This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end

The End by The Doors

Danny Boyle’s new movie is coming soon. Check out the trailer for TRANCE. I haven’t seen a single movie of his which I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed or thought was a true masterpiece, so I have high hopes!

Is Django Unchained the best movie of 2012? I think it might be.

I do know I’m currently addicted to the awesome theme song.

If you want to check out the full length version of this tune as well as the others on the soundtrack - plus some choice bite of dialogue from the film - click HERE to route yourself over to the LA Times website where it is streaming.

I love the book World War Z. It isn’t just a book about zombies, it is a book about society and the little pockets of America and how people in various situations might handle all hell breaking loose.

I was never really excited to hear that a movie version was being made, though it seemed inevitable after the book became popular and so many celebrities with production companies read it. I took in a class in college called “Novel Into Film” where we read books, watched the film version, then trashed the movie version in almost every case.

I know that a book told in chapters person by person with the only common thread being the interviewer they were all talking to would need to be drastically modified for the screen. But this trailer for the Roland Emmerich action movie version of World War Z seems to bear very little resemblance to the book. I actually enjoy Emmerich’s movies like Independence Day and truly (inexplicably) love The Day After Tomorrow.

The filmmakers have until Summer 2013 to sort out this movie which has been riddled with troubles and required re-shoots, and create a trailer that will connect with people who loved the book. Hopefully it will appeal to fans of the novel, as well as fans of kick ass summer action blockbusters. Since I am both this could be a slam dunk. While we wait and see how the film comes out maybe I’ll read the book again!

Last night we had the pleasure of attending a screening of the upcoming film Flight. I was eager to see this movie mostly because I knew it was going to include a fantastic plane crash - the kind of horrible thing you would hate to see in real life but is amazing to experience through a fictitious film. I didn’t really know what the rest of the story was about, and I was in for a surprise when much of this rare adult drama backed by a major motion picture studio was about battling alcohol and drug abuse. 

I won’t get into the film too much so those of you out there who want to see it will enjoy the story without any spoilers, but I will say that during the post-screening Q&A with two of the producers I learned a fun fact about film-making I didn’t already know despite my years working on clearances and product approvals. When dealing with something like alcoholism the companies which create beer, wine and liquor will not take issue with you using their brands - as long as no single brand is highlighted more than the others. Logically it makes sense and on-screen it is almost easier to believe an alcoholic who will drink anything, anywhere, anytime since that’s sadly genuine behavior. So, while understandably no airline wanted to be featured in Flight every brand of alcohol get a cameo.

I’m definitely a fan of 007. We watched plenty of James Bond movies in my house growing up, and I’ve followed the series as the actor playing this icon role changes, he gets new “Bond Girls” and plays with cool new gadgets.

So far I haven’t been incredibly impressed with Daniel Craig’s version of Bond, but nobody will ever live up to Sean Connery who played the part so well he’ll own it forever. With that in mind, I’ll give Craig a pass and surely see all of the films they cast him in, including the upcoming Skyfall.

The preview of the film caught my attention, but it is the new theme song by Adele I’m even more excited about. It has been criticized for being too close to the traditional, expected opening tune for a 007 movie, but that’s exactly why I like it - it sticks to the formula, because the formula works.