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Watched Fracture and Akeelah and the Bee. Fracture was good, if a lil disjointed (not ironically) nearing the end. Akeelah I've seen before and still enjoyed the fuck out of. The montage of everyone reading the cards for her is so awesome. That Lawrence Fishburn was in this and Searching For Bobby Fischer is either a big coincidence, or Fishburn has positioned himself over Morgan Freeman as thee mentor of mentors.

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From viewaskew.com:

 

It's a wrap on Kevin Smith's 'Porno'

By Barbara Vancheri, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 

It's not exactly the sort of slogan you'd put on a license plate or town stationery but Monroeville is "the last place in the world you'd imagine someone would make porn."

 

And that is why Kevin Smith's $25 million comedy, "Zack & Miri Make a Porno," is set in Monroeville, where shooting wraps up today. It's about a pair of cash-starved friends, played by Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, who decide to make a porn flick.

 

"In terms of the stuff I've done in the past, it's probably closest to 'Chasing Amy.' It's very frank, it's very dirty but it's very sweet," Smith said, calling it a very touching love story.

 

"We shot a scene yesterday that was about as dramatic a scene as I've ever shot in anything I've ever done," Smith said, with his star confirming it. "This is in the same movie as all that other stuff?" Rogen said.

 

Yesterday, Smith and Rogen sat down with two reporters and a radio team to field questions on everything from driving in Pittsburgh (GPS is invaluable for newcomers) to strippers (hired locally) and Pittsburgh as a winter wonderland (how Smith sold the city to his 8-year-old daughter, who loved her time and uniform at Winchester Thurston).

 

The director and actor took two of the seats at a big round table at Tolerico's, a real Monroeville restaurant down the strip mall from the fictional Bean-N-Gone Coffee Shop where Rogen's character works.

 

Smith, layered in a hoodie and long black coat, smoked throughout and Rogen, unmistakable with his loose corkscrew curls, dark-rimmed glasses and distinctive hearty laugh, sampled the sugary fried dough the restaurant placed in the center of the table.

 

Tonight, if all goes well, Smith will trade his rental bed for his home model, and Rogen will prepare to fly to Las Vegas to receive the ShoWest Comedy Star of the Year Award. He's one of the go-to guys for comedy, with "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!" "Superbad," "Knocked Up" and "40-Year-Old Virgin" among his credits.

 

In a relaxed, good-natured, 30-minute session, here is some of what they had to say:

 

On the stars' chemistry: "They had crazy, sick chemistry, it was really nice," Smith said of Rogen and Banks. "There was a familiarity there, but beyond that, their performances read like they're lifelong friends who slowly kind of realize they've fallen in love."

 

On picking Pittsburgh: Smith said, "I spent a lot of time here," after high school because a then-girlfriend went to Carnegie Mellon University. He shot "Dogma" in Pittsburgh in 1998 and that positive experience, along with the state's tax incentives for filmmakers, helped to lure him back.

 

On shooting here: "It went so swimmingly, it was crazy," said the director, who finished two days early.

 

"We were fighting weather issues at the beginning because we tried to do most of our exteriors up front," Smith said, as Rogen added, "The weather was too nice." But some of the real snow allowed Rogen to fishtail as he drove, lending authenticity to the wintry setting and man-made white stuff.

 

On navigating the city: Rogen got lost a lot at the beginning but said, "I slowly narrowed down where I go to a few places. Now I get to the Waterfront easy," to go to the movies, eat at Red Robin and -- like all the out-of-towners -- shop like mad at Target.

 

Off-set diversions: Smith favored NHL 08 (he also went to a couple of New Jersey Devils games at Mellon Arena, clad in his home-team colors) while Rogen is a "pretty mean drummer" on Rock Band and pretty good at Guitar Hero. "I'm like your utilitarian game player."

 

On casting: Smith wrote "Zack & Miri" with Rogen in mind. "I saw '40-Year-Old Virgin,' and I was, like, that [expletive] dude's hysterical." Steve Carell? "No, the other guy." Then Rogen got famous and Smith worried he might lose him, but he didn't.

 

Sneak preview: Smith has been editing as he's shooting and recently hosted an early rough cut for cast and crew in the Strip District. "We set up two big monitors, two big flat screens, and I think 80 people came over and watched 80 percent, 85 percent of the movie. ... It's pretty watchable."

