Six trailers ran before The American yesterday at Pacific Place 11 in downtown Seattle.

The Next Three Days
A married couple’s life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of a murder. Starring: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Brian Dennehy
Director: Paul Haggis. A remake of a French film I believe. Release: November 19, 2010.

This is the first time I have heard of this movie. Don’t have an opinion. I did like Crowe’s last movie, Robin Hood, more than most. This film, obviously, is quite different.

Conviction
A high school dropout who spent nearly two decades working as a single mother while putting herself through law school, tirelessly trying to beat the system and overturn her brother’s unjust murder conviction. Starring: Hilary Swank, Minnie Driver, Sam Rockwell, Loren Dean. Director: Tony Goldwyn. Limited: October 15, 2010.
This has been on my ‘to see’ list for a while.

The Town
A tale of four men — thieves, rivals and friends — being hunted through the streets of Boston by a tenacious FBI agent and a woman who might destroy them all. The book won the 2005 Hammett Prize for excellence in crime writing. Starring: Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner. Director: Ben Affleck. Release: September 17, 2010.

I am looking forward to this. Probably not Oscar worthy . . . but a solid crime caper.

The Debt
In 1965, three young Israeli Mossad agents on a secret mission capture and kill a notorious Nazi war criminal. Now, thirty years later, a man claiming to be the Nazi has surfaced in Ukraine and one of the former agents must go back undercover to seek out the truth. Starring: Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Jesper Christensen. Director: John Madden. Release: December 29, 2010

I have heard very little about this. But the story synopsis makes it sound like it’s right up my alley.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story
A clinically depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward. Starring: Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Viola Davis. Director: Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden. Limited: October 8, 2010.

Pretty sure I will pass on this.

Let Me In
A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian. Starring: Chloe Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas. Director: Matt Reeves. Remake of the Swedish film of the same name. Release: October 1, 2010.
A definite pass on this. I didn’t like the original. It will be a big attraction for the kids who like blood and gore.

Shabazz Palaces by subpop

Shabazz Palaces Signs With Sup Pop Recods

Sub Pop’s recent signing of Seattle’s ascendant hip-hop collaborative Shabazz Palaces highlights an exciting, new example of the city’s legendary and ever-evolving music community. After self-releasing 2 EPs, Of Light and Shabazz Palaces, in 2009, the group quickly gained local acclaim, especially (and most noticeably to us) here within the Sub Pop offices. The Stranger, on Shabazz Palaces: ● More from: Sub Pop Records

I watched Steve Jobs yesterday . . . and here is what got me excited . . and unexcited.

• iTV. Smaller and cooler (both esthetically and temperature wise) than my current much used Apple TV. It will continue to stream content to my HD TV from my computer based iTunes and now can easily stream content from my iPad. The new version replaces the download-to-own model with a rental service that has shows from Fox and ABC for 99 cents. Jobs said the other networks had yet to agree to Apple’s pricing.

Other services include Netflix (how many devices do I have now with Netflix? 4? Roku still is the best interface), YouTube, Flickr, and Mobile Me, along with Rotten Tomatoes integration in the movie catalog.

Apple TVs won’t be getting an upgrade to the new cloud-based software.

This is a no brainer. I pre-ordered the new iTV (only $99) yesterday for arrival in a month.

• I am looking forward to iOS 4.2 for the iPad. Multitasking and folders come in November. I love these features on the iPhone 4 and miss them on my iPad.

Over WiFi is a new wireless printing feature, complete with a little Print Center applet that sits in the dock and lets you manage your print jobs. Worthless to me . . . I don’t have a printer.

• Ping sounds interesting in the new iTunes 10 . . it’s touted as a “social network for music.” The first look showed me it wasn’t much more than marketing effort to sell more music. Making it easy to buy what your friends and your favorite artists buy. If they did it right you should be able to share what you are playing . . . not just what you are buying. Many other online music services like Pandora and Zune Social from Microsoft already have features that allow friends to share information about music.

There are some reports of the new iTunes 10 crashing and being incompatible with some 3rd party plug-ins. I haven’t experience the crashing but it still seems to be locking up after editing / updating info tags and such. I am now running iTunes is safe-mode and will consider other “fixes” if necessary.

• The new iPod Shuffle, Nano and Touch all look cool. But with an iPhone and iPad I don’t need one.

Despite the film’s name and the movie star it features The American is a foreign film. George Clooney is the American and the rest of the cast appear to be all Italians. The look, feel and pace has a foreign feel. And like the current TV rage, Rubicon, you don’t know who is working for who, where the plot is going and who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. That is all superficial. Like Clooney’s Up In The Air, The American is about a lifestyle and personal relationships. In fact there are many similarities between Jack and Ryan. A special shout out to the butterfly wrangler working The American. Many might not notice your work . . . but I did . . . especially in the last scene. Job well done. The American turned out to be quite different than what I anticipated . . . for one thing it was much better. [ RT ]

They still sell over a million albums a year even though the Doors fell apart almost forty years ago. I watched When You’re Strange again last night. This is probably the best chronicling of a rock band ever done on film. All the factors were right. The band was together for only 4.5 years so a lot of time didn’t have to be covered. For a late ’60s group they did a lot of video and there are miles and miles of press footage . . . you might remember the group was in the news often. Add the explosive and influential nature of the era in which they performed and the affect they had on that era and you have some great circumstances for a documentary.

You can’t burn out if you were never on fire.

If you are looking to rediscover the Doors, bring back some ’60s memories or are discovering the Doors for the first time I recommend these two videos.

When You’re Strange, narrated by Johnny Deep, is 100% made from video of the era with only a few words from the mouths of the band members. This movie, as the expression from the day goes, is a real trip.

Classic Albums: The Doors is more of a traditional documentary. The 88 minute feature examines closely the making of the first Doors album. Some great footage and insight from those involved in 1967.

Netflix Instant Watch

Netflix Instant Watch

Director TOM DiCILLO talks about WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE

The title was chosen because of its several meanings and connections to The Doors. It is a lyric from one of their signature songs, “People Are Strange.” As a band their music has an indefinable quality, a strangeness that makes them completely unique. Morrison described the haunting darkness at the heart of their music as the sound “of no one at home.” When the term is applied to the band and their music it is done so with honor.

WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE of course applies directly to Morrison himself. There is no figure in the history of American Rock and Roll who inspired so many myths; and continues to. The title also touches all those who have ever felt the cool chill of isolation and oddness themselves. Which, in a way, is all of us. ● More from: tomdicillo.com/blog