches these heights, of course, but it’s nice to get swept away by its unabashed romanticism and scope.

Regardless of how you feel about the film, there’s no denying that The Fall has some of the most visually stunning images in recent memory. Kristina Kharlova agrees and has some other things to say about ‘The Fall’ by Tarsem at Boston Mama.

If you are frustrated by the offering of new movies, and tired of countless Hollywood action blockbusters and romantic comedies that seem like clones of one another, then you will be delighted and awed by ‘The Fall.’

Scott Davis has got a thing for Rhona Mitra in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans over at ZombieChatter.com. He seems a little less excited about the film.

However, for those of you who aren’t familiar, the second one (Underworld: Evolution) ended in such a way that it really didn’t make sense to keep moving forward with the story. So what does Hollywood do? They make a prequel.

He also thinks that George Romero’s ‘The Crazies’ Remake Looks Like A Winner.

George Romero’s The Crazies, originally released in the early 70’s, is getting the dust and polish treatment and being re-made into a major theatrical release in September 09.

A Clockwork Orange was originally Rated X when it was released, but that rating doesn’t even exist today. Ever wonder about that? Scott Nehring wants to clear a few things up with Movie Watching Tip: The Ratings System posted at Good News Film Reviews.

Remember back in the old days when an adult film was “X-Rated” or “XXX”? That rating has been out of fashion for some time now and replaced by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) with the NC-17 Rating. What’s the difference between an X-Rating and NC-17? Nothing.

It’s Manny being Manny. Manny The Movie Guy, that is. He’s got a Michael Sheen One-On-One Interview for “Frost/Nixon” posted at Manny The Movie Guy. Check out the video.

Director Ron Howard crafted one of the best films of the year with “Frost/Nixon.”

I had heard very little about Waltz with Bashir before seeing the film’s poster the other day at the Angelika. Based on its visual style alone, I’m now aching to see this one. gracchi’s got a review of Waltz with Bashir at Westminster Wisdom.

This is important—for we need to recognize what the film seeks to do and what it does not: it does not seek to give a complete picture, it gives the partial picture of these particular people going to war.

Jennifer Roland poses a question at Pop Culture Curmudgeon: Is 2008 the Year of the Woman?

But, this year, three of the biggest box office winners emerged from the pocketbooks of women: Mamma Mia!, Sex and the City, and Twilight.

If you’ve got a site called “Twilight Rules!,” I’d imagine that you’d be pretty sensitive about the topic. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Zaira is claiming that Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Book is 100% Better Than The Movie .

I am a HUGE Twilight fan (or twilighter) and my mom really enjoys it. We went into the movie very excited, and came out mad, frustrated, sad, upset, disappointed, and laughing.

Still on Twilight, an overly-caffeinated Scott Lee tells us about Red Bull With Cola & Twilight over at ScottLee.Name. Scott, from a friend to a friend, lay off the legal addictive stimulants.

After the first 20 minutes or so in the movie, the whole thing goes horribly mediocre, like sour milk.

Ah, milk! Gus Van Sant is one of those filmmakers who has managed to balance making mainstream films while pursuing more unconventional and personal projects. I have yet to see his latest, Milk, mainly because I only drink soy milk. Sean Kelly has written My Thoughts on Milk over at Sean Kelly on Movies. Go read it before I make another bad joke.

In the end, the film was a memorable (yet tragic) look at one man’s fight for gay rights in the United States.

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Another week, another carnival. Many thanks to Scott Nehring for letting me drive the bus for the week. Until next time.