HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 15TH ANNUAL PHOENIX FILM FESTIVAL – PART 2
Ray Schillaci recaps more of the best of the fest from The 2015 Phoenix Film Festival, including “Slow West”, “Exeter” and “White God”.
AuthorThe Movie Guys
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 15TH ANNUAL PHOENIX FILM FESTIVAL – PART 1
According to many attending the festival, filmmakers and moviegoers alike, this was one of the best years yet.
DON’T GO OUT LIKE THAT
I’m of the opinion that the least effective way to send people out of your film is not allowing the music that carried the film to finish the job.
THE MOVIE SHOWCAST – “WHEN PIGS SWIM” (w/Glenn Morshower) – “Furious 7”
Showcast Episode 94: Movie geekery runs amok as IMDB over-achiever Glenn Morshower joins The Movie Guys in studio for great stories about “Star Trek: Generations”, “Transformers”, “Black Hawk Down” and more, including his stint as the great Aaron Pierce on the TV show “24”. There’s also roundtable talk of his new film “Flutter”, opening on V.O.D. April 7th. Plus, “Furious 7”, the weekend’s sole major release, gets a thorough once-over.
MOVIE REVIEW – THE GUNMAN
“The Gunman” is the perfect vehicle for Sean Penn to pull a Liam Neeson and do a late-career swing into action
THE MOVIE SHOWCAST – “CRUISE NEWS” (w/Ricky Carmona) – “Home”, “Get Hard” & “While We’re Young”
Showcast Episode 93: You might think you’ve tuned into The T.V. Guys at the top of this show, as The Movie Guys and special guest Ricky Carmona (“Tosh.0”) stroll down T.V. Theme Song Memory Lane. Then the movie talk erupts – movie music, prison movies and, of course, movie previews, including “Home”, “Get Hard” and “While We’re Young”. Also, Bart launches his recurring segment, “Cruise News”, where he pretty much makes love to Tom Cruise every week.
NEW MOVIE TRAILERS – 3/27/15
New movie trailers include “Aloha”, “Crimson Peak”, “Hot Pursuit”, Inside Out”, “Maggie”, “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”, “Paper Towns”, “Pixels”, “San Andreas”, “Southpaw”, “Spectre”, “Straight Outta Compton” and “Trainwreck”.
THE MOVIE SHOWCAST SERIES: DETERGENT (w/Scott Storm) – “The Gunman” & “Insurgent”
Showcast Episode 92: New weekend, new movies, as “The Divergent Series: Insurgent” and “The Gunman” get a full once-over. Then special guest filmmaker Scott Storm hits The Admiral’s Club to talk about his career as a filmmaker, his new animated short film “The Apple Tree” and his job cutting movie trailers. Also, fired-up rounds of Retractions, “What Did You See This Week?” and Karen’s Birthdays.
THE MOVIE SHOWCAST – “NOT RAMBLING NUTBAGS” (w/Jamie Kennedy) – “Run All Night” & “Cinderella”
Showcast Episode 91: Star of stage and “Scream” Jamie Kennedy joins The Movie Guys in The Admiral’s Club to promote his new indie thriller “Buddy Hutchins” and rail against show scripts during previews of “Run All Night” and “Cinderella”. There are great on-set stories and talk of the hidden gem “The Specials”, plus vocal coach to the stars Chet Loudly returns to teach everyone how to act with a more gravelly, Neeson-esque voice.
DVD, BLU-RAY & STREAMING – PREDESTINATION
Aided by a complex story, interesting characters and tight direction, the Spierigs deliver a powerful punch that has you talking about the film long after it is over
MOVIE REVIEW – THE DUFF
“The Duff” knows its ancestry – John Hughes movies – and the film wisely embraces the best qualities of that genre without ripping it off.
MOVIE REVIEW – AVENGED
Here is an independent genre film that operates high on all cylinders and delivers the goods promised.
THE MOVIE SHOWCAST – “SENIOR SEX” (w/Beth Grant) – “Chappie”, “Unfinished Business” & “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”
Showcast Episode 90: Squeezing coverage of the long and varied career of Beth Grant into a hundred minutes proves no easy task for The Movie Guys as “The Mindy Project” regular is this week’s guest, sharing stories of working with industry giants like Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise, Billy Crystal, Sandra Bullock and, if time remaining, Michael Bay. Plus, she sits in to help preview this weekend’s new releases “Chappie”, “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and “Unfinished Business”.
