Cool Mark Wahlberg trailer.

This movie comes out in January. Looks like nothing extremely special but should be entertaining. I think the trailer could have been shorter, it gives more information than it needs to. I had decided to see the movie about half way though...

This looks like a cool movie.

This played at TIFF Midnight Madness and apparently was quite a hit. The trailer doesn't show any dialog so it's probably in a foreign language. I think I read it was made in Indonesia. I imagine Hollywood is already trying to remake it.

Interesting trailer for movie no one wanted.

This movie premiered 3 years ago but for some reason no US distributor wanted it. It's finally coming out this Fall. I think it looks interesting, especially considering the talent involved.

Oldboy Remake with Josh Brolin, not sure how I feel about this.

Oldboy is a cult Korean film about a man who is imprisoned for 15 years and doesn't know why or by who. When he gets out he goes looking for revenge. It's one of the coolest and most violent films I've seen. Now word comes that Hollywood is remaking it with Josh Brolin in the lead. I don't see how that could possibly turn out well, maybe for people who haven't seen the original. The Korean version is very violent in a way that's probably too much even for American audiences. It's also got a couple twists that deal with subjects Americans are very touchy about.

Do yourself a favour and watch the original , even if you do have to read it. It's got one of the neatest fight scenes ever, all in one hallway, shot from outside, and all one shot if I remember correctly.
I might even play it for the Midnight Series.

Trailer for Korean version.



The Fight scene, although you may not want to view if you plan to see the film. Hard to imagine Hollywood could improve on this.

Next Week's Film Sep 2 - 8

There wasn't much to chose from this week. Final Destination 5 is available but we don't play horror films. The only other new film available was Captain America which I booked in. Disney said we could have Fright Night as of the 16th but I don't think I'll play it. It wasn't a bad movie and shouldn't have bombed the way it did but I don't think anyone will come see it at Western Film.

I was hoping Horrible Bosses would come off as it would make a good Frosh Week movie but it didn't, maybe the following week.

For a late show I decided to bring back Bridesmaids. It did quite well even the second week we played it before and it's a good Frosh Week comedy.

Frosh week is quite crazy with regular customers plus the Frosh, if the weather is bad or they don't want to go to whatever event is planned for the night we can get as many as 200 Frosh show up.

Early Plug for upcoming film. Attack The Block

Sony contacted me about whether we wanted to play a film called Attack the Block. We would be the only place in London to play it. It's a British film about kids in a poor neighborhood in England who fight off an alien invasion. Looks like a horror / comedy hybrid. It's played at festivals and gotten a lot of good reviews. I saw the trailer months ago and wanted to see it.

I'm a little nervous as no one I have asked about has heard of it. Hopefully I can change that over the next couple moths. It's currently scheduled to start Oct 21, playing as a late show. There's only 4 prints for all of Canada which is why we have to wait so long.

Trailer is below. Let me know if you think it looks good.

Next Week Movies Aug 26 - Sep 1

This is a bit of an experimental week. The Tree Of Life was already booked in which I'm nervous about. It doesn't have the highest profile and the Hyland played it for weeks which will have cut down on the number of people who can come see it here. At least if it bombs I'll have something to point to next time someone says we should play more art product. It's a long movie as well so the late show would have had to be at 9:45. There wasn't anything available I thought would work that late at night.

I'm trying something I haven't done in years, bringing in a movie for matinees only. Cars 2 will play Sat and Sun afternoon only.

The new movies available were Captain America and Cowboys and Aliens. I'm not sure about playing Cowboys. Captain may play the following week depending on what is available. That week is Frosh Week which is one of our busiest weeks of the year. I try to have suitable movies available. I'm hoping Horrible Bosses comes available.

Midnight in Paris is tentatively scheduled for Sept 16th. The two weeks before that cover Frosh Week which would be a bad time to play it. The students who are here won't be interested in seeing it and off-campus people avoid the campus because of the chaos that week.

Next Week's movie Aug 19 -25.

