When culture pops, we wipe it up ...
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There's a collective fluster among the crowd, who are seated in a theater in Chelsea, waiting for the world premiere of Bridegroom at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. The screening is running almost thirty minutes late and nothing is happening. George Takei, who is probably the most famous gay geek on the planet keeps coming in and out of our row and apologizing immensely each time. In typical NY fashion we're all complaining to the ushers and MORE
Scott Coffey loves his screwball comedies. His directorial debut Ellie Parker which starred Naomi Watts was a brilliant little film that was criminally underrated. You also might know him as one of David Lynch's many muses. He has appeared in Mulholland Dr., Lost Highway and was the voice of Jack Rabbit in Inland Empire. Coffey is no stranger to weird, which is why I'm somewhat disappointed by his second feature Adult World. He replaces Ellie MORE
Marina de Van is one of the most interesting filmmakers working today and PopBytes had the privilege of attending the world premiere of her new film Dark Touch at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. It's our first year officially attending the festival and it seemed rather appropriate for de Van to welcome us into the theaters of New York City with her brand of provocative and disturbing subject matter. Her first film, 2002's In My Skin, she plays MORE
Some movies are so full of impact that you never want to see them again. Such was the case with director Derek Cianfrance’s 2010 acclaimed indie, Blue Valentine. A meticulously detailed and unfiltered portrait of a dying marriage, the film provided some of the most brutally honest and heartbreaking depictions of falling out of love in contemporary American cinema. Aided by powerhouse performances from Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, Blue MORE
When I first heard about Spring Breakers, I immediately wrote it off as some lame teen flick, but then I found out it was directed by Harmony Korine (of Kids and Gummo fame) and everything changed. I've been a fan of Mr. Korine's work for years now and I was super stoked to see him making a mainstream movie. I was able to catch a screening of the film last week, and I must say it's definitely one of Harmony's best films. It's a cautionary tale of MORE
During every film festival there are always movies that generate a lot of buzz. Sometimes you're attending said film festival and can see for yourself what all of the fuss is about. Unfortunately, sometimes you're stuck in the office that week and all you can do is refresh your Twitter feed and read the 140 character reviews that are gushing about said film. I experienced the latter earlier this year during the Sundance Film Festival. I had the MORE
Burma is my favorite kind of movie. It's one of those movies that offer a glimpse into the lives of other people. A brief look into the trials and tribulations of ordinary people with ordinary problems. The camera follows around their subject(s) in an honest and vulnerable way. It's a film that relies on an emotional yet comedic script. It's a film that needs actors that can carry both the light and heavy weights. It's the kind of film that MORE
For the first time, PopBytes is covering South by Southwest (SXSW), the film, music and interactive festival where everyone in any of these industries flock to Austin, Texas to work and play. Bands and artists come to play corporate and not-so-corporate showcases. This year Prince and Depeche Mode are serenading folks lucky enough to weasel a way into their shows. It's where movies like Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers starring Selena Gomez and MORE
Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain Oz the Great and Powerful has it’s moments ... if you can ignore its title star. They say you hear a reference to The Wizard of Oz every day of your life. “There’s no place like home,” “We’re not in Kansas anymore,” “Ding dong the witch is dead,” “If I only had a brain,” “It’s a twister, it’s a twister,” “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” “We’re off to MORE
Warm Bodies is one of those movies that you neither love nor hate. It's like that moment at the end of each Project Runway episode, where the designers that weren't the best or worst are safe and are told to leave. I can hear the loud sigh as director Jonathan Levine, watched the final cut of his most recent film. He must be relieved he was able to pull it off safely and unscathed. To top it all off, Warm Bodies opened at number one at the box MORE
“Nothing makes a woman feel more like a girl than a man singing a cappella.” If you’ve ever gone to a college that has an a cappella club, you’ll understand the hoopla of ridiculousness that surround these groups. The crowd-packed performances. The consistent partying. The screaming fans. The desperate groupies. It’s like living in Bizarro Land, where the group of singing and dancing music geeks get more attention, respect, and yes, MORE
Batman’s Back, Alright! The third film in a trilogy is by far the hardest to do right. You have to conclude the arc you’ve set up in the first two films, introduce new characters, and find some way to live up to the obsessive fanboy hype. Few franchises ever succeed at making it work perfectly (only Toy Story immediately comes to mind). And although The Dark Knight Rises comes super close, it is far from a perfect ending. The major MORE
So it seems I've been on a movie kick lately, apparently there's a lot of good films playing now, here's some quick thoughts on three of them. (Next up is To Rome With Love and The Dark Knight Rises!) Moonrise Kingdom Gosh, I just love Wes Anderson's quirky and charming films, and Moonrise Kingdom is one of his best to date! It's the simple tale of two twelve-year-olds (newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward) who develop a crush on each MORE
There’s a fundamental problem with Snow White and the Huntsman that anyone who’s seen the trailer or even heard about the casting is all too aware of. No matter what the film may be called, it’s practically impossible to root for anyone but the evil queen, Ravenna. It appears that director Rupert Sanders and the three screenwriters it took to rewrite this classic fairytale, (Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, and Hossein Amini), want us MORE
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