30 Seconds to Summer - THE SEQUEL

We're doing a quickie Yes No Maybe So for the Superbowl movie spots.

Aaron Eckhart fights aliens in Battle: Los Angeles

In Part One I covered the movies I'd already done some thinking about (usually due to stars or superhero familiarity). Here in Part Two, movies I had not paid even a whiff of attention to up until this very moment. New eyeballs who have casually dropped in from a google search might be shocked that a movie website exists that does not spend almost all its posting time serving up rumors about blockbuster movies and had never before EVER said a word about these four movies exists. But it's true! The Film Experience exists!!! There are about 21,000,000 sites that do that other thing well but this is not one of them.

after the jump super 8, battle los angeles and more.

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30 Seconds to Summer (Superbowl Leftovers) Pt. 1

As I was confessing on Twitter yesterday, I have literally never watched the Superbowl. Not once. The only football bits I've ever seen were in high school (I hung with the band geeks but was a choirboy), comic strips (Lucy is so mean!), in movies, and in Friday Night Lights. L-O-V-E that show. It returns in April for its final season. *sniffle*

Since movie studios bleed gazillion$ worth of their future profit$ to air 30 seconds of their potential blockbusters I $hould $hare them. It's like a hydra-headed episode of Yes, No, Maybe So. I'm listing them in the order I was curious about them BEFORE I saw the spots. Things may have changed.

superhero teases and more after the jump

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Podcast: Now With Three Dream Layers

Actually it's just a reg'lar ol' podcast. But Nick, Joe and Katey are three and they're dreamy so that counts. My blog pals are back to discuss the Oscar race with me (if you're new I'm Nathaniel). Topics covered include...

• "Best of Sundance"
• Katey's interview with James Marsh
• Melissa Leo's personal FYC ads (see below -via)
• Just how many Oscars can The King's Speech win?
• Banksy for Exit Through The Gift Shop and other Docs
  
• The Social Network's editing
• David Fincher's frankness
• The Color Purple reunion on Oprah
• Toy Story 3 and the over-arching Pixar narrative
• Chris Nolan and Inception's Oscar hopes
• And more silliness...

Listen to podcast located at the end of this post. Join in the dreamy conversation in the comments.

wake me up. wake me uppppppppp

Melissa Leo's personal FYC ads

Podcast: The King's Kick

Yay!

Serial Mom reunion

Kathleen Turner and John Waters beaming with Happy at the Writer's Guild Awards. What do you think their Oscar ballots look like? (I'm not sure if they have them but the comment question remains.)

Finding Linker-Land

The Film Doctor 10 questions regarding 127 Hours
Cinebeats Tura Satana (RIP)
Slant  new book on Spike Lee's classic Do the Right Thing.
Latino Review EEEeeeee. "Ursa" could be the villainess of the rebooted Superman. Good luck trying to top Sarah Douglas's bitchery in Superman II (1980). Although, I'm heartened that Rosamund Pike is in the running. She deserves a big high profile movie star breakthrough.

Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and Zod (Terence Stamp) in Superman II

Go Fug Yourself reveals their SAG best & worst dressed from their substantial readership polling. Was I supposed to know that Rooney Mara was Kate Mara's sister? The things that slip by you...
Pajiba "Top 5" Stars Unworthy of Their Status
Cinema Blend wonders if James Franco isn't spreading himself dangerously thin. He might be Oz: The Great and Powerful now in addition to nine other projects.
Pop Matters reviews the box set "The Films of Rita Hayworth". Ugh, why didn't I get a copy for review? Incidentally, if you ever happen to see Tonight and Every Night (1945) you'll feel a strange sense of deja vu. It's the same story as Oscar nominee Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) albeit told in a different tone and from a different angle.

Finally, be very afraid: Finding Neverland The Musical is heading your way soon. I'm only joking about being afraid. The songwriting team employed here did the enchanting music to Grey Gardens and Peter Pan is a long time stage tradition so why stop now? Plus, if you think about it certain gaggy, twee or pushily sentimental projects could (hypothetically) work much better with the distance from reality that song and dance can provide in much the same way that animation lowers our guard to things we'd think weren't soggy with sentiment in live action. I actually think that The King's Speech, which I think is a good film but no "best", would make a fine musical; the King doesn't stutter when he sings so right there embedded in your concept is the opportunities to show songs as transcendent rescue from daily troubles.  Sounds perfect for a movie musical... though you'd have to have had a different cast. I'm not sure anyone would have wanted to see/hear Colin Firth (Mamma Mia) or Helena Bonham-Carter (Sweeney Todd) singing again, now would they?

P.S. Unrelated: Pixar's 25th anniversary was just a few days back. Some words coming up this week.