Netflix Instant TV and Movie Picks: The Good, The Bad (in an awesome way), and the Ugly

Now that the craziness of part one of the holidays is over, it's time to drag out your dusty decorations of tinsel and lights. If you need some background films as you decorate your house and chug your eggnog, here a couple titles for you.

A Couple of PACIFIC RIM Teasers to Get You Ready for Summer 2013

I think I might have a most anticipated movie already for next summer. If the buzz out of Comic Con was any indication, PACIFIC RIM will be THE movie of next summer. I feel almost bad for putting that kind of pressure on the film because like with many summer films in the past, I could be setting myself up for major disappointment.

PACIFIC RIM is Guillermo De Toro's newest directing endeavor. The film features 25-story tall machines (Jaegars) and evil sea monsters (Kaijus). Giant Kaijus have started rising from the sea that begins a war that starts taking millions of lives. Jaegars are created to combat these monsters, which are controlled by two operators. Del Toro said at Comic Con that he as set out not to make a war movie, but to make more of an adventure film.

Check the teasers after the break.

High End Drinking: Sam Adams Utopias

If you follow us on the Twittersphere, you know that Jonesy and I love beer as much as we love movies. I truly believe that there's a great symbiotic relationship between movies and beer, or I'm just making excuses to make beer posts in a movie blog. Yesterday, we had the pleasure of being able to try out a 1oz. pour of the Sam Adams Utopias 2012 "strong ale" at our favorite bar, the Common Table. To call this a strong ale was an understatement. This beer is borderline a fine scotch or brandy that you can sip for hours while smoking a cigar. 

I wanted to showcase a few of our brief thoughts, but for those that aren't familiar with the Utopias, it is one of Sam Adam's most sought-after brews with the initial costs starting at $199, and then sky-rocketing on eBay. What makes this beer so special? It's so strong that it's recommended to be sipped in 2oz. pours. It's always released in very limited quantities. It's a uniquely non-carbonated beer, and to quote Sam Adams found Jim Koch, here's how they created this 29% ABV monstrosity:

"The traditional brewing techniques we use in all of our beers shines through in this extremebrew. We begin with a blend of malts that impart the rich, ruby-black color. Distinct hopcharacter from the Noble hops imparts complexity and balance. During fermentation, we alsouse a yeast strain normally reserved for champagne. The 2012 Utopias brew was aged in hand selected, single-use bourbon casks from the award winning Buffalo Trace Distillery to enhance the beer’s distinct vanilla and maple notes. Our 10th Anniversary batch also spent time in a variety of finishing casks: Tawny Port casks and Vintage Ruby Port casks from Portugal, which contribute slightly more elegant, dark fruit aromas, and Rum barrels from Nicaragua, which add flavors of fig, chocolate, raisin, vanilla, and a slight spice."

So what did we think? Hit the jump to find out:

A Spoilerific SKYFALL Discussion

Happy Cyber Monday everyone! If you're still feeling the effects of your carb overload from this past week, and need a place to forget about Black Friday or arguing politics while passing the dressing, then take yourself out to see SKYFALL. What follows is a SUPER SPOILERIFIC discussion about all things SKYFALL and CASINO ROYALE because let's face it, we all want to forgot the money we wasted on QUANTUM OF SOLACE. 

If you've seen the films, read on. If not, go treat yourself and then come back!

Recap of the First Alamo Drafthouse DFW Event: Rolling Roadshow of THE BURBS

Even though the opening for the new DFW Alamo Drafthouse won't happen until May 2013, the owners are taking no time in building up the excitement. Located at the corner of Beltline and 75, a forgettable, mid-century modern strip mall is soon to be taken over by movie lovers. As its first official event, the guys brought a Rolling Roadshow event to the parking lot across from where the new theatre will be built. The Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow is an arm of the theatre that brings movies to the outdoors to famous locations. Here we were treated to a 35mm screening of THE BURBS.

Netflix Instant TV and Movie Picks: Film Festival Edition!

