Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts

Sunday, December 7, 2008

"That's the way it should be"



This post's primary goal is to make up for the recent blogging drought. And to flaunt one of my favorite scenes in any movie musical ever.

So, who else loves Bye Bye Birdie (the 1963 movie musical) as much as I do? I watched the film during Thanksgiving Break and thought it was an absolutely hilarious satire. ("Ed Sullivan?! He's my favorite human being!")

But it is also, surprisingly, an exceptionally sweet film. The scene I posted exhibits all the charm and humor of the film. I love how Ann-Margret and Bobby Rydell have such innocent, adorable chemistry. Plus, Janet Leigh constantly amazes me. And "One Boy" is just such a swell song.

Monday, July 14, 2008

High School Musical 3: Senior Year trailer

I couldn't help myself...



(I believe there are actually two versions of the movie trailer: One abbreviates the film's title.)

I know this trailer has been posted everywhere. James of Rants of a Diva and J.D. of Valley Dreamin' already beat me to it.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year is slowly becoming one of the most anticipated movies of the year--for all the right and wrong reasons. But I have no doubt in my mind that this movie will be a hit. The film will not gain all the millions of viewers who watched it for free (kinda) on the Disney Channel, but I believe a lot of kids (and their parents) will show up on opening weekend.

The idea that I'm most likely seeing it on opening weekend makes me feel like a thirteen-year-old girl. I barely know a handful of people who are actually looking forward to this film. (But a lot of girls are looking forward to Twilight. While we're not the subject, I'm somewhat sick and tired of hearing about those series of books because they sound lame. Yet, I find myself being completely drawn to the idea of reading them.)

I guess I like the films because how ridiculously entertaining they are. I guess I also enjoy mocking them. Recently, I even wrote a rant regarding both HSM movies.

So, back to the trailer...

I hate the song that plays throughout the entire trailer. I believe it's called "Now or Never." It is a mix of Disney pop with an slight hip hop vibe. Unlike some of the better songs in the previous movies, it's not fun or catchy. Honestly, it just sounds like a lot of noise--a lot of rushed, sloppy notes mashed together. Sure, I recognize the adrenaline pumping through the song, but no matter how much energy there is, the quality of the song is still terrible. I don't know, maybe it will grow on me in the next three months. Who knows?

I love Zac Efron's hilarious delivery of "What makes you think we're getting diplomas?" I love how, shortly after, he kind of tilts his neck to the side to increase the dramatic tension.

Then behold, Ashley Tisdale's Sharpay does a drama queen faint, which is followed by several flashes of less impressive scenes from the movie. Whoo-hoo, the magic of editing!

The intense flashes are relaxed by Troy (Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) on a dance floor. As I expect, this movie will be another cliche-ridden romp. What's senior year without prom? But whatever, I'm in love with Sharpay's attention-grabbing pink dress. Tisdale is totally rocking that dress.

Again, the trailer teases the viewer with another bunch of scenes. The trailer lingers on Hudgens's face while I begin to think that her smile is probably the most natural thing that can be conveyed through her performance in HSM3.

That glimpse of the Wildcat basketball team putting their hood on reminds me of the Ku Klux Klan. Yeah, WTF? Then the trailer jumps to a scene with Troy and Chad (Corbin Bleu) in front of the truck that Troy and his dad fixed up in HSM2 (I think). They look like they are trying to fly. Or something.

A circle-from-above number (looks sort of like "Fabulous"), another prom scene, an excited new(?) character, feet dancing, Troy and Gabriella looking happy, Chad and Taylor (Monique Coleman) embracing since the writers forgot their storyline even existed in HSM2, the HSM girls cheering (probably a basketball game)...

DO I SEE A RYAN (Lucas Grabeel) AND SHARPAY NUMBER?! A GLIMPSE OF THE BEST PART OF THE FILM...MAYBE?!

Then my mind numbs itself to the image of Troy and Gabriella looking happy, again..about something.

