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Thats because Harry Knowles is a huge shill for cash. He's given great reviews to films he's been flown to see, like the US Godzilla, and others.

http://filmthreat.com/Features.asp?Id=186
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Knowles

"Three weeks we've been talking about the Platt Amendment!! What, are you people on Dope!?"

http://www.filmthreat.com/Reviews.asp?Id=1445

Here's your shame.

If you haven't seen this take on Return of the Jedi, you must. Not only is it hilarious and right on the money, it even predicts and explains the crapiness so prevalent in Eps 1 & 2.

The Guild Theater in Albuquerque NM was recently host to Tromadance NM, the first of what will hopefully be an annual local filmmaking event. This was grassroots, homegrown, micro-budget stuff I'm talking about, like about $100 here -- I think $3000 was the max including equipment. I'm sure a lot of the shorter peices were budgeted literally with change dug out from under the sofa cushions. Lloyd Kaufmann of Toxic Avenger fame (among other things) ushered the event in, and everyone had a blast.

I ran into a few folks that I'd known from high school a decade ago, who I them had the pleasure of seeing on-screen or as directors. It was a bigger thrill than meeting Redford would have afforded. Regular, ordinary folks *love* to make movies, and have some pretty cool stories to tell too. The innovation is amazing considering what some of these guys try to do with so little tech available to them, which ranged from simple Macromedia Flash animations to cheap Sony videocams to (rarely) prosumer-grade DV cams. I would have loved to see some machinima.

The governor's office in New Mexico has waded hip-deep into local filmmaking, by which I mean Hollywood comes to town for a few weeks and hires local crews. This isn't the kind of local filmmaking I'd *like* to see the governor pimping the state for (SUPPORT FILMMAKERS WHO ACTUALLY WORK AND LIVE IN NEW MEXICO, PLEASE), but I guess it's a beginning. Plus, it means there are plenty of "workforce training" and continuing education classes to get the mad film skizzills. There's a lot to work with for the amateur, hobbyist, and professional filmmaker alike.

Here are some links for the interested:
Albuquerque Independent Film Cooperative Forums
Albuquerque Digital Filmmakers Forum hosted by Blankstare pictures.
Exhilarated Despair Productions Forum run by Scott Phillips, producer/director of Stink of Flesh.

I'm leaving a lot of links out, but everyone is pretty much linked to everyone else, so those ones will get you well started.

And that's it. I'm done shilling.

Yes, but Zelda is a classic worthy of celebration. Much like how people keep remaking and re-releasing much loved movies and songs, videogames deserve the same treatment. Now, whether they're being remade for the benefit of humanity or because someone wants to feel closer to a classic somehow is another story discussion, but the draw is definitely there.

Plus, it's a great way to get to understand the decisions that went into the creation of the classic without the hassle and failures of from-scratch development. Inventing your own gameplay is fraught with peril, especially as it is a skill people are expected to pick up on their own. This way you deconstruct an existing engine down to the minutest detail, without having to worry about your own design mistakes or lack of available art resources.

And on top of that, they created the engine specifically to allow anyone to design levels for the classic. Imagine if anyone could go back with the original storm trooper outfits and create their own scenes or storylines for starwars. Some of it would be as good as troops, and some of it would be as bad as The Phantom Menace. Certainly letting anyone be a level designer for a classic Miyamoto game is reason enough for the project's existence.

I do agree, though, that it would be nice if there were more original OS games developed, but that doesn't mean classics like this shouldn't get people excited enough to go out and make their own versions.

Google to the rescue. In a review of the 2003 film, The Recruit:

This film is a must-see for Kurt Vonnegut fans. Vonnegut references are abound, including allusions to "Slaughterhouse Five" and "Breakfast of Champions" as well as a plot point concept (Ice-9) borrowed from "Cat's Cradle." In "The Recruit," Ice-9 isn't a crystal of ice that will freeze the world overnight. Instead, Ice-9 is a virus that will infect and disable any electrical equipment that is interconnected - which is everything.

