The Screening Room

If you're heading to the 20th annual Dallas Video Festival tonight, take a shot with the Whole Shooting Match, a restored version of Eagle Pennell's 1978 Lone Star cult film about a pair of losers run amok. Bonus factoid: Legend is this the film that inspired Robert Redford to start the Sundance Film Festival. Catch the match at 9:15 p.m. at the Dallas Angelika.

Antonioni with Jack Nicholson on the set of 1975's The Passenger (Sony Pictures Classics)

Antonioni was best known in the States for 1975's The Passenger (at left), starring Jack Nicholson as a journalist who assumes the identity of a dead man. It was re-released by Sony Pictures Classics in 2005; check out our review here. He also gained a degree of fame for Blowup (1966), about a hedonistic photographer searching for the truth - and meaning - behind a dead body in the background of a photo. Read our DVD review here.

Antonioni suffered a stroke in 1985, but he contributed a chapter to the trilogy Eros, also featuring the work of Steven Soderbergh and Wong Kar Wai, in 2004. He received a lifetime achievement Oscar in 1995.

Perhaps he saw Bergman go and decided it was time. In any case, we've lost another giant.

Yes, the Dallas Video Festival is almost of legal drinking age. Big D's home for underground and underexposed vidiocy kicks off at 7:30 tonight at the Angelika. Prepare for inspired weirdness, starting at 7:35 with Bodacious Boots, Laura Neitzel and Tim Wylie's look at bootware, boot makers, and all things boot. Yee-ha. And check out Michael Granberry's profile of video fest ringmaster Bart Weiss at guidelive.com. The festival runs through Sunday. Go git your video on.

Set your DVRs for tonight at 10 if you want to see one of the best docs of the year. In Following Sean, presented by the stellar doc series POV on KERA (Channel 13), filmmaker Ralph Arlyck goes in search of Sean Farrell, the subject of a short film Arlyck made in 1969. Back then, Sean was a precocious San Francisco four-year-old who looked into Arlyck's camera and talked about smoking pot. Outrage ensued. In the new film, Arlyck catches up with Sean. But he also does much more. Following Sean is a model of the personal-essay-as-film format, and a clear-eyed, unsentimental look at the legacy of an era. It neither scorns nor celebrates in assessing a time and place so often reduced to a cultural stereotype.

"I don’t romanticize it, which is not to say there are not a lot of things that I love about it," says Arlyck in a phone interview. "But I don’t feel particularly nostalgic about it, and I didn’t want to make a nostalgic movie. I feel ambivalent about the period, and that expressed itself in the film."

Look for more from Arlyck as we look at facts, myths and marketing of the Summer of Love this Sunday at dallasnews.com.

Movie Critic Chris Vognar reflects: Bergman was often copied and parodied, but rarely matched

Slideshow: View photos of the legendary Swedish filmmaker
Survey: What's your favorite Ingmar Bergman film?
Obituary: Film Icon Ingmar Bergman dies at 89

Gordon-Levitt reveals the awful truth to Corbet in Mysterious Skin (Tartan)

This weekend was another long, movie-filled weekend. There's a lot to talk about, so bear with me:

The Simpsons Movie: I can't remember the last time I heard such consistent, uproarious laughter in a movie theater. And really, could it have been done any other way than making it one long episode? I'd love to see "Spider-Pig" nominated for Best Song, just because it's so, you know, not like other movie songs. And while some people don't believe it, I'm pretty sure this movie will be nominated for Best Animated Feature.

Volver: Heartbreaking and beautiful. The magnificent use of color and framing of shots makes up for the rather slow pace. And only Almodovar could make a fart joke classy and touching. And this wasn't nominated for Best Foreign Film why?

Zodiac: Yep, it's still 2007's best movie.

which leads me to the movie I can't stop thinking about...

Mysterious Skin: Wow. What a knockout of a movie. Without giving too much away: Neil (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Brian (Brady Corbet) are connected by a tragic event that occured one August evening when they were eight. Since then, their lives have gone in completely opposite directions and both are searching for answers. Their quests for truth (Neil through decadence, Corbet through paranormal research), lead them to heartbreaking and earth-shattering discoveries. But be forewarned: this movie definitely earns its NC-17 rating. Now, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Gordon-Levitt is the best actor of my generation. He's a fearless performer, and he's stellar here as teen hustler Neil. This movie has so much going on, but it's all pulled off terrifically. At the heart of everything is one amazing story. The film's characters evoke all sorts of emotions: hatred for the coach (Bill Sage) and Neil's mother (Elizabeth Shue, surely the worst on-screen parent since Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest), genuine concern for Brian (Corbet, who's so haunted by what happened he may never be able to cope), and, despite being so detached ("there's a black hole where his heart should be," Michelle Trachtenberg says), we fear for Neil, who's so incredibly self-destructive and doesn't even seem to care. It's evidence of a top-notch performance and story.

Finally, it looks as if no one went to go see Interview this weekend, which is a real shame. I think it's great. It's sharply written, nicely directed, and perfectly acted. I just hate all the negative "this movie isn't steeped in reality" reviews. Seriously, I can't recommend this movie enough. It's terrific.

As promised, my take on the The Simpsons Movie's $72 million haul:

I'm not surprised at all, and that's not just 20/20 hindsight. It opened on 5,500 screens. Even those who aren't fans - and let's face it, a lot of people are big, big fans - caught the hype bug during the build-up. This is an event movie, the kind of water cooler stuff that people want to talk about around, well, the water cooler (or wherever people talk about such things these days).

