It seems that technology has spun a little bit beyond my grasp and I can’t embed Bull’s trailer onto the trailers page of our main site, but I found this so interesting (both as a film and as a Canadian film) that it had to be shared.
The official website describes Bull as such:
Bull is a darkly comic neo-noir set among the heatwave-baked skyscraper canyons of the Toronto financial district. A hapless stockbroker named Charlie finds himself caught up in a twisty web where no one — no one at all — is telling the truth.
Charlie isn’t very good at his job — something his powerbroker boss Jay explains to him in exactly so many words. But then Jay also offers him an opportunity: a vague and somewhat shady opportunity, sure, but Charlie doesn’t have much choice. And before long Charlie finds himself mixed up with all manner of dangerous characters, persistent detectives, beautiful women wearing surprisingly little, and a threatening and mysterious individual named Roland Gow.
Bull is written, produced and directed by Kent Tessman, and stars Craig Lauzon, Lindsey Deluce, Simon Reynolds, and Maury Chaykin.
While IMDB might not be the most reliable source of insider info, it looks like the rumours of a return season of Canadian cop drama Durham County have something to them. If you’re willing to dig a little deeper, you can find a few press releases scattered across the ‘net promising the “same town, darker secrets”.
Hugh Dillon and the rest of his family will be returning and will still be coping with the fallout from their first season encounters with serial killer Ray Prager. There’s also a new murderous manipulator on the scene, played by sci-fi badass Michelle Forbes (Battlestar Galactica & Star Trek: TNG).
The first season of Durham County came out about 2 years ago and was so freakin cool, I watched the whole thing in one sitting. The story had me so transfixed that I had to plough through the whole thing from end to end – ah, back when I could get away with sitting in front of the TV for 6 hours straight.
Anyways, season 2 premieres on July 13th on Movie Central (or Movie Network for you Eastern folk) at 9pm.
I’m not going to devote any more time to Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen than the 2 and a half hours I already spent in the theatre, so let me see if I can sum it up this way:
Syd Field says that you can learn everything you need to know about a movie in the first 10 minutes. Well, in the first 10 minutes of Transformers 2 I learned that the Whitwicky’s got another dog, and a few minutes later that new dog got dry humped by their old dog, Mojo. From that little glimpse you can a sampling of the movie’s themes: new insignificant characters, a lot of misplaced or misguided sexuality, and plenty of story elements getting screwed for the sake of others.
The Verdict: Go in expecting nothing, or don’t go there at all.
OK, so you wake up on the floor of your swanky Caesar’s Palace villa and you catch the whiff of a few smouldering fires as you carefully step over the live chicken and make your way to the bathroom. While relieving yourself, you notice a 300 pound tiger on the floor, and barely manage to avoid urinating on your socks as you run for safety. This is just part of the opening of the second act of The Hangover, and it barely scratches the surface of the mayhem that 4 friends (or 3 friends and one soon to be in-law) get up on at a bachelor party in Las Vegas. What follows is an attempt to piece together the night shrouded in mystery, marriage, rufies and Mike Tyson.
That The Hangover was a totally crude and hilarious summertime movie should come as no surprise to anyone that’s seen any of Todd Phillips other movies. All the familiar elements of a Todd Phillips story are there, there’s wedding and baht mitzvah singer Dan Finnerty, the usual depraved Todd Phillips cameo, and a few heartfelt revelations concealed within the guise of comedy. Some might be heartened by the fact that Phillips has proven that he doesn’t need to be working with big names to keep audiences’ attention. Phillips has got a lot of tools in his little director’s box and he tries to break out as many of them as he can for this outing. The Hangover takes a page out of Harry Potter’s book (structurally, not magically) by infusing the story with mystery elements to crank up the anxiety meter just an extra notch or two. That nervous tension helps amplify what is already a funny script executed by competent performers, combined with the ticking clock set in motion from the minute the movie starts and the constant barrage of whodiddit questions, complete with a edgy comedic glaze creates an irresistible mélange. I’d have to go through all my notes before I could say this was the funniest movie I’d seen all year, but I will state that I laughed my ass off through the entire movie, stopping only to make witty observations about my own experiences in Vegas, and maybe to realize that baby humour doesn’t work for me anymore. Not the movie’s fault – that’s all on me.
I’d also like to point out that The Hangover did the right thing as far as acknowledging it’s place in the pantheon of movies to come before it. Whether through leitmotifs, or straight up duplication of iconic shots from films like Casino and Rain Man, The Hangover doesn’t get a big head about itself, it’s here because of the films that came before it.
The healingwell.com website defines “episodic” as describing occurrences that come and go, with or without a regular pattern. I think that’s how I would describe my experience watching the entire first season of CSI in the space of a few days.
Up until about a week ago my only encounters with CSI (other that the conclusion of the miniature killer mystery) was through syndication on Spike. So I’d never really been sure what part of the series I was watching. The same kind of thing happened on this recent outing, after I screwed up the encoding on my PS3 and watched half of the first seasons on reverse order after the pilot.
It’s a testament to the show’s loosely connected episodes that it took me half a season to realize. I think it was when Nick’s hooker friend was murdered and then suddenly she showed up again. CSI just plays out in a simple and formulaic way every episode – with a predictability that’s comforting to it’s core group of fans.
Oh hey! This is the one where Sara moons over Grissom and frets over her childhood, and where Ecklie thwarts the team’s efforts, where Catherine gripes about not being taken seriously, and Nick and Warrick compete to see who’s the best. Oh wait. That’s every episode.
