The annual critical powwow that is Slate's Movie Club is currently underway, with that site's Dana Stevens leading a conversation between a redoubtable quartet also including Michael Phillips, Dan Kois and Movieline's own Stephanie Zacharek. What's on the agenda?
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Not to be terribly negative at the start of the new year – because any year that gifted us the Fassboner had to be a pretty good year, amirite? – but there were a handful of recurring trends in the movies of 2011 that could stand a rest as we charge ahead through 2012. First let’s list the good ones, the motifs in otherwise disparate films, from a wide range of filmmakers indie and studio-backed, new and established, that were actually kind of awesome to marinate in this past year. (Goslingmania comin' atcha!)
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This past October, we looked long and hard briefly at the most pirated films of all time -- a fairly predictable list that included blockbuster titles like Avatar, The Dark Knight and Transformers. Today, TorrentFreak has released a more current snapshot of the movie-stealing industry: A list of the top ten pirated films this year. Surprisingly, there are a few films on this list that you probably paid to see.
Mortal Kombat isn't the most esteemed video game franchise, but its coterie of bloodthirsty fighters is one of the most beloved in gaming history. Sure, the 1995 movie adaptation was a dud, but it was a magnificent dud with a throbbing Jock Jams soundtrack and a provocative cast. (Where have you gone, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras?) Since the 2013 reboot has a chance of reigniting interest in the age-old series, let's cast our dream players in five of the main roles.
While accruing billions of dollars at the box office for his Transformers franchise, director Michael Bay has also gained somewhat of a reputation for his aggressive, dictatorial style of directing. Former Transformers star Megan Fox called Bay a nightmare who aspires "to be like Hitler on his sets." Other Transformers actors have agreed, claiming that a day on a Transformers set is like a day on the battlefield with General Bay shouting commands for explosions, choppers, Blackhawks, appleboxes and instructions to ignore lunch. But is there a softer side to Michael Bay that the public does not know about?
Director Justin Lin had no idea how well his supercharged sequel Fast Five would go on to perform back when he was filming it -- but he [Edit. correction: prepped] a 12-minute sequence for a sixth Fast & Furious film (his next upcoming production) just in case: "I already have a 12-minute sequence done. I did it just as an exercise. I had it done before we were finished with Fast Five, actually. So I wanted to do that just to have it there and to be honest with you, I didn't know if I was going to do a Fast Six. I didn't know if people were going to embrace Fast Five and we were going to have an opportunity. But I felt like I really wanted to make sure that the last scene, which I had talked to Vin [Diesel] about countless times -- I wanted to make sure that was done." [Box Office Magazine]
A handful of online press got a sneak peek at Paramount's Transformers: Dark of the Moon the other day, complete with face time with Michael Bay himself. Alas, Movieline was not in attendance, so we'll have to take these other folks' word for it and assume Transformers 3 could be the balls-out, insane, eyeball-searing giant robot war movie to end all giant robot war movies! Right, guys?!
Whether you watched it for the $3 million ads, the halftime show, or the men in tight spandex pants shoving each other up and down a grassy field, Super Bowl XLV was rich with memorable moments. Some got your geek pulse racing (ZOMG guys, it's Red Skull!). Others were expensive lapses in judgment (tsk tsk, Groupon) or unfortunate brain farts (Xtina, we're looking at you.) Relive the glory and the wonder as Movieline counts down the best and worst moments of Super Bowl 2011.
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