I know it's crazy, but I actually found a theme for this week! Netflix just dumped some films that I personally saw at film festivals, and coincidentally were some of my favorites. Now, the films are eclectic, but I enjoyed all of them and have linked the reviews as well.

KARATE-ROBO ZABORGAR

A midnight film I saw at the Asian Film Festival of Dallas last year that I cried I was laughing so hard. It's full of cheesy acting and graphics but absolute ridiculous fun. 

FIRST POSITION

This was one of my favorites from the 2012 Dallas International Film Festival. I'm a sucker for anything related to dance, but this documentary has such heart as it follows young dancers on their quest to win at the annual Youth America Grand Prix. 

THE AMERICAN SCREAM

I think we've applauded this film enough on this site, but here we go again! Even though we've moved on from Halloween, this film will still get you ready for next year. Here's our review from Fantastic Fest. 

I'm not promising another themed column in a couple weeks. I might leave that to my cohort from now on.

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OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL Full Trailer Drops a House on Your Head

Ever since the first trailer for OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, I've been on the fence. The teaser looked too cheesy, and it gave off too much of an ALICE IN WONDERLAND vibe. However, my thoughts kept going back and forth because of the director, Sam Raimi, and the pretty solid cast. I'm still not completely sold on the film, but with the full trailer now online, I have a bit more faith than before.

Check it out after the break.

Netflix Instant TV & Movie Picks: TV Shows to marathon the hell out of

Now that Halloween is over, we unfortunately have to deal with Christmas. I don't know about you guys, but I kind of dislike this whole season if only because everything from grocery stores, to the mall, and even movie theaters are so packed because people are shopping or need a break from shopping. Because of this, I have a tendency of being a shut-in during the holidays which is why I was thinking this would be a great theme for a column. All of these shows are great and just feel like the type of shows that you just HAVE to marathon through a whole weekend sparing you both sunlight and huge crowds when you're out and about. 

ONCE UPON A TIME

Seriously, this is one of my favorite shows out right now. I'm pretty sure the target audience is younger girls, but it's so incredibly cheesy I can't help but love it. Dealing with the town of "Storybrooke," a woman, Emma, is found by her son who she gave up for adoption. He goes on to tell her that she is the savior of this sleepy town where every inhabitant is actually a fairy tale character, but they just can't remember who they are.

CRACKER

Hagrid being a complete asshole and a brilliant crime psychologist. What else do you need to know? I know, it seems all brilliant British crime solvers are assholes, but Robbie Coltrane nails it. 

NOVA SCIENCE NOW: HOW DOES THE BRAIN WORK?

Neil DeGrasse Tyson is a bad ass. Listening to the Nerdist podcast, he seems to come up pretty often, and I can see why. Now that PBS and other public television channels aren't in danger of being cancelled by evil Mormons, let's celebrate by watching some of the incredibly interesting and educating programs. Even though it's only one episode, this is technically part of a series, which you can see a full list here.

That's it for me, folks. See you in a couple of weeks!

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WORLD WAR Z Trailer Drops Crazy Zombies in Your Backyard

I never took Brad Pitt as an actor who was itching to make a zombie apocalypse movie, but I there's a first time for everything. However, for WORLD WAR Z, I'm sure he was drawn to the project because of the material it's based off of. Max Brook's book (of the same name) chronicles, through a series of short stories, the history of a zombie apocalypse through the eyes of a member of the United Nations Postwar Commission. The book has a hardcore following, so of course the movie adaptation comes with some skepticism.

Check the trailer after the break

31 Days of Horror Movies Wrap Up - Top 5 movies of October

So this year I decided to try my hand at doing something I've seen most of my more hard core friends do, see at least 31 horror movies during the month of October. There are other dudes, such as one @BradFHenderson, who watch wayyyyyy more movies than me. I'd reckon that between going out of the country and and out of state, I did pretty well. With this post, I wanted to highlight some of my top five favorite movies of this month which I saw. I tried to mix up the types of horror sub-genres that I was watching. Apart from the movies I already saw, I wanted to put classics like AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, THE OMEN, and PSYCHO out of the running. Think of it as a "Filmspotting Pantheon" of sorts.

