I have to admit when I heard that a third Mission Impossible film was in the works, I was less than eager to see the result. Now, however, as I’ve seen the trailer and learned that Phillip Seymour Hoffman is playing the antagonist, I’m much more excited about the project. PSH is (or was) one of the more under-rated actors in Hollywood and to see him play a bad guy is really exciting to me. I wish that more great actors would play the villain in films (I think Jodi Foster would make an excellent villain and she seems less than good in her upcoming film, “Inside Man”). Now that he has won an Oscar for best actor, this should also increase the box office numbers for the film.

     And check out the rest of this cast: Ving Rhames, Michelle Monaghan, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Laurence Fishburne and Billy Crudup. Add to this JJ Abrams (of “Lost” fame) directorial debut and we have ourselves some real potential. Should be a good, fun, summer popcorn flick. Much better than the trash that was MI:2.

     Anyway, a new, small featurette has been released by Paramount with a couple of short interviews with Tom Cruise and PSH. I’ve provided the links below. It’s nothing overly special, just a couple cool things about the film. There’s also a couple of other small making-of, interview featurettes over at the main site. Enjoy.

Featurette:

	LARGE
	MEDium
	small

	LARGE
	MEDium
	small

Trailer:

OR

- Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com

     Anyone into internet buzz about films has heard of the upcoming film, “Snakes on a Plane.” I know, it sounds dumb. Well, now we know it looks dumb too. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, the trailer has finally hit the web. I now bestow upon you the link to said film:

Snakes on a Plane trailer HERE!

It looks so dumb that I bet it’s gonna be great. I can’t wait to see this. Ha!

HERE’S the IMDb page with all the cast and crew info too. Have fun!

- Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com

I‘ve been keeping close tabs on the legal downloading of movies lately and it has just been announced that Apple has the first downloadable feature length film on their iTunes program. I’ve yet to find the movie there myself, but here are excerpts from the March 15th article in the Washington Post:

     Apple took the first step today by making the Disney Channel original film “High School Musical” (the 99-minute file weighs in at 487 megabytes.) available for a $9.99 download price. The made-for-TV movie is already widely popular among the “tween” set.

     ”High School Musical” will be released on DVD in a few months, Hobson said, but she doesn’t think that will interfere with the iTunes distribution.

read the entire article here

-Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com

     Ebert and Roeper last week just raved about Michael Keaton’s new film, “Game 6,” saying it was the first Oscar worthy performance of 2006. Unfortunately, I can’t find it playing in my city and according to the website, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be playing here anytime soon. Pity.

     I’ve said for many years that Michael Keaton is one of the most under-rated actors in Hollywood today; from his performances in “Beetlejuice” and “Batman,” to more remarkable films like “My Life” and “Live from Baghdad” (for which he won a Golden Globe). He was also over looked by the academy for his multiple role performance in “Multiplicity.”

     But now Ebert and Roeper praise this new role and film as the best of 2006 so far. Yet I go to Rotten Tomatoes and it’s only at about 40% fresh (as of today, and only about 15 reviews). That’s odd. Anyway, I’m very excited to see this film. I think the trailer looks, at the very least, interesting and a role worthy of Keaton. It’s all about this playwright (Keaton) who’s life seems to be falling apart, but baseball, specifically the Red Sox world series hopes may just be the one thing to bring him back from his depression. It’s too bad I may have to wait for the rental or travel to another state to see it. We’ll have to wait and see.

Other actors involved in the project:
Robert Downey jr (likely my favorite actor of all time)
Bebe Neuwirth (Lilith form “Cheers!”)
Griffin Dunne
Shalom Harlow
Catherine O’Hara

Related Links
Official Site
The Trailer
Full cast and crew at IMDB

-Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

     Movie Patron is now available as an RSS feed for you to subscribe to and add to your favorite news reader (I prefer Google, but whatever you want will work!) You’ll be notified in up to the minute time of new reviews, top ten lists, movie related stories, podcasts and more!

     Just click on the scrolling banner below to subscribe using any of the readers you choose. Thanks again for stopping by! Now Movie Patron is even easier to check out.

     For more information about RSS and how it works, click here.

-Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com

     Okay, this has actually been out for a while now, but I just got around to seeing it today. I thought the first X-Men movie was okay; and the second, I was very entertained by. This third one, “X-Men 3: The Last Stand, now that I’ve seen the trailer, looks very promising. I’m kind of excited now to see this; even though comic book movies are by far my least favorite genre (if you can call it a genre - plus Superman Returns looks really good too) of films. Great cast (I love the addition of Kelsey Grammer as Beast). Looks like lots of great action and effects. One summer blockbuster I’m really looking forward to for sure.

Check out the trailer HERE.
See the full cast and crew HERE.

-Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com

To those of you who don’t know what the Razzies are, they are the equivalent of the Oscars but for worst performances instead of best of.

And the winners are…

Worst Picture:
Dirty Love

Worst Actor:
Rob Schneider
(Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo)

Worst Actress:
Jenny McCarthy
(Dirty Love)

Worst Supporting Actor:
Hayden Christensen
(Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith)

Worst Supporting Actress:
Paris Hilton
(House Of Whacks)

Worst Screen Couple:
Will Ferrell & Nicole Kidman
(Bewitched)

Worst Remake Or Sequel:
Son Of The Mask

Worst Screenplay:
Dirty Love, Written by Jenny McCarthy

Worst Director:
John Asher
(Dirty Love)

Most Tiresome Tabloid Targets:
(New Category, Saluting the Celebs We’re ALL Sick & Tired Of!)
Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Oprah Winfrey’s Couch,
The Eiffel Tower & “Tom’s Baby”

Razzie Home
Press Release

-Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com

     I loved “Pitch Black.” I thought it was a great sci-fi/horror story that was well told with fascinating characters; especially Riddick (played by Vin Diesel). So when Chronicles of Riddick was realesed in 2004, I was excited to see more from this great character. I have to admit though, I was a little let down. Now, I found more interesting news about further adventures from one of my favorite villain/hero characters of all time.

From movieweb:
     Today at the press day for Vin Diesel’s new film, Find Me Guilty (which actually looks really good), the actor spilled the beans about the continuation of the Chronicles of Riddick series.

     “I haven’t…right before I did Riddick, I would look inside the mirror and see two blue eyes staring back at me; I haven’t seen that for a while. But, it’s coming. It took me five years to make The Chronicles of Riddick and I’m very precious about it and it went through many, many writers. Hopefully, it won’t take five years to make this one, but when I was in the process of creating this mythology for Chronicles of Riddick, the idea was to create a trilogy that would start at the end of Pitch Black in the same way that Lord of the Rings is a trilogy that starts at the end essentially of The Hobbit. So I wanted Pitch Black to be The Hobbit of The Chronicles of Riddick; I wrote a storyline that covers three pictures so where Riddick goes in the next two pictures is already mapped out. It’s not in script form, but it is all being all developed and it all is going to resurface when you least expect it.”

I love the character; I hope there’s a better story than his last outing.

-Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com

     So there you have it, Oscars 2006 ends with a shocking upset: Jack Nicholson announces “Crash” as best picture of the year and surprisingly beats out “Brokeback Mountain.” Let me be the first (actually about the 153rd) person on the net to say, “hell…YES!” I was so excited when I saw that. It cost me 10 points on my Oscar ballot, but I do not care. Brokeback Mountain is quite possibly the most overrated film of all time and Crash was #2 on my best films of the year list (behind Cinderella Man). So again, CRASH wins big at the Oscars and I am ecstatic!

     My other hope for a big upset didn’t come true as Rachel Wiesz steals the award to the FAR more deserving Amy Adams (”Junebug”). Not really a shocker though.

     I had three absolute locks: Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Picture. I guess one of them wasn’t a lock. I was very saddened to see Paul Giamatti snubbed again in the supporting actor category. Not a huge shock though as George Clooney is Hollywood’s crusading hero and he did a good job in Syriana.

     The rest of the show was, well….pretty dull I have to say. No huge surprises. No major foul-ups on stage. Although Jennifer Garner did almost fall flat on her face after tripping on her gown. Jon Stewart was fine. Nothing really special, but he was decent. I think they should choose someone new next year though. He just doesn’t have the energy or spark that a Billy Crystal or a Steve Martin has. He was good at coming up with pretty good one liners on the spot though. Some improv experience is always a good talent to have at the Oscars.