I booked in Transformers which was available last week. It's so long it needs to play by itself which worked out because the only other film available this week was Cowboys and Aliens which I haven't decided whether to play or not.

The Hyland is dropping Tree Of Life finally but the print is going to another city so we couldn't have it for next week. It is booked in to start Aug 26th though.

I was told I could have Cars 2 as of Aug 26th. Disney puts two weeks between when it finishes at other theatres and when we can have it. I've been unsure what to do about this one. I wanted to play it but not once school starts up again. Disney wants a higher percentage again but unlike Pirates 4 I expect it will do at least good business and it isn't three hours long. I decided to try something I haven't done in years. I'm going to play Cars 2 for just weekend matinees with no evening shows. I don't normally do it because the minimum fee now has to paid for by just 4 matinees instead of a whole week of evening shows. If it tanks it'll suck but based on how Kung Fu Panda 2 did for matinees it should work.

I'm going to wait and see if anything is available the following week to play with Tree Of Life. Tree of Life is fairly long so the late show would be at 9:45. Only something like Horrible Bosses would work that late during the summer.

Funniest trailer I've seen in a while.

The title says it all. I'll definetley see this one in 3D. One of the few other films I've seen that was really worth the 3D was Jackass 3D. It really used the 3D in interesting ways.

The new Harold and Kumar film looks to be getting somewhat self-reflexive. ( acknowleding that the charaters know they are in a movie such as when a charater talks to the audience.) If done right that can be really funny.

Why Western Film may not play Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tide

There's three reasons why we may not play Pirates 4 even though I had stated on my coming soon page that I would be playing it. They all kinda interact.

Disney wants a higher percentage than usual. Often if I wait they will drop the percentage but I've been told it won't drop.

Despite the fact it made a billion dollars I don't expect it to do well at Western Film. Basically because most of the people who wanted to see it already went out and did so. The word of mouth wasn't great so I'm not likely to get many that just didn't want to pay full price. word of mouth is key these days.

It's so long I can't play another film afterwards. During the summer we get a different crowd than in the school year and generally they won't go to a late show, especially if it gets to around 9:45 or so.

So basically I would have to play the movie by itself, don't expect it to do well and have to give most of the ticket sales to Disney...That's a recipe for not playing the film.

If I get a week soon where nothing else is available I'll play it then, otherwise it won't be playing.

Next Week's Movie Aug 5 - 11

We finally got Bridesmaids. It came out in May and did steady business at the first run theatres so we had to wait until now. As a contrast, I've already played some films that came out in July. I don't think I've had to wait this long for a Hollywood film in ages. I sometimes have to wait a while for small Art films but that's usually more because of a lack of prints.

The local Art theatre The Hyland is holding on Tree Of Life and Midnight in Paris so I can't play those yet.

The only other films close to coming off were Transformers and Zookeeper. I plan to play Transformers but do not plan to play Zookeeper.

Midnight Movies Return.

The Midnight Movies will return as of Sept 16th. The series last year did quite well and turned a profit. If anyone is actually reading this and has any suggestions please e-mail them to wfilm@uwo.ca . A lot of the films will be the same ones we played last year but I want to try some new ones, especially to replace the movies that bombed last year.

Want some Fight Club Soap?

Came across an interesting ad on kijiji. Not sure how legit it is but it's an interesting collectible to have. I should try to sell some at the snack bar when we play Fight Club for the midnight series next year. Although we probably wouldn't sell many as the guy wants $70?!

This is the text of the ad:

"This is a plastic resin FIGHT CLUB soap bar made from a cast of the ORIGINAL mould used to make the bar seen in movie posters. I am asking $70 for this bar since it is a blood relative of the one used to promote the film. Measuring at 3" 1/2 W by 2" 1/8 L by 1" 1/4 H THIS IS THE CLOSEST REPLICA POSSIBLE TO THE ORIGINAL MOVIE BAR!!
I am a hobbyist prop maker with an appreciation for this very clever film... and I'm not the only one. This bar was made 100% by me, is made from a very durable plastic resin which has been tinted the appropriate colour pink and will last forever! This bar comes WRAPPED as depicted in the film.
Also with the purchase of this soap you will get a FREE replica Tyler Durden business card. But shhh...! Don't tell anyone I told you all this. Cause the first rule is... I'm not supposed to talk about it.
(Real FC soap also available)."

