Popcorn 'N Roses

Schedule change for this week's S:C

Due to the fact that Kim has been sick since Wednesday with stomach flu, and now she has an awful cough, and still has to perform in tomorrow evening's Chlotrudis Awards, we have decided not to post a show this Sunday. The show will hopefully be able to be done early next week for posting on either Wednesday or Thursday.

So don't worry - the Dinosaurs aren't getting off easily...we're just giving them a little more time before we start stalking them....

I WILL, however, try to have a few things done on the site before the next show. Some interesting (and VAST) improvements and features are coming in the next week or so, so stay tuned!

Thanks for your patience and understanding - we DEFINATELY appreciate it!

Bugged Thoughts...about DVD cover artwork...

Welcome to the first of what (I hope) will be a new weekly column on things that just BUG me about this movie industry that we all love...and hopefully it will be entertaining to read...

So let's get started...

I've got a gripe to bring up to everyone else...wanna see if everyone else agrees with me...or if I'm just way way WAAAAAAAY too anal when it comes to this kind of thing...

I just have ONE SIMPLE QUESTION -

Why is it that when a movie is released to DVD, the studios releasing the movie always feel a need to change the artwork for the DVD cover?

Especially when what they choose doesn't even come close to the artwork on the movie posters?

I can think of three recent examples which just get under my skin.

First, there's The King Of Kong. Its movie poster was fantastic, an awesome piece of pseudo-neon 1980's stylized artwork with sketches of Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe and was absolutely fantastic.

When the movie hit DVD, that glorious artwork was nowhere to be seen. Instead of this retro-inspired graphic, we got a long shot of the back end of someone (presumably Steve Wiebe) sitting in front of a Donkey Kong arcade game. The wonderful blues and oranges of the original poster was gone, replaced by this boring and static shot.

What was worse was that the DVD came with "Alternative Artwork" stickered all over the case, saying there was great alternative cover art for the movie on the flipside of the showing artwork. Naturally, I thought it was the original art, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...it's another piece of artwork, which while nice is STILL not the original art that was on the movie poster.

The second example is the wonderful indie film Fierce People. This little movie had a visually cool release poster, stylized like a portrait family tree, with the movie's star Anton Yelchin in the foreground, looking up and around at the other portraits on the tree, and surrounded by portraits of costars Donald Sutherland, Diane Lane, Kristin Stewart, and Chris Evans, among others.

When the DVD was released in February, not only had the artwork been completely ditched, what was worse is that the incredibly yawn-inducing static photo of co-stars Donald Sutherland and Diane Lane IS the whole DVD cover. It's NOT even shots or scenes from the movie - it's a FREAKING PUBLICITY STILL!!! And it's not really indicitive of the movie's contents, since although they DO get the  billing (let's hear it for seniority!), they really both play more supporting than leading roles. And the TRUE star of the movie, Anton Yelchin, is NOWHERE to be seen - in fact he's NOT EVEN MENTIONED on the front cover.

But the one that really gets me - although it has it's reasons - is the cover for the just-released on DVD Wristcutters: A Love Story.

The cover photo, featuring Patrick Fugit and Shannon Sossomon, was obviously a recent shot because Patrick didn't cut his hair until about a year AFTER Wristcutters was shot. But i'll forgive them that - it's NOT how Zia, Fugit's character, appears in the movie, but its tolerable.

In this case, I can't blame them for not using the movie's artwork, which was a dark poster with a single symbol and the stylized title on it.  It's a cool poster, but I can see why it wouldn't necessarily work as a DVD cover without adding maybe a few pictures or something. I don't remember that signpost on the DVD cover from the movie either, but I find two or three new visual items every time I watch the film -  it's very "Airplane" that way.

But what REALLY Got me was the shot on the back cover. You see the three stars - Fugit, Sossoman, and Shea Whigham - inside of a car sitting on top of a forklift.  OK, that's a very cute image. And YES, it does play into a scene in the movie. But call me a nitpicker if you like (Ok, you're a nitpicker), but it's NOT RIGHT!  Or as Mythbusters' Adam Savage might say, It's "Wrongity Wrong Wrong"!

WHy is that, you may ask, dear reader?

Ok, you asked for it...(heh heh heh)

Number one - The shot clearly shows the forklift on the right (passenger) side of the car. In the scene from the movie, it was on the left (driver's) side of the car - if it was on the passenger side, Zia (Fugit) wouldn't have been able to open the car door, and promptly fall out of the car (which was raised up by a couple of mechanics while he and Eugene (Whigham) were sleeping in the car), because the forklift would have been in the way...

