SMC UPDATE

Sorry for the lack of recent posts. Your faithful staff here at SMC haven't been themselves for varying reasons. Let's just go with the whole "air of mystery" thing and leave it at that for now. However, changes are afoot and we'll return to our regular scheduled programming shortly. We appreciate your continued loyalty and even respect your integrity in not paying for our services in order to keep the Web free for all.

Duplass

With the release of Baghead in 2008 the Duplass brothers had noticeably built upon their early work and created a film that not only appealed to fans of their homemade style but could also appeal to wider audiences with its compelling story and twisting narrative.


Receiving a limited theatrical release by Sony, Baghead opened to favourable reviews. Often described as a horror-comedy Baghead features four main characters who spend the weekend at a remote cottage intending to write a script that will help launch their careers. As the boundaries between dreams, fact and fiction blur it is unclear whether Baghead is real or not.

Starring the Elvis haired Ross Partridge, Steve Zissis, Greta Gerwig and Elise Muller, Baghead is a thoroughly enjoyable film and a marked improvement on The Puffy Chair. The film is a blend of lots of different genres and is at times funny, dramatic and suspenseful.

Trailer Park

Check it out:

MONKEY!

Maybe we need to just let some of the victims die.
Maybe we need to do some sort of triage for the hood.
Since resources are finite, maybe we should let a few die to save the many.
Maybe we need to use the medical model;

Clash of the Titans

So how bad was it? That's all it comes down to, right? This thing was panned more than Northern California in 1849. So? So, it was ok.

I think most of the derision for this came from the fact that it was released as an upconverted 3-D money grab by a desperately clueless studio. You'd think these geniuses would have learned from their past attempts at colorization--half-assed products will always look half-assed. Not that this was whole-assed to begin with.

My biggest problem going in with this state-of-the-art CGI extravaganza of a remake was that I enjoyed the original so much precisely because it was so old school lo-fi. And that is what ultimately kills this movie. Now, that's not nostalgic bitterness. By all means, take the new technology and make a full-throttle adventure film set in that world (though considering how rich Greek mythology is, why not take a weekend and come up with a new story. Or why not just make a God of War movie?.) Technology is good. But stop using your computer as a storytelling crutch. SFX characters do not automatically equal characters. At least not characters anyone cares about (or as in the case of monsters, characters anyone is scared of). And, no, I have no idea who I'm speaking to right now. As FOB (Friend Of the Blog) Paul has said about video games, too much realism blurs the line of fantasy, which is what games and movies like this should feel like. I think we may have reached the technological event horizon of fun.