"I don't really care for movies; they make everything seem so close up."
- Macon Leary (William Hurt - THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST 1988)
Well we here at film babble have boxed up all our DVD copies of 2004 political documentaries including of course FAHRENHEIT 911, BUSH'S BRAIN, OUTFOXED, and GOING UPRIVER - THE LONG WAR OF JOHN KERRY and we're sending them to OHIO. We implore you to do the same.
Well there is a lot to cover this post - Richard Linklater DVDs, roc docs, and lists galore.
Let's go -
In current release in theaters :
DiG! Dir. Ondi Timoner. This is the story of 2 bands - The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. Both came to the LA scene in the mid '90's offering a retro '60's alternative to the grunge and manufactured pop of the day. Both flirted with major record label deals and came dangerously close to getting the "next big thing" title. Neither achieved more than modest cult success. So why the movie you ask? Because Timoner was there from the beginning filming both these bands as friends jamming on stage together to backstage humilations to personal disses and questionable behaviour of all kinds. If any roc doc can make a claim to be considered the 'real-life Spinal Tap' its this one.
BJM frontman Anton Newcombe is the source of much of the tension and exaggerated rivalry. He dominates the footage with paranoid rants and pretentious pontificating about his 'revolutionary' songwriting. Meanwhile Courtney Taylor of the Dandy Warhols has exaulted praise for Newcombe except a little concern about the competitive stalking of sorts. He also comes across a bit big-headed -"I sneeze and out come hits" he tells a record company executive upon being told their album was being shelved. "Well if that's the case I'm sure Capitol will finance your handkerchiefs" was their response. That Taylor narrates this movie works for me but others (including Newcombe) have criticized it for being biased.
I'm sure most people reading this are not familliar with these bands - Brian Jonestown or the Warhols - I myself knew precious little going in so the good news is you don't need to know anything beforehand. It's a good tuneful time at the movies that's funny and as involving as most dramas. I dug DiG! Bet you will too.
- DCJ
Because of the confused email we got over what the Hell I HEART HUCKABEES was about we were compelled to name :
THE TOP 5 MOVIES THAT SEEM DESIGNED TO MAKE YOU SAY "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!!?"
1. MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001)- Dir. David Lynch (HONORABLE MENTION : ERASERHEAD, LOST HIGHWAY, TWIN PEAKS, and everything else he's ever done)
2. BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1970) - Roger Ebert wrote this sleazy '60's sex flick directed by Russ Meyer and incomprehensible to the world at large. Remember that when Roger puts down yer favorite film.
3. BRAZIL (1986) – Dir. Terry Gilliam. Brilliant but mind boggling. A classic of glorious confusion.
4. HEAD (1968) – Robert Rafelson. The Monkees try to destroy their cute TV image with the help of Jack Nicholson and the most psychedelic songs of their canon and end up destroying their career and the movie-goers mind. It's a satire of Westerns, boxing movies, romances, dance pictures, war dramas, and every thing else you can cram in 90 min.
5. THREE WOMEN (1977) – Robert Altman. This movie based on a dream the director had is fascinating and a magnet for the eyes but what the Hell it means is beyond us. Shelly Duvall, Sissy Spacek, and Janice Rule are the 3 women - that's all I can tell you for sure.
HONORABLE MENTION: JOE VS. THE VOLCANO, HOWARD THE DUCK & THE BLACK HOLE. Just don't know what to make of those either.
Contributors to this WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!!? list were : DCJ, Amanda Fromwell, Anderson Moran, Bertie Shafer, and Sarah Weber.
Email CookieCulture :
cookieco@sprynet.com
And now some top notch babblin' about one of our favorite directors in -
OUR SPECIAL RICHARD LINKLATER SECTION:
To celebrate the fact that a spify brand new DVD of Linklater's classic debut film SLACKER has been recently released in a CRITERION collection edition, DAZED AND CONFUSED has gotten the Special Edition treatments and his most recent film BEFORE SUNSET has also just hit the DVD market we decided to give the man his film babble due. So here goes :
BASIC FILMOGRAPHY AND INITIAL GUIDE TO THIS BLOG:
S - SLACKER
DAC - DAZED AND CONFUSED
NB - THE NEWTON BOYS
BS - BEFORE SUNRISE
SUB - SUBURBIA
WL - WAKING LIFE
T -TAPE
SOR - SCHOOL OF ROCK
BS II - BEFORE SUNSET
The Richard Linklater Repertory Company Role Call:
Julie Delpy – BS, WL, BSII
Ethan Hawke – BS, NB, WL, T, BSII
Adam Goldberg – DAC, BS, WL
Charles Gunning - S, NB, & WL
Nicky Katt - DAC, SUB
Kim Krizan - S, DAC
Richard Linklater – S, WL
Michael McConaughey – DAC, NB
Parker Posey – DAC, SUB
Willie Wiggins – DAC, WL
5 GREAT LINES FROM THE MOUTHS OF RICHARD LINKLATER CHARACTERS:
1. "Withdrawing in disgust is not the same as apathy." - This was written on a card handed to somebody in S (This line was quoted in R.E.M.'s "What's The Frequency Kenneth?" Monster 1995)
2. "George Washington was in a cult, and the cult was into aliens, man." - Slater (Rory Cochrane DAC
3. "Your kids have all really touched me, and I'm pretty sure that I've touched them." - Dewey Finn (Jack Black - SOR)
4. "Idealism is guilty middle-class bullshit." - Jeff (Giovanni Ribisi - SUB)
5. "Did you ever have a job that you hated and worked real hard at? A long hard day of work. Finally you get to go home, get in bed, close your eyes. And immediately you wake up and realize that the whole day at work had been a dream. It's bad enough that you sell your life for minimum wage but now they get your dreams for free." - Guy Forsyth WL
More later...
is the Green Art Nail
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Thursday, October 28, 2004
New DVDs, Election Year Poli-Docs, & 10 Little Nixons
"Life isn't like the movies, where something happens and 10 seconds later you have a realisation."
- Lowell (Gene Hackman) POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE (1990)
So many movies...today we tackle a few new films in theaters and a stack o' new DVD releases plus more lists and other fun. First up :
I HEART HUCKABEES (Dir. David O. Russell, 2004) This is the ultimate "what the Hell was that?!!?" movie. It's been a few days since I've seen it and I'm still trying to process. Many critics don't even try to describe the plot or premise I'd just say it's about a poet activist (Jason Schartzman) who hires a married couple played by Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin who bill themselves as 'existential detectives' to sort out problems with his soul. Oh yeah there's an overly slick spokesperson (Jude Law) for a Target/Wal Mart type chain and his flighty model wife (Naomi Watts) as well as Mark Wahlberg as a fireman who hates petroleum - going to the lengths to ride his bike to fight fires. That's as good as I can do.
The characters all run aroung spouting lines like "There's no such thing as nothing"and "Nobody sits like this rock sits. You rock rock. The rock just sits and is. You show us how to just sit here and that's what we need." Some of this is fun, some of it is strained, some of it is just purely baffling. I mean at the end I was more confused than I was by the MATRIX sequels. I mean - now what's reality? It also doesn't help that HUCKABEES seems stiched together from other movie's styles. The soundtrack by Jon Brion and the color scheme recall the work of P.T. Anderson (MAGNOLIA, PUNCH DRUNK LOVE). The other Anderson - Wes Anderson comes to mind of course from the casting of Schwartzman (RUSHMORE). The screenplay seems suggested by the work of Charlie Kaufman (ADAPTATION, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND). So did I like it? I didn't hate it. That's the best I can do.
- D C J
For no other reason than that election day is 5 days away and these movies will lose their relevance here’s
10 ELECTION YEAR POLI-DOCS
1. FAHRENHEIT 9/11 Dir. Michael Moore. The leader of the pack. Newly released on DVD this powerful if uneven call for the ousting of George W. Bush from the White House sure makes a convincing case.
2. GOING UPRIVER : THE LONG WAR OF JOHN KERRY Dir. George Butler. A moving portrait of Kerry’s Vietnam tour of duty and his activism to ending that war. One sided to be sure but what a side it is!
3. OUTFOXED : RUPERT MURDOCH’S WAR ON JOURNALISM Dir. Robert Greenwald. Compelling and funny but in an unnerving way. Part of Greenwald’s series of “UN-“ poli-docs (either as Director or Producer) – the others being :
4. UNPRECEDENTED : THE 2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
5. UNCONSTITUTIONAL : THE WAR ON OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES
6. UNCOVERED : THE WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT THE WAR IN IRAQ
Other less heralded Bush must go shows :
7. BUSH’S BRAIN
8. BUSH FAMILY FORTUNES
9. HORNS AND HALOS
10. THE CORPORATION
I for one hope they work.
- D C J
And now here's some :
DVDS IN CURRENT RELEASE
GRAND THEFT PARSONS (Dir. Davis Caffrey, 2003) This road comedy set in the early 70's about a couple of shifty guys who steal a corpse of a recently deceased country singer looks and feels like a lot of low budget indie movies except for the fact that it's based on the true story about what happened to Gram Parson's body because of a pact he had made with his road manager. Johnny Knoxville (JACKASS) plays Phillip Kaufman who promised Parsons that he would set fire to his body at Joshua Tree - Parsons to do the same if Kaufman dies first, Christina Applegate plays Gram's greedy ex-girlfriend who is after the body for her own financial gain, Robert Forster puts in another sturdy understated performance as Gram's father, and Michael Shannon is the oblivious hippy whose yellow flower power herse is commandered by Kaufman. Knoxville does a credible acting job, the music is of course great - several Parson's standards are used well, and the movie moves at a good breezy pace. Not a great film but an amusing one and although not completely accurate it's a fine side note to Gram Parson's short but great legacy.
- Anderson Moran
SOME NON-MOVIE DVDS WE THOUGHT WE'D BABBLE 'BOUT :
BILL HICKS - SATIRIST, SOCIAL CRITIC, STAND-UP COMEDIAN LIVE (Ryko DVD 2004) - It's about time one of the great comedians ever got a proper DVD release! If you don't know who I'm talking about you're in for a treat - 3 different stand-up specials from 1991 - ONE NIGHT STAND - OLD VIC THEATRE, CHICAGO, RELENTLESS - MONTREAL, & REVELATIONS - London plus the documentary IT'S JUST A RIDE which despite it's brevity gives those not in the know a nice overview of this comic genius. Over 3 hours of hilarious biting ground breaking comedy - essential.
- D C J
DEVO LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN - JAPAN 2003. A recent live show in front of thousands of young adoring Japanese fans which is much better than it has a right to be! The Mothersbaugh and Casale brothers plus drummer David Kendrick really kick out the robotic jams here. They actually sound tighter and more powerful than 25 years ago - if you don't believe me check out the special feature extra Target Video Ultra Rare1980 live (whatever that means) performance "Gut Feeling" - the guitar work and group interplay is surprisingly way off when compared to the old fat DEVO of now. This is a fun as Hell concert DVD. If you have any interest in the spud boys from Ohio at all you should dig it.
- Bertie Shafer
Criterion just released a couple of great but overlooked for years Robert Altman projects -
the tortured Nixon one man play on film SECRET HONOR (1984) with Phillip Baker Hall (MAGNOLIA, & TANNER '88 the 12 episode Showtime mockumentary series with Michael Murphy (MANHATTAN) as a Presidential candidate and Cynthia Nixon (Sex & The City) as his ambitious daughter. Both are well worth checking out.
Because of the above mentioned Nixon SECRET HONOR we decided it would be a good time to list :
10 LITTLE NIXONS
1. Anthony Hopkins -NIXON (1995)
2. Phillip Baker Hall - SECRET HONOR (1984)
3. Beau Bridges – KISSINGER AND NIXON (1995)
4. Dan Hedaya – DICK (1999)
5. Bob Gunton - ELVIS MEETS NIXON (1997)
6. Dan Aykroyd – SNL (1975-1978)
7. Brian Cummins – WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM (1980)
8. Rip Torn – BLIND AMBITION (1979 TV MINI SERIES)
9. Harry Shearer – THE SIMPSONS (1989-present)
10. Rich Little – Various awful TV specials, talk show appearances, phone calls, and bar room banter fill-ins.
Did anyone catch James Spader on Conan not too long ago? He talked about how much he liked eggs. It was awesome.
Be sure to check out other CookieCo blogs:
http://home.sprynet.com/~cookieco/ : This is a music review blog which starting this week will post about a different CD everyday til the end of this year! Please take a look.
http://31songblog.blogspot.com/ : This is an ongoing project to compile different people's favorite 31 song-lists. Inspired by the Nick Hornby tome Songbook.
http://cookiequotecity.blogspot.com/ : Just random quotes. Mostly Simpsons lines. No big whoop.
More later...
- Lowell (Gene Hackman) POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE (1990)
So many movies...today we tackle a few new films in theaters and a stack o' new DVD releases plus more lists and other fun. First up :
I HEART HUCKABEES (Dir. David O. Russell, 2004) This is the ultimate "what the Hell was that?!!?" movie. It's been a few days since I've seen it and I'm still trying to process. Many critics don't even try to describe the plot or premise I'd just say it's about a poet activist (Jason Schartzman) who hires a married couple played by Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin who bill themselves as 'existential detectives' to sort out problems with his soul. Oh yeah there's an overly slick spokesperson (Jude Law) for a Target/Wal Mart type chain and his flighty model wife (Naomi Watts) as well as Mark Wahlberg as a fireman who hates petroleum - going to the lengths to ride his bike to fight fires. That's as good as I can do.
The characters all run aroung spouting lines like "There's no such thing as nothing"and "Nobody sits like this rock sits. You rock rock. The rock just sits and is. You show us how to just sit here and that's what we need." Some of this is fun, some of it is strained, some of it is just purely baffling. I mean at the end I was more confused than I was by the MATRIX sequels. I mean - now what's reality? It also doesn't help that HUCKABEES seems stiched together from other movie's styles. The soundtrack by Jon Brion and the color scheme recall the work of P.T. Anderson (MAGNOLIA, PUNCH DRUNK LOVE). The other Anderson - Wes Anderson comes to mind of course from the casting of Schwartzman (RUSHMORE). The screenplay seems suggested by the work of Charlie Kaufman (ADAPTATION, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND). So did I like it? I didn't hate it. That's the best I can do.
- D C J
For no other reason than that election day is 5 days away and these movies will lose their relevance here’s
10 ELECTION YEAR POLI-DOCS
1. FAHRENHEIT 9/11 Dir. Michael Moore. The leader of the pack. Newly released on DVD this powerful if uneven call for the ousting of George W. Bush from the White House sure makes a convincing case.
2. GOING UPRIVER : THE LONG WAR OF JOHN KERRY Dir. George Butler. A moving portrait of Kerry’s Vietnam tour of duty and his activism to ending that war. One sided to be sure but what a side it is!
