Filmspotting #154: The Host / Blades of Glory / The Lookout / Top 5 Career Reboots

March 30: Bong Joon-ho's "The Host" has been picking up critical accolades since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2006. Bong's satirical monster movie has finally come ashore here in the States, but Adam and Sam are approaching the film with caution -- encouraged by the praise, but a little skeptical that the movie will have more to offer than it's multi-tentacled, multi-million dollar CGI creature.

Also on the show: One-sided reviews of the new Will Ferrell/Jon Heder figure skating comedy "Blades of Glory" and "The Lookout," the new thriller from writer/director Scott Frank starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. [Due to scheduling conflicts, Adam and Sam had to flip a coin for these reviews ... listen to find out who lost.]

Plus, Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre, and Filmspotting's Top 5 Career Reboots -- Adam and Sam stage an intervention for ten lucky actors.

Music by National Beekeepers Society.

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Filmspotting #154
:19-12:59 - Review: "The Host"
Music: National Beekeepers Society, "Cricket in the Field"
14:09-25:16 - Reviews: "Blades of Glory" / "The Lookout"
Music: National Beekeepers Society, "Slackerevolution"
25:59-29:09 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Tarik Abdel-Monem)
29:10-40:44 - Listener Feedback (Top 5 Friendship Movies, Battle Scenes)
Music: National Beekeepers Society, "Funeral Procession"
43:21-43:20 - New DVDs, Donations
43:21-49:59 - Corrections, Notes, Poll Questions
50:00-1:05:27 - Top 5: Career Reboots
1:05:28-1:07:01 - Close/Next Show

CORRECTIONS/NOTES
- Sam's Dope Sheet correction on "Reign Over Me" writer/director Mike Binder.
- Early downloaders may notice a glitch in the New DVDs segment. No idea what happened... there's no edit there.
- The classic 'single' line from "Annie Hall" is actually... "I forgot my mantra."

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

Filmspotting #153: Reign Over Me / The Lookout Interviews / Top 5 'Friendship' Movies

March 23: Quick... name three films about grieving men that aren't also about sports, dating, and/or revenge. It's not a common subject, which makes Mike Binder's new film "Reign Over Me" a compelling case. The film also gives Adam Sandler another shot at dramatic acting, this time as a profoundly depressed man whose wife and children died on 9/11, and whose only solace is classic rock and video games.

Binder's previous film was 2005's "The Upside of Anger," a film neither Sam nor Adam particularly liked, despite the fact that it starred Joan Allen, one of their favorite actresses. Is Binder's latest effort an improvement? Or are the considerable talents of Sandler and co-star Don Cheadle wasted?

Also on the show: Adam's interview with Scott Frank (Out of Sight, Get Shorty), writer/director of the new film "The Lookout," and two of the film's stars, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Matthew Goode.

Plus, Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre, and our Top 5 Movies About Friendship.

Music by Richard Buckner from the new album "Meadow" courtesy of Merge Records.

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Filmspotting #153
:18-16:05 - Review: "Reign Over Me"
Music: Richard Buckner, "Lucky"
16:48-30:36 - Interview: S. Frank, J. Gordon-Levitt, M. Goode
Music: Richard Buckner, "Window"
31:05-34:39 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Justin Valentini)
34:40-47:16 - Listener Feedback (300)
Music: Richard Buckner, "Town"
47:48-49:15 - New DVDs, Donations
49:24-53:59 - Poll Questions
54:00-1:06:27 - Top 5: Movies About Friendship
1:06:28-1:08:10 - Close/Next Show
1:08:11-1:08:38 - Guest Outtake

CORRECTIONS/NOTES
- We have learned since recording that "Reign Over Me" director Mike Binder's last name is pronounced BINE-der, not BIN-der.
- Binder told Charlie Rose Thursday night the origin of the script. Sadly for Sam, no mention of an iPod.
- This show was for public radio so Gordon-Levitt's 'dick move' line had to be bleeped. Sorry.

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

Filmspotting #152: 300 / Cabinet of Dr. Caligari / Top 5 Battle Scenes

March 16: The last time Adam and Sam had a conversation about the film adaptation of a Frank Miller graphic novel, it was March 2005, and the movie was Robert Rodriguez's "Sin City." Sam hated Rodriguez's religious devotion to its misogynistic source material, while Adam was thrilled by the movie's visual inventiveness. Well, it's been two years since "Sin City," and the wounds still haven't healed.

Now Zack Snyder has adapted Miller's 1998 graphic novel "300," the writer's fanciful rendering of the 5th century BC battle at Thermopylae, which pitted 300 Spartan soldiers against the great Persian army.

The question: is Snyder's testosterone-fueled, CGI-constructed adaptation of "300" the next evolutionary step in movie combat? A "Matrix" or "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for 2007? Or is it just the mind-numbing equivalent of watching someone play a blood-soaked video game for two hours?

With "300," Frank Miller has, for the second time, inspired Adam and Sam to take opposing sides of a heated argument.

Also on the show: The six-week Silent Movie marathon continues with Robert Wiene's 1919 German Expressionist classic "The Cabinet of Dr. Calgari". Plus, Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre, and our Top 5 Battle Scenes.

