TRANSCRIPT: It seems that there will always be a handful of people in Hollywood satisfying our indecent thirsts for visual depictions of exploitation in cinema. From 42^nd Street in New York City, a broad genre called ‘Grindhouse’ emerged, combining sex, violence, drug use, cannibalism, car chases, and a long list of other abused low-budget film subject matters. John Landis, director of Animal House, gives a great explanation of the Grindhouse theatre, which you can hear in the podcast.

In 2007 Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez teamed up to release the high concept double feature Grindhouse in American theatres, which consisted of two feature-length segments, bookended with fake trailers, advertisements, and announcements. The Rodriguez-directed Planet Terror and Tarantino-directed Death Proof were both critical successes.

Enter 2010. Three years later and the Grindhouse hype has come and gone… or has it?

SlashFilm.com announced this month that director Bruce McDonald, who’s brought us Hard Core Logo, The Tracey Fragments, and Pontypool, is currently working on his women in prison martial arts revenge film, titled Lucky Ho, which follows a 18-year-old school girl who is set up for murder. Lucky is sent to a prison filled with the most dismaying criminals and a corrupt warden who has an attraction for his female prisoners. She must fight and kill in an after hours fight club in order to save both herself from bloodthirsty thrill-seeking inmates and her younger sister from their sexually abusive stepfather. The plot reminds me of the low-budget film Riki-Oh: The Story of Riki, which featured over-the-top gore-filled fight scenes and cheesy dialogue. I recommend it to the most dedicated grindhouse fans only. Lucky Ho is set to begin production this summer.

In the meantime, a few of the fake trailers shown in between the earlier mentioned Grindhouse double feature are in either production or post-production and will be released starting this September with the Robert Rodriguez-directed Machete, starring Danny Trejo. The trailer can be seen below, along with the trailer for the Edgar Wright-directed faux trailer Don’t. DISCLAIMER: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE AND NUDITY ARE PRESENT WITHIN.

Related Sites:

The Grind-House – foreign and domestic movie posters, t-shirts, and hoodies

The Deuce – grindhouse cinema database

Why am I so thrilled? Well, a couple posts ago I mentioned the Netflix app being released for the iPad, and I asked the question “When will the app be available for the iPhone and iTouch?”

Ahh, just imagine how wonderful the world would be if you looked down at what you were holding and saw this...

That day has come… err, will soon come. Techshout.com has reported that the DVD and instant-streaming service is currently in the works of an application for the iPhone and iTouch.

“We wouldn’t invite you to dinner without planning to serve dessert,” says Steve Sweeney, the Netflix Vice-president of Corporate Communications, “In other words, we’re working on it so stay tuned.”

Will the app’s availability on these smaller devices that are already owned by millions worldwide drop the sales for the iPad?

But wait! Perhaps the film is not doomed for total failure – there are some good casting choices: Dan Ackroyd will voice Yogi, Anna Faris will play Rachel, a filmmaker producing a nature documentary in Jellystone Park, TJ Miller, who had a hilarious role as Jay Baruchel’s friend Stainer in this year’s She’s Out of My League, is rumored to play Ranger Jones, Andrew Daly (Eastbound and Down, Semi-Pro) is cast as Mayor Brown, and Tom Cavanagh as Ranger Smith.

I’m uncertain about Justin Timberlake signing on to voice Boo-Boo Bear. Recently, I’ve gained a lot of respect for him as a comedic actor (watch any J.T. clip from Saturday Night Live), but I’d like to see how he’ll adapt his voice to match Boo-Boo’s (assuming he’ll try to imitate the original high squeak of the small cub).

Brad Copeland has written the screenplay, which has me shrugging my shoulders like Boo-Boo. Sure, he’s written for Arrested Development, but it’s Copeland who also has Wild Hogs under his belt – one movie no one should brag about.

Will Yogi Bear be any good? I’m hoping it will be, despite the negative weight in names it’s carrying right now. Until we know the answer to that question, all we can do is watch TJ Miller’s audition tape for the role of Ranger Jones, acting alongside a real bear:

“Oscars were entertaining. Congrats Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock. Adding The Hurt Locker to my Netflix Queue.” – jeffandrews

“@Marcusfitz1 I can’t wait to see The Hurt Locker. I have had it on my netflix order for 1 whole month and it says Long Wait for status.” – djrmc24

The second tweet sparked my interest to write this post. It makes me wonder how many copies of this highly-demanded film are in stock at the various Netflix distribution outlets. Would the 86% high customer satisfaction rating for Netflix drop due to a back-up in rental queues? I’m not sure, but I do know there are impatient people who would complain about not receiving their DVD in a “timely manner.”