This film is a must-see for Kurt Vonnegut fans. Vonnegut references are abound, including allusions to "Slaughterhouse Five" and "Breakfast of Champions" as well as a plot point concept (Ice-9) borrowed from "Cat's Cradle." In "The Recruit," Ice-9 isn't a crystal of ice that will freeze the world overnight. Instead, Ice-9 is a virus that will infect and disable any electrical equipment that is interconnected - which is everything.

About Turkish Star Wars:

Review 1

Review 2

Where to buy it:

Purchase.

I wonder if there's Turkish Star Trek too.

PS: Caveat Emptor.

agreed - i thought i was going to hate it, but it completely absorbed me.

some of the visuals were quite compelling.

...ruined by shoddy prequels with giant plot holes and wooden acting

The Untitled Star Wars Mockumentary feeds George Lucas to the Sarlacc Pit

Packard's "The Untitled Star Wars Mocumentary" is a hilarious fuck you about not only the state of the Star Wars saga, but also that of the CG loaded blockbuster.

But the advertising houses that are the major source of leaks (you know, the guys who take any movie and reduce it to "In a world... where a man..."). I remember Film Threat looking into this two years back.

The problem is that while only a certain controllable group inside a studio needs/has access to the complete movie, a whole slew of folks at the advertising companies have it. So while some guy getting paid 20k a year to chop up some shots from the film to put into a coming attraction, he throws it up on the web. Because these companies are peripheral to the project but integral to the process (somebody has to put together the DVD/30-second primetime slot/Newspaper adverts) and so it is tough for the MPAA to regulate.

Completely immersing as this film is, I still had a few reality check moments throughout the screening. One of these moments had me wonder if George Lucas is feeling like an asshole or not. He's still making tons of cash off of his raping of "Star Wars," so probably not. But if he truly gave a damn about filmmaking anymore, he'd just have to hang his head in shame when confronted with Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films. Lucas must be wishing that his new "Star Wars" films had just a fraction of the movie magic Jackson and crew have poured into "Lord of the Rings." Oh well, I think most of us have given up on Lucas anyways. It was just a thought.

"Good news is that most of the marvelous English dialogue cast from the "Cowboy Bebop" series has returned for the film. The bad news is that the heart and soul of the series hasn't."

http://www.filmthreat.com/GoreyDetails.asp?Id=221

As brought to you by FilmThreat, an interview with Martin Koerber about "Metropolis."

As brought to you by FilmThreat, an interview with Martin Koerber about "Metropolis."

Thus far, it's gotten very different reviews.

Roger Ebert ripped it a new asshole, saying that the characters talk "more like lawyers than the heroes of a romantic fantasy."

Other reviews, however, were very positive (FilmThreat.com had a cool review here and here.

If you've got the time, look at the smorgasbord of reviews on www.mrqe.com.

Thus far, it's gotten very different reviews.

Roger Ebert ripped it a new asshole, saying that the characters talk "more like lawyers than the heroes of a romantic fantasy."

Other reviews, however, were very positive (FilmThreat.com had a cool review here and here.

If you've got the time, look at the smorgasbord of reviews on www.mrqe.com.

Thus far, it's gotten very different reviews.

Roger Ebert ripped it a new asshole, saying that the characters talk "more like lawyers than the heroes of a romantic fantasy."

Other reviews, however, were very positive (FilmThreat.com had a cool review here and here.

If you've got the time, look at the smorgasbord of reviews on www.mrqe.com.

It's like you paraphrased FilmThreat's review.

The reviews have, for the most part, been overwhelmingly positive. Chris Gore's review at Film Threat is a good example. He says AOTC is second only to Empire Strikes Back in quality. (It is important to note that he thought Phantom Menace was total crap, in fact he was one of its harshest critics.)

It's big. It's brawny. It's darker, it's scarier, it's downright vicious compared to the kicked dog that is now the original "Blade."

