Teaser Tidbidt - New Teaser for Kung Fu Kid / elements movie M Night Shyamalan

Click Here for The Last Airbender Superbowl Teaser

Avatar is very popular. I don't mean the movie by James Cameron thats made more money that Titanic, I mean the Western cartoon about battling civilizations focusing on controls of the elements. And soon M. Night Shyamalan of The Happening and Unbreakable fame will be releasing his movie adaptation of the story. In all likeliness it will be the first of many movies about young Aang and his coming to terms with his control of the air element (known in the world of the movie as an airbender), but if the teases in this teaser primed for superbowl weekend are anything to go by, thats fine by me. Due to obvious confusiong potential, the movie will be named The Last Airbender and look for it's UK release around mid August 2010.

Cemetery Junction

Trailer for Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant's full length debut. It looks more promising than Gervais previous cinematic efforts and is out on the 9th of April in the UK

Issue 29 - February 2010 Out Now

Our last Friday, the February 2010 issue of Fan the Fire Magazine is available now featuring our favourite new bands and indie comebacks including Surfer Blood, The Drums, Goldhawks, The Strokes, MGMT and Arcade Fire, Lightspeed Champion, Two Door Cinema Club and Hot Chip album reviews, Green Zone, Jonah Hex and Cop Out film previews, Edge Of Darkness, Youth In Revolt and A Prophet reviews, art by Christopher Lee and Campeaux and style by Tom Hines and Fred Meylan, plus much more.

You can read the issue online here:

issuu.com/loadmagazine/docs/fanthefiremagazineissue29

Or as always, free to download here:

fanthefiremagazine.com/magazines/fanthefiremagazineissue29.pdf

Music Video: 'Undercover Martyn' by Two Door Cinema Club

Here's the new video to Two Door Cinema Club's next single. I like the bit when Sam gets his guitar stolen:

The 82nd Academy Awards Nominations - A Reaction

Just so we're all on the same page, here are the nominations for the exciting categories:

·Best Picture·
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Precious
Up
Up in the Air

·Best Director·
James Cameron – Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
Lee Daniels – Precious
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

·Best Actor·
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

·Best Actress·
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

·Best Supporting Actor·
Matt Damon – Invictus
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones

·Best Supporting Actress·
Penélope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious

·Best Original Screenplay·
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

·Best Adapted Screenplay·
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

·Best Animated Feature·
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

·Best Foreign Language Film·
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru) in Spanish
Ajami (Israel) in Hebrew
The White Ribbon (Austria) in German
A Prophet (France) in French
The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentina) in Spanish

And now here are my reactionary comments. It goes without saying that this is just my point of view and I do not wholly represent the opinions of the rest of the FtF staff, and with all due respect, I hear what they're saying, but the're completely wrong.

I am not entirely familiar with all the Foreign Language nominations, but predict The White Ribbon (directed by Michael Haneke) and A Prophet (directed by Jaques Audiard) to be the main contenders, as they have certainly been getting the most buzz (though article hype is not really a measure of quality **cough cough** Avatar **cough cough**).

For Best (love that the title is still "Best") Animated Picture, Pixar is always a front-lier with Up, especially considered its now graduated to Best Picture as well, but the animated movies are always interesting as measurement of "best" is not always on the story/plot/characters and more on the medium's restrictions being pushed, which would put Fantastic Mr. Fox firm last.

Again the screenplay allocations are split into Adapted and Original. Interesting that Inglorious Basterds is considered an original screen play. Regardless, I would love it to win. I would also be keen to see In The Loop win for Adapted Screenplay, as it really brings comedy and complexity in a good combination. Looking over the nominations, Adapted Screenplay does seem to be a more exciting category, it also seems like the only award Up In The Air really has a shot at.

The trend of taking the winner in the matching Golden Globe category as the favourite to win the Oscar puts Mo'Nique on top of the pile for Best Supporting Actress, and she certainly deserves it, but lets not forget that Academy darling Penélope Cruz is in there too. But its highly unlikely that Maggie Gyllenhaal will win the trinket for a mediocre performance by her own standards. Its most likely going to go to Farmiga so she can share it with Clooney and Kendrick.

I would give the Best Supporting Actor award to Christoph Waltz faster than two winks of a coal miner's eye, and I am sure many concur. It would be great to see Woody Harrelson finally get recognition and he really had a fine year of performances in '09.

Meryl Streep could win the academy award for Best Actress in her sleep (again heavily indicated by the Golden Globes), but how great would it be for an up and comer like Carey Mulligan or Gabourey Sidibe to steal it away. If the gorgeous Sandra Bullock wins for just not being a racist in a TV-league movie, then I'll have to admit there's a lot in life I don't understand.

