Had they paid better attention, they would see that M. Night penned the story, not even the script, while directing credits go to Quarantine brothers John Erick and Drew Dowdle. It is clear that people are fed up with Shyamalan, especially after the unforgivable The Last Airbender, however I think we can learn a lot about this reaction.

First off, the whole celebrity attachment thing is getting to be a bit much, especially when even the press isn’t always taking the time to look at who directed a film. I saw a great deal of misreportage — no, not on blogs — about Robert Rodriguez directing Predators, which is entirely untrue. Nimród Antal worked closely with Rodriguez to be sure, but the buck ultimately stops with the director.

Of course, Rodriguez is a name you want attached to a film like that. Viewers are clearly over M. Night’s trickery, but people should remember his beginnings. Shyamalan is a man of many talents who, most would argue, has been corrupted by his fame. He started as a writer and is an extremely gifted storyteller, so I think the move to bringing his story to another director is perfect. Perhaps we will even see him move away from the camera on more projects so he can slowly win back the hearts and minds of the horror and thriller fans he has (not really) betrayed.

That being said, an entire film that takes place in an elevator is very easy to screw up. So we’ll just have to wait and see. The trailer itself looks pretty wonderful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYy7igKD21A

Let’s be clear here: I’m not talking about a mutual friend, a coworker, a family member or a member of your social graph coming over to stroke your aluminum and glass baby. Those folks can play all they like. I’m talking about complete strangers who want you to sell them on the iPad just because they noticed you had one. On the subway, in a cafe, standing on the street; strangers have shown no mercy in their quest to learn more about this “magical” non-computer computer.

Enough. I’ve had it. Here is a guide to avoid making iPad users uncomfortable, surly and want to go home and write a blog post about how much you suck.

1. Don’t Ask if I Love My iPad

I do love my iPad, for a number of reasons, but they are probably different from yours. I don’t love your wife, but I’m sure you think she’s the tops.

2. Don’t Ask Me What I Use it For

That’s none of your beeswax.

3. Don’t Mention “I’ll Get the Next One”

If you’re jazzed about the iPad 2, which doesn’t exist, then don’t ask me about my iPad. You’re making two social blunders when you bring this up: 1) You’re wasting my time because you don’t actually give a crap about the iPad and 2) you’re passing a judgement on my early adoption.

4. Don’t Tell Me About Your Kindle

I had a Kindle and I returned it, but that’s not the point. I don’t care about your Kindle, and you don’t care about my iPad. Haven’t we covered this?

5. Don’t Say “Sorry to Interrupt You”

Just don’t interrupt me.

I haven’t seen SATC2 yet, so one really ought to take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I’ve enjoyed the smattering of episodes of the series that I’ve seen and I found the first film funny, if grating. New York on film holds a place dear to my heart. It seems even its most gifted celluloid sculptors have had trouble reproducing it in the last decade (I’m talking to you, Woody Allen). The dialogue around this latest fantasia, as Ms. Dargis points out, is largely related to questions of ethnocentricity and racial sensitivities:

To borrow a tactic from the TV show, which invariably featured Carrie posing the week’s Big Question to her readers: Was “Sex” actually 50 percent worse the second time around? Not from where I was seated, though I happily concede that the sequel is about as bad as the original. They’re just lousy in different ways. The new sex puns (“Lawrence of my labia”) are as wince inducing as the old, and Mr. King’s direction remains strictly small screen. What has changed are the locations: in the first film, the friends visit Mexico (funny!), but this time, they yuk it up in the Middle East (not funny!). But what has really changed? The characters, the critics, the context: how quickly yesterday’s pleasure can pop, just like an economic bubble.

I have to agree with her. Like Michael Bay’s Transformers 2 before it, this film makes the perfect target for any number of derisions. Mexico is funny because we don’t mind getting a little racist when it comes to our neighbors to the south. When it comes to the Middle East, we tread softly because of national tensions and, honestly, personal fears. So I’ll give Manohla, and this film, that much.

Where I get annoyed, however, is in her closing:

This and other scenes of the women with Muslims are often awkward, though that’s partly a function of Mr. King’s direction. Yet there’s also something touching about a few of these encounters, as when the women wonder how you eat fries when you’re wearing a veil, a question that strikes me as an uncharacteristically honest admission of difference in a mainstream American movie. Too bad the women weren’t guys and went to Las Vegas, where they could have indulged in the kind of critically sanctioned masculine political incorrectness that made “The Hangover” such a darling.

I did not like The Hangover all that much, and I completely agree with her sentiment that masculine stupidity often goes unquestioned onscreen. However, that doesn’t exactly make for much of an excuse. The first Sex and the City film was lauded for its ability to rake in millions while boasting a cast of female leads, a rarity in this business. The same goes for the show, though it should be noted that today (not in 1998 when the show first aired) women are in control of television programming in a big way. Phenomena like Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives are a testament to this shift.

Regardless, does the status of Carrie and pals offer leeway on their level of political correctness? For my part, no. Nor should it let The Hangover guys off the hook, but the difference there seems to be that that film knew exactly what it wanted to be. If SATC2 actually is a bad film, then hopefully it is a bad film on merit alone. We should not forget that we now live in a world where a woman has won an Oscar for Best Director, and for a film with no female leads. I think it is short sighted to chalk negative reactions up to critical sexism.

But I haven’t seen the film and I’m a dude, so what do I know?

Bet you idiots feel pretty stupid now.

There really is no better fit for Mr. McCarthy than indieWIRE, a network that has defined and redefined the online cinema magazine/trade publication time and time again. The real loser here is Variety, who has taken nearly every misstep possible in the age of internet journalism. Their pay wall will eventually be their undoing, but by literally handing their golden boy to the free competition, Variety seems to have put the nail in their own coffin.

