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Monday, June 30, 2008

'QUANTUM OF SOLACE' TEASER

We love this new teaser for the upcoming Bond adventure "Quantum of Solace." It's filled with typical Bond trappings like kick-butt action, hot women, fast cars and exotic locales. You can also watch the trailer in High Definition on Moviefone. "Quantum of Solace" hits theaters on November 7th 2008.



Here's the official plot synopsis:

Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M (JUDI DENCH) interrogate Mr White (JESPER CHRISTENSEN) who reveals the organization which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.

Forensic intelligence links an Mi6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti where a case of mistaken identity introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille (OLGA KURYLENKO), a woman who has her own vendetta. Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene (MATHIEU AMALRIC), a ruthless business man and major force within the mysterious organization.

On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the world’s most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano (JOAQUIN COSIO). Using his associates in the organization, and manipulating his powerful contacts within the CIA and the British government, Greene promises to overthrow the existing regime in a Latin American country, giving the General control of the country in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of land.

In a minefield of treachery, murder and deceit, Bond allies with old friends in a battle to uncover the truth. As he gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of Vesper, 007 must keep one step ahead of the CIA, the terrorists and even M, to unravel Greene’s sinister plan and stop his organisation.




Saturday, June 28, 2008

BATTLE OF THE BATMANS (COOL VIDEO)

In Gotham City, there are four rogue Batmen running amok. This brilliant short film culls footage from all of the contemporary Batman films to produce this faux trailer about the Battle of the Batmen. Which one will reign supreme?




Friday, June 27, 2008

PETER TRAVERS' ROLLING STONE REVIEW FOR 'THE DARK KNIGHT'



***1/2 out of ****

Heads up: a thunderbolt is about to rip into the blanket of bland we call summer movies. The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan's absolute stunner of a follow-up to 2005's Batman Begins, is a potent provocation decked out as a comic-book movie. Feverish action? Check. Dazzling spectacle? Check. Devilish fun? Check. But Nolan is just warming up. There's something raw and elemental at work in this artfully imagined universe. Striking out from his Batman origin story, Nolan cuts through to a deeper dimension. Huh? Wha? How can a conflicted guy in a bat suit and a villain with a cracked, painted-on clown smile speak to the essentials of the human condition? Just hang on for a shock to the system. The Dark Knight creates a place where good and evil — expected to do battle — decide instead to get it on and dance. "I don't want to kill you," Heath Ledger's psycho Joker tells Christian Bale's stalwart Batman. "You complete me." Don't buy the tease. He means it.

Click HERE to read the rest of the story.



Thursday, June 26, 2008

HERE IT IS... FIRST 'DARK KNIGHT' REVIEW


Comes courtesy of Ain't it Cool News...

Scooper Tim Bisley compares the flick to "The Godfather, Part 2" and hints that the Joker's performance (via Heath Ledger) might be worthy of the best supporting Oscar. Perhaps... But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

Says Bisley:

“The film feels more like a crime drama in a grand city scape than a typical comic book movie. It feels like Heat except Batman is Al Pacino and The Joker is Robert De Niro and just like in that film we have a great scene between Heath Ledger and Christian Bale across a table. There is also an element of a Greek Tragedy.. There is a vast sense of morality at play within the film.”


“The Joker is almost more of a terrorist than criminal. He is not motivated by money. He wants to see people suffer.”


“The run time is two and a half hours. It doesn’t feel that long as there is so much going on within the film.”


You can read the full review HERE.


JASON BOURNE TO RETURN!


IESB reports that producer Frank Marshall recently revealed that he weill begin shooting a fourth Jason Bourne movie next Summer, for release in 2010.

Back in February, Universal announced the project, with director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon set to return. Marshall also confirmed that they'll probably be creating an original story for the fourth film, since author/creator Robert Ludlum wasn’t involved in the later books in the series.

Just where will this new adventure bring us? Marshall predicts that Bourne will journey to South America.


Tuesday, June 24, 2008

'GOTHAM TONIGHT' SPOTLIGHTS BRUCE WAYNE

You gotta admire Warner Bros. for their new viral campaign. Given the demise of the earlier Joker campaign, they sort of switched gears after the death of Heath Ledger opting to center on Gotham politico Harvey Dent with these extended "Gotham Tonight" news segments. This episode centers on the tragic life of billionaire Bruce Wayne.