Someone has seen a lot of movies...

An interesting video comparing Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill to many of the movies that inspired it. Some would say Tarantino steals from other movies but I find he mixes things up and changes them enough to make then fresh. It's hard to do anything these days that can't be compared to something else before it.

Everything Is A Remix: KILL BILL from robgwilson.com on Vimeo.

Cool article about Easter Eggs hidden in movies and tv shows.

An interesting article about how various things are hidden in some movies and TV shows. A couple of these I knew about, such as how the Inception music was created, others I think they are trying a little to hard to read something that may not be there on purpose, such as the Indiana Jones poster entry.

Someone has a twisted imagination...

This picture reminds me of Ghostbusters.

Trailer for New version of Fright Night.

The original is a mini-classic 80's horror film. This one looks good, Colin Farrell should make a good vampire.

Is this a movie trailer?

Apparently this is on a new video game but at this point I'm not sure if it's a trailer for a video game or a fake trailer for a movie. It looks kinda interesting, maybe it will actually get made like Hobo With A Shotgun.

Trailer for The Devil's Double.

This looks like an interesting film. Dominic Cooper plays both Saddam Hussein's son and a man forced to be his double. Could get confusing if they don't figure out a way of differentiating the two.

It was picked up by LionsGate in the US so will be released by Maple here in Canada. Current release date is Aug 5th. Hopefully it doesn't just play the larger cities.

Interesting Trailer - Another Earth.

Never heard of this film before but trailer looks interesting. I wonder how much sci-fi content there is or if it's just a backdrop for the drama?
It's from Fox Searchlight so likely will never play at Western Film.

This looks Cool. 4 minute trailer for Green Lantern.

I'm a sucker for comic book movies, especially ones starting Ryan Reynolds. Comic Book movies always seem to either work really well or not very well at all. The first trailer didn't get too many people excited but this new footage looks pretty cool.

This looks cool. Attack The Block

A British film that's been picked up for distribution in the US. I haven't heard about Canada. I hope it plays around here.

Trailer for Crazy Stupid Love.

This movie looks like it has potential. I'm not sure Ryan Gosling pulls off his character but he's usually pretty good so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Pretty much everyone in it is good so hopefully the whole package will come together.

New Trailer for Warrior with Tom Hardy

I'm normally not into fighting films. I find it weird that people get paid to do what can get you arrested in other situations. This movie does look interesting though. I'm already hearing that Nick Nolte will be up for awards.

Funny trailer for upcoming film.

Not quite sure what to make of this one.... I think Helen Mirren is so cool, She can act the pants off anyone but still be in on the joke. The only reason I would see Arthur is for her.

When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren from Billy Crystal

Midnight Movies and The Room aftermath.

This was an interesting year as far as Midnight movies go. I was able to bring back the series after not doing it for a few years. We stopped doing it because so many movies were no longer available on 35mm film.

With the purchase of a high definition professional video projector I was able to bring the movies back by playing them off Blu-Ray. The new projector made an image about the same size as our flat film picture and almost as good. I wasn't comfortable charging money to see anything with the old projector we had in the room but that's not the case now.

Overall the Midnight series made a good profit. Only a few films lost money, there were some surprises as to what didn't do well ( Office Space, The Notebook) and what did do well ( V For Vendetta, Christmas Vacation).

The biggest surprise was The Room. A movie I had never heard of until students started asking for it. In case you are unfamiliar, it's a very bad movie that people see to laugh at how bad it is as well as some Rocky Horroresqe actions like throwing plastic spoons as certain points. We ended up playing it three times, the first two times we did about 300 people, the last time 150. Considering the last showing was just before exams started I was expecting about that number.