Best Actor could be Colin Firth or Jeff Bridges. From time to time, players with great track records win an Oscar more out of "its about time" than it really being deserved, but Jeff Bridges does have the talent to take it home. Fascinating to see Michael Stuhlbarg getting snubbed for his lead in A Serious Man

Similarly, the Coen Brothers get snubbed for best director, that may shock many. This also starts the double whammy for Jimmy C's Avatar, both talented turns, but not really better than any of the other flicks nominated. I would give Best Director to Kathryn Bigelow, mainly because she deserves it for Point Break and the fail would inspire Jason Reitman to try even harder next time.

Best film has to be Inglorious Basterds again. I am happy Pixar are finally in the best film category, but its absolutely a year too late, and I accept this move as admittance for Wall·E not being there and winning it last year.

I won't take up more of your time with my thoughts on cinematography, editing, and score etc., but feel free to ask if you wanna hear me whine.

On a personal note (I wasn't being subjective until now) I am gutted Where The Wild Things Are didn't get an Original Score nomination or just more nominations in general.

All in all, should be a good show, with the fine skills of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin ringleading and hopefully their egos will rise to the challenge thrown down by Ricky Gervais' grace at last month's Golden Globe Awards.

I say we all pick who our winners will be and the person with the most right wins the pot. You can play at home with your friends, family and co-workers! Make sure to check how the Best Picture nominations stack up against Fan The Fire's best films of the year in issue 28 (January 2010). Also, any serious misses by the Academy? Leave your thoughts in the comments, I'll be curious to see what you guys come up with. Was Moon not seen by anyone? Where's The Road?. See you on March 8 when I get a bit gloaty about how much I foresaw.

Surfer Blood Video

The video to my favourite new band of 2010's first single was premiered over on Pitchfork.tv today. Surfer Blood's 'Swim' features scantily clad young men, cross-dressing, and gay mice. I don't really understand it.



The Florida 5-piece hit the UK for the first time in February and their awesome debut LP 'Astro Coast' is out now on Kanine Records. Buy it.

Square Eyes

Most people I know who don’t belong to my parents’ generation have smoked cannabis. Many of them, ranging from those who could be in Cypress Hill (if they could rap) to those who just like to relax at the end of the night, still do. Of course, statisticians are well aware of this and have produced the expected numbers. These figures could be used as evidence of an ingrained part of the culture of the young (and young-ish), or as a dangerous epidemic of shameful disgrace. A program about it runs the risk of preaching to the converted, whatever side it comes down on, and enraging the other side to the point where all they can do is smirk. Cannabis: Britain’s Secret Farms (BBC3, iPlayer until 01/02) remains on the fence, but in doing this succumbs to the other potential danger – telling us what we already know. Pointless.

One of the things that we all know is that smoking can give you the fear. That’s exactly what I get when I watch a sketch show. Years of Little Britain and Catherine Tate and other efforts aimed at yokels have not left me with high expectations. Unguarded moments have even found me yearning for the Fast Show, hardly the holy grail of, well, anything. So when I saw Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson were in Bellamy’s People (BBC2, episode 1 iPlayer until 28/01) I thought maybe I could at least avoid vomiting/crying. While watching it I found myself making a strange noise. Was it the vomit? It was more alarming than that, I was laughing. It’s clever but not too clever (no danger of that), and does a wonderful job of caricaturing Britain’s idiots. I’ve previously mentioned I dislike racial stereotypes in American primetime programs. Bellamy’s People somehow manages to get away with it, perhaps as it conveys an important truth - that at the end of the day, being an idiot is largely a personal decision.

What do you know about Winnie Mandela? For that matter, what do you actually know about apartheid in South Africa, except that it happened? If the answer to those questions is ‘lots’, than you can skip The Real Winnie Mandela (BBC4, iPlayer until 01/02), as the hour it lasts only permits a tiny glimpse of a fascinating and tragic life. It manages to contain an impressive amount of troubling moral questions, many of which pierce beyond the scope of the particular circumstances, and allows us to see the extremes that oppression can push people to. The old news footage is a delight, and serves as a good introduction to how truly brutal apartheid was. It also serves as a welcome reminder that our idiots are no match for the pricks that were allowed to run South Africa for so long.

A History of Christianity (BBC 2, episode 2 iPlayer until 28/1) was first shown last year. I wish I had watched it, as going by the Catholicism episode, it’s pretty interesting. Maybe that’s because of the spread of this imperious branch of Christianity reminds me of Star Wars - it really helps that Benedict XVI looks like Emperor Palpatine. That aside, seeing how Catholicism took shape and came to be the largest branch of the Christian faith is certainly quite illuminating.

Illuminating is certainly not what the first episode of The Bible: A History is (Channel 4, 4od until 05/02). I respect Howard Jacobson for trying to find the middle ground between religion and atheism. Religion certainly has value beyond its practise. The problem is his harping on about art and literature doesn’t really get us anywhere. It’s ineffectual in the face of zealous atheists and sycophantic in the face of the properly religious. If you were trying to reconcile the two worlds, I’m not sure this would bring you any closer to a resolution, apart from that it’s definitely more fun listening to religious folk saying ridiculous things than watching atheists get in rage.