And, by the way, it's really funny. If ya haven't read our review yet, what are you waiting for?

Bergman in action, 1957 (AP)

Bergman is too often seen as passe in today's hyper-ironic movie environment, a product of the bygone Euro art house days of the '50s and '60s. Don't believe the hype. As a college student in the early '90s, I walked into a repertory house to see Persona, Bergman's 1966 film about a self-assured nurse caring for a mute actress. I left the theater with my wig peeled back, in a trance and transported to a place only cinema can bring you. I've seen just about all of his films since, and I've rarely been less than amazed at his command of the medium and his ability to penetrate the human soul.

As luck would have it, The Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art will present a pair of opportunities to see Bergman classics on the big screen in August. The Magnolia at the Modern series Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films will show The Seventh Seal 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14; and a rare Bergman comedy, Smiles of a Summer Night 2 p.m. Sun., Aug. 19.

Went to see The Simpsons on Saturday night at the Inwood. It was about what I expected -- sort of like one really long episode. But what I found to be really fun was watching it with an audience. For the past 18 years, watching The Simpsons has been primarily a solitary experience -- just me, the TV and the couch. I laughed at what I thought was funny -- sometimes harder, sometimes not as much. So it was interesting to see what other people thought were the big jokes and how hard they laughed. And I was comforted walking out of the theater to hear more than one person singing (as I was under my breath) "Spider Pig! Spider Pig! Does whatever a Spider Pig does. Can he swing from a net. No he can't, he's just a pig..."

As part of a promotion for The Simpsons Movie, you can model a Simpsons character after yourself here. All you have to have is a photo of your head (and some time, it took a while for mine to work).

Time to start planning your cinematic weekend, kiddos. Did you catch the midnight Simpsons screening? Planning an extra-long lunch to catch the glorious deliciousness that is Aaron Eckhart in No Reservations? (I think I just gave away my plans. Blast!) Does not screening in advance spell disaster for I Know Who Killed Me and Who's My Caddy? - or can they just blame Lindsay Lohan and an 'are-you-seriously-kidding-me?' plot for their imminent failure?

Here's the lineup; what's the game plan? (And whether Bridgette knows it or not, she's seeing Sunshine or the Simpsons this weekend.)

• The Simpsons Movie (B+)

• No Reservations (B-)

• Sunshine (B+)

• Interview (C+)

• Brooklyn Rules (D+)

• I Know Who Killed Me

• Who's Your Caddy?

And now we play the waiting game... (Warner Bros.)

If you've been to the multiplex lately, you've probably seen the Get Smart trailer that's currently running with Harry Potter, among others. You may or not be excited depending on your tolerance level for TV adaptations and Steve Carell. Either way, it doesn't come out for an entire year. Does that make any kind of sense? It's the same with
this trailer for Vantage Point. According to IMDb, the movie's not coming out until next February. I'm thinking there should be a rule: No Trailers for Movies Coming Out More than Six Months from Now. Anyone agree?

In other movie news...
Michel Gondry, the man behind the awe-inspiring Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the eh-inspiring Science of Sleep is up to his lo-fi tricks again. His latest is Be Kind Rewind, which will be released just in time for Oscar consideration. It stars Jack Black as a man who accidentally erases a bunch of videos and sets out to recreate them all, including The Lion King and RoboCop. If nothing else, it's bound to be interesting and dazzling. Look for it at your Angelikas and Inwood this winter.

So, after years of putting it off, saying I'd eventually get around to it, I finally buckled down and watched the incredible Sunset Blvd. last night. It wasn't at all what I had expected. I expected some noirish touches and have a lot to do with lost fame, but I had no idea it would be a pitch-black comedy, a May-December romance (sort of), and a deep, rich study of delusional behavior. It's got to be one of the most original, fascinating and downright bizarre movies I've ever seen. And Gloria Swanson's performance has got to be one of the all-time greats. I think my favorite Wilder picture will always be Double Indemnity, but he's got so many great works. Having said that, and given all the love for the recent DVD release of Ace in the Hole (which I'm still dying to see), I'd like to make a bid that, for his body of work, Billy Wilder is the greatest director of all time. Would anyone like to refute this? I'd love to hear your answers.

Ok, so The Simpsons Movie is out, and it's highly possible that I'm the only person in the world who's just not that into Bart and the fam. But that's me.

Chris Vognar's sneak peek review gave the flick a B+.

What did you think? Discuss.

I had a nice e-mail conversation with Taylor Parks' mother, Theresa. She came across my blog post from the other day about the Mesquite-raised star of Hairspray. (In case you missed my story on her in Wednesday's GuideLive, here it is for your reading pleasure.) Anyway, she passed along the motherly note that she can confirm that Taylor, at age 13, "most certainly was goo-goo eyed over Zac Efron," and that "she still can't mention his name without that huge grin on her face."
Isn't puppy love cute?

What's up blogger people. I will be away from my post for a few days - please act like you notice - hanging with some homies in Milwaukee (a damn fine city that gets slept on by most people. Gotta love any place that has cool, breezy summers and a bar on every corner). My fellow Screening Roomers will be working hard to keep the cinenuggets coming. Right? Fellow Screening Roomers? McFly?

Funny, that's the same expression I had when I saw the trailer. (MGM)

There's not one but two sure-fire misses this week:

Who's Your Caddy?, a shameless Caddyshack rip-off that pits milquetoast Jeffrey Jones (wait, he's not in prison?) against Big Boi (the Oates to Andre 3000's Hall in Outkast) in a golf tournament, complete with a flatulant Faizon Love (left). The director of the Steven Seagal classic Half Past Dead is helming this one.