Crowds cheer again. A basketball scene--probably the "big game" is taking place--and Gabriella (Hudgens) suddenly stands up and starts singing in the most awkward manner possible in a midst of red. WTF? WTF? WTF? The gym darkens. The spotlight is on Troy (Efron) and he starts singing because his girlfriend is singing, so that obviously means he must sing too. I love that bit at the end of the scene where Efron shakes his fists. That's kind of brilliant.

"THE MUSICAL EXPERIENCE" (yeah right)

Those words are followed by a few other scenes that don't really matter.

"OF A GENERATION" (o rly?)

"This show must go on," says Sharpay in the most fabulous way ever. And it does, indeed.

But that is followed by another glimpse of the Troy-Chad-in-front-of-truck number that flaunts even more of its awfulness. Then that is followed by bunch of scenes that zoom by so fast that I'm not even going to bother to dissect them.

"BECOMES A MOTION PICTURE EVENT" (you got that right...)

Scenes of a cheering crowd. Obviously, the Wildcats won the big game, I assume. Thanks for giving that away, Disney. I could have been gasping for breath during that basketball scene, but now since I know they're going to win for sure, there's no need for suspense anymore. LAME.

Just wondering...is Zac Efron supposed to be Tom Cruise now?

A random short flash of Sharpay with her perfume bottle. Cool, cool, cool.

A weird scene with Troy and Gabriella conversing. "Why are you saying goodbye?" asks Troy. That makes me wonder...kinda.

"FROM WALT DISNEY PICTURES" (hmmm?)

Looking fierce as usual, Tisdale snaps her fingers. The lights turn off. The spotlight's on her. OMG.

Another boring glimpse at the prom scene. We also get several other glimpses of different parts of scenes that were shown earlier in the trailer, except the one with the cast dancing in their caps and gowns. So to answer the Troy's mysterious question in the first scene, I'm now positive that they're getting their diplomas.

Disney, stop ruining the entire movie for me!!! GOSH.

A longer glimpse at the prom scene. Okay, that's nice.

Bright flashes land on the screen to create, "HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3," with a more dimmed light to subtitle it, "SENIOR YEAR." Totally blinded my eyes for a few seconds there...

Later, a short but funny conversation between Troy and Sharpay. As always, Efron and Tisdale have amazing chemistry.

"FEATURING 10 NEW ORIGINAL SONGS" (cool?)

"ONLY IN CINEMAS" (who are you kidding?)

I can't wait for October 24th. Seriously.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow



Eugene Levy and Catharine O'Hara performing the nominee for Best Original Song from the film, A Mighty Wind at the Academy Awards in 2004.

Beautiful, right?

I adore great American folk music. Overall, I enjoyed Christopher Guest's mockumentary, but this song (written by Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole) definitely made me like the film even more.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes

I know this is old news but...



I really like this video because how true it feels to an actual press conference. It just feels very authentic. The video is a really nice addition to the The Dark Knight viral marketing campaign. I am totally psyched that Gyllenhaal is replacing Katie Holmes in the next Batman movie and this video just proves it all. Unlike Holmes, Gyllenhaal has sort of a presence that screams maturity and strength that Holmes lacks. I didn't really hate Holmes' performance in Batman Begins as much as many others did, but I did think that she was a rather weak link in the previous film.

Don't get me wrong, though. I think Holmes is a solid actress and she was surprisingly fantastic in Pieces of April but everything else she has done so far in her career has this weird girl-next-door-but-not-quite kind of vibe. It is as if Holmes never left Dawson's Creek.

Then again, Holmes' awkward performance does not hurt the fact that I like the idea of Rachel Dawes (Bruce Wayne's childhood friend, link to the law, etc). Unfortunately, everything felt sort of unnatural, not just because of Holmes' lackluster performance, but the writing was kind of horrible. Even the wildest Batman Begins fan would admit that the lines for Rachel Dawes were certainly not the greatest. For The Dark Knight, I have some high expectations for both Gyllenhaal and the writers (Jonathan and Christopher Nolan) because they seem to have some insanely awesome material to work with this time around.

So, what do you all think about the video or The Dark Knight in general?

(Movie reviews of recently-seen movies coming soon.)