<![CDATA[[CinemaRatty] tag: visit]]> http://www.cinemaratty.com/tag/visit Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:45:05 +0000 iRatty Engine http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Ping Pong Playa]]> http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/35841cf9388938be1e4321d56ddb816f http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/35841cf9388938be1e4321d56ddb816f
Headline: Aspiring Hoop Star Turns to Table Tennis in Cross-Cultural Comedy

C-Dub (Jimmy Tsai) is a teenager who has opted to put all of his eggs in one basket, namely, the pursuit of his dream of playing in the NBA. Suffering from delusions of grandeur, he’s dropped out of school and fritters away his future playing street ball against younger kids in a local park, instead of concentrating on getting a good education or on pursuing a career. He’s even quit his minimum-wage job at the mall, basically because he sees menial work as being beneath him.
The slacker’s story would probably sound unremarkable, if he were just another black kid inadvisedly trying to make it out of the ghetto via basketball alone. But C-Dub’s happens to be a Chinese-American who’s real name is Christopher Wang, and he wasn’t raised in the slums but in an upscale section of suburban Los Angeles. Consequently, his frustrated parents can’t comprehend how one of their sons could become a doctor (Roger Fan) while the other would be an irresponsible, Peter Pan with a basketball Jones.
For C-Dub is a trash-talking wannabe, who walks, talks and dresses like a hip-hop gangsta, even when he’s away from the court. The question to be answered is whether he might mature and bring honor instead of disgrace on his very embarrassed relatives.
This is the prevailing theme of Ping Pong Playa, an engaging cross-cultural comedy which milks most of its humor by taking a lighthearted look at what it’s like to be raised Asian in this country. For the picture’s protagonist is as much running away from the pressure to overachieve academically in math, music and on the SAT as he is attracted to the more mellow alternatives he perceives in the African-American community.
The plot thickens when his mother (Elizabeth Sung) sprains both of her wrists, which means she temporarily can’t give any lessons at the Wang family-owned business, the Ping Pong Palace. Chris dutifully fills in and takes to table tennis, a sport he’s long shunned. And, soon he even decides to enter the 15th Annual Golden Cock Competition.
Of equal import, he finds himself falling for Jennifer (Smith Cho), the beautiful big sister of one of his students. However, because she’s a Ph.D. student writing her dissertation on the objectification of Chinese women, he knows he’ll have to clean up his act considerably to impress her. Can you see where this is all heading?
Yes, Ping Pong Playa is a transparent romance/sports flick whose parallel strands unfold exactly as expected, yet that predictability is easily trumped by the refreshingly appealing parade of well-developed, Asian-American characters who make the movie enjoyable by turning an array of common cinematic stereotypes on their heads.

Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexual dialogue and drug references.
In English and Cantonese with subtitles.
Running time: 97 minutes
Studio: IFC Films

To see a trailer of Ping Pong Playa, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjHr25hhEpg
]]> Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:53:00 +0000 pong playa table tennis cross-cultural comedy transparent romancesports flick christopher wang asian-american characters suburban los angeles basketball jones basketball Ping Pong Playa <![CDATA[New on DVD and Blu-ray Disc]]> http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/b47c8c8109820e0f30f21933ddf23636 http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/b47c8c8109820e0f30f21933ddf23636
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]]> Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:29:37 +0000 baby mama dvd content content summary 37-year-old business woman tall bottle tina fey warm similac blu-ray website New on DVD and Blu-ray Disc <![CDATA[A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)]]> http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/69a641c02447a7cc50f5be6ef780bad0 http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/69a641c02447a7cc50f5be6ef780bad0 Even by the standards of Jess Franco films A Virgin Among the Living Dead is slightly odd. As you’d expect in a 1973 offering from this director there’s not much plot, but there’s a wonderfully strange moodiness to this film. It’s very much in the realm of dream and it has a very dreamlike combination of the bizarre, the disturbing and the comically grotesque. Christina is a young woman who has set out to visit the family chateau. She has never met any of the members of her family living in this chateau. Arriving at a nearby inn she encounters surprise from the locals who weren’t aware that the chateau was still inhabited, but when she reaches the chateau her family are indeed waiting for her. They turn out to be a rather disturbing lot. She finds herself plunged into a world of erotic fantasies and a series of encounters with her dead father. Is she going mad? Is there some malevolent supernatural influence at work?