Number two - The car in the shot on the DVD's back cover is this kind of lemon yellow - in the movie, Eugene's car is ORANGE...and not the same model, either, if i'm not mistaken...

Number three - Mikal (Sossoman) could NOT have been in the car with Zia and Eugene when the forklift incident happened... because they HADN'T EVEN MET HER YET - she isn't introduced until the FOLLOWING scene...

Ok, I admit it - i've officially turned into a Wristcutters-version of a fanboy, but i'm SORRY - that one little picture bugs the HELL out of me because some (supposedly) smart marketing executive somewhere didn't bother to do ANY research, and probably hasn't even SEEN what was arguably the BEST MOVIE OF 2007 and didn't CARE how one little mistake could SO upset one of the movie's biggest supporters, and trigger a little rant that the supporter has been contemplating for sometime but didn't really have the time to do it....oh, excuse me...did I say that out loud?

Come on, that scene that they TRIED to depict was hilarious, but at LEAST take the time to depict it correctly...

More Bugged Thoughts next week...

Another great idea tanks...Peerflix closes up shop

Online DVD trading site Peerflix sent out the following notice to it's members yesterday:

Dear Peerflix Member,

Effective April 23, 2008 Peerflix is discontinuing the Marketplace and DVD buy/sell/trade portions of Peerflix.com. While the Peerflix.com web site will be available beyond April 23, 2008, you will no longer be able to buy, sell, send or receive DVDs on Peerflix as of that date. While we have made considerable investments in our marketplace platform over the past four years, unfortunately the escalating costs of operating the marketplace do not make that business viable at this juncture. As we move out of the DVD marketplace business, we are focusing our energy and resources on building the Peerflix Media Network which is now the web's fastest growing vertical movie network.

The Peersafe Protection Program will also be terminating effective April 23, 2008 meaning that you will no longer be able to make any Peersafe claims starting April 23, 2008. So, if you have DVDs that you have been holding on to but were planning to send at some point, now's the time! If your Trade Cash account balance is greater than $10 and you would like to cash out your remaining Trade Cash balance, you must do so before April 30, 2008. To request a cash out of your Trade Cash, please log in to Peerflix.com and click "My Account" in the upper right corner, then click the "My Cash" tab and then click on the "Request Cashout" button and follow the indicated steps. As of April 30, 2008 you will no longer be able to request any Trade Cash payments from Peerflix and your Trade Cash will immediately expire and be forfeited. All cash out requests remain subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Peerflix Service Policies and will be charged a $10 processing fee.

In addition to Peerflix.com, please also check out our other movie related web properties TheMovieBlog and Peliki.com.

Thanks!

The Peerflix Team

It's a shame, as Peerflix was a great service, and enabled people to find DVD's that were otherwise difficult to track down.

We've had Peerflix as a click sponsor almost from day one, so it's especially sad to see it go. Here's hoping another company steps up to the plate and continues the Peerflix tradition.

A NOT So subtle reminder...

...that the winner for BOTH The Poppy and the  Rosie for 2007 Best Picture (among other awards from the Poppies and Rosies), Wristcutters:A Love Story, hits DVD Tomorrow...heh heh heh...

If there's one movie that you MUST see from last year, it's this one...it's off-beat, witty, charming, and down-and-out HILARIOUS in places, and I guarantee you will NEVER forget it.

You can order it from the link above, or Netflix it IF YOU MUST (it's worth owning, not just renting...), but please, if you haven't see it yet, SEE IT NOW!

Subject:CINEMA #104 - "Rabbits Out Of Hats - Magic In The Movies!"

This week, Kim and TC take a look at Magic in the movies!

Plus, This week's Callback, we catch up on our e-mail, we take a look at Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Vertigo, and we launch this season's coverage of Dancing With The Stars!

THIS WEEKS NOTES:

It's been a BEAR trying to keep things up the last several weeks - with work being crazy, and our PNR/IFS schedule getting tighter and tighter, it's hard to keep things updated, but don't give up on us - work always continues!

I did manage to catch up our movie ratings in the ListZone this morning, and also debuted the Resolution Revolution list - scores will appear from our Resolution movies as we see them. As you can see, i'm still up on Kim 2-0 so far, and Casablanca and Citizen Kane, along with three of the four Universal monster movie collection, are here and just waiting to be watched...

