Continuing my Odyssey with someone who has never seen Star Wars before, we’ve got together on two separate occasions to watch Episode III and Episode IV and I have to be honest, the reactions were a little different than I expected.

Revenge of the Sith is an emotional roller coaster for someone who actually loves and appreciates Hayden Christensen’s characterization of Anakin Skywalker. Kelsie, our Star Wars virgin, was a fan of his from before she saw any Star Wars movies because of his performance in Life as a House, and she seemed able to tune into the fact that he’s acting apropriately for a character in his situation. I mean, really, how else is a celibate monk of a teenager with no experience with girls supposed to act? Like Hayden did, that’s how.

The first part of the film is so adventuresome and fun that when the whole enterprise turns to the Dark Side her mouth became slackjawed and she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

In fact, had her mouth covered during the entirety of the slaughter of the Jedi and gasped in disbelief when Anakin went to kill the younglings. She had tears in her eyes.

Of course I was crying like a baby, but damnit, this movie is sad and amazing.

But this film was a thrilling tragedy and the pace doesn’t flag for even a moment.

(One moment I was more struck by than usual was the moment on the docks when Obi-Wan is leaving to defeat Grievous. It’s the last time Obi-Wan and Anakin part as brothers and upon repeated viewings, it resonates with so much more bittersweet heartbreak than I’d realized.)

She reacted as I would have expected someone invested in the characters to react through the course of the whole film. She was on board the roller coaster and it never let go.

Where things became unexpected was when we watched A New Hope.

She seemed a little bored. Here’s what she said as soon as the credits started: “I didn’t like it as much as Revenge of the Sith.  I liked it a lot, but I thought there was way more going on in Revenge of the Sith.  And Luke was just really whiny.  I kind of wish he’d die and we could get on with the story without him.”

I think she rather enjoyed Han Solo and the smuggler character and she was incredibly interested in the fight between Obi-Wan and Vader. Obi-Wan’s disappearance was certainly cause for questions I refused to answer.

Watching it in this order with a new viewer, you are really hammered by the symmetry between A New Hope and The Phantom Menace. And I think the problem for a first time viewer is that Revenge of the Sith is a culmination of emotion and plotlines from the prior two movies, A New Hope is like a clean slate and gets back to telling a very basic, straightforward story (mirrored exactly in The Phantom Menace.)

I can’t wait to see how she reacts to The Empire Strikes Back, though. It has much more complexity on the way.

In parting, I’ll leave you with thoughts from her blog:

We’ve now watched Episodes 3 and 4. I LOVED REVENGE OF THE SITH! Wasn’t crazy about A New Hope, because I HATE Luke. He’s such a whiny little bitch, I just want to smack him. We’ll see how I feel about the next movies, because I hate Yoda. Who knows, maybe I’ll be the one freak on the planet who loves the prequels and hates the originals…

So there you have it. I’m hoping we get to The Empire Strikes Back this weekend. I’m insisting on at least a day between Empire and Jedi, so she can stew in the events and possibilities. We’ll see if it works out.

But I’m fascinated by her take on the characters and what she likes and what she doesn’t. I never would have guessed Luke and Yoda could be so reviled. The swamps of Dagobah should be interesting.

Last year Redbox fell victim to the same deal that has plagued the Netflix DVD mailing service for a while now – they must wait 28 days after the DVD goes on sale before they can stock the title for rent in their kiosks. This deal hit Redbox pretty hard as reports are putting Redbox rental revenue down by as much as $50 million in fourth quarter of last year. So what’s a DVD rental service to do? Go online.

According to the LA Times, Redbox is positioning itself to offer an online video streaming service for a monthly subscription which will be a direct competitor to Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” service. Redbox also noted that they will launch this digital service with a partner, but didn’t name who that partner would be. There is some speculation that this secret partner could be Amazon.com – who just three weeks ago inadvertently started some excitement over the possibility that they too would be offering a streaming video subscription service. For some reason, Redbox and Amazon seem like an unlikely duo to be teaming up, but there are a few points that make sense. First, Netflix has pretty much cornered the online video streaming subscription market unchallenged, so they are going to be difficult to compete with and lure customers away from. Secondly, Redbox stated their subscription service would allow customers access to the kiosks for physical DVD’s as well – something that’s already set up. It would make sense for Amazon to perhaps look at this as a plus as they wouldn’t have to offer their own DVD mailing option to customers – a feature that despite all of the online streaming options available today, Netflix customers still enjoy to have.