But wait, there's more...

Train Wreck of the Week Lindsay Lohan stars in I Know Who Killed Me. LiLo plays an exotic dancer who may or may not be dead. It sounds oddly similar to The Invisible, which also didn't screen in advance. Sure to be more frightening than the film itself, is IMDb's Similar Movies feature on the page, which also recommends...Kindergarten Cop (dun dun dun!). Yikes.

See you in the bargain bin...

All hail Sandler
The reviewers mostly said “no,” but Adam Sandler fans responded with a resounding “YES” to I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. The one-joke comedy lead the weekend with $34 million, edging out last week’s champ, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by less than $2 million.

Yo, where's the sunblock? (Fox Searchlight)

"There isn’t a star field in space, especially if you’re flying into the sun," Boyle said in a recent telephone interview. "You wouldn’t see anything. It’s just black with the one source of light. But if you did that - and we did at first - your ship doesn’t look like it’s moving and the audience thinks, why has the ship stopped? So stars are the only way of showing motion in a vacuum."

Look for more on Sunshine and Mr. Boyle in Friday's Dallas Morning News and on the movies page at guidelive.com

I loved, loved, loved Hairspray.

But, seeing John Travolta as Edna Turnbladt also made me question why her characters is always played by a man. For the first time I wondered why Edna couldn't have been played by a woman. Nancy's theory on the gay pride aspect seems probable, but at the same, I think the story about respecting yourself regardless of your weight could still have been told if Edna had been played by a woman.

Quality time with Billy and Reggie (AP)

I'm also amused by those little "behind the scenes" snippets airing after each episode, which basically give the real Jackson the chance to tell his side of the story. Mr. October, a former ESPN analyst, was not pleased with the way he's portrayed in the series. Think the four-letter network might be trying to placate him with these postscripts?

Salsa music, that incendiary tropical Latin style that blends brassy horns, syncopated percussion, passionate vocals and the engulfing sound of a live orquesta, could very well be the star of El Cantante, the Hector Lavoe biopic anchored by Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. The late Lavoe ruled during the glory days of the genre. We're talking from the late '60s through the '70s. In the movie, the music is real. Anthony recorded a batch of Lavoe songs, including the titular "El Cantante" and the explosive "Mi Gente," that he sings in the film. His voice is an incredibly propulsive instrument. No surprise. When Anthony made his salsa debut with 1993's Otra Nota, he was immediately heralded as the next Hector Lavoe. Check out my review of El Cantante on opening day, Aug. 1.

Hansard sings his heart out (Fox Searchlight)

With the continual chat about and love for Once on this blog, I got to thinking: for those that have seen the movie, what's your favorite song? I'd have to go with "Say It to Me Now," Glen Hansard's heartbreaking soundtrack finale (which I just read got an inexplicable 2 stars from Rolling Stone). What say you? And don't forget to check out Chris Vognar's original review.

I too went to the movies this weekend. Saturday night I saw Talk to Me, the powerful biography of controversial D.C. R&B radio DJ Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene. FANTASTIC FLICK! Don Cheadle accomplishes the near impossible, he delivers a measured, nuanced yet over-the-top spectacular performance of Greene, the ex-con who became the voice of a frustrated, struggling black population. Really, everybody in the movie is good - Chiwetel Ejiofor as Dewey Hughes and Taraji P. Henson as Vernell also arrested the screen whenever they were front and center. Best scene in the film: Greene emerging from the cacoon of the station studios to see a destroyed downtown after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is announced. I felt like I was there!

Chris, I loved Hairspray, too, and so did my kids. Couldn't wait to go back and buy the movie soundtrack. Going into it, I was puzzling about why the role of Tracy's mom is always played by a man in drag (I know, I know, sort of like Peter Pan always being played by a woman). But after seeing the movie I had this thought. The show is about the importance of taking pride in yourself and taking a stand against prejudice. By having a couple in which the wife is played by a man, I think it's sending a subliminal message about gay pride. Again, it's not overt. But when I watched that loving scene between John Travolta's Edna and Christopher Walken, I kept thinking La Cage Aux Folles And while this may be a stretch, isn't it interesting how Edna is always hiding herself in the house until Tracy pulls her out into the street to the dress shop? The overt story is that it is embarrassment about weight, but I couldn't help thinking that it was like pulling her out of the closet... anyway, for me, this gives the story an extra poignant twist...

And here I thought I'd be the first Dallas area critic to grace the pages of The New Yorker. Then along comes Boo Allen, cinema scribe for our sister publication the Denton Record Chronicle . Boo is quoted in Stuart Dybek's short story If I Vanished in the July 9 issue. Actually, he's kind of blurbed; the story pulls a bit of his praise for the Kevin Costner western Open Range. But blurb or no blurb, it's a New Yorker short story. And his name is in it.

But I'm not jealous. Nope. Not me. Everything is fine. Just fine.

Will Scott B. Smith's upcoming movie net him another Oscar nod? (Paramount)

Anyone remember A Simple Plan, the brilliant adaptation of Scott B. Smith's novel? It was a bleak little gem of a movie, directed (with surprising restraint) by Sam Raimi and starring Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bridget Fonda. It scored two Oscar nods (for Thornton and Smith). Well, Smith didn't publish anything until last year, a terrific little scarer called The Ruins that I'm currently reading. Only a writer as sharp as Smith could keep the premise (deadly foliage!) from being hokey. And a movie would only work if he was adapting it. Luckily, he is. Short film director and Sundance fave Carter Smith is helming and Darius Khondji ("Se7en," "The Beach," "Panic Room") will shoot it. Filming is taking place in Australia. Expect to have the bejeesus scared out of you in March. If nothing else, it will put all these "torture porn" schlock-meisters to shame.