A quick correction - in our discussion of the classic Hitchcock film Vertigo, I inadvertently gave the incorrect year of release as 1962; I apologize for the error - it was released in 1958.

We also ran short this week, by almost 20 minutes; we had a couple of other items that we pushed back because Kim was getting ready for Easter Vigil at her church; we'll be back to our normal length (or longer...you KNOW how we are, heh heh heh) next week.

On the schedule for this week - i've got a TON of screeners to catch up on for IFS, we are taking in SpineTingler: The William Castle Story at the Boston Underground Film Festival later today, we are hoping to get to Stephen Chow's new movie, CJ7, as well as David Gordon Green's new movie Snow Angels (starring PNR 2006 Rising Stars Michael Angarano and Connor Paolo) and Friday night's opening of 21, as the week goes on. We are skipping this week's Chlotrudis EyeOpener, Chop Shop, not because we don't want to see it (I actually do want to see it rather badly), but because Kim didn't get back from Easter Vigil until just before 11 PM, and it would have been a bit of a short night for her if we had to get up earlier. So that movie will have to wait. And as if that's not enough, Kim has a rehearsal for the Chlotrudis Awards during the week after work one night...is it any wonder time is tight these days?

But in any case, we hope you enjoy this week's show on magic in the movies. And we wish everyone a happy and safe Easter holiday!

NEXT WEEK: PREHISTORICAL PARADIGM - Dinosaurs In The Movies! Be There. Aloha.

Subject:CINEMA #103 - "Return Of Scenes That Sizzle!"

This week, Kim and TC present some of their favorite Scenes - Fight scenes, Chase scenes, Scenes of Outrageous Behavior, and Entrances!

Plus: This week's Callback, the double Bonehead (well, one's an Anti-bonehead) and the final National Amusements' Kung Fu Flix!

NEXT WEEK: Rabbits Out Of Hats - Magic In The Movies!

Subject:CINEMA #102 - "Double Vision:Twins On Screen"

This week, Kim and TC Look at twins in the movies!

This week's show also includes coverage of National Amusements' Kung Fu Flix series, and complete reviews for Brand Upon The Brain, Roland Emmerich's new epic 10,000 BC, and Gus Van Sant's latest, Paranoid Park!

THIS WEEKS' NOTES:

Thanks to everyone for being patient with me - I had so many problems during my vacation last week - cable went out (it's still out), computer problems, migraine headaches for two days, and all kinds of hell - but we got it here!

Check out the show for the revised schedule! Thanks to everyone who wrote to see what was happening - it was appreciated!

Next Week - Return Of Scenes That Sizzle!

No S:C this Sunday

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we will not have a show this Sunday, March 9.

Our next show, "Double Vision:Twins On Screen" will be available as our Thursday extra show this week, on March 13th. The scheduled Thursday show, "Prehistoric Paradigm" has been bumped to a later date to be announced.

Sorry for the delay - it's nothing serious, we are just running behind on things this weekend due to the rainstorm.

Thanks for your patience!

TC

DON'T FORGET: SXSW going on starting this weekend!

Don't forget that the spring's biggest filmfest, South By Southwest in Austin Texas, gets underway this weekend. IndieFilmSpotlight's Larry Richman is in Austin and will be bringing you regular updates on our sister site at http://indiefilmspotlight.com throughout the festival!

Larry's already posted a TON of SXSW news and there's plenty more of that to follow i'm sure! Be sure to check it out!

Indie Eye Awards - Voting is Open NOW!

The Indie Eye Awards are now open for voting - readers can vote in the Audience Award Catagory for favorite non-fiction film of 2007. I highly encourage you to vote for this award, because there are some stellar nominees, including our favorite Doc of 2007, The King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters.

Voting is free, of course, so click on the graphic above and go vote!   

Subject:CINEMA #101 - "CityScapes: Hits From The Hub!"

This week, we launch our new recurring "CityScapes" series looking at individual cities and how they've been seen and portrayed in the movies. We're starting with our own backyard, so it's time for a look at Beantown in the movies!

This week's show also includes the usual antics - E-mail, Bonehead Of The Week, the Callback, and coverage of National Amusements' Kung Fu Flix series!

THIS WEEKS' NOTES:

As promised, Rob Collier's voicemail for our 100th show is between segments one and two - thanks Rob for your support over the last two years, and for such a great voice mail!

Next Week - DOUBLE VISION: Twins On Screen!