Sure the names are simple and the action is over-energetic. This is a living comic book folks, and anybody who's ever read a comic book will easily see the connection. We have the "cool" shots of him putting on his sunglasses, the "slow-mo-coming-out-of-the-water-with-big-guns" shot, etc. The framing is specific and easy to follow. The story for "Blade 2," like any well-plotted comic book, is driven by action. Unlike other superhero films (*cough*TombRaider*cough*) that rely on "stopping points" to explain plot, "Blade 2" just throws it all at you and expects you to keep up. The new Reapers are easily the most frightening thing I've seen on the big screen in the past few years, I don't know about you.

The plot of course is that Blade helps the vampires destroy the vampire-eaters. But, and this is going to sound a bit strange, it still manages to convey the importance of loyalty, tells a love story, and captures betrayal in a non-cringing and original way. This is especially important for a film such as this, where such melodrama is encouraged, but normally goes too far to remain serious. And now that we've moved past the "origin story" film, scribe David Goyas finally breathes life into a character who desperately needs it.

And you have to give a hand to director Guillermo Del Toro. Look at a few of his past few films: The first brilliant 1/2 hour of "Mimic" and the exceptional ghost story "The Devil's Backbone". Del Toro takes a gritty sense of realism and blends it with a stylish take that the original "Blade" was painfully missing. The editing is the true defintion of "The Fast and the Furious," with jump-jump cuts and brutal slow-down that was tried in "Moulin Rouge" but is brought to perfection here.

Let's face it folks, it's a popcorn film. It's meant to be seen with friends so they, just like yourself, can spout Blade's one-liners for the next few weeks and groan in unison at the most gruesome spots.

Del Toro's amazing direction and Goyer's much-better-than-the-first-Blade script make this a solid hit. See it loud and proud on the big screen in a dark room with strangers. This one's a true crowd pleaser.

Evan (blog); I write for here and here.

Well don't know him either and I don't care much for this review. But talking about Knowles, AICN and integrity, well that might be a bit of a stretch. Do you remember the OScar debacle from a few years ago or his apperance on Politically Incorrect. You should read the articles on Film Threat about him and some of his associates:

I mean if is willing to pimp a script from one of his friends without telling anyone, it's abit of a stretch to talk about integrity and his site. Maybe instead of begging for presents he should put ads like Slashdot.

Well don't know him either and I don't care much for this review. But talking about Knowles, AICN and integrity, well that might be a bit of a stretch. Do you remember the OScar debacle from a few years ago or his apperance on Politically Incorrect. You should read the articles on Film Threat about him and some of his associates:

I mean if is willing to pimp a script from one of his friends without telling anyone, it's abit of a stretch to talk about integrity and his site. Maybe instead of begging for presents he should put ads like Slashdot.

Well don't know him either and I don't care much for this review. But talking about Knowles, AICN and integrity, well that might be a bit of a stretch. Do you remember the OScar debacle from a few years ago or his apperance on Politically Incorrect. You should read the articles on Film Threat about him and some of his associates:

I mean if is willing to pimp a script from one of his friends without telling anyone, it's abit of a stretch to talk about integrity and his site. Maybe instead of begging for presents he should put ads like Slashdot.

Well don't know him either and I don't care much for this review. But talking about Knowles, AICN and integrity, well that might be a bit of a stretch. Do you remember the OScar debacle from a few years ago or his apperance on Politically Incorrect. You should read the articles on Film Threat about him and some of his associates:

I mean if is willing to pimp a script from one of his friends without telling anyone, it's abit of a stretch to talk about integrity and his site. Maybe instead of begging for presents he should put ads like Slashdot.

Well don't know him either and I don't care much for this review. But talking about Knowles, AICN and integrity, well that might be a bit of a stretch. Do you remember the OScar debacle from a few years ago or his apperance on Politically Incorrect. You should read the articles on Film Threat about him and some of his associates:

I mean if is willing to pimp a script from one of his friends without telling anyone, it's abit of a stretch to talk about integrity and his site. Maybe instead of begging for presents he should put ads like Slashdot.

