Tag Archives: Jack Poessiger
Jack Goes Confidential: ‘WATER FOR ELEPHANTS’ Is Top Notch Romantic Drama!
To call WATER FOR ELEPHANTS a chick-flick is a complete injustice to a film guys will enjoy just as much—IF– you can convince them to go.
That said, eventual good word-of-mouth about the movie should underplay any pre-perceptions.
Based on Sara Gruen’s acclaimed best selling novel, this transfer to the big screen shouldn’t disappoint its millions of fans, despite that director Francis Lawrence had to squeeze volumes of material into the film’s 2 hour running time.
Set during the depression and near-end of the prohibiton era of the early 30’s, the story has young veterinary student Jacob (Robert Pattinson) drop out and jump a circus train after his Polish immigrant parents are killed in a car wreck.
But this traveling circus is no Barnum & Bailey which had a reputation of being a true family show.
New Jack City: Feel Good, Do Good Time, KC Variety Club Kidz Need You!
And now a public service schmooze on behalf of the Kansas City Variety Club children’s charity. The all-volunteer organization that raises $$$ for mobility equipment for special needs children in Greater K.C.
Kansas City’s chapter is hosting two fun events in support of K.C. Kids.
The first is MAGIC FOR KIDS this Saturday, April 23 at 1:00 p.m. Magician-performers Todd Lamanske, David Henderson and Tom Bergoon will take the stage at K.C.’s IMPROV CLUB at Zona Rosa to entertain and dazzle with a nonstop roller coaster of illusions and laughs.
New Jack City: Film Row Loses Last Vestige of KC’s Cinematic Past!
For decades, Film Row – the area between 17th and 19th streets on Central and between Wyandotte and Broadway on 18th Street – was the midwest’s connection to the movie biz.
All the major Hollywood studios had distribution offices there. Warner Brothers, 20th Century-Fox, Columbia Pictures, Paramount, Allied Artists, MGM, Universal Pictures, United Artists, Walt Disney and a handful of independents. Each facilitated the distribution of motion pictures to the midwest’s theater screens from what is now called the Crossroads district.
The tall building at the SW corner of 18th and Wyandotte was the national headquarters of the biggest distributor of movie advertising accessories. Known as National Screen Service, it shipped trailers, posters and ad materials to theaters all across the country.
Jack Goes Confidential: Dim Projection at ‘RIO’ Screening Mars Movie Experience
A full page ad for RIO in last Sunday’s New York Times was headed by a massive critic’s quote about it being "The biggest and BRIGHTEST animated triumph since TOY STORY 3."
The quote attributed to Boxoffice Magazine’s Pete Hammond.
Had Mr. Hammond attended our K.C. screening of the movie last Saturday he might’ve been a bit less enthusiastic. And he may have found a different descriptive word for ‘brightest’—like DIMMEST!
And that was BEFORE I put on the 3-D glasses!
Jack Goes Confidential: Slasher Puzzle Reboots ‘SCREAM’ Franchise!
Can the SCREAM franchise be resurrected?
SCREAM 4 certainly takes a good stab at it by trying to redefine the genre’s slasher story which was successfully launched in 1996 and ground to an end in 2000.
Original survivors back for the reboot include Neve Campbell again as Sidney Prescott, Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers and of course bumbling Sheriff Dewey Riley portrayed again by David Arquette.
SCREAM 4’s storyline is a simple one, as popular self-help author Sidney returns to Woodsboro for a book signing and while in town connects with Dewey and Gale who are now man and wife.
But Sidney’s homecoming: BAD IDEA!
New Jack City: Movies 2011 – Yesterday, Today, Oh & This Summer!
To suggest a cloud of gloom hovered above the recent CinemaCon convention in Vegas would be an understatement…
Granted domestic ticket income this past year at the nation’s theaters amounted to in excess of $10.5 billion. But a sizeable portion of that $10 billion was owing to increased ticket prices and hefty up charges for 3-D releases of which there were many in 2010.
The really telling story was the actual theater attendance last year in which 1.34 billion tickets were sold at North American theaters.
That’s DOWN 74 million from 2009!
