Yes, No, Maybe So: "The Wolverine"

I have to believe that the superhero subgenre of action flicks reached its populist peak last summer (it'd be tough to have MORE of a glut than a summer season where The Avengers, Batman and Spider-Man were the three most popular releases). Though I grew up loving comic books and superheroes, too much of the same thing is bad for any artform, and the movies need a wee break from all the mutated testosterone... at the very least throw us a curveball with a female superhero. 

But it's hard to resist this mutton-chopped mug. Hugh Jackman returns for his sixth stint as an atypically rage-filled Canadian... aka Logan, The Wolverine.

What they did to me - what I am - can't be undone."

That's one of the many DRAMATIC lines in the trailer but I sincerely hope he's not talking about X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Undo, undo! The Yes No and Maybe So breakdown is after the jump...

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First & Last: Darkness & Decay

first and last puzzles
the first line of dialogue and the last image from a motion picture. 

Grandmother. Come closer.

Can you guess the movie?

Tilda in a Box

Since you aren't allowed to take photos at Tilda Swinton's "The Maybe", the revival of her 1995 performance art piece where she sleeps in a glass box, I thought I'd tell you about my MoMA visit this past weekend in boxed up comic form. Read quietly. (Do not wake the Tilda)

*note: I intend for 'Actressland' to be a weekly serialized comic but for now, it's one-offs.

Contest: "On the Road" Autographed by Walter Salles

Here's another contest for you for reader appreciation month... I have three books to give away.

"Enter to win a copy of Jack Kerouac's ON THE ROAD autographed by the film's director, Walter Salles! IFC Films and Sundance Selects Presents ON THE ROAD A film by Walter Salles Based on Jack Kerouac's classic novel Starring Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart

Check your local listings!"

It's okay if you're a little (okay, a lot) surprised that the movie has finally been released. In fact, just last night at a screening I was telling a friend it had come out and they were like "nope, it came out in December". But no... t'was a one week Oscar qualifier, that. So it opened Friday and will be expanding to more markets in April. Better late than never I suppose but hiding Kristen Stewart's only performance that can hold a candle to her Joan Jett work and keeping Garrett Hedlund's explosive sexiness from the world is a shame. It'll prove the turning point of his career if the right people (i.e. auteurs and casting directors) see it. Oscar traction was always going to be hard to come by since the Academy doesn't at all value youth and sexuality in men the same way they obsess over those qualities in actresses.

If you haven't read "On the Road" it's worth a read. Good for cultural literacy given it's iconic place in history.

I think of Dean Moriarty..."

To enter the contest - I have three autographed books to give away - shoot me an email with name, addy, and a sentence on the longest road trip you ever took... where'd you go?  

The Dirty Secret of Spring Breakers

Hi everyone, Tim here; you may know me from my film review blog Antagony & Ecstasy, from my dogged commitment to the Film Experience’s own Hit Me with Your Best Shot or you may not have the damnedest idea who I am and don’t care. But I’m going to be with you on Thursdays for at least a little while now, with a weekly column, where we’ll talk about… well, that’s the trick, isn’t it? Movie stuff. Whatever seems to be interesting about the new movies poking their heads around that particular week: something particular about the way a movie was put together, or conceived, or, in this case, sold.

The dirty secret of the film industry is that it exists to be profitable. It actually does good to be reminded of that, because even in the case of the costliest, sprawlingest tentpole movies, we tend to act like that the filmmakers are our buddies, or some such; but it’s true of even the most independent-minded, anti-commercial cinema that it’s actually supposed to make some sort of money. Sad as it is to think, even microbudget indies that cost fractions of pennies by movie budget standards are still wildly expensive by actual human being standards, and if they constantly hemorrhage money, then it would be impossible to keep making them.

All of which is to say: I truly don’t begrudge Annapurna Pictures the right to turn a profit on Spring Breakers, more...

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