3. OUTFOXED : RUPERT MURDOCH’S WAR ON JOURNALISM Dir. Robert Greenwald. Compelling and funny but in an unnerving way. Part of Greenwald’s series of “UN-“ poli-docs (either as Director or Producer) – the others being :
4. UNPRECEDENTED : THE 2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
5. UNCONSTITUTIONAL : THE WAR ON OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES
6. UNCOVERED : THE WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT THE WAR IN IRAQ
Other less heralded Bush must go shows :
7. BUSH’S BRAIN
8. BUSH FAMILY FORTUNES
9. HORNS AND HALOS
10. THE CORPORATION
I for one hope they work.
- D C J
And now here's some :
DVDS IN CURRENT RELEASE
GRAND THEFT PARSONS (Dir. Davis Caffrey, 2003) This road comedy set in the early 70's about a couple of shifty guys who steal a corpse of a recently deceased country singer looks and feels like a lot of low budget indie movies except for the fact that it's based on the true story about what happened to Gram Parson's body because of a pact he had made with his road manager. Johnny Knoxville (JACKASS) plays Phillip Kaufman who promised Parsons that he would set fire to his body at Joshua Tree - Parsons to do the same if Kaufman dies first, Christina Applegate plays Gram's greedy ex-girlfriend who is after the body for her own financial gain, Robert Forster puts in another sturdy understated performance as Gram's father, and Michael Shannon is the oblivious hippy whose yellow flower power herse is commandered by Kaufman. Knoxville does a credible acting job, the music is of course great - several Parson's standards are used well, and the movie moves at a good breezy pace. Not a great film but an amusing one and although not completely accurate it's a fine side note to Gram Parson's short but great legacy.
- Anderson Moran
SOME NON-MOVIE DVDS WE THOUGHT WE'D BABBLE 'BOUT :
BILL HICKS - SATIRIST, SOCIAL CRITIC, STAND-UP COMEDIAN LIVE (Ryko DVD 2004) - It's about time one of the great comedians ever got a proper DVD release! If you don't know who I'm talking about you're in for a treat - 3 different stand-up specials from 1991 - ONE NIGHT STAND - OLD VIC THEATRE, CHICAGO, RELENTLESS - MONTREAL, & REVELATIONS - London plus the documentary IT'S JUST A RIDE which despite it's brevity gives those not in the know a nice overview of this comic genius. Over 3 hours of hilarious biting ground breaking comedy - essential.
- D C J
DEVO LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN - JAPAN 2003. A recent live show in front of thousands of young adoring Japanese fans which is much better than it has a right to be! The Mothersbaugh and Casale brothers plus drummer David Kendrick really kick out the robotic jams here. They actually sound tighter and more powerful than 25 years ago - if you don't believe me check out the special feature extra Target Video Ultra Rare1980 live (whatever that means) performance "Gut Feeling" - the guitar work and group interplay is surprisingly way off when compared to the old fat DEVO of now. This is a fun as Hell concert DVD. If you have any interest in the spud boys from Ohio at all you should dig it.
- Bertie Shafer
Criterion just released a couple of great but overlooked for years Robert Altman projects -
the tortured Nixon one man play on film SECRET HONOR (1984) with Phillip Baker Hall (MAGNOLIA, & TANNER '88 the 12 episode Showtime mockumentary series with Michael Murphy (MANHATTAN) as a Presidential candidate and Cynthia Nixon (Sex & The City) as his ambitious daughter. Both are well worth checking out.
Because of the above mentioned Nixon SECRET HONOR we decided it would be a good time to list :
10 LITTLE NIXONS
1. Anthony Hopkins -NIXON (1995)
2. Phillip Baker Hall - SECRET HONOR (1984)
3. Beau Bridges – KISSINGER AND NIXON (1995)
4. Dan Hedaya – DICK (1999)
5. Bob Gunton - ELVIS MEETS NIXON (1997)
6. Dan Aykroyd – SNL (1975-1978)
7. Brian Cummins – WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM (1980)
8. Rip Torn – BLIND AMBITION (1979 TV MINI SERIES)
9. Harry Shearer – THE SIMPSONS (1989-present)
10. Rich Little – Various awful TV specials, talk show appearances, phone calls, and bar room banter fill-ins.
Did anyone catch James Spader on Conan not too long ago? He talked about how much he liked eggs. It was awesome.
Be sure to check out other CookieCo blogs:
http://home.sprynet.com/~cookieco/ : This is a music review blog which starting this week will post about a different CD everyday til the end of this year! Please take a look.
http://31songblog.blogspot.com/ : This is an ongoing project to compile different people's favorite 31 song-lists. Inspired by the Nick Hornby tome Songbook.
http://cookiequotecity.blogspot.com/ : Just random quotes. Mostly Simpsons lines. No big whoop.
More later...
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
5 Classic Movies That Roger Ebert Hated & Other Lists
"We've lost Intelligence! Repeat - we have no Intelligence!"
- Sarah (TEAM AMERICA)
It really is a telling indicator of the times we live in that in the 2 weeks before the Presidential election this silly and gloriously stupid marionette movie would cause any controversy at all. Sean Penn wrote an angry letter to Trey Parker and Matt Stone about his depiction - check it out here :
http://www.drudgereport.com/penn.htm
Also FOX News (yeah - I know, I know) reports that GLAAD ( Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) is protesting the flick but what's most interesting to me is that one of the most respected and well known film critics ever - Roger Ebert * - felt the urge to chastise Parker and Stone by concluding in his review :
I wasn't offended by the movie's content so much as by its nihilism. At a time when the world is in crisis and the country faces an important election, the response of Parker, Stone and company is to sneer at both sides -- indeed, at anyone who takes the current world situation seriously. They may be right that some of us are puppets, but they're wrong that all of us are fools, and dead wrong that it doesn't matter.
Point well taken Roger but as your partner in criticism crime (Richard Roeper) responded to you on your weekly syndicated show this is ultimately a parody of gung ho action movies and not a political statement. Anyone who is truly offended by this overblown puppet festival of cheap shots hasn't been watching South Park and is oblivious that this isn't like underdog artists giving the "man" the finger - it's more like a couple of clever kids sticking their tongues out as the corporate chief's car rolls by. None of this really matters in the end as SHARK TALE and FRIDAY NIGHT TALES beat this out at the box office the last week. Oh well.
* Most of us at film babble like and respect the writings of film critic legend Roger Ebert. Even when we disagree his well thought out and cleverly crafted reviews still make a powerful point. However there a number of times when we feel Mr. Ebert tragically missed the point so here goes :
TOP FIVE CLASSIC MOVIES THAT ROGER EBERT HATED :
1. HAROLD AND MAUDE (1971) Dir. Hal Ashby. Can this be right? Can Ebert truly be among the out-of-it straight laced critics that horribly misjudged this undeniably influential beyond words cult classic? Yep - he only rewards a movie that many friends, collegues, and family have considered one of the best movies ever with one and a half stars. Shame.
2. FIGHT CLUB (1999) Dir. Peter Fincher. 2 stars. Roger loves the first 2 acts but hates the concluding act - this from a guy who wouldn't know the Pixies if they were stuck on the same elevator. Whatever Ebert, watch it again and tell me how what is set up in the first third would work done another way and you and me will be square.
3. BEETLEJUICE (1988) Again 2 stars. Where's the love for Tim Burton's maniacal masterpiece? Just remember this is the guy who gave COP AND A HALF and HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE rave reviews.
4. HEATHERS (1989) 2 and a half stars. I mean COME ON! This is a bonafide classic and Ebert's baffled review is painful to read. He writes "Is this a black comedy about murder or just a cynical morality play?" Jesus Roger - if you have to ask...
5. DON'T LOOK BACK (1967) - Okay so he gave this rock doc 3 stars but don't let that fool you. He so disses Dylan that it's hard to take - I mean read this sample :
What a jerk Bob Dylan was in 1965. What an immature, self-important, inflated, cruel, shallow little creature, lacking in empathy and contemptuous of anyone who was not himself or his lackey. Did we actually once take this twirp as our folk god?
Can you believe that? Is Ebert who wrote 2 different reviews of this flick - first in '68 on the movie's original run and then again in '98 on it's re-release - that out of touch? I thought it was pretty much accepted that Dylan was putting on those who were asking him square questions and having fun with the media juggernaut. I mean just a couple years previous Newsweek wrongly accused him of plagarising "Blowing In The Wind" and countless bandwagon jumpers had co-opted Bob's simple plaintive messages. I can't imagine anyone at that age and time reacting any other way but to Ebert he's a self serving twirp. Can't quite process this misjudgement. To Ebert's credit he nailed Bob's self indulgent MASKED AND ANONYMOUS monstrosity last year in a scathing review but that doesn't quite make right his insulting remarks about one of the most influential film portraits of an artist at his prime in existence. But I'm just saying.
- DCJ
(Other contributors to this Ebert Ain't Right list include Anderson Moran, Sarah Weber, Trina Herman, Bertie Shafer, and Christina Kessler)
NEW MOVIE LISTOMANIA
People have emailed asking where our lists went - ourTOP 5 & 10 lists that we used to end each babble blog with. Well wait no longer -
10 MOVIES THAT END WITH THE PROTAGONIST WRITTING OR HAVEN WRITTEN OR MADE A BOOK OR MOVIE ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THE MOVIE
(whew, long list title!)
1. THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN
2. ROMANCING THE STONE
3. THE PLAYER
4. DUPLEX - Hmmm, Danny Devito's involvement with 3 of these pictures on this list makes us think - "Louie - pick a different ending next time!"
5. COLD CREEK MANOR
6. CHASING AMY - Okay, so it was a comic book.
7. LOVE ON THE RUN - Francois Truffaut actually sums up his 5 film series about his alter ego with Antoine Doinel (Jean Pierre Leaud) writing a thick tome.
8. SECRET WINDOW
9. STAND BY ME
10. THE MUPPET MOVIE
5 MOVIES THAT END WITH THE PROTAGONIST (S) CELEBRATING BY LOUNGING ON A TROPICAL BEACH
1. TRADING PLACES
2. SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
3. OFFICE SPACE
4. FLETCH
5. THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN - Again Devito! He had his cake and ate it too by having a movie that used both endings! Fine - just don't do it again.
More later...
- Sarah (TEAM AMERICA)
It really is a telling indicator of the times we live in that in the 2 weeks before the Presidential election this silly and gloriously stupid marionette movie would cause any controversy at all. Sean Penn wrote an angry letter to Trey Parker and Matt Stone about his depiction - check it out here :
http://www.drudgereport.com/penn.htm
Also FOX News (yeah - I know, I know) reports that GLAAD ( Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) is protesting the flick but what's most interesting to me is that one of the most respected and well known film critics ever - Roger Ebert * - felt the urge to chastise Parker and Stone by concluding in his review :
I wasn't offended by the movie's content so much as by its nihilism. At a time when the world is in crisis and the country faces an important election, the response of Parker, Stone and company is to sneer at both sides -- indeed, at anyone who takes the current world situation seriously. They may be right that some of us are puppets, but they're wrong that all of us are fools, and dead wrong that it doesn't matter.
Point well taken Roger but as your partner in criticism crime (Richard Roeper) responded to you on your weekly syndicated show this is ultimately a parody of gung ho action movies and not a political statement. Anyone who is truly offended by this overblown puppet festival of cheap shots hasn't been watching South Park and is oblivious that this isn't like underdog artists giving the "man" the finger - it's more like a couple of clever kids sticking their tongues out as the corporate chief's car rolls by. None of this really matters in the end as SHARK TALE and FRIDAY NIGHT TALES beat this out at the box office the last week. Oh well.
* Most of us at film babble like and respect the writings of film critic legend Roger Ebert. Even when we disagree his well thought out and cleverly crafted reviews still make a powerful point. However there a number of times when we feel Mr. Ebert tragically missed the point so here goes :
TOP FIVE CLASSIC MOVIES THAT ROGER EBERT HATED :
1. HAROLD AND MAUDE (1971) Dir. Hal Ashby. Can this be right? Can Ebert truly be among the out-of-it straight laced critics that horribly misjudged this undeniably influential beyond words cult classic? Yep - he only rewards a movie that many friends, collegues, and family have considered one of the best movies ever with one and a half stars. Shame.
2. FIGHT CLUB (1999) Dir. Peter Fincher. 2 stars. Roger loves the first 2 acts but hates the concluding act - this from a guy who wouldn't know the Pixies if they were stuck on the same elevator. Whatever Ebert, watch it again and tell me how what is set up in the first third would work done another way and you and me will be square.
3. BEETLEJUICE (1988) Again 2 stars. Where's the love for Tim Burton's maniacal masterpiece? Just remember this is the guy who gave COP AND A HALF and HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE rave reviews.
4. HEATHERS (1989) 2 and a half stars. I mean COME ON! This is a bonafide classic and Ebert's baffled review is painful to read. He writes "Is this a black comedy about murder or just a cynical morality play?" Jesus Roger - if you have to ask...
5. DON'T LOOK BACK (1967) - Okay so he gave this rock doc 3 stars but don't let that fool you. He so disses Dylan that it's hard to take - I mean read this sample :
What a jerk Bob Dylan was in 1965. What an immature, self-important, inflated, cruel, shallow little creature, lacking in empathy and contemptuous of anyone who was not himself or his lackey. Did we actually once take this twirp as our folk god?
Can you believe that? Is Ebert who wrote 2 different reviews of this flick - first in '68 on the movie's original run and then again in '98 on it's re-release - that out of touch? I thought it was pretty much accepted that Dylan was putting on those who were asking him square questions and having fun with the media juggernaut. I mean just a couple years previous Newsweek wrongly accused him of plagarising "Blowing In The Wind" and countless bandwagon jumpers had co-opted Bob's simple plaintive messages. I can't imagine anyone at that age and time reacting any other way but to Ebert he's a self serving twirp. Can't quite process this misjudgement. To Ebert's credit he nailed Bob's self indulgent MASKED AND ANONYMOUS monstrosity last year in a scathing review but that doesn't quite make right his insulting remarks about one of the most influential film portraits of an artist at his prime in existence. But I'm just saying.
- DCJ
(Other contributors to this Ebert Ain't Right list include Anderson Moran, Sarah Weber, Trina Herman, Bertie Shafer, and Christina Kessler)
NEW MOVIE LISTOMANIA
People have emailed asking where our lists went - ourTOP 5 & 10 lists that we used to end each babble blog with. Well wait no longer -
10 MOVIES THAT END WITH THE PROTAGONIST WRITTING OR HAVEN WRITTEN OR MADE A BOOK OR MOVIE ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THE MOVIE
(whew, long list title!)
1. THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN
2. ROMANCING THE STONE
3. THE PLAYER
4. DUPLEX - Hmmm, Danny Devito's involvement with 3 of these pictures on this list makes us think - "Louie - pick a different ending next time!"
5. COLD CREEK MANOR
6. CHASING AMY - Okay, so it was a comic book.
7. LOVE ON THE RUN - Francois Truffaut actually sums up his 5 film series about his alter ego with Antoine Doinel (Jean Pierre Leaud) writing a thick tome.