DVD Review: Mesrine: Parts 1 & 2

The emphatic story of French criminal Jacques Mesrine as he scaled the heights of public notoriety after a small scale beginning. Now brought together after a divided release in cinemas, his life is a compelling tale, that despite stuttering at times, is hard to take your eyes off.

Film ★★★★★ Extras ★★★★★

Leaked Gorillaz Track

New Gorillaz track 'Stylo' was leaked on the web a few days ago. Take a listen here.

The song is a funky, bass driven ode to the 80s featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack. It will be the first single taken from Gorillaz forthcoming album 'Plastic Beach'. The full track listing is below:

1. “Orchestral Intro”
2. “Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach” (feat. Snoop Dogg and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
3. “White Flag” (feat. Kano Bashy)
4. “Rhinestone Eyes”
5. “Stylo” (feat. Bobby Womack and Mos Def)
6. “Superfast Jellyfish” (feat. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul)
7. “Empire Ants” (feat. Little Dragon)
8. “Glitter Freeze” (feat. Mark E Smith)
9. “Some Kind Of Nature” (feat. Lou Reed)
10. “On Melancholy Hill”
11. “Broken”
12. “Sweepstakes” (feat. Mos Def Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
13. “Plastic Beach” (feat. Mick Jones Paul Simonon)
14. “To Binge” (feat. Little Dragon)
15. “Cloud Of Unknowing” (feat. Bobby Womack)
16. “Pirate Jet”

'Stylo' will be officially released on January 26th, with the album 'Plastic Beach' coming out March 9th.

Tron Track?

Daft Punk fansite 'daftworld.over-blog.com' claim to have unearthed a song from the soundtrack of upcoming blockbuster 'Tron: Legacy' which is to be scored by the French duo of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. The mysterious, synth driven, 4 and half minute electro march entitled 'Fragile' surfaced in the last 24 hours:

DVD Review: Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Effortlessly fun and entertaining comedy about a scientist who unwittingly changes his town’s weather systems into food, raining spaghetti one day and jelly the next.

Film ★★★★★ Extras ★★★★★

Teaser Tidb-MACRUBER!

There was once a time when Saturday Night Live skits yielded movies in the butt-load. ahem, I mean ass-full, see: Coneheads, Wayne's World, Blues Brothers. But that was the '80s. Now its Twenty-Ten, and if time is cyclical, cue the resurgence. This leads to the jump-cut parody of yesterdays's actionman archetype, MacGruber. A play on MacGuyver and general political correctness from sitcoms of the past, the new movie from SNL producer Lorne Michaels and director Jorma Taccone (of The Lonely Island fame), the new trailer has a lot to be excited about. Will Forte unleashed, Kristen Wiig with top billing, a sidekick played by a HasBeen (Ryan Phillippe), Powers Boothe, Eagles of Death Metal, swear words, the best trailer-voice-over-guy in the biz, Val "Ice-man" Kilmer as the bad guy ("Cunth") and a bundle of chuckles. If Richard Dean Anderson makes a cameo in the final cut of flick, 2010 will be a good year.

Enjoy the high-def, rated R trailer below:



-- UPDATE --
Yahoo Movies just put out this, less offensive cut of the trailer:

24: Season 8, Initial Thoughts

So now that 24 is back as the first major new TV show to air in 2010, and in its 8th season, you may want to ask yourself if it’s worth watching. Maybe you’ve seen all the other seven seasons and just can’t help yourself, maybe your buddy showed you some old episodes and you want to start at least one season from the beginning, or maybe main protagonist Jack Bauer’s name has permeated so much of pop culture you owed it to yourself to at least see what it’s all about.

24 is a big show, it has been ever since its genre defining debut back in 2001, creating a real time show were American agents do everything they can to stop a terrorist plot set in only one day that they can’t even begin to get their heads around, especially as each hour unfolds. The series promises and delivers on action, twists, equally supported plot lines to throw off the most observant viewer, a great lead character and fantastically ballsy one-liners.

Season 8 is no different in this manner; it’s got all the maybe-terrorists, all the definite-terrorist and Jack doing what he does best. With all that has stayed the same, there must be some change. The main complaint against a show is that the writers are beginning to run out of ideas. Though the writing is never sloppy and the dumb action takes off of the top enough to remain enjoyable.

In an effort to remain realistic, Jack, having retired from the anti-terrorist game for the umpteenth time is pulled back in as a favour to his ever-present side kick Chloe O’Brian, the technical brains behind his experienced muscle. Kiefer Sutherland returns to Bauer playing the character as comfortably as he always has. With TV shows, you’re not going to see the actors pull out huge readings every episode (unless you watch LOST), but Sutherland Jr. chews the scenery like we want him to. Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe is the only other regular on 24, having somehow survived it all so far. She plays her character awkward, but with such an off-putting edge it is surely intentional and drawing the viewer into her character’s perception.

