Instant Cool – Buy Blood Car – The Ultimate Christmas Gift

If you haven't heard of Blood Car you are in the majority. Let's try change that. Find out how you can watch the funniest film of 2007 here.

It was the night before Christmas – wait that’s not right. It was a week or two before Halloween and I was covering the Toronto After Dark Film Fest. It was the second day of the festival, which also happened to be the day jam packed with the most screenings. I had just sat through a nearly three-hour screening of Uwe Boll’s painfully dreadful In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (Burt Reynolds plays a medieval king- that’s how fucked this film is).

I was beyond tired and 99% sure that I was going to fall asleep during the screening of the next film. Unless, of course, the next film was something spectacular – the kind of film that drags you in and keeps you there in the moment against your will – like that crazy Dutchman from Hostel. From what I knew about the forthcoming film it did not seem like one of those movies.

It was some flick called Blood Car and at the time I thought this was an extremely lame title. Within the first few seconds of the film I was more hooked than a 14-year old girl on Zac Efron. The small budget indie is essentially a re-imagining of The Little Shop of Horrors concept but instead of a plant it’s a car.

The film is set in the not so distant future where gas prices have gone through the roof and nobody drives anymore. Then a young school teacher accidentally develops an engine that runs on blood. Being the only guy around with a working car gives him the power he has never had in his life and the question is raised, “How far will he go to keep his car running.” Here is the trailer:

The film is shock/black comedy all the way pushing the boundaries that most films wouldn’t. It’s definitely not for the conservative crowd but those of you who crack up over South Park and Family Guy will love it. If you were into Shaun of the Dead you should enjoy this.

The film is being independently distributed through TLA and the official website. The official website store is done through b-side, who specialize in indie movies. You can purchase the film from them for $15 plus you get a digital download free (or simply pay for a digital download for $3 or $6), so you don’t have to wait for your copy to arrive before you watch it. What are you waiting for – Pick up a copy today!

Or wait if you don’t want to spend money, here is the gift of information from The End for this Christmas. When you register with b-side they will give you a free portable download file (valued at $3). This is basically a 700mb Div-X film designed specifically for video i-pods but this is probably above the average pirate div-x quality that most Varsity students are used to. Use your free download to get Blood Car and end your miserable year off with a screening of the funniest film of 2007.

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Golden Globe Nominations

Here are the Golden Globe nominations and what this will probably mean for the Oscar nominations.

The Golden Globe Nominations have been announced in a year that appears to be wide open with no clear favourites. No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood are the current front runners for the top award having snatched the major critics awards so far. However, Atonement leads in nominations having received best actor, actress and picture nods. Here is the break down of the nominations from The Hollywood Reporter. After this list will be my comments regarding how this will possibly effect the Oscars. 

Film Nominations:

Motion picture -- drama "American Gangster" "Atonement" "Eastern Promises" "The Great Debaters" "Michael Clayton" "No Country for Old Men" "There Will Be Blood."	Director Tim Burton, "Sweeney Todd" Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men" Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" Ridley Scott, "American Gangster" Joe Wright, "Atonement"
Actress -- Drama Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" Julie Christie, "Away From Her" Jodie Foster, "The Brave One" Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart" Keira Knightley, "Atonement"	Actor -- Drama George Clooney, "Michael Clayton" Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood" James McAvoy, "Atonement" Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises" Denzel Washington, "American Gangster"
Screenplay Diablo Cody, "Juno" Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men" Christopher Hampton, "Atonement" Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" Aaron Sorkin, "Charlie Wilson's War"	Picture -- Musical or Comedy "Across the Universe" "Charlie Wilson's War" "Hairspray" "Juno" "Sweeney Todd"
Actress -- Musical or Comedy Amy Adams, "Enchanted" Nikki Blonsky, "Hairspray" Helena Bonham Carter, "Sweeney Todd" Marion Cotillard, "La Vie En Rose" Ellen Page, "Juno"	Actor -- Musical or Comedy Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd" Ryan Gosling, "Lars and the Real Girl" Tom Hanks, "Charlie Wilson's War" Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Savages" John C. Reilly, "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"
Supporting Actress Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There" Julia Roberts, "Charlie Wilson's War" Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement" Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone" Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"	Supporting Actor Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men" Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War" John Travolta, "Hairspray" Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"
Foreign-Language Film "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," Romania "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," France and U.S. "The Kite Runner," U.S. "Lust, Caution," Taiwan "Persepolis," France.	Animated Film "Bee Movie" "Ratatouille" "The Simpsons Movie"
Original Score Michael Brook, Kaki King, Eddie Vedder, "Into the Wild" Clint Eastwood, "Grace Is Gone" Alberto Iglesias, "The Kite Runner" Dario Marianelli, "Atonement" Howard Shore, "Eastern Promises"	Original Song "Despedida" from "Love in the Time of Cholera" "Grace Is Gone" from "Grace Is Gone" "Guaranteed" from "Into the Wild" "That's How You Know" from "Enchanted" "Walk Hard" from "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"