Music by Arcade Fire from the new album "Neon Bible" courtesy of Merge Records.

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Filmspotting #151
:18-17:16 - Review: "300"
Music: Arcade Fire, "Intervention"
17:49-18:56 - "300" Voicemails
18:57-24:05 - Poll, Notes
24:06-31:49 - Listener Feedback (Lives of Others, Top 5 Voyeurs)
Music: Arcade Fire, "Black Mirror"
32:31-36:48 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Mark Larson)
36:49-41:27 - Listener Feedback (Birth of a Nation)
41:28-48:54 - Silents #2: "Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"
Music: Arcade Fire, "Keep the Car Running"
49:14-51:02 - New DVDs, Donations
51:03-1:05:41 - Top 5: Battle Scenes
1:05:42-1:07:27 - Close/Next Show

CORRECTIONS/NOTES
- For an illustration of what Adam meant when talking about the film's 'flatness,' watch the Xerxes clip that was played at the beginning of the review. They might as well be acting against rear projection.
- According to karlwinslow in the Filmspotting boards, The Battle of Helms Deep occurs in "The Two Towers," not "The Fellowship of the Ring."

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

Filmspotting #151: The Lives of Others / Birth of a Nation / Top 5 Movies About Voyeurs

March 9: When Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck accepted the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for "The Lives of Others," Germans everywhere cheered. The rest of the world scratched their heads wondering why Guillermo del Toro's triple-Oscar winner "Pan's Labyrinth" hadn't won instead. A film about loyalty, betrayal and the transformative power of art, "Lives" manages to recall great surveillance pictures of the past (Coppola's "The Conversation," among others), while also recalling the philosophical filmmaking of Krzysztof Kieslowski. But is it better than del Toro's critically-acclaimed adult fairy tale? Adam and Sam weigh in.

Also on the show: Filmspotting starts its six-week Silent Films Marathon by wrestling with D.W. Griffith's troublesome masterpiece "The Birth of a Nation." Plus, Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre, and the Top 5 Movies About Voyeurs.

Music by Graham Parker courtesy of Bloodshot Records.

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Filmspotting #151
:18-14:07 - Review: The Lives of Others
Music: Graham Parker, "Stick To The Plan"
15:17-28:23 - Listener Feedback (Zodiac, Top 5 Need To See)
Music: Graham Parker, "Stick To Me"
29:27-33:14 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Lindsay McCray)
33:15-38:58 - Poll Questions (Black Snake, 300)
38:59-42:25 - Silents #1: "Birth of a Nation"
Music: Graham Parker, "Bad Chardonnay"
43:27-45:00 - New DVDs/Donations
45:01-51:49 - "Birth of a Nation" cont.
51:50-53:30 - Feedback cont.
53:31-1:02:45 - Top 5: Movies About Voyeurs
1:02:46-1:04:29 - Close/Next Show/Outtake

CORRECTIONS/NOTES
- Only the first Graham Parker track, "Stick To The Plan," is a 'new' song -- from his upcoming album "Don't Tell Columbus." The other two tracks are from previous albums. (Long story)

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

Filmspotting #150: Zodiac / Oscars Recap / Top 5 Movies We Need To See

March 2: Inspector Harry Callahan took down a Zodiac-like killer with a bullet to the chest back in 1972's "Dirty Harry," but that was in the movie world. In the real world, the Bay Area serial killer was never caught. Which makes the unsolved case the perfect subject for a David Fincher movie. The director of "Seven," "Fight Club" and "The Game," Fincher doesn't mind making things unpleasant for his audiences, even if that means denying them the pleasure of seeing a bad guy get what's coming to him. "Zodiac" (opens today) was one of Adam and Sam's most anticipated films of 2007. Did it meet their expectations? At least one of them thought so.

Also on the show: Sam and Adam recap Sunday night's Academy Awards and wrap up their six-week Animation Marathon with "The Harryhausens," their Best of the Marathon Awards.

Plus, Massacre Theatre and the Top 5 Movies We Need To See -- a redux of the top 5 list from Filmspotting's second episode way back in March 2005.

Music by Anne McCue from the album "Koala Motel" courtesy of Messenger Records.

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Filmspotting #150
:19-13:07 - Review: Zodiac
Music: Anne McCue, "Bright Light of Day"
14:07-18:24 - Poll Questions
18:25-27:28 - Oscars Recap
Music: Anne McCue, "Coming To You"
28:20-30:34 - New DVDs/Donations
30:35-34:23 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Kevin Mulqueeny)
34:24-46:51 - Animation Awards: "The Harryhausens"
Music: Anne McCue, "Sweet Burden of Youth"
47:43-49:23 - Dope Sheet Contest Winners!
49:24-1:02:26 - Top 5: Movies We Need To See
1:02:27-1:03:21 - Close/Next Show

CORRECTIONS/NOTES
- Yes, there is some extra 'white noise' in Sam's audio track, especially in segments #2-4. This was our first effort recording with Sam in Milwaukee. Still working out the kinks.
- The Woody Allen clip during the Top 5 is from "Manhattan."

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.