We made quite a bit of money off The Room showings as not only did we sell a lot of tickets but they bought a lot of food. I forgot to bring my camera for the last showing or I would have taken pics of the hundreds, maybe thousands, of plastic spoons all over the theatre.

The midnight series made money even without the money from The Room so it was definitely worth doing, plus everyone had a great time at the movies.

The series will be back next year with some of the same movies and some that haven't shown before. Some of the films after Christmas didn't do as well as I thought they would which I think is purely timing. Students are busier in the spring than fall. As an experiment I'm going to play some of those films earlier next year and see if it make a difference. For example Monty Python's Holy Grail did about 100 people in September but Life of Brian only had about 45 in March. Next year I'll play them in the opposite order and see what happens.

I'll be doing up the Fall schedule in August so feel free to e-mail suggestions to wfilm@uwo.ca

Vintage video about how Disney made Snow White in 1938.

I bet a lot of younger people used to computer animation don't realize just how much tedious work it used to take to make a animated film.

Next Weeks movie Mar 4 - 10

Next week worked out pretty well. I was afraid we wouldn't get Black Swan until into the exam period but the other theatres finished with it earlier than I expected. It was actually available to us last Friday but I didn't take it which turned out to be a bonus. To play it last week Fox wanted what are called Per Caps which basically means we pay percentage based on fictional ticket prices they set rather than our actual ticket price. It usually means paying about 15% more. I didn't take it last week because I had already planned to play Fighter and True Grit and started the advertising on the Holiday Monday. Once we did the booking on Tuesday I could have chosen to play Black Swan but then I would have had to redo and resend all the advertising. I figured one week wouldn't make that big a difference. As it turned out Fox dropped the Per Caps so we will pay the usual amount. They did say I couldn't split it so it's playing two shows a night. In this case I don't object because I think it will do well enough. Natalie Portman just winning Best Actress likely won't hurt either?!

Some of the films available that will play in the next couple weeks, Tron Legacy, Tangled, Green Hornet. I don't think I'm going to play The Dilemma. I had been planning to play 127 Hours but it came out surprisingly fast on DVD, it was still playing at Westmount so I hadn't had a chance to play it yet. Knowing Fox they will still expect me to play it both shows. If they let me split it I might try it.

I'm planning to play Blue Valentine but there are only a few prints so it may be a while before I can get ahold of one.

How many 80's movie references can you spot?

This is a music video for a 80's song from TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT, a movie being released tomorrow that is set in the 80's. Apparently the movie was shot 4 years ago under a different title but for some reason is just coming out now.

The video has a ton of 80's movie references, a cameo by one of the stars of one of those movies I found funny.

Can't Decide if this is good or bad.

Press Release: SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (March 3, 2011) – Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox announced today that the 3D theatrical launch of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace now has an official release date – February 10, 2012! Set against the thrilling and exotic backdrop of a “galaxy far, far away,” Star Wars is perfectly suited to the immersive 3D theatrical experience, and Episode I delivers some of the Saga’s most stunning and spectacular sequences – from the Naboo invasion to the Tatooine Podraces to the climactic lightsaber battle between Darth Maul and the Jedi. Supervised by Industrial Light & Magic, the meticulous conversion is being done with utmost respect for the source material, and with a keen eye for both technological considerations and artistic intentions.

I'm one of many with a love/hate relationship with George Lucas. I love the Star Wars films but haven't always appreciated what he's done with them. It really pisses me off that he won't let movie theatres play them. That's why none of them have played in our Midnight series. It also annoys me how hard he makes it for people to see the original three movies as they were originally released.

Still, I imagine I'll go see Phantom in 3D. I don't think I've seen the movie in about 10 years.

Funny trailer for Arthur remake

Here's the first trailer for the remake of Arthur starring Russell Brand. It looks pretty funny, he's trying to sound a bit like Dudley Moore I would say. The joke involving two European countries made me laugh out loud which I don't do often.