8. SECRET WINDOW
9. STAND BY ME
10. THE MUPPET MOVIE
5 MOVIES THAT END WITH THE PROTAGONIST (S) CELEBRATING BY LOUNGING ON A TROPICAL BEACH
1. TRADING PLACES
2. SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
3. OFFICE SPACE
4. FLETCH
5. THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN - Again Devito! He had his cake and ate it too by having a movie that used both endings! Fine - just don't do it again.
More later...
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
RIP Rodney Dangerfield, Christopher Reeve, & Janet Leigh
"I was stuck playing the sidekick in a sick and twisted buddy movie."
- James St. James (Seth Green) PARTY MONSTER (2003)
Today film babble salutes Rodney Dangerfield, Janet Leigh, and Christopher Reeve. We've got some lists we've all contributed to below.
We review some new movies in the theater and on DVD as usual, give you some cool links, and just basically babble on like usual. Enjoy!
Most of the film babble bloggers made it to the sneak preview last Saturday night of TEAM AMERICA : WORLD POLICE - Trey Parker and Matt Stone's (South Park of course) new preposterous marionettes fight terriorism epic spectacular. It's funnier than it has a right to be we seem to all agree. Such a dedicated parody of the tried and true Jerry Bruckheimer formula with a great soundtrack (including hilarious songs like "Freedom Is Not Free" and "(You've Got To Have A) Montage") can not be easily dismissed. The basic Parker/Stone sensibility - i.e. cheap scatalogical humor in place of cheap sentiment and that there are too many useless self important celebrities is carried through to the bitter. Just be sure to remember "there is no 'I' in Team America!" - D C J
We are all highly anticipating the release of :
I HEART HUCKABEES - David O'Russell's first movie since THREE KINGS in 1999. With Dustin Hoffman sporting a Beatle haircut, a hipster Jason Schwartzman, an overly exuburent Jude Law, a smuggily mugging Lily Tomlin, and some cheesecake served up by Naomi Watts (this is all going by the trailer and ad campaign not by the actual film) how can this miss? One film babble blogger (who will go nameless) has said that if this movie isn't good they will kill themselves. "It bills itself as an "existential comedy" so if it doesn't hit the spiritual spot - I'm outta here!" We here are all pulling for this flick to make good. One life in particular is at stake.
- Anderson Moran
RECENT RELEASE DVDS :
GODSEND Dir. Nick Hamm. Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn Stamos, and Robert Deniro. This has one of the lowest ratings on the Rotten Tomato site I've ever seen. A user comment on the imdb says "worst movie of the year". Just about every review said "Godawful". Well this melodrama/suspense thriller about the grieving parents (Kinnear and Stamos) of their recently deceased 8 year old son (Cameron Bright) who decide to go with the mysterious Dr. Richard Wells proposal to clone their child and start again in a new community under constant monitoring and blah blah blah!
Anyway this laughable hammy (couldn't resist the pun) creeper even goes as far to make the great Robert Deniro spout such lines as "You think you can just open Pandora's box and close it again?" Consider yerself warned!
- Bertie Shafer
TOP FIVE BEST CHRISTOPHER REEVE MOVIES
1. SUPERMAN : THE MOVIE
2. SUPERMAN 2
3. DEATHTRAP
4. SOMEWHERE IN TIME
5. THE REMAINS OF THE DAY
TOP FIVE RODNEY DANGERFIELD MOVIES
1. BACK TO SCHOOL
2. CADDYSHACK
3. EASY MONEY
4. NATURAL BORN KILLERS
5. MEET WALLY SPARKS
More later...
- James St. James (Seth Green) PARTY MONSTER (2003)
Today film babble salutes Rodney Dangerfield, Janet Leigh, and Christopher Reeve. We've got some lists we've all contributed to below.
We review some new movies in the theater and on DVD as usual, give you some cool links, and just basically babble on like usual. Enjoy!
Most of the film babble bloggers made it to the sneak preview last Saturday night of TEAM AMERICA : WORLD POLICE - Trey Parker and Matt Stone's (South Park of course) new preposterous marionettes fight terriorism epic spectacular. It's funnier than it has a right to be we seem to all agree. Such a dedicated parody of the tried and true Jerry Bruckheimer formula with a great soundtrack (including hilarious songs like "Freedom Is Not Free" and "(You've Got To Have A) Montage") can not be easily dismissed. The basic Parker/Stone sensibility - i.e. cheap scatalogical humor in place of cheap sentiment and that there are too many useless self important celebrities is carried through to the bitter. Just be sure to remember "there is no 'I' in Team America!" - D C J
We are all highly anticipating the release of :
I HEART HUCKABEES - David O'Russell's first movie since THREE KINGS in 1999. With Dustin Hoffman sporting a Beatle haircut, a hipster Jason Schwartzman, an overly exuburent Jude Law, a smuggily mugging Lily Tomlin, and some cheesecake served up by Naomi Watts (this is all going by the trailer and ad campaign not by the actual film) how can this miss? One film babble blogger (who will go nameless) has said that if this movie isn't good they will kill themselves. "It bills itself as an "existential comedy" so if it doesn't hit the spiritual spot - I'm outta here!" We here are all pulling for this flick to make good. One life in particular is at stake.
- Anderson Moran
RECENT RELEASE DVDS :
GODSEND Dir. Nick Hamm. Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn Stamos, and Robert Deniro. This has one of the lowest ratings on the Rotten Tomato site I've ever seen. A user comment on the imdb says "worst movie of the year". Just about every review said "Godawful". Well this melodrama/suspense thriller about the grieving parents (Kinnear and Stamos) of their recently deceased 8 year old son (Cameron Bright) who decide to go with the mysterious Dr. Richard Wells proposal to clone their child and start again in a new community under constant monitoring and blah blah blah!
Anyway this laughable hammy (couldn't resist the pun) creeper even goes as far to make the great Robert Deniro spout such lines as "You think you can just open Pandora's box and close it again?" Consider yerself warned!
- Bertie Shafer
TOP FIVE BEST CHRISTOPHER REEVE MOVIES
1. SUPERMAN : THE MOVIE
2. SUPERMAN 2
3. DEATHTRAP
4. SOMEWHERE IN TIME
5. THE REMAINS OF THE DAY
TOP FIVE RODNEY DANGERFIELD MOVIES
1. BACK TO SCHOOL
2. CADDYSHACK
3. EASY MONEY
4. NATURAL BORN KILLERS
5. MEET WALLY SPARKS
More later...
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Movies, Now More Than Ever!
Floyd Pepper (Jerry Nelson): Well, if this were the movies...
Dr. Teeth (Jim Henson): Which it is.
Floyd: ...we'd think of a clever plot device.
Scooter (Richard Hunt): Like disguising their car so they won't be recognized!
- THE MUPPET MOVIE (1979)
Whatta busy season and it's gonna get busier. We here at film babble have seen lots of movies lately both on the big and small screens and we can't wait to blather 'bout them. So let's go :
NOW SHOWING :
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Dir. Jared Hess) Funny or just funny looking? Hard to decide about a movie made by Mormons about a high school geek (Jon Herder) in Idaho and his quirky misadventures. Quirky humour seems to be the rage in recent independent comedies so much so that one critic (Sean Burns from the Philadelphia Weekly) said that it felt like the work of "a lousy Wes Anderson cover band". I'm not sure I'd quite say that but it's a good line. A good hearted flick that a lot of kids will like NAPOLEON DYNAMITE goes by like a smirking breeze.
SHAUN OF THE DEAD (Dir. Edgar Wright) A British romantic comedy/killer zombie thriller this is a spirited merging of High Fidelity (the book) and 28 DAYS LATER especially in the scene where slacker Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his deadbeat flatmate Ed (Nick Frost) throw old vinyl records at the blood thirsty undead - Ed : "Stone Roses?" Shaun : "Definitely not." Ed : "The Batman soundtrack?" Shaun : "Throw it." Funny but not hilarious, scary but not blood curdling the amount of energy and wit here makes this a good time. Some critics are predicting this may become a cult classic in years to come. They might be onto something. It's nice to see Lucy Davis and Martin Freeman from the brilliant BBC program THE OFFICE make appearances too.
SKYCAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (Dir. Kerry Conran) More like the "World That Yesterday Thought Tomorrow Would Look Like" this is the ultimate in retro. Or maybe what Harry Shearer called "nowtro" in A MIGHTY WIND. Old school sci-fi ideals mingle with new school computer generated imagery to make a 2004 movie look like it could have come from the 30's. Jude Law and Gwyneth Patrow star as the hero and heroine who go through a narrative as cribbed from old Flash Gordon and Dick Tracy as it is from James Bond and Star Wars. For the most part SKYCAPTAIN works and it is fascinating looking but unfortunately it drags horribly in places and the sense of innocence it tries to evoke is so long gone that it may leave viewers puzzled. Still though such an ernest while overblown concept movie is hard to dismiss. Long live Nowtro!
BADASSSSS! (Dir. Mario Van Peeples) Movies that are about making movies hold a certain interest but the claim that some critics have made that finally blaxploitation has it's DAY FOR NIGHT seems to miss the point. This is about the making of a real movie - SWEET SWEETBACKS BAADASSSSS SONG and the 'movie within a movie' cliche doesn't really ring true. This is about the struggle and satisfaction of the film making process told by the son of the original film maker who had an inside ear. Funny, intense, and emotionally endearing in its last half hour this is exactly what it what it claims to be - BAADASSSSS and without a doubt the best project that Mario Van Peeples has ever been involved in.
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Dir. Michael Gondry) Nearly flawless existential comedy with a Philip K. Dickensian kick! I don't need to recount the plot - just about every film babbler has seen this flick but maybe the best movie of the year gets a great DVD treatment. Commentaries, deleted scenes, and featurettes augment this disc but the movie alone works just fine. Charlie Kaufman while working with well trodden egghead memory erase concepts wrings an imaginative free form story out of every day truths. Romantic at its core ETERNAL SUNSHINE is a delight in every way. Jim Carrey puts in the restrained everyguy performance that comes off as more impressive than his 'in-your-face' persona of past while Kate Winslet gives a greatly confident spin to her impulsive artsy book store slave gal with the everchanging hair colors. With a crack cast that includes Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, David Cross and Elijah Wood just watch and enjoy and consider giving your own existence a jump start, why doncha?!!?
More later...
Dr. Teeth (Jim Henson): Which it is.
Floyd: ...we'd think of a clever plot device.
Scooter (Richard Hunt): Like disguising their car so they won't be recognized!
- THE MUPPET MOVIE (1979)
Whatta busy season and it's gonna get busier. We here at film babble have seen lots of movies lately both on the big and small screens and we can't wait to blather 'bout them. So let's go :
NOW SHOWING :
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Dir. Jared Hess) Funny or just funny looking? Hard to decide about a movie made by Mormons about a high school geek (Jon Herder) in Idaho and his quirky misadventures. Quirky humour seems to be the rage in recent independent comedies so much so that one critic (Sean Burns from the Philadelphia Weekly) said that it felt like the work of "a lousy Wes Anderson cover band". I'm not sure I'd quite say that but it's a good line. A good hearted flick that a lot of kids will like NAPOLEON DYNAMITE goes by like a smirking breeze.
SHAUN OF THE DEAD (Dir. Edgar Wright) A British romantic comedy/killer zombie thriller this is a spirited merging of High Fidelity (the book) and 28 DAYS LATER especially in the scene where slacker Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his deadbeat flatmate Ed (Nick Frost) throw old vinyl records at the blood thirsty undead - Ed : "Stone Roses?" Shaun : "Definitely not." Ed : "The Batman soundtrack?" Shaun : "Throw it." Funny but not hilarious, scary but not blood curdling the amount of energy and wit here makes this a good time. Some critics are predicting this may become a cult classic in years to come. They might be onto something. It's nice to see Lucy Davis and Martin Freeman from the brilliant BBC program THE OFFICE make appearances too.
SKYCAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (Dir. Kerry Conran) More like the "World That Yesterday Thought Tomorrow Would Look Like" this is the ultimate in retro. Or maybe what Harry Shearer called "nowtro" in A MIGHTY WIND. Old school sci-fi ideals mingle with new school computer generated imagery to make a 2004 movie look like it could have come from the 30's. Jude Law and Gwyneth Patrow star as the hero and heroine who go through a narrative as cribbed from old Flash Gordon and Dick Tracy as it is from James Bond and Star Wars. For the most part SKYCAPTAIN works and it is fascinating looking but unfortunately it drags horribly in places and the sense of innocence it tries to evoke is so long gone that it may leave viewers puzzled. Still though such an ernest while overblown concept movie is hard to dismiss. Long live Nowtro!
BADASSSSS! (Dir. Mario Van Peeples) Movies that are about making movies hold a certain interest but the claim that some critics have made that finally blaxploitation has it's DAY FOR NIGHT seems to miss the point. This is about the making of a real movie - SWEET SWEETBACKS BAADASSSSS SONG and the 'movie within a movie' cliche doesn't really ring true. This is about the struggle and satisfaction of the film making process told by the son of the original film maker who had an inside ear. Funny, intense, and emotionally endearing in its last half hour this is exactly what it what it claims to be - BAADASSSSS and without a doubt the best project that Mario Van Peeples has ever been involved in.
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Dir. Michael Gondry) Nearly flawless existential comedy with a Philip K. Dickensian kick! I don't need to recount the plot - just about every film babbler has seen this flick but maybe the best movie of the year gets a great DVD treatment. Commentaries, deleted scenes, and featurettes augment this disc but the movie alone works just fine. Charlie Kaufman while working with well trodden egghead memory erase concepts wrings an imaginative free form story out of every day truths. Romantic at its core ETERNAL SUNSHINE is a delight in every way. Jim Carrey puts in the restrained everyguy performance that comes off as more impressive than his 'in-your-face' persona of past while Kate Winslet gives a greatly confident spin to her impulsive artsy book store slave gal with the everchanging hair colors. With a crack cast that includes Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, David Cross and Elijah Wood just watch and enjoy and consider giving your own existence a jump start, why doncha?!!?
More later...
Thursday, September 2, 2004
Random Babble
"All we are is dust in the wind, dude." Ted Logan (Keanu Reeves) to Socrates (Tony Steedman) BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE (1989)
Well the summer is coming to a close and what have we learned? I guess that the documentary genre is now a viable film product (FAHRENHEIT 911, THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT, SUPERSIZE ME, OUTFOXED, and FESTIVAL EXPRESS), that comic book heroes are still needed (SPIDERMAN 2 & HELL BOY) and that horror franchises are still kicking (ALIEN vs. PREDATOR, EXORCIST : THE BEGINNING)
We've been babbling 'bout whether Zach Braff's GARDEN STATE is a worthwhile watch. Some film babblers have likened it to the classic cult flick HAROLD AND MAUDE like Braff has in interviews but to film babblers like me I think it's more on the ORDINARY PEOPLE side of the spectrum. More on that debate later.
* HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KEANU REEVES - (40) There's more Ted Logan in all of us than there is Neo (MATRIX)
More later...