It’s hard to say what exactly would be the best way for Redbox and Amazon to enter the online streaming service fray – together or apart – but it does definitely look like they both have some sort of plan up their sleeves and my guess we will find out a little later this year if our online video streaming subscription service options include “Netflix, Amazon, or Redbox”, or “Netflix or Amazon/Redbox”.

One last thought: How the hell is Blockbuster still around?!

Kevin Smith took to YouTube this afternoon to give an update on his quest to self-distribute and self-promote his new film Red State. Smith hinted a great deal about the future of independent cinema, the dearth of new ideas at the studios, and tried to give us hope that what he is now doing others will be able to follow and do right.

What is Red State? See the trailer below or a higher rez version here at Smith’s Smodcast.com.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAOL1CNpnUQ

Smith was full of typical Smithian verbosity. But he created as a metaphor of what he’s doing with Red State his origins as an “indie” filmmaker. He was incredibly inspired by Richard Linklater’s Slacker.  Which meant he saw it and said, “That was great, and I can do that! If we just change this one little thing. . .” And so he made Clerks. And so whenever someone says that Clerks inspired them to make movies he wants to smack them, as they’re looking at his movie and saying “I can do that!”  So Smith hopes that by doing this with Red State someone else will come along and be able to improve it.

Smith rightly said he has always had a core audience that allows his films to make about $30 million and that’s it, regardless of the budget and the marketing and the subject matter. So, given that, why should he try to make a film that he knows is going to piss a LOT of people off and is not likely to make a lot of money?

Smith said he was inspired by Trent Reznor and Radiohead, who self-distributed their music simply because they knew their fans and knew how to get the music to them via the internet. So why can’t Smith do the same thing with his film, and pair it with his successful Q&A’s that he already does?

Speaking of, I recently watched via Netflix streaming Kevin Smith’s most recent video of his Q&A called “Too Fat for 40.” In this, he talks about how he became a stoner in his late 30’s. As part of his new stoner ethic he would just get high and watch stuff in his media room. So he started watching this incredibly long series done by the Canadian Broadcasting  Corporation (CBC) about the history of hockey. He was inspired by Wayne Gretzky, especially the advice his father gave him to not go where the puck was, but where the puck was going to be. And that’s why Gretzky’s the greatest hockey player of all time. It occurs to me, is Kevin Smith trying to go where the puck is going to be? Or is that what he thinks he’s trying to do?

In a similar vein, he was also asked about his advice for someone trying to break into the industry.  His advice? Don’t. The studios now only want what’s safe, what’s easy. If you have something new and fresh to say, there’s no way anyone at the studios want to make your film. He also disagrees that Youtube and piracy is hurting the film industry. He thinks if someone wants to watch Clerks on Youtube, they’ll probably buy the DVD: piracy isn’t hurting the industry- it’s helping the artist find new people to watch their stuff.

But in the words of Jay, “We gots to get paid! Where’s our motherf$%^ing movie check?” So can a filmmaker make money through self-distribution? Smith announced that the tour was already going to turn a profit, even if he didn’t sell any more tickets. He explained that if he sells 1,700 seats at Radio City Music Hall, everything else is profit. Of the 15 dates he has booked to show Red State, 12 are already sold enough to break even, and he’s only done promotion via Twitter. No millions of dollars in marketing wasted by a studio, who might not understand your movie anyway and may cut your trailer to not even represent your vision of the film. [Aside: a good corollary to this discussion is had on the Big Movie Mouth Off podcast, episode 9, discussing the Super Bowl trailers]

Smith also talked a little bit about his time at Sundance, but rather than recap that, you should just watch the review Big Movie Mouth Off did of Red State from Sundance:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce3uekt_Fak

He loved the reception he got at Sundance and was glad how the movie worked. Smith wanted to do a film where he did everything different than all of his other movies. No hockey references (he’s saving those for his next film, which will be all about hockey). No Jason Mewes, even though he begged to be in it. Smith pointed out that some jackass getting up in the middle of a screening and yelling “Snooch to tha nooch!” as soon as Mewes came on screen would’ve messed up the vibe he wanted to create. (and boy does he know his audience)

He also briefly talked about his current run on Batman, “The Widening Gyre” and how he wanted to write comics waaay before he wanted to be a filmmaker. So, there’s always that career to fall back on. Except I’m not hearing so many good things about The Widening Gyre. But I’ll leave it to my cohorts at The Monitor Tapes podcast to review that.

