More Trufax

Friday April 13th 2012

I take back everything I ever said about Rian Johnson: Looper looks amazing.

Monday April 9th 2012

With their inexplicably high production values, cringe-inducing skit intros and remarkably perceptive pop cultural commentaries, the video reviews of Half in the Bag (a side project of Mike Stoklasa‘s Red Letter Media site) are among the most singular pieces of film criticism the internet has to offer. In the above video (and part two here) they take soft target Jack and Jill to task with refreshing depth and consideration, not to mention several hella accurate Jill impressions. I just hope you weren’t planning to get anything done in the next fifty minutes.

Monday April 2nd 2012

Am I insane or do bits of this new trailer for Ted actually look quite good? Yes it’s disconcerting that Seth MacFarlane has given the bear the same voice as Peter Griffin, and yes Mila Kunis’s character is definitely going to be redundant and irritating, and yes there’s nothing inherently funny about a teddy bear swearing. But look me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t laugh out loud at Wahlberg’s final ‘FUCK’. I dare you.

Friday March 30th 2012

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Titanic, despite being largely perfect, possesses an ending so spectacularly moronic that it would seem out of place in all but the most saccharine of Nicholas Sparks adaptations. So imagine my surprise to discover that another, even shitter version exists (above) in which Old Rose somehow manages to convince Bill Paxton that they should throw away the $250 million diamond — the sale of which could save millions of lives around the world — because “only life is priceless”. Dick move, Rose, dick move.

Wednesday March 28th 2012

A quick memo to anyone who thought The Hunger Games‘s satire of reality television was in any way illuminating or original:

a) You are wrong.
b) Grant did it six years ago, bitches.

Wednesday March 14th 2012

Matthew Lillard’s directorial debut Fat Kid Rules the World, starring Terri‘s Jacob Wysocki, looks entirely decent. And if you don’t believe me I’ve got a slightly murky trailer upload to prove it.

Saturday March 10th 2012

The following is just one amazing excerpt from the altogether hilarious, intimate and exquisitely self-effacing Hugh Grant interview in this month’s Empire mag:

Empire: Why did you want to voice a pirate? Is the booty good?
Grant: No, they pay peanuts for these things. I think what happens is that they make a rough version of the film with drawings and they get local actors to do the voices and then they take that to the studio and say, “What do you think? Shall we go ahead and spend tons of money on making this?” And the studio says, “Yes, but you will have to change the actors into people who are known.” So then the director, poor old Peter Lord, who by now has fallen in love with the original Pirate Captain’s voice, has to come to someone like me and get me to do it. And I said, “You don’t want me to do it. You’d much rather have the voice you have,” and he says, “No, no, no, we would love to have you.” I said, “Bollocks!” But I did it anyway.

The full Q&A is well worth your £3.99.

Monday March 5th 2012

Tomboy is a beautiful little movie about a young Parisian girl who passes herself off as a boy in order to fit in with a group of local kids in a new neighbourhood. It’s out on DVD and Blu-ray today and is worth a purchase for many reasons, not least the phenomenal performance of 12-year-old lead Zoé Héran. It’s totally last year’s Nobbsy. Except, you know, not shit.

Friday March 2nd 2012

The TV version of Samuel L. Jackson’s immortal line from Snakes on a Plane is infinitely better than the one we saw in cinemas.

Tuesday February 28th 2012

By far the best piece of Oscar coverage I saw at the weekend was Cosmo UK’s Top Tips for Oscar-winning Sex feature, in which they dubiously linked a variety of sexual positions to this year’s nominees. It’s worth reading the whole feature to find out exactly what ‘The Iron Lady’ and ‘Moneyballs’ entail, but here’s a particularly steamy highlight:

“The Warrior Princess
Nick Nolte’s supporting role has earned him an Oscar nomination, but he’ll have stiff competition once you’ve tried out this sensual sex position. Save the traditional spooning for old married couples, and add some sizzle to your sex life with this bad-ass move. Lie on your side with your guy behind you. Keep both of your torsos in this doze pose and lift your top leg. Have him shift his lower body into a half-kneeling position, entering you from behind – and hey presto! You’ve bagged that award…”

Sunday February 19th 2012

Damsels in Distress, my fourth favourite movie of the year so far, FINALLY has a trailer. And it’s not very good. But who cares?

UK release is set for April 27th.

Monday February 13th 2012

“Die vier Freunde Will, Neil, Simon und Jay sind nicht gerade das, was man als Traumtypen bezeichnen würde: Optisch eher keine Hingucker, Coolness-Faktor gleich Null und sexuell chronisch unterfordert!”

Monday February 6th 2012

I was so busy organising a teen film festival last week that I completely forgot to mention what a bonkers clocks week it was for new teen movies. Young Adult, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Chronicle all more or less fit the profile, and two of them already feature in my Best Movies of 2012 list. Cinemas showing all three are few and far between, but if you happen to live near the West India Quay Cineworld then there’s a hell of a triple bill waiting for you one night this week.

Monday January 23rd 2012

Also out this week: House of Tolerance, the new one from wanton controversialist and professional smug bastard Bertrand Bonello. Deeply offensive on almost every level, the film is nonetheless an engaging way to spend 122 minutes — if only because it answers the age old question: what would a Lars von Trier remake of Showgirls look like?

Friday January 20th 2012

Well this looks a whole lot better than Chris O’Dowd’s American accent.

Tuesday January 17th 2012

This is a real movie.

Monday January 16th 2012

Is it just me or are those Toy Story Toons that Disney insist on putting in front of their movies systematically destroying every remaining ounce of respectability in the Toy Story franchise? I thought the last movie was bad, but this is some Tom & Jerry Kids level shit, man.

Thursday January 5th 2012

Poet Ross Sutherland ponders the linguistic capabilities of automatons via Star Trek, J. G. Ballard and a Russian translation of Clarissa Explains it All, in his fascinating 40-minute documentary Every Rendition on a Broken Machine. Make room for it in your life.

Monday December 19th 2011

Seriously guys, have you seen The Holiday? Not only a great Christmas movie but one of the best — and most surprising — romantic comedies of the last ten years. And the cast? Cute as buttons. You heard it here first.

Tuesday December 13th 2011

I finally went to see Midnight in Paris the other day and I’m pleased to confirm that it is indeed worth a watch (if not an Oscar).

Utterly solipsistic but undeniably intoxicating, the whole experience is basically akin to taking a long bath in Woody Allen. And I’m not speaking figuratively: it’s literally comparable to hollowing out a septuagenarian comedian, filling him with warm water and climbing in. Bubble bath optional.