Well don't know him either and I don't care much for this review. But talking about Knowles, AICN and integrity, well that might be a bit of a stretch. Do you remember the OScar debacle from a few years ago or his apperance on Politically Incorrect. You should read the articles on Film Threat about him and some of his associates:

I mean if is willing to pimp a script from one of his friends without telling anyone, it's abit of a stretch to talk about integrity and his site. Maybe instead of begging for presents he should put ads like Slashdot.

Guess the first and even the second weren't enough for him.

Guess the first and even the second weren't enough for him.

"If you're looking for anything beyond flashy entertainment, Behind Enemy Lines feels out of whack from the start."
-- Stephanie Zacharek, SALON.COM

"The exhausting obsession with gizmos and gotchas only accentuates a baffling disinterest in the story's emotional crux."
-- Jessica Winter, VILLAGE VOICE

"The Bosnian War becomes a video game, Gene Hackman turns into a pseudo-John Wayne, and Owen Wilson and Vladimir Mashkov impersonate The Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote."
-- Michael Wilmington, CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"Pro forma stuff, so much so that you start to wonder why no fetching femme resistance fighter materializes to help the Americans on the ground."
-- Kenneth Turan, LOS ANGELES TIMES

"An implausible military technology adventure that takes about 10 minutes to get started, then climaxes for an hour-and-a-half."
-- Paul Tatara, CNN

as the top five reviews I have to wonder. Couple that with the fact that Film Threat (with whom I agree about 90% of the time) gave it one star, and the sleaziness factor from knowing they moved the release date up to cash in on the September 11th bombing and I think I will be taking this review with more than a grain of salt :)

Seriously. Harry Knowles has exactly NO journalistic integrity whatsoever. All these junkets, etc. are avoided by legitimate journalists. Only the swill you see discussed in this article are brainwash victims of Hollywood's PR machine. This group squarely includes Harry Knowles and has included him for a LONG time.

His biggest problem (other than his terminal weight situation) is that any caress of his ego by an actor or director inevitably leads to positive reviews on his site of any POS they release. This effect can also be seen in his tendency not to ever write a bad review of ANYTHING.

Case in point: The studio responsible for Godzilla flew Harry to NYC to watch the premier. The atmosphere was like a rock concert complete with beach balls bouncing around the crowd. Result: Hypnotized Harry came back writing "Godzilla good movie."

Another example: Detroit Rock City makers flew Harry out to see Kiss in LA and see the premiere. Keep in mind that this is a guy who at the age of 26 still lives with his dad and has no job prospects outside his ad banner sales. When rich studios come along dangling trips to LA or NY, this guy is powerless to resist.

How do the big league journalists handle these enticements? Credible reviewers such as Roger Ebert refuse to ever go on junkets. They watch the movies and write about them. Period. When the subject of a review requires that a writer do something that could be considered a gift, the publisher will usually pay the way of the journalist or refuse to send her. An example of this would be if a travel writer has to write about some new concorde flight to Germany. The writer might go on the plane and check it out, but the magazine or newspaper would pay for the ticket.

Here's a VERY good one-pager on this topic.

• It's no secret that DreamWorks chief Jeffrey Katzenberg left Mouse-schwitz [...] under bad circumstances. The evil Lord lives in a building whose architecture is strangely similar to the stark building occupied by Disney chief Michael Eisner. The kingdom where the evil Lord rules also has a set of arcane laws that are not too far from Disney's infamous and bizarre rules for their own employees. And the internment camp filled with fairy tale creatures looks like a roster of characters that have been in Disney cartoons in the past.

• It's no secret that DreamWorks chief Jeffrey Katzenberg left Mouse-schwitz [...] under bad circumstances. The evil Lord lives in a building whose architecture is strangely similar to the stark building occupied by Disney chief Michael Eisner. The kingdom where the evil Lord rules also has a set of arcane laws that are not too far from Disney's infamous and bizarre rules for their own employees. And the internment camp filled with fairy tale creatures looks like a roster of characters that have been in Disney cartoons in the past.

I'd also throw in Film Threat for independent movies, with a caveat. These guys are, as a rule, downright hostile to anything with actual financial support. But you will learn about some excellent stuff!