Tuesday Night Movie Club Schedule

8/25 Foul Play (HD! 1978, C. Higgins)


9/1 The Girl Next Door (HD! 2004, L. Greenfield)


9/8 Requiem for a Dream (HD! 2000, D. Aronofsky)


9/15 Punch-Drunk Love (HD! 2002, P.T. Anderson)


9/22 For Love of the Game (HD! 1999, S. Raimi)


9/29 Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (HD! 2009, S. Liu)

Tuesday Night Movie Club Schedule

5/12 Akira (HD! 1988, K. Otomo)


MON 5/18 Green Snake (1993, T. Hark)


5/26 Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1991, R. Zemeckis)


MON 6/1 American Beauty (1999, S. Mendes)


6/9 Apocalypse Now (HD! 1979, F.F. Coppola)


6/16 Ghostbusters (HD! 1984, I. Reitman)


MON 6/22 The Transformers: The Movie (HD! 1986, N. Shin)


MON 6/29 Collateral (2002, M. Mann)

Hey! Remember This Video?

Nada Surf - Popular

2008 Retrospective

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at The Chill


2:40 Cloverfield (M. Reeves)


4:20 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (S. Spielberg)


6:40 Quantum of Solace (M. Forster)


9:45 Zack and Miri Make a Porno (K. Smith)


11:45 The Dark Knight (C. Nolan)

Tuesday Night Movie Club Schedule

3/10 Howard the Duck (1985, W. Huyck)


3/17 The Fugitive (HD! 1993, A. Davis)


3/24 Zack and Miri Make a Porno (HD! 2008, K. Smith)


3/31 Ghosts of Mars (HD! 2001, J. Carpenter)


4/7 Final Destination (HD! 2000, J. Wong)


4/14 Mean Girls (HD! 2004, M. Waters)


4/21 Frost/Nixon (HD! 2008, R. Howard)


4/28 Iron Man (HD! 2008, J. Favreau)

Video Toaster

The First Sign of Spring

The Perfect Gift for the Christian in Your Life

Fanboys Screening

Last week, I went to an advanced screening of Kyle Newman's FANBOYS. In the past, I've written about these advanced screenings, but this one was different (though equally bizarre).

Unlike most of these things, getting a pass wasn't as simple as waiting in line at a book store or something like that. You actually had to work to get these things. I got mine, for example, in a contest sponsored by Ain't It Cool News. They only had 20 passes, and in order to get one, you had to answer the question, "If you were to break into Skywalker Ranch, what's the first thing you'd steal, and why?" My winning response was, "I'd steal all of the footage shot for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and give it to Irvin Kershner so that he could make a director's cut of the film."

Because of this unusual form of distribution, the regular wierdos were not present. There was a whole different group of wierdos there instead. I got to the theater about a hour before showtime and to my surprise, there were only two people already in line. The first guy, who had already been there for an hour, had Coke-bottle glasses. Guy #2 looked normal enough, except that he was wearing a Nostromo crew jacket from ALIEN.

There were about half a dozen other people who were also there for the screening, but not in line. They all had the distinctive Tupperware boxes associated with stormtrooper costumes. And yes, I did recognize one them, and even remember having a conversation with her about STAR TREK: VOYAGER while standing in my very own living room.

As the line grew, the nerd ratio escalated to an obscene level. It peaked when a normal unaware person wandered into the lobby to see BRIDE WARS, and made the mistake of asking someone in line what FANBOYS was about. "It's about a bunch of guys who break into Skywalker Ranch to steal a print of EPISODE ONE." Look. That sentence may be perfectly logical to someone like you or me, but it does not tell the average person anything at all about that movie! Episode One of what? And what the hell is Skywalker Ranch?

One last thing. As the stormtroopers came out to greet the crowd, no one, normal people included, batted an eye. People dressing up in stormtrooper costumes have become so mainstream that not even your average person on the street finds it to be the least bit strange. Is that a good thing or a very bad thing? You tell me...

I Need This in My Life

Tuesday Night Movie Club Schedule

2/10 Jason X (2002, J. Isaac)


2/17 A Chinese Odyssey, Part One: Pandora's Box (HD! 1994, J. Lau)


2/24 Fight Club (1999, D. Fincher)


3/3 Wonder Woman (HD! 2009, L. Montgomery)


3/10 Howard the Duck (1985, W. Huyck)


3/17 The Fugitive (HD! 1993, A. Davis)


3/24 Zack and Miri Make a Porno (HD! 2008, K. Smith)


3/31 Ghosts of Mars (HD! 2001, J. Carpenter)

My Booth's on TV!

I feel so exposed.

Star Trek on Blu-ray

Last week, details of Paramount's plans for Star Trek on Blu-ray were leaked. Timed to coincide with the release of J.J. Abrams' new flick, the first season of the original series will be released this spring, as well as a boxed set of the first six movies.

First, the good news. Details are sketchy, but Season One of TOS appears to include the original broadcast versions in addition to the goofy remastered episodes with the cheesy new effects. This was totally unexpected, but also very welcome. I might actually buy the first two seasons now.

Now for the bad news. All six movies will be presented in their original theatrical cuts only. That means no director's cuts for movies 1, 2, or 6. This is ridiculous. THE MOTION PICTURE is almost understandable, because the new effects were rendered at only 480p. They could be re-rendered, but it would cost a lot to do. But for THE WRATH OF KHAN and THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, I don't get it. Why not include the director's cuts?

As it stands, I'll be buying this set primarily for THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK, THE VOYAGE HOME, and THE FINAL FRONTIER. It almost doesn't seem worth it.

However, there is a special feature which I'm quite excited about. Apparently, each film will feature a commentary track by "Famous Star Trek Fans." Now, of course, the obvious question is who will those fans be? I have no idea. But what I can tell you is who I'd like them to be.

The Motion Picture

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg

The success of movies like STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND is what led Paramount to ditch their plans for a second TV series and produce THE MOTION PICTURE instead. So what do Lucas and Spielberg think about Robert Wise's attempt to follow in their footsteps?

The Wrath of Khan

Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino

Both of of these guys consider THE WRATH OF KHAN to be one of the greatest movies ever made. Rodriguez loved Ricardo Montalban so much that he talked the actor out of retirement. Tarantino quoted the film at the beginning of KILL BILL. I want to hear their analysis of this movie.

The Search for Spock

Angelina Jolie and J. Michael Straczynski

Jolie considers Spock to be one of her first crushes, and wanted to "make him scream." So this is an obvious choice for her to provide commentary on. Straczynski once proposed a relaunch of the original series. He also wrote CHANGELING, for which Jolie earned an Oscar nomination. I think it would be a good idea to get the two of them in a room together so that she can thank him.

The Voyage Home

Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones

Apparently, Gore and Jones spent more time watching STAR TREK than studying while roommates at Harvard. But they had graduated by the time THE VOYAGE HOME was released. They should get back together and relive their youth. And THE VOYAGE HOME is an obvious choice for Gore, given its "save the earth" message.

The Final Frontier

Mark Altman and Robert Meyer Burnett

These two guys made a movie about their obsession with William Shatner. Burnett even produced the original FINAL FRONTIER DVD. You do the math.

The Undiscovered Country

Alan Keyes and Barack Obama

THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY is a political thriller, so why not get a couple of politicians to talk about it? I'd listen to this commentary. And so would everyone else.

I'm sure none of this will ever happen. With our luck, we'll get people like Mancow and Vin Diesel. But we can dream, right?