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Christopher Campbell

- http://www.cinematical.com/bloggers/christopher-campbell/

Christopher Campbell recently received a Bachelor of Arts degree in film studies from Brooklyn College. Prior to (finally) finishing his undergrad, he studied film production at NYC's School of Visual Arts and then dropped out for an exciting career (on and off) in movie theaters. His writing has appeared in READ Magazine, Where Y'At New Orleans and Lo-Fi Magazine and on YCraze.com, Cinescene.com, BlogCritics.org, The Reeler and his own (mostly defunct) site, LowExpectation.com. He also currently writes for SpoutBlog.

Michelle Williams to Play Marilyn Monroe?

by Christopher Campbell Dec 4th 2009 // 3:02PM

Filed under: Drama, Independent, Casting

If you had to pick a young actress to play Marilyn Monroe, who would you choose? Can you even think of someone who'd truly fit the role? Personally, I can't, but I do know one thing: Michelle Williams -- God, I love her -- wouldn't even make my top 50. So, seeing the Tweet from Production Weekly claiming the Oscar-nominated actress is in talks to play the titular icon in a movie called My Week with Marilyn made me nearly fall out of my chair.

I'm not sure if my reaction is more unfair to Williams or Monroe, but I guess I imagine someone less talented and less wholesome-looking. Someone like Scarlett Johansson, who was previously rumored to be in line for the film. Or Megan Fox, Malin Ackerman, Anna Faris or any other pin-up type currently included in Maxim's Hot 100.

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Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Voices an Animated Character: Jack Frost

by Christopher Campbell Dec 3rd 2009 // 7:15PM

Filed under: Animation, Casting, Family Films, Dreamworks, Images

It's hard to believe that after so many years being one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, Leonardo DiCaprio had never lent his voice for an animated film. Alas, in these times where studios still think A-list names sell tickets, even when you can't see their pretty faces, it was only a matter of time before Leo went before the microphone to speak for a cartoon character. He'll be heard as the voice of Jack Frost in DreamWorks Animation's The Guardians, based on the upcoming series of books by children's author William Joyce (A Day with Wilbur Robinson, source of Meet the Robinsons).

The computer-animated film will be directed by Peter Ramsey, whose only known credit is the recent Monsters vs. Aliens DVD spin-off Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space. Interestingly enough, The Guardians is also somewhat holiday-related. In addition to Jack Frost, characters include Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, as well as the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman. The plot follows the heroes as they band together to battle the Bogeyman. Why Cupid, Baby New Year and Punxatawney Phil didn't join the group is unclear, but they all seem like weaklings in most depictions, so their reputations may have been a factor.

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MovieClips.com Launches

by Christopher Campbell Dec 3rd 2009 // 2:30PM

Filed under: Classics, Comedy, Site Announcements

Tired of searching YouTube for your favorite movie scenes, only to come up empty handed? Yesterday saw the launch of a new site called MovieClips.com, which boasts a collection of over 12,000 film clips, most of them around two minutes in length, in order for fans to call up their favorite movie moments and quotes easily and quickly. Six of the major studios are on board with licensed clips -- Disney is notably absent at the moment -- that can be viewed on MovieClips' site or shared through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The new site is still in the beta stage, so it's not totally perfect at the moment. And you may at first be frustrated with the number of big titles currently missing from the collection. For example, I used AFI's list of 100 greatest movie quotes to see just how thorough MovieClips is, and I was disappointed that many in the top ten, including bits from Gone With the Wind, Sudden Impact and Cool Hand Luke, are as yet unavailable.

Those three movies would be perfect for one of the site's main purposes, expressing your mood via a movie quote on Facebook. Admittedly, I'd like to share Network's "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" on a regular basis. Unfortunately, MovieClips doesn't have it. My guess, though, is that the collection of clips will continue to grow and eventually we'll all be able to communicate through movie dialogue, much in the way the aliens do in Explorers (another film not currently represented on MovieClips).

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Johnny Depp to Play Pancho Villa?

by Christopher Campbell Dec 3rd 2009 // 1:02PM

Filed under: Foreign Language, Casting, Johnny Depp

If there's one actor working today who is worth waiting for, it's Johnny Depp. Unfortunately, not all filmmakers have the luxury of being able to postpone a project long enough to fit the busy star in. His many commitments may, for instance, force Terry Gilliam to replace the actor in his second attempt to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Robert Duvall claims to be Depp's Jean Rochefort's substitute on that one, though no word yet on Depp's role).

Yet Serbian director Emir Kusturica, who last collaborated with Depp on the underrated and under-seen Arizona Dream 16 years ago, is holding off production of his latest, titled Seven Friends of Pancho Villa and the Woman With Six Fingers, until 2011 in order for Depp to play the title role. According to Variety, the actor is still merely in negotiations to play the Mexican Revolution hero, whom he would reportedly portray entirely with Spanish dialogue.

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Annie Nominations Announced, Still No 3D Category

by Christopher Campbell Dec 2nd 2009 // 3:28PM

Filed under: Animation, Awards, Disney, Universal, Family Films, Dreamworks

This has been such a good year for animated films (maybe even the beginning of a golden age) that I've never been more excited or curious about the Annie Awards. The International Animated Film Society has just announced the nominees for their honors, and the fact that Pixar's Up is not necessarily a front-runner only goes to show that animation is in a good place.

