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There Can Be Only One: World Champion Judah Friedlander.

You’ve got to admire the man who, having reached the highest pinnacles of human achievement, still finds it within himself to make the occasional descent and spend time with us lesser mortals. God knows, comedian and actor Judah Friedlander doesn’t need to bother with our petty activities; as universally acknowledged World Champion, he exists on a more exalted plane. Yet he has deigned this year to once again make regular day trips out to Queens, New York, where he graces the set of NBC’s 30 ROCK in his role as sketch writer (and trucker hat model) Frank Rossitano. One can only hope his cast-mates appreciate the effort.

So when my sponsor, Samsung, began their own quest for excellence with their Stage competition, I knew that I had to find out, for the sake of the contestants, what life is like when one is bestowed with the highest of accolades. Judah was gracious enough to give me a glimpse into his illustrious life, as well as discuss how it led to the creation of his book, How to Beat Up Anybody. Click on the player to hear the interview.

MEET JUDAH FRIEDLANDER: WORLD CHAMPION

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THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE WORLD CHAMPION
BUT YOU CAN HELP TALENTED HOPEFULS ACHIEVE
THEIR OWN DREAMS
VOTE NOW AT SAMSUNG STAGE!

CHECK THE VIDEO!

Continue reading »]]> 2011: Definitely a good year for aliens. They waylaid a couple of fanboys, staged a showdown with cowboys, wrecked a tween’s film project, invaded LA, twice (must be the universal lure of In-N-Out Burger) — yessir, if you had more than four limbs and a palate for human flesh, you had a home in theaters over the past twelve months.

But the extraterrestrial infestation wasn’t really the big news in genre film for 2011. With an open couple of weeks before the final onslaught of major science-fiction, fantasy, and horror releases, Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons decided to look back over the year and pick out their favorites in ten categories*, including Best Performance, Best Use of 3D, and Best Film, among others. The selection they’ve come up with may well surprise you. (Hint: A certain film featuring big-ass robots does better than expected.)

Click on the player to hear the show.

*And yes, we acknowledge that this is a provisional list, given that such titles as TINTIN, THE DARKEST HOUR, AND MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL have yet to screen.

Continue reading »]]> So the sponsored video below, The Keeper, was one of the winners of the MOFILM Cannes 2011 competition. And if you’re an astute, industry-insider like me, you’re probably thinking, Wow… MOFILM winner. What the hell’s a MOFILM?

Turns out the folk at MOFILM are kinda crowdsourcing matchmakers. They bring in a number of sponsors — such as Sovereign/Santander for the video below (other big names in this particular competition included AT&T and Coca-Cola Zero) — set up an intriguing challenge (in the case below: tell the backstory behind the transactions on a debit card statement), and let the filmmakers work their creative magic for Valuable Cash and Prizes, frequently including travel to some sort of media-related event. Upcoming competitions offer trips to Festival do Rio and the BFI London Film Festival; for The Keeper, filmmakers Chris Bailey and Jake Naish got to go to the advertising-oriented Cannes Lions Festival, and hang out with Jesse Eisenberg. They also got $8000.00 for their troubles, if you care about such things.

The MOFILM folk also posted the runners-up, you can get a look at them here, And if you think you’re MOFILM material, best to get started here.

Continue reading »]]> For those of you who wanted to actually see the generational divide in living, breathing action, here’s the video capture of me & critic Ben Lyons in conversation:

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So the people over at Yellow Tail wines were in touch with me again with an offer to talk with critic Ben Lyons. He’s doing some Oscar-related stuff over at their movie/wine pairings websiteReserveYourNight.com, and it sounded like a good opportunity to get his take on some issues dealing with the coming Academy Award festivities, including why Harvey Weinstein will likely be doing the Happy Dance this Sunday.

Continue reading »]]> So the people over at Yellow Tail wines were in touch with me again with an offer to talk with critic Ben Lyons. He’s doing some Oscar-related stuff over at their movie/wine pairings website ReserveYourNight.com, and it sounded like a good opportunity to get his take on some issues dealing with the coming Academy Award festivities, including why Harvey Weinstein will likely be doing the Happy Dance this Sunday.

Click on the player to hear the interview.

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Public Threat: A criminal (Javier Godino, left) delivers a not-so-subtle message to public servants Soledad Villamil and Ricardo Darin in the Oscar-winning foreign language film, THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES.

Seems to be some confusion about the title of this. For the record, according to the front page of the production notes, it’s THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES. Not THE SECRET OF THEIR EYES or even THE SECRET IN HER EYES, which is the way the video file for the trailer is labeled. So I hope we’ve got that all ironed out, now. Let’s move on, mmmkay?

The nominees for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film were a strong bunch: AJAMI; THE WHITE RIBBON; A PROPHET (UN PROPHÈTE) — I didn’t get to see THE MILK OF SORROW, so can’t say how it matched up. That the Argentinian SECRET — the story of a retired police inspector (Ricardo Darin) who delves back into a rape-murder he investigated in 1974 — took the prize may have had much to do with director Juan Jose Campanella’s ability to mold the film (adapted from a novel by Eduardo Sacheri) as a popular, whodunit while running deeper currents about love and sacrifice underneath. It probably didn’t hurt that supporting actor Guillermo Francella — better know in Argentina for his comic roles — delivered a complex, powerful performance as the inspector’s flawed sidekick, or that the film boasts a stunningly choreographed arrest sequence set in a crowded soccer stadium.

Campanella was clearly enjoying his victory, and we had a fun time talking. Click on the player to hear the interview.

This Episode is Brought to You by:
Current TV’s DEADLIEST JOURNEYS
“Death Slide Home!”

THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES
Trailer

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www.sonyclassics.com/thesecretintheireyes

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Another Powerhouse Nominee from 2009

Continue reading »]]> Dan Persons, Steve Biodrowski, and Lawrence French follow Tim Burton down the rabbit hole, analyzing his live-action redo of the Disney animated classic, ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Is it Burton at his best – or another blunder? Does it surpass the original, or does it fall flat as a knave of hearts? Also on the bill, a look at the weekend’s award winners for horror, fantasy, and science fiction films; plus the usual round-up of exciting news items, upcoming home video releases, and random recommendations.

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Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal in CRAZY HEART

So if the acceptance speeches didn’t get anywhere close enough to satisfying your curiosity about how these films came about, click on the players below. We’ve got MIGHTY MOVIE PODCAST interviews with the directors of all these films:

And come back Friday, when have an interview with the director of the Piaget Producer’s Award winner, THE EXPLODING GIRL