Well the summer is coming to a close and what have we learned? I guess that the documentary genre is now a viable film product (FAHRENHEIT 911, THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT, SUPERSIZE ME, OUTFOXED, and FESTIVAL EXPRESS), that comic book heroes are still needed (SPIDERMAN 2 & HELL BOY) and that horror franchises are still kicking (ALIEN vs. PREDATOR, EXORCIST : THE BEGINNING)
We've been babbling 'bout whether Zach Braff's GARDEN STATE is a worthwhile watch. Some film babblers have likened it to the classic cult flick HAROLD AND MAUDE like Braff has in interviews but to film babblers like me I think it's more on the ORDINARY PEOPLE side of the spectrum. More on that debate later.
* HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KEANU REEVES - (40) There's more Ted Logan in all of us than there is Neo (MATRIX)
More later...
Sunday, August 8, 2004
DVDs: THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT & INDEPENDENT'S DAY
Griffin Mill
(Tim Robbins)
It lacked certain elements that we need to market a film successfully.
June
(Greta Scacchi)
What elements?
Griffin Mill
Suspense, laughter, violence. Hope, heart, nudity, sex. Happy endings.
Mainly happy endings.
June
What about reality?
From THE PLAYER (1992)
Us film babblers have avoided the big summer sequels except for SPIDERMAN 2 which I believe the consensus is - it's the same quality as the first and that's a good thing. A small summer sequel that at least I'm itching to see (not all film babblers have the same itch) is Richard Linklater's BEFORE SUNSET - I'll get back to you when I see it. Meanwhile we've been watching election coverage, devouring DVD releases, and mourning the deaths of Marlon Brando, Robert Quine, and Rick James.
Until we get out to the theaters again here's some DVD Reviews :
INDEPENDENT'S DAY - THE ULTIMATE INSIDER'S LOOK AT THE CRAZY WORLD OF SUNDANCE. Dir. Marina Zenovich. (1997) (DVD-2004)
"It's like taking the worst part of LA and the worst part of New York and just jamming it into Park City."
- Tressa Von Bargen (Park City Resident)
This fascinating albeit brief (54 min.) look at the booming indendent film world in 1997 gives you a glimpse of the fun of film and the stress of competition that goes on in the most notable of American film festivals - Sundance. Indeed filmmaker Jay Chandrasekhar laments "everyone I talked to said Sundance is a blast unless you have a film in it." Unfortunately the lack of background info and absence of Robert Redford (Sundance founder) make it not as intensely deep a documentary as I wanted but still an interesting walk through. Worth watching alone for an amusing set-up sequence involving Parker Posey this film is begging for a sequel - so much has happened in the years since 1997 in independent film and in digital video so I hope Zenovich returns to Park City some day with camera in tow.
- Anderson Moran
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT (2004) Dir. Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber. First let me get this out of the way - it's not just that I find Ashton Kutcher to be untalented - he strikes me as obnoxiously untalented! But that's the least of our worries with this contrived derivative nonsense. The plot is to ridiculous to go into at any length so simply - it's a story about a guy who travels back and forth through time to try and fix the circumstances surrounding a traumatic childhood incident so that the present day outcome is A-okay. He does this somehow by concentration on reading old journals (I guess like Christopher Reeve used his mind to go back in time in SOMEWHERE IN TIME) and that's just one of the hundreds of elements that don't really work here. What really makes this so laughingly bad is how drastically this flick overshoots - it wants to be a cool cerebral movie like DONNIE DARKO, it wants to be a 'love conquers all' movie like WHEN DREAMS MAY COME, Hell it even wants to be an episode of OZ at one point too! The title quotes the standard chaos theory - with the example of a butterfly who gently flaps its wings in one part of the world, creating the potential for a monsoon somewhere else in the world but that really has nothing to do with this story. I mean nothing in the world changes after the time warps except the lives of the microcosm of the handful of Kutcher's friends. If he returned to the present to find that America had been taken over by some vast skinhead regime after a coldwar attack in the 80's or some other world changing effect we might have something here. As such we've got nothing but yet another exercise in sci-fi stupidity. Wish I could use my journal to go back in time and not watch it.
- D C J
More later...
(Tim Robbins)
It lacked certain elements that we need to market a film successfully.
June
(Greta Scacchi)
What elements?
Griffin Mill
Suspense, laughter, violence. Hope, heart, nudity, sex. Happy endings.
Mainly happy endings.
June
What about reality?
From THE PLAYER (1992)
Us film babblers have avoided the big summer sequels except for SPIDERMAN 2 which I believe the consensus is - it's the same quality as the first and that's a good thing. A small summer sequel that at least I'm itching to see (not all film babblers have the same itch) is Richard Linklater's BEFORE SUNSET - I'll get back to you when I see it. Meanwhile we've been watching election coverage, devouring DVD releases, and mourning the deaths of Marlon Brando, Robert Quine, and Rick James.
Until we get out to the theaters again here's some DVD Reviews :
INDEPENDENT'S DAY - THE ULTIMATE INSIDER'S LOOK AT THE CRAZY WORLD OF SUNDANCE. Dir. Marina Zenovich. (1997) (DVD-2004)
"It's like taking the worst part of LA and the worst part of New York and just jamming it into Park City."
- Tressa Von Bargen (Park City Resident)
This fascinating albeit brief (54 min.) look at the booming indendent film world in 1997 gives you a glimpse of the fun of film and the stress of competition that goes on in the most notable of American film festivals - Sundance. Indeed filmmaker Jay Chandrasekhar laments "everyone I talked to said Sundance is a blast unless you have a film in it." Unfortunately the lack of background info and absence of Robert Redford (Sundance founder) make it not as intensely deep a documentary as I wanted but still an interesting walk through. Worth watching alone for an amusing set-up sequence involving Parker Posey this film is begging for a sequel - so much has happened in the years since 1997 in independent film and in digital video so I hope Zenovich returns to Park City some day with camera in tow.
- Anderson Moran
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT (2004) Dir. Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber. First let me get this out of the way - it's not just that I find Ashton Kutcher to be untalented - he strikes me as obnoxiously untalented! But that's the least of our worries with this contrived derivative nonsense. The plot is to ridiculous to go into at any length so simply - it's a story about a guy who travels back and forth through time to try and fix the circumstances surrounding a traumatic childhood incident so that the present day outcome is A-okay. He does this somehow by concentration on reading old journals (I guess like Christopher Reeve used his mind to go back in time in SOMEWHERE IN TIME) and that's just one of the hundreds of elements that don't really work here. What really makes this so laughingly bad is how drastically this flick overshoots - it wants to be a cool cerebral movie like DONNIE DARKO, it wants to be a 'love conquers all' movie like WHEN DREAMS MAY COME, Hell it even wants to be an episode of OZ at one point too! The title quotes the standard chaos theory - with the example of a butterfly who gently flaps its wings in one part of the world, creating the potential for a monsoon somewhere else in the world but that really has nothing to do with this story. I mean nothing in the world changes after the time warps except the lives of the microcosm of the handful of Kutcher's friends. If he returned to the present to find that America had been taken over by some vast skinhead regime after a coldwar attack in the 80's or some other world changing effect we might have something here. As such we've got nothing but yet another exercise in sci-fi stupidity. Wish I could use my journal to go back in time and not watch it.
- D C J
More later...
Friday, July 23, 2004
The Top 50 Most Over-Used Pop Songs In Modern Movies
"I lost the plot for a while then. And I lost the subplot, the script, the soundtrack, the intermission, my popcorn, the credits, and the exit sign."
- Nick Hornby "High Fidelity" (1995 Novel)
Film babble blog is back!
Not to piss on AFI'S 100 YEARS...100 SONGS - I mean they have a fine list of songs that enhanced many a classic film but we wanted to draw attention to the tunes that cheapened many movies. Not to say these are all cheap bad songs - no it's just how they've been used over and over to manipulate the viewer to a certain mood. As you look it over I think you'll recall not just the movie or song you'll also recall the emotion, time, or spirit they're trying for.
So here's :
THE TOP 50 MOST OVER-USED POP SONGS IN MODERN MOVIES
1. "I Got You" - James Brown
2. "Walking On Sunshine" - Katrina & The Waves
3. "All Along The Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix
4. "Born To Be Wild" - Steppenwolf
5. "Let My Love Open The Door" - Pete Townshend
6. "Kug Fu Fighting" - Carl Douglas
7. "Suspicious Minds" - Elvis Presley - INTOLERABLE CRUELTY, BLACK HAWK DOWN, LILO & STITCH, HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, and so on...
8. "Melt With You" - Modern English
9. "Let's Get It On" - Marvin Gaye
10. Tie - "Every Little Thing You Do Is Magic/"Every Step You Take" - The Police/Sting
11. "Time Of The Season" - The Zombies : This is one of many songs on this list that film-makers use to immediately evoke "the 60's" Notable uses : AWAKENINGS, 1969, AUSTIN POWERS - THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME, SHANGHI NIGHTS, and too many more to mention.
12. "All Star" - Smash Mouth : MYSTERY MEN, SHREK, INPECTOR GADGET, CONTACT, and a bunch of other movies tried to hitch on to this piece of pop culture plastic. Shame really.
13. "Waiting For The Miracle" - Leonard Cohen
14. "Oh, Yeah" - Yello
15. "ABC" - Jackson 5
16. "Lust For Life" - Iggy Pop
17. "California Girls" - The Beach Boys
18. "Bad To The Bone" - George Thorogood
19. "Staying Alive" - The Bee Gees : Of course SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER and its sequel (of course called STAYING ALIVE) but also AIRPLANE!, and many other satirical disco-era sequences that came about in the 70's resurgence of popularity in the 90's.
20. "Tracks Of My Tears" - Smokey Robinson : PLATOON and THE BIG CHILL are the most notable films but the song also appears on the soundtracks for the TV shows The Wonder Years and "ER" oddly enough.
21. "Surrender" - Cheap Trick : Matt Dillon's first film OVER THE EDGE used Cheap Trick, the Cars, and even Little Feat to make it's track housing teen rebellion point. It's use in DETROIT CITY ROCKS and FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH hammers home that same point but its appearance in SMALL SOLDIERS AND DADDY DAY CARE does not.
22. "Mama Told Me Not To Come" - Three Dog Night
23. "More Than A Feeling" - Boston
24. "White Rabbit" - Jefferson Airplane
26. "We Are The Champions" - Queen
27. "It's The End Of The World..." - R.E.M.
28. "Dreams" - The Cranberries
29. "Low Rider" - War
30. "Get Ready" - The Temptations
31. "The Boys Are Back In Town" - Thin Lizzy
32. "Celebration" - Kool & The Gang
33. "Sweet Emotion" - Aerosmith
34. "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" - James Brown
35. "For What It's Worth" - Buffalo Springfield
36. "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" - Cyndi Lauper
37. "Respect" - Otis Redding/Aretha Franklin
38. "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" - Procol Harem (EASY RIDER, BIG CHILL, WITHNAIL & I, NEW YORK STORIES, BREAKING THE WAVES, I mean I'm just sayin'.
39. "You Really Got Me" - The Kinks/Van Halen
40. "Higher And Higher" - Jackie Wilson
41. "Dream Weaver" - Gary Wright : Just to say that 2 of the titles that used or mis-used this tune were DADDY DAY CARE and WAYNE'S WORLD. 'Nuff said.
42. "Fortunate Son" - Creedence Clearwater Revival
43. "Changes" - David Bowie
44. "Takin' Care Of Business" - Bachman Turner Overdrive
45. "Shining Star" - Earth, Wind & Fire
46. "Turning Japanese" - The Vapors
47. "The Weight" - The Band
48. "Mr. Tambourine Man" - Bob Dylan/The Byrds
49. "Cocaine" - Eric Clapton
50. "Wooly Bully" - Sam The Sham
More later...
- Nick Hornby "High Fidelity" (1995 Novel)
Film babble blog is back!
Not to piss on AFI'S 100 YEARS...100 SONGS - I mean they have a fine list of songs that enhanced many a classic film but we wanted to draw attention to the tunes that cheapened many movies. Not to say these are all cheap bad songs - no it's just how they've been used over and over to manipulate the viewer to a certain mood. As you look it over I think you'll recall not just the movie or song you'll also recall the emotion, time, or spirit they're trying for.
So here's :
THE TOP 50 MOST OVER-USED POP SONGS IN MODERN MOVIES
1. "I Got You" - James Brown
2. "Walking On Sunshine" - Katrina & The Waves
3. "All Along The Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix
4. "Born To Be Wild" - Steppenwolf
5. "Let My Love Open The Door" - Pete Townshend
6. "Kug Fu Fighting" - Carl Douglas
7. "Suspicious Minds" - Elvis Presley - INTOLERABLE CRUELTY, BLACK HAWK DOWN, LILO & STITCH, HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, and so on...
8. "Melt With You" - Modern English
9. "Let's Get It On" - Marvin Gaye
10. Tie - "Every Little Thing You Do Is Magic/"Every Step You Take" - The Police/Sting
11. "Time Of The Season" - The Zombies : This is one of many songs on this list that film-makers use to immediately evoke "the 60's" Notable uses : AWAKENINGS, 1969, AUSTIN POWERS - THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME, SHANGHI NIGHTS, and too many more to mention.
12. "All Star" - Smash Mouth : MYSTERY MEN, SHREK, INPECTOR GADGET, CONTACT, and a bunch of other movies tried to hitch on to this piece of pop culture plastic. Shame really.
13. "Waiting For The Miracle" - Leonard Cohen
14. "Oh, Yeah" - Yello
15. "ABC" - Jackson 5
16. "Lust For Life" - Iggy Pop
17. "California Girls" - The Beach Boys
18. "Bad To The Bone" - George Thorogood
19. "Staying Alive" - The Bee Gees : Of course SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER and its sequel (of course called STAYING ALIVE) but also AIRPLANE!, and many other satirical disco-era sequences that came about in the 70's resurgence of popularity in the 90's.
20. "Tracks Of My Tears" - Smokey Robinson : PLATOON and THE BIG CHILL are the most notable films but the song also appears on the soundtracks for the TV shows The Wonder Years and "ER" oddly enough.
21. "Surrender" - Cheap Trick : Matt Dillon's first film OVER THE EDGE used Cheap Trick, the Cars, and even Little Feat to make it's track housing teen rebellion point. It's use in DETROIT CITY ROCKS and FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH hammers home that same point but its appearance in SMALL SOLDIERS AND DADDY DAY CARE does not.
22. "Mama Told Me Not To Come" - Three Dog Night
23. "More Than A Feeling" - Boston
24. "White Rabbit" - Jefferson Airplane
26. "We Are The Champions" - Queen
27. "It's The End Of The World..." - R.E.M.
28. "Dreams" - The Cranberries
29. "Low Rider" - War
30. "Get Ready" - The Temptations
31. "The Boys Are Back In Town" - Thin Lizzy
32. "Celebration" - Kool & The Gang
33. "Sweet Emotion" - Aerosmith
34. "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" - James Brown
35. "For What It's Worth" - Buffalo Springfield
36. "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" - Cyndi Lauper
37. "Respect" - Otis Redding/Aretha Franklin
38. "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" - Procol Harem (EASY RIDER, BIG CHILL, WITHNAIL & I, NEW YORK STORIES, BREAKING THE WAVES, I mean I'm just sayin'.