The MMC decided to do something wild and crazy this weekend. He went to the movies. (Yes, we like to live on the edge around here). Specifically, I contributed my piece of Hairspray's 27.8 million haul . And I had the most fun I've had a movie this year. By far.

Some of this can be attributed to the fact that I was at a movie and not working. (Read Lawson Taitte's review here). But not all of it. The exhilarating Hairspray works as musical, comedy and light-footed social commentary, and Nikki Blonsky, the movie's cherubic heart and soul, moves better than any round person since the heyday of Charles Barkley. I floated out of the theater, happy that I could see it with an opening weekend audience instead of a press screening crowd. Note to self: get out to the movies more.

Speaking of which: Whaddya see this weekend?

If you're one of the six people on Earth who won't be spending this weekend reading The Deathly Hallows (or if you're one of the 800 who finished their downloaded version), this just might be the weekend to catch up on the movies you've missed so far. I mean, seriously: half the world will be holed up at home with 750+ pages of reading to do.

So while you're perusing the GuideLive.com movies page, and lamenting the sad lack of new films this week, scroll down to our Recommended list and get showtimes for Once. This is, without a doubt, the best movie I've seen in a long time (and I spend a LOT of time with Netflix). Be prepared: It does entirely too good a job at conveying the absolute rush and heartbreak of real love. This is neither for the cynical or the faint of heart.

But do yourself a favor. Download the soundtrack off iTunes now, or stop and grab the CD on the way. Otherwise you'll find yourself dashing madly about Mockingbird and Lakewood in search of a music store.

Chris Vognar: Summer time, and the movies are easy - but not always good. Let's talk about your hot summer movie opinions.

From Email: I admit that have not seen any of the recent so-called "torture porn" films but I wonder if you, or the News, would ever judge a film to be too objectionable to merit the free advertising inherently provided by a review, even a bad one. Kyle from Dallas

Chris Vognar: Good opening question. I don't doubt that there are good films that address torture. But I have to say I can't bring myself to check out the Hostels and Captivities of the world if given a choice (and thus far I have been given a choice). Even as someone who thinks just about all subjects are open to artistic exploration, the small portions of these films that I have seen make me want to take a shower.

Read complete transcript

In these days when so many theatical musicals get turned into films, it's nice to have a theater critic who likes going to the movies. So check out Lawson Taitte's take on the new Hairspray, which opened today. He saw it onstage, he saw the movie, and he knows how to make sharp distinctions between the two. I've been known to let other critics tackle movies that I'm not interested in; this time, I was interested in the movie, and I'll see it soon. But I was more interested in seeing what Lawson had to say.

Yes, it's a girl thing. Women have one Thing we look for when we're in a store, mall or on a website that may carry it. For me, it's lingerie. I could be at Kohl's or Nordstrom's, Target or Ross, either way, I'm taking a stroll through the undies section. It's not that I need more unmentionables, it's just that you can never have too much, especially if there's a sale.

Just so with DVDs. Whether I'm at Target, WalMart, Half Price Books or Best Buy, if they've got DVDs, I'm looking, no matter what I set out to buy. Do I need Cool Hand Luke? An argument could be made that I do, but technically, no, I do not. What about Miami Vice, My Fair Lady, Carlito's Way, Primal Fear ...?

Again, no. But I own them all, and then some. I hardly ever watch them. But I hardly ever rock the 6-pack of plaid Hanes Her Way I bought either. It just sort of ended up in the basket ... along with Grease 2 and Shag.

Tomorrow at 2 pm, movie critic Chris Vognar will answer all your questions about the summer movie season so far.

Except he hasn't seen Transformers.

Or Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

But that's okay; nobody is going to see those movies. No, wait...

Why so lame, Chris Vognar?

Cool vintage interview with John Waters this morning on Fresh Air (available locally on KERA-90.1 FM). For youngsters out there, Waters wrote and directed the original Hairspray back in 1988. Instead of John Travolta in a fat suit, it starred frequent Waters collaborator and ample transvestite Divine. It was also the first Waters film to get a PG rating, an unthinkable idea at the time for a filmmaker known for indulging in campy, grotesque taboo (see Pink Flamingos, which is unlikely to be turned into a family-friendly musical any time soon). And read Theater Critic Lawson Taitte's review of the new Hairspray Friday on GuideLive.com.

And for my next trick
The first blow of the Harry Potter one-two marketing punch landed squarely on target last weekend as The Order of the Phoenix whipped up $139.7 million in week one. But by next week, J.K. Rowling should be bored with her movie money and will likely move on to counting the money that The Deathly Hallows will rake in.

Mad at Spider-Man? In love with Pirates? Ready to get your Bourne on? Step right up to the summer movies chat this Friday at 2 p.m. Movie critic Chris Vognar, otherwise known as me, will be fielding your questions and fueling your cinemania.

Send early questions and comments to chat@dallasnews.com. On Friday, log on to dallasnews.com/livechat.