 

Release and rating: Smith said the movie is expected to be released in November and he's "praying for an R rating. ... the initial porno scene that they shoot in the movie is one of the funniest but most graphic."

 

When studio chief Harvey Weinstein visited the set, he asked Smith if he was shooting "TV coverage as well," which would allow the movie to air on television or in other tame outlets. "I was, like, dude, I'm having a hard time shooting an R-rated movie, let alone a PG-13- rated version of the movie."

 

The story is set at Thanksgiving-Christmas, and the fall release prompted Rogen to say, "We'll get that 'Enchanted' audience." And then let loose with a big laugh.

 

The fact that Smith says it's the closest thing to "Amy" makes me very excited as that's my favourite of his flicks. The trailer should air on October 31st 2008 accordng to the Weinsteins.

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"Because you were home." Now that's a sweet line. Some Funny Games shit going on there.

 

I saw Funny Games last night. What a fucked up film

 

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Rented a few mindfuck-type films this weekend that just came out on DVD.....worth mentioning....

 

Southland Tales: This is the film that has been on the shelves for a good while, with Rock as the main role. Seemed to recall some issues with distributors putting this release on hold. And some negatively critical responses at film festivals. I didn't even hear shit on this being released, and was still expecting to see this on some limited release in theaters. Anyway, this is, well, certainly different, I will say this much. There is alot to take in with this film, and it seems to grab your interest for awhile, but it's so disconnected in some parts that it really doesnt deliver by the end. But it's worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of Donnie Darko meets David Lynch meets some pre-apocolyptic politically driven script. Probably going to check this out again to see if what I saw all makes sense, as it might, but it's just so all over the place that it was hard to put together. I will say the story is creative as hell.

 

Slipstream: I don't even know where to start with this one. Written and directed by Anthony Hopkins. The film goes in and out of consciousness, literally. Hopkins plays a writer who's characters start blending into his real life, creating an almost dreamlike state of film that really plays no boundaries of past and present. Really hard to watch as the editing done on this film is very off the wall and makes you feel like you took a hit of acid. But much like Southland Tales, the story is pretty out there but very uniquely thrown out there to interpret.

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I have watched ALOT of movies the last couple of weeks:

 

Once : great little movie here. I love the soundtrack also now. I understand why people that don't care for musicals like this one, although I have to say, its not really a traditional musical. But for the music alone, you should see this.

 

Southland Tales: I saw the original cut which was longer, and more mind fuckery and the ending made less sense. Now I have watched the theactical cut, and I have to say...its a little better. Still...pretty trippy movie. I don't think all of it makes any sense whatsoever. Its one of those "I am just going to do a bunch of weird stuff and let people make up theories about it" movies. My theory, this is just a screenplay written by a drugged up action star and a porn star. The Rocks character pretty much breaks down the entire movie when he is explaining his script to Stifler earlier in the movie. After that, everyone has weird, lame names like they were in a bad script and all the wierd trippy stuff happens. I think we are just looking at his trippy, bad script, which explains the ending somewhat.

 

Lars and the Real Girl: This was supposed to be a comedy apparently. This was kinda tough to watch though. It was really really sad. It was a incredible performance by Gosling, and the movie was kinda wierd, but if you grew up in a really small town, kinda believeable. I was genuinely touched by some of the things going on in the movie, but I was a little distrubed when it was clear that Lars had DEEP mental issues and the psycologist just stuck with the "we should go along with it" route. I mean seriously, he felt phyical pain when people touched him....get that boy some help.

 

John Rambo: Hells yeah. This was quite the action movie. A action movie with zombie movie gore effects...can't complain at all. Yes, some parts are tough to watch and its plenty fucked up. Quite a few rapes and child killings. But hey, if you can't cheer a woman and child killing pedophile getting gutted...I don't know what will make you cheer. I enjoyed the movie.

 

The Darjeeling Limited - Its a Wes Anderson movie. If you like him, watch it, you won't be disappointed. If you don't, then don't because you aren't going to like it. Strong movie for me, great writing, although the luggage metaphor was a little too in your face for my liking.

