Archive for the ‘Kyle’ Category
Sep
03
Posted by Kyle
This is the first in a series of articles on the music of the James Bond film series, with occasional forays into music inspired by the films, as well as music that clearly should have been included for various obvious reasons.
For the inaugural article on the music of the James Bond films, one would think I would pick out a fairly monumental theme song; one that topped the charts here and in the UK and continues to make its presence felt on the radio, on iTunes, or perhaps just in the minds of burgeoning fans as they pop their Bond DVDs into their home systems and find their minds blown by Bondmania.
But, no. I’m not only choosing one of the arguably more obscure Bond theme songs, I’m choosing the ending titles disco version that probably plays to empty living rooms across the world, as people get up to stretch or run to the bathroom. Heaven forbid they turn off the film right as the credits begin to roll: sacrilege!
Yes, for today’s analysis I’m highlighting “Moonraker (End Title)” by Shirley Bassey, from 1979’s Moonraker starring Roger Moore as James Bond.
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Aug
20
Posted by Kyle
“Make the call.”
The Scoop: 2009 PG-13, directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Christopher Eccleston, Channing Tatum and Sienna Miller
Tagline: When All Else Fails, They Don’t
Summary Capsule: G.I. Joe gets the boot… a reboot, with Destro trying to eat all the metal in the world and Duke joining the Joes for the first time (wait, isn’t he supposed to be the leader?).
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Jul
14
Posted by Kyle
“My father was a wheel! The first wheel! And do you know what he transformed into? Nothing! But he did it with honor!”
The Scoop: 2009 PG-13, directed by Michael Bay and starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, and Megan Fox’s breasts in slow motion
Tagline: Revenge is coming.
Summary Capsule: Special effects gurus secure themselves an Oscar nomination by hiding Megan Fox’s tattoos for 2 1/2 hours. Also, giant transforming robots.
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Jul
08
Posted by Kyle
“I hate you for making me want you so much.”
The Scoop: PG-13 2008, directed by Catherine Hardwicke and starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Billy Burke
Tagline: When you can live forever what do you live for?
Summary Capsule: The new girl’s first day at her high school introduces her to all the usual teenage angst, including the boy/man destined to be her immortal vampire boyfriend
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Jun
16
Posted by Kyle
“That’s my new favorite camel!”
The Scoop: 2008 PG13, directed by Rian Johnson, starring Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, and Mark Ruffalo
Tagline: They’d never let the truth come between them
Summary Capsule: Two orphaned brothers bounce around and learn how to become the most benevolent con artists the world has ever been won over by
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Jun
13
Posted by Justin
The topic for today’s Saturday Roundtable is this: If you could go back in time and be in charge of running the three Star Wars prequel movies (episodes 1-3), what would you do different? This is assuming that you HAVE to do them as prequels, you have to do three, and you can’t give a dismissive comment like “throw them in the trash”.
Start the discussion!
KYLE: First off, I certainly would NOT have wanted to see any of the cherished Original Trilogy characters as kids or anything ridiculous like that. But that doesn’t mean I would have cast Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru as young action heroes. Each prequel film would have taken place in a different era, ranging from thousands to finally maybe a hundred years prior to Episode IV. I would have been a lot more interested in the very beginning of the Jedi and Sith orders, early on as prophecies are made and tenets to operate by are devised. That way you can still have occasional hints towards what will come later (”No one will EVER make this Kessel Run in less than 18 parsecs!” and “One Sith will walk openly, his master will remain in shadows; no one will suspect their identity until it is TOO LATE!” and so on). I would be a lot more interested in the universe at large versus the origins of the handful of heroes and villains that decided the fate of their galaxy. I’m sure to play to the fans slightly that third prequel film would namedrop a couple lineages, or more likely show the origins of the man who would become Emperor Palpatine. Lots more moral gray areas and suspicious motivations, rather than the bland ineptness of the Jedi Order and far-too-easy manipulations of the Sith. How about you?
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May
13
Posted by Kyle
In so many beautifully angsty ways, going to an after-midnight IMAX showing of Star Trek was a lot like seeing The Shins in concert for the first time. For me, that is (obviously). You probably have to have some sort of weird brain processing, um, processes to make that sort of connection. Or possibly just write a lot of similarly angsty poetry.
That doesn’t really matter, though. The important thing to pick up on here is that I was feeling very trepidatious about a rebooted, retconned, re-al damage to the original timeline imposed retelling of the adventure of the original Star Trek crew. Arguably the most legendary, and certainly my favorite. Kirk and Spock and McCoy and Uhura and Chekov and Sulu and Scotty, and a bunch of red-shirts. No longer as we remember them; the ubiquitous MySpace advertisements admonished us constantly to forget everything that came before. This is new. This is unknown.
This is completely without the Shatner.
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Apr
28
Posted by Kyle
“I’m amazed at how tiny my paycheck is.”
The Scoop: 2009 R, directed by Greg Mottola and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, and Ryan Reynolds
Tagline: It was the worst job they ever imagined… and the best time of their lives.
Summary Capsule: the summer before going off to graduate school, a young man’s parents can no longer provide him with the money they promised so he has to take any job he can: welcome to Adventureland!
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Apr
09
Posted by Kyle
Just a scant week ago, I made the type of discovery that wouldn’t exactly spark off a successful noir film but would be an excellent start for a zany comedy: I found the film Brick in the $3 DVD bin at my local Big Lots.
At first, I was consumed with disbelief and minor rage. How could such a monumentally innovative and refreshingly well-made film end up consigned to the bargain bin at the most barginous of bargain stores? What shortsighted middle manager arbitrarily chose $3 as the ultimate value for this, one of the best films I’ve seen within the past decade? Should I logically infer by its presence here in the $3 bin that Brick’s popularity and influence had already reached its apex and would now languish in wire bins gathering dust from here to eternity?
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Mar
27
Posted by Kyle
“None of you understand! I’m not locked in here with you! You’re locked in here with me!”
The Scoop: 2008 R, directed by Zach Snyder and starring Billy Crudup, Malin Ackerman and Carla Gugino.
Tagline: They watch over us… but who watches them?
Summary Capsule: Alan Moore’s ‘unfilmable’ magnum opus gets filmed.
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