SO YOU WANT TO IMPROVE OSCAR NIGHT…
This is a refrain heard every year, it seems, just after The Academy Awards broadcast. People sharpen their swords to slice through everything that was wrong with that year’s ceremony.
MOVIE REVIEW – FOCUS
The exploits of con men crossing and double-crossing each other are told through the filter of beautiful people in “Focus”
2015 OSCAR TELECAST RECAP
After watching the Oscar telecast for so many years, one cannot help but wonder this year, what the hell happened?
BIRDMAN, OR LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT ENDING
SPOILERS AHEAD: If you have not seen “Birdman”, and do not wish the ending to be ruined, then do not keep reading (that being said, most people didn’t understand the ending, so even if you read this, it’s probably not that big of a deal).
THE TOP TEN FILMS OF 2014…A SECOND (AND THIRD) OPINION
It’s Oscar Sunday, and with The Oscar Rant out there, more opinions have popped up about the ten best films of 2014.
OSCAR NOMINEE MOVIE REVIEW – AMERICAN SNIPER
If it’s Oscar season, it must be time for mock controversy!
OSCAR RANT 2015
Paul Preston’s annual, exhaustive, no-stone-left-unturned once over of all the nominees. All of them.
THE MOVIE SHOWCAST LIVE FROM THE OSCARS RED CARPET…FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE OSCARS (w/Ayman Samman) – “The Duff”, “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” & “McFarland USA”
Showcast Episode 88: The Oscars are February 22nd and The Movie Guys are live from the red carpet on Hollywood Blvd…on February 18th. Despite Oscar-fever, the studios are releasing “Hot Tub Time Machine 2”, “The Duff” and “McFarland USA”, which all get the preview treatment. Also, Paul, Karen, Bart & Adam give up their Top Five films of 2014 and special guest actor Ayman Samman talks about working on Oscar nominee “American Sniper”.
FIFTY SHADES OF THE MOVIE SHOWCAST (w/Becca Battoe) – “Kingsman: The Secret Service” & “Fifty Shades of Grey”
Showcast Episode 87: After six weeks of January movies, the 2015 film season really kicks off with “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and “Fifty Shades of Grey”, both of which get thoroughly previewed by The Movie Guys. Then, guest Becca Battoe talks about her experience as the audiobook narrator for “Fifty Shades” and gets coaxed to sex up other books in the process.
OSCAR NOMINEE MOVIE REVIEW – WHIPLASH
WHIPLASH is a story about the pursuit of excellence. To me, it was the best picture I saw all of last year.
OSCAR NOMINEE MOVIE REVIEW – THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Is it manipulating? At times, it attempts to be. Does it accomplish everything it set out to do? Perhaps. Do we end up caring? Depends on the audience.
OSCAR NOMINEE MOVIE REVIEW – BIRDMAN, OR THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE
The title suggests that the creative minds responsible for this fascinating film don’t mind if you refer to it by either of the titles listed above. There really are two stories happening at the same time, though it does appear to be just one.
NEW MOVIE TRAILERS – 2/6/15
New movie trailers include “Ant-Man”, “Dragon Blade”, “Entourage”, “Fantastic Four”, “Furious 7”, “In the Heart of the Sea”, “Insurgent”, “Jurassic World”, “Magic Mike XXL”, “Marvel’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron”, “Minions”, “Pitch Perfect 2”, “Poltergeist”, “San Andreas”, “Spy”, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, “Ted 2”, “Terminator Genisys”, “Tomorrowland” and “True Story”
THE MOVIE SHOWCAST ASCENDING (w/Mark Povinelli) – “Seventh Son”, “Jupiter Ascending” & “SpongeBob: Sponge Out of Water”
Showcast Episode 86: The February movies are here, and they look a lot like the January movies, as two calendar-displaced sci-fi fantasy films finally come out – “Seventh Son” and “Jupiter Ascending”. The Movie Guys give ’em both the preview treatment along with “SpongeBob: Sponge Out of Water”. Also, The Oscar Doctors try to spruce up these films’ awards chances and there’s a rousing round of “Name That Jeff Bridges Movie”. All this with special guest Mark Povinelli!
OSCAR NOMINEE MOVIE REVIEW – THE IMITATION GAME
Historical Spoilers Ahead! If you do NOT KNOW WORLD HISTORY, or do NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT WORLD HISTORY, then DO NOT KEEP READING!
OSCAR NOMINEE MOVIE REVIEW – SELMA
For all who are uninitiated, “Selma” is not just about Martin Luther King Jr, although he is a key player in its history. Just as fascinating are all the supporting players that were integral to the historical events that took place in Selma, Alabama.