The rest of the cast all seem like misfires. This could be to their characters all being annoyingly un-courageous so far, not what you want to see in 24, or because everyone is being downplayed to get the viewers to question their trust in everyone. So far the only stand-outs are the Middle Eastern political family whose country of origin is deliberately concealed (further research suggests fictitious country might be “Kamistan”). Anil Kapoor as President Omar Hassan is a powerful turn and well self-minimised performance. He is matched by his brother/advisor as well as the small parts of his scorned wife and doting daughter. The new CTU, back again, this time in New York, New York, is filled with wooden actors who embarrass themselves by trying too hard. The set is amazing though, and hopefully a lot of action will go down there, maybe the whole thing will blow up!

The directing is as good and bad as it has always been. The skill of both filming and presenting real-time double shots of both intense character-on-character scenes and alley-way shoot-outs has been understated by being achieved so consistently each season. With any luck, as the season goes on we’ll be getting even more exciting scenery and sets.

As you may be able to tell from that last sentance, I’m in for season 8 so far. As a long time 24 fan, there’s enough promise in the plot and delivery for me to stay committed, and with Renee Walker (the engulfing Annie Wershing), President Logan and Ethan Kanin all potentially coming back for the rest of season, it will be a fun ride to the blow-out finale.

Square Eyes

It was with a degree of trepidation that I sat down to watch Glee (Episodes 1+2, E4, 4od until 16/02), 4’s latest galactico signing from the US. I’ve never been a fan of these brightly coloured, brash, ‘quirky’ music = ‘charm’ shows like Ugly Betty et al that suggest the world revolves around terrible people. And that maybe we should aspire to be more like these terrible people. Glee actually proved to be pleasantly surprising. Sure, it’d be embarrassing if someone came in the room while you were watching it, but it’s not without its charm (no inverted commas this time). The tongue in cheek humour at its best comes across like the good moments of a Ben Stilleresque film and there is a generous smattering of actually quite likeable characters. Let’s not get carried away though, no matter how knowingly it winks, the jock/geek thing is tired, down to the inevitable crossover jock. And would it kill a big American series to go easy on racial stereotypes? Just once? It’s unclear whether it’s meant to be ironic, but even if it is, I think the rule on these matters is if Family Guy’s done it then it’s probably best to leave it out. I’m also unclear as to the point of a glee club. Answers on a postcard.

‘It may seem to him now that he is as much the prisoner, as the master of history’ says Simon Schama of Barack Obama, in Obama’s America (BBC 2, iPlayer until 21/02). With this, the man with the world’s most high profile job is put into Schama’s pocket. The title is something of a trick, as this is as much about Truman and the Korean War as it is about Obama. This is a good place to start if you’ve never seen one of those compilations of war footage documentaries from back in the day. The Korean War is one of the most important but glossed over moments of the last century, not to mention one of the most interesting. Who better to hold your hand than the majestic Schama? Been done better, but still good stuff.

Kevin McCloud: Slumming it (Channel 4, 4od until 14/02) was also a good solid documentary, almost in the vein of Bruce Parry’s seminal Tribe. Perhaps the conclusion he came to, namely that in the slum of Dharavi in Mumbai, community spirit is as rife as the dysentery, was somewhat pre-packaged, but it certainly rang true. He did a good job of not over-romanticising the place, which given the camera’s fondness of lingering over children crapping in the streets, seemed sound policy. The programme did a good job of really exploring the place, which was definitely worth doing as it seems as colourful a bizarre little hobbit world as you’ll ever find. If nothing else you’ll find a new fond appreciation for the Western Commode.

Apparently Iain Lee had to leave Twitter after the first episode of The Persuasionists (BBC 2, iPlayer until 17/02), such was the torrent of abuse. I greatly regret not getting in there while the going was good. The Persuasionists is horrible. This is what I imagine it would be like to watch children’s TV if you were coming off heroin and had run out methadone. Presumably this is one for the Two Pints of Lager crowd, if such a thing actually exists.

Celebrity Big Brother (Channel 4, 4od) is happening. Maybe you care about that, although you probably don’t. For what it’s worth, I think it’d be more use to review the queen than try to encroach the subject. Let’s leave it at that.

DVD Review: (500) Days Of Summer

Our third favourite film of the year, (500) Days Of Summer is a bittersweet rom-com that at lasts makes it OK to enjoy the flagging genre. The film is about Tom, who after losing the love of his life, Summer, recounts their days together in an attempt to work out where it all went wrong, and how he can win her back.


Film ★★★★★ Extras ★★★★★