WALK OF FAME INDUCTEES


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Cartoon character Tinkerbell, singer Shakira and "Iron Man" Robert Downey Jr. and actress Cameron Diaz were among a diverse group of 25 stars named on Thursday to join the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce said the celebrities will each get their star on its Walk of Fame next year, but the dates have not been announced.

The Walk of Fame is a stretch of sidewalk lining either side of Hollywood Boulevard on which celebrities in music, movies, television and other entertainment arenas have their names emblazoned in brass set into large, pink terrazzo stars.

To see who else will be honored, click HERE.


GUESS THE ACTRESS

Thanks to Just Jared for posting... Who is this famous, sorta A-list actress. Anyone know?


Click HERE to find out.


HERE WE GO AGAIN! ACTORS TO STRIKE!


To have one trade union paralyze Hollywood was strange; two doing it in quick succession feels like carelessness. A threatened walkout by actors, which could begin as early as next week, is throwing major film and television studios into chaos.

The contract dispute, this time between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and their white-collar bosses, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), is causing what industry experts have called a "virtual strike".

Production deadlines for dozens of major projects have been scrapped amid growing signs that the SAG, which has 120,000 members, will fail to resolve its dispute before a deadline for industrial action on Tuesday next week.

Most major film shoots are now either being put on hold, or wrapping-up early to avoid disruption.

"No one is doing anything that finishes after 30 June, and nobody's starting anything now," one lawyer representing actors told The Hollywood Reporter. "This is the impact of a strike already."

To read the rest of the piece, click HERE.


WHY GEORGE LUCAS SUCKS


How screwed is this??? The Lounge is VERY aware that there's an error message below. It's a prime example of how greedy George Lucas is. Yesterday, I was going to post the entry below. It hawked a fun little site that allowed you to replicate the opening CRAWL scene from the "Star Wars" flicks. I geared it towards a Hemingway novel and embeded it into the blog. It looked way cool.

Not two hours later, did George Lucas' stormtroopers shut down the site. Isn't it bad enough that as "Star Wars" fans we had to but the films like 30 times because of the way Lucasfilm manipulates his fans.

Instead of leaving the site up to perhaps promote his upcoming CGI "Clone Wars" film, the sith himself alienated the exact demographic for whom he has to thank for putting him in the position he's in today.

Thanks again, Lord Lucas... Lookin' forward to dropping a bundle on those remastered BLU-RAY "Star Wars" discs!!

_________________________________________________

We love this. Star Wars Crawl.com allows fans to create their own custom Star Wars opening crawl. It’s simple, fun and awesome. How long before George Lucas wants to change an arm and a leg for this?? Create your own HERE.





Monday, June 23, 2008

TOO TOO FUNNY...


Many thanks to The Sun for first posting this... Childish, yes. Crude? Absolutely. Hilarious? Without a doubt. For those not-in-the-know, it's a defaced billboard for the upcoming Will Smith actioner "Hancock."


IS GOOGLE MAKING US STUPID?


On my ride into work this morning, writer Nicholas Carr was on the radio, hyping his new article for The Atlantic. He concludes that in this ever-expanding online world, Google is, indeed, making us all stupid.

He writes in the piece:

I’m not the only one. When I mention my troubles with reading to friends and acquaintances—literary types, most of them—many say they’re having similar experiences. The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing. Some of the bloggers I follow have also begun mentioning the phenomenon. Scott Karp, who writes a blog about online media, recently confessed that he has stopped reading books altogether. “I was a lit major in college, and used to be [a] voracious book reader,” he wrote. “What happened?” He speculates on the answer: “What if I do all my reading on the web not so much because the way I read has changed, i.e. I’m just seeking convenience, but because the way I THINK has changed?”


To read the entire article, click HERE.


Sunday, June 22, 2008

BALE INTERVIEWED IN DETAILS


Enjoy this telling excerpt from a great Q&A with "Dark Knight" actor Christian Bale from this months Details magazine. It's a great read since Bale is perhaps one of the most easygoing and laid back actors in Hollywood.

When was the last time you were mistaken for someone else?

BALE: Yesterday afternoon I was sitting somewhere and somebody started chatting. They said they were an agent, and they asked what I do, and I said, "I'm an actor." And they said, "Oh, how's that going for you?" I said, "I think it's all right." And they said, do I have an agent?

"Yes, I have an agent."

