Meet In The Lobby

Movies focusing on World War II have been around since 1942, including everything from fictional tales with war as backdrop, to propagandist efforts and documentaries. Now, the History Channel and war film specialists Lou Reda Productions have just added to the deep legacy of WWII films with WWII in HD, a look at the war through the eyes of 12 Americans, a massive assembly of some of the most comprehensive WWII documentary footage ever released; in fact, the series is the first to show HD color images of the war. And you can win a 3-DVD set of WWII in HD, right here at Meet in the Lobby. (Please note: This is a standard DVD set of the series, not a Blu-ray version.)

To enter, just leave a comment for this post saying you’d like to win the DVD set. We’ll accept all entries through Wednesday, February 17 at 5pm ET, and select one random winner soon after.

This 3-DVD, 7 1/2-hour set includes
:: The 10-episode documentary film WWII in HD
:: Character profiles
:: Behind the scenes extras: Finding the Footage and Preserving the Footage

Enter to win the WWII in HD 3-DVD set

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Check out WWII in HD on history.com

We gotta say it: The prize winner must have a U.S. mailing address and a valid email address. We’re not responsible for lost or late entries, and lost or damaged prizes delivered through the mail. We only use your email address to contact you at the end of the contest. We never share emails or mailing addresses, ever.

Author: Norm Schrager

February 7th, 2010
Categories: Contests . Comments: 1 Comment

Here are two things we never see at the movies: 1) A Nicholas Sparks film adaptation that makes girls cry. 2) John Travolta going nuts! And it’s all blander than margarine on white bread. Yum.

From Paris with Love
Rotten Tomatoes: 34 / 100; Metacritic: 45 / 100

Dear John
Rotten Tomatoes: 30 / 100; Metacritic: 44 / 100

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Author: Norm Schrager

February 5th, 2010
Categories: Trailers, Movie Previews . Comments: No Comments

by Scott David, posted 02.06.10
4 / 5 stars

The late 1960s and early 1970s gave us a wealth of American cult films. One of the forgotten gems of this era is writer/director Brian de Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise (1974), a wonderfully hysterical, visually opulent tongue-in-cheek horror movie that pokes fun at the burgeoning glam rock scene while playfully criticizing the cutthroat record industry.

A mixture of “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Faust,” Phantom of the Paradise stars Paul Williams as Swan, a combination Elvis, David Bowie, The Beatles, and Phil Spector wrapped up in an ultra-rock-god package. After hearing composer Winslow Leach’s new rock opera, Swan decides to steal his music and play it at Swan’s new club, The Paradise. After being wrongly imprisoned, Winslow escapes, dons a leather suit complete with dark cape and silver, bug-like mask, and plans to wreak terror and vengeance upon Swan and the newly opening Paradise.

Featuring classic De Palma direction, Phantom gives us the split-screen technique he later used so deftly in Carrie and Blow Out. With this style, De Palma gives us simultaneous events and character reactions across wide spaces, thus expanding his film frame, and creating interesting suspense and parallel imagery.

As much as Phantom of the Paradise is a vehicle for De Palma’s camera, it is equally engaging due to its cast and soundtrack. Williams wrote all the songs and music (garnering him an Oscar nod), showing off a wealth of talent with songs that range from doo-wop to folk ballad to hard rock. His performance is at once spectacularly funny and creepy. And extra kudos to De Palma for photographing Williams without drawing attention to his short stature.

Rounding out the supporting cast is Jessica Harper, in one of her first roles, excellent as a singer Phoenix who’ll do anything for fame. Gerrit Graham gives a memorable performance as hard rocker Beef, with a goofy, effeminate portrayal that’s hilariously reminiscent of Dick Shawn’s role as the hippie actor in The Producers. And William Finley does a good job making The Phantom spooky without being ridiculous.

Phantom of the Paradise remains a very watchable, critically acclaimed cult film that any horror fan, rock-n-roll listener, or student of cinematic technique will certainly find enjoyable — and maybe even inspirational. It’s even too much fun for just one viewing.

(Trivia note: Phantom of the Paradise set designer? Sissy Spacek. Also, the IMDb lists a remake on the way.)

