Movies

No matter how subtle and cerebral – or in the case of Lewis Carroll’s 1865 tale, wonderfully meandering and weird – the original story, these days, Hollywood will figure out how to transform it into an action movie.

In an effort to cast a net beyond the sea of my own opinions (most of which involve reality television and hilarious animal photos) I asked for reader feedback on this week's Douchebag Decree. The nominations were many, and all were deserving: The Itawamba School District, for its attempts to ban gay couples from attending the prom. Eric Massa, for allegedly sexually harassing employees in his Congressional office. Ken Cuccinelli, for his letter advising public universities to retreat from their policies against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Ben Roethlisberger, for yet another alleged sexual assault. Douchebags are running amok!

However, one nominee rose to the top of the list for me, especially once I realized this Douche Supreme has never been awarded The Decree before. (I guess it was too obvious?) Congratulations, Howard "Douchemeister" Stern.

Even before I did my stint in a graduate film program, I was a pretty big fan of the Academy Awards. Though I’ve gotten increasingly less glamorous in my old age, I still enjoy the consistency of the red carpet style. But in terms of the environmental effects of the Academy Awards, I can only shake my head. The crazy electrical bills? The grotesque waste? The blood diamonds paraded around on loan from celebrity jewelers? All aspects I can do without. However, there were a few bright spots in terms of eco-powered celeb moments.

It's just about time for Spring Break, and you know what that means don't you? Well, for some of you it might mean a trip down to Señor Tadpole's to have a margarita made in your mouth, but if you're a pop culture lovin' feminist with a day job to keep, this year it means another Spring Break-themed Amy Poehler movie! (Yes, I said another. You have seen Spring Breakdown, haven't you?) This one is called Wild Girls Gone, and it comes out on iTunes tomorrow. (Somehow I doubt it will see the inside of a movie theater unless you decide to watch it on your iPhone when you get bored during Avatar.)

If you’ve yet to read Ishamel Reed’s editorial “Fade to White” in the New York Times about Precious, get to it post-haste! In the piece, Reed makes some excellent points about portrayals of black men in popular culture and why the film has received such a favorable reception from whites but been met with resistance in the black community.

Just 14 years ago, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called for a boycott of the Academy Awards due to the dearth of African American entertainers nominated for Oscars. In the new millennium, however, the Academy Awards have consistently nominated blacks for Oscars. Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jen Hudson and Forest Whitaker have all nabbed Academy Awards in recent years. And Sophie Okonedo, Will Smith and Don Cheadle are among the blacks to receive nominations in the 2000s.

Read on for more on the 2010 nominations...

Teens in Milwaukee, WI were treated to an elaborate hoax recently in the form of 2028, an alleged horror film that turned out to be a PSA about teen pregnancy. Here's the trailer, though it's not for the faint of heart:



W? T? F?

I might be a little late to the party on this one, since this trailer's been out for a while, but I think Tina Fey's upcoming movie Date Night looks like a lot of fun. And (judging only by this trailer) it seems to avoid many of the rom-com/action movie anti-feminist pitfalls (more to come on that in a minute). Check it out:

Joseph Mathew Varghese is a photojournalist-cum-filmmaker whose clean visual aesthetic gives way to a somewhat distant and subdued cultural crossing in the richly intricate Bombay Summer. Varghese's first narrative feature film, Bombay Summer follows in the footsteps of the director's two previously released documentary films in presenting an intimate perspective of one of the world's most populous and rapidly developing cities.

The trailer for An Emasculating Truth opens with the following...
"There's always that fear that masculinity is in danger, that it's being lost, men are becoming feminized in one way or another."
"Men are definitely finding their feminine side."
"Their masculinity's kind of questionable."
"Maybe too superficial."
"Settling for less."
"Not...manly."


In fact, "kind of questionable" and "superficial" are great descriptions of the movie itself, where Concerned Male Citizen Oscar reports "Testosterone levels are down 17% in the past 14 years among American men."