In fact, movie attendance in the US in 2010 was the second-lowest in the past 15 years!
Jack Goes Confidential: Feel Good ‘ARTHUR’ Delivers Well Above Expectations!
I’ll readily admit my skepticism when it came to the remaking of the 1981 hit comedy Arthur…
Especially with Russell Brand in actor Dudley Moore’s classic role.But I’m here to tell you that the 2011 version of Arthur got it right!
If you’ve never seen the original: GREAT! You’re in for a highly entertaining, heartwarming night at the movies.
New Jack City: Movie Innovators Cameron, Lucas, Katzenberg Raise Cinematic Bar
Three movie Industry heavyweights at last week’s international CinemaCon movie convention in Las Vegas told us of the exciting new innovations in 3-D development and animation.
The frank presentation panel included Hollywood titans James Cameron, Jeffrey Katzenberg and George Lucas.
Luckily the cutting-edge technologies they spoke of are not in a galaxy far, far away—but in the very near future!
Jack Goes Confidential: Jake Gyllenhaal Faces Time Reassignment in SOURCE CODE!
For those who’ve followed my reviews, you’ve probably come to realize I’m not the biggest sci-fi fan.
Not to say I can’t distinguish between a good one and a so-so sci-fi offering.
The same goes for any genre, be it a chick-flick, kids or fantasy movie, comedy or drama, it’s either good and interesting or just run-of-the-mill.
That brings me to SOURCE CODE, a new sci-fi action-thriller I find interesting, entertaining & thought provoking.
New Jack City: How KC $tacks Up For Tourism & Business Visitors
Got a lot of response to my story about price gouging downtown during the Big 12 Tourney.
Most people agreed that parking prices up to $30 by opportunistic lot operators. were outrageous. Others thought I was a cheapskate and should have just ponied up the bucks no matter how bad it might look to visitors to KC.
But not to worry, the Slyster– new mayor Sly James — will surely look into it.
Which brings me to another matter; how Kansas City stacks up in terms of daily expenses for visitors and out-of-town business people compared to other cities.
And Business Travel News has just released its 2011 corporate travel index with the daily costs of doing business in the top 100 domestic and international cities.
Jack Goes Confidential: Matthew McConaughey Lands OK Legal Thriller!
Rejoice!
As THE LINCOLN LAWYER, Matthew McConaughey, for once gets to keep his shirt on!
He plays dapper yet bottom-feeding defense attorney Michael Haller–Mick for short.
His office: The back seat of his vintage Lincoln sedan sporting license plates that read ‘NTGUILTY.’
Business is flourishing. Lots more wins than losses. That is, until he’s set-up by being tied to a previous murder case which he had lost!
But that’s about as much as I can spill here as the storyline and clients zig, as Mick zags all over the place.
Translation: Multiple twists!
Jack Goes Confidential: Mind-Bending Pill Turns Bradley Cooper’s Life ‘LIMITLESS’!
Think of the possibilities if they invented a smart pill and the FDA approved it!
That’s kinda what happens to Bradley Cooper. In LIMITLESS he plays a down-on-his-luck writer who’s introduced to a life changing, non-approved drug by his shady brother-in-law,
An experimental clear pill that enables one to overnight attain super human intelligence!
The pill allows Cooper to use 100% of his mind and turns him into the perfect version of himself.
His future now looking fantastic!
Jack Goes Confidential: Slacker-Alien ‘PAUL’ Fizzles On Big Screen!
The two British dudes from SHAUN OF THE DEAD—Simon Pegg and Nick Frost— take an American cross-country fanboy RV road trip starting at Comic-Con in San Diego and heading east.
It all goes down in the movie, PAUL.
Their wildest dream comes to life when they encounter a hip but foul-mouthed slacker alien named PAUL (voiced by Seth Rogen) who for several decades has been hanging out at a top secret Nevada military base.
AREA 51 anyone?
New Jack City: What Do You Say To A Naked Lady?
It wasn’t always easy!
Back in the early 80’s porn had come out of the shadows and became fashionable. Kansas City sported a number of so-called Adult Theaters dedicated to showing it all—generally porn movies veiled in flimsy storylines. One of the most popular of these porn palaces was the Old Chelsea theater at about 13th and Broadway.