"Well, if you ever need any help getting work, give me a call."

So I said, "Thanks very much." I think the best one ever was when a casting director saw me in a hotel lobby and practically ran at me, holding a script: "Thank god I've finally found you! We have this movie that you're perfect for, and this is an amazing coincidence. The director and producer are not going to believe it, that I just bumped into you! We've been talking about how perfect you are for this role for so long! Finally, I met Christian Slater."

"Christian Bale."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, 'Christian Bale.'"

And she went, "Oh, I'm sorry," took the script, and walked away.

To read the entire interview, click HERE.


WHAT IF...

... the kick booty actioner "300" was made with lightsabers?? Gotta love digital filmmaking and the advent of YouTube. Enjoy.





Friday, June 20, 2008

FERRIS BUELLER - THE THRILLER!

Big props to Slashfilm for posting this utterly hilarious video that proves that creative editing coupled with spooky music can generate an entirely different mood. Enjoy!




Wednesday, June 18, 2008

TOO GOOD NOT TO HAPPEN

AN UPDATE:

Film School Rejects just received word personally from actor Tom Jane regarding the origins of the artwork below and his involvement (or lack therof) in the DC Comics adaptation Jonah Hex.
"Yeah, the pic is real all right – my pal [writer/producer] Akiva Goldsman told me about the project and I fell in love with the idea right away. Being a huge fan of all things Hex – I just couldn’t help myself. I called up my buddy Chris Nelson and we spent a Saturday afternoon working up some make-up for this impromptu shoot and I fired a few pics off to Warners. How do people get a hold of this shit? It’s a little embarrassing seeing my fanboy enthusiasm spilled all over the web, but great scripts don’t come around too often, especially for characters I love."

________________________________________________


FilmSchoolRejects posted a concept pic of actor Thomas Jane as comic book hero Jonah Hex in Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor’s announced adaptation of the famed DC book of the same name.

Granted, this photo and Jane’s casting have not been officially (or even unofficially) confirmed, it still seems right on the money. For those who have seen Jane in "The Punisher," it's obvious he has the tough guy chops.

Created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga, Jonah Hex is a former Confederate officer turned gun-slinging bounty hunter anti-hero whose face was horrifically scarred on his right side. The comic book, which was introduced in the 1970’s, and Neveldine/Taylor have said that they don’t plan on “making a straight-ahead Western but plan to develop the character with some of the supernatural overtones in the hopes of creating a franchise.”


Tuesday, June 17, 2008

THIS DOG HAS BALLS...

...Either that or a clear head. We'd like to think that if Papa H ever owned a pooch, he'd be something like this little crackerjack. 'Lil bastard ain't afraid of anything it seems. Watch and enjoy.


Dog Nearly Gets Struck By Lightning - Watch more free videos

TWO FACE VIDEO CLIP


LOTS of viral action online action today (which also started this weekend) in regards to the "The Dark Knight." The new material includes most importantly some new viral video which technically is the first new offical "clip" from the film. That said, it actually isn't new at all - it first aired at Wizard World in Chicago last year. However, it DOES give our first glimpse at the villain Two-Face (albeit, from behind. Check it out below or at either here in flash or click here for an HD version.

Monday, June 16, 2008

WHAT IF THE HULK WAS A LOUNGE SINGER?

Big effin' props to my arteeest buddy Adam Gustavson and blogger Adam Rex who actually posted this. Me being the casino junkie, I just had to duplicate. Hemingway's Lounge poses the question: Just what if Marvel's big green fightin' machine chucked it all and headed for the Queen of Resorts to take up lounge singing? Just what if...

OUR NEW BLOG: BUKOWSKI'S BASEMENT


Check out our new blog, Bukowski's Basement (which has been under construction for about a week or so).

Think of our new subterranean dwelling as the red headed stepchild of Hemingway's Lounge. Over there, we'll showcase some of our grittier creative writing posts that seemed a little out of place on Papa H's blog. We'll also be exploring the writings of some of our skid row luminaries. There will also be musings, videos, amazing podcasts (on the right rail), book reviews and the like.

So pour yourself some cheap hooch and settle in because we're here to celebrate all things wondrous in the gin-soaked literary landscape of Chuck Buk, Jack Kerouac, Tom Waits and Raymond Carver.

Click HERE to check it out.

BAD BUZZ?? NO PROBLEM!