Up came in second for number of nominations received, one short of Coraline's ten. Both movies are in contention for the top prize, Best Animated Feature, with slight competition coming from Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

The last of those titles is the one that had me most impressed with the state of animation this year. Considering I went into it with some of the lowest expectations I've ever had for a film and came out in love with the very loose children's book adaptation, I've been relatively optimistic about animated films since.

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'Nine', 'Up in the Air' Lead Satellite Award Nominations

by Christopher Campbell Nov 30th 2009 // 5:15PM

Filed under: Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Foreign Language, Music & Musicals, Awards, Quentin Tarantino, Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Oscar Watch

There are a few good reasons to hate on the Satellite Awards. First of all, we really don't need any more end of the year movie and television honors. Second of all, the Satellites seem to be little more than a knock-off of the Golden Globes, which are already pretty unnecessary. Third, they happen way too early, missing out on seeing and thereby qualifying perhaps the biggest film of the year (Avatar).

But over the years I've come to appreciate the Satellites and their bestowing organization, the International Press Academy, for their constant surprises when it comes to nominating and awarding unlikely films and talent. Just look at some of last year's acting winners: Richard Jenkins; Rosemarie DeWitt; Ricky Gervais; Michael Shannon.

Now check out this year's nominees, which continue to prove that IPA voters like to go at least slightly against the grain. Okay, so there are a lot of predictable titles in the lot, including Up in the Air and Nine, which leads with 11 nominations. Yet there are some films I don't expect to be recognized by the Golden Globes, let alone the Oscars, such as The Maid and The Stoning of Soraya M., both of which feature in the Best Actress (Drama) category.

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Scenes We Love: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

by Christopher Campbell Nov 26th 2009 // 5:02PM

Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Scene Stealers, Scenes We Love



In an attempt to spotlight a scene related to post-Thanksgiving leftovers, I'd like to share a favorite little moment from Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. No, the teen rom-com doesn't directly connect to the holiday in any way, but there is this scene starring a turkey sandwich. And my brain and stomach being the odd collaborators that they are have deemed it appropriate, even if the sandwich is made of cold cuts and not turkey carved from a juicy, roasted whole bird.

Here's one reason it makes sense to my personal post-Thanksgiving activities: while many of you will be braving the crowds at the multiplex following your feast, I'll be at the bar -- hopefully one where I can dance some of the stuffing away -- and at last call, I'll tipsily head home and then stack some leftovers between two slices of bread and enjoy the first of many post-holiday turkey sandwiches.

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Stars in Rewind: Jason Reitman's First Kiss

by Christopher Campbell Nov 25th 2009 // 2:45PM

Filed under: Classics, Family Films, Stars in Rewind



Blogger Kristopher Tapley, of the movie awards site In Contention, shares a humorous video spotlighting one of this year's Oscar hopefuls, Jason Reitman. The young filmmaker, who already received an Academy Award nomination for directing Juno, is a front-runner this year for helming Up in the Air, which opens in limited release next week and opens nationwide on Christmas.

Before he was a success behind the camera, though, he was simply the son of Hollywood director Ivan Reitman. And like many filmmakers' kids, he was employed in minor roles in his father's films, including Ghostbusters II, Twins and Dave. The funniest of his cameos is in this make-out scene from Kindergarten Cop, mainly because it's his most embarrassing.

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'Paranormal Activity' on DVD and Blu-ray December 29

by Christopher Campbell Nov 24th 2009 // 6:32PM

Filed under: Horror, Paramount, Steven Spielberg, Home Entertainment

If you still haven't seen Paranormal Activity, I don't know what you've been waiting for. Seeing the horror flick in theaters is one of those great moviegoing experiences -- the more people in the theater to scream and laugh with the better. Besides, I can only imagine that watching the thing at home would be so frightening you'll never be able to sleep soundly again. Oh, that probably appeals to many of you scary movie fans, in which case you'll be glad to know you have to wait only a little over a month more to pick up the DVD or Blu-ray of this little movie that could.

Paramount will release Paranormal Activity to home video on December 29, just in time to give you something to purchase with the gift card you got over the holidays. Both the DVD and Blu-ray come with the theatrical version of the film as well as an unrated cut that includes an alternate ending (presumably the original one). And the Blu-ray includes a digital copy of the theatrical version, so you can play the movie on your iPod and watch it while hiding underneath your covers.

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'Up' and 'Marley & Me' Among Dog Movie Winners

by Christopher Campbell Nov 23rd 2009 // 4:32PM

Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Awards, Family Films

Maybe it's because I saw De Sica's classic Umberto D. again over the weekend, or maybe it's because I'm excited for tomorrow's release of the 25th Anniversary Edition of Cujo on DVD and Blu-ray, but I've got movie dogs on the brain. Last night I even randomly spent some time watching YouTube clips of my all-time favorite movie dog, Asta, from the Thin Man franchise (played by Skippy, who also appears in Bringing Up Baby and The Awful Truth).

So it was coincidentally fun this morning learning that the Fido Awards happened over the weekend. The ceremony, nicknamed the "canine Oscars," occurred in London Saturday, when trophies were handed out in five separate categories. To my surprise, the Fidos don't exclude animated dogs, as the talking dog, Dug, from Pixar's Up won the Blockbuster Bowser award, beating out pups from Gran Torino, Inglourious Basterds and another animation, Coraline, in the category.

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