Overall, this is an interesting discussion. Can independent cinema work based on this? Or is it just simply that Kevin Smith has enough of a cult of personality around him that it could only work for him?

Wow. If the first trailer and the Superbowl spot weren’t enough, Marvel has laid on us a second trailer for the upcoming Thor. From this trailer, the story really starts to take shape. It really looks like they’re going with more of an Ultimate Thor route with the “homeless guy” approach. I suppose that works, but I miss Don Blake and the cane transforming into Mjolnir. In any case, I am kinda pumped, which I never thought I would say about Thor of all characters. Enjoy!

Deadline is reporting that Shane Black is indeed in final negotiations to direct the third Iron Man picture which has a May 2012 release date.

Shane Black is a favorite choice of ours because of his work as a tight screenwriter of films like Lethal Weapon and as a fantastic director, particularly his last Robert Downey Jr. team up, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

A curious note in the Deadline story: Black isn’t, at this point, writing the screenplay. That piece of the negotiation is up in the air, but any director worth his salt will change up the script to suit the material and vision regardless. And Shane Black’s strengths start with his story structure and screenwriting. It would be foolish to hire him for directing and not bring to bear the true nature of his talent.

Take it from us, this is great news for Marvel fans.

I have a complicated relationship with Darren Aronofsky. I enjoy his films while watching them, but can never seem to decide exactly how much I like them at the end. Take The Fountain for example. I really like watching that movie, the visuals are beautiful and I’m emotionally invested in the characters, but by the end of the film I’m just sitting there watching the credits roll thinking to myself, “Wait . . . what?” I’m not exaggerating either, I’ve watched it four times and each time I interpret it a little differently – maybe that’s the point?

But I digress. I really believe having this type of director take on a Marvel film with The Wolverine is going to bring something new, and hopefully really great, to the superhero genre. For the most part, Aronofsky his keeping his lips sealed on what he has planned for Logan, but he did give a few details to Popcorn Biz:

“It’s not a sequel,” Aronofsky told PopcornBiz, though he’s still playing close to the vest on the storyline specifics (which reportedly derive from the character’s seminal Japanese adventure in the 1982 Marvel Comics miniseries by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller). The director did, however, explain why he signed onto a superhero film after the Oscar-stalking success of “Black Swan.”

“I just love working with Hugh Jackman,” said Aronfsky, who previously collaborated with Logan’s Aussie actor alter ego on 2006’s “The Fountain.” “And I think there’s something to be done in that world that hasn’t been done yet. I’m also excited to do something that everyone wants to make, as opposed to being the only person that wants to make the film at the beginning.”

To be honest, when Aronofsky’s name showed up on the short list of potential directors for the next Wolverine movie – and then went on to sign a deal, I was a bit apprehensive. Now though, I really believe the director who brought us Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, and Black Swan could really have something new and great to bring to the table for one of Marvel’s most popular mutants.

No word yet on when production is set to start, nor on a potential release date – though, it will most likely be some time in Spring-Summer 2012.

CNN is reporting on their wed site that Marion Cotillard is confirmed to be cast in the much anticipated Batman sequel and third installment of the Nolan Batman franchise “The Dark Knight Rises”. The story is notably absent of any mention or speculation as to whom Cotillard may be playing. So it is anybody’s guess. BUT – my guess, as well as others here at BSR is that she will play none other than Talia al Ghul.

Why you ask? Well – personally I think is just plain makes sense – but to further explain I will defer to my 26 year old self and a post I wrote on my Blog in the summer of 2008 when the nerd-sphere was running rampant with speculation of the (unfounded) merits of the Riddler being a villain in the then hopeful sequel. But If you don’t want to jump away or open a new tab, or see my true identity – I understand, and will just sum it up for you real simple like. 1) Think of what kind of character Cotillard played in Inception. 2) THEN remember that at the END of The Dark Knight that the whole world now think that Batman uses LETHAL FORCE. 3) Finally – recall that the very reason why Bruce did NOT become a member of the League of Shadows was that he WAS NOT willing to use lethal force. With these story elements in mind – it is not too far out to imagine that the League of Shadows might want Bruce still – especially if they think that he has come around to their way of thinking.

But enough of my gloating. What say you nerd brethren?!? Am I full of none sense? Being that Catwoman is already cast who is left that Cotillard could likely play? Comment! Discuss!

