I should warn everyone that there will be a spoiler or two in this post, but since its about 28 Weeks Later (Movie Patron Review) I figure its okay.

I was trying to decide on what would be my DVD Pick for the week and there were two movies that came to mind the first is 28 Weeks Later and the second is You Kill Me (which I ended up picking). I’m pretty sure that Andrew will be picking the former on the Cinecast. While I was mulling it over I started to remember a few things that really ticked of in 28 Weeks Later. If it weren’t for the following two things I would have enjoyed the movie.

UNWRAP TEXT or SHOW **SPOILER**

Both of these really lessened my enjoyment of 28 Weeks Later to the point where I’m thinking I might just not by it on DVD. Is there anything that ruined what should have been a good movie for you? Often these peeves are small little things that don’t really impact anything but they still just seem to ruin the movie.

Oh and I just changed my movie pick for the week. It is no longer You Kill Me which is a fine movie. It is now Twilight Zone: The Movie. A co-worker just pointed the fact that it is finally getting a DVD release today.

     If you look back at the Movie Patron Archives of the past year, you’ll see I wasn’t a huge fan of Wisit Sasanatieng’s Tears of the Black Tiger. I remember being a little bored and feeling like it was just trying too hard to be something different - which, ironically to its credit, it was.

     Ever since that theatrical experience, I never gave it a second thought until I stopped by Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind and found a post praising the director’s second chance at film making, Citizen Dog.

     Having read nothing else about the picture and judging only from the pictures below, it looks to be more of the same colorful style, but a bit more on the surrealistic side. Just because I didn’t think a whole lot of Tears of the Black Tiger, doesn’t mean I’m not intrigued by more of what this director has to offer. To put it shortly, I’ll watch this as soon as I can dig it up…

     An experimental new type of Podcast is here! Presented by members of Film Junk, The Documentary Blog, MoviePatron and Mad About Movies, this new monthly podcast will feature an in depth discussion of older films we love and/or hate and everything in between.

     Each month we’ll delve into two films you may or may not have seen and just have an in depth discussion about each title. Much like the traditional book club, but we’ll be talking about a far more important medium: film.

     For our first episode, we dive into Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and the fabulous and overlooked Little Children. Remember that since these are older films and we’ll be digging a little deeper into them (including plot points and story details), there will more than likely be spoilers within the discussion.

     Since this is our first attempt at this, please excuse some minor sound issues and stick with us as the show should continue to improve and evolve as we get more practice. We’d love to hear technical feedback, your thoughts on any of the films discussed as well as title suggestions for future episodes. In the meantime, enjoy…

 Movie Club - Ghost Dog & Little Children [87:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Next week: Gimme Shelter and Duck You Sucker (Giù la testa)

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     As much fun as I have had with Ferrell in the past, I think it’s time he moved on from this juvenile stuff. Maybe this will prove to be funny; and I hope it is. But most likely it will be just as crappy as Taladega Nights was. Although Stranger than Fiction was far from a masterpiece, these are the type of roles Ferrell should be looking for. Just my opinion.

     Non entirely sure what to make of this. A musical, a comedy, a horror thriller and a drama seemingly all rolled into one. To be honest, it doesn’t really strike the fancy of my particular tastes, but judging from the trailer this will be unlike just about anything else we’ve seen. Still, at the same time, it is very Burton-esque and unmistakeable as his work.

     I put a lot of stock in what Burton can do and of course Depp (despite the bad taste still in my mouth from the Pirates debacle) looks as strong as always. Couple that with one of the better villain actors out there in Alan Rickman and I thnk we’re set for a great ride. Oh yes, and then there’s always Carter’s cleavage prominently featured.

 Standard Podcast [86:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

this episode:
The Brave One, Hotel Chavalier, Resident Evil: Extiction, DVD picks and more…

Unwrap the complete Show Notes by clicking on this link…

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     This is just a general post to express my annoyance at something that people of the UK and the rest of Europe (for the most) part get films a lot later than the US does. For example my favourite film of the year so far, Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, has just been released on DVD in the US. Whereas on UK websites and the like the release date for it is set at 14/01/2008! That’s almost 4 months after the States and some other places. Now what am I most likely (and plenty of others I suspect) going to do? - Wait what is now 3 and half months for the UK R2 DVD or am I going to import it from the US? The latter seems the more logical, but I bet if I do that the R2 release will be much better (usually what happens - coincidence? I smell a conspiracy!).

     So just from a general point of view - don’t you think they should have a universal release date for both theatrical releases and DVDs? Wouldn’t that add massively to the battle against that little thing called PIRACY? The main reason that piracy happens is people who aren’t getting access to films widely are resorting to downloading and purchasing uploaded and imported ones. I think a universal release date will be one of the more effective ways of combating piracy - what are your thoughts?

     A couple of days ago I came across a top 100 list Andrew had created on his MySpace page about facts about him. And I was thinking of doing the same. But then I thought it would be more fun to do a “top 100 movie facts about me” list and post it on the ever diverse Movie Patron Blog as opposed to the now irritating MySpace. I won’t do a 100 all at once, I will opt to do 10 every few days, adding to the list as I go. So hopefully I will have 100 in a few weeks. So here goes - the first 10 movie facts you may not know about me!

1. I have yet to see Jaws.

2. I was one of the few who LOVED Death Proof.

3. I am in the minority in not thinking all that much of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

4. I have only ever seen one documentary (film) in my entire life – guess which one!

5. The first movie I remember watching was Evil Dead at age 3.

6. I tend to love ‘weird’ films i.e. Donnie Darko, Lynch flicks etc.

7. I never saw Citizen Kane until 2007.

8. I dislike movies set steeply in the Scottish culture i.e. Braveheart, Trainspotting etc.

9. The only “type” of film I have never seen at least one of is a ‘Bollywood’ film…and I probably never will.

10. My favourite genre of movie is Crime/Gangster.

     My home state of Minnesota is soon to be the location of a Coen Brothers filming location once again in early to mid-2008. This will be their first filming return to MN since 1996’s, AFI Top 100 list film, Fargo.

     According to a Minneapolis Star and Tribune article, the film, A Serious Man will start filming in their hometown of St Louis Park in mid March. This past summer The Coens scouted locations in Richfield (where I lived just a year ago), Brooklyn Center and Hopkins (where I graduated from high school). These are all neighborhoods that match the ones they grew up in in St. louis Park - just a very short jaunt from any of these locales

     The Coen-scripted dark comedy centers on “Larry Gopnik, a Jewish college professor in the Midwest during the 1960s,” according to the website FilmJerk. Bedeviled by children who lift his wallet, a wife who wants a divorce, a too-intense grad student and a hot neighbor who sunbathes in the nude, “he starts to question the value of life.”

     After a drought in Minnesota film production alleviated only by “North Country” in 2005 and “A Prairie Home Companion” last year, Winter said she was “over the moon.”This is a serious production,” she said. “They’ll be here from January [for preproduction] through June. There’ll be jobs for about 100 Minnesotans.”

     Uh… yeah. And if this means a call for extras, you can bet your ass I’ll be in line hoping for a part. Not to mention this will “jump-start” Minnesota’s visibility as a filming location. And by the way, even though most of Fargo is filmed in Minnesota, the actual city of Fargo is not n Minnesota; it’s in North Dakota - a common misconception.

I understand the logic behind limited releases but it sure makes it difficult to create a nice list of all the movies that are being released and what their release days are. I just have a quick question for you guys. Do you prefer to know the date of when movies are released limited or wide? I personally prefer wide because Saskatoon usually does not get limited releases.