Christina von Blanc made (according to the IMDb) only a handful of movies in the early 70s. She’s actually surprisingly good as the heroine. There’s the usual assortment of actors you expect to see in a Jess Franco movie, including Howard Vernon and Franco himself. Much has been made of Franco’s supposed overuse of the zoom lens. He certainly employs the technique in this picture, but I think it works pretty well. There’s also some great location photography.

The DVD includes a number of scenes, shot by other directors, that were added to various versions of the film released back in the 70s. These must have made the movie absolutely incomprehensible, as they have no relevance whatsoever to the rest of the movie. European horror movies of this era really were treated appallingly by distributors at the time, and it’s easy to see why the reputations of directors like Franco suffered.

A Virgin Among the Living Dead is a movie that, like the other films of this director I’ve seen from this era, is probably not going to please the average horror movie enthusiast. If you abandon the notion that you’re watching a horror movie and approach it with an open mind you may well find yourself getting sucked into Franco’s strange, disturbing world and you may find yourself enjoying this film as much as I did.]]> Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:10:44 +0000 jess franco films franco movie movie absolutely dead family jess franco movie horror movie family chateau A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973) <![CDATA[Follow us on Facebook]]> http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/254bcec990ef83c6fe9bc97850fe46f8 http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/254bcec990ef83c6fe9bc97850fe46f8
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]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:59:00 +0000 content content summary additional content facebook website visit twitter addition weekinrewind Follow us on Facebook <![CDATA[BANNED: Zack and Miri Make a Porno Poster]]> http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/a3493b299c31973438daaf9b8a5e0ef8 http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/a3493b299c31973438daaf9b8a5e0ef8
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]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:56:00 +0000 content content summary miri porno zack poster website internet visit BANNED: Zack and Miri Make a Porno Poster <![CDATA[FIRST LOOK IS FOR FREE: Michael Moore's "Slacker Uprising"]]> http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/4185541d2a34e65df51ea6b143f83127 http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/4185541d2a34e65df51ea6b143f83127
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]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:51:01 +0000 michael moore content content summary free slacker website visit fans computers FIRST LOOK IS FOR FREE: Michael Moore's "Slacker Uprising" <![CDATA[Fall 2008 In Theaters]]> http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/cab98afb61c578fab74101f1b48a57bc http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/cab98afb61c578fab74101f1b48a57bc It’s Getting Cooler, But Theaters Are Heating Up

Football is back, the air is getting a bit crisper and it’s time to head back in theater for the fall rush of new movies. Generally speaking, fall means step up in the quality of films that are released. (Though the Dark Knight may challenge that notion). The films get more serious. The acting gets more intense. And us critics? We start talking about the gold guy again.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the standout films slated for Fall 2008 in a theater near you.

September

The Coen Brothers get the month started with Burn After Reading (9/12). George Clooney, Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt star. Spike Lee ends the month with his World War II drama, Miracle at St. Anna (9/26) starring Derek Luke as part of a platoon of African American soldiers behind enemy lines.

And don’t miss
The Women (9/12) -- Annette Benning and Meg Ryan in a film for and about women.
Ghost Town (9/19) -- Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear and Tea Leoni in a story with ghosts, romance, comedy and more
Lakeview Terrace (9/19) -- Samuel L. Jackson as a bad cop? NO!
Eagle Eye (9/26) -- Shia Lebouf trying to get out from under a situation that he is thrust into.
Nights in Rodanthe (9/26) – romance film featuring Richard Gere and Diane Lane

October

As thoughts turn to Halloween and pumpkins, it’s not just scary films being released. Sure there are a couple frights that will show up including Quarantine (10/10), Saw V (10/24), a re-release of The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D (10/31), and The Haunting of Molly Hartley (10/31). But I like to see some of the things that turn serious including Flash of Genius (10/3) featuring Greg Kinnear as the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper and his struggle against the car company that stole his idea. I’m looking forward to Changeling (limited 10/24), the Clint Eastwood film starring Angelina Jolie that premiered at Cannes early this year. And who wouldn’t be excited about a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott? That one would be Body of Lies (10/10).