UPDATE: (1:30 pm, 2/16/2011)

Twitter is reporting that this is fake and we can’t find any more confirmations, but this is the update we found:

DailyBlam is confirming that not only is Cotillard playing Talia al Ghul but that Joseph Gordon-Levitt WILL be playing Roman Sionis a.k.a BLACK MASK!! I know how many of you out there were keeping your fingers crossed for Black Mask to be in this film – But many assumed if it were to be so then Tom Hardy would playing him. So What do you say about the casting of Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Early rumors were for him to play Robin. So the turn around of him playing such a formidable villain is kind of surprising. Tell us here at BSR what you think!!

UPDATE: (1:30 pm MT, 02/16/011)

From DailyBlam:

Warner Bros confirms that this information did not originate from any representatives at the studio and is indeed just a fan-made rumor.

Here’s a “rare” opportunity… I get to compare an upcoming film’s trailer with the original.

Meet Arthur… the original Arthur:

Loud, rich, consistently drunk and quite the cut-up. Arthur is a classic… CLASSIC comedy. Such beautifully dry British humor placed in an American setting.

I watched this trailer and thought to myself… man, they didn’t try very hard to sell movies back in the day, did they? Then I think, I guess back in the 70’s/80’s they could just rely on the fact that they had good writing and good execution.

I love watching old movie trailers for that reason; They don’t give anything away, they don’t oversell jokes and they don’t force the fact that its a movie and we should be paying to go see it down our throats- they basically just say “Hey, If you’re not busy later, you could come hang out with us for a couple hours, you know, if you’re looking for something to do…”

Older trailers were just clips from the film- that’s it… no re-cutting the pace, and trying to force the whole story into 30 seconds… just… plain old… let the film speak for itself.

Lacks a certain amount of artistry, don’t you think?

And now say hello to Arthur- the new Arthur:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtTVquZ2TFk

Usually everything Russell Brand does annoys the hell out of me- he aint funny. But, this trailer does a really good job of making him seem awkward and somewhat charming, in a way that is different, yet similar to the original film. For example, they seem to have done away with Arthur’s laugh…

Throughout the trailer you get that sense of: “80’s comedy”… that feeling that all comedies to come out of that time period had… you know the feeling I’m talking about, the feeling that it might could be… funny. They retained the wonderfully dry British humor and updated to a modern American setting, without sacrificing the charm that the original film created… or at least the trailer leads me to believe this… and although the trailer gives a hell of a lot more info on what is going on in the film plot-wise, leaving nothing undiscovered when a person goes to see it (again, a major flaw in modern trailer cutting), it was done in a way that makes you want to go see it for the jokes… in a way that hopes the audience forgets that the movie has a beginning middle and end.

Okay- and- let’s be honest… until Jennifer Garner appeared on screen- it looked like a movie someone could get behind, an intelligent comedy, which, is a genre that seems to have escaped modern cinema, replaced by a wave of Scary Movies and Meet the Spartans. All kidding aside though, Garner isn’t going to ruin this movie… in fact it looks like she actually might help it along… maybe.

ANYway- that’s my thoughts, slash comparison of the two films… this remake of Arthur, albeit un-original, is a step in a good direction… and even though (most of you would agree) it was a film that should never have been remade- at least it looks like they are trying to do it justice.

Fletch, Caddyshack and Casablanca are all next… right?

Newsboys on strike will take their singing and dancing to the stage at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J., according to the New York Times.

The 1992 Disney film Newsies follows the adventures of Jack Kelly (wonderfully portrayed by The Dark Knight’s Christian Bale) as he tries to run from his past and forge a new life as a newsboy in turn-of-the-century New York.  His adventures put him up against publishing giants William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer.

Though unsuccessful at the box office, Newsies experienced a second life on home video and numerous airings on the Disney channel.  Alan Menken, the composer of the film, is also involved in the stage production.  Menken’s relationship with Disney began with The Little Mermaid and has continued with the recently released animated film Tangled.

The NY Times article states the following:

The Paper Mill Playhouse production, which will run from Sept. 15 to Oct. 16 and has not yet announced its cast, has “latched onto exciting elements of what we had in the movie” and is “minimizing the things that were not so great about the movie,” Mr. Menken said.

The principal newsboys, Jack, David and Les, will remain the main characters, and a new female character — who will serve as a love interest for Jack — has been created for the stage show.

