The To-Do List: 6/20/09

Some of you probably already know, but I'm going through some rough stuff right now. I won't go into detail on it, just saying that if my posts are a little more sour than usual then that's probably why. The fact remains that movies have always been my escape hatch, so to speak. They've gotten me through a lot of rough patches, and I'll be relying on them to do the same now. That includes writing on this site, which I enjoy more than I ever thought imaginable, a lot of that thanks to our ever growing group of readers(thanks!!) and my brotha from anotha motha, John. While I'm thinking about it, I'd also like to introduce my friend Shevonne, otherwise known as DC Femella, who will be joining us as a writer. She brings a wealth of writing experience as well as a ridiculous knowledge of anime and cinema. So I hope everyone welcomes her aboard! Anyway, despite all that's going on, Hollywood never sleeps and neither do I.



So I actually went to see Year One yesterday, as it was a film I had something of a morbid fascination with. I knew from the trailers that this thing would be a disaster, but I wanted to know just how big of a disaster it would be. I'll withold my final criticism until my review. Year One stars Michael Cera and Jack Black as two cavemen on a mission to rescue the women they love from slavery. Sounds like fun!! The ads are billing this thing as a sort of prehistoric road trip movie. I think it aspires to be a stone age Superbad.



It's been 35 years since Francis Ford Coppola directed one of his own scripts. The legendary director's new film, Tetro, is the director's most personal yet. Tetro is the story of a family of talented but competitive artists, who's personal and creative differences have been ripping them apart for years. Coppola chose the controversial Vincent Gallo(Buffalo 66) to take on the lead role. This is a movie I've been looking forward to a long time, despite rumors of trouble on the set and script changes hurting production. I don't care. It's Coppola. That means count me in. Right now Tetro is only playing at the Landmark E Street theatre in D.C., but if it does well hopefully it will expand to more sites.



I'm a little weary of Food Inc., the controversial documentary about food production in the United States. The reason I'm weary is because I saw the film, Fast Food Nation, which this film is loosely based on. That film, while a work of fiction I believe, still covered a lot of the same ground this movie does. Also, I couldn't bring myself to eat a hamburger for literally months after watching it, thanks to the awful footage of the slaughter of cows and all that mess. I went to Wendy's a few days later and almost threw up at the site of a junior bacon cheeseburger. Not a joke. I got over that(oh, did I ever!), but I'm not sure I want to look that deep into the subject of where my food comes from. This one's a maybe. Food Inc. is also playing at Landmark E Street Cinema.

Also:

This Sunday I'll be joining the Metro DC Movie Fans Meetup(of which we will soon be a sponsor. I'm already an organizer for them) to see the Sam Mendes dramedy, Away We Go. We'll be at Landmark for this one, so if you're in the area why not come and join us? I'm hearing mixed things about this movie, but the meetups are always fun.

How sad is it that Woody Allen can't get a wide theatrical release anymore? His new film, Whatever Works, stars Larry David in the usual Allen role of an older neurotic guy who falls for a younger hot chick(Evan Rachel Wood). Hopefully this will come our way soon because I love Larry David, and Woody Allen still has moments of brilliance.