Interesting Video about Visual Effects from Hereafter

I find this kind of stuff fascinating. It's amazing what they can do with effects these days. I never saw Hereafter but I heard it was worth seeing just for the Tsunami sequence at the beginning.

Cool Trailer - X-Men First Class

Hopefully this prequel will be more like the first two X-Men films than the third one, they have a good director (Matthew Vaughn) so that's a good sign.

Next Week's Film Feb 18 - 24

Next week is Slack Week AKA spring break so it's usually a dead week since the majority of the students are gone. I usually try to play a film that primarily appeals to adults if possible, or, I try to play a film I don't expect to do great but feel I should play. In this case it's Little Fockers, it didn't get great reviews or word of mouth but it was one of the Big Christmas releases so I feel I should play it. I think the students aren't all that interested in it but the adults who saw the first two movies when they were new might be interested.

I decided to play only the one show, there wasn't anything suitable for a late show available. Monday is a holiday so it's a good week to only have one show in terms of saving some labour costs.

We won't be having a showing of Fockers on Wednesday as we will be having an advance screening of Nicolas Cage's new film Drive Angry at 7pm. It will be free, check the website at westernfilm.ca for details.

There were two other films available:

The Dilemma- I'm not sure I'm going to play this one, it didn't get a lot of press, got bad reviews and generally bombed.

Barney's Version- I'm also not sure about this one, it has low awareness but is apparently a good film.

The Fighter was already available but I didn't want to play it during Slack Week. I'm currently planning to play it starting on the 25th. The weekend is part of Slack Week but the students will be back for the weekdays.

True Grit has done well enough to keep for another week but again I didn't want to play it next week. I'm planning to bring it back starting Feb 25th as a late show unless something more interesting is available. It will be back at some point. True Grit has done pretty well this week and the numbers are low because the students start leaving for Slack Week early or have assignments right before Slack Week.

I was quite surprised True Grit came available when it did so that leaves me some hope Black Swan and King's Speech may come available during March.

The Room aftermath.

I kicked myself that I forgot to bring my camera to the screening of The Room this previous friday. I wanted to take pics of the mess the theatre was in after the screening. The Room is a very very bad movie that got the Rocky Horror Picture thing going. There's actions done at certain times and lines spoken at certain points. It's not as regimented as Rocky Horror but also not as messy.

When I restarted the Midnight series I had several people ask for this movie The Room that I had never heard of. I decided not to play it and when I e-mailed one of the guys who suggested the film he sent back a link to a newspaper article about how monthly shows at a theatre in Toronto were selling out. I mentioned it at the next couple midnight shows and got quite the audicence reaction.

I decided to book it for Nov 12th and see what happned.

We had 295 people show up, one of the biggest crowds we've had in years. We sold $800 worth of snack foods. Most of the patrons were drunk or stoned so they all had the munchies I guess.

The screening went over okay, the crowd was a bit loud but everyone had a good time, except for the few people who left becuase they were expecting to watch the actual movie.

I booked it again this previous Friday. We had about 30 fewer people but it was bloody cold that night. We sold about the same amount of food. I know this becuase again it took me about 40 minutes just to pick up the garbage?!

One of the elements of the audience participation is the throwing of plastic spoons at certain places. There must have been at least a couple thousand spoons all over the floor.

I didn't have a Midnight film scheduled for April 1, for some reason I thought it was easter weekend when I initially did the schedule. I decided to book The Room in for one more screening this year. It's just before classes end so it will be a good way for the students to blow off some steam.

The image below I found on the net. Imagine a floor with about 20 times as many spoons and you'll see what Western Film looked like.

The clip below gives a good idea about what to expect from the film.

Funny yet thought provoking article.

I came across this article on cracked.com today. I didn't even know they were still in business. I thought it was interesting and correct in many ways. It's about how 9 famous movie villains were actually correct and maybe not the bad guy they were made out to be. The one about the Wizard of Oz sounds pretty legit to me.

Check it out.

http://www.cracked.com/article_18417_the-lighter-side-dark-side-5-villains-who-were-good.html

Ironic blog redesign.