No word yet on whether Brooklyn’s Spot Conlon will appear in the new production.  I will admit that he was always my favorite character.  “Never fear; Brooklyn is here!” and “I say, that what you say, is what I say.” His screen time was minimal, but Spot stole every scene in which he appeared.

Hopefully all the songs from the film will remain, as well.  Who can forget the emotionally charged “Santa Fe?”  And of course there’s “Seize the Day” and “Carrying the Banner.”

The film is full of humor, heart, and catchy tunes.  I highly recommend it.  Hopefully the stage production will be just as entertaining.  If it does well, it could end up on Broadway, where it may just possibly become the “King of New York.”

Full disclosure: Our own Swankmotron, Clang-Boom-Steam, and Jerkbot have been involved in the production and distribution of this film. However, I’ve not been involved in any of that and saw the film a few weeks ago to review  in the Austin Post prior to the showing of Sons of Perdition at the Austin Film Festival.

However, sometimes conflicts of interest have rewards associated with them, like the ability to send a few of you lucky readers to see this movie for free at a special screening featuring a Q&A with the filmmakers! See Big Movie Mouth Off’s Facebook page for details. And now, the review:

Most of us have heard the stories about the former FBI’s Most Wanted, the “Prophet” Warren Jeffs, the tales of abuse and underage marriage, stemming from their compounds in Texas,Utah, and Arizona. Jeffs, leader of a fundamentalist splinter group of the LDS church (or FLDS), faces trial later this summer after extradition to Texas and numerous legal delays, but behind the condemnation of the horrible, horrible things he has perpetrated on members of his cult, there are those who have escaped the FLDS home base of Colorado City, AZ and how they are forced to live their lives.

Friday, Feb. 18 at 7:00 at the Tower Theatre, our friends at Big Movie Mouth Off present “Sons of Perdition,” a heartbreaking documentary following several young men and women who have escaped “The Crick” and are trying to live normal lives. Physically, emotionally, and in the case of the girls sexually abused, sheltered from the outside world, controlled by their “Prophet” and his patriarchal society, these children have been intellectually and emotionally infantalized, unable to deal with the real world that they have either escaped or run away to.

The title of the documentary comes from their religious beliefs that those who intentionally leave the faith have a special place in hell reserved for them. The term “Son of Perdition” is used by Jesus to describe Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed him. Given this heavy emotional weight, many of these kids turn to drugs and despair, and we watch as the kids the documentary follows are turned away from the opportunities most of us take for granted. One of the boys focuses on just trying to attend regular public high school, but without proper documentation, a place of permananet residence, etc, he can’t go. Another one of the boys is focused on helping the rest of his family escape the compound, and we are heartbroken as we see them escape only to return or be forced to return by the demanding patriarchs who run the society, even as Warren Jeffs is in jail.

This documentary made me weep. These children have everything against them. The hope for a normal life is so slim, but we also meet some of those people who are attempting to help those refugees from this lifestlye get back on their feet. One particularly touching moment came when the young (probably 4 years old) daughter of one family fostering the boys attempts to teach one of them “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” since he’s never heard it before in his life.

The only thing lacking from the documentary was more. They quickly gloss over some of the rougher edges of the life these children end up leading.  Too many of them end up homeless, too many fall prey to meth and other drugs (some drug use is mentioned and even filmed, but the subjects deny that they are “druggies”).  They also gloss over just how big of a problem this is. Of course, they’re only following 3 or 4 people throughout the film, and this was no doubt an artitistic choice to keep a cohesive narrative. But the problems are extensive: compounds like Colorado City or YFZ Ranch rely on young boys being kicked out or running away. When girls are treated as commodities and your status in the community is based on how many wives you have, and about half of all children born are boys. . .well, you do the math. And so the crimes of people like Warren Jeffs are not just the girls who are abused and forced into underage marriages, but also the lives of the young men they destroy who are left with no means to cope with the outside world and abondoned to it, being told they are the children of the devil for leaving.

In order to truly understand just how detestable it is what Warren Jeffs do and the ills created by things like the Yearning for Zion ranch, you must see “Sons of Perdition.” Even if this is not an issue you care about immensely, it is a shining example of beautiful documentary filmmaking worthy of your attention.

3 1/2 stars

“Sons of Perdition” was an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival, winner of the Director’s Award at the Telluride Film Festival and Best of Fest at the Salt Lake Film Festival.  It will also play in March at the Texas Theater in Dallas.

For more information please go to SonsofPerditionthemovie.com