Movie of the Day: Moving Violations

Ah, the 80s.

Such a great time for film. Why? Because we were so politically incorrect; we didn’t give a shit about offending anyone. The goal was to entertain to whatever extent possible. That’s why we got slasher films, T&A flicks, and outrageous comedies like Moving Violations.

Released in 1985, Moving Violations stars John Murray (Bill’s brother), Jennifer Tilly (Meg’s sister), James Keach (Stacy’s brother), Sally Kellerman (the original “Hot Lips”), Clara “Where’s the Beef?” Peller, Wendie Jo Sperber and Fred Willard. Oh yeah, and it features the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it the film debut of Don Cheadle.

The plot is fairly simple: a misfit group of delinquent drivers are sent to a traffic school. Hilarity ensues. Check out the trailer below.

Marvel Studios Looking at Black Panther Again

Marvel is looking to bring yet another of its black superheroes to the big screen.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, documentary filmmaker Mark Bailey has been hired to hammer out a script about T’Challa aka the Black Panther, the king of a resource-rich fictional African country who becomes a superhero. The project is produced by Marvel Studio’s Kevin Feige.

The Black Panther first appeared in 1966 in an issue of a Fantastic Four comic and is widely considered the first black hero in mainstream comics. A movie version starring Wesley Snipes was first in development in the early 90s at Columbia Pictures. Snipes later went on to star in Blade, a film also based on a Marvel Comics character and one that’s credited for jump starting the current comic book movie boom.

The 83rd Annual Academy Award Nominations (& My Predictions)

This morning, nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards were announced by AMPAS president Tom Sherak and 2009 Oscar® winner Mo’Nique. The two announced nominees in ten major categories; the complete list of nominees was distributed to the media and made available at the official Academy Awards website, www.oscar.com.

The King’s Speech lead the pack with 12 noms, followed by the Coen bros. True Grit remake, which garnered 10 nominations. The Social Network and Inception tied for 8 nods each, but surprisingly, Inception director Christopher Nolan did not get a Best Director nomination. (He did get an Original Screenplay nom, however.) Also shockingly snubbed was Andrew Garfield for his emotional portrayal of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network.

Check out the 2010 Oscar nominations, and my predictions in bold, below:

New Music: Brian Grosz – Lady On The Low (Remix)/Once In A Lifetime/Seraphim

I’m an horrible friend. Horrible. How do I know this? Because my buddy Brian Grosz dropped three dope singles last week and I neglected to let y’all know about it. With this post, I’m attempting to atone for my sins.

First up, is the remix to “Lady On The Low.” Originally found on Grosz’s 2007 album Bedlam Nights, the track has been outfitted with heavy 808 drums, rumbling sub-bass synths, and blaring sirens courtesy of producer/multi-instrumentalist Touch.

There’s also Grosz’ trippy reimagining of the Talking Heads classic “Once In A Lifetime,” which was also part of Coverville’s tribute compilation to the seminal New Wave band. The track is a nightmarish fever dream somehow augmented with slide bass and powerful percussive punches, and captured on tape.

Finally, there the one-two punch of “Seraphim,” a xxx of spiritual sacrilege comprised of a pair of American standard spirituals, “Ain’t it a Shame” and “Jesus on the Mainline.” The former is like a fast-paced, almost out-of-control barroom jam while the latter features rather ominous backing from artists such as Earl Greyhound‘s Matt Whyte, Emily Zuzik, Sean Toussaint, Michael Fortner, Suzanne Cerreta, Marisa Kakoulas, Dave Valle, Alex Walker and Tommy Mokas.

Paul Greengrass to Write & Direct MLK Biopic

I’m late. I’m late. I know that. But read on anyway …

Writer-director Paul Greengrass, he of the Jason Bourne films, is planning a Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic entitled Memphis. The film will trace the events leading up to the assassination of King on April 4, 1968. Producer Scott Rudin (The Social Network) is supposedly interested in bringing the project to Focus Features.

Greengrass has already written the screenplay, based on his own research, and takes a look King’s efforts to organize the city’s sanitation worker before his murder.

Film: Check Out Rooney Mara As Lisbeth Salander

I may be the only person on the planet who hasn’t read any books in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series written by Steig Larsson, but even I know they’re currently at the summit of pop culture these days. The first book in the series is being adapted by The Social Network director David Fincher and stars Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, the computer hacker heroine of Dragon Tattoo.

Mara is on the cover of February’s W Magazine in her Lisbeth Salander get-up. The article on the film reveals some major changes in the upcoming film:

The script, which captures the novel’s bleak tone (its original Swedish title was Men Who Hate Women), was written by Academy Award winner Steven Zaillian, who wrote Schindler’s List, and it departs rather dramatically from the book. Blomkvist is less promiscuous, Salander is more aggressive, and, most notably, the ending—the resolution of the drama—has been completely changed.

Peep more photos of Mara as Lisbeth below.

Film: Broadcast News Comes To The Criterion Collection

Things like this make life beautiful.

One of my favorite movies as a kid was Broadcast News. No bullshit. I mean, as you know, I’ve always been a big film nerd and when this romantic comedy about the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of a D.C. news station came out, garnered amazing reviews, and multiple Oscar nominations, I knew I had to give it a look-see. Plus, I always identified with Albert Brooks‘ character. He was the friggin’ man, man.

On Tuesday, January 25, James L. Brooks‘ seminal Broadcast News is being released on DVD and Blu-Ray by The Criterion Collection. I plan on making it my first Criterion Blu-Ray; I cannot wait.

From the Criterion Collection’s website:

Since the 1970s, the name James L. Brooks has been synonymous with intelligent television comedy—his shows are insightful about work and love and always plugged in to the zeitgeist. He is also a master storyteller of the big screen, and none of his films was more quintessentially Brooks than Broadcast News. This caustic look inside the Washington news media stars Holly Hunter, in her breakout role, as a feisty television producer torn between an ambitious yet dim anchorman (William Hurt) and her closest confidant, a cynical veteran reporter (Albert Brooks). Brooks’s witty, gently prophetic film is a captivating transmission from an era in which ideas on relationships and the media were rapidly changing.