Television Nominations:

Series -- Drama "Big Love," HBO "Damages," FX Networks "Grey's Anatomy," ABC "House," Fox; "Mad Men," AMC "The Tudors," Showtime	Series -- Musical or cComedy "30 Rock," NBC "Californication," Showtime "Entourage," HBO "Extras," HBO "Pushing Daisies," ABC
Actress -- Drama Patricia Arquette, "Medium" Glenn Close, "Damages" Minnie Driver, "The Riches" Edie Falco, "The Sopranos" Sally Field, "Brothers & Sisters" Holly Hunter, "Saving Grace" Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"	Actor -- Drama Michael C. Hall, "Dexter" Jon Hamm, "Mad Men" Hugh Laurie, "House" Jonathan Rhys Meyers, "The Tudors" Bill Paxton, "Big Love"
Actress -- Musical or Comedy Christina Applegate, "Samantha Who?" America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty" Tina Fey, "30 Rock" Anna Friel, "Pushing Daisies" Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"	Actor -- Musical or Comedy Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock" Steve Carell, "The Office" David Duchovny, "Californication" Ricky Gervais, "Extras" Lee Pace, "Pushing Daisies"
Miniseries or Movie "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," HBO "The Company," TNT "Five Days," HBO "Longford," HBO "The State Within," BBC America	Actress -- Miniseries or Movie Bryce Dallas Howard, "As You Like It" Debra Messing, "The Starter Wife" Queen Latifah, "Life Support" Sissy Spacek, "Pictures of Hollis Woods" Ruth Wilson, "Jane Eyre (Masterpiece Theatre)"
Actor -- Miniseries or Movie Adam Beach, "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" Ernest Borgnine, "A Grandpa for Christmas" Jim Broadbent, "Longford" Jason Isaacs, "The State Within" James Nesbitt, "Jekyll"	Supporting Actress -- Series, Miniseries or Movie Rose Byrne, "Damages" Rachel Griffiths, "Brothers & Sisters" Katherine Heigl, "Grey's Anatomy" Samantha Morton, "Longford" Anna Paquin, "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" Jaime Pressly, "My Name Is Earl"
Supporting Actor -- Series, Miniseries or Movie Ted Danson, "Damages" Kevin Dillon, "Entourage" Jeremy Piven, "Entourage" Andy Serkis, "Longford" William Shatner, "Boston Legal" Donald Sutherland, "Dirty Sexy Money"

 

In terms of the Oscars here are my picks for Best Picture nominations:

"American Gangster"/"Juno"/"Sweeney Todd"
"Atonement"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood."

Atonement, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood are shoe ins for best picture leaving one spot, which will likely go to Sweeney Todd or American Gangster but I'm penciling in Juno as well because the critics have been loving it.

Best Actress will most likely come more from the Comedy Musical section as the dramatic nominees have been in weaker overall films.

Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
Keira Knightley, "Atonement"

Amy Adams, "Enchanted"
Marion Cotillard, "La Vie En Rose"
Ellen Page, "Juno"

Here are my Best Actor picks.

Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
James McAvoy, "Atonement"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises" or Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd"
Denzel Washington, "American Gangster"

Ryan Gosling, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Savages"

And lastly Cate Blanchett is pretty much a definite for a Best Supporting Actress win at the Oscars, having been robbed so many times for Best Actress in previous years and her performance is probably the strongest/strangest out of all the contenders.

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Dexter to be Castrated then Shown on CBS

Studio Briefing reports that due to the writers strike various Showtime shows will be edited down from their adult cable format to be played on sibling broadcast network CBS. CBS chief Les Moonves said, "Dexter is probably the first one to go on -- with some edits. ... It fits with our crime shows."

That means no semi-nudity and overly grotesque gore scenes for the general American public. This is a creative solution (which NBC announced first) from the content starved networks, since most people do not see these shows on cable.

It will be interesting to see how this amazing show fares on broadcast. How will it's rating stack up against the other CBS hits (which are crap). Hopefully not so well that they decide to keep it in its castrated form exclusively on broadcast TV.

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The New Batman Teaser Poster

Here is the new teaser poster for the new Batman film coming out next year. It looks fantastic as has been the rest of the promotional material for this film. Click the image for the high-res version.

For those of you who don't know Heath Ledger is the new Joker and his version looks to be way more twisted than the Nicholson version. Here is a picture also this is the new Bat suit, which is the first Batman costume ever with a moveable neck.

And if you haven't seen the teaser trailer, watch it here. At the end you will hear Ledger talking as the Joker and he sounds like a completely deranged clown. Perfect.

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