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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title>Is Your Favorite Film Coming in 3-D?</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/04/02/3-d-is-the-new-black/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/04/02/3-d-is-the-new-black/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/04/02/3-d-is-the-new-black/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/pop-culture/" rel="tag">Pop Culture</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/marquette/" rel="tag">Marquette University</a></p>When Pixar came out with Toy Story, the first computer-generated full-length feature film, audiences were in awe of the what this meant for the future of animation. Now, animators are making another step with animated feature films into the world of 3-D.<img width="364" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="256" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/brighthall.aol.com/media/2009/04/seth-rogan-monsters-vs-aliens.jpg" alt="" />
<div align="left"><br />Dreamwork's <em>Monsters vs. Aliens</em>, the first this year in what will be a slew of 3-D animated films, opened at number one in the weekend box office earning almost $60 million. This total was definitely bumped up as 3-D viewings cost more than regular theater viewings. However, this does show that audiences are ready for the next big thing. <br /></div><br /><br />Disney is never one to be left behind in animated films, they are set to have approximately 17 3-D releases in the works through 2012, including the upcoming Pixar film, <em>Up</em>. But the biggest news that Disney made at their ShoWest presentation in Las Vegas this week was about their classics. <em>Toy Story</em> and <em>Toy Story 2</em> will be released as 3-D double features in October (with <em>Toy Story 3</em> coming out in 3-D in 2010), Tim Burton's <em>Alice in Wonderland</em> will be available in IMAX 3-D as well as regular 3-D and the Academy Award nominee for Best Picture <em>Beauty and the Beast</em> will be re-released in 3-D in February 2010. <br /><br />Of course, re-releasing films in a 3-D state might be harmful for Disney. How many people are going to be willing to shell out extra money just to see a film they've already seen (and possibly own) in 3-D? I do have to admit, though, that the idea of seeing the classic "Be Our Guest" and ballroom scenes from <em>Beauty and the Beast</em> in 3-D are enough to make me intrigued.<br /><br />The other question is whether or not this will become the standard in films. In the same way that computer animation has seemed to do away with hand drawings (with the exception of the upcoming Disney flick <em>The Princess and the Frog</em>), are audiences going to expect 3-D effects? <br /><br />The one thing that is for sure is that animators need to make sure that they don't rest on the "wow factor" of 3-D animation and just create good, quality films. A good story is a good story, no matter what medium is used to tell it.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/04/02/3-d-is-the-new-black/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1506508/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/04/02/3-d-is-the-new-black/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/04/02/3-d-is-the-new-black/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>alice in wonderland</category><category>alice in wonderland 3-d</category><category>AliceInWonderland</category><category>AliceInWonderland3-d</category><category>animation</category><category>beauty and the beast</category><category>beauty and the beast 3d</category><category>BeautyAndTheBeast</category><category>BeautyAndTheBeast3d</category><category>computer animation</category><category>ComputerAnimation</category><category>disney</category><category>dreamworks</category><category>imax 3-d</category><category>imax 3d</category><category>Imax3-d</category><category>imax3d</category><category>monsters vs. aliens</category><category>monsters-vs-aliens</category><category>MonstersVs.Aliens</category><category>movies</category><category>pixar</category><category>princess and the frog</category><category>PrincessAndTheFrog</category><category>seth rogen</category><category>SethRogen</category><category>toy story</category><category>toy story 2</category><category>toy story 3</category><category>toy story 3d</category><category>ToyStory</category><category>ToyStory2</category><category>ToyStory3</category><category>ToyStory3d</category><category>up</category><dc:creator>Rincey Abraham</dc:creator><dc:date>2009-04-02T18:25:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Can a 'Three Stooges' Movie Live Up To the Hype?</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/03/27/can-a-three-stooges-movie-live-up-to-the-hype/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/03/27/can-a-three-stooges-movie-live-up-to-the-hype/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/03/27/can-a-three-stooges-movie-live-up-to-the-hype/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/pop-culture/" rel="tag">Pop Culture</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/fiction/" rel="tag">Fiction</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/marquette/" rel="tag">Marquette University</a></p><br />Variety has reported that the casting for the new <em>Three Stooges</em> film, which is to be directed by the Farrelly brothers, is finishing up casting. Sean Penn has been signed on to play Larry, Jim Carrey is in negotiations to play Curly and the brothers are looking to Benicio Del Toro to play Moe.