You may have noticed the blog has a new look. This was not intentional but worked out. I had noticed when I embedded YouTube videos they always seemed to be cut off at the side. The new wide screen format wasn't translating properly. I started looking around at how to fix it and discovered that you could change the look of the blog. As it so happens the one I choose looks very similar to the new look of the Western Film website. I was quite happy.

Next Week's Films. Jan 28 - Feb 4

There were two movies available but there was a bit of a conundrum. To do well both would need to be the 7:00 show so I decided to experiment.

The Tourist I booked in for 7pm. This movie got some bad buzz but people have been asking for it so I think it should do okay. Even if it's a bad movie it's still got Depp and Jolie.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1- This has to play at 7pm for at least the first week so I booked it to start Feb 4th.

So for a late show for next week I had to get creative. There wasn't anything left that we had chosen not to play in the past. I briefly toyed with playing Jackass 3. I decided to try bringing in Inside Job a documentary about the global financial crisis narrated by Matt Damon. I'm not sure if enough people have heard of it to do well but we'll see. There are two other factors at work. The Oscar noms are being announced tomorrow and Inside Job has been mentioned as a likely nominee for Best Documentary. There is a local teacher that bring a couple classes of high school students to educational type films sometimes. I had asked him a few weeks ago if he would bring them to Inside Job and he said he probably would. Hopefully the timing is good and he can bring the students. That would cover about half of what the film needs to break even.

So Harry Potter is the following week. Not sure what or if there will be a late show since Harry is fairly long. Maybe I'll bring in Jackass, it's short and might be popular. We didn't do great with the second one though.

I can't tell if this is real or fake.

This is supposedly a trailer for a real movie. If it is it's already in the running for worst.movie.ever. If this is really David Carradine's last film that would be a real shame. He should be remembered for the Kill Bill films.
Since three of the cast of the Kill Bill films are in this film I wonder if it's some sort of joke trailer made by Tarantino?

I want this guys job!

The first is a cool little short film making the rounds. I didn't want to give anything away by making the title of this point more specific.

According to Cinematical this short's creators have now attracted the attention of Hollywood. This adds it to the growing list of short films from the internet that are either being made into films or have gotten the filmmakers noticed. Just as an aside I'll post one of the other ones below. The second short is supposedly being made into a feature length film. It's an interesting little film, I wonder how they'll make it full length?

MODERN TIMES from BC2010 on Vimeo.

PIXELS by Patrick Jean from ONE MORE PRODUCTION on Vimeo.

This is just the credits for Enter The Void.

I've heard of the film but I'm not sure what it's about. However if this is the just the opening credits for a 161 minute film I'm not sure if my nervous system could take watching the whole film?!

New Trailer for Battle: Los Angeles.

Sci-Fi is my favorite genre and I'm a sucker for big blow it all up action films so this looks like the perfect combination for me. If any of this looks familiar there may be a reason for it. The company that did the visual effects for Battle: Los Angeles just happens to be owned by the guys who directed Skyline which has awfully similar effects. I heard Sony was thinking of suing them but I'm not sure if they did.
I like the song near the end of the trailer. I'll have to find out who sings it.

Advance Screening of The Mechanic Jan 24th!

Alliance Films called me today and asked about doing an advance screening of Jason Statham's new film The Mechanic. Naturally I said yes, advance screenings are cool to do, especially a movie I think will be popular. We are doing the screening on Monday the 24th at 7pm. The movie opens Jan 28th.

I don't yet know how Alliance wants to handle distributing the passes. Usually they are given away as prizes by various media and groups. If there are any leftover we usually have them at the door for walk ups. It's a pretty big theatre so there's usually extra passes.

Here's the Red Band trailer: Red Band also means NSFW.

An Interesting Map.

I found this on another site, it's a map of the US with the movies most associated with each State. Kinda interesting but since I'm Canadian I don't know all of the states locations. I wonder if they had included Canada what film it would have listed? Or would Canada just be a big grey blob like it is on most US tv channel maps?

Click on map for bigger version.