Mainly, I would like to say welcome, Todd; the ‘net is happy to have you. I have no doubt that you will enjoy an online career as exciting as Roger Ebert or David Bordwell. Film journalism, and especially criticism, is not dead but alive and well online. If ever we see a weakening in the art of film writing, we can only blame ourselves. The internet has nothing to do with it.

(If you’ve been wondering where I am, all my film writing is at the candler blog, but you can also see my work peppered on Greencine Guru, Heeb Magazine, and NachosNY.)

Process from Jonathan Poritsky on Vimeo.

Graduation Cake Guy by CarbonNYC

This time of year, I get a handful of e-mails from recent college graduates asking for jobs and advice about getting started in the film business. I always love responding to all of them. As a blogger, obviously I love it when people listen to my opinions. Naturally, I tend to repeat myself a lot, so I started thinking , why not just pile all of that advice into a single post that I can reference when people have questions. This advice isn’t limited just to college grads or even the younger set. If you’re in the mood for a career change there might be some tidbits you can use in here. So clean out those ears and listen up, here is the candler’s guide to starting out in the film industry. Continue reading at the candler blog…

• @repressd Whoops! Good job! Too many to read, great minds think alike.. Chew on this: Bedtime for Garbonzo #filmfoodeating NOW I’M DONE!
• My final #filmfoodeating Spider-Flan, Grouperman, Cat on a Pot Pie Roof, Beauty and the Feast, Cracker, Gumbo, Free Chili, Meat Streets
• Oklahomefries! #filmfoodeating that one’s for you @deadcenter
• Canard Boiled #filmfoodeating addendum to John Woo Edition
• Lard Target, A Feta Tomorrow, Face Froth #filmfoodeating John Woo Edition
• Purple Chrain #filmfoodeating @kashrutnews @Jewishtweets I know you’ll get this.
• Spinal Frappe, Henry Portrait of a Cereal Killer, Boureka (baraka), Black Nar-tzimis, Gentlemen’s A-quiche-ment #filmfoodeating
• Passion of the Slice, Greatest Story Jello Mold #filmfoodeating Jesus Edition
• Fiddler on the Stew, The Cholent (the chosen), Lentil #filmfoodeating Jewish Edition
• Husbands and Chives, Shadows and Nog, Brine and Misdemeanors, Bananas #filmfoodeating Woody Allen Edition
• Wages of Pear, Á Bout de Soufflé, Elevator to the Shallots, The Seventh Veal #filmfoodeating @CRITERION Edition
• Last Bite at McCool’s, Lawrence of Arrabiata, Cakes on a Plane, The Graviator, Meringues of New York, I Am Ham #filmfoodeating
• While You Were Eating, Juarassic Tarte #filmfoodeating contributed by my twitterless girlfriend
• Leaving Lox Vegas #filmfoodeating this one is sort of a repeat, but I couldn’t resist.
• Guacstoppers, Blue Chips , Leaving Manchego, Vicky Tortilla Barcelona #filmfoodeating
• You’ve Got Kale #filmfoodeating
• Detroit Guac City #filmfoodeating that ones for you @NachosNY
• Bakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo #filmfoodeating
• Gourd of the Rings #filmfoodeating
• I don’t know why this is trending, but I love it #filmfoodeating Schindler’s Grits

Unlike some other 2009 blockbuster, screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have crafted a legitimate origin story for the franchise. The film opens with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock as children on their respective planets showing a distinct promise of greatness. Over the years, the Star Trek galaxy has become so vast that the characters within it seem to have shrunk in stature, considered more to be model citizens of the Federation than anything more. By focusing on the early years of these two shipmates, Mr. Abrams is emphasizing that Kirk, Spock and their cohorts are not the norm; they are extraordinary; they are superheroes. Continue reading at the candler blog.

The Castle in the Forest: A Novel by Norman Mailer

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book it tough to swallow as it humanizes one of the most vile people in history, Adolf Hitler. However, once I allowed myself to get into the book, I saw the genius behind Mailer’s work. If we humanize a man by seeing him through the eyes of a devil, what does that say about us? Layers and questions fill this book, making it more of a stimulating read than an informational one. Also, Mailer’s prose is incredible here. He is like a chameleon, entering an older dialect for an older tale. I knew he was great, just didn’t realize he was so diverse. A master of letters! (exclamation points add to the book’s charm. check it out.

View all my reviews.

Drugs, guns, vulgarity and rims are just the tip of the pigeonholed iceberg that is Benny Boom’s feature debut, Next Day Air; but what this little caper has that so many other films of a similar ilk lack is heart, and lots of it.

The improbable story follows ten bricks of cocaine from a formidable drug dealer in Calexico, California to his dispatcher in Philadelphia by way of an overnight delivery service, Next Day Air. Donald Faison, of Scrubs fame, plays Leo Jackson, a chronically stoned delivery man for the fictitious company, whose mind is so clouded on the job that he delivers the coke to apartment 302 instead of 303, setting events in motion. The drugs end up in the hands of fledgling criminals Guch, Brody and Hassie instead of the diminutive yet feisty Jesus, who prefers to be called “Gee-sus” rather than “Hay-zoos”. While Hassie is sleeping on the couch, as he is for the most of the film, Guch and Brody, played with an incredible balance of humor and charisma by Wood Harris and Mike Epps, respectively, hatch a plan to sell the dope to Brody’s cousin, Shavoo, before the rightful owners get wise to the mistake. Think of it like True Romance but without white people and set in Philly. Continue reading at the candler blog.