The Queen Bee

After months of silence due to moving and an intense schedule at Film Society of Lincoln Center, the blog is back! My apologies to everyone who was expecting regular posts over these few months but got nothing. Additionally, I would like to thank those of you who started following me, aka newcomers.

This first comeback post is not really related to film but it is an example of successful marketing, the power of Internet and word of mouth. A few weeks ago, PlayStation released a teaser called “‘Michael’ Live Long Play” with an apparent launch of a campaign on 10.5.2011. Yesterday, thanks to Kotaku, I quickly learned what is was: PlayStation’s way of thanking gamers (not just PS fans but all gamers) around the world with a trailer that includes some of the most famous characters from popular PlayStation games. Video games are basically useless without gamers, who give life to each character, build impressive fan communities and even able to influence developers. Sony, you’re too clever. Go to www.longliveplay.com for more information about the campaign.

Here is the trailer- if you can, watch it full screen in HD (preferably 1080p) for all its glory:

Couple of days ago, Tumblr’s very own The Movie Doc posted that he needed volunteer writers for his new WordPress site. Guess what? I now write at http://themoviedoc.com/! Of course, I’ll keep writing to my personal blog and post links here of the articles I write at TheMovieDoc.com. Pretty exciting!

After years of being out of Hollywood, is Francis Ford Coppola going mainstream again?Or does he simply want to reach out a niche audience at this year’s Comic-Con? Though these questions might not be answered until July 23rd in San Diego, it is still exciting to hear that the director will be showing clips from his latest horror movie, Twixt. According to Coppola, it is “one part Gothic romance, one part personal film, and one part the kind of horror film that began my career.” The synopsis is as follows:

A writer with a declining career arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl.  That night in a dream, he is approached by a mysterious young ghost named V.  He’s unsure of her connection to the murder in the town, but is grateful for the story being handed to him.  Ultimately he is led to the truth of the story, surprised to find that the ending has more to do with his own life than he could ever have anticipated.

Twixt is shot both in 2D and 3D, and stars Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Elle Fanning and Ben Chaplin. Comic-Con last hosted the director in 1991 for a preview of Bram Stroker’s Dracula. Be there on July 23 in the Hall H auditorium if you want to see a sneak peek and listen to the score performed by Dan Deacon!

If you have seen Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World’s newly released poster, you know what I mean. Here is the poster:

You got it right! There will be all sorts of smells while you are watching the movie. Apparently, movie tickets will come with an Aroma-Scope card. “The surprise will come in the form of an Aromascope card (which comes free with each ticket) containing a series of numbers to rub when the corresponding number flashes on the screen. And then you’ll have a scent from the scene in the movie thus putting you deeper into the world of Spy Kids.” Robert Rodriguez, what were you thinking. Also, “Smell-O-Vision was apparently named one of the 100 Worst Ideas of All-Time according to a recent TIME reader survey.” What if you rub the wrong box and that smell gets mixed with all other smells? What if you or your kid/brother/sister turn out to be allergic to the smell? What do you guys think; major fail or a possible success? Read more of the story here. Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World opens on August 19th. I will make sure to stay away from those theaters showing the movie.