<img width="175" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="253" border="1" align="right" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/brighthall.aol.com/media/2009/03/sean-penn-85201985.jpg" /><br /> <br />The movie got off to a rough start when Warner Bros. decided to drop the project, but it was later picked up by MGM. However, it's still unclear how the whole things is going to work.<br /><br />The Farrelly brothers, known for such hits as <em>There's Something About Mary</em>, have already been quoted as saying that the film will not be a biopic, but will instead take place in the modern day with them still acting, dressing and looking like The Stooges.<br /><br />"When the economy started turning, we felt like the world could use a Stooges slapfest," Peter Farrelly told Daily Variety. "Bobby and I haven't done a real physical comedy in a while, and it's the most exciting thing we could think of now, to have people go to the movie, see some great slapstick fun family humor."<br /><br />I'm not going to pretend to be a Stooges aficionado, but now that there are actors attached to the film, it is much easier to see it all coming together. Carrey seems like the perfect fit for the movie since he is best known for his comedic roles (even though he proved his serious acting chops in <em>The Truman Show</em> and <em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</em>). Penn, who just won an Academy Award for his role in <em>Milk</em>, and Del Toro seem to be odder fits, but you never know what range these guys will be able to show off if given the chance. <br /><br />Because of the fact that the Stooges are beloved by so many around the world, this movie has quite the standard to live up to. Hopefully the Farrelly brothers will be able to create a movie that exceeds expectations.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/03/27/can-a-three-stooges-movie-live-up-to-the-hype/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1499908/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/03/27/can-a-three-stooges-movie-live-up-to-the-hype/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/03/27/can-a-three-stooges-movie-live-up-to-the-hype/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>benecio del toro</category><category>BenecioDelToro</category><category>farrelly brothers</category><category>FarrellyBrothers</category><category>jim carrey</category><category>JimCarrey</category><category>sean penn</category><category>SeanPenn</category><category>three stooges</category><category>three stooges movie</category><category>ThreeStooges</category><category>ThreeStoogesMovie</category><dc:creator>Rincey Abraham</dc:creator><dc:date>2009-03-27T13:10:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>The Bush Movie: Does Anybody Care?</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a></p>Oliver Stone's George W. Bush biopic <em>W</em> hits theaters today, a release date that is obviously meant to incite an uproar right before the election, sparking both political discussion and boffo box office returns. <br /><br />But in the midst of thousands of other uproars -- political, economic, athletic if you're in <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20081016_Dominant_Phillies_claim_the_pennant.html">Philadelphia</a> -- the film is just sitting there, much like the film's subject. Though the movie is being released while Bush is still in office, <em>W</em> has sparked no real controversy because everyone has already moved on to the next administration, whichever one it may be. It's a strange thing for a filmmaker like <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/06/oliver.stone.bush.movie/index.html?iref=newssearch">Stone</a>, so used to courting political controversy thanks to earlier movies on such subjects as Nixon, Kennedy, and the Vietnam War. <br /><br />We could turn to considering whether <em>W</em> is a good movie, but reading reviews for this movie is like watching the debates: hearing the information won't change your opinion because you already know what you're going to do. And anyway, <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/w">the reviews are mixed</a>. It seems that the film is not so much a study of a president as it is a study of an actor, Josh Brolin, who embodies Bush from his college years to the present. As for the story? Well, that all depends on whether you think <em>W</em> is a comedy, a sad statement on politics, or both:<br /> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/weELpc3pYMs&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/weELpc3pYMs&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1344737/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-10-17T09:19:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Paul Newman Dead at 83</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a></p>Legendary actor <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080927/ap_on_en_mo/obit_newman;_ylt=AmUUsZ72Vx_.mUdiDLO.Ibqs0NUE">Paul Newman</a> passed away from cancer Friday at his home in Westport, Connecticut. He was 83.<br /><br />Nominated for an Oscar a staggering 10 times (he won one and received two honorary statuettes), Newman has been a towering presence in film for six decades. He appeared in such films as <em>Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid</em>, <em>Cool Hand Luke</em>, and <em>The Color of Money</em>, for which he won his Oscar. In recent years, he received an Academy Award nomination for his work in <em>Road to Perdition</em> in 2002, won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance in <em>Empire Falls</em>, a 2005 miniseries on HBO, and provided the voice of Doc Hudson in <em>Cars</em> in 2006. <br /><br />At the height of his career in the 70s, Newman branched out and became interested in other ventures. He began racing cars and later started a team for the CART series (Mario Andretti was his first driver). He also started Newman's Own, a company which sells salad dressing, popcorn, and other foods and drinks. All the proceeds- hundreds of millions of dollars at this point-go to charity.