September 2008

Consider What Would Toto Watch? an open forum for ranting about movie cliches. It’s good for the soul, and should any creative types drop by they might be too embarrassed to keep using these stale devices.

I’ll start with two quickies I’m sick of seeing, but feel free to send me others that get under your skin.

• The Grrrl Power Sing-a-long: Haven’t endured this one in a while, but it makes me wanna poke out my eyes - and ears - when I do. It’s that bonding moment in romantic comedies or chick flicks when the cast gathers to lip synch a song. They’ll belt out a few bars, then grab the nearest hairbrush and start singing into it. Gag.
• The Slow Picture Pan: This usually happens early in a film when the director wants to give us a whole bunch of information and is too lazy to hire a narrator. We get a slooooow pan of a person’s mantle which is stacked with family photos. Whenever I watch these lazy snippets I think, “did the actors hand over some family snapshots for the studio to photoshop?” It takes me right out of the movie.

Actress Amanda Peet has angered an autism support group, and now it’s calling for movie goers to shun Peet’s movies.

Don’t they do that already?

The trouble started with a printed skirmish between Peet and actress/Playboy starlet Jenny McCarthy.

Peet told a magazine interviewer parents who don’t get their children vaccinated are “parasites.”

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Marvel Studios isn’t resting on its “Iron” laurels.

Expect more superheroes flying into theaters starting in 2010. The studio just announced its release dates for four super-movies:

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It’s getting harder to write off Brad Pitt as just Angelina Jolie’s partner in parenting.

The actor, whose good looks are enough to make most men turn Hulk green with envy, provided a hilarious spark to the Coen brothers’ latest romp, “Burn After Reading.”

Now, he’s about to star in one of the Fall season’s most eagerly anticipated films, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

Here’s the film’s brand-new trailer. It’s audacious, no doubt, although the first trailer cast more of a spell on me. And there’s a definite “Forrest Gump” vibe to both snippets - a sense of an odd man passing through important chapters in history.

Director David Fincher of “Se7en” fame could be the right person to bring this odd tale to life. It also could stumble magnificently, but I’m betting Pitt’s current hot streak will continue with “Button.”

The biggest smash of the summer will arrive just in time to stuff your stocking.

“The Dark Knight” is coming to DVD and Blu-ray Dec. 9, and along with it an avalanche of extras and Blu-ray-only goodies.

I’ll let the press release speak for itself, since I don’t own Blu-ray yet and have no idea what the following means - “allows users with web-enabled Blu-ray players to access exciting additional content and connect and share with other BD-Live users.”

More from the release - the following comes with the standard DVD “Knight.”

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I reckon Billy Bob should put down that gee-tarr and start looking at scripts real hard. Mmm-hmmm.

What happened to Billy Bob Thornton, anyway?

The actor was working steadily through his early - and anonymous - career until he wrote, directed and starred in the insta-classic “Sling Blade.” He followed that up with the brilliant “A Simple Plan,” and it became clear a major talent had arrived.

He’s still waiting for another “Sling Blade” moment.

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Screenwriters aren’t keen on seeing their words changed on set. But the folks who wrote the screenplay for “Iron Man” swallowed their pride for the greater good.

Either they knew the film was bound to be a blockbuster, or they trusted folks like Robert Downey, Jr. could enhance their script rather than ruin it.

I spoke to the “Iron” scribes — Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby — for a new piece in The Washington Times tied to the movie’s Sept. 30 DVD release. Smart guys, and Iron Man isn’t the only Marvel hero they plan to bring to life.

(Photo: The summer smash “Iron Man” hits DVD Sept. 30 loaded with extra features.)

Dario Argento is a near legend in horror circles, but he sure is in no hurry to burnish his credentials.

His latest film, “Mother of Tears,” brings his famous horror trilogy to a close. The bloody flick, just released on DVD, follows up on “Suspiria” (1977) and “Inferno” (1980). Clearly, the Italian horror maestro was in no rush to complete his signature work.

Yet watching “Mother of Tears” reveals a surprising lack of gravitas - or coherency. Sure, blood spills profusely throughout, and a few ugly moments are worthy of Argento’s horror cred. But why make us wait nearly 20 years for just another horror romp?

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Never thought I’d write this, but I’m getting sick of seeing films set in New York City.

Sure, the Big Apple never sleeps, and if you can make it there you can make it anywhere …

Blah, blah blah.

I was born in the Bronx and grew up on Long Island, and I love the Yankees as much as movies. But it just seems lazy to set virtually every other movie in Manhattan.

Just got back from seeing “The Women ” — yes, Mrs. WWTW was in charge of film selection this time — and was bored by the same ol’ New York settings.

There’s a whole country out there to explore … let’s start exploring it on screen.