Any pop culture writer today worth a scan online has a unique opinion on Chuck Klosterman. The renown American author and journalist made a name for himself in the aughts with witty, hyper-informed contributions as a former senior writer and columnist at SPIN. In 2003, he released a bestselling book of essays about “low culture” under the title, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, that dissected, exploded, and—in the case of Saved By the Bell—meta-ized topics ranging from internet porn to why there’s only “one important question a culturally significant film can still ask: What is reality?” To readers with an eye on the future, Klosterman signaled not only the arrival of an adored critic amongst hipsters, TV junkies, and geeks; he was the aware embodiment of the modern intellectual turned as voracious consumer of entertainment. And ever since many a beer has been consumed by writers arguing over or coveting this appointment.
Post-Cocoa Puffs, Klosterman’s bibliography has grown to include several works of non-fiction as well as last year’s Downtown Owl, a well-received debut novel benefiting from word-of-mouth, not unlike how Puffs did (but with Tweets on top). His latest book, Eating the Dinosaur, is a characteristic essay collection that can be burned through in a night but also raises several troubling philosophical questions. In the first part of Klosterman’s interview with /Film, he elaborates on the role feted director Errol Morris played in a few of Dinosaur’s themes. We also discuss his opinion of movie junkets, the accelerated culture of movie blogs, and the film most comparable to Guns N’ Roses‘ Chinese Democracy. For the second round of the interview, click here.
Hunter Stephenson: Hi Chuck. So, are you in California to speak about the book?
Chuck Klosterman: I’m doing The Jim Rome Showon ESPN, and it’s in Huntington Beach, California. And I gotta say, it’s creepy as fuck out here man.
Another Indiana Jones film seems inevitable, doesn’t it? Do you even want it though? Speaking at the Deauville Film Festival this weekend, where he was given a lifetime contribution award, Harrison Ford revealed what he knew about the upcoming fifth outing for his adventuous alter ego; meanwhile, a video has been posted online showing Karen Allen talking last weekend at Dragon Con and spilling what few beans she had to share.
Posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 by David Chen
In this episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley discuss how terrible the Antichrist videogame will be, explain why Christopher Nolan directing the third Batman film would be a no-win situation, and wonder if there’s anything to get excited about in an 5thIndiana Jones film. Special guest Matt Singer joins us from IFC News and the IFC News podcast.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next Monday at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST at Slashfilm’s live page as we review Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
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The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen team are in the UK, to premiere the film and plug the mercy out if it. My own video from the London press day is coming soon, but in the meantime, the BBC have popped their own interviews online and, by the by, broken a story on the nextIndiana Jones film.
Newsround presenter Lizo Mzimba squeezed Shia LaBeouf for some details on his upcoming projects and according to the sometime Jones Jr., Steven Spielberg has “cracked” the story for the next movie and is “gearing that up”.
We’ve featured many of artist Eric Tan’s creations in past Cool Stuff columns: we’ve spotlighted his work for past Pixar productions, X-Men, among other things. Tan has been creating a series of posters for the Indiana Jones film series. You can see his Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom posters in our linked Cool Stuff articles. His latest poster if for the third film in the original trilogy - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (a film title which use to be really clever because it meant two different things at the same time… use. to. be.) See the full poster after the jump.
/Gamer has a new featurette for Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, the upcoming LucasArts video game for the Wii, PS2, DS and PSP. As expected, the actual in game footage doesn’t look all that great, and the main selling point seems to be using the Wiimote to put yourself in the game. I was so excited for this game when it was first announced, and some of the concept art I saw on the walls at LucasArts was better than the entire Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But the limitations of the Wii, last generation consoles and handheld systems doesn’t excite me. Watch the featurette now on /Gamer.
LucasArts has released the trailer for Indiana Jones and The Staff of Kings video game. Unfortunately it is only being released for the Nintendo Wii, and not the more graphic intensive console systems like Xbox 360, which the game was originally announced for. Staff of Kings still looks good, some might joke that it looks better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Judging from some of the concept art I saw at the LucasFilm building on my last visit, the story is going to bring Indy to some pretty cool places.
Update: Some how pointed out that the game is also being released for Nintendo DS and the Playstation Portable. My comment above was about home console systems.
San Francisco’s Gallery 1988 has a great art show opening tonight (January 9th 7-10pm) with some movie themed pieces. The artist’s name is Nathan Stapley and he created 85 pieces for his solo show, and all but 2 of the pieces are $200.00 or less. So, you can get an original painting at print prices.
You can view some more of the artwork after the jump.
Posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 by Adam Quigley
This Week in DVD is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, and Fry’s.
MONGOL: THE RISE OF GENGHIS KHAN
Planned to be the first in a trilogy about Genghis Khan’s life (with Mongol focusing on his younger years), this film was nominated in 2007 for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie has received mostly rave reviews (currently holding an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes), and though I haven’t seen it yet, I’m definitely looking forward to doing so as it’s been said to very gracefully combine family drama and romance with epic battle sequences and mass carnage. Sounds like a winning combo if I ever heard one. Blu-ray? Yes. Notable Extras: None.