39. "You Really Got Me" - The Kinks/Van Halen
40. "Higher And Higher" - Jackie Wilson
41. "Dream Weaver" - Gary Wright : Just to say that 2 of the titles that used or mis-used this tune were DADDY DAY CARE and WAYNE'S WORLD. 'Nuff said.
42. "Fortunate Son" - Creedence Clearwater Revival
43. "Changes" - David Bowie
44. "Takin' Care Of Business" - Bachman Turner Overdrive
45. "Shining Star" - Earth, Wind & Fire
46. "Turning Japanese" - The Vapors
47. "The Weight" - The Band
48. "Mr. Tambourine Man" - Bob Dylan/The Byrds
49. "Cocaine" - Eric Clapton
50. "Wooly Bully" - Sam The Sham
More later...
Friday, July 2, 2004
Marlon Brando R.I.P.
"The horror. The horror. "
- The last words of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando - APOCALYPSE NOW 1979)
We here at film babble are very saddened by the passing of the great Marlon Brando. Causes are unknown at this moment but signs of illness plus rumours of financial ruin have been been all over this here internet. The actor well regarded as one of the finest of the 20th Century hadn't been in a film since THE SCORE in 2001 and only some vague news about a cartoon feature was in the works. Pretty dire news for the unique method man who ruled the screen in STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, THE WILD ONE, and ON THE WATERFRONT (which he won his 1st Oscar for) to name a few of his defining '50's roles.
His comeback in the 70's with THE GODFATHER (2nd Oscar - BAM!) and LAST TANGO IN PARIS presented the public with an older fatter blustering Brando much parodied by the likes of Saturday Night Live and Mad Magazine. A classic '76 SNL had host Peter Boyle and John Belushi doing their best impressions in "Dueling Brandos" to (of course) the plucking banjo from DELIVERENCE. Brando's extremely expensive glorified cameos for SUPERMAN and APOCALYPSE NOW made headlines - millions for just minutes of work seemed to be the consensus. Especially since he was walking through these roles with no prior research or care. It seemed like he wanted to just live on a island somewhere. So that's what he did.
The 80's caricature of a morbidly obese Brando going crazy living on a tropical island somewhere are hard to shake off. Even after he started doing movies again (THE FRESHMAN, A DRY WHITE SEASON, DON JUAN DEMARKO) he seemed to be phoning it in - acting wasn't a serious craft anymore his screen presence broadcasted to even the cheap seats - it was an occasional buck. THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU seemed more sincere because of course it was about going crazy living on an island somewhere! This glib blog is no place to go into the darker areas of Mr. Brando's life - this is a scribbling about the silver screen site so for Marlon's sake we'll stick to babblin' bout just da movies :
10 KICK-ASS BRANDO QUOTES
(Actually 10 great movie moments as well as great performances *)
1. "You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley."
- Terry Malloy as written by Elia Kazan - ON THE WATERFRONT 1954
2. "I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life - I don't apologize - to take care of my family, and I refused to be a fool, dancing on the string held by all those bigshots. I don't apologize - that's my life - but I thought that, that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the string. Senator Corleone; Governor Corleone. Well, it wasn't enough time, Michael."
- Don Vito Corleone written by Mario Puzo THE GODFATHER
1972
3. "What're you rebelling against, Johnny?"
- Girl
"Whaddya got?"
- Johnny Strabler written by John Paxton THE WILD ONE 1953
4. "I have seen the devil in my microscope, and I have chained him."
- Dr. Moreau written by Richard Stanley based on H.G.Wells novel
- THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU 1996
5. "It is forbidden for you to interfere in human destiny"
- Jor El written by Mario Puzo SUPERMAN : THE MOVIE 1979
6. "Hey STELLA!!!! STELLA !!!!"
- Stanley Kowalski written by Tennessee Williams - A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
7. "I was just thinking, sir, that our little errand for groceries might wind up in a page of naval history if we succeed in negotiating The Horn in the dead of winter."
- 1st Lt. Fletcher Christian (Brando)
"Why shouldn't we succeed? Admiral Anderson did."
- Captain Bligh (Trevor Howard)
"Yes, but of course he didn't choose to attempt it in a ninety-one-foot chamber pot. In any event, his was the only ship to do it and I believe he lost fifty percent of his crew." - 1st Lt. Fletcher Christian written by a cast of thousands (really like 6 people so who knows who came up of with this particular dialogue?)
- MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY 1962
8. "You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill."
- Colonel Walter E. Kurtz written by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola - APOCALYPSE NOW 1979
9. "Even if a husband lives 200 hundred fucking years, he'll never discover his wife's true nature. I may be able to understand the secrets of the universe, but... I'll never understand the truth about you. Never."
- Paul - LAST TANGO IN PARIS 1972
10. "My God! Let me get a look at you. You know, you look like shit. What's your secret? "
- Max written by too many cooks in the pot to list - THE SCORE 2001
* Not all are truly great performances on #4 & #10 I believe he was just walking through.
10 DUELING BRANDOS
"Hey Honey come show the guys your Brando impression!"
- Roseanne on fatal things to say to your pregnant wife.
These actors have all done impersonations on either film or the stage but mostly on SNL :
1. John Belushi
2. Peter Boyle
A hilarious SNL sketch from '76 featured Belsuhi and Boyle both dressed in THE WILD ONE attire getting their Brando on! Helped "I couda been a contender" to be a standard of great movie lines.
3. Alec Baldwin (SNL)
4. John Travolta (SNL)
5. Val Kilmer - ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU
6. Matthew Broderick - THE FRESHMAN
7. Dom Deluise - THE GODSON
8. Robin Williams (big surprise!)- On various talk shows, morning zoo radio appearances, supermarket openings, benefit concert appearances, CD release junkets, MTV movie awards shows, random TV and film cameos, etc. etc. ETC!
9. Julia Louis Dreyfuss (don't ya remember a delirious drugged up Elaine on SEINFELD yelling "Stella!" when meeting somebody with that name? I sure do.)
10. Frank Gorshin - go IMDb it yerself.
More later...
- The last words of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando - APOCALYPSE NOW 1979)
We here at film babble are very saddened by the passing of the great Marlon Brando. Causes are unknown at this moment but signs of illness plus rumours of financial ruin have been been all over this here internet. The actor well regarded as one of the finest of the 20th Century hadn't been in a film since THE SCORE in 2001 and only some vague news about a cartoon feature was in the works. Pretty dire news for the unique method man who ruled the screen in STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, THE WILD ONE, and ON THE WATERFRONT (which he won his 1st Oscar for) to name a few of his defining '50's roles.
His comeback in the 70's with THE GODFATHER (2nd Oscar - BAM!) and LAST TANGO IN PARIS presented the public with an older fatter blustering Brando much parodied by the likes of Saturday Night Live and Mad Magazine. A classic '76 SNL had host Peter Boyle and John Belushi doing their best impressions in "Dueling Brandos" to (of course) the plucking banjo from DELIVERENCE. Brando's extremely expensive glorified cameos for SUPERMAN and APOCALYPSE NOW made headlines - millions for just minutes of work seemed to be the consensus. Especially since he was walking through these roles with no prior research or care. It seemed like he wanted to just live on a island somewhere. So that's what he did.
The 80's caricature of a morbidly obese Brando going crazy living on a tropical island somewhere are hard to shake off. Even after he started doing movies again (THE FRESHMAN, A DRY WHITE SEASON, DON JUAN DEMARKO) he seemed to be phoning it in - acting wasn't a serious craft anymore his screen presence broadcasted to even the cheap seats - it was an occasional buck. THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU seemed more sincere because of course it was about going crazy living on an island somewhere! This glib blog is no place to go into the darker areas of Mr. Brando's life - this is a scribbling about the silver screen site so for Marlon's sake we'll stick to babblin' bout just da movies :
10 KICK-ASS BRANDO QUOTES
(Actually 10 great movie moments as well as great performances *)
1. "You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley."
- Terry Malloy as written by Elia Kazan - ON THE WATERFRONT 1954
2. "I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life - I don't apologize - to take care of my family, and I refused to be a fool, dancing on the string held by all those bigshots. I don't apologize - that's my life - but I thought that, that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the string. Senator Corleone; Governor Corleone. Well, it wasn't enough time, Michael."
- Don Vito Corleone written by Mario Puzo THE GODFATHER
1972
3. "What're you rebelling against, Johnny?"
- Girl
"Whaddya got?"
- Johnny Strabler written by John Paxton THE WILD ONE 1953
4. "I have seen the devil in my microscope, and I have chained him."
- Dr. Moreau written by Richard Stanley based on H.G.Wells novel
- THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU 1996
5. "It is forbidden for you to interfere in human destiny"
- Jor El written by Mario Puzo SUPERMAN : THE MOVIE 1979
6. "Hey STELLA!!!! STELLA !!!!"
- Stanley Kowalski written by Tennessee Williams - A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
7. "I was just thinking, sir, that our little errand for groceries might wind up in a page of naval history if we succeed in negotiating The Horn in the dead of winter."
- 1st Lt. Fletcher Christian (Brando)
"Why shouldn't we succeed? Admiral Anderson did."
- Captain Bligh (Trevor Howard)
"Yes, but of course he didn't choose to attempt it in a ninety-one-foot chamber pot. In any event, his was the only ship to do it and I believe he lost fifty percent of his crew." - 1st Lt. Fletcher Christian written by a cast of thousands (really like 6 people so who knows who came up of with this particular dialogue?)
- MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY 1962
8. "You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill."
- Colonel Walter E. Kurtz written by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola - APOCALYPSE NOW 1979
9. "Even if a husband lives 200 hundred fucking years, he'll never discover his wife's true nature. I may be able to understand the secrets of the universe, but... I'll never understand the truth about you. Never."
- Paul - LAST TANGO IN PARIS 1972
10. "My God! Let me get a look at you. You know, you look like shit. What's your secret? "
- Max written by too many cooks in the pot to list - THE SCORE 2001
* Not all are truly great performances on #4 & #10 I believe he was just walking through.
10 DUELING BRANDOS
"Hey Honey come show the guys your Brando impression!"
- Roseanne on fatal things to say to your pregnant wife.
These actors have all done impersonations on either film or the stage but mostly on SNL :
1. John Belushi
2. Peter Boyle
A hilarious SNL sketch from '76 featured Belsuhi and Boyle both dressed in THE WILD ONE attire getting their Brando on! Helped "I couda been a contender" to be a standard of great movie lines.
3. Alec Baldwin (SNL)
4. John Travolta (SNL)
5. Val Kilmer - ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU
6. Matthew Broderick - THE FRESHMAN
7. Dom Deluise - THE GODSON
8. Robin Williams (big surprise!)- On various talk shows, morning zoo radio appearances, supermarket openings, benefit concert appearances, CD release junkets, MTV movie awards shows, random TV and film cameos, etc. etc. ETC!
9. Julia Louis Dreyfuss (don't ya remember a delirious drugged up Elaine on SEINFELD yelling "Stella!" when meeting somebody with that name? I sure do.)
10. Frank Gorshin - go IMDb it yerself.
More later...
Sunday, June 27, 2004
More DVDs In Recent Release
"If this was a movie you'd be on the cutting room floor."
- THE SINGING DETECTIVE (2003)
Just released this weekend was Michael Moore's highly anticipated FAHRENHEIT 911. Every show at my local theater has been sold out so I haven't had a chance to see it and post a review. According to the IMDB this is the case around the country evidenced by it's rating as #1 at the box office. I just hope the same numbers turn out to vote. Anyway we've got some new DVD reviews - unfortunately disses (with one notable exception) as the recent crop of releases didn't really float our respective boats. Well here's at them anyway.
DVDS IN RECENT CIRCULATION :
SECRET WINDOW (2004) Dir. David Koepp.
Johnny Depp plays a tortured suspense novelist named Mort Rainey (credit there for having a protagonist named 'Mort') accused of plagarism in this adaptation of a Stephen King short story. That's a simplistic and misleading description I'm afraid - you see a strange hillbilly character (John Turturro) shows up at his door claiming that Mort stole his story and threatens Mort's and his love one's lives if he doesn't change the ending and give him proper credit. Mort (sorry I just love typing that name) is tortured because his wife of 10 years (Maria Bello)left him for a straight laced never smiling Timothy Hutton who himself played a tortured writer in King's THE DARK HALF but I digress. So Mort's dog is found dead and he goes to the local police who of course are ineffective and he wanders around his cabin in the woods overreacting and over-acting to every startling sound.
I'm not going to give anything away but the resolution of this is so contrived and ridiculous that it brought back memories of IDENTITY or as we here at film babble like to call A NIGHT AT THE RED HERRING MOTEL. It's getting harder and harder to accept movie premises in which any given character may be a figment of someone's imagination and that certain incidents may never have occured at all. "The ending is the most important part" Mort says at one point and he's he right - it surely was important to me when this piece of derivative doggerel was going to end.
- Daniel Cook Johnson
BAD SANTA (2003) Dir. Terry Zwigoff. This is the notable exception. Director Zwigoff and star Billy Bob Thorton are slumming it here but oh what a glorious slum it is. Thorton plays a boozing foul mouthed department store Santa who with his midget partner in crime (Tony Cox)have a consistent seasonal scam by breaking into the safe of the stores that employ them. Good crude stuff that brings to mind other enjoyable lowbrow fare like SHAKES THE CLOWN and RUTHLESS PEOPLE.
- Anderson Moran
50 FIRST DATES Dir. Peter Segel. Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore try to work their WEDDING SINGER magic in this tropical romantic comedy about a guy having to re-win the heart of his love every day as her memory is erased every night while she sleeps. It's a convoluted premise with very little imagination and the usual cheap humor (wet dreams, whale genitalia references, and strained physical antics)found in a Sandler flick. It does have some genuine heart to it so there are people who may like it but to most film babble blogsters it will be erased from memory while they sleep.
- Bertie Shafer
More later...
- THE SINGING DETECTIVE (2003)
Just released this weekend was Michael Moore's highly anticipated FAHRENHEIT 911. Every show at my local theater has been sold out so I haven't had a chance to see it and post a review. According to the IMDB this is the case around the country evidenced by it's rating as #1 at the box office. I just hope the same numbers turn out to vote. Anyway we've got some new DVD reviews - unfortunately disses (with one notable exception) as the recent crop of releases didn't really float our respective boats. Well here's at them anyway.
DVDS IN RECENT CIRCULATION :
SECRET WINDOW (2004) Dir. David Koepp.
