Notes from the N-Sider

Posted 07/24/2008

Evil Villains, Dancing Moms, and More

Hey, movie lovers,
Why's my avatar dressed like this? Well, everyone wants to talk about either The Dark Knight or Mamma Mia this week, and I was just thinking what a bizarre movie you'd get if you combined them both together: The Joker wants to get married, but he's not sure who his mom is. Or... Batman and Harvey Dent team up to fix Gotham -- with disco outfits and ABBA music! Oh, I crack myself up.

THIS WEEK'S MOVIE NEWS:

• Australian actress Mia Wasikowska will star in Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.
• Will Smith earned $80 million last year, making him the highest paid actor in Hollywood.
• Fox is making a live-action version of Cowboy Bebop.
• John Waters is writing the treatment for a Hairspray sequel.
• Next summer's Transformers sequel will not have Dinobots.
• MTV is remaking The Rocky Horror Picture Show. If you're a fan of the original, how do you feel about that?

OUT NOW:

Whoa... so many reviews this week! You guys had a ton to say about The Dark Knight:

• SRSLYn00b works at a movie theater, and she says, "We had Batman in 10 FREAKIN' THEATERS! And guess what? ALL SOLD OUT! That's nearly 3000 people, at midnight to see this movie." - SRSLYn00b, via nMail
• "It's very long... but it's very good." - katinahat, via nMail
• The Dark Knight was the darkest, most plot-twisting, most insane action movie I've ever seen. - Heylogrl15, in her blog
• "The only way I can describe it is: Twisted, Crazy, Exciting, and Amazing" - ctluvXO, in her blog
• "[Heath's] performance doesn't show you his potential; no, his performance fulfils that potential 100 percent. he disappears completely within his role, making you believe that laugh, that face, that he is the joker." - yankee922, in her blog
• A few more reviews are in Neutron221's blog, hottincali's blog and grab0bag's blog. (Warning: that last one has spoilers.)

And an equally huge number of people reviewed Mamma Mia. Some of your comments:

• "It was funny, happy, and quite an uplifting and joyful flick."- volleyloli, in her blog
• "You wanted to stand up in the seats and start dancing and singing along." - smacaroni, in her blog
• "Amanda Seyfried, the girl who played the main character Sophie, was soooooooo adorable." - onmymind90, in her blog
• "Meryl Streep should NOT have been in it, I love her, but she didn't add anything to the movie." - 007mahala, via nMail. (She recommends waiting for the DVD.)
• "It's a hilarious movie with a few scenes that might make you want to grab a tissue, but before a tear can get out, you'll be laughing again!" -Fishstik07, in her blog

• American Teen
• Brideshead Revisited
• The X-Files: I Want to Believe

filmlvrx0 and her friends were trying to make a "Queen Bee Movie Playlist." Besides Mean Girls and Heathers, she recommends checking out a short film called Lick the Star by Sofia Coppola.

Oh, and remember how iluvth90s told us about Fresh Films, that project that holds free filmmaking workshops for teens? She's at the one in Chicago and blogging about it! Meanwhile, KeelyKyni went to the one in Portland, Oregon, and nMailed me that she got to visit a National Guard base while working on an action movie.

Are you making any movies this summer? Last week, I played a background performer in a Columbia University student film. (That means I was an extra. I think "background performer" is such a silly way to describe it, but that's what they called us!)

Hoping your week is Joker-nightmare free,
The-Lisa