Scott Mendelson's Blog
Open Salon's resident movie nerd and box office geek.
Scott Mendelson
- Location
- Woodland Hills, California, United States
- Birthday
- April 02
- Bio
- A ten-year Salon reader, Mendelson also has a film and politics blog/column at Mendelon's Memos: located at: http://scottalanmendelson.blogspot.com/.
He is also a free lance voice over artist and occasionally contributes film reviews for www.ValleySceneMagazine.com.
MY RECENT POSTS
- The Dark Knight didn't
*really* inspire grim
blockbusters.
May 21, 2012 02:39PM - Why's Rihanna in Battleship
instead of a minority
*actress*?
May 15, 2012 12:52PM - The Avengers's debut is even
more impressive than you
think.
May 07, 2012 12:10PM - Why I don't care if today's
kids know about the Titanic...
April 16, 2012 04:44PM - 9 female directors who should
direct a Hunger Games sequel.
April 11, 2012 01:14PM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “10 - "the departed" -
saw it, liked it, put it on my
2006
best-of
list.…”
May 07, 2012 05:47PM - “Hate to tell you this,
but I saw The King's Speech
four
months ago, back when
it…”
March 14, 2011 10:34AM - “There is a single press
screening for The Rite
tomorrow
night, but other
responsi…”
January 24, 2011 02:42PM - “I don't watch either MTV
show, so I may be very
wrong
here.
But when
16 and Preg…”
January 11, 2011 02:06PM - “Yes, I am perhaps
unintentionally slighting
Carpenter's
creepy ghost
story, but &…”
December 14, 2010 11:26AM
Scott Mendelson's Links
I've discussed this a few times over the years, so while
debunking the concept in question I must accept guilt for believing
it uncritically on prior occasions. If you've been reading reviews
and general commentary for The Avengers, you've probably
read at least a few pundits talk about… Read full post »
I am not the first person to bring this up. Heck, Samuel
L. Jackson went on a mini-tirade about this a decade ago,
regards to male actors. But in a day-and-age where meaty
roles for black actresses are incredibly scarce, especially in
big-budget studio films,
… Read full post »
Ten years ago,
Spider-Man shocked the industry by grossing more than $100
million in a single weekend. Five years ago,
Spider-Man 3 broke the $150 million weekend barrier.
This weekend,
The Avengers has blown through the $200 million barrier,
delivering a record opening weekend… Read full post »
"Oh no!", shouts America. There are kids on Facebook
and/or Twitter
who didn't realize that James Cameron's Titanic was
based on a true story! Obviously this is a prime example of
the dumbing-down of America and proof that educational standards in
America have hit rock-bottom,
The Playlist doesn't break news all that often,
merely seeing fit to be a one-stop shop for the movie news that
everyone else breaks during the day (I don't mean that as an
insult, The Playlist is the site I go to if I only have
time… Read full post »
About a week after Rush Limbaugh's (insert
negative adjective HERE) comments about Sandra Fluke, a
law student who testified before Congress regarding the ongoing
'debate' about contraception, the longtime right-wing talk-radio
host
has lost 30 sponsors from his show as a result
… Read full post »Editor’s Pick
SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 4:29PM
Why it matters if Patty Jenkins gets hired to direct Thor 2.