WHAT IS IT WITH THE FOURTH ONE?
Sometimes a story will continue on into a fourth installment (and beyond). That’s where it gets interesting.
THE MOVIE SHOWCAST – “TOUCHDOWN JESUS” (w/Jeremy Carter) – “Black or White”, “The Loft” & “Project Almanac”
Showcast Episode 85: Disdain for January movies is definitely on display, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel as the FINAL films of Jan. 2015 get previewed – “Project Almanac”, “Black or White” and “The Loft”. Plus, The Movie Guys try a little time travel of their own, as well as Oscar talk, “Ghostbusters” talk and all sorts of madness with special guest and Superego co-founder Jeremy Carter!
THE MOVIE SHOWCAST – “LIVINGSTON DELL, I PRESUME?” (w/Eddie Jemison) – “The Boy Next Door”, “Mortdecai”, “Black Sea” & “Strange Magic”
Showcast Episode 84: This week’s Showcast episode celebrates the V.O.D. release of Eddie Jemison’s feature debut as writer/director, “King of Herrings”! (now on iTunes, Google Play and more)! Eddie joins The Movie Guys in studio with great stories from the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise and he sits in to preview “Strange Magic”, “The Boy Next Door”, “Black Sea” and “Mortdecai”.
THE MOVIE SHOWCAST LIVE FROM COCKFOSTERS (w/David Pompeii) – “Paddington”, “Blackhat”, “The Wedding Ringer” & “American Sniper”
Showcast Episode 83: Stand-up comic and all-round hilarious guy David Pompeii joins The Movie Guys for a big 4-movie weekend’s worth of previews, including “The Wedding Ringer”, “Paddington”, “Blackhat” and the wide release of “American Sniper”. Also, angry Kevin Hart tweets, great stories about Key & Peele and “The Godfather” and a rousing version of Karen’s Birthdays.
Golden Globes Recap – Hollywood Close-Up – 1/12/15
Movie Guy Paul Preston sits in on a whole episode of “Hollywood Close-Up” with Wayne Frazier to talk Golden Globe Awards and to chime in while co-host Natalie Lipka is on the east coast.
TH3 MOVI3 SHOWCAST (w/J.P. Manoux) – “Inherent Vice”, “Tak3n” & “Selma”
Showcast Episode 82: The Movie Guys’ first guest of the new year is a good one as J.P. Manoux sits in the whole show, telling on-the-set stories and helping preview “Inherent Vice” and “Selma”, which go into wide release this weekend, and new movie “Tak3n”. Also hear from The Showcast’s new sponsor, The Bryan Mills Particular Set of Skills Vocational School and Learning Annex.
MOVIE REVIEW – UNBROKEN
Zamperini’s life story is worthy of a five star HBO mini-series rather being crammed into a two hour movie
MOVIE REVIEW – INTO THE WOODS
And now, the story of “Into the Woods”, the re-imagining of famous fairy tales by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim, directed by Rob Marshall.
THE MOVIE SHOWCAST 2014 GUEST HIGHLIGHTS
Showcast Episode 81: The Movie Guys look back on the great guests of 2014 with some highlights that include:
– Jill Benjamin, Ike Barinholtz, Tony Sam, Ron Babcock & MC of The Hater Nation
– Pete Gardner, Heath Corson, Matt Craig & Lew Temple with great industry stories
– Mick Foley breaks down the most dickish Santa of all
– John DiDomenico & Ross Marquand pull out some classic impersonations
– Maribeth Monroe, Andy Cobb & Alex Albrecht dig into some comedy sketches
and more!
THE MOVIE GUYS’ FIFTH ANNUAL HOLIDAY SPECIAL!
Showcast Episode 80: Jokes, nog and special guests overflow as The Movie Guys celebrate release-a-ton-of-movies-at-the-end-of-the-year season! The new releases of the last two weeks of 2014 get the business with movie previews, a gift exchange, storytime, Name That Tune, a holiday recipe and a visit from The Christmas Hobbit, all while counting down to learning the True Meaning of Christmas.
Films covered: “The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies”, “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb”, “Annie”, “Into the Woods”, “The Gambler”, “Unbroken”, “The Interview”, “Big Eyes”, “A Most Violent Year” and “Mr. Turner”.
WORTH REVIVING – “THE GREAT RACE”
May I present a film near and dear to my childhood heart that still holds up…