<br /><br />Throughout his career, whether playing a pool shark, a lawyer, or a really old car, Newman remained a handsome, dynamic actor as well as a man dedicated to his pursuits, whether they were filmmaking, charity work, or the family he raised with actress Joanne Woodward. Below, an example of what made Paul Newman so great:<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zVZFlBJftgg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zVZFlBJftgg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <br />Paul Newman in <em>The Verdict</em>.<br /><br /><br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20205803,00.html?iid=top25-20080927-Paul+Newman%3A+His+best+movies">here</a> to see <em>Entertainment Weekly</em>'s gallery of 30 of Paul Newman's best performances.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1326507/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-09-27T18:49:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>John McCain Is Gene Hackman in a Bad Election Movie</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/16/john-mccain-is-gene-hackman-in-a-bad-election-movie/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/16/john-mccain-is-gene-hackman-in-a-bad-election-movie/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/16/john-mccain-is-gene-hackman-in-a-bad-election-movie/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/us-elections/" rel="tag">US Elections</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/politics/" rel="tag">Politics</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/boston-university/" rel="tag">Boston University</a></p>There's a really bad movie out there with Ray Romano and Gene Hackman called "Welcome to Mooseport." In it, Hackman plays the very old former U.S. president Monroe Cole who is running for mayor of a small town against a younger handyman, Romano's character.<br /><br />You can probably already tell that it's horrible. But there's one scene in which Cole (Hackman) debates Handy Harrison (Romano) at a town-hall meeting, and a concerned citizen asks the former president what to do about a particularly dangerous intersection, or something like that.<img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/brighthall.aol.com/media/2008/09/mooseport.jpg" style="width: 291px; height: 202px;" alt="" /><br /><br />President Cole's bureaucratic response: Appoint a blue-ribbon commision to study the intersection.<br /><br />Handy says: Put up a stop sign.<br /><br />The point I'm trying to make here is that while Wall Street failed and the nation's big investment banks crumbled, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/16/john-mccain-doesnt-know-how-to-use-a-computer/">John McCain</a> today said a commission should be appointed to study why it all happened. Maybe, he suggested, it could be a commission like the Sept. 11 panel that investigated the circumstances leading up to the 2001 terrorist attacks.<br /><br />And maybe also like that commission, it could reach some conclusions and publish them for the public two years after it was appointed. In two years, who knows if banks will even be around? Who knows if money will even be around? The way our economy is flailing now, nothing is certain.<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><br />Cue McCain, from yesterday:<br /><br />"The fundamentals of our economy are strong."<br /><br />Handy <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/10/obama-the-plagiarist/">Barack Obama</a> didn't let him off so easy on that one. His new <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6reQLzgywzk">ad</a> shows the timeline of economic collapses (massive job losses and foreclosures, plus the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy), and then quotes McCain's possibly-taken-out-of-context quote.<br /><br />"How can John McCain fix our economy if he doesn't understand it's broken?" the advertisement asks.<br /><br />Simple. A blue-ribbon commission.<br /><br />(Oh, and by the way -- in the movie, the election ends in a tie. Hmm.)<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/16/john-mccain-is-gene-hackman-in-a-bad-election-movie/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1316250/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/16/john-mccain-is-gene-hackman-in-a-bad-election-movie/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/16/john-mccain-is-gene-hackman-in-a-bad-election-movie/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Matt Negrin</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-09-16T22:22:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Comic Con!</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/30/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-comic-con/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/30/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-comic-con/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/30/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-comic-con/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/pop-culture/" rel="tag">Pop Culture</a></p><em>"The Dark Knight</em>" has made so much money in its first 10 days that scientists have created a new number to quantify it: fafillion, as in "<em>'The Dark Knight'</em> has now grossed one fafillion dollars." This is roughly equivalent to $314.2 million.