Variety has
apparently confirmed that Marvel Studios is indeed in talks
with Patty Jenkins to
replace departing Kenneth Branagh in directing Thor
2, which is due for release on July 26th, 2013 (review of
Thor
HERE). I generally don't comment on news about who is 'in
talks' or… Read full post »
Captain America: The First
Avenger
2011
124 minutes
rated PG-13
by Scott Mendelson
Joe Johnston's Captain America is a gloriously
old-fashioned bit of shoe-leather adventure. While there are
plenty of elaborate special effects, the emphasis remains on
character and narrative. &nbs… Read full post »
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
2011
154 minutes
rated PG-13
by Scott Mendelson
On a relative scale, the third time is the charm for the
Michael Bay robot-smashing series. This second sequel
basically gives us the apocalyptic Transformers epic
we've been waiting for since… Read full post »
X-Men: First Class
2011
132 minutes
rated PG-13
by Scott Mendelson
I have no idea how 20th Century Fox plans to fit X-Men:
First Class into the mythology of the previous X-Men
pictures. It theoretically works as a prequel to the first
three films, even as… Read full post »
Scream 42011
110 minutes
rated R
by Scott Mendelson
It is rare that a film spends such a large chunk of its
running time basically admonishing its own existence. Yet Wes
Craven's return to the world of Scream is not only a
relatively unnecessary franchise revival,… Read full post »
I know when I saw that
fantastic Green Lantern footage on Saturday, my first
thought was "Wow, I can't wait to watch that in my home just sixty
days after theatrical opening day for just $30!". Fox, Warner
Bros, Sony, and Universal
announced last week that they will begin offering… Read full post »
There's a choice quote in this Emily Browning interview
over at Nylon Magazine, which was reported by
Cinemablend that merits a mention. Its implications are
kinda shocking,. The crux is the discussion of changes that
Zach Snyder had to make in order to ensure Sucker Punch
(review… Read full post »
Battle: Los Angeles2011
116 minutes
rated PG-13
by Scott Mendelson
Rare is the movie that loses points for being too realistic.
But Jonathan Liebesman's alien invasion picture feels less
like an epic and more like a genuinely plausible war picture.
This is not a bad thing,… Read full post »
This is the first, and hopefully last article I'll be
writing about Mr. Bieber that doesn't involve
his present and future film projects. I have nothing against
the kid, but I have no more business discussing Bieber's worth as a
musician than I do discussing LeBron James's first year on… Read full post »
I have written a
couple times about the David E. Kelly
Wonder Woman reboot that is apparently scheduled for
this fall on NBC. The show will allegedly involve a somewhat
'realistic' take on the Amazon warrior, with Diana being a CEO by
day and a vigilante at night. The pilot… Read full post »
Is Chris Nolan the new Steven
Spielberg? Inception
received eight nominations, including Best Picture, but Nolan
failed to receive a directing nod this morning. That is
arguably the biggest surprise in the otherwise predictable batch of
Oscar nominations
today. Even as someo
… Read full post »
As the lone new wide-release of
the weekend, the Ivan Reitman romantic-comedy, No Strings
Attached, debuted with $20.3 million. The $25 million
picture was a solid win for both Natalie Portman and Ashton
Kutcher. Portman probably deserves credit, as this was the
first mainstream p… Read full post »
The Green Hornet2011
119 minutes
Rated PG-13
by Scott Mendelson
There is a refreshing quaintness to Michel Gondry's The
Green Hornet. In an age where every comic book
adaptation and/or superhero adventure story sets out to be the
biggest, most explosive, most fx-filled, most fantastic
… Read full post »
Black Swan2010
110 minutes
Rated R
Opens December 3rd in select theaters
By Scott Mendelson
Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan is a dazzling and often
intoxicating horror story. No, it's not a body count slasher
picture or a supernatural spook story, but it is every bit as
unnerving
… Read full post »
The Nutcracker 3D2010
105 minutes
rated PG
Opens Wednesday, November 24th in select theaters.
by Scott Mendelson
The Nutcracker 3D is one of the strangest cocktails
I've seen in a long time. It's technically a kids adventure
story, yet it eventually becomes, of all thing
… Read full post »
Saw VII2010
91 minutes
rated R
by Scott Mendelson
Saw VII is an unnecessary epilogue to a series that
already had a pretty satisfying finale. Saw
VI succeeded in returning Tobin Bell to the center stage,
while devising a compelling story that brought the story full
… Read full post »
Red2010
111 minutes
rated PG-13
by Scott Mendelson
There is something to be said for the simple pleasures of
watching seasoned performers give weight and potency to relatively
shallow material. Red is, on its own merits, a
sloppy and thin piece of genre film-making, often lacking
basi
… Read full post »
My Soul To
Take
2010
107 minutes
rated R
by Scott Mendelson
I often discuss the weird parallel nature of certain
filmmakers. By that I mean that certain would-be auteurs are
wildly inconsistent in their output. Could the same M. Night
Shyamalan would wrote and directed The Sixth Sense a… Read full post »
It was good news for one major release and bad news for
pretty much everything else. The much hyped and
critically-acclaimed 'founding of Facebook' drama The Social
Network debuted in number one
this weekend with a strong $23 million three-day take.
Predictions were all over the map for this o… Read full post »
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