I will say that seeing a movie a day was a lot more difficult than I imagined. I did try to challenge myself with only seeing new movies, but apart from NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS and TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL, they were all new to me and found Netflix Instant. Seeing as I have never been a horror fan of the caliber of some my friends, I was really surprised at how the horror genre can be really boring at times. On the flip side, I saw how easy it is for a movie to be pretty amazing given the right chemistry of the cast or a change to the story. And I have to say that within, the horror genre, there are a lot gems to be found. Check out five of them below.

Mark Wahlberg is now in TRANSFORMERS 4; Michael Bay can't stop lying to nerds on the Internet

Having gone through this so many times with the last two sequels, as I heard Michael Bay denying that Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg was not going to be in TRANS4MERS (my own totally original title), I knew he would be in the movie. Thanks to a post on his personal site, Bay has confirmed that he will be hooking up with this guy to continue his giant robots franchise:

But let's be real for a second. I like Mark Wahlberg, but only when he does comedies (I HEART HUCKABEES, THE OTHER GUYS, TED). Whenever he does "serious" actions movies, I get super bored with him. All of the charm just goes out the window. I'm not sure I want to live in a world where Mark is doing "Michael Bay humor." But I'm sure we'll hear more about this in the coming months.

On a cool note, this is the new logo for the movie you see above. It's interesting that it's focused on the Decepticon sigil especially since....(SPOILER) none are alive because Optimus Prime is a murdering psychopath. Look for more news about the movie in the coming months as it's production ramps up for the 2014 spring shoot.

TRANS4MERS is directed by Michael Bay. It will definitely star Mark Wahlberg and other people. It will come out Summer 2015.

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First Public Alamo Drafthouse Richardson Event!

It's starting! We're about five months away from the opening of the new Alamo Drafthouse in Richardson, and they're not wasting anytime getting the word out and interest up. One part of the Drafthouse family is there Rolling Road Shows, where they bring movies to famous parts of Texas, and you bring your chairs and blankets and enjoy the show.

On November 16th, Rolling Road Show will come to Richardson at the future home of the Alamo Drafthouse to show THE BURBS, starring Tom Hanks. Here's a synopsis:

An overstressed suburbanite and his paramilitaric neighbor struggle to prove their paranoid theory that the new family in town is a front for a cannibalistic cult.

The festivities start at 5pm with the film rolling at 7pm. Sounds like an event not to be missed!


You can follow the DFW Alamo Drafthouse facebook page here. And we will keep you updated as event details come in!

UPDATE:

11/6: Local dive bar in Dallas, Lee Harvey's, will provide the outdoor bar with select local beer and wine. Also, this event is BYOC...Bring Your Own Chair!



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Netflix Instant: TV and Movie Picks

It's about that time again. Time for another non-themed Netflix Instant column for this week. There are two on here that I thoroughly enjoy, for very different reasons, and one that I'm so glad it was added to Instant.

BUG

I first loved this story when I performed it as a reader's theatre piece in college. BUG was an off-Broadway show starring Michael Shannon, and it was creepy and made your skin crawl. So I was stoked when a few years later a film was made with Shannon reprising his role that he had on stage. It's a small psychological thriller which plays with your mind and questions whether the main characters are crazy or if they're being watched and followed by the government.

CHICO & RITA
Typically when Oscar season roles around, all the Best Animated Picture nominees comprise of a Pixar entry, Disney, Dreamworks, and maybe a random Fox or Paramount. Last year CHICO & RITA surprised everyone with their nomination. Before the Oscars and unless you made the film festival circuit, not many people had heard of this film. However, the accolades and praise for CHICO & RITA were tough to ignore. Even though the big animation films are always enjoyable, I've taken it upon myself to seek out the smaller gems like this one.

CLUELESS
One of the 90s classics that I always seem to stop on when it's playing on an idle Saturday afternoon. I always loved the fun adventures of Cher in her Beverly Hills life, but when I found out it was based on Jane Austen's novel, Emma, then it made reading Emma in college that much easier.

That's it for me this week. I'm sure my cohort will be back next week with another awesome theme. 

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