The Syndicate

Great! I'm so sad I never made it to CBGB. I'm actually watching the Devil's Pass film. Its not bad, for the found footage subgenre.

Today I watched a few trailers while I had my brunch.
I liked them all a lot!

1. Parkland. First up is http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Parkland ... 39097.html, which is about the JFK assassination. I didn't think it would be interesting, but I really got into it. But really Zac Efron as a doctor? Was Anton Yelchin busy or something? I really liked the Emilio Estevez directed film Bobby about the RFK assaassination, so this should be right up my alley.

2. CBGB. I've been dying for this to come out. Alan Rickman starts. True fact: The last person to play at the hallowed venue was Patti Smith (you have read Just Kids, haven't you?) Finally something my husband and I can both enjoy: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/CBGB-Tra ... 38895.html Long live New Wave!

3. Enough Said. One of James Gandolfini's last works. Also starring the effervescent Julia Louis-Dreyfus (who said women can't be funny?). They were co-stars in In the Loop, one of my favorite films of the last 5 years. Veep is somewhat a spin-off of that, and has wrapped its 2nd season on HBO. The Thick of It started it all, and you can see it on Hulu and Netflix. The Scottish trash-mouth breakout of In the Loop will be Dr. Who's next doctor, fun fact.
Anyway, this film looks pretty good in a very Nora Ephron way. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/James-Ga ... 38870.html

4. Devil's Pass. I am in the minority that doesn't mind the found footage horror subgenre. As long as it's good. There's been plenty of decent FF in the last 5 years: PA, Grave Encounters. Certainly [REC] from Spain. They are so easy to produce though that we have a glut of this subniche. This new film from Renny Harlin has an excellent premise - a team will follow the path of a failed expedition and chart its progress along the way via videography. I liked the premise and look of the film until the last third where they showed the monster. Too much like Chernobyl Diaries and a billion other films. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Renny-Ha ... 38883.html

Seen any good trailers lately?

World War Z made me write this because I was so impressed.

x-posted to facebook

SOAPBOX MOMENT:
Something hit a nerve with me tonight at my increasing dissatisfaction with Hollywood. I'm going to use my experience tonight as a springboard into this rallying cry. Usually it's James with calls to action, but I figure I'm overdue.

Tonight [my husband, friend] and I saw World War Z. I'd been following the reviews on my RSS feed for weeks now, and was pleasantly surprised they were overwhelmingly positive.

It's proof Hollywood can make a decent Blockbuster film. It reads more like Contagion than Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, which should hearten you. The pacing is excellent, the characters (those that are developed) are interesting, the music is good (can't have zombie films without Muse, for more info, see my facebook note from 2008 or so stating such), and the cinematography is surprisingly astute.

The film is not gorier than it needs to be and doesn't play for cheap scares. One of my pet peeves with the horror genre is how laughs or funny moments will undercut the tension in some of the scariest scenes. This does not happen here, yet the film never takes itself too seriously as evidenced in the few moments of levity. I'd expect no less from Brad Pitt's Plan B Production Company, but I think it's difficult to reconcile in one's mind that WWZ isn't just a solid film for the zombie sub-genre, it's solid overall.

While certainly not for everyone, if you even remotely think you will like or enjoy it, you probably will. I'm not trying to express that WWZ is the Citizen Kane of Z-flicks, because it isn't and it's not without its flaws.

That said, we need to ensure Hollywood keeps making more high-caliber action/thriller films for us to enjoy during Blockbuster season. Tell these movie moguls to take their prequels/sequels/threequels/midquels/shriekquels/remakes/screamakes/reboots/gorenography and to shove it.

If people deserve the government they elect, then audiences deserve the media we're given. We have to stop settling for sludge or Hollywood will keep doling it out to us like farmyard critters to slurp from our industrial-sized troughs.

I still believe in the power of the pocketbook. Vote with your dollars. Go out there and see the films that deserve to be seen. Tell Hollywood that we're "mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it anymore."