USA Today has stills from the forthcoming live action movie version of Speed Racer, including shots of Emile Hirsch who plays the title character; Matthew Fox as Racer X; and Christina Ricci as Trixie.

These stills confirm for me the reason why literal translations of costumes from cartoon to live action don’t always work. Speed’s outfit is totally plausible in the animated series, but looks incredibly goofy in live action.

Not that it’s a dealbreaker for me; I still want to see this flick when it comes out next year. I loved the cartoon and I want to know if the film does it justice or just rapes my childhood.

CNET presents clips of famous movie scenes and trailers recreated with Legos.

"3:10 to Yuma": Great flick. Makes me want to see the 1957 original. *****

An open letter to my fellow members of the GLBT community:

Hi guys and dolls,

I noticed that several of you wish to boycott the upcoming film adaptation of the Broadway musical adaptation of John Waters’ 1988 film Hairspray. It’s my understanding that there are a few reasons for this.

One of the first reasons I heard was poor casting choices, specifically John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, a role originated by Divine. I know no one could ever outshine Divine as Edna (though Harvey Feirstein probably comes close — not that I would know), so I’m okay with that reason to boycott. In my opinion, though, Travolta seems to get pigeonholed in so many of his roles that I think playing Edna would be a refreshing change of pace for him. But that’s just me.

The most recent argument to boycott I heard troubles me though: because (A) John Travolta is a Scientologist and (B) Scientology (allegedly) deems homosexuality a naughty no-no. Hmm. Interesting. Do you really want to play that card?

I’ll admit that I won’t voluntarily go to a Tom Cruise movie because of all his moonbat proselytizing, or purchase an Isaac Hayes record because of the hypocritical things he said before he parted ways with the TV show “South Park.” Both happen to be Scientologists as well, but I’m not willing to go so far for Travolta’s projects. Not just yet anyway. As far as I know, he hasn’t said or done anything that would make me think he’s a moonbat or a hypocrite. Perhaps I’m wrong and I missed a memo somewhere.

Look, I agree that Scientology is a bit — erm — non-conformist in its views and practices, at least what I know of them. But to boycott a movie because of one’s religion? Seriously, WTF mate?! If this boycott is successful, where does it end? If we keep boycotting movies based on the star’s religion — regardless of the films’ messages — the only thing we’ll be left to watch is the paint peeling off the wall.

I say let it go. This movie is not worth getting one’s panties in a twist to the point of boycotting it. It is what it is: an adaptation of an adaptation, and this boycott makes it out to be more than that. Say what you will, but I think this’ll be a fun movie to see. I imagine it’ll go one of two ways, either surprisingly good, or so bad it’s good. If Divine’s really spinning in her grave, there might be dancing involved.

Besides, there are bigger fish to fry. Wouldn’t you agree?

Cordially,
- Fredo

(image via IMDb)

Never before has a documentary elicited so much fucking commentary on a single word. It’s a fucking brilliant piece, with appearances by George Carlin, Drew Carey, Alanis Morissette, Kevin Smith, Ice-T, and archival footage of Lenny Bruce.

(image via IMDb)

I went to see Meet the Robinsons the other day, a fun, albeit slightly predictible movie about saving the future. (Get it? Predictible? Future? HA!)

The movie centers on Lewis, an incredibly bright pre-teen orphan who is regularly turned down by parents who consider adopting him. The rejection motivates him to find his mother, and neither he nor anyone at the orphanage know anything about her. Lewis, a young inventor, designs a machine to unlock his memories and help him find her. His invention, like many before it, fails and he is then approached by a mysterious stranger who encourages him to fix it.

Entertaining as the movie is, I couldn’t help see similarities to another movie — a series of movies, really — about time travel: Back to the Future. Besides the obvious (time travel), you’ve got inventors, run-ins with relatives distant by generation, and a bully bent on keeping it from happening. Meet the Robinsons is also a formulaic Disney movie with no real breakthrough characters or concepts. It’s just fun, and that’s all you need.

(image via IMDb)

I finally got the chance to see Zack Snyder’s film adaptation of 300. I use the term film loosely, because 300 relies heavily on digital effects to move the story along. It wasn’t the story I cared about, though. The trailers I saw for the movie — featuring buff, sweaty guys in skimpy outfits — were enough motivation for me. I came for the hotness and I stayed for the battle sequences, rich in digitized blood, gore and violence.

Surprisingly, I even found myself chuckling during the movie, particularly every scene with Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), the self-proclaimed god-king of Persia whose costume was — How shall I put this? — fabulously flamboyant. Every time he appeared onscreen, his stance and demeanor seemed to say, “I’m pretty!”

I’ve seen other reviews of 300 that claimed the plot was thin or weak. Honestly, I didn’t notice; I was too stunned (and sometimes amused) by the visuals to even think about the story. And that was entertainment enough for me.

(image via IMDb)

Salon’s review of Blades of Glory confirms my biggest concern over the movie: it’s one continuous gay joke.

A trailer for Disney’s forthcoming movie Underdog, based on the cartoon of the same name. The live action flick opens in August.

Oh no they didn’t!

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