Not that that’s a big problem. This is a characteristic of a show with legs. You can jump in and jump out at any time. It’s what makes Law & Order one of the kings of syndication, and The Simpsons general refusal to maintain any continuity puts it up there as well.
Don’t know if I’ll download the 2nd season. After all, it airs like crazy on Spike, and sometimes on Showcase. (Doesn’t it?)
Congratulations, Spinning into Butter! You not only convinced me that I really don’t understand race relations in the States (you guys got some problems there) but you also reminded me that I used to own a copy of Little Black Sambo. The latter is certainly something I can bring up with my parents, as for the former… I’m not convinced that what they’re trying to get at is really how it is. Why is it that Liberals struggling with their own racism always work so hard to point out the intolerance of their contemporaries? I mean, maybe these other guys aren’t racist at all, maybe they’re just jerks?
Spinning Into Butter is about a New England College coping with racial tensions as the result of threatening notes being left on the dorm room door of one of the school’s few black students. Sarah Jessica Parker plays the dean of students who has her own set of racial issues in her closet, while trying to get ahead of this problem and smooth things out on campus. It’s all very familiar structure with a few strange twists, many of them making me wonder if I really understand what the problem with racism really is.
I think that it’s a good thing that this play was adapted into a feature film to broaden it’s reach, however I don’t exactly know how much more broad it’s reach will get. The profanity used in the film precludes it’s use in high schools where it could be the most effective, leaving it more in HBO territory, where it would fade into the background other less saccharine projects.
What’s the word on this? Despite the presence of Mykelti Williamson, I would not have touched this film had it not showed up in my mailbox.
Saw this trailer over on Empire and just had to do my small part to share it with the whole world. It’s a documentary from the same dude that directed An Inconvenient Truth, about three modern gods of the guitar (Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White) sitting and having a little chat about what it is to swing an axe. I haven’t been this excited about a musicmentary since The Song Remains the Same. No word on a release date as far as I can tell, but I will definitely keep everyone posted about what I hear.
Its not everyday that I write a post. Steve keeps me well informed of this fact. It is also not everyday that I return home from a movie and immediately write a post.Today is a special day. I just attended a midnight screening of Todd Philips new comedy “The Hangover” All I have to say is go see it.
Its a very simple premise, 4 friends, well 3 friends and Zach Galifianakis, go to Las Vegas for a stag. They wake up the next morning with no memory of what transpired the night before and they are missing the groom. They spend the rest of the movie trying to find the husband to be and piece together what has happened. And it is going to be the comedy hit of the summer. It is everything I had hoped and more. Funny but not always stupid, with characters that you sort of get. I can see this happening but probably not to the extremes that it does in this movie. The cast is great, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms are very good in their roles, but its Galifianakis who steals the show as the brother to be of the groom. His character is so random and weird that you can’t help but like him. Even though he may or may not be a pedophile.
Judging by the fact that there was an almost packed house for a midnight show and no line up for the midnight screening of “Land of the Lost” this movie is going to do amazingly well. The only thing holding it back from being the biggest money maker of the new summer comedies is that it is rated 18a or R for our American friends. But then again, I know people who may go see it more then once. Myself included.
It is the funniest movie I have seen in a long time, but my judgment may be clouded by the fact that this movie has the funniest closing credits sequence I have ever seen and it makes you leave the theatre laughing your ass off. I would go see it again, just for that. And maybe I might sneak into the end if I can.
Because it’s summertime, because I’m worn out and because I’m devoting my writing energy to a new screenplay, I’ll be backing off a bit on contributing to the blog. I figure if I only write a post every two weeks, I’m still writing more than Brian though…
I’ll be sure to write something about each of the movies I see this summer, I might just be holding off on any kind of philosophizing or contests for a little while.
I want everyone to know that this has nothing to do with finding some new games to play for my PS3 or deciding to watch every episode of CSI from the beginning… Uh, well maybe.
I think what I might do is post the occasional update on how the screenplay is coming and go from there.
And Chris: I’ll be sure to post some more radio shows on the site ASAP.
Monday night really was a precious moment in television history, and I’m glad I was able to soak it the first bit of it in live, it was like I was really participating in something with the rest of my TV watching peers.
I have said a few times that I think that late night TV is a joke, a relic of the past that is dying for the same reasons and in the same ways as local news. And while I might not have changed my mind about that, I suppose I can still we the role that it plays in society.
So it’s with that tiny bit if respect that I felt that something special was happening. I guess each generation might feel this way, but Conan taking the reins really feels like the torch is being passed to my generation – maybe the late night institution might not feel so irrelevant. Probably not, I felt right from the beginning that Andy Richter’s sycophantic miked-up laughter was a little jarring.
While 
I’m not going to devote any more time to Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen than the 2 and a half hours I already spent in the theatre, so let me see if I can sum it up this way:
Congratulations, Spinning into Butter! You not only convinced me that I really don’t understand race relations in the States (you guys got some problems there) but you also reminded me that I used to own a copy of Little Black Sambo. The latter is certainly something I can bring up with my parents, as for the former… I’m not convinced that what they’re trying to get at is really how it is. Why is it that Liberals struggling with their own racism always work so hard to point out the intolerance of their contemporaries? I mean, maybe these other guys aren’t racist at all, maybe they’re just jerks?
Its not everyday that I write a post. Steve keeps me well informed of this fact. It is also not everyday that I return home from a movie and immediately write a post.Today is a special day. I just attended a midnight screening of Todd Philips new comedy “
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