Smoke Break #883: “Urbanized” Trailer, A New Film About The Art Of Creating Cities
October 11, 2011
From Sully we share notes and the trailer for Urbanized:
[T]here are so many shared characteristics between cities that they can always learn from one another, the film argues. Two of the projects featured in Urbanized—a community-building effort in a Cape Town township and a mass protest against a rail project in Stuttgart—emphasize the social implications of citymaking and design. “Ninety-nine percent of the shape of the city is a result of the top-down approach, at least in the formal design,” [Hustwit] says. “Those projects that seem to work best are the ones using people in the city as the compass for deciding what the solution should be.”
PS. The film is by Gary Hustwit, the same fellow who gave us the fascinating documentary Helvetica.
TAKE ANOTHER SMOKE BREAK
FILM: Fundraiser For Gavin Froome & Mike Bernard’s “Coast Modern” In Strathcona
July 21, 2011
There’s a sweet-sounding fundraiser for a beautiful-looking film on West Coast Modernist Architecture by Gavin Froome and Mike Bernard going down in Strathcona next Thursday night. Footage will be shown, plus there will be the inevitable music, dancing and partying to follow. Tickets here, details there, and check the poster after the jump… Read more
Smoke Break #845: “If These Knishes Could Talk” Documents Accents Of New Yorkers
May 4, 2011
The best opening line of any movie trailer, ever.
Smoke Break #810: The Film Adaptation Of “Atlas Shrugged” Looks To Be Pretty Awful
February 11, 2011
Yikes! The first trailer for the long awaited film adaptation of Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged just dropped…and boy does it ever look suspect. The book – which has turned idiots into conservatives and liberals into libertarians since it was first published in 1957 – is a compelling read, and it has never been too tricky to draw comparisons between its pages and those of the daily newspapers (especially since the financial collapse of 2008). But could the epic ever be made into a film? I’d heard talk of it being a Brangelina project a while back (Pitt as John Galt and Jolie as Dagny Taggart), and then of Charlize Theron taking on the Taggart role (both scenarios worked for me), but alas…no. What I just watched looks like it was squarely intended for the straight-to-DVD shelf, somewhere between “Larry The Cable Guy” and “American Pie 4″.
Smoke Break #727: On The Silver Lining Of Home Foreclosures…
July 12, 2010
A new mini-doc called Cannonball shows how skateboarders in and around Fresno have been capitalising on the recession by riding all the abandoned pools in the backyards of foreclosed homes. It’s very similar to what the Lords of Dogtown kids did around Venice during the water shortages of the 1970′s and early 80′s.
Once upon a time, Fresno was the California Dream. Own a car. Own a house. Own a pool. Everyone wanted it and the wonderful world of credit made it all possible. But now, with the foreclosure monster running wild, the dream is dry. Thousands of pools are festering in the hot Central Valley sun. For most people this is tragic. But for some, it’s an opportunity.
Proof that every apocalypse has an upside…
“Bitter Feast” Trailer Freaks The Pants Off Food Bloggers…
June 28, 2010
A new movie making the film fest rounds this month is striking fear in the hearts of food scribes. Directed by Joe Maggio, “Bitter Feast” shows what can happen when a psychotic celebrity chef (working for Mario Batali) catches up with the vicious food blogger that tore his restaurant to pieces in a review.
“I Mean, What Are They Gonna Say, Man, When He’s Gone, Huh?”
May 29, 2010
The legendary Dennis Hopper (actor of Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now and Blue Velvet fame) has died at the age of 74. I loved him dearly. In my limited opinion, the best part he ever played was himself in the cult show Fishing With John. I’ve posted the episode in its entirety after the jump. Feel free to weep… Read more
Poseidon Ain’t Got Nothin’ On Big River Man Martin Strel
May 27, 2010
“Horse burger. Horse burger. Yes.”
I have a new hero and his name is Martin Strel (hat tip, reader S.H.)
“Clash Of The Titans” Advance Screening Tickets Up For Grabs
March 19, 2010
SCOUT is sponsoring Vancouver’s March 31st exclusive advance screening of Louis Letterier’s remake of the 1981 cult classic, Clash of the Titans. The new version, an effects-driven tale, stars Sam Worthington (Avatar), Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient), Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List), and Pete Postlethwaite (The Usual Suspects). It tells of the mortal son of Zeus defending Greece and the Heavens after Hades rises to wrest control over both. As you can see from the clips above, it looks pretty intense. Not exactly The World According To Garp, but we all make exceptions for art, and that Kraken at the end of the trailer is gnarly. If you join us with a double pass of your own (you and a date), invent your own mythical creature in the comments. Be as descriptive as you like. The best ones win tickets, starting now.
PS. Consulting your Monster Manual for aid in this contest will result in the confiscation of your 20-sided dice.
Score Tickets To “Cop Out” With Bruce Willis And Tracy Morgan
February 28, 2010
We have dozens of tickets to give away to the new WB comedy Cop Out, starring Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis. The first 20 people to tell us in the comments where they watched the Canada-USA gold medal hockey game (with a few words on what it was like) will win a free pair.