     If I remember correctly, last year they made a few of the “less important” winners give their speeches from the their seat in the theater to save time. They also had all the nominees already on stage for some of the categories so as to save the time of them walking up to the stage. They got rid of that garbage this year but added a new twist. They play crappy music over the person giving their acceptance speech. What the crap is that!? Let them speak for God sake without noise in the background. They’ve worked their whole lives for this moment and you, the academy, feel it’s necessary to play a violin over their voice while they thank their dead grandmother? Show some respect for the love of everything good and holy.

     THEN: it’s the last speech of the night. The acceptance speech for best picture and THEY CUT THE LADY OFF BEFORE SHE’S DONE!!!? What!? You gave Reese Witherspoon almost 25 minutes to speak and you give the winner of the biggest award of the night maybe 3 minutes!? That really upset me and I think it was very disrespectful and disgusting. Again, show some respect. The show didn’t run over like in past years. In fact, it was a little early; but they have to sell mascara so cut off the speaker. Grrr.

     Nobody really cleaned house this year. There was no Titanic, no Gladiator, no Braveheart and no Lord of the Rings. The three big winners were “Brokeback Mountain,” “King Kong,” “Crash” and “Memoirs of a Geisha.” All receiving 3 awards.

     My acceptance speech: “I’d like to thank the host and hostess of my Oscar party. I had a good time (as always) and was filled to the brim with food, drink and merriment. And I was sent home with leftovers for my lunch on what is sure to be a very tired Monday. So thank you again. It means a lot. You know who you are.”

     Last couple things:
1) “Hard out Here for a Pimp” in my opinion was the deserving winner of best original song. I’ve already read, not an hour after the show ended, several people complaining about this win. The performance at the show was horrid I’ll agree; but when you see the song performed within the context of the film (plus how much better it was performed there) it will make much more sense. That scene in the film where they first put that song together makes the entire movie worth it. I don’t even like hip-hop and I think they chose the correct winner.
2) I’m still pissed about the following snubs:
- No “Star Wars III” nomination for best visual F/X and/or sound; and it doesn’t even win make-up over the goatboy from Narnia!? Did anyone from the academy even watch Star Wars III? Remember the emperor’s face as it melted from electricity? Remember Anakin Skywalker burnt to a crisp on the shores of the lava river? That wasn’t F/X people. THAT WAS MAKE-UP! AAAAAAGH!
- No nomination of “Walk the Line” for best picture? Ridiculous.
- “Sin City” should’ve been nominated for art direction.
- Where was “Pride & Prejudice” or “Memoirs of a Geisha” for best adapted screenplay? Please!
3) How creepy is Dolly Parton? She looks like a mannequin. One columnist recently wrote that “a Dolly Parton-Michael Jackson duet would shatter my HDTV tuner.”
4) Why was Don Knotts not mentioned in the year end tribute to deaths in Hollywood?

And now, because you can’t find it anywhere else on the net, here are all the results…

Stars indicate that I predicted the winner correctly in my “nominations announced” post (I got 11 right out of the 21 I predicted).
Winners in M.P. Maroon.

Best Picture
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
CRASH
CAPOTE
MUNICH

Actor in a Leading Role***
Philip Seymour Hoffman, CAPOTE
Heath Ledger, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Terrence Howard, HUSTLE AND FLOW
David Strathairn, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
Joaquin Phoenix, WALK THE LINE

Actress in a Leading Role***
Felicity Huffman, TRANSAMERICA
Charlize Theron, NORTH COUNTRY
Reese Witherspoon, WALK THE LINE
Keira Knightley, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Judi Dench, MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS

Best Director***
Steven Spielberg, MUNICH
Ang Lee, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
George Clooney, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
Paul Haggis, CRASH
Bennet Miller, CAPOTE

Actor in a Supporting Role
Paul Giamatti, CINDERELLA MAN
George Clooney, SYRIANA
Matt Dillon, CRASH
William Hurt, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Jake Gyllenhaal, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

Actress in a Supporting Role
Rachel Weisz, THE CONSTANT GARDENER
Frances McDormand, NORTH COUNTRY
Michelle Williams, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Amy Adams, JUNEBUG
Catherine Keener, CAPOTE

Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen, MATCH POINT
George Clooney & Grant Heslov, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK
Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco, CRASH
Stephen Gaghan, SYRIANA
Noah Baumbach, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

Best Adapted Screenplay
Dan Futterman, CAPOTE
Josh Olson, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Jeffrey Caine, THE CONSTANT GARDENER
Tony Kushner & Eric Roth, MUNICH
Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

Best Original Score
Alberto Iglesias, THE CONSTANT GARDENER
Dario Marianelli, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Gustavo Santaolalla, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
John Williams, MUNICH
John Williams, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

Best Animated Film***
WALLACE AND GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT
THE CORPSE BRIDE
HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE

Best Art Direction***
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
KING KONG
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE

Best Cinematography***
Rodrigo Prieto, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Robert Elswit, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK
Emmanuel Lubezki, THE NEW WORLD
Dion Beebe, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
Wally Pfister, BATMAN BEGINS

Best Costume Design***
MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
WALK THE LINE

Best Film Editing
CINDERELLA MAN
THE CONSTANT GARDENER
CRASH
MUNICH
WALK THE LINE

Best Makeup
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA…
CINDERELLA MAN
STAR WARS, EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH
***Are you kidding? Did anyone even see Anakin burnt to a crisp in Episode III? I don’t think the members even watched that movie.

Best Sound Editing
KING KONG
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
WAR OF THE WORLDS

Best Sound Mixing***
WALK THE LINE
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
WAR OF THE WORLD
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA…
KING KONG

Best Visual Effects***
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA…
KING KONG
WAR OF THE WORLDS

Best Original Song***
“In the Deep” - CRASH, Music by Kathleen “Bird” York and Michael Becker; Lyric by Kathleen “Bird” York
“It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” - HUSTLE & FLOW Music and Lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard
“Travelin’ Thru” — TRANSAMERICA, Music & Lyrics by: Dolly Parton

Best Foreign Film***
SOPHIE SCHOLL - THE FINAL DAYS
DON’T TELL
MERRY CHRISTMAS (JOYEUX NOEL)
PARADISE NOW
TSOTSI

Best Documentary Feature
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS
MURDERBALL
DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE
STREET FIGHT
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM

Best Documentary (Short Subject)
THE DEATH OF KEVIN CARTER: CASUALTY OF THE BANG BANG CLUB
GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA
THE MUSHROOM CLUB
A NOTE OF TRIUMPH: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN

Best Short Film (Animated)
BADGERED
THE MOON AND THE SON: AN IMAGINED CONVERSATION
THE MYSTERIOUS GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORATIONS OF JASPER MORELLO
9
ONE MAN BAND

Best Short Film (Live-Action)
AUSREISSER (THE RUNAWAY)
CASHBACK
THE LAST FARM
OUR TIME IS UP
SIX SHOOTER

-Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com

ReadRoger Ebert’s Oscar Recap; far more interesting and comprehensive than mine. Of course, he probably gets to sleep in in the morning.

     At a recent media conference in Florida, News Corp. (the world leader in media production and distribution) has announced plans to offer hi-definition films to satellite and cable subscribers 60 days after their theatrical release. This “hi-def rental” would cost consumers somewhere in the neighborhood of $25-$30 per film.

     Now at first, this may sound like a high price tag for a movie in your home, but the more you think about it, the more it actually makes sense.

     First of all, people who have hi-def large screen television sets in their home aren’t likely to be on the lower end of the financial scale; so we know they can afford it. Secondly, if a person can invite two or three people over to their home on a thursday night and everyone chips in a few bucks (much less than a $10 movie ticket + $10-$20 in concessions) to see a film on a nice size home theater screen in the comfort of a living room, it’s possible this thing could take off. Not to mention that these films are only 60 days old. That means films like King Kong, Munich, Syriana and Brokeback Mountain would already be available for on demand rental.

     So I kinda like this idea. I’ll still see my movies in the theaters, but I would love to go over to a friend’s house some night and watch The Matador again for only a couple of bucks; before it’s released on DVD and in hi-def. Plus, I can bring my own refreshments. That’s right, New Castle beer and pretzels for everyone. Settle in to a nice plush sofa and enjoy a good movie. Is there anything better? I think not.

-Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com

If youd like to read the full article from Hollywood Reporter, click HERE