Catch a Star: Andy Samberg in Hot Rod (Paramount)

The movie, which opens Aug. 3, features Samberg as clueless wannabe stuntman Rod Kimble. Like many characters played by a previous SNL player, Will Ferrell, Rod bumbles through life with his chest thrown out in inexplicable confidence. According to Samberg, that makes Rod a lot like...Samberg: "I'm a weirdo, but strangely confident in what I'm doing for no particular reason," as the comedian told his audence Tuesday.

Look for more on Hot Rod, including excerpts from our Samberg interview, in The Screening Room Aug. 3.

One of the best docs of 2006 was Deliver Us From Evil. It follows the case of pedophile priest Oliver O'Grady, who molested his way through California as Church higher-ups covered up his doings. (Here's what I wrote about it at last year's Toronto International Film Festival). Well, one of those higher-ups, the Los Angeles archbishop Roger Mahony, has made the news this week as part of the $660 million settlement between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and 508 people who filed suit over sexual abuse by clergy members.

In the film, Mahony is depicted as a blind protector at best, a liar at worst, and a perpetual apologist for O'Grady, who escaped to a peaceful retirement in Ireland. Many of the plaintiffs in the Los Angeles case singled Mahony out as an enabler of abuse.

The film, an Oscar nominee for best doc, is on DVD. It's well worth watching. Check the trailer here.

Fat Girls, the debut feature from Rowlett High School grad Ash Christian, has been scooped up for distribution by Here! Films, the sister company of Dallas-based Regent Releasing. The film, which bowed at the 2006 Tribecca Film Festival, is a coming of age comedy starring Christian as Rodney, a gay teen dealing with social ostracism and a wacky family. Rodney is not among the large females of the title, but his best friend, played by Ashley Fink, definitely is.

It seems like just a few months ago that the AFI-Dallas International Film Festival got its opening year shwerve on. Oh wait, it was just a few months ago. Now the festival has released a call for entries for its second installment, slated to run March 27-April 6, 2008. The early deadline, with reduced fees for all submissions, is Oct. 26. The final deadline is Dec. 7. To make a submission and get more info, check www.afidallas.com .

Mark Ruffalo in Zodaic (Paramount Pictures)

So, it's a little over halfway through the year (well, we can go ahead and say it's only halfway through, because, for the purposes of this post, movies released in January don't really count), so what movies and performances have you been most impressed with over the last six or so months? I'd say:

MOVIES:
1. Zodiac (David Fincher)
2. Grindhouse (Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino)
3. Once (John Carney)
4. Knocked Up (Judd Apatow)
5. Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright)

PERFORMANCES:
1. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, The Lookout
2. Jeff Daniels, The Lookout
3. Imelda Staunton, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
4. Sienna Miller, Interview
5. John Cusack, 1408

What say you?

Hot off the presses (Criterion)

Tell us what you saw this weekend, if it rocked your world or made you cringe. My big revelation came last night when I watched Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole , a long-neglected Kirk Douglas movie from 1951 that arrives on DVD this week from Criterion. This might be the darkest depiction of journalism I've ever seen, and it's right up there with two other classic '50s tales of media and power, A Face in the Crowd and The Sweet Smell of Success. Douglas plays a newspaper reporter who stumbles upon the story of a lifetime in the form of a man trapped in a mine shaft. Yeah, it would be great to get the guy out. But then the story would disappear. Media circus, anyone?

As Spike Lee says in his afterward, this is nasty stuff for 2007, let alone 1951. If Sweet Smell's J.J. Hunsecker is like "a cookie laced with arsenic" (as he's described in the film), then the heart of Ace in the Hole pumps pure battery acid.

Not to toot my own horn too loudly, but when I hit on a box office buzz prediction, I feel the need to let people know. Last week I predicted a $140 Wednesday-Sunday for Order of the Phoenix. And $140 million it made. Sort of takes the sting out of my Transformers prediction of two weeks ago, which was off by, oh, $70 mil. or so.

As someone who grew up with the toys, I already planned to see Transformers when the hype and the lines died down. But it was the watching HBO's "Making of ..." feature that made me go see it right away.

Usually, it's not cool to see how-they-did-it shows first before seeing the movie. But this show gave me all sorts of insight, such as the use of military planes, how there's only four Bumblebees in world, and exactly why Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duhamel looked so freaked when first encountering Scorpinox.

The movie itself was awesome, although I wished MIchael Bay and Co. had found a way to work in the cartoon's theme song. Surprisingly enough, there wasn't a single character I wanted to kick in the head! Moviegoers know that's rare. There's almost always someone you want to kick in the head ... usually the chick.

So, who's got predictions on which Autobots and Decepticons will show up in the sequel? (Please, if Captain Jack Sparrow, Shrek, Danny Ocean and Spider-Man got sequels, Optimus Prime will definitely get one.)

Will the critics hammer Homer? (photo courtesy of Fox)

But - we just found out the Dallas press screening of The Simpsons has been moved up to Tuesday, which, though it may not seem like it, makes a big difference. Every day helps when it comes to crafting our pristine pearls of wisdom. (Yes, it's all about us). Stay tuned for further Simpsonia.

I'll freely adimit it: I'm (way) over nine years old, and I'm all in with the Harry Potter craze. So there.

Now that that's said, I now pronouce myself free to rave about Order of the Phoenix. It was great! No, really, it was. As someone who's read the books, I had a little more background to fill in the few gaps that probably only we diehards would notice. But this film did a good job of hitting the high points for people new to the series (is anybody new to the series at this point?).

The best part is the series hasn't gone sappy.

New Line

So we got to thinking (an occupational hazard if ever there was one): what other movies have made magic in the broadcast booth? Check the short list below and add your own.