The industry produced its own stars back then. Names like Annette Haven, Annie Sprinkle, Linda Lovelace, Seka, Jesie St. James, Little Oral Annie, Misty Dawn, Traci Lords, and Hyapatia Lee dotted the sex movie horizon.
And just like mainstream stars hit the road to promote their latest films, so did their adult counterparts during their heydays.
A promotional stop for many-of the porn variety—was KY-102 and its Friday afternoon live movie magazine called JACK GOES TO THE MOVIES featuring—-me.
New Jack City: Beware Big 12 Parking Ripoff, Gouging Galore in Downtown KC
One definition of gouging is "to cheat out of money– to charge too high a price."
Welcome to the Big 12 Tournament in downtown Kansas City!
I was planning to attend a press screening of a movie at the AMC Mainstreet Wednesday afternoon. I usually park at Cosentino’s Market and end up taking home a sack full of goodies from its kickass bakery.
Not this Wednesday!
The AMC Mainstreet validates Cosentino’s parking for up to 3 hours. And if the movie runs a little long – no biggie – it costs a buck.
However all those bets are off when the Big 12 hits town.
JACK GOES CONFIDENTIAL: Aliens Invade Local Megaplexes!
It’s a battle of the ALIENS this weekend at the movies!
The first is a highly-advanced extra terrestrial action-thriller, BATTLE: LOS ANGELES raining down on major cities around the world.
Who are they? Nobody knows but apparently they’re after our water!
But when their war ships hit L.A. they find Marine staff sargeant Aaron Eckhart and his troops ready for the ultimate cliche-ridden battle for human survival.
NEW JACK CITY: Drive-in Movies Jump Start the Spring Season!
There are two sure signs that spring is right around the corner,
The first: Time "springs forward" by one hour this weekend.
The Second: The season reopening of the first of Kansas City’s three Drive-In Theaters.
The big I-70, 4-screen Drive-In kicks off the 2011 season with weekend operation this Friday, March 11th.
Kansas City’s other two drive-ins, the Twin and Boulevard, will follow three weeks later by bringing back movies under the stars on April 1st.
Drive-in movies?
You bet!
Kansas City is one of the strongest markets for the outdoor motor movie emporiums in the Midwest. hicago, Denver and St. Louis screen counts combined don’t equal KC’s!
Jack Goes Confidential: Matt Damon Fantasy Thriller Leads K.C.’s Movie Weekend!
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Two new fantasy adventures on tap this weekend…
The first is a high concept romantic sci-fi fantasy thriller based on a short story by Philip K. Dick of TOTAL RECALL, MINORITY REPORT and BLADE RUNNER fame.
In THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU actor Matt Damon stars as an ambitious politician on the brink of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate when he meets beautiful ballet dancer Emily Blunt. But the closer he gets to her the more interference he begins to experience from the forces of the Adjustment Bureau!
Who are these guys?
Jack Goes Confidential: Johnny Depp Voiced Fantasy Surprises For Kids, Adults
The second fantasy-adventure on the docket this weekend is RANGO…
It’s an animated fantasy tale of a displaced lizard-chameleon. A dude with a definite identity crisis who finds himself out of the restrictive confines of his terrarium and in a waterless western dessert (critter) town called Dirt.
Got all that?
There he discovers the hero inside him, becoming its new sheriff and trying to get to the bottom of the water shortage with all signs pointing to a corrupt local banker.
It’s difficult to properly describe RANGO. Suffice it to say it’s got both kid and adult appeal!
NEW JACK CITY: RAZZIES Award Underachievement in Film!
Forget the Oscars!
The 31st annual Razzie Awards got the jump on the festivities Saturday night by naming M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender worst movie of 2010.
The epic cleaned up by also collecting Golden Raspberry statues for Worst Direction by Mr. Shyamalan, Worst Screenplay and Worst Supporting actor Jackson Rathbone.
Finally, in a new category, Airbender was also awarded for Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse Of 3-D this past year.
Another big Razzie winner: Sex and the City 2