You can be one of the 10 million Netflix subscribers to instantly stream movies on the newly released iPad, such as Julie Delpy's 2007 film, 2 Days in Paris.

The app gives you access to 20,000+ movies and TV shows, all at the tips of your fingers. You can watch a movie on the iPad, and finish watching it on your computer or TV through a Netflix-ready device. The question everyone’s been asking though is, “When will the app be available for the iPhone and iTouch?”

Right now the app streams only on WiFi. When the iPad 3G releases later in April, will it support the Netflix app? Let’s hope so.

You can download the app here.

Judging from what I’ve seen in the red band trailer, it seems Vaughn has taken a few notes from Quentin Tarantino. I was immediately reminded of The Bride from the Kill Bill series upon seeing Chloë Moretz’s character, Hit-Girl. This exploitation-style film will certainly draw controversy among more than a few people, but I know they will be nothing more than a scratch on the surface of a building made up of violence-loving, thrill-seeking American filmgoers.

Aaron Johnson stars as Dave Lizewski, aka the superpower-lacking teenage crimefighter Kick-Ass

/Film.com has a very informative post regarding the upcoming film here.

Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery, and Blockbuster stores across the nation are shutting down, an unfortunate short-term change for the film culture. Movie Gallery, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy February 2, the second time the company has done this in three years. It is the second largest video rental company in the US, the first being Blockbuster, Inc., who has also shown a steep decline in revenue.

Quite frankly, I’m indifferent to this largely foreseeable change.

Our future entails more smaller, more efficient...well, everything. Even a video rental store can be reduced to a vending machine (Above: Redbox).

Don’t get me wrong, I love the new services that are available now. For example, the day I created my Netflix account was a very happy day in my life. With a few clicks from my room, I can have almost anything shipped to me. The selection is incredible and I’ve touched up on my film literacy primarily through the site (currently I am falling back in love with Wong Kar-wai, Nouvelle Vague, and a handful of Spaghetti Westerns).

However, as a defense argument for the rental stores, one of the most basic pleasures that you can take from film culture is physically going to the providing outlet and looking through the selection they have. I believe that renting movies is a part of American culture that isn’t dying, but certainly changing with the times. Compare it to the evolution of radio–it’s gone from the days where families gathered in the living room to hear radio shows being played out aurally to today where satellites provide static-free sound to reach the ears of passengers in a car.

It’s a shame that we have lost the joy of renting physical movies for our future generations. Renting movies was a large and important part of my childhood. With the evolving media, we find ourselves drifting apart interpersonally. Though these services make the whole process of renting movies more efficient, they do not possess that aura of excitement brought about by the experiences within the video stores.

I checked up on the group earlier today and it just so happens that submissions for the 2010 Festival are being accepted from now until August. Missing a 20U film competition held in Seattle late last year has me more determined than ever to submit multiple works to this festival (which takes place October 1-31st), including a re-shoot of a music video for my friend’s band we made last summer and a short piece that plays completely in reverse.

President and founder Edward Summer announced this in one the group’s discussion boards:

Residents of Western New York are invited to submit entries for Buffalo International Film Festival 2010.
DVD only.
Entry Fee $10.00
Mail to:
Buffalo Film Festival
POB 503 = 2010 Entry
Buffalo, NY 14223-0503
More info: BuffaloFilmFestival @ Gmail.com

The official site can be found here.

Due to the limited memory of the Wii (it lacks a hard drive and uses 512 mb of internal Flash memory, with removable SD card/flash drive storage), users will have to insert a Netflix disc to run the program, in conjunction with a broadband internet connection.

Previously, Wii owners could use a program called PlayOn to stream Netflix, for a program fee of $40, plus the $8.99 per month basic fee for a Netflix membership. This new collaboration will override the PlayOn fee and bring Netflix more seamlessly to movie lovers.

You can reserve your free streaming disc here.