Spout takes a look at 10 movies that overcame Bad Buzz. While I don't agree with some of the entrants on author Christopher Campbell's list, it does prove screenwriter William Goldman's old adage: "In Hollywood, nobody knows anything..." As for the first film? Cameron's vanity project and the film that made Leo a household name - "Titanic" takes the top stop.

10 Movies That Overcame Bad Buzz

Two big movies arrive in theaters this week, The Incredible Hulk and The Happening, and each has had its share of bad buzz. From what I can tell, though, the former is recuperating quite nicely with mostly favorable early reviews. And it’s sure to gross in the hundreds of millions, just like its big brother, Ang Lee’s Hulk, did a few years back. The latter, however, is still struggling through the muck, with writer-director M. Night Shyamalan doing everything he can to assure us that his film is merely a B-movie and shouldn’t be the victim of high expectations.

Click HERE to read the rest of the piece.

DARABONT'S 'INDY' SCRIPT LEAKED


The horror! Cybergeeks and fanboys thought it would never happen but alas, two reviews are up of the Frank Darabont version of the "Indiana Jones IV" script which leaked online last week.

The basic gist is that they all the complained about silly stuff (fridge, monkeys, mothership) that's still in there, but the rest is of better quality - especially Marion's character. Check the reviews here and here.

Friday, June 13, 2008

R.I.P: NBC's Tim Russert Dead At 58


The New York Times is reporting that NBC Senior Vice President and Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert has died from an apparent heart attack. The are citing family reports. He was 58-years-old.

According to the MSNBC biography on Russert, he was the Managing Editor and Moderator of "Meet the Press" and political analyst for "NBC Nightly News" and the "TODAY" program. He anchors "The Tim Russert Show," a weekly interview program on MSNBC. Russert also serves as senior vice president and Washington bureau chief of NBC News.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

PRISSY TV REPORTER GOES ALL GHETTO

Leave it to our bloggin' buddy at Sand and Cotton to find the funniest shit online - so much so that I had to share. Check out what happens when this prim and proper reporter eats and bug and gets all ghetto. Simple but hilarious.


http://view.break.com/516661 - Watch more free videos

IT'S OFFICIAL: SHYAMALAN'S A HACK


Back in the '90s, M. Night Shyamalan sucker-punched the movie-going public with "The Sixth Sense." It was a creepy throwback ghost story that reminded us that scary doesn't need to be gore and slash. It was reminiscent of "The Twilight Zone" and with that surprise ending, an A-lister was born.

His follow-up, "Unbreakable," was actually a damn good movie but sadly, came out way before its time. With current fanboy mania and the blogs it produces, there's no doubt in my mind that if it was marketed today as a bonafide comic book movie, it would do boffo biz. Instead, the Mouse House decided to make it look like another creepy "Sixth Sense" knock off. Not the case. But let it be known: that was his last good film.


What he's managed to do is successfully pull the wool over audiences, tricking them into thinking he's a better director than he actually is. It doesn't help matters that he's a raging egomaniac and has an extremely high opinion of himself and his work. He thinks he's Hitchcock. At this point, he's more like Corman.

"Signs" was a joke that had one good money shot in it as well as A-lister Mel Gibson. I wanted to throw my popcorn at the screen after the dopey reveal in "The Village." As for his ill-conceived fairy tale "The Lady in the Water"? I can't even get through it. It's THAT dreadful.

So, for "The Happening," the director has gone back to basics of scaring people. But I think it's pretty sad that his studio is marketing this film as "M. Night's first R-rated film" What the hell does THAT have to do with the price of tea in China?

In any case, the reviews are starting to trickle in for "The Happening" and they ain't good. Garth at Dark Horizons says:

"The Happening" in many ways is a make or break film for the man. It's a return to the paranoia thriller genre that gave us "Signs", his familiar set up of a broken nuclear family being brought back together by a Twilight Zone-esque experience, and yet another homage to one of his mentor Hitchcock's most famous works - in this case "The Birds". It doesn't work. In fact, excluding a few moments of chilling effectiveness, this could fairly be called his worst film yet.


To read the entire review, click HERE.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

WILL 'HULK' BE INCREDIBLE?


Dark Horizons has long been a maverick film news and buzz web site and its webmaster Garth Franklin is often on the money with his reviews. Here is a brief excerpt of his take on this Friday's "The Incredible Hulk."

