Pulp Cinema, a little outfit that I am helping out with will be doing a free screening of Akira Kurosawa’s samurai classic Yojimbo at The Broad Street Ministry on February 6th  at 7pm. The film will be presented in 16mm and is in Japanese with English subtitles.

If you’re not familiar with story of Yojimbo it’s about a ronin (a masterless samurai), played by Kurosawa regular Toshirō Mifune. One day he arrives in a small town currently in the clutches of competing crime lords, who all make their money from gambling.

Yojimbo means bodyguard in Japanese, and the samurai craftily pits both crime lords against one another to eradicate them as they both vie to win him as their bodyguard.

Check out the trailer below!

You may not know the name Nick Murphy but if you are an avid reader of the site or just into video games in general you are more than aware of his handiwork. Nick won a Geek Award last year for his trailers for Zelda (1987) and Indie God of War, and he has now tackled the game that seems to come on every electronic device from Nooks to microwave ovens these days… Angry Birds.

I spoke with him about directing his newest trailer and what goes into creating these little viral masterpieces. You can check out his newest parody at the end of the interview.

So how did you get started doing these game parodies?

I got hired working for the company Gamervision, they were setup already and they were like a video game news site and they had some web video content. They had this idea of combining Mario Brothers, but as Inglourious Basterds since the film was to come out.

So a friend of mine worked there and was like, I know my friend is a filmmaker lets bring him on. So they brought me in and I did it and it got like 300,000 or 400,000 views so it got passed all over the place and went pretty viral.

So right after that, they paid me for my time working on that, and they were like we want to hire you full time. So we kept making shorts.

It started there and we tried to keep that momentum going. It was a lot of fun.  I love it but it is such a niche thing. I am always trying to find that guy that loves video games, but loves movies the way I do too.

What do you think goes into a good video game mash-up trailer?

It’s hard because someone else did an Angry Birds thing and it has like 11 million views. But they did it in a way where it is super over the top. It’s like Michael Bay doing it. There was this government program that manufacture these birds to fight these pigs, who are the enemy.

For us that was an easy joke. We wanted to challenge ourselves and try and incorporated it into the real world. They came out with this Mortal Kombat realistic, gritty web series, so we thought if they can come out with something like that we can make Angry Birds gritty and visceral I guess. That is what I wanted, could this be a real thing?

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When Steven Soderbergh isn’t threatening to retire from directing, he is one of the more interesting directors out there working today. This is probably because he always seems to balance his big-big budget work with smaller introspective and thought provoking films.

Haywire is his newest big budget entry starring Gina Carano, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas and Michael Douglas. The film is the story of a freelance black ops operative Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) who is betrayed, setup, and is now out for revenge.

We have 25 GOFOBO passes for 2 to a screening Tuesday, January 17th @ 7:30PM at the Ritz East. Wanna Pass? Simply leave a comment with your favorite Steven Soderbergh film by midnight Sunday the 15^th and the first 25 will be checking the film out for free.

Check out the trailer (SFW) below and the first 5 minutes of the film here (NSFW)

No cameras, camera phones, or other recording devices permitted in screening. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Theatre capacity is limited and passes won do not guarantee seating. (So please show up early!) Theater is not responsible for overbooking. Ticket holder and guest must enter theater together.

After checking out Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol at the Tuttleman IMAX at The Franklin Institute, I went back a week later to take a tour of the projection booth and talk with some of the fine folks who work there. What I found was the folks that manage and work in the theater are not just IMAX geeks, but really knowledgeable film geeks in general.

I also decided to interview the projectionist Matt Lorenz about what it’s like working with the format and took some pics of the booth to share. Being as interested in film as I am, I had a lot of fun chatting with Matt about working with one of the hottest formats out there right now.

So how did you become the projectionist at the Tuttleman IMAX?

Wow, that’s interesting. I was unemployed and I had done some theater work in live performance, doing sound engineering and that sort of thing. I actually applied to be one of the ticket takers and what they call a console operator here. What the entails is essentially working in all the theaters and the planetarium, introducing the shows and that sort of thing.

A projectionist position opened up and I got it. A lot of it is very specific training. So unless you studied IMAX somewhere else, a lot of it is just having some technical know-how and being able to learn it. It’s almost like assembly line work in terms of its repetitive motion, but once you understand how it works its pretty easy.

What kind of training did that entail?

Again, it’s very specific especially with a lot of the soundtrack stuff, computer knowledge is important. Some math skills are kind of important in terms of when you are trying to sync up soundtracks you need to count frames and break it down into minutes and seconds. So not complex math but you need to think not abstractly, but when you’re assembling film there are a lot of things you have to keep in mind in terms of head and tail and emulsion.