Johnny Depp plays a tortured suspense novelist named Mort Rainey (credit there for having a protagonist named 'Mort') accused of plagarism in this adaptation of a Stephen King short story. That's a simplistic and misleading description I'm afraid - you see a strange hillbilly character (John Turturro) shows up at his door claiming that Mort stole his story and threatens Mort's and his love one's lives if he doesn't change the ending and give him proper credit. Mort (sorry I just love typing that name) is tortured because his wife of 10 years (Maria Bello)left him for a straight laced never smiling Timothy Hutton who himself played a tortured writer in King's THE DARK HALF but I digress. So Mort's dog is found dead and he goes to the local police who of course are ineffective and he wanders around his cabin in the woods overreacting and over-acting to every startling sound.
I'm not going to give anything away but the resolution of this is so contrived and ridiculous that it brought back memories of IDENTITY or as we here at film babble like to call A NIGHT AT THE RED HERRING MOTEL. It's getting harder and harder to accept movie premises in which any given character may be a figment of someone's imagination and that certain incidents may never have occured at all. "The ending is the most important part" Mort says at one point and he's he right - it surely was important to me when this piece of derivative doggerel was going to end.
- Daniel Cook Johnson
BAD SANTA (2003) Dir. Terry Zwigoff. This is the notable exception. Director Zwigoff and star Billy Bob Thorton are slumming it here but oh what a glorious slum it is. Thorton plays a boozing foul mouthed department store Santa who with his midget partner in crime (Tony Cox)have a consistent seasonal scam by breaking into the safe of the stores that employ them. Good crude stuff that brings to mind other enjoyable lowbrow fare like SHAKES THE CLOWN and RUTHLESS PEOPLE.
- Anderson Moran
50 FIRST DATES Dir. Peter Segel. Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore try to work their WEDDING SINGER magic in this tropical romantic comedy about a guy having to re-win the heart of his love every day as her memory is erased every night while she sleeps. It's a convoluted premise with very little imagination and the usual cheap humor (wet dreams, whale genitalia references, and strained physical antics)found in a Sandler flick. It does have some genuine heart to it so there are people who may like it but to most film babble blogsters it will be erased from memory while they sleep.
- Bertie Shafer
More later...
Sunday, June 13, 2004
SUPER SIZE ME: The Film Babble Blog Review
"There are stories of coincidence and chance, of intersections and strange things told, and which is which and nobody knows; and we generally say, 'Well, if that was in a movie, I wouldn't believe it.'" - Narrator (Ricky Jay) MAGNOLIA (1999)
SUPER SIZE ME (2004) Dir. Morgan Spurlock.
"Michael Moore Kicking Self For Not Filming Last 600 Trips To McDonald's"
- The Onion 6/04
I went to McDonald's 4 days ago. It was around 9:30 AM and I was getting breakfast before I went in to work. I had an egg and cheese biscuit. It was satisfying and filling at the time and I thought it would propel me through my retail duties. A day later waking up to go in the same time to work the same shift I could still taste it. It didn't sit well with me obviously and I opted not to go back for breakfast there again. You see the 3-4 block radius in which I work doesn't have many cheap options for working class food. There's a Panera Bread across the street but a meal there runs like 5-7 bucks. So what can ya do?
Morgan Spurlock decided what he was gonna do is do a Michael Moore on McDonald's ass. So to speak - he was gonna do a documentary with quick cut sarcasm, lots of graphic statistic info, and catch a lot of people off guard with a damning expose. His premise : to eat at McDonald's for one month - every meal and going for the super size option only when they offered it. This caused unsurprising weight gain and liver troubles. He consulted 3 different doctors and numerous dieticians both before and during the experiment. One doctor even advised him 21 days in to stop the regiment for his own good. He wisecracked around the evidence and seemed proud to stick it out.
That's all well and good and at the time I viewed this film I found it amusing but like that before mentioned biscuit later it didn't sit well with me. Spurlock never comes off as funny as he thinks he is - there was a preview for Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 that had the audience I was in bellylaughing while SUPER SIZE THIS in full only coaxed occasional chuckles. Really what the film proves more than anything else is that apparently you can make a documentary about anything these days. I mean is it really that revealing that fast food is unhealthy? For years and years we've seen calorie and fat break-downs in magazines and newspapers. His simple premise has merit but a lot of the filler around it seemed like magazine news show blather. And like many critics point out one of the key questions Spurlock asks in the first 10 minutes "Where does personal responsibility end and corporate responsibility begin?" he never answers!
That said I would still recommend this flick. It's always interesting to see somebody follow through on an extreme physical regimen over a self imposed time period whatever his agenda. To question a corporation's power of a large portion of the populice is always a noble cause. So overall with creative use of paintings, old Ronald McDonald footage targeting toddlers, and a good ear for choice of punctuating music (Curtis Mayfield's "Pusherman", Ohio Express's "Yummy Yummy Yummy", and even "Fat Bottom Girls" by Queen) this is a filling piece of film food. It just might upset your stomach and mind later.
More later...
SUPER SIZE ME (2004) Dir. Morgan Spurlock.
"Michael Moore Kicking Self For Not Filming Last 600 Trips To McDonald's"
- The Onion 6/04
I went to McDonald's 4 days ago. It was around 9:30 AM and I was getting breakfast before I went in to work. I had an egg and cheese biscuit. It was satisfying and filling at the time and I thought it would propel me through my retail duties. A day later waking up to go in the same time to work the same shift I could still taste it. It didn't sit well with me obviously and I opted not to go back for breakfast there again. You see the 3-4 block radius in which I work doesn't have many cheap options for working class food. There's a Panera Bread across the street but a meal there runs like 5-7 bucks. So what can ya do?
Morgan Spurlock decided what he was gonna do is do a Michael Moore on McDonald's ass. So to speak - he was gonna do a documentary with quick cut sarcasm, lots of graphic statistic info, and catch a lot of people off guard with a damning expose. His premise : to eat at McDonald's for one month - every meal and going for the super size option only when they offered it. This caused unsurprising weight gain and liver troubles. He consulted 3 different doctors and numerous dieticians both before and during the experiment. One doctor even advised him 21 days in to stop the regiment for his own good. He wisecracked around the evidence and seemed proud to stick it out.
That's all well and good and at the time I viewed this film I found it amusing but like that before mentioned biscuit later it didn't sit well with me. Spurlock never comes off as funny as he thinks he is - there was a preview for Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 that had the audience I was in bellylaughing while SUPER SIZE THIS in full only coaxed occasional chuckles. Really what the film proves more than anything else is that apparently you can make a documentary about anything these days. I mean is it really that revealing that fast food is unhealthy? For years and years we've seen calorie and fat break-downs in magazines and newspapers. His simple premise has merit but a lot of the filler around it seemed like magazine news show blather. And like many critics point out one of the key questions Spurlock asks in the first 10 minutes "Where does personal responsibility end and corporate responsibility begin?" he never answers!
That said I would still recommend this flick. It's always interesting to see somebody follow through on an extreme physical regimen over a self imposed time period whatever his agenda. To question a corporation's power of a large portion of the populice is always a noble cause. So overall with creative use of paintings, old Ronald McDonald footage targeting toddlers, and a good ear for choice of punctuating music (Curtis Mayfield's "Pusherman", Ohio Express's "Yummy Yummy Yummy", and even "Fat Bottom Girls" by Queen) this is a filling piece of film food. It just might upset your stomach and mind later.
More later...
Tuesday, June 8, 2004
More New Release DVDs
"I tried to stand up and fly straight, but it wasn't easy with that son' bitch Reagan in the White House. They say he's a decent man so I dunno...maybe his advisers are confused."
- HI McDunnough (Nicholas Cage) RAISING ARIZONA (1987)
We Here at film babble salute Ronald Reagan - as actor.
He was quite an actor from '37-'64. Man whatta body of werk! He also was involved in politics or something I dunno. I just love his acting in classics like HELLCATS OF THE NAVY and of course the immortal BEDTIME FOR BONZO. Method actors take note - this is the real shiznit!
Some new DVD Reviews by the film babble blog :
ALONG COMES POLLY (2004) Dir. John Hamburg. Along comes another stupid Ben Stiller-as-punching bag romantic comedy. They seem to appear every few months. This time he's a risk management analyst who falls for a flakey artsy Salsa loving Jennifer Aniston and of course wackiness unsues. Not exactly high concept. At least there's a above par supporting cast - Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, and Bryan Brown make this at least a notch above DUPLEX. Hoffman provides one of the only reasons this movie is not a complete waste of time playing a washed-up almost ran brat pack actor. To make the most out of a routine best-friend part in a routine formula comedy is quite a feat.
- Bertie Shafer
TRAINSPOTTING (SPECIAL EDITION DVD) Dir. Danny Boyle.
"Small time wasters with an accidental big deal"
This British cult classic from the mid 90's is now done right by a domestic DVD release that contains extras long available on overseas formats. It's about freakin' time! The commentary recorded in '96 has Ewan McGregor, director Danny Boyle, screenwriter John Hodge, and producer Andrew MacDonald is a funny insightful listen. Struggling with heroin addiction, Renton (McGregor) and his scraggly crew slum through episodes of petty theft, nasty squalor, and refusal to take part in any part of normal society and it's a stone cold blast! A few then and now retrospectives, scratchy deleted scenes, and Cannes film festival interviews round out this essential package. Essential that is if you don't have an import version that has this stuff on it already.
- Daniel Cook Johnson
LIVE FOREVER - THE RISE AND FALL OF BRIT POP (2003) Dir. John Dower. Mostly covering Oasis, Blur, and Pulp this loose documentary also touches on the Verve, Stone Roses, and Radiohead. Oasis makes their TV debut just weeks after the death of Kurt Cobain heralding the end of the grunge ara and start of the Brit pop period. Just as new Prime Minister Tony Blair represented a new way of government these shiny updated slices of Beatlemania re-ignited English culture if only for a moment. A well sequenced thesis but sadly lacking more on-screen identifications of the interviewees - is that a member of a Oasis tribute band or is it an actual member of Oasis? I'm not sure. The humor and pretensions of the key players especially during the Blur Vs. Oasis chapter make this a worthwhile watch.
- Anderson Moran
I forgot how much I liked :
BARFLY (1987)Dir. Barbet Schroeder.
Tully: Why don't you stop drinking? Anybody can be a drunk.
Henry: Anybody can be a non-drunk. It takes a special talent to be a drunk. It takes endurance. Endurance is more important than truth
Charles Bukowski's loser poet lifestyle made for great drunk cinema by way of Mickey Roarke and Faye Dunaway in this unfortunately overlooked gem. Frank Stallone holds his own as well as a bartender Roarke is in constant battle with. Funny at parts when it's trying to be serious and severely stoic in sequences in which it's trying to be funny BARFLY is nevertheless a great movie.
More later...
- HI McDunnough (Nicholas Cage) RAISING ARIZONA (1987)
We Here at film babble salute Ronald Reagan - as actor.
He was quite an actor from '37-'64. Man whatta body of werk! He also was involved in politics or something I dunno. I just love his acting in classics like HELLCATS OF THE NAVY and of course the immortal BEDTIME FOR BONZO. Method actors take note - this is the real shiznit!
Some new DVD Reviews by the film babble blog :
ALONG COMES POLLY (2004) Dir. John Hamburg. Along comes another stupid Ben Stiller-as-punching bag romantic comedy. They seem to appear every few months. This time he's a risk management analyst who falls for a flakey artsy Salsa loving Jennifer Aniston and of course wackiness unsues. Not exactly high concept. At least there's a above par supporting cast - Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, and Bryan Brown make this at least a notch above DUPLEX. Hoffman provides one of the only reasons this movie is not a complete waste of time playing a washed-up almost ran brat pack actor. To make the most out of a routine best-friend part in a routine formula comedy is quite a feat.
- Bertie Shafer
TRAINSPOTTING (SPECIAL EDITION DVD) Dir. Danny Boyle.
"Small time wasters with an accidental big deal"
This British cult classic from the mid 90's is now done right by a domestic DVD release that contains extras long available on overseas formats. It's about freakin' time! The commentary recorded in '96 has Ewan McGregor, director Danny Boyle, screenwriter John Hodge, and producer Andrew MacDonald is a funny insightful listen. Struggling with heroin addiction, Renton (McGregor) and his scraggly crew slum through episodes of petty theft, nasty squalor, and refusal to take part in any part of normal society and it's a stone cold blast! A few then and now retrospectives, scratchy deleted scenes, and Cannes film festival interviews round out this essential package. Essential that is if you don't have an import version that has this stuff on it already.
- Daniel Cook Johnson
LIVE FOREVER - THE RISE AND FALL OF BRIT POP (2003) Dir. John Dower. Mostly covering Oasis, Blur, and Pulp this loose documentary also touches on the Verve, Stone Roses, and Radiohead. Oasis makes their TV debut just weeks after the death of Kurt Cobain heralding the end of the grunge ara and start of the Brit pop period. Just as new Prime Minister Tony Blair represented a new way of government these shiny updated slices of Beatlemania re-ignited English culture if only for a moment. A well sequenced thesis but sadly lacking more on-screen identifications of the interviewees - is that a member of a Oasis tribute band or is it an actual member of Oasis? I'm not sure. The humor and pretensions of the key players especially during the Blur Vs. Oasis chapter make this a worthwhile watch.
- Anderson Moran
I forgot how much I liked :
BARFLY (1987)Dir. Barbet Schroeder.
Tully: Why don't you stop drinking? Anybody can be a drunk.
Henry: Anybody can be a non-drunk. It takes a special talent to be a drunk. It takes endurance. Endurance is more important than truth
Charles Bukowski's loser poet lifestyle made for great drunk cinema by way of Mickey Roarke and Faye Dunaway in this unfortunately overlooked gem. Frank Stallone holds his own as well as a bartender Roarke is in constant battle with. Funny at parts when it's trying to be serious and severely stoic in sequences in which it's trying to be funny BARFLY is nevertheless a great movie.
More later...
Friday, June 4, 2004
The Top 50 Worst Movies Of The Last 30 Years
"Movies - now more than ever!" - Studio slogan from THE PLAYER (1991)
Today for no reason in particular we present our panels picks for ...
FILM BABBLE'S TOP 50 WORST MOVIES OF THE LAST 30 YEARS :
We tried to steer clear of sequels or series movies and go for the stand alone one shot movie messes. Enjoy!
1. BATTLEFIELD EARTH (2000) - So bad none of us could get through the whole thing even as a Mystery Science Theater 3000 joke time yell-a-thon. It other words so bad it's not funny. Travolta squeezes dry his coolness factor as he overstays his 90's comeback welcome with this collasal piece of L. Ron Hubbard space opera nonsense.
2. 15 MINUTES (2001) If only this movie was just 15 minutes. Horrible stupid preachy supposed statement on the media's love for violence. What this movie is saying is disguised with manipulative violent bloody in your face reasoning. In the end you'll feel like you've been beaten up by somebody yelling that they are a pacifist. Robert Deniro, Edward Burns, and even Frasier himself - Kelsey Grammer take part in this fiasco.
3. SCOOBY DOO (2002)- Everyone thought the original cartoon was crap even when I was seven that was understood so why on Earth was this made?!!? Oh yeah - the geniuses at Warner Bros. figured that 70's retro retread mania merged with fake irony might mean kids will pay big to see a CGI talking dog solve mysteries with a bunch of Generation Y'ers TV stars. They were right it did clean up. Disturbing, yes but the fact that the sequel tanked comforts me just a little bit.