<br /><br />One year ago, at Comic Con in San Diego, Batman fans were treated to a teaser trailer and a creepy, Joker-related <a href="http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2007/07/batman-dark-kni.html">scavenger hunt</a>. Another big hit at the convention was the <em>"Iron Man</em>"panel, which went on to earn $314.9 million in its run, which is incredible unless you compare it to <em>"The Dark Knight</em>."<br /><br />Combine the performance of those two movies with "3<em>00</em>," the 2007 film that perhaps owed all of its buzz and box office to its Comic Con appearance the year before, and it's clear that the influence of what was once a tiny little comic book convention can not be understated. This isn't the revenge of the nerds; the nerds are firmly in control of what we watch.<br /> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ILObfEzX92k&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ILObfEzX92k&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />Comic Con, in the past five years or so, has become a platform for geek-leaning auteurs, and then, everybody else, to showcase their upcoming projects, reward loyal fans, and get the word out thanks to with-it techies posting the info on the information superhighway. Also jumping on the information superhighway: bigger websites like <a href="http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/index.jsp?cat=50626793-103a-492f-8df1-bba5d3f67dea&amp;categoryName=comic-con%20%2708">this one</a>. <br /><br />TV's been just a little slower on the uptake than movies, but this past weekend, it was all over San Diego. So what will be the big story to come out of this year, TV-wise? The triumphant returns of <em>"Heroes</em>" and <em>"24</em>" after dismal seasons? A new geektastic show like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAu4L5_Fl84"><em>"Fringe</em></a>"? Well, maybe not <em>"Fringe"</em> according to <a href="http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/07/comic-con-fring.html"><em>Entertainment Weekly</em></a>.<br /><br /> Or will it be a new sort of show, one that could finally be the venture that ushers in the new way we watch TV on the Internet? Joss Whedon's brain child during the writers' strike became the Internet musical "<a href="http://drhorrible.com/"><em>Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"</em></a>, filmed with Whedon's money and distributed on his terms. It sort of made the internet implode when Act I debuted for free on July 15, but once they got the site up and running again, they released the next two acts without a hitch. Now you have to pay for it on iTunes.<br /><br />The overwhelming viral popularity bodes well for the creators reaping some financial benefits. Plus, at the <em>"Dr. Horrible"</em> panel on July 25, it was announced that there would not only be a DVD (with musical <em>Commentary!</em>) and a soundtrack, but another installment, a proclamation which has since reverberated throughout the world... <a href="http://doctorhorrible.net/dr-horrible-act-iv/172/">wide web</a>.<br /><br />Well, if the future of entertainment is watching Neil Patrick Harris sing whilst wearing a funny costume, then I'm OK with the geeks running things. Ponder this while you watch the song below: how does NPH do that with his fingers at 0:40?<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/30/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-comic-con/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1269309/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/30/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-comic-con/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/30/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-comic-con/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-07-30T06:50:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Dear Make-Up Department from The Dark Knight</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/21/dear-make-up-department-from-the-dark-knight/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/21/dear-make-up-department-from-the-dark-knight/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/21/dear-make-up-department-from-the-dark-knight/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a></p>Dear make-up department from "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR-8zy3tF-s"><em>The Dark Knight</em></a>,"<br /><br />Does the Academy know about you? Because bravo, sirs and madams, bravo. You got me to stare at Heath Ledger's creeptastic face for two and a half hours. <br /><br />OK, maybe Ledger's performance had something to do it. Because while he would have been incredible without the fine make-up job, with it, he is unstoppably terrifying. You should know that when I was younger, I was freaked out by Michelle Pfeiffer ripping apart her stuffed animals as Catwoman in <em>"Batman Returns</em>," mostly because she seemed so twisted. Also, I was six and really liked animals. However, adjusting for age, I would say I found Heath Ledger much scarier.<br /><br />Ledger has fallen so deep into the role that he is truly unrecognizable. Those protruding scars beneath that distorted clown smile. The way his tongue flicks out, like he's enjoying the taste of the delectable bon mots he tosses out on anarchy and mayhem and where he got those scars from. The stringy, faintly green hair that Ledger at one point styles by shaking his head around like he's a shaggy dog, as though the Joker actually cares how people see him. The Joker only cares that he has taken what he looks like and matched it to what he's become on the inside. <br /><br />As for Aaron Eckhart, the man is all chiseled chin and gorgeous hair, which goes right along with his character. As Harvey Dent, the white knight of Gotham and the man who would be Two Face, Eckhart uses the charm he showed off in <em>"Thank You for Smoking</em>" for good rather than evil, you know, for a while. But oh, what you guys did with that man's pretty, pretty face. It hurts the eyes. It does.