 

The Mist - this movie kicked ass although it was just a TAD bit over the top at the end

I mean, did the tanks and suvivors and the mist have to lift like a minute after he killed his son. Geez, we get it, he should have waited...IRONY~!...but still. I think it would have been hard to to hear a fleet of helicoptors a few minutes away.

 

Some of the CG was not that great in the start, but there were strong performances, one of the most satisfying headshots in cinema history, and a non hollywood, realistic ending (minus the spoiler up there).

 

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head right now although there are probably another dozen movies I have watched recently. More later.

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Drew Carey needs to get replaced from The Price Is Right.

 

He's alright and was the second best choice of those rumored. George Hamilton? Ryan Seacrest? Rosie O'Donnell? I hate to think who they would replace him with if those were the forerunners before. The best was probably John O'Hurley but I'll take Drew.

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Ryan Seacrest is a born TV personality...he would have done just fine. That's not even the AI fanboy in me talking. I think he does a good job with the NYE shows and other non-AI things I've seen him in. He has natural charisma and the look TV stations want to have.

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Drew Carey needs to get replaced from The Price Is Right.

 

He's alright and was the second best choice of those rumored. George Hamilton? Ryan Seacrest? Rosie O'Donnell? I hate to think who they would replace him with if those were the forerunners before. The best was probably John O'Hurley but I'll take Drew.

 

Seacrest would be a better choice in how to present the prizes and explain the games, but the college crowd would rip him apart.

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I've seen all of the "8 Films to Die For" from last years Horrorfest. My thoughts:

 

-Mullberry Street: I saw this one when it was in theaters, and it's the best of the bunch. It's a zombie movie (sort of) done with a tiny budget (about $60,000), but it's still great, and very well acted and directed. Check it out. 8/10

 

-Boarderland: I was worried this would be a "Hostel" clone, but instead I got a well acted horror movie/crime flick. I recommend it. Also, who knew that Shawn from "Boy Meets World" would turn out to be such a good actor? 7.5/10

 

-Nightmare Man: For the most part, a decent piece of cheese that can best be described as an 80's slasher flick meets "Night of the Demons." Fans of B-Movie Queen Tiffany Shepis won't be disappointed. Nice Richard Mole cameo too. 7/10

 

-The Deaths of Ian Stone: A major disappointment. For a while, it's a pretty good horror movie that relies more on suspense than gore (though there is gore-it also borrows quite liberally from "Jacob's Ladder" in the imagery department). Then the twist comes in, and it ruins everything you had just seen. 5.5/10

 

-Tooth and Nail: Can best be described as "The Hills Have Eyes" meet's "Mad Max." It's acting is hit and miss (again, who knew Rider Strong was such a good actor?), and the kills are pretty sweet. That out of the way, the twists range from interesting to predictable, and Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones, and Robert Carradine are wasted in their roles. Not horrible, but not good either. Basically, a movie with wasted potential. 5/10

 

-Crazy Eights: Finally, a ghost story that doesn't rely too heavily on Asian Horror cliches. That out of the way, it still doesn't work out in the end. The acting is (again) hit and miss, the movie isn't scary in the least, and I couldn't bring myself to care about any of these people. Those wondering "Whatever happened to Traci Lords?" may want to check it out. 4/10

 

-Unearthed: More like a Sci-Fi channel movie than a movie that got a theatrical release, this is a really bad follow up from the director of the fun splatter comedy "Dead and Breakfast." The creature itself is a blatant "Alien" knock off, the acting (with the exception of a somewhat wasted Charlie Murphy) is bad, the kills are uninteresting, and the whole movie is a mess. 2.5/10.

 

-Lake Dead: This movie is so bad, it's insulting. Cliched, misogynistic, dull, horribly acted pile of shit (complete with bad Gore FX) that feels like a series of backwoods/evil family stereotypes piled together without any thought from a pair of guys who just watched "Wrong Turn" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake. The fact that the two inbred brothers (originally named Kane and Able) look like shaved versions of the Geico cavemen is somewhat amusing though. 2/10.

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That's basically my own grudge talking since I just dislike the guy. Which has as much to do with my dislike for American Idol as it does with him, but it remains nonetheless. He's affable to some, I know, but all I can see is this huge asshole. College kids are at least half of Price is Right's audience anyway.

 

Rosie is Rosie. Awful. George Hamilton is ancient to me and his orange hue is really distracting. Carey is a good approachable everyman with large mainstream appeal without being extremely divisive, basically as likable and safe as the next.

