Vid of Week 2009-06-29: Bing Ad

I'm not usually a fan of Microsoft, and I'm certainly not a fan of Bing, but this is a cool ad.

Oh, the Irany!

"Perhaps [Lord of the Rings] was not the best choice in films if you want your people not to believe that "even the smallest person can change the course of the future."

Iran Tries to Pacify Protesters With Lord Of The Rings Marathon // Current

10 Best Pictures?

I love movies, but man, I can't imagine choosing 10 films in a year that I like enough to call out. We're going to end up with an interesting Best Picture race in 2010, that's for sure. More from TotalFilm.com

Vid of Week 2009-06-22: Trainspotting on Avenue Q

Nice mashup.

Another Reason to Love Pixar

As if their movies alone were not enough. Only follow the link if you don't mind crying.

If You Can't (Re)Boot 'Em, Join 'em

Living in the age of the reboot, one might adopt the mantra--if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That's just the approach that the folks at Filmcritic took in the interesting article, Ten Movies Actually Worth Remaking. Cool list, though I vehemently disagree with Breakfast at Tiffany's. And hey Dave--I trust JJ Abrams to reboot anything! Maybe that should've been a category unto itself--Directors who we would trust with a reboot. Judd Apatow remaking Bachelor Party?

A-List and Sequel-Free?

Be surprised. Be very surprised.... A-List stars who have never done a sequel. from Movieline

Vid of Week 2009-06-15: What do the iPhone 3GS and Tyler Durden Have in Common?

So it turns out that one of my favorite directors, David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac, and, yes, Benjamin Button) directed a commercial for the latest iPhone announced last week. Pretty cool commercial, though I wouldn't call it groundbreaking.

Via /Film

Keeping it Up

OK, so I was wrong about Up being Pixar's first flop. Via Variety

Hannibal the Jedi Knight?

Variety is reporting that Liam Neeson is in talks for the big screen adaptation of the A-Team. Where will this reboot mania end?

Vid of Week 2009-06-08: HD Video from Nikon/Canon DSLRs

Nothing remarkable about the videos themselves, except that they are taken from the first consumer-level digital SLRs to also have the ability to capture HD video, the Nikon D5000 and the Canon Rebel T1i. Be sure to watch these in HD quality by pressing the HD button on the embedded video players. At $850 and $900 respectively, how many folks will take the plunge? I'm going to wait myself and let them get some of the kinks worked out. I'm also waiting for built-in geotagging, which neither of the cameras support.

via engadget

Johnson Blooming as Director to Watch

Saw The Brothers Bloom last weekend. Really loved it. I loved it as much or more than the previous work from Writer/Director Rian Johnson. I love how Johnson in his films takes well known genres (film noir and con man, respectively) and breathes completely new life into them with deep character-driven stories and innovative storytelling. Plus, Rachel Weisz was amazing (Best Supporting Actress possibility?) and so was Rinko Kikuchi. Just when I thought that those genres had reached the limits of their respective creative limits, I was proven wrong. If only Johnson would take on Sci Fi. Oh wait...

Want to hear more about Rian Johnson and The Brothers Bloom? Riann did great interviews on the Filmspotting podcast and Elvis Mitchell's The Treatment on KCRW.

Up Earns $68.2 Million, Tops Weekend Box Office

It looks like I might have been wrong about Up. It earned $68.2M its first weekend. Final judgment on my bold prediction of Up being Pixar's first bomb should be reserved for next week--if the receipts drop off like they did for Watchmen ($67.9M week 1, $18.1M Week 2) earlier this year, I could still be proven right.

Via Cinematical

Vid of Week 2009-06-01: Green Lantern Trailer?

It's not real, but I wish it were.... DC Studios should hire this guy.