Talk to Me director Kasi Lemmons and Movie Critic Chris Vognar discuss her research for the film and why Don Cheadle was the man for the job in a Dallas Morning News Movie Podcast.

I've always been a big John Turturro fan. The guy has range and passion to burn; I especially liked his back-to-back turns in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (as a seething racist toiling in his pops' pizza place) and Jungle Fever (as a schlumpy nice guy browbeaten by his buddies and dumped by Annabella Sciorra). And of course there's the classic "Look into your heart" scene in Miller's Crossing. So I was pleased if not surprised by his interpretation of embattled Yankees manager Billy Martin in The Bronx is Burning, ESPN's eight-hour miniseries that kicked off Tuesday night.

The folks at The Dallas Video Festival are ready to launch Guts and Glory 2, an offshoot of sorts from the 24-Hour Video Race. Here's the drill: On July 27 at midnight, 12 teams of filmmakers will get 100 feet of 16 mm reversal film. Then they will, like, make movies. More specifically, they will have 24 hours to shoot a film in sequence. The resulting works must incorporate a surprise theme, location, and prop.

The films will be viewed for the first time at the Dallas Angelika on Wednesday, August 1 beginning at 7 pm as part of the 20th Annual Dallas Video Festival. At the screening, the teams can provide any kind of live accompaniment to their films, a thought that presents some scary possibilities. Registration is $100.

For the full skinny - is that an oxymoron? - and registration info, peep www.videofest.org (as soon as the site is back up, anyway).

The new Harry Potter flick brought in $12 million on midnight showings alone, contributing to a record Wednesday opening of $44.8 million. Transformers brought in $8 million during showings starting at 8 last Tuesday night, which likely means Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will dethrone it as box office champ this week. Just another win in the biggest Potter month ever between the new film and the final book's release on the 21st.

Also worth noting and not heavily reported, at the end of May, Universal Orlando Resort announced plans for a major Florida theme park for the boy wizard, reported here by E! News.

Chalk it up as one more reason I'm glad I never drank the Potter Kool-Aid. Between movies, books, related merchandise and now a Disney-esque mouse-trap in Florida, the title of the final book might as well be Harry Potter and the Black Market Kidney.

It was reported last week that all the chips seem to have fallen into place for a Sex and the City movie, with the show's four principle ladies signed on. So who's the holdout? Chris Noth, a.k.a. Mr. Big. The New Your Daily News is reporting that he's yet to ink a deal to appear in the movie, and that those who have seen Michael Patrick King's script for the film say that Big is definitely a big part of the movie. Noth just re-signed with his day job on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, but I would imagine that this is just a formality. What actor wouldn't take a big pay day to play a character he could do in his sleep? If you want to read the whole Daily News story, click here.

Never seen Night of the Living Dead? What are ya, some kind of zombie? Now's your chance to see George Romero's original zombie classic on the big screen. Mr. Weird - AKA Dallas film scenester/actor/film historian Gordon K. Smith - will open up a can of undead July 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Studio Movie Grill in Addison. He'll also serve up a heaping helping of zombie trailers - there are few things in this world better than zombie trailers - and other goodies from his private stock. Tickets are $10. Wanna buy one in advance? Click here.

How does Night stand up 39 years after its arrival, after a seemingly endless parade of zombie flicks? It's still a starkly realistic slice of minimalist terror that will scare the bejeezus out of you.

In other words, it holds up pretty damn well.

Just got word that Warners is releasing a massive three-disc Jazz Singer set later this year. The film is known for launching the talkie era when it was released in 1927. It's also known as a very mainstream throwback to the days of minstrel shows, in which white performers painted their faces black and indulged in the most egregious stereotypes of the day.

How will The Jazz Singer play in 2007? Probably a lot better if some of the copious extras - we're talking three discs here - address the minstrel issue. The Jazz Singer doesn't have the same capacity to offend as the KKK-glorifying Birth of a Nation, but a minstrel show is still a minstrel show, and the imagery doesn't (and shouldn't) play well in the 21st century, especially not without a little context. Should it be released? Absolutely; it's a landmark film. But don't try to sweep the ugly stuff under the rug.

So I checked out a screening of Superbad last night at the Cinemark 17. I reserve comment on the movie until closer to opening - we're conscientious like that over here, and I don't want the studio getting rough with us for busting an embargo. But I was amused, dismayed and sadly not surprised by the number of small children in tow for a movie whose content advisory on IMDB reads "pervasive crude and sexual content, strong language, drinking, some drug use and a fantasy/comic violent image - all involving teens" (hey, at least they weren't all involving toddlers). I'm slower to offend than most; I'm actually more concerned about enjoying my adult content than the effects it might have on others in the room. But does a baby sitter really cost that much these days? Or is more about the bonding experience of sharing pervasive crude and sexual content, strong language, drinking, some drug use and a fantasy/comic violent image - all involving teens - with your young ones?

Just wondering.

Our resident Potterhead Nancy Churnin wrote a rave review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in today's GuideLive. And she should know -- I challenge anyone to go toe-to-toe with her on Potter knowledge.
But I saw the movie, too, last week, and all I could think when it was over was, "huh?" Full disclosure: I've only seen two of the previous movies and read none of the books. So I went to the screening more as a fact-finding mission to see if the uninitiated will be able to follow along enough to know what is going on. And I would say the answer is a solid "no". But the more I thought about that, the more I felt that the movie had actually done its job. Rather than spend precious time bringing everyone up to speed about what has happened in the previous four movies and dumbing down the film, it decided to cater to its base and make it more of a rewarding moviegoing experience for the diehard fans. And I'm OK with that. If I haven't cared enough by now to get into the story, why should I feel entitled to waste the time of those who have been paying attention with long stretches of exposition that the diehards have already lived?