 

I really thought they would do everything to get O'Hurley in. He comes across as a safe option for those who liked Barker without going to far in the Hamilton direction and has enough appeal among the 18-35 crowd. Who knows if he was ever under strong enough consideration though.

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The Deaths of Ian Stone: A major disappointment. For a while, it's a pretty good horror movie that relies more on suspense than gore (though there is gore-it also borrows quite liberally from "Jacob's Ladder" in the imagery department). Then the twist comes in, and it ruins everything you had just seen. 5.5/10

 

See, I rate it higher because it is a good movie until the last 15 minutes. Thats a pretty good run for one of these movies. Even the twist itself wasn't that bad, its just that they took the twist and then said "You know....lets do the Matrix!!!" and people randomly had on leather suits and sunglasses.

 

I guess after year after year of mindnumbingly bad movies, this was one of the better ones I had seen. I haven't seen the ones you ranked higher than this one this year though(wait...I did see Nightmare man. Lets just say we disagree on THAT one...ew) so I will check them out.

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The Deaths of Ian Stone: A major disappointment. For a while, it's a pretty good horror movie that relies more on suspense than gore (though there is gore-it also borrows quite liberally from "Jacob's Ladder" in the imagery department). Then the twist comes in, and it ruins everything you had just seen. 5.5/10

 

See, I rate it higher because it is a good movie until the last 15 minutes. Thats a pretty good run for one of these movies. Even the twist itself wasn't that bad, its just that they took the twist and then said "You know....lets do the Matrix!!!" and people randomly had on leather suits and sunglasses.

 

I guess after year after year of mindnumbingly bad movies, this was one of the better ones I had seen. I haven't seen the ones you ranked higher than this one this year though(wait...I did see Nightmare man. Lets just say we disagree on THAT one...ew) so I will check them out.

You should check out "Mulberry Street", as it's great, and works well with it's budget.

 

As far as most disappointing, I'd say either "Ian Stone" or "Tooth & Nail." I just remember when "Tooth" was over, and thinking "That really could have been so much better." Oh well.

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Finally watched the Conan from Friday night. Big Show never fails to entertain whenever he's on. He got the Max Weinberg treatment and was stamped with "Ass"!

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Whats with everyone naming their movie "_________ Movie"? Don't they know that shit's played out?

 

Since it's all the same damn group of guys doing it, I'm pretty sure they won't stop until the box office numbers tell them too. I'm just waiting for Movie Movie to be released.

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Whats with everyone naming their movie "_________ Movie"? Don't they know that shit's played out?

 

Since it's all the same damn group of guys doing it, I'm pretty sure they won't stop until the box office numbers tell them too. I'm just waiting for Movie Movie to be released.

 

From what I remember, its a few of the people behind the original Scary Movie that continue to churn out these turds 5 or 6 times a year. Apparently it's the ones that knew the gags to write, but not the ones that knew how to make them actually funny.

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Whats with everyone naming their movie "_________ Movie"? Don't they know that shit's played out?

 

Since it's all the same damn group of guys doing it, I'm pretty sure they won't stop until the box office numbers tell them too. I'm just waiting for Movie Movie to be released.

 

 

 

Do they actually do well? I haven't liked any ______ Movie since Scary Movie 2. I thought putting Movie after anything officially made it a piece of shit.

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The only _____ Movie I think was ever any good was the Kentucky Fried one. Scary Movie 1 wasn't THAT bad, but things got really unfortnuate after that.

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There are actually two separate groups.

 

The Zuckers (of Airplane! and Top Secret fame) had a hand in Scary Movie 3 and 4 and Superhero movie.

 

Some other guys (I forget their names) had some writing duties on Scary Movie 1 and 2 and then did Date Movie, Epic Movie and Sports Movie.

 

At some point both groups worked on Scary Movie, which is why I guess they all are named some variant of that. It's too bad about the Zuckers. They used to be really funny but the jokes got stale fast and they haven't kept pace with the times at all. The Epic/Date/Sports movie guys were never funny, I assume on Scary Movie they wrote like 1 line each.

 

They should team up, make one final Shitty Movie and be done with it.

 

I did love Scary Movie 2 though. Chris Elliot and David Cross were too good.