We train for a month before we can run any film. I was trained by the chief projectionist here and pretty much just followed him and did a lot of practice running films in the off hours, so that if anything went wrong there is not a live audience in there. It’s really just getting to know the equipment here. (more…)

Contraband is the latest film from Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur, probably best known for his film A Little Trip to Heaven. The film stars Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale and is a remake of the Icelandic 2009 film Reykjavík-Rotterdam, one of the biggest budgeted Icelandic films of all time. Fun fact… it actually starred Baltasar Kormákur, Contraband’s director.

The film is the story of Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) who abandoned his life of crime long ago, but after his brother-in-law, Andy botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best; running contraband.

Chris must settle Andy’s debt and things get heated up when Chris has only hours to reach the cash. Chris must use his rusty skills to navigate the treacherous criminal network of drug lords, cops, and hit men before his wife Kate, and their two sons become targets as well.

Wanna check out Contraband Tuesday, January 10th at 7:30PM at the Ritz Five? Simply leave a comment and the first 30 people will be checking out the film.  Passes will be sent out tomorrow morning. In the meantime checkout the trailer below.

No cameras, camera phones, or other recording devices permitted in screening. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Theatre capacity is limited and passes won do not guarantee seating. (So please show up early!) Theater is not responsible for overbooking. Ticket holder and guest must enter theater together.

You might recognize Michael Heneghan as director of the Geek Award winning animated film The Romantic. Well after the festivities were over at the Geek Awards there was some talk of me helping to produce his next full-length animated feature.

What you see below is small look at things to come. This short is part pitch and part Christmas card for the upcoming animated feature Burp’s Christmas.

The film will tell the story of the Burp family, a family in need of healing. Young Walter and Elijah lost their parents in an accident and are now living with their grandparents, Charles and Norma. The film will tell the story of their struggle to make ends meet, learning to laugh again and keep keeping the Christmas magic alive for another year.

Enjoy!

The Darkest Evening of the Year from Michael P. Heneghan on Vimeo.

As far as films go I really can’t say a lot for 2011. It was a year that will live in infamy as the year with the most sequels and films based on pre-existing properties than any other before it. And sadly, I really don’t see this as a trend that is going away any time soon.

So here is my top ten list for the year. It wasn’t easy, and not because there were so many great films, but because there were just so many damn mediocre ones. Meh.

10. Marvel Films: Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor: Marvel is on a winning streak few in film have ever seen. The films they continue to churn out are fun to watch, well made and are a credit to their genre. The only question is will their endgame in The Avengers live up to all their hard work to this point.

I would hate to be the one to break that winning streak, you know? Don’t let us down, Joss.

9. Super 8: Watching this film I felt like I was 10 years old again. J.J. Abrams somehow does Spielberg better than Spielberg has in a long time and shows us there still maybe hope for the summer blockbuster.

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Even though Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is the fourth installment in the franchise, it may very well be the best film to come out of the series since it debuted back in 1996. Brad Bird, who is better known as a mainstay at PIXAR and the director of The Incredibles, gives us a refreshing and humorous sequel that really shows what a property such as this can be in the right hands.

I checked out the film in Philly’s own Tuttleman IMAX at The Franklin Institute.  Not only do I feel this is this the optimum experience for seeing the film, due to quite a few action set pieces shot in the IMAX format, but it is also the only theater in our area lucky enough to be screening The Dark Knight Rises Prologue… which is well worth the price of admission alone.

The film stars Tom Cruise once again as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, this time out to save the world from a nuclear holocaust after he is framed for blowing up the Kremlin. He does this with the help of Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and the always-hilarious Simon Pegg. If the main baddie happens to look familiar to some of you, it’s probably because he is played by Michael Nyqvist, who also played Mikael Blomkvist in the Swedish film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Simon Pegg steals the show and gives the film some severe geek cred while Tom Cruise is well… Tom Cruise.  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol succeeds by being well aware of what it is, and not taking itself too seriously. The film is often times almost a parody of itself, which makes some of the insanity just a little easier to swallow at times. I really enjoyed this film much more than the last 2 films before it.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol gets a 3.75 our of 5 stars.

Cinematic Titanic is coming to the Keswick Theatre New Years Eve-Eve (Get tickets here!), and in preparation for that I got to chat with the man himself behind both Cinematic Titanic and Mystery Science Theater 3000, Joel Hodgson.

The Godfather of Movie Riffing was nice enough to impart on me not only some of his philosophy on riffing,  but the origins of MST3K and what goes into putting together a show like Cinematic Titanic.