Not the home run that they hit the first time around with "Iron Man", this second effort of the new Marvel Studios is good enough that it fixes some of the key problems brought up by Ang Lee's generally dismissed first attempt at adapting Hulk for the big screen.

Despite a lot of outright hostility towards it these days, the 2003 "Hulk" remains a textbook example of a noble failure. Superhero movies are like the James Bond franchise - variations on the same formula. Those that truly succeed push the boundaries, but also stick to and make best use of certain pre-set structural rules. Lee's "Hulk" abandoned them altogether, crafting an odd blend of morose 'Jekyll and Hyde' melodrama and ridiculously flamboyant action-fantasy antics. Visually it was bold, even innovative, but in terms of storytelling it was a fascinating jumbled mess - distant, bloated, ambitious, arty and often impenetrable.

In contrast Louis Letterier and Edward Norton's new incarnation of the green meanie has no such lofty ideals or hidden depths. This 'Hulk' is designed purely for fast, formulaic mainstream thrills by mixing a chase thriller across the Americas with a few key set pieces of Hulk smashing up things. It's derivative to be sure, various scenes cribbing off better efforts of the genre along with other recent hits, but the script balances its disparate elements enough to likely satisfy fans.

To read the rest of the review, click HERE.

Monday, June 9, 2008

STEVEN SEAGAL is 'COCKPUNCHER' !!

Ok, I know this is stupid... Maybe why that's why I find it hilarious. Thanks to The Onion.

HILARIOUS POLITICAL VID

While I'm never one for political posts or pontificating about the upcoming presidential election, this hilarious video (courtesy of Slate) is one of the best (and most informative) viral vids I've seen in a while. It's seven minutes so get some joe and enjoy ...

THE TOP 20 FILMS THAT MAKE MEN CRY


Via The Sporting News

We've come to it my friends. You knew this list was coming. You wished it wouldn't, but it is time. I feel that we've begun to share a report with each other, the Blawger and the Blawgee, so we can now share a little of ourselves, or at least, I hope we've come to that point.

There's nothing worse than being ahead in any relationship. As George Costanza would tell you, when you get ahead in any relationship you lose "hand." Some have never had "hand." I've been lucky to have it a couple of times, and I don't want to lose it here.

I do want to say that this list was originally supposed to be ten films, but I had to supersize it, because I kept on thinking about more movies. I even had to leave a few off the list, and it's frakking 20 films long! So I'm sorry Spartacus, you didn't make the cut, but I will always be Spartacus!

To see the list click HERE.

TONY STARK IN 'HULK' TRAILER!

Shameless marketing or just simple continuity in the Marvel universe? Hmmm, being that "Iron Man" is the first true blockbuster of the summer and has overperformed in just about every market, is there any wonder that Marvel Studios is looking to build upon that hype by putting Stark's mug right up front? Good call. I love it and want more...

Friday, June 6, 2008

'FLEMING' SCRIPT REVIEW

Last week, we told you about Leo DiCaprio starring in the Ian Fleming film biopic. Now, check out this mixed script review for "Fleming." Click HERE.

JIM HENSON: VISIONARY

In this awesome video from 1982, "Muppets" creator Jim Henson speaks candidly about how high definition video is the future of both Filmmaking and Cable Television and how the masses will eventually have widescreen televisions in their homes. Mind you, folks, this was 1982 - THE VCR wasn't really even a factor in homes yet. That's a visionary...

'BOARDWALK EMPIRE': ATLANTIC CITY COMES TO HBO


Call it "Deadwood" on the Boardwalk.

"The Sopranos" top scribe Terence Winter will explore Atlantic City's seedy underbelly the dark for Martin Scorsese. He'll be writing the director's new HBO project "Boardwalk Empire," which will be produced by Entourage honchos Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson.

The project will be based on on Nelson Johnson's book "Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City," which revolves around the now-gambling mecca's early 20th century origins, according to Variety.

Winter sounds just like the guy to capture the boardwalk's grittiness. He rose up through the ranks on "The Sopranos" to exec producer and eventually helmed episodes of the hit drama -- which, like "Boardwalk Empire," took place in the Garden State. He recently scored the WGA nod for drama series episode, for the "Sopranos" episode "The Second Coming."

"HBO's been my home for nine years," he said. "From day one I've never been happier working for any network or group of people. They presented me with the ("Boardwalk Empire") book and said they thought a series was there -- go find it."