4. DISCLOSURE (1994) - God awful strained office place sexual harrasment drama with Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. The twist is she's harrassing him! There's also some high tech corporate thriller nonsense intertwined - I can't remember exactly how and I'm not going back to watch it so let's just leave it at that.
5. ISHTAR (1987) Infamous flop. Let's put Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty as untalented nightclub singers in the desert with a script by Elaine May and we can't fail! Well guess what...
6. THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE (1997) - Famous NY Times critic Pauline Kael admitted in one her last interviews that she kind of liked this movie, that it has a hamboned quality to it. I can almost see what she's talking about - it is more likably bad than others on this list but we still have to say that it's a one way street to Suck City! Idealistic young lawyer Keanu Reeves goes to work for a high powered firm run by Al Pacino who turns out to be Satan himself. Uh huh, you read me right. It's that simple, stupid and and savagely gruesome.
You can understand why we didn't want to write about most of the rest of the list can't you?
7. MAD CITY (1997)
8. THE HULK (2003)
9. ED TV (1999)
10. THE LAST ACTION HERO (1993)- Thank God Arnold Schwarzenegger can't be President.
11. DEATH TO SMOOCHY (2003)
12. VERY BAD THINGS (1998)
13. WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? (2000)
14. 1941 (1979)
15. BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES (1989)
16. LOST IN SPACE (1998)
17. THE RING (2002)
18. FRESH HORSES (1988)
19. PHONEBOOTH (2003)
20. TIE - SHOWGIRLS (1995)/BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN - AN ALAN SMITHEE FILM(1997) - The king of bad movie screenwriting - Joe Ezterhas (also known for such tripe as BASIC INSTINCT, HEARTS OF FIRE, and SLIVER) was responsible for both of these monstousities.
21. FATHER'S DAY (1997)
22. MEDICINE MAN (1992) - Dr. Robert Campbell (Sean Connery) yells at Lorraine Braco "What don't you understand? I found the cure for the fucking plague of the twentieth century and now I've lost it. Haven't you ever lost anything doctor Bronx? Your purse? Your car keys? Well, it's rather like that: Now you have it and now you don't." Says it all, huh?
23. PATCH ADAMS (1998)
24. HOWARD THE DUCK (1986)
25. AIR FORCE ONE (1997)
26. HOT TO TROT (1989)
27. THE MONEY PIT (1984)
28. TIE : WATER WORLD (1994) / THE POSTMAN (1997)
29. SPACEBALLS (1997)
30. TANGO & CASH (1989)
31. PAY IT FORWARD (2000)
32. GIGLI (2003)
33. SGT. BILKO (1996)
34. SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (1978)
35. RAT RACE (2001)
36. COOL AS ICE (1990)- Vanilla Ice's first and last movie. All you need to do about it is that it gave society the immortal pick-up line "drop the zero and get with the hero."
37. THE CAT IN THE HAT (2003)
38. WILD WILD WEST (1998)
39. TWINS (1989)
40. POPEYE (1979)
41. GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADSTREET (1983)
42. GODZILLA (1998)
43. ARMAGEDDON (1998)
44. HEARTBEEPS (1981)
45. SOUL MAN (1986)
46. THE LAST MOVIE (1971)
47. THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE (2003)
48. COCKTAIL (1988)
49. THE BLACK HOLE (1979)
50. BEST DEFENSE (1984)
HONORABLE MENTION :
THE SINGING DETECTIVE (2003)
More later...
Today for no reason in particular we present our panels picks for ...
FILM BABBLE'S TOP 50 WORST MOVIES OF THE LAST 30 YEARS :
We tried to steer clear of sequels or series movies and go for the stand alone one shot movie messes. Enjoy!
1. BATTLEFIELD EARTH (2000) - So bad none of us could get through the whole thing even as a Mystery Science Theater 3000 joke time yell-a-thon. It other words so bad it's not funny. Travolta squeezes dry his coolness factor as he overstays his 90's comeback welcome with this collasal piece of L. Ron Hubbard space opera nonsense.
2. 15 MINUTES (2001) If only this movie was just 15 minutes. Horrible stupid preachy supposed statement on the media's love for violence. What this movie is saying is disguised with manipulative violent bloody in your face reasoning. In the end you'll feel like you've been beaten up by somebody yelling that they are a pacifist. Robert Deniro, Edward Burns, and even Frasier himself - Kelsey Grammer take part in this fiasco.
3. SCOOBY DOO (2002)- Everyone thought the original cartoon was crap even when I was seven that was understood so why on Earth was this made?!!? Oh yeah - the geniuses at Warner Bros. figured that 70's retro retread mania merged with fake irony might mean kids will pay big to see a CGI talking dog solve mysteries with a bunch of Generation Y'ers TV stars. They were right it did clean up. Disturbing, yes but the fact that the sequel tanked comforts me just a little bit.
4. DISCLOSURE (1994) - God awful strained office place sexual harrasment drama with Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. The twist is she's harrassing him! There's also some high tech corporate thriller nonsense intertwined - I can't remember exactly how and I'm not going back to watch it so let's just leave it at that.
5. ISHTAR (1987) Infamous flop. Let's put Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty as untalented nightclub singers in the desert with a script by Elaine May and we can't fail! Well guess what...
6. THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE (1997) - Famous NY Times critic Pauline Kael admitted in one her last interviews that she kind of liked this movie, that it has a hamboned quality to it. I can almost see what she's talking about - it is more likably bad than others on this list but we still have to say that it's a one way street to Suck City! Idealistic young lawyer Keanu Reeves goes to work for a high powered firm run by Al Pacino who turns out to be Satan himself. Uh huh, you read me right. It's that simple, stupid and and savagely gruesome.
You can understand why we didn't want to write about most of the rest of the list can't you?
7. MAD CITY (1997)
8. THE HULK (2003)
9. ED TV (1999)
10. THE LAST ACTION HERO (1993)- Thank God Arnold Schwarzenegger can't be President.
11. DEATH TO SMOOCHY (2003)
12. VERY BAD THINGS (1998)
13. WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? (2000)
14. 1941 (1979)
15. BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES (1989)
16. LOST IN SPACE (1998)
17. THE RING (2002)
18. FRESH HORSES (1988)
19. PHONEBOOTH (2003)
20. TIE - SHOWGIRLS (1995)/BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN - AN ALAN SMITHEE FILM(1997) - The king of bad movie screenwriting - Joe Ezterhas (also known for such tripe as BASIC INSTINCT, HEARTS OF FIRE, and SLIVER) was responsible for both of these monstousities.
21. FATHER'S DAY (1997)
22. MEDICINE MAN (1992) - Dr. Robert Campbell (Sean Connery) yells at Lorraine Braco "What don't you understand? I found the cure for the fucking plague of the twentieth century and now I've lost it. Haven't you ever lost anything doctor Bronx? Your purse? Your car keys? Well, it's rather like that: Now you have it and now you don't." Says it all, huh?
23. PATCH ADAMS (1998)
24. HOWARD THE DUCK (1986)
25. AIR FORCE ONE (1997)
26. HOT TO TROT (1989)
27. THE MONEY PIT (1984)
28. TIE : WATER WORLD (1994) / THE POSTMAN (1997)
29. SPACEBALLS (1997)
30. TANGO & CASH (1989)
31. PAY IT FORWARD (2000)
32. GIGLI (2003)
33. SGT. BILKO (1996)
34. SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (1978)
35. RAT RACE (2001)
36. COOL AS ICE (1990)- Vanilla Ice's first and last movie. All you need to do about it is that it gave society the immortal pick-up line "drop the zero and get with the hero."
37. THE CAT IN THE HAT (2003)
38. WILD WILD WEST (1998)
39. TWINS (1989)
40. POPEYE (1979)
41. GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADSTREET (1983)
42. GODZILLA (1998)
43. ARMAGEDDON (1998)
44. HEARTBEEPS (1981)
45. SOUL MAN (1986)
46. THE LAST MOVIE (1971)
47. THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE (2003)
48. COCKTAIL (1988)
49. THE BLACK HOLE (1979)
50. BEST DEFENSE (1984)
HONORABLE MENTION :
THE SINGING DETECTIVE (2003)
More later...
Sunday, May 30, 2004
DVDs In Recent Release
"Take myself, subtract movies, and the result is zero"
- Akira Kurosawa
We here at film babble are ignoring supposed big summer blockbusters like THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW & TROY to focus on smaller fare like SUPER SIZE THIS and COFFEE AND CIGARETTES. We're just those kinda geeks I guess. Anyway we got lots of movie babble-blurbs and lots of crazy-ass-action to let's get to it.
DVDS IN RECENT RELEASE
RIPLEY'S GAME (2002) Dir. Liliana Cavana. Decent sturdy thriller but it could use a little more wit. Many lines are basic and stiff. Which is a surprise considering these are based on Patricia Highsmith's wickedely witty Tom Ripley novels. John Malkovich plays the same character that Matt Damon did in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999) but as somebody on the message board on IMDB stresses this is not a sequel. Dennis Hopper also tackled the character in Wim Wender's THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977). A dry dull game Ripley plays this time around.
- Bertie Shaffer
OSAMA (2003)Dir. Siddiq Barmak. Beautiful but disturbing as Hell. The basic line that this is the first movie made in Afganistan since Taliban fell is news enough but to experience this movie is to witness as harrowing a depiction of oppression and indignity that's ever graced the silver screen. Marina Golbahari plays the title character - a 12 year old girl firced to pose as a boy in order to support her hungry mother and grandmother. The ruse doesn't last long and she is exiled to a worse fate. Watch at your own peril.
- Sarah Warner
MONSTER (2003) Dir. Patty Jenkins. Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her portrayal of Aileen Carol Wuornos a Floridian serial killing prostitute who had been exectued in 2002. Argubly she derserved to win because as Roger Ebert and many other critics gushed she completely inhabits the role and it's fascinating to watch. Unfortunately the movie that houses Wournos' story is uneven and routinely presented. There are many effective moments like when teen lesbian Christina Ricci and Theron go roller skating and fall in love with each other to the tune of Jounrey's "Don't Stop Believing" (yep, they're just that kind of 80's white trash) so ultimately I recommend it. For footage of the real Wuornos check out Nick Broomfield's (yes the twit who made the silly docs BIGGIE AND TUPAC and KURT AND COURTNEY) AILEEN : LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER. Watching that or MONSTER will make you want to take a shower and that's a film babble gurantee.
- Bertie Shaffer
ELEPHANT (2003) Dir. Gus Vant Sant. A meditation on a Columbine style high school shooting that feels anticlimatic and left me short. The look and feel is convincing but ultimately this is a afterthought project with a muddled sense of purpose. Nice acting though from a cast of unknowns - Alex Frost and John Robinson particularly.
- Anderson Moran
21 GRAMS Dir. Alexandro Gonzalez Inarritu. From the same team responsible for AMORES PERROS (2000). For a movie that got a few Oscar nominations and a round of good critical notices this flick seems to have been thrown onto DVD with the same loving care as GIGLI - no extras per say. Not even a trailer except for other films (I hate that). The story here is 3 characters whose destinys of course intertwine and unsurprisingly is told out of sequence. How Indy! You have to pay close attention to absord the subtle details so that may lose a bunch of viewers right off. If that doesn't the grainy washed out film stock might. So anyway this goes back and forth in time the narrative surrounding an automobile accident killing a man and his 2 daughters and the aftermath his widow(Naomi Watts)faces as a haggard pale proffesor (Sean Penn) is in need of a heart thansplant. Benecio Del Toro plays an ex-convict whos to blame for the accident. Any more I would tell you would give away this film's secrets. Basically this is Penn, Del Toro and Watts embroiled together in a tale of intrigue and blood! Almost poetic. And as Chris Guest said in A MIGHTY WIND - "Almost."
- Daniel Cook Johnson
EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS - BBC 2002 Dir. Kenneth Bowser.
"When Blake said that the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom...it also leads to the grave" - Kris Kristofferson
William H. Macy's narration delicately explains one of the greatest or at least most interesting film making eras in this documentary adaptation of Peter Biskind's bestseller. Covering the same material and even sharing a number of the same film clips as DECADE UNDER THE INFLUENCE the story should be familliar to film babble blog readers. Simply put to those just tuning in - the French new wave headed by Francois Truffaut and Jean Luc Godard influenced a band of movie brat outsiders who broke into the studio system after years of B-movie exile. Maverick cheapie teen-expoitation king Roger Corman mentored Peter Bogdonovich, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorcese, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper and countless others to become the "New Hollywood". They made what were called "Now movies" like BONNIE AND CLYDE, EASY RIDER, THE GODFATHER, MEAN STREETS, and HAROLD AND MAUDE to name 5. By the mid 70's the careers of many of the principle players were in decline while these straight laced film nerds from Malibu - Steven Spielberg and George Lucas cleaned up with JAWS and STAR WARS which this thesis proposes was the end of the era. Whether or not that's true we get many fascinating anecdotes about crazy set antics, infidelities, and of course more stories about that damn mechanical shark. Good stuff indeed. Check out the cool DVD bonus interviews with many of the targeted directors and actors plus a realing talk with author Biskind. Required viewing for all film babble blog students.
- Daniel Cook Johnson
"Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion." - Kitty Farmer played by Beth Grant (DONNIE DARKO 2001)
More later...
- Akira Kurosawa
We here at film babble are ignoring supposed big summer blockbusters like THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW & TROY to focus on smaller fare like SUPER SIZE THIS and COFFEE AND CIGARETTES. We're just those kinda geeks I guess. Anyway we got lots of movie babble-blurbs and lots of crazy-ass-action to let's get to it.
DVDS IN RECENT RELEASE
RIPLEY'S GAME (2002) Dir. Liliana Cavana. Decent sturdy thriller but it could use a little more wit. Many lines are basic and stiff. Which is a surprise considering these are based on Patricia Highsmith's wickedely witty Tom Ripley novels. John Malkovich plays the same character that Matt Damon did in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999) but as somebody on the message board on IMDB stresses this is not a sequel. Dennis Hopper also tackled the character in Wim Wender's THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977). A dry dull game Ripley plays this time around.
- Bertie Shaffer
OSAMA (2003)Dir. Siddiq Barmak. Beautiful but disturbing as Hell. The basic line that this is the first movie made in Afganistan since Taliban fell is news enough but to experience this movie is to witness as harrowing a depiction of oppression and indignity that's ever graced the silver screen. Marina Golbahari plays the title character - a 12 year old girl firced to pose as a boy in order to support her hungry mother and grandmother. The ruse doesn't last long and she is exiled to a worse fate. Watch at your own peril.
