Last week I attended the Night at The Museum: Battle of The Smithsonian premiere, I’ve already posted some of my interviews which you can check out in our back log. Now here’s another one of the quick interviews I got to do with the Hank Azaria.

Check out the interview >>

Here is the fourth episode of The Film Stage Podcast in which we review Jody Hill’s Observe and Report. Recorded by Jordan Raup, Dan Mecca you can stream it below or download the mp3:

Download the mp3 (right-click and save as): The Film Stage Podcast Episode 4 – Observe and Report Review

You can now subscribe through iTunes! Just click the image below and each episode will download for you automatically as it comes out:

Check out the contents of the podcast >>

We reported the upcoming Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters, Caddyshack) comedy, Year One,  was having some trouble with the MPAA getting down to a PG-13 rating. It looks like that has been resolved as THR reports the film has been re-cut and given a PG-13 rating for “for crude and sexual content throughout, brief strong language and comic violence.” The film, starring Jack Black and Michael Cera, will hit theaters June 19th, 2009.

Looking forward to Year One?

THR is reporting that the second ratings appeal for the Judd Apatow produced, Harold Ramis comedy Year One has failed. The film, starring Jack Black and Michael Cera, has been given an R rating for “sexual content and language”. They still have an option for resubmitting a further edited version, but for now Sony will have to accept the rating. The $75 million comedy is set to be released June 19th, 2009.

I had no idea this film was even close to being R-rated. The early trailers seem pretty clean. I figure they will edit this down to make more money, but I wouldn’t mind either way what the rating is.

Do you want to see an R-Rated Year One?

Here is the new trailer for the Harold Ramis (Caddyshack, Groundhog Day) comedy The Year One starring Jack Black (Kung Fu Panda) and Michael Cera (Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist, Superbad). Check it out below or in HD on YouTube:

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We brought you an extended clip yesterday, but here is a completely different Super Bowl Spot for the Harold Ramis comedy Year One starring Jack Black, Michael Cera, Paul Rudd, and David Cross. Check it out below from Firstshowing or in HD on Youtube:

Plot: When a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers (Black and Cera) are banished from their primitive village, they set off on an epic journey through the ancient world.

I liked both the clip and this TV spot. I definitely think this will be one of the better comedies of the year and I’m looking forward to it quite a bit.

Year One hits theaters June 19th, 2009.

Do you like the Super Bowl spot for Year One?

Here is an extended Super Bowl clip (brought to you by Firstshowing) of the new Harold Ramis comedy Year One, starring Jack Black, Michael Cera, Paul Rudd and David Cross. Check it out below:

Plot: When a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers (Black and Cera) are banished from their primitive village, they set off on an epic journey through the ancient world.

I think the clip looks hilarious. It features four of my current favorite comedic actors so I really can’t ask for more. I wonder if the Super Bowl spot will be different though and more like a trailer.

Year One hits theaters June 19th, 2009.

Do you want to see Year One?

UPDATE: The list below was written in January of 2009. I suggest checking out our new list, 65 Must See Movies of 2010. Click the image below to see:

So 2008 is over, come on, it’s time to move on. Here are 50 great reasons to go to the theater this year:

January

My Bloody Valentine 3-D (Jan 16^th)

Synopsis: After surviving a fatal accident that claimed the lives of five of men in a mine shaft, Harry Warden performed a horrific killing spree on Valentines night in the town of Harmony, killing 22 people before he was shot to death.

Why You Should See It: Early screening reports have said there is more sex, limbs, and buckets of blood than one can handle. The 3-D gimmick is the only reason this is on my list. If implemented right it should be a great time at the movies.

Read the rest of the entry >>

The Spirit, based on a 1940s comic serial written by Will Eisner, is a smorgasbord of visuals and color coordination courtesy of writer/director Frank Miller. Miller, like Eisner, is a staple of the graphic novel, penning such classics as Sin City and Batman: Year One. Think of The Spirit, Miller’s solo-directorial debut (he “co-directed” Sin City with Robert Rodriguez), as Sin City if it were 30 minutes shorter, felt an hour longer and took every ham-baked line and turned it into useless slosh.

Starring Gabriel Macht (a talented young actor who will hopefully go onto lead more substantial films than this one) as The Spirit, a superhero who was once a rookie cop named Denny Colt. Risen from the grave after being shot to death, The Spirit works with Police Commissioner Dolan to fight crime; most specifically the Octopus, over-acted to a tee by Samuel L. Jackson. After nearly two decades of performances, Jackson has proven himself as both an Oscar-caliber artist (see this year’s Lakeview Terrace for proof of this) and a dimestore punchline. For proof of the latter pay 10 bucks to see him as the Octopus. In Eisner’s comics, the Octopus remained faceless, only a pair of gloves to illustrate the character. Why Miller felt it necessary to put a face to the bad guy, especially a face as recognizable as Jackson’s, is bewildering. Perhaps it was not his decision, but rather the producers’.

But then, if the studio had so much sway, why’d they let Miller get away with directing this thing in the first place? The screenplay is ridiculous to be certain, but that’s the comic’s tone more or less, and it’d worked with Rodriguez in Sin City. It’s Miller’s director’s eye that is severely lacking, maybe even blind. This man has no idea how to frame a scene, much less pace a feature-length film. There are some cool shots here, but they feel like flukes because they emerge out of nowhere and dissapear as quickly into the background, forgetten moments of cinematic flare overshadowerd by blind ambition and a peculiar determination to revolutionize something – what exactly is unknown.

Miller still needs another, better director at his side to properly adapt these classic graphic narratives. Macht does his best, it most be said. The young man finds a sufficent growl in his voice to establish his noir superhero and has no problem wearing the black fedora and silly black eye mask. Even Eva Mendes uses her best attritbutes (her body) and thankfully avoids the rest to play Sand Saref, the childhood love of Denny Colt and a woman with a blodd-lust for diamonds. A noir-romance between these two may have been a very good film – think Batman and Catwoman if they were in Double Indemnity. Unfortuantely, Miller gives us this one, exercising his blatant inabilities as a filmmaker. Maybe the ambitious should channel said ambition into another graphic novel, co-write the screenplay and allow a real director to adapt it.