STUCK
From director Stuart Gordon (of the cult classic Re-Animator) comes this unabashed B-horror/thriller about a woman who commits a hit-and-run and finds the victim literally stuck in the windshield. For my money, that’s one of the most original-sounding premises I’ve come across in a long time, so I’m very interested in checking this film out. It’s also been getting solid reviews across the board, with a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.2 on IMDB. Blu-ray? Yes. Notable Extras: None.
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
Focusing on a subject matter that you’ll know within seconds if you’re interested in learning more about, Standard Operating Procedure is a film from master documentarian Errol Morris that explores the events surrounding the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse. This certainly isn’t the first documentary to come out as a result of the war in Iraq, and I doubt it will be last. The response hasn’t been as positive as, say, Taxi to the Dark Side, but the general consensus seems to be it’s a very worthwhile and informative watch. Blu-ray? Yes. Notable Extras: A commentary (with filmmaker Errol Morris) and nine additional scenes.
CHAPLIN (15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
I’ve been looking for an excuse to pick up Chaplin, a film about the troubled and controversial life of master comedy filmmaker Charlie Chaplin (played by Robert Downey Jr., who scored an Oscar nomination for his performance). Sadly, this 15th Anniversary DVD doesn’t amount to a very good one. The video/audio have no noticeable improvements, and the only extras are four very brief featurettes. The only reason this DVD is in “The Good” section is for the film itself. Blu-ray? No. Notable Extras: Four featurettes (’Strolling into the Sunset’, ‘Chaplin the Hero’, ‘The Most Famous Man in the World’, ‘All at Sea’).
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (Available as single-disc and 2-Disc Special Editions)
Though I wouldn’t go as far as to say George Lucas and Steven Spielberg “raped” Indiana Jones (like South Park did during its last week episode), it certainly was a disappointing return to one of America’s most beloved franchises. But much like what was done with Spider-Man 3, people keep fixating on specific stupid scenes throughout the film (such as the refrigerator escape, Indy using a snake as a rope, the CGI gophers, and Shia LaBeouf swinging Tarzan-style through the jungle with a bunch of monkeys) when instead they should be focusing on the horribly uninteresting, overlong exposition and the dumbing down of the series into a dorky family adventure. Although admittedly, those things aren’t nearly as fun to mock. Blu-ray? Yes. Notable Extras: Making-of featurettes and documentaries (’The Return of a Legend’, ‘Pre-Production’, ‘Production Diary: Making ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, ‘Warrior Makeup’, ‘The Crystal Skulls’, ‘Iconic Props’, ‘The Effects of Indy’, ‘Adventures in Post-Production’, ‘Closing: Team Indy’, ‘Pre-Visualization Sequences’).
*Does not include 2-Disc Edition, which costs $22.99 at each of the listed stores (including Amazon).
EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Deluxe DVD has hours of bonus content and collectible packaging with 80 pages of behind-the-scenes photos. Where? Target.
EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Free bag of M&M’s. (Editor’s Note: WTF) Where? Best Buy.
EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Limited Edition Crystal Skull Gift Set ($39.99). Includes 2-disc DVD, collectible crystal skull, and a $25 gift card to www.sideshowcollectibles.com. Where? Best Buy.
EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? 2 free lithographs of Crystal Skull concept art with purchase of the 2-disc. Where? Circuit City.
WAR, INC.
From what I can tell, War, Inc. fits into the “American Dreamz” class of satire, replacing subtlety and wit with in-your-face political commentary and cartoonish characters. On the other hand, the fact that this film has been said to be the spiritual successor to Gross Pointe Blank definitely intrigues me. Both films are black comedies with similar styles and themes, and both star John Cusack as an assassin, Joan Cusack as his assistant and Dan Ackroyd in a supporting role. Blu-ray? Yes. Notable Extras: None.
Discuss: What are you planning to rent or buy this week?
NOTE: Some deals may be in-store only.
$10 – The Godfather (Coppola Restoration), Beetlejuice, 3:10 to Yuma, Madagascar
$17.99 – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Seasons 1 & 2 – 3) $26.99 – Heroes (Season 2)
$5.99 – Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, Hero, Good Will Hunting, Equilibrium, Gangs of New York, Swingers, Chicago, Clerks, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and more…
$4.99 – Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games, The Hunt for Red October, The Untouchables (Collector’s Edition), Death Wish, Top Gun, Sahara, Collateral, Minority Report, The Italian Job, Reservoir Dogs (10th Anniversary Edition), The Ring, Edward Scissorhands, Rosemary’s Baby, Night of the Living Dead, Young Frankenstein, Panic Room, Monster, The Life of David Gale, Red Dragon, An American Werewolf in London, Bad Lieutenant, Friday the 13th, and more…
$3.99 – Carrie, City Slickers, The Graduate, Hotel Rwanda, Thelma & Louise, Bull Durham, Platoon, and more…
On last night’s South Park, Stan went to see Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull only to find George Lucas and Steven Spielberg raping Indiana Jones (literally). Check it out after the jump. Read More »
In this episode of the /Filmcast, 
MONGOL: THE RISE OF GENGHIS KHAN
STUCK
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
CHAPLIN (15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
WAR, INC.