- Sarah Warner
MONSTER (2003) Dir. Patty Jenkins. Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her portrayal of Aileen Carol Wuornos a Floridian serial killing prostitute who had been exectued in 2002. Argubly she derserved to win because as Roger Ebert and many other critics gushed she completely inhabits the role and it's fascinating to watch. Unfortunately the movie that houses Wournos' story is uneven and routinely presented. There are many effective moments like when teen lesbian Christina Ricci and Theron go roller skating and fall in love with each other to the tune of Jounrey's "Don't Stop Believing" (yep, they're just that kind of 80's white trash) so ultimately I recommend it. For footage of the real Wuornos check out Nick Broomfield's (yes the twit who made the silly docs BIGGIE AND TUPAC and KURT AND COURTNEY) AILEEN : LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER. Watching that or MONSTER will make you want to take a shower and that's a film babble gurantee.
- Bertie Shaffer
ELEPHANT (2003) Dir. Gus Vant Sant. A meditation on a Columbine style high school shooting that feels anticlimatic and left me short. The look and feel is convincing but ultimately this is a afterthought project with a muddled sense of purpose. Nice acting though from a cast of unknowns - Alex Frost and John Robinson particularly.
- Anderson Moran
21 GRAMS Dir. Alexandro Gonzalez Inarritu. From the same team responsible for AMORES PERROS (2000). For a movie that got a few Oscar nominations and a round of good critical notices this flick seems to have been thrown onto DVD with the same loving care as GIGLI - no extras per say. Not even a trailer except for other films (I hate that). The story here is 3 characters whose destinys of course intertwine and unsurprisingly is told out of sequence. How Indy! You have to pay close attention to absord the subtle details so that may lose a bunch of viewers right off. If that doesn't the grainy washed out film stock might. So anyway this goes back and forth in time the narrative surrounding an automobile accident killing a man and his 2 daughters and the aftermath his widow(Naomi Watts)faces as a haggard pale proffesor (Sean Penn) is in need of a heart thansplant. Benecio Del Toro plays an ex-convict whos to blame for the accident. Any more I would tell you would give away this film's secrets. Basically this is Penn, Del Toro and Watts embroiled together in a tale of intrigue and blood! Almost poetic. And as Chris Guest said in A MIGHTY WIND - "Almost."
- Daniel Cook Johnson
EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS - BBC 2002 Dir. Kenneth Bowser.
"When Blake said that the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom...it also leads to the grave" - Kris Kristofferson
William H. Macy's narration delicately explains one of the greatest or at least most interesting film making eras in this documentary adaptation of Peter Biskind's bestseller. Covering the same material and even sharing a number of the same film clips as DECADE UNDER THE INFLUENCE the story should be familliar to film babble blog readers. Simply put to those just tuning in - the French new wave headed by Francois Truffaut and Jean Luc Godard influenced a band of movie brat outsiders who broke into the studio system after years of B-movie exile. Maverick cheapie teen-expoitation king Roger Corman mentored Peter Bogdonovich, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorcese, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper and countless others to become the "New Hollywood". They made what were called "Now movies" like BONNIE AND CLYDE, EASY RIDER, THE GODFATHER, MEAN STREETS, and HAROLD AND MAUDE to name 5. By the mid 70's the careers of many of the principle players were in decline while these straight laced film nerds from Malibu - Steven Spielberg and George Lucas cleaned up with JAWS and STAR WARS which this thesis proposes was the end of the era. Whether or not that's true we get many fascinating anecdotes about crazy set antics, infidelities, and of course more stories about that damn mechanical shark. Good stuff indeed. Check out the cool DVD bonus interviews with many of the targeted directors and actors plus a realing talk with author Biskind. Required viewing for all film babble blog students.
- Daniel Cook Johnson
"Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion." - Kitty Farmer played by Beth Grant (DONNIE DARKO 2001)
More later...
Monday, May 24, 2004
Happy Birthday Bob Dylan!
"When will this rotten summer end? In a film, it'd already be over. Fade-out, cut to storm. Wouldn't that be great?"
- Salvatore played by Marco Leonard (CINEMA PARADISO 1989)
Since today is Bob Dylan's 63rd birthday we here at film babble are celebrating with lists, fun facts and the usual movie blather. First off we admit that his Bobness has had a career in movies that honestly is pretty spotty. This isn't surprising considering the biggest news lately about who many consider one of the best songwriters ever and a figure deserving of a nobel prize is that he appears in a Victoria's Secret ad ogling underwear models as his 1997 song "Lovesick" plays. That got more press than the release of his last album! So let's take a look at the poet prophet's acting career :
1. PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID 1973. Bob actually makes the most of a small part and gets a hit out of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" to boot. His character's name is Alias. How apt.
2. RENALDO AND CLARA (1978)This was never commercially available on videotape and now isn't on DVD. It's only been available on limited panned screenings and fuzzy as Hell bootleg copies. It's a weird movie (Ronnie Hawkins plays Dylan, Dylan plays Renaldo, and all the women end up looking like whores or something like that) that can broken into two parts - confusing drama and disjointed concert movie. A later cut made it into mostly concert movie but apparently that didn't save it from being just an important work in heated Dylan geek circle debates only.
3. HEARTS OF FIRE (1987) Bob plays over the hill ornery former rock star Billy Parker. Dylan's worst movie by far in his worst period by far. Joe Eszterhas (BASIC INSTINCT, SHOWGIRLS, BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN) wrote it. Need I say more?!!?
4. BACKTRACK AKA CATCHFIRE AKA DO IT THE HARD WAY (1990) A Dennis Hopper movie but it's fitting that the last flick on this Bob round-up had Joe Eszterhas because Allan Smithee (the common pseudonym for directors whose film was clearly taken away from her/him and recut heavily against her/his wishes in ways that completely altered the film) is also credited. Bob does a brief cameo as a welder/conceptual artist. I think. Don't quote me on that.
5. MASKED AND ANONYMOUS (2003)Bob plays Jack Fate - another over the hill formerly relevant musician who walks through a majorly incomprehensible movie nightmare. An A-list cast (Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Penelope Cruz, Bruce Dern, Val Kilmer, and even Ed Harris in black face!) and a great soundtrack can't save this mess.
So Mr. Spokesman for a generation (a label I've always hated and am sure he hates too) hasn't exactly lit up the silver screen as an actor but his legendary songs have enhanced many a film. Check out the top five best uses of Dylan's music in the movie :
1. THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998) "The Man In Me" set to a bowling montage that opens the Coens loosest effort perfectly captures the spirit of the Dude (Jeff Bridges) and the rambling world he inhabits.
2. HIGH FIDELITY (2000) "Most Of The Time" has John Cusack yet again in the rain soaked by nature and his love life dilemnas. "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here WIth You" also features in a love scene with Lisa Bonet.
3. THE WONDER BOYS (2000) Bob won the Oscar for "Things Have Haved" - a great slab of later day Dylan that along with "Shooting Star" and "Not Dark Yet" illustrate the burned out mind frame of Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas).
4. NEW YORK STORIES (1989)Martin Scorsese's segment LIFE LESSONS artist Nick Nolte blares Bob and the Band's live "Like A Rolling Stone" from Before The Flood from a paint splattered boom-box to inspire his passion-fuelled painting.
5. FLASHBACK (1990) Dylan's stately cover of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" briefly redeems this lame Dennis Hopper/Keifer Sutherland hippy meets yuppie comedy.
* HONORABLE MENTION - AMERICAN BEAUTY (2000) Kevin Spacey blares "All Along The Watchtower" as he smokes pot and works out.
So until Marty Scorcese's Dylan Anthology project and Todd Haynes weirdly named I'M NOT THERE : SUPPOSITIONS ON A FILM CONCERNING DYLAN (seriously!) both supposedely due next year the best Bob as himself and as true performer are undoubtedely :
DON'T LOOK BACK
(1967) D.A. Pennebaker's grainy black and white documentary of Dylan's 1965 solo tour of Britain contains the definitive picture of young Bob. Some critics think Bob comes off as an asshole here as he seems to be putting on everyone from rival musicians to newpaper reporters but I think he's hilarious and clearly enjoying his moment in the Sun. Though no song is heard from start to finish there's lots of good music and the DVD nicely contains the audio of a few complete songs as well as director commentary and a few other treats. If you only see one Bob movie...
THE LAST WALTZ (1978) Scorcese's fabulous flick of the Band's farewell concert at Thanksgiving in 1977 only features Bob for a few songs but what a few songs! He looks odd with an beach hat barley containing scragglier than usual hair but sings a concise "Forever Young" then blazes through "Mama Let Me Follow You Down". Bob didn't allow his whole set to be filmed. I have never understood why. Another great DVD though.
UNPLUGGED(1994 - SONY DVD 2004) This however is a very disapointing DVD of a great performance. There were 2 nights of Bob and his great touring band doing over an hour sets including several songs like "Hazel" and that didn't make the broadcast and should have been included here. This just has the program as it was originally released in 1995 on videocassette. A shame indeed but it's still an essential disc in my book - the versions of "Shooting Star" and "Dignity" alone keep the proceedings from being a by-the-numbers hits set. Bob looks cool with sunglasses and polk-dot shirt too.
CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH (1972) - This ground breaking benefit concert organized by George Harrison has cool tunes by Ravi Shankar and Eric Clapton among others but all of them SUCK compared to the 5 song set by Bob! He does definitive versions of his classic '60s songs. A must see.
There are too many lost obscure Bob movies and bootleg videos out to go into but I'll just say that his EAT THE DOCUMENT (1968)about the infamous electric tour of England in '66 - which he himself edited is screaming for a proper release. Maybe someday.
So Happy Birthday Bob! Keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew...
More later...
- Salvatore played by Marco Leonard (CINEMA PARADISO 1989)
Since today is Bob Dylan's 63rd birthday we here at film babble are celebrating with lists, fun facts and the usual movie blather. First off we admit that his Bobness has had a career in movies that honestly is pretty spotty. This isn't surprising considering the biggest news lately about who many consider one of the best songwriters ever and a figure deserving of a nobel prize is that he appears in a Victoria's Secret ad ogling underwear models as his 1997 song "Lovesick" plays. That got more press than the release of his last album! So let's take a look at the poet prophet's acting career :
1. PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID 1973. Bob actually makes the most of a small part and gets a hit out of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" to boot. His character's name is Alias. How apt.
2. RENALDO AND CLARA (1978)This was never commercially available on videotape and now isn't on DVD. It's only been available on limited panned screenings and fuzzy as Hell bootleg copies. It's a weird movie (Ronnie Hawkins plays Dylan, Dylan plays Renaldo, and all the women end up looking like whores or something like that) that can broken into two parts - confusing drama and disjointed concert movie. A later cut made it into mostly concert movie but apparently that didn't save it from being just an important work in heated Dylan geek circle debates only.
3. HEARTS OF FIRE (1987) Bob plays over the hill ornery former rock star Billy Parker. Dylan's worst movie by far in his worst period by far. Joe Eszterhas (BASIC INSTINCT, SHOWGIRLS, BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN) wrote it. Need I say more?!!?
4. BACKTRACK AKA CATCHFIRE AKA DO IT THE HARD WAY (1990) A Dennis Hopper movie but it's fitting that the last flick on this Bob round-up had Joe Eszterhas because Allan Smithee (the common pseudonym for directors whose film was clearly taken away from her/him and recut heavily against her/his wishes in ways that completely altered the film) is also credited. Bob does a brief cameo as a welder/conceptual artist. I think. Don't quote me on that.
5. MASKED AND ANONYMOUS (2003)Bob plays Jack Fate - another over the hill formerly relevant musician who walks through a majorly incomprehensible movie nightmare. An A-list cast (Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Penelope Cruz, Bruce Dern, Val Kilmer, and even Ed Harris in black face!) and a great soundtrack can't save this mess.
So Mr. Spokesman for a generation (a label I've always hated and am sure he hates too) hasn't exactly lit up the silver screen as an actor but his legendary songs have enhanced many a film. Check out the top five best uses of Dylan's music in the movie :
1. THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998) "The Man In Me" set to a bowling montage that opens the Coens loosest effort perfectly captures the spirit of the Dude (Jeff Bridges) and the rambling world he inhabits.
2. HIGH FIDELITY (2000) "Most Of The Time" has John Cusack yet again in the rain soaked by nature and his love life dilemnas. "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here WIth You" also features in a love scene with Lisa Bonet.
3. THE WONDER BOYS (2000) Bob won the Oscar for "Things Have Haved" - a great slab of later day Dylan that along with "Shooting Star" and "Not Dark Yet" illustrate the burned out mind frame of Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas).
4. NEW YORK STORIES (1989)Martin Scorsese's segment LIFE LESSONS artist Nick Nolte blares Bob and the Band's live "Like A Rolling Stone" from Before The Flood from a paint splattered boom-box to inspire his passion-fuelled painting.
5. FLASHBACK (1990) Dylan's stately cover of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" briefly redeems this lame Dennis Hopper/Keifer Sutherland hippy meets yuppie comedy.
* HONORABLE MENTION - AMERICAN BEAUTY (2000) Kevin Spacey blares "All Along The Watchtower" as he smokes pot and works out.
So until Marty Scorcese's Dylan Anthology project and Todd Haynes weirdly named I'M NOT THERE : SUPPOSITIONS ON A FILM CONCERNING DYLAN (seriously!) both supposedely due next year the best Bob as himself and as true performer are undoubtedely :
DON'T LOOK BACK
(1967) D.A. Pennebaker's grainy black and white documentary of Dylan's 1965 solo tour of Britain contains the definitive picture of young Bob. Some critics think Bob comes off as an asshole here as he seems to be putting on everyone from rival musicians to newpaper reporters but I think he's hilarious and clearly enjoying his moment in the Sun. Though no song is heard from start to finish there's lots of good music and the DVD nicely contains the audio of a few complete songs as well as director commentary and a few other treats. If you only see one Bob movie...
THE LAST WALTZ (1978) Scorcese's fabulous flick of the Band's farewell concert at Thanksgiving in 1977 only features Bob for a few songs but what a few songs! He looks odd with an beach hat barley containing scragglier than usual hair but sings a concise "Forever Young" then blazes through "Mama Let Me Follow You Down". Bob didn't allow his whole set to be filmed. I have never understood why. Another great DVD though.
UNPLUGGED(1994 - SONY DVD 2004) This however is a very disapointing DVD of a great performance. There were 2 nights of Bob and his great touring band doing over an hour sets including several songs like "Hazel" and that didn't make the broadcast and should have been included here. This just has the program as it was originally released in 1995 on videocassette. A shame indeed but it's still an essential disc in my book - the versions of "Shooting Star" and "Dignity" alone keep the proceedings from being a by-the-numbers hits set. Bob looks cool with sunglasses and polk-dot shirt too.
CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH (1972) - This ground breaking benefit concert organized by George Harrison has cool tunes by Ravi Shankar and Eric Clapton among others but all of them SUCK compared to the 5 song set by Bob! He does definitive versions of his classic '60s songs. A must see.
There are too many lost obscure Bob movies and bootleg videos out to go into but I'll just say that his EAT THE DOCUMENT (1968)about the infamous electric tour of England in '66 - which he himself edited is screaming for a proper release. Maybe someday.
So Happy Birthday Bob! Keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew...
More later...
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