And don’t forget
Appaloosa (wider 10/3) -- The Ed Harris directed western with Viggo Mortensen.
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (10/3) -- looks like laughs with Simon Pegg and Kirsten Dunst.
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (10/3) -- Michael Cera and Kat Dennings.
W (10/17) -- the sure to be controversial biopic from Oliver Stone.
High School Musical 3: Senior Year (10/24) – The First of the series coming to theaters.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (10/31) – Kevin Smith film with Seth Rogen and…yes that’s the title.

November

We get another visit from our favorite 00 agent, Daniel Craig is back as James Bond in Quantum of Solace (11/14). Disney’s new animated film Bolt (11/21) has tucked itself into a solid date. And the Baz Luhrman period film Australia (11/26) has moved back to give everyone a head start on Thanksgiving with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

And if you want something different check out
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (11/7) – the sequel to the very popular animated film.
Twilight (11/21) – the new hip vampire movie starring Kristen Stewart.
Transporter 3 (11/26) – Jason Statham is back behind the wheel doing what he does best.
Milk (11/26 limited) – real awards buzz with Sean Penn in the lead role as the Congressman trying to change the system.

As you can see the fall is loaded, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s much more coming this December, and who knows what changes will still be made to this schedule. A mere month ago and I would have been talking about a new Harry Potter movie and a number of different release dates. Remember all dates are subject to change. If you get a little cold this fall, step in the theater as that is heating up!

For now, sit back, relax and save me a seat!]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:00:00 +0000 romance romance film film kevin smith film film bolt clint eastwood film scary films films month Fall 2008 In Theaters <![CDATA[New Legend Productions Introduces ComicBookTrailers.com]]> http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/40ae9b7923b06426eb5b59b69ad1327c http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/40ae9b7923b06426eb5b59b69ad1327c
New Legend and G.I. Studios create a website to promote comics using videotrailers

New Legend Productions, Inc. introduces a new website, ComicBookTrailers.com, a new Internet service that specializes in showcasing comic book related trailers. The site was developed by GI Studios and is currently displaying promotional videos for over thirty comic books and comic-related projects. Any artist, writer, or company may submit a trailerto be displayed on the site free of charge.

“More and more creators and publishers are using video to attract newreaders,” states New Legend Productions president, Michael A. Gordon. “We’ve had the pleasure of producing some trailers for a couple of comics and noticed there were many others posted on various sites across the Web. We thought it would be cool if there was one site you could go to see them all.”

The leader of the project is William Kielhorn, vice president of New Legend Productions.

“The response from individuals in the comic book industry has been phenomenal since our launch at Heroes Con,” said Kielhorn.

To help develop the site, he turned to Massachusetts-based Graphic Illusions Studios.

“It has been a pleasure working with G.I.Studios on the development of our logo and website. We are thrilled with the results, Kilehorn added.

“When William approached us to help him create and build an all new brand identity and user interface for the CBT site we couldn’t have been more excited! The idea for one central location for the growing number of these trailers is so simple and yet so genius. We were just ticked that we didn’t think of it first,” said Andrew J. LoVuolo, president of Graphic Illusions Studios. Our collective goal was to ensure that the site looked good, was easy to use, and most importantly worked as it was designed to. Since we, too, are comic book publishers we see first-hand the numerous benefits of having one central web destination for people from all around the comic industry to bookmark and to check out daily.”

In order to ensure quality, all files are hosted on the New Legend servers. The comic book trailers, also known as CBT’s, are presented on the website, in the latest Flash format.

“It is an abbreviation that we hope will catch on in the industry,” muses Kielhorn.

ComicBookTrailers.com is a free service for artists, writers and companies that already have an existing trailer. For those interested in having their work promoted on the site, contact the administers via the website. For comic creators or companies that do not currently have a trailer, New Legend Productions can give you a quote for producing a CBT.

“We hope that ComicBookTrailers.com will be a valuable resource for creators, publishers, E-tailers, and readers alike,” says Gordon. “We think it is an exciting way to help attract folks to some truly great material.”

New Legend Productions, Inc. is the joint venture of two cousins that have been working on a variety of media projects for the past twenty years. In addition to managing the ComicBookTrailers.com website, the company produces CBT’s and will soon be releasing a comic book of their own.