I know the common wisdom about the Transformers juggernaut is that "It's just the toys, stupid." But what struck me was the way it tapped into American fears about the Iraq war (that's where the movie starts, with our soldiers getting overwhelmed by a force they don't understand -- of course that force is a bad Transformer, but never mind). Then, when we get back to our own country we find out that these aliens have been living among us like sleeper cells. Then we find out that there are good ones and bad ones and good old Shia LaBoeuf has to battle his own paranoid government to get them to distinguish between the two. And finally, we have to accept that now with their world destroyed, the Transformers will be living among us forever. Metaphors for our current angst, anyone?

New Line

Merriam-Webster announced its usual slew of new words that it is adding to its dictionary, and among them are a couple with movie ties. The most obvious is "Bollywood," the catch-all reference to the prolific Indian movie industry. But my favorite is "ginormous." The dictionary company was able to track the word back to 1948, but I know I first came in contact with it through Elf, when Buddy the Elf exclaims, "Have you seen these toilets. They're ginormous!" And thus, my go-to word for hyberbole was born.

Springfield, Vt. was chosen as the official home of The Simpsons in an online poll on USA Today's Web site. Fourteen Springfield's from around the country submitted videos to the competition. You can watch 'em here.
In other news, we now know that Capital City is really Montpelier.

Optimal Optimus
Transformers took full advantage of the holiday week. It started out with a record on opening day (biggest Tuesday gross at $27.9 million) and added another on Wednesday (biggest 4th of July gross at $29.1 million). By then it was a bona fide hit, going on a $155 million haul in its first week.

In case you missed it on our home page, check out Nancy Churnin's take on Order of the Phoenix. And if you're anything like me, you might need to catch up a bit before hitting the mulitplex at midnight: We've got you covered.

And speaking of midnight showings, find a theater here or in IMAX 3D.

Wanna be an extra in a horror movie? Wanna donate grub from your restaurant to the crew of said horror movie? Dallas-based La Luna Entertainment is looking for all of the above as it sets out to make Fright Flick, the story of a second-rate production team making a slasher movie. Things go awry. Blood, as they say, is spilled. If you want to help spill it, contact line producer Melissa McCurley at MelMcCurley@yahoo.com. The movie will be shot this month in the West Texas town of Runaway Bay.

May the fright be with you. Always.

Is it already time for Toronto again? You bet, hosers. The Toronto International Film Festival folks have trickled out a few more titles for the 32nd annual event, running Sept. 6 to Sept. 15. Among the new highlights:

Welcome to The Screening Room.

OK, so it's not actually a screening room. We won't be showing any movies, though you might find the occasional piece of streaming video. What we will do is raise a nonstop din of cinematic chatter. That means breaking news, announcements, random observations, critical outtakes, gushing appraisals, irate rants, and anything else within reason and content standards that addresses the world of movies.

I will be your crypt keeper, referee and conversation starter. But we need your participation. Like a tree falling in the forest, no one can hear a voice in a vacuum. (Actually, that tree in the forest thing hasn't been proven yet. But you know what I'm saying).

So comment early and often. And try the veal. We'll be here all week, and for as long as you join the party thereafter.

DVD Pick O' The Week: You're Gonna Miss Me, the moving doc on the life, times, fall and hard-earned redemption of Roky Erickson, the Texas psychedelic rock pioneer who fronted the great 13th Floor Elevators. Directed by Dallas' own Keven McAlester (remembered by many locals for KDGE-FM's Adventure Club), Miss Me chronicles Erickson's legal, mental and chemical troubles without exploiting or romanticizing them. It also reminds us that this guy had one of the most haunting high-pitched yawlps in the annals of rock.

Speaking of which: You can check out the real deal July 14 at the Granada. Erickson is celebrating his 60th birthday in the city of his birth. He might not sound like he used to. But once you watch the film, which will also show at the theater that night at 8, you'll be amazed that the guy can still get up on a stage and rock.

I feel like I've crossed into Rod Serling land. For the first time, I've written a fairly positive review of a Michael Moore movie and received angry emails...but only from his fans?

This is unheard of in the Lone Star State. By now I would usually have a half dozen missives telling me I'm not a true American, or some such witticism. Instead, it's "you obviously don't know what it's like to suffer without health insurance" (for what it's worth, I do, though thankfully not at this time).

What up Dallas? I gave the movie a B. That means I kinda liked the latest work by the guy who allegedly stomps on our fine country. Is the sport of Moore hating losing steam? Or is Sicko just too nonpartisan to stir up the usual hornets' nest? (Photo: Associated Press)

I come from a family full of cinephiles, so obviously there was some movie-watching going on this weekend with relatives in town. Saturday night was Thank You for Smoking, which is about as razor-sharp as satires get. It's too bad it was released back in the spring of '06. Had it come out six months later, the Oscar buzz would have been for real. I can't believe Jason Reitman's script didn't get a nod. But on to the title of this post: last night I rewatched Raising Arizona, which is my favorite Coen Brothers movie. Sure, some are more challenging (Fargo) and some have better characters (The Big Lebowski), but for me, nothing tops the brilliantly inspired absurdity of H.I. McDunnough stealing a package of Huggies to the sounds of Pete Seeger yodeling. But as I was watching this, laughing at the delightful narration of Nic Cage, I began to wonder: "What happened to him?" While taking notes during Ghost Rider, I wrote "This is not the same Nic Cage I used to love." I also ran across this, which makes me all the more thankful I skipped The Wicker Man. Mr. Cage is falling into dangerous, unselective, paycheck-only territory. It may be time to start campaigning for him to return his Oscar.