Winter has also been busy on two different film projects for Scorsese: the adaptation of "The Wolf of Wall Street" at Warner Bros. and rock 'n' roll epic "The Long Play."

EDWARD NORTON LOSES WGA CREDIT


Doesn't it seem that every project Edward Norton is involved with ends in some sort of arbitration?

IESB reports that screenwriter Zak Penn is receiving sole credit for the upcoming "Incredible Hulk."

Edward Norton's name or his pen name (Edward Harrison) for that matter is nowhere to be found as a writer in the final credits. As it stands, "Screen story and Screenplay" is solely credited to Zak Penn. Although word on the grapevine is that Norton rewrote Penn's draft of the script.

Those who read it say it was amazing. IESB contacted Zak Penn's office to ask about the credit and they confirmed Penn will be receiving sole writing credit on the film.

Universal reps are saying, "WGA determined the writing credit not Zak or Edward or Universal or Marvel. WGA always determines final writing credit for our films right before the film comes out. Up until that time, we include the writers on the project to date."

IESB's call to the WGA got this response, "Zak Penn is receiving sole credit for story and screenplay."

Apparently, there was arbitration, which is quite common since two screenwriters were listed. The WGA sided with Zak Penn.

The Oscar-nominated actor has a reputation for being difficult. Tony Kaye, who directed him in “American History X,” charged Norton re-edited the flick to give himself more screen time. And screenwriter/director Joe Eszterhas once cracked: “You don’t want Edward Norton to star in your movie. He now rewrites all the scripts he agrees to act in.”

Thursday, June 5, 2008

WATCH OUT IPHONE...

... Google's Android has you in it's crosshairs. Check out this hot new phone. Wonder who will carry it?

R.I.P. - A PIECE OF AMERICANA


CONFIRMED... The recent Universal fire was declared an accident due to workers using blowtorches. The park says that it will NOT be rebuilt but replaced with “a new, compelling guest experience.” A shame...

The 7-ton, 30 foot-tall Kong figure was the largest and most complex animatronic figure in existence for many years. When it opened on June 14, 1986, its sophistication broke new ground, and paved the way for the most complex of today's themed attractions. A second more elaborate ride was constructed at Orlando's Universal park in 1990. It was called "Kongfrontation" and closed down in 2002.

Kong was part of the park's famous Studio Tour, which lasts about 45 minutes. It's led by a tour guide (seen throughout the tram on a video screen) and travels through the Front Lot, Backlot and various attractions. Along the way are sets and props from many famous movies and is the signature attraction at the Universal Studios Hollywood. Unlike many other theme park studio tours, this one goes into the heart of a busy, working movie studio.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

THE 100 BEST MOVIE POSTERS


... According to Tccandler.com, that is. But it's an interesting list. I always said never to underestimate the power of a kick-ass one-sheet. In my opinion, nothing can get someone more stoked for a film than a striking image.

Originally, film posters were produced for the exclusive use of the theatres exhibiting the film the poster was created for, and the posters were required to be returned to the distributor after the film left the theatre. In the United States, posters were usually returned to a nation-wide operation called the National Screen Service (NSS) which printed and distributed most of the film posters for the studios between 1940 and 1984. As an economy measure, the NSS regularly recycled posters that were returned, sending them back out to be used again at another theatre. During this time, a film could stay in circulation for several years, and so many old film posters were badly worn before being retired into storage at an NSS warehouse (most often, they were thrown away when they were no longer needed or had become too worn to be used again). Those posters which were not returned were often thrown away by the theatre owner, but some film posters found their way into the hands of collectors.

Beginning in the 1980s, the film studios began taking over direct production and distribution of their posters from the National Screen Service and the process of making and distributing film posters became decentralised. Today, film posters are generally produced in much larger quantities than necessary to promote a film at the theatres, because they are also sold directly to the public by retailers who purchase them at wholesale prices from the studio distributors. Modern film posters are also often sold from websites set up by the studio to promote a given film. Because of this, modern posters are not considered rare, and are usually readily available for purchase by collectors.

TRIVIA: The 1932 Mummy 3-sheet poster, of which only 1 copy is known to exist, is considered to be the most valuable film poster in the world.

Click HERE to see the list.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

HOW AWEOME ...

... is this new "Dark Knight" trailer?????