For more information about the company visit: http://www.newlegendproductions.com. For more information about Graphic Illusions Studios visit: http://www.gistudios.com.

]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:13:47 +0000 legend legend productions legend productions president comic book comic book publishers comic book trailers graphic illusions studios site studios New Legend Productions Introduces ComicBookTrailers.com <![CDATA[Tonight on the Tube: Samurai Girl, Monk & Psych]]> http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/f1cdb1ed088190adde1663280421ea1c http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/f1cdb1ed088190adde1663280421ea1c News & Notes

Download Psych Episodes at Amazon Unbox

Tonight, ABC, CBS, and NBC are all playing the Stand Up to Cancer special. CBS also has their CBS Fall Preview special and the first season finale of Swingtown. FOX has the two-hour season premiere of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? NBC also has an NFL Kickoff Show special.

Over on cable, ABC Family has the miniseries premiere of Samurai Girl, G4 has the first season finale of The Peter Serafinowicz Show, and USA has the 100th episode of Monk.

Giveaway: Enter our drawing for a Greek Prize Pack.

Prime Picks

Stand Up to Cancer (ABC, CBS & NBC): Special. Jennifer Aniston, Christina Applegate, Lance Armstrong, Josh Brolin, Katie Couric, Fran Drescher, Kirsten Dunst, Elizabeth Edwards, America Ferrara, Charles Gibson, Neil Patrick Harris, Robin Roberts, Brian Williams and others show support for cancer research during this telethon.

CBS Fall Preview (CBS): New. CBS gives you a look at their fall lineup.
The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS): Repeat. Andy Richter guest stars in this episode and Christine admits that she likes Stan, who he plays.

Swingtown (CBS): Season Finale. At the end of the summer key party, many a couple has to decide about the future of their relationships.

Solid Selection

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (FOX): Season Premiere. Kathy Ireland puts her supermodel smarts to the test along with the state superintendent of Georgia. Runs two hours.

20/20 (ABC): Repeat. ABC News investigates and reports.

Cable Choices

Samurai Girl (ABC Family): Miniseries Premiere. This three-part miniseries begins tonight. Runs two hours. Read our review for more information.

Monk (USA): New. It’s “Mr. Monks 100th Case” tonight where everyone comes together to watch a show about Monk catching a serial killer and while watching he figures out that someone else killed the third victim. Plays again later.

Psych (USA): New. This is the episode that was filming when I got a chance to visit the set back in June. The episode revolves around Juliet going undercover with a roller derby team to try and uncover who is behind a string of robberies. Tim Meltreger wrote this episode, “Talk Derby to Me” and you can check out my interview with him, where you can find out how an episode of Psych goes from conception to birth. Plays again later.

Other Options

  • The Cleaner (A&E): Repeat. This past Tuesday’s episode, “House of Pain,” replays. Plays again later.
  • Stargate Atlantis (Sci Fi): New. One of Michael’s secret labs is found while exploring a planet. Plays again later. The previous episode, “The Shrine,” replays right before.
  • What Not to Wear (TLC): New. A student that wears sloppy tees and sandals gets the makeover treatment. Plays again later.

Sports Notes

  • ESPN has college football action with Navy at Ball State followed by MLB action with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Arizona Diamondbacks.
  • ESPN2 has NASCAR racing with the Nationwide Series: Emerson Radio 250 followed by Friday Night Fights with a light middleweight bout scheduled for 10 rounds.

TV Marathons

Sci Fi has eight episodes of Tru Calling.
USA has 12 episodes of Monk.

Free TVaholic Reader Downloads:
]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:12:26 +0000 episode previous episode abc 100th episode abc family preview preview special special episode revolves Tonight on the Tube: Samurai Girl, Monk & Psych <![CDATA[GIVEAWAY: The True Story of Che Guevara!]]> http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/180ed382acba90f04aa2caefc04a2929 http://www.cinemaratty.com/article/180ed382acba90f04aa2caefc04a2929
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]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:45:05 +0000 che guevara true story content content summary giveaway home video dvd september website visit GIVEAWAY: The True Story of Che Guevara!