<br /><br />And it's not surprising, make-up department, that you had so little to do for Christian Bale, due to his mask and all. Compared to the villainous types, he does very little in the movie. This movie is so not about him, the name "Batman" isn't even in the title. Christian Bale, with his Marlboro Man voice and rock 'em sock 'em fighting prowess, is the steadying force amidst all the havoc. His presence is always welcome because he's fighting the bad guys, and the bad guys must. be. stopped. And yet, when the bad guys are as irresistibly demented as Ledger's Joker, who cavorts through Gotham like it's his own personal playground of pain, who wants the good guy around? <br /><br />Props must be given to the writing, directing, acting, stunt coordinating, and all that kind of stuff, but I just wanted to say that I know who really made this movie: whoever put the red paint on Heath Ledger's face.<br /> <br />Sincerely,<br />Emily Lasky<br /><br />PS- Is there a reason Nestor Carbonell (as the mayor) looks like he's wearing eye liner? That would be your one misstep, make-up department. Otherwise, good job.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/21/dear-make-up-department-from-the-dark-knight/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1260963/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/21/dear-make-up-department-from-the-dark-knight/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/21/dear-make-up-department-from-the-dark-knight/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-07-21T13:01:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>A Tale of Two Movies</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/29/a-tale-of-two-movies/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/29/a-tale-of-two-movies/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/29/a-tale-of-two-movies/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a></p><em><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/brighthall.aol.com/media/2008/06/wallebrighthall.jpg" alt="" /></em><em>"Kung Fu Panda</em>" aims to please the kiddies... and me. Let's be honest, I also saw "<em>Sn</em><em>akes on a Plane"</em> just because of the title. Hey movie studios, I got your disposable income right here! <br /><br />But I digress. While <em>"Panda</em>" stays solidly in the happy-go-lucky movie strike zone (Jack Black was a piece of spot-on casting), <em>"Wall-E"</em> literally and figuratively soars higher. Not only is <em>"Wall-E</em>" the cutest thing, real, fictional, or otherwise, that I have ever seen; it is the quietest epic to ever hit the silver screen. <br /><br />It's quiet in a few ways. For one, there's very little of the talky-talky, particularly for the first 35-40 minutes. Not that that matters. Who needs dialogue when you're watching an Earth with no life left and stacks of garbage meticulously robot-hand-crafted by the robot himself. Sumptuous is one of those critical words you often hear to describe animation like this, as in "sumptuous design of landscapes and skyscapes." It's like Bob Ross got sick of painting with that scalpel thing and grabbed a mouse and Adobe Illustrator. But a million times better than that. <br /> <br />But it's also quiet in that it is a wildly simple story: a lonely robot looking for love. Who has to save Earth. So don't let the <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=fCcCZOSAtxA">cutesy-wootsy trailer </a>fool you -- there's pathos in this flick. It pretty much examines the entire human condition by focusing on a robot who picks up a few of the (better) traits of humans and manages to show his humanoid brethren a thing or two about what it means to be alive.<br /><br />I applaud Pixar, through the Internet, for once again appealing to both kids and adults. They've crafted catch-all gags we can all enjoy (a robot runs into things, I laugh), but they've also invested the story with some, dare I say it, deep meaning. With <em>"Kung Fu Panda</em>," the title says it all, but with <em>"Wall-E</em>," it's about way more than just a Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth-Class.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/29/a-tale-of-two-movies/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1240395/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/29/a-tale-of-two-movies/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/29/a-tale-of-two-movies/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-29T22:15:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Eye on Entertainment</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/18/eye-on-entertainment/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/18/eye-on-entertainment/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/18/eye-on-entertainment/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/pop-culture/" rel="tag">Pop Culture</a></p>Looks like <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/18/michelle.obama/index.html?eref=rss_latest">Michelle Obama</a> isn't the only one working on her image. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/06/17/holmes.broadway.