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I didn't mind Scary Movie 3 and I will probably see Superhero Movie at somepoint just because I love all the Superhero stuff, but I can't understand all the money Epic/Date/Meet the Spartans kind of stuff make because those movies are so awful. I didn't see Spartans, but I had someone tell me how funny it was and I haven't trusted any of their judgement since.

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Meet The Spartans was another case of all the best things from the movie being shown in the trailer.

 

Southland Tales: This is the film that has been on the shelves for a good while, with Rock as the main role. Seemed to recall some issues with distributors putting this release on hold. And some negatively critical responses at film festivals. I didn't even hear shit on this being released, and was still expecting to see this on some limited release in theaters. Anyway, this is, well, certainly different, I will say this much. There is alot to take in with this film, and it seems to grab your interest for awhile, but it's so disconnected in some parts that it really doesnt deliver by the end. But it's worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of Donnie Darko meets David Lynch meets some pre-apocolyptic politically driven script. Probably going to check this out again to see if what I saw all makes sense, as it might, but it's just so all over the place that it was hard to put together. I will say the story is creative as hell.

 

So its another one of those "I honestly have no idea what the fuck is going on here, but I'll just go with it" movies? Gotcha.

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I didn't mind Scary Movie 3 and I will probably see Superhero Movie at somepoint just because I love all the Superhero stuff, but I can't understand all the money Epic/Date/Meet the Spartans kind of stuff make because those movies are so awful. I didn't see Spartans, but I had someone tell me how funny it was and I haven't trusted any of their judgement since.

 

The movies are incredibly cheap to make so it's not incredibly hard for them to break their budget and make a good amount of money. People are indeed dumb enough to go see these heaping piles of shit because they're expeting huge amounts of laughs. They also get released during the times where no other decent movies are out, usually at the beginning of the new year.

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Here's an interesting note.

 

Probably the last on my list of infamous films I hadn't seen was Nekromantik, and I finally watched it. And while watching it... I fell asleep with my eyes open.

 

That's never happened before, and I have no idea why, or what significance the fact that I was watching Nekromantik played on it... but the movie was pretty good. I was laughing so hard at the guy cumming while he was stabbing himself.

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Has anyone seen King of Kongs: Fistful of Quarters yet?

 

Holy fucking shit, this is most pathetic look at human life I think I've ever witnessed. I'm a gamer just as much as the next guy, but these idiots in this documentary on classic arcade competitions/record breaking are the uber geeks of the uber geeks. Definately got some hilarious spots but for the most part, I was just amazed at how these people in the documentary literally LIVE life around Kong, PacMan, etc.

 

Particularly, the mullet sporting, beaver lookin guy who held the record for Donkey Kong (although nobody ever saw him DO it, the guy videotaped it, and then refused to ever even attempt to match his own record in front of anyone) came across as the biggest fucking twatstain alive in this country.

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The fact that"King of Kong" wasn't nominated for best documentary is a crime.

 

I saw "Nekromantic" when I was about 17. The shock wears off by the time the movies over IMO.

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Has anyone seen King of Kongs: Fistful of Quarters yet?

 

Holy fucking shit, this is most pathetic look at human life I think I've ever witnessed. I'm a gamer just as much as the next guy, but these idiots in this documentary on classic arcade competitions/record breaking are the uber geeks of the uber geeks. Definately got some hilarious spots but for the most part, I was just amazed at how these people in the documentary literally LIVE life around Kong, PacMan, etc.

 

Particularly, the mullet sporting, beaver lookin guy who held the record for Donkey Kong (although nobody ever saw him DO it, the guy videotaped it, and then refused to ever even attempt to match his own record in front of anyone) came across as the biggest fucking twatstain alive in this country.

 

Yeah, King of Kong was pretty enjoyable. That and "My Kid Could Paint That" were two fun little documentaries to pop onto DVD recently.

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The fact that"King of Kong" wasn't nominated for best documentary is a crime.

 

Quoted for truth. That was one of my favorites of last year.

 

I saw Drillbit Taylor today. Surprisingly, I kind of liked it. Maybe it was just because I had really low expectations and it was basically Superbad Jr with a homelesss con-man wandering through but I thought it was a fun throwback to PG/PG-13 80s teen comedies.

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