The Puget News

“Eden” works its platonic love story wonderfully. Ostensibly the story of two slightly misanthropic individuals, a chef named Gregor, and a waitress named Eden, falling into a quirky form of love and happiness via the preparation and consumption of meticulously prepared food. The film approaches its subject with humor, compassion, and a macabre novelty that had our relatively small audience clapping when the credits rolled. I absolutely loved it.

The film is currently showing at the SIFF Theater in Seattle through tomorrow, February 28, 2008. I’d strongly recommend getting in to see if you get a chance. Better yet, make an evening of it and hit a great meal first.

This looks like fun. Morgan Spurlock goes on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

In the 80’s, when this film is set, my brothers and I used to make “Super Dave” videos with phony stunts, stubbed in with all the dangerous parts being done by a dummy. We dragged the dummy behind a 3-wheeler, dropped it off the roof, shot it, etc. Good times. This film preview reminds me of that time.

The trailer for the new documentary “Taxi to the Darkside” looks like it will be another fantastic documentary from the same director that made “The Smartest Guys in the Room.” A documentary tracing the unexplained detention and death of an Afghani taxi driver.

Check out the to view the trailer. It’s worth it.

Here’s the deal, don’t take anyone that’s squeamish. I thought it was a fantastic film treatment of a darkly comic musical but the blood really does gush and flow going so far as to splatter the camera in one of the shots. A great film for fans of the macabre but definitely not for their girlfriends (sorry, Jan!). Yet another argument for owning the entire Tim Burton collection.

Link to the trailer.

For a fantastic review of the movie, check out the Mumpsimus. While I do not know the play as well and think he underestimates the gore, I agree wholeheartedly with the rest of his sentiments.

“The Bank Job” starring Jason Statham looks outstanding. The film chronicles an unsolved 1971 London bank robbery known as the “walkie-talkie bank job.” What’s compelling about this story is that the British government issued a gag order suppressing public news of the robbery within days of the heist. A modern day “Deep Throat” informer acted as testimony for the film and points to embarrassing blackmail material implicating the royal family as being the reason the story was suppressed.

See the Guardian Unlimited story here for more information on the robbery.

I can’t wait for this one. February 29th.

“Lost in Translation” is a phenomenal movie but I always wondered what Bob Harris (Bill Murray) whispered to Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) at the end. Well, with a little digital processing, these guys on youtube figured it out and I love the fact that it’s in keeping with Bob’s character.

Check out the Iron Man trailer. Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow in the new movie about the Marvel Comics character. Looks great!

• Quiet Please: Architectural Representations of City in Science Fiction Cinema - It is exactly what it says it is, a wonderful collection of science fiction cinematic analysis pertaining to representations of cities.
• This Dilbert Blog post discusses the possibility that economists are immune to cognitive dissonance and explores a particular issue on the Bill Maher show, “Real Time” where economist Bjorn Lumberg spoke about global warming. I too watched that interview but I thought Bjorn Lumberg laid out his case clearly and beautifully. Bill Maher and the panel didn’t come to the same conclusion. Rob Thomas said the interview “…confused the shit out of me” and they all took turns taking pot shots at a guy who had just agreed that global warming was occurring but had a different, non-histrionic approach to prioritizing the issues that the others could not hear.
  

  The primary skill of an economist is identifying all of the explanations for various phenomena. Cognitive dissonance is, at its core, the inability to recognize and accept other explanations. I’m oversimplifying, but you get the point. The more your brain is trained for economics, the less it is susceptible to cognitive dissonance, or so it seems.

• Wired has a great interview with Ridley Scott where they speak about the evolution of Blade Runner and the forthcoming 5-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition (which is on my Wish List btw!). [Tip to Bookninja]
  

  When you see an explosion that no one could have survived and the person is still running, then it’s bullshit. And that’s frequently why digital effects are not as good. Whereas when you do it physically, you’ve got to be careful — like, really careful. With digital, the painting book is unlimited; the world in, say, Lord of the Rings would not have been nearly as impressive 30 years ago as it is today.

“Juno” - From the makers of “Thank You for Smoking,” a film about a young girl who gets pregnant and her attempts to find appropriate parents for the child.

“Great World of Sound” - Part deception, part reality. A pair of producers audition real people dreaming of being music stars.