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The obsessives' guide to contemporary cinema via film discussion, news, reviews, features, nostalgia, movie music, soundtracks, DVDs and more.

Interviews

'Sushi Girl' Director Kern Saxton Reasonably Confronts Pirates On Torrent Site Downloading His Movie

By Kevin Jagernauth
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December 19, 2012 4:30 PM
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3 Comments

News

The discourse around piracy thus far hasn't exactly been nuanced, with copyright holders pushing harder than ever to impose harsh penalities for anyone who downloads music or movies. All this while ignoring data that suggests that, in some instances, piracy can act as promotion for a film: with those hearing chatter about the movie choosing to seek it out, often by buying a ticket or a DVD. The argument could go round and round forever, but there's at least one director out there who has approached the whole thing quite reasonably.

By Gabe Toro
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April 18, 2012 5:56 PM
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0 Comments

Reviews

All hail VOD, the format giving new life to disreputable exploitation films. It was problematic to stock them on DVD shelves next to the likes of “Kangaroo Jack” and “The Chronicles Of Riddick.” Now, the cheapest, tackiest, most base thrills are only a click away, allowing an opportunistic indie like “Bad Ass” it’s moment to shine, giving the perfect level of exposure to this grungy shlockfest with a built-in limited shelf life.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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February 6, 2012 10:45 PM
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2 Comments

News

"Where the movie will go next? I have a bunch of ideas for it. It's all in the end titles. We have to make them, of course, 'Machete Kills' and 'Machete Kills Again.' Once you put it out there, just like we did with the trailer, you have to make it," Robert Rodriguez said in the summer of 2010 when doing press rounds for "Machete." And last year at Comic-Con, in the batch of titles Rodriguez announced was on his plate, his promised two sequels to "Machete" was among the batch. So you can't say any of this was a surprise.

By Cory Everett
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February 21, 2011 6:44 AM
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8 Comments

SXSW gets underway in just a few weeks with an especially stacked film lineup this year, from more high profile premieres (“Source Code,” “The Beaver,” “Paul”) to festival favorites from Sundance and TIFF (“Win Win,” “Beginners,” “Being Elmo: A Puppeteers Journey”). For more homegrown fare, the fest has its “Lone Star States” category for films made in or about Texas which is kicking off the festival with “blacktino” by first-time filmmaker Aaron Burns. The indie coming-of-age film may sound slightly familiar to some due to a viral stunt late last year for “Citizen Jane,” supposedly an action packed remake of Orson Welles classic “Citizen Kane.” A humorous trailer and poster featuring a bazooka-toting Michelle Rodriguez appeared just in time for Fantastic Fest and was quickly uncovered to be a movie-within-a-movie for “blacktino.”

By Kevin Jagernauth
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February 19, 2011 5:10 AM
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8 Comments

Bruce Willis, Danny Trejo & Kanye West Stop By For CameosThe full length short film, "The Black Mamba," a collaboration between Nike, Kobe Bryant and director Robert Rodriguez has landed and it's....okay.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 4, 2011 2:56 AM
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0 Comments

While we don't have the market research to prove that fans of "Machete" are avid iced tea fans, Lipton is ready to bank on it as they've enlisted Danny Trejo to shill for the beverage in a spot that's pretty smart and funny.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 27, 2010 6:09 AM
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0 Comments

Geoffrey Fletcher's (screenwriter of "Precious") directorial debut "Violet & Daisy" has just received a boost of British class, as Marianne Jean-Baptiste has joined the cast of the film. Who? She's probably best known for her outstanding and Academy Award nominated performance in Mike Leigh's "Secrets & Lies," but unfortunately hasn't found anything since to match the profile that film gave her. But hopefully, her appearance here will help turn that around (though she is a longstanding fixture on the TV series "Without A Trace.")

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 27, 2010 4:57 AM
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0 Comments

Rowan Blanchard & Mason Cook Are The New AgentsWith principal photography now underway on Robert Rodriguez's "Spy Kids 4," the last pieces of casting have fallen into place. Jeremy Piven joins the previously announced Jessica Alba and Joel McHale with Rowan Blanchard (TV’s “Dancelot Robot“) and Mason Cook (“Treasure Buddies“) stepping in as the newest titular spies. Rounding things out, and reprising their roles from the previous films are Antonio Banderas, Danny Trejo, Alexa Vega (“From Prada To Nada”) and Daryl Sabara (“Machete”).