Wanna see a legend in the flesh? Milos Forman (Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) will screen his latest film, Goya's Ghosts, on Thursday, July 19 at 7 the Angelika Film Center. Mr. Forman is in town to be honored with the USA Film Festival's Great Director Tribute. The event is free, but you must reserve a seat by Previous honorees include Robert Altman, Sydney Pollack and Frank Capra. After the screening, Mr. Forman will take part in a Q&A session calling 214-821-6300.

TVGuide.com is reporting that the long-rumored Sex and the City movie is finally a go. According to the site, the four main characters have all agreed and shooting will begin in September. Kim Cattrall is rumored to have been the last domino to finally fall.
By my math, it's been three years since the show went off the air, and if shooting is to being this fall, we're looking at a 2008 release. If The Sopranos follows that same formula, we can all look forward to The Sopranos: The Movie sometime in 2011.

Now that we've got our shiny new movies blog here, I'll start posting my weekly Box Office Buzz column here a few days before it appears in Friday's paper. Enjoy:

Rats!
Ratatouille, Pixar’s animated tale of a rat who longs to be a chef, scarfed up $47 million Friday-Sunday, just a million less that Live Free or Die Hard managed in its initial Wednesday-Sunday run. While $47 million is nothing to sniff at, it was smallest opening for a Pixar film since A Bug’s Life opened with $33 million in 1998.

I got an interesting letter from an angry parent today. He's upset about the double-talk that is coming out of the Transformers promotional machine, namely that the movie is being marketed to kids through toy stores, fast food chains, etc. and yet it's PG-13. His point is a lot of the little ones are getting excited for the movie only to learn they aren't old enough. It's kind of like taking a kid to Six Flags and showing him how cool the Shockwave is, only to tell him he's not tall enough to climb aboard.
I think he's got a pretty good point here. And I think the larger point is: the PG-13 rating has really turned into a sort of "soft rating," more of a suggestion to those who are inclined to pay attention to ratings in the first place. But for a large number of parents, I would imagine when they see the "PG," they don't care much about the "13." They're content to know that their kiddos won't be seeing anything R-rated, though what they may not realize is that the line between PG-13 and R has become mighty blurry over the past few years.
My suggestion: If you are a parent, read all you can about the movie before deciding if it's OK for your kid to see. Most reviews and stories about the movies give a pretty clear picture of what's in store. And you can always check out what the MPAA has to say here.

After some of my favorite movies came up on Facebook's QuickRate feature in their movies application the other day, I got to thinking: which movies have the best casts? They could be either large or small, frequently on-screen or just a big ensemble, and even if the movie didn't quite work. What do you guys think (and try to limit it to just one Altman movie, OK)? I'd say:

-Heat
Al Pacino, Robert de Niro, Val Kilmer, Ted Levine, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Dennis Haysbert, William Fichtner, Hank Azaria, Danny Trejo, Tone Loc (!), Jeremy Piven
-Outbreak
Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, Donald Sutherland, Cuba Gooding Jr.
-The Player
Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher, Vincent D'Onofrio, Dean Stockwell, Richard E. Grant, Sydney Pollack, Lyle Lovett, and cameos by Cher, James Coburn, John Cusack, Jeff Goldblum, Buck Henry ("It's The Graduate, Part II"), Julia Roberts, and a ton more.
-Murder by Death
Truman Capote, James Coco, Peter Falk, Alec Guiness, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Elsa Lanchester, James Cromwell
-Little Miss Sunshine
Abigail Breslin, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, Mary Lynn Rajskub

This post has been moved from Internal Affairs.

All this talk about Monty Python and the Holy Grail (which in my opinion is a tad overrated. I prefer Life of Brian, mainly because, with very few exceptions, I prefer my comedies to have some semblance of a plot) got me thinking: It has one of the best movie endings ever. What would you guys add to the list? I'd say:

- The Usual Suspects
- The Blair Witch Project (even though the movie was terrible)
- The Sixth Sense

So after years of wanting to see it, I finally saw Gus van Sant's Elephant, and wow, what a movie. Defying all convention (major financing, a known cast, linear storytelling), the second part of van Sant's "Death Trilogy" is a Rashomon-like, fictionalized take on the tragic events of Columbine High School. The cast of real-life high-school students adds a lot of gravitas to the story, which doesn't try to be insightful. It's just a chronolog of what might have happened that day, details of a senseless tragedy. I think it's a movie that everyone should see, just like the similarly structured United 93. It's that powerful.

So I finally got around to seeing the much ballyhooed Crazy Love this weekend (I know, call me Mr. Two Weeks behind). Anyway, I have to ask what all the ballyhooing is about. Seemed extremely slow to me, and that was when I wasn't napping. That being said, I'll admit some of that may have to do with the fact that I already knew most of the major plot points going in. And so will a lot of people -- this was a much publicized tabloid event back in the day. But some docs are interesting despite that fact and some become exercises in inevitability because of it. I put Crazy Love in the latter category. Sure -- the couple's story was interesting. But for me listening to them tell it didn't make it all that more compelling.