Good Morning, World

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Hair of the dog with Charlie Hunnam!

(via) These are from The Ledge, that movie he's in with Patrick Wilson where they're both in love with Liv Tyler only Pat is a religious whack-job. The film's On Demand right now, I've been meaning to watch it but haven't gotten the chance. Any y'all done so yet? Lemme know what you thought if so. Is there really nothing flesh-wise from Patrick Wilson in it? Now that's blasphemy.

5 Off My Head - What's Half of Eleven

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July 1st marks the halfway point of the year, and so I figured I'd do what I usually do and take a quick look back at the five movies I've enjoyed the most so far this year. Looking at the movies that open between now and then that I'm most curious about all there seems to be is Super 8 and Green Lantern - it that really it for June? - and I don't foresee either of those topping any of these at this point. (Prove me wrong, JJ Abrams!) There are a few duking it out, I could want something else in five minutes, but let's just roll with this.

Certified Copy (dir. Abbas Kiarostami) - Since seeing it back in March there kind of hasn't been a day that's passed where I haven't wanted to watch Certified Copy again. What baffles me looking back is I never wrote a proper review! I wrote a post telling y'all to remind me to write a review, and obviously you all failed me. Your fault! Anyway now I have a reason to watch it ASAP so I can write up some properish thoughts. There are visuals from this movie that accost me all the time. A slipping bra-strap or a boy following his mother or a sad bride.

Hanna (dir. Joe Wright) - my review - Okay okay so I've said enough about Eric Bana's wet longjohns at this point in the year, probably. There are other things! Wonderful things. Joe Wright making an action movie sort of feels like what would happen if one of those giant-headed bug-eyed aliens beamed down into your living-room and you told it to go and make you a peanut butter sandwich. This is that alien's peanut-butter sandwich. Strange and stranger.

13 Assassins (dir. Takashi Miike) - my review - I'm so glad to have another movie from Takashi to love - he makes more than it's possible to keep up with from this side of the world and the few that have trickled over have seemed more like emblems of his lack of concentration than, you know, coherent films. Not so with 13 Assassins, which is an astonishingly old-fashioned slow-burn to madness for the maestro of mayhem.
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Jane Eyre (dir. Cary Fukunaga) - my review - It's all there in that scene in front of the fireplace with Rochester and Jane sizing each other up - Mia and Fassy scouring each other's faces and dragging us along for the ride.

Insidious (dir. James Wan) - my review - Lawd knows I have plenty of issues with plenty of Insidious, but at the same time I had such a hoot jumping out of my seat that I'm willing to overlook a lot of silliness. It packs enough bang for your buck. Good old fashioned spook-sanctioned fun.

So what've been your favorite movies of 2011 so far?

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I Am Link

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--- Forget Fassy Not - Continuing his ace game at lining up interesting projects with interesting filmmakers, Michael Fassbender's in talks with Danny Boyle for his next movie. It's called Trances and it's a thriller about an art thief who gets amnesia while being the only one in his gang that knows where they've hidden their prime loot. Hijinks ensue. Sounds like a return to Shallow Grave territory for Boyle, which is very very welcome.

--- Fresh Prince Unchained - Quentin Tarantino wants Will Smith to play the Django in his slavery-centered revenge thriller Django Unchained. I usually tend to like Will Smith in things, but in the wake of him foisting his intolerable children on us these past couple of years that's been tested. Still, Smith would have to be a total lunatic to say no to QT.

--- Jumper - Slash has a batch of new posters, including the one for that "Patrick Wilson and Charlie Hunnam make out a bunch okay whatever they fight, sigh" movie The Ledge, which we saw a trailer from last week.

--- Hot Lips - In a piece for The Awl, Joe Reid managed the incomparable feat of judging the best of the Best Kiss nominees of MTV Movie Awards past from top to bottom. Speaking of, hey there Jake and Heath in Brokeback Mountain!

--- In The Company of Crooks - Old pals Neil Labute and Aaron Eckhart are reteaming for a movie that kind of sounds like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels set in Mexico. God I love Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Now I need to watch Dirty Rotten Scoundrels right now!

---  The SS Folk Singer - There's a lengthy article/interview with Sufjan Stevens at The Observer worth checking out if you bow before him like I do. Lookin good, Suffy.

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I'll Catch You, Charlie Hunnam

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If you can get past Charlie Hunnam's shaky American accent (come on Charlie, I've heard you do better than that) and the irritating presence of Baby Wipes McGee, then this trailer for The Ledge - starring Charlie as a guy that falls for Liv Tyler who is already married to a scary religious zealot nut-job played by Patrick Wilson - is pretty good. But only if you don't allow those two things to bug you too badly. Pretty easy in the case of the first thing, not as much for the latter.

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Good Morning, World

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I Wouldn't Do That If I Were You, Jake

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This will be the only time that I ever advise against it, but sneaking up behind Patrick Wilson might not be the best idea this weekend. He's awfully jumpy. He's got good reason to be, what with the terrifying demons and what not. And anyway, Jake's got problems of his own, what with the constant exploding.

Both Source Code (my review) and Insidious (my review) are out today, and they're both worth seeing, besides a couple of minor reservations here or there. You'd have a fine weekend at the multiplex if you sought them both out. There are several other movies out today as well, and you can read up on my thoughts on those over at Celebrity Beehive. I blame Hop for altering the course of humanity, amongst other things, so don't miss it!

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What Scares Patrick Wilson

Second pimping of the day for Insidious! I'm shameless! Not that I have anything to gain personally from telling y'all to go and see it. I'm not James Wan in disguise. Really! I didn't spend the past decade telling you all that Saw sucks just to throw you off my scent. No it's just that Insidious really does bring it, and in a fun old-fashioned sort of way that needs to be encouraged. It's not perfect, the last act gets a little bit silly to be sure, but it has at least four separate scares that've haunted me since seeing it a full month ago, and that's a thing to cherish. So I will hype the movie!

Anyway, point. Over at PopWrap the lucky bastard Jarett got to chat with Insidious stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne and you should read the whole thing but this is the bit I am highlighting, if only because it allowed me to make that image above. No, not just that, it's delightful in itself:

PW: Are you guys fans of the genre?
Rose: I am. At least when I was younger. I used to make my mom get me the original “Elm Street” movies and “Creepshow.” Patrick, are you a horror fan?
Patrick: For me, it’s more about the experience – I still have images that freak me out, which is hilarious in hindsight, because most of the movies that scared me as a child really aren’t that scary anymore. But when I saw “Salem’s Lot,” the kid scraping on the window is like my “Red Rum” moment. I saw that movie again when I was 19-years-old and couldn’t believe I was ever frightened of it. But it really freaked me out as a child. I think it was actually a TV movie, which tells you how lame it was.
PW: What I liked about "Insidious" is how it embraces the idea that you're more scared by what you don't see.
Patrick: Yea man, it's Jaws in the water.
Rose: There’s a lot of restraint. And that was a big appeal to me. It’s like a family drama inside of a horror film. The fear builds so slowly and by the end you’re ready to pop. I’m not really into the torture horror kinds of movies.
Patrick: I think that’s a different kind of scare. Movies like “Friday” and “Nightmare” and “Chainsaw" where you're afraid of someone chasing you are different versions of fear. I always like headier scares ...like “Salem’s Lot!”

Obviously he need to revisit Tobe Hooper's Salem's Lot TV movie, because it's not lame at all, it's actually pretty terrific. But still. I'll hold you, Patrick! I will hold you tight and keep you safe, if not from me, from monsters. Unless you struggle or try to get away and I need to monsters to hold you down, in which case all bets are off!
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