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Author: Scott David

February 5th, 2010
Categories: Reviews . Comments: 2 Comments

by Norm Schrager, posted 02.02.10
3.5 / 5 stars

Whip It could’ve been just another alternacool misfit coming-of-age tale, but it has one big asset: the same irresistible onscreen energy of its director, Drew Barrymore.

The bubbly Barrymore hits her directorial career running. Or roller skating, in this case. For her debut, Barrymore (who also produces and co-stars) points her camera at some serious chick-to-it-ive-ness, the resurgence of women’s roller derby in Austin, Texas, and the teenage girl who gets caught up in it.

The girl is the oddly named Bliss Cavendar (the sadly typecast Ellen Page), a free thinker who’d rather find something more challenging than preparing for the pageants her mom (the great Marcia Gay Harden) so deeply loves. Bliss is dangerously close to other characters we’ve seen Page portray, but the talented actress has just enough depth to pull Bliss away from the wiseasses of Juno and Smart People.

Not that Bliss isn’t a wiseass, but she has a right to be. She’s stuck waitressing in a tiny town, the kind of town that has every high schooler like Bliss desperate to get out. When she encounters a few derby skaters promoting an upcoming match, she’s hooked on the sheer potential of being bold and brash enough to skate into a store, wink, gum-smack and skate out. Attending the event leads to a tryout, a slot on one of the teams, and some unexpected mini-fame.

It’s impossible not to fall for Bliss’s hard work and pluckiness — something that’s often been said about Barrymore herself. If Page had played Bliss by singing the same song of the disillusioned teen, the character would’ve been more annoying than engaging. But Page adds some authentic wide-eyed smalltown naivete to her toughness, and we want her to make it big. Or as big as anyone from Bodeen, Texas is gonna get.

Barrymore boosts Page’s presence with an infectiously fun ensemble cast within the anti-establishment roller derby world. With names like Smashley Simpson and Bloody Holly, the girls (a strange collection including Barrymore, Zoe Bell, Eve and Kristen Wiig) hit hard, laugh harder, and keep it loose enough to give you the female version of Animal House.

The new director does run into some rookie mistakes in adapting Shauna Cross’ novel. She and Cross (who also wrote the script) keep us away from the derby a little too long in developing Bliss’ first love relationship and the connection between Bliss and her dad (Daniel Stern!) feels painfully close to that of Juno and her dad (J.K. Simmons). Yeah, dads have a special chill bond with their daughters, but this is all too familiar.

Some of the most gratifying scenes in Whip It involve quiet exchanges between Page and Harden, at times in which mother and daughter are able to see each other more clearly. Whether they like the view or not. And for all the ebullience and humor of Whip It, Barrymore is able to approach those scenes by taking the volume way down and effortlessly finding the heart and compassion. And that may very well be her future as a director.

Whip It on Blu-ray: Available on Amazon

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Author: Norm Schrager

February 2nd, 2010
Categories: Reviews . Comments: 1 Comment

Edward Norton is a pretty cool customer to watch work on the big screen. But two Edward Nortons? Sign me up. Norton is one of those few actors who can instantly elevate a mediocre movie, and he’s got the one thing an actor kills for: presence. You either have it or you don’t. For the upcoming Leaves of Grass, Norton needed plenty of it since he plays twin brothers.

Bill is an Ivy League professor; Brady is a potgrower with a scheme. Here’s a pair of posters (the newest is first) for the movie, which premiered back in September 2009 as a Toronto Film Festival special presentation. Right now, it’s unclear when we might see the film. More on that below.

Doesn’t the first poster remind you of something Charlie Kaufman might write? Anyway, the man behind Leaves of Grass is Tim Blake Nelson, best known as an actor (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Good Girl), but also established as a director (the Holocaust movie The Grey Zone, the Shakespeare twist O).

Leaves of Grass doesn’t have a distributor yet in the US. Crap. If one doesn’t pop up, we may see a DVD release sometime in April.

(thanks IMPAwards)

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Author: Norm Schrager

February 1st, 2010
Categories: Movie Posters . Comments: No Comments