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview" style="">Katie Holmes</a> will head to Broadway in October, along with John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, and Patrick Wilson, for a new production of Arthur Miller's <em>"All My Sons</em>." It will be Holmes' first time on the Broadway stage and perhaps it is that celeb quality that is pushing the ticket prices so high. Like the fall production of <em>"Equus</em>," which will feature Daniel Radcliffe birthday suiting it up, the prices for <em>"All My Sons"</em> are higher than the prices for Tony Award winners like the Best Play winner, <em>"August: Osage County.</em>" <br /><br />Speaking of, <a href="http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117987627.html?categoryId=15&amp;cs=1">box office numbers</a> have soared for numerous productions due to the glorious fact that it seems like every play or musical nominated walked out of that awards show with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/theater/theaterspecial/16tonylist.html?em&amp;ex=1213761600&amp;en=16119c4f95dd2eb9&amp;ei=5087%0A">at least one win</a>. It's a good year, umm post-stagehands strike, to be on the New York stage.<br /><br />Meanwhile, in the world of film, the movers and shakers are doing what they're best known for: moving and shaking. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/business/19dreamworks.html?_r=1&amp;hp=&amp;adxnnl=1&amp;oref=slogin&amp;adxnnlx=1213805833-UMu1i7DefOq1FUhcZDrrkw">Dreamworks SKG</a>, Steven Spielberg's film studio, is in talks to make a deal with an up-and-coming media conglomerate in India, Reliance ADA. The deal would give Dreamworks enough money to leave Paramount Pictures and become an independent company. <br /><br />And though we're barely into the summer movie season, films are already lining up for 2009. Sacha Baron Cohen's next opus to the idiocy of Americans, "<a href="http://www.variety.com/VR1117987606.html"><em>Bruno</em></a>," will be released on May 15 of next year. That slot puts it up against a couple of franchises you may have heard of: <em>"Night at the Museum II: Escape from the Smithsonian"</em> and <em>"Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins</em>," both May 22, as well as the sequel to <em>"The Da Vinci Code</em>," "<em>Angels and Demons</em>," which also opens on May 15. But <em>"Bruno"</em> has two things going for it: <br /><br />1 - It's counterprogramming: an R-rated comedy with a cult following in a sea of action movies and family films. <br />2 - The Vatican won't let producers film <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4147839.ece" style=""><em>Angels and Demons</em></a> in any churches in Rome, and they kinda need those scenes to, you know, make the movie. <br /><br />Finally, Hollywood and Broadway are coming together thanks to the unlikely partnership of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0249309/">George Lucas and Whoopi Goldberg</a>. The two want to stage the comedy musical <em>"Bricktop: Queen of the Night</em>," about a cabaret owner in Paris, with the help of Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic. Might I suggest their next project: <em>"Sister Act III: Nun Better than Me</em>?" Hey, it's not as good as "<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=C_c_MHkba5c"><em>Back in the Habit</em></a>," but at least it rhymed.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/18/eye-on-entertainment/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1229427/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/18/eye-on-entertainment/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/18/eye-on-entertainment/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-18T12:49:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Couldn't Help but Wonder about SATC</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/01/couldnt-help-but-wonder-about-satc/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/01/couldnt-help-but-wonder-about-satc/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/01/couldnt-help-but-wonder-about-satc/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/brighthall.aol.com/media/2008/06/satcbrighthalledit.jpg"  alt="" />The movie based on a TV show has had a long and storied life. Whereas films in the past have come from shows even farther back in the past (<em>The Fugitive</em>, <em>The Untouchables</em>, <em>Starsky and Hutch</em>), lately the movies have followed relatively soon after a series ending, sometimes even debuting during the show's run, or in the case of the two <em>X-Files</em> movies, both. (Wow, that <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=y5HrxAXvQ6A">second one</a>'s really flown under the radar, hasn't it?) <br /><br />But unlike <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=0BvP99-Ci6k"><em>Serenity</em></a>, which gave an ending to a cult sci-fi series cut off too quickly, or <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=714-Ioa4XQw&amp;feature=related"><em>The Simpsons Movie</em></a>, which was just an extra-long episode on an extra-big screen, the<em> Sex and the City</em> movie is a film in its own right. Yet we found closure four years ago with everyone happy and healthy in <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=jnxhvp-7a2U&amp;feature=related">the final episode</a>. Maybe Samantha should not have ended up with Smith, but she had beaten breast cancer and rediscovered who she was, so who am I to quibble?