Cinematic Thoughts

I can't really think of anything to write about today; I still haven't seen Winter's Bone (grrr), and the focus of the entertainment world today is Lindsay Lohan's "horrible" stay in jail (I will not dignify such trivialities with further comment). I thought about putting up another post about Inception, but I don't really want this to become an Inception blog. So here's what's on my mind in terms of film:

- San Diego Comic Con 2010 is in full swing, as Hollywood hopes to get us excited about all the 3D films they're going to roll out next year. Of course, most of these weren't shot in 3D, and we've seen the awesome track record for those films so far (Clash of the Titans, The Last Airbender). I personally wish the 3D craze would go away, since most of the films its being applied to don't benefit from it (as Avatar did; by the way, in case you didn't know, there's a pointless re-release coming next month). But there are some cool things to be expected form this year's convention, so stay tuned, I'll post those things.

- Angelina Jolie still has yet to prove to me that she belongs in the "Great Actresses" pantheon. Granted, I haven't seen Girl, Interrupted yet, but none of her dramatic roles have really impressed me, especially not that dreadful performance she turned in in the ghastly Changeling. And, with Salt coming out this weekend, her action roles seem like she's just doing variations on the same character. She's a bankable actress, but I wouldn't call her great.

- There are rumors that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in talks to play the Riddler in the next Batman movie. If this is true, we can rest assured it will be better than the Riddler's last big screen outing.

The next Riddler?

- I rather enjoyed this thorough dissertation about Glee's strongest episodes. Ryan Murphy, here's how you can fix the problems in your show and make it that much better. Not that I dislike the show, mind you; I love it. But nobody can deny that it has some major flaws that need to be fixed if its going to continue for at least two more seasons.

- An Australian study has shown that romantic comedies can ruin relationships by creating impossible expectations. Remember when romantic comedies could be good movies with great performances? I think the last great romantic comedy was (500) Days of Summer, and it didn't even play by the rom-com rulebook. Now we're just treated to dreck like these notable films from this year:

- As a side note, the above poster for Killers may be the most painfully bad poster ever made. I can't even look at it without cringing.

- I watched the trailer for Nowhere Boy. It's apparently got some Oscar potential, though I have to admit: why do we always assume a Beatles movie has that? The Beatles themselves were only once nominated for an Oscar (1970 for Original Song Score, which they won), though Paul McCartney has two additional nominations as a solo act (1973 and 2001 Best Original Song). Remember in 2007 when Across the Universe was supposed to be major Oscar bait, but only nabbed a Costume Design nomination? I'm not holding my breath for this movie, awards-wise, but it does look good.

What's on your mind?