I hope you enjoy this behind the scenes conversation about probably one of the greatest shows in all of geekdom .

For the people who may not know, what is Cinematic Titanic and how did it come about?

Well to know what Cinematic Titanic is you first have to know what Mystery Science Theater 3000 is.  I actually have to explain what MST3K is a lot.  Whenever I meet people and they ask what I do, I never presume they know, because it was a cult show.

I basically say, it’s the show where they run bad movies and they super impose little silhouettes at the bottom of the screen; who say stuff during the movie. Then if they are familiar with it they usually brighten up a bit or they just matter of factly say, “no I have never seen it.”

Cinematic Titanic is the original cast of MST3K and we have our jokes all setup and we riff on a movie based on the success of MST3K. That is what I usually say at that point, so the people who haven’t heard of it at least know it’s successful.

Is there a reason you tend to choose more obscure films to riff on than some of your contemporaries?

There is a couple of reasons, the first being cost.

People like Rifftrax are doing it and they just have to put their voices in. I have seen other people do that too where you don’t know who they are, you just hear talking. I guess you could do that, but to me that is only part of movie riffing. The other part is your physical presence; what you’re doing when you’re riffing.

I think people do that, it’s my impression that they think it’s a marketing thing.  That if you have seen this movie you might want to see someone riff on it.

So we don’t really do that. I see MST3K and Cinematic Titanic working another side of the street.

To me what I think people like about MST3K and Cinematic Titanic is that we show movies they haven’t seen before. So it’s kind of like a new place, which is part of the value and mystique in it. So we are a lot like your tour guides in this place.

Take something like Manos: The Hands of Fate, when I watch that show it’s not even my favorite riff. But because the movie is so strange and unusual, it just has this bizarre attraction for people.

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There are few current literary franchises that have had the same cultural impact as Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series. If you haven’t read the books, you have probably at least seen the Swedish films based on the novels.

I was a fan of the books and loved the Swedish film adaptations. When rumor started circulating that of course there was going to be an American take on the books, I was seriously suspicious. That is until I heard David Fincher was going to tackle it fresh off The Social Network.

The film stars Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara as Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, an unlikely pair of individuals trying to piece together a murder that happened almost 40 years prior. You might remember Rooney Mara as the girl who steals the show and dumps Mark Zuckerberg in the opening scene of The Social Network.

We only have 10 passes for 2 to check out The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Monday, December 19^th at the Ritz East at 7pm. Wanna check the film out 2 days early? Simply comment with why you’re the biggest Millenium Series fan by midnight December 17th and I will be picking ten comments to check the film 2 days early. Good luck and check out the trailer below!

Christmas. A time for family, friends, Hobos with Shotguns and the Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence.

Wait… what?!

Yeah, you heard me. The Philadelphia Film Society, full of yule tide cheer, is sponsoring a 3 week long film extravaganza at The Troc entitled Bloody Christmas. The series will consist of 4 films over a 3 week period, and kicks off this Tuesday, December 6th with an event they are calling the Human SANTAPEDE. Do you see what they did there?

They will be screening The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence in all its UNCUT glory and if you wear a Santa Hat, you get a free drink token!  How is that for some holiday cheer? You get to see twelve people attached (CENSORED) to mouth and get a free drink. Who says the holidays aren’t about giving?

If that isn’t enough, December 13th they will be running a double feature with one of my favorite films to hit the screens this year Hobo With a Shotgun with Tucker & Dale VS. Evil. The final film will be the great Finnish film Rare Exports – A Christmas Tale, and that one will be coupled with a Bad Christmas Sweater Party.

This sounds like a lot of fun and a Christmas celebration I can totally get behind. The Troc screenings are 21+ and begin at 8PM with doors opening at 6:30. $3 at the door gets you in and goes towards a drink. Arrive before 7PM & get a free BEER & a bag of popcorn.

Its been almost 2 years since the Keswick Theatre hosted Cinematic Titanic on New Years Eve. Back in 2009 it made for a great night of riffing over an insane triple feature. Well they are returning this year, this time performing New Years Eve-Eve and riffing over a double feature consisting of The Astral Factor & Frankenstien’s Castle of Freaks.

In case you’re not familiar, Cinematic Titanic riffs to both the bad and the obscure in front of a live audience. The group is led by the original host of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Joel Hodgson and various other writers and cast as well. I was lucky enough to attend that show back in 2009. If you love bad movies and MST3K you really owe it to yourself to check this great show out!

You can get tickets from Ticketmaster here.