<br />But this isn't sci-fi, and this isn't a cartoon. This is a sitcom about relationships. The only way to write this movie is to follow the course of the series, and that means upsetting the narrative balance the show achieved in the end. Indeed, the rhythm of the show is in the movie, in the banter among the women, at least when there's a sex or poop joke. Thankfully, there were a lot of the former and only one of the latter. And as a side note, the actresses' performances were as good, if not better, than they were in the show. But overall, the mood is unlike the show. It's painful. Raw. It's dark like when Carrie was cheating on Aidan with Big and we just had to sit there and hope that it all turns out all right. <br /><br />But the thing is, it has already turned out all right. We have already seen the ups and downs in these relationships. Yes, these women are still secure and independent. They're role models to many different types of women; in my theater, the crowd was 50% 20-something girls, 50% 40-something women, plus or minus 3 badgered husbands. And yet, they can still be wrecked by love, women who seem to know everything there is to know about dating and relationships. The movie was very clear in its theme of love over logic, but after 20 years of dating in the city, they couldn't figure out how to talk to their partners? The entire movie was a lesson in failed communication erupting in marital woes. It's almost cruel to treat the characters like this.<br /><br />That being said, I applaud the film for accepting the destruction it wrought upon Carrie, Miranda, and Samantha, to a lesser extent in the last case (since they immediately tackle that aforementioned quibble in the film). These were not situations in which they could bounce back and be their bubbly, gracious, punny selves. They handled what happened like the women they are, understanding their emotions and accepting the harshness of the circumstances. So I enjoyed the film in the context of the film, that is, in how the movie tore these women apart and made them build themselves, and their relationships, right back up again. This was a story meant for the silver screen. I just would have preferred it if they had left <em>Sex and the City</em> on the small screen in the first place.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/01/couldnt-help-but-wonder-about-satc/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1212084/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/01/couldnt-help-but-wonder-about-satc/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/06/01/couldnt-help-but-wonder-about-satc/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-01T19:06:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Review: 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/05/23/review-indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/05/23/review-indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/05/23/review-indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/best-of-bright/" rel="tag">Best of Bright</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/pop-culture/" rel="tag">Pop Culture</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/usc/" rel="tag">USC</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/brighthall.aol.com/media/2008/06/indianabrighthalledit.jpg" />I watched the new Indiana Jones movie at a midnight showing yesterday. The bottom line: though ultimately entertaining, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" fails to match the rugged quality and innovative spirit of its predecessors.<o:p></o:p> <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For long-time fans of the series, the two-decade hiatus between this film and the original trilogy will be readily apparent. I spent the first third of the movie adjusting to a slower Indy, an older Marion and a slick-haired Shia LaBeouf as Jones' newest sidekick, Mutt Williams. Fortunately, once this transition is over the movie becomes quite enjoyable, if a bit cheesy.  <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Not comfortable with re-creating the series' magic on its own terms, "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" spends too much time relying on previous installments for ideas and energy. Despite a handful of satisfying moments - the trademark chase scenes, hordes of disgusting insects and hair-raising brushes with death - which capture the trilogy's original spirit, most scenes feel recycled and unambitious. <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">LaBeouf eventually steps into his role well, but not until inexplicably gaining wits, courage and an adventurous spirit halfway through the film. This awkward, rapid evolution is barely believable, like other parts of the film.<o:p></o:p> <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For example, on multiple occasions "magnetized" objects attract metal items only after waiting patiently through several lines of dialogue. Dozens of KGB agents, unobstructed and 20 feet away, somehow can't hit Indy with a hail of machine-gun fire. <o:p></o:p><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Still, as Dr. Jones traced his fingers over ancient drawings, muttering historical footnotes and translating foreign texts, the joy of joining another Indy legend led me to momentarily bury my cynicism. <o:p></o:p><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is no doubt an entertaining film. Just don't expect it to measure up to the originals.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/05/23/review-indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1204001/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/05/23/review-indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/05/23/review-indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Joshua Sharp</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-05-23T04:46:00+00:00</dc:date></item></channel></rss>