TCM: Summer Under the Stars Begins

Summer Under the Stars features a single movie star each night and showcases an evening of their films.  Tuesday is Paulette Goddard and at 8pm they are showing THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940) which is Charles Chaplins parody of Hitler and politics of the time.

On Thursday at 1:45am is THE LOST HORIZON with Ronald Coleman-- the film about a group of explorer's who find a hidden nirvana with the fountain of youth is one that was lost for a number of years but is absolutely a film that keeps you glued to the set from beginning to end.

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE is on Friday at 8pm, if you were interested in seeing this Film Noir I mentioned last month here's your chance.

Saturday at 8pm is STAGE DOOR featuring a cast that includes Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers and Lucille Ball-- it's a terrific little drama about the trials and tribulations of trying to make it big on the stage.  Melodramatic in parts, but in a good way.

Movie Month Comes to an End: My Number One Movie

I can't believe we made it through July.
Have I mentioned I hate July?  I'm not a big fan of August either, but July is the one I really don't like.  I'm not complaining-- we only had a few really brutal humid days, but I'm looking forward to some leaves changing and those cool October nights that are not that far away.

The movie month was fun-- covering a list of movies I have probably talked about before.  If I do this on a regular basis I'm going to set it so I can't post about a film twice.  Bear with me on that.

For August-- we return to themes.  I mentioned in a previous post what those were, but Movie Monday will remain-- I'll point out movies you should check out that are coming up for the week via your cable or satellite provider.

Happy End of July all!

Trying to decide my favorite movie is like trying to pick my favorite way to get a Million dollars-- it doesn't matter, the end is the thing.

I like movies like CASABLANCA and CITIZEN KANE-- as much as I like DIE HARD and FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE.  For watchability sake-- I'd say I watch THE LOST BOYS, PSCYHO, JAWS and THE BIG SLEEP more than any other films in my collection-- at least several times a year.  I love the Marx Bros especially in DUCK SOUP and Bob Hope in GHOSTBREAKERS and MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE.  I dig the Charlie Chan films of the 30s and early 40s and am a big fan of both THE FALCON and THE SAINT.     I love Woody Allen's MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY and probably watch that at least once a month.

But hands down, my favorite movie of all time is THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.   It has a haunting magnificent score, impeccable acting from an absolutely perfect cast and a great story written by non other than Stephen King.  The story of hope amidst hopelessness, of friendship despite the odds, of going on when it seems like you can't-- this one knocks it out of the park for me.  It's a perfect Monday movie to get your week off to the right start and there's probably not a day that goes by that some of the dialogue or music pops into my head.  A winner from start to finish.

FLASH GORDON: PURPLE DEATH from OUTER SPACE

This is the feature version of the great Flash Gordon Serial FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS-- the three Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s-40s were the direct inspiration for both Star Wars and Indiana Jones and feature amazing special effects (for their time).  Buster Crabbe is the best Flash Gordon ever on the screen and Charles Middleton is perfect as Ming the Merciless.

I'd recommend you watch the full serials but if you are someone who has trouble with the continued storytelling the feature versions are fast paced entertainment.

Flash Gordon Spaceship to the Unknown is the feature version of the original Flash Gordon Serial and it's even better than Purple Death because there is no comedy relief character in this one-- those almost are never funny.

FILM NOIR WEEK: KISS ME DEADLY

This is a movie that starts at 60mph and keeps going until the wheels fall off.  Ralph Meeker is the best Mike Hammer ever committed to film, and I'm including Stacy Keach-- Meeker isn't a pretty boy, he's a tough as nails hard boiled PI who punches his way through the film.

The opening sequence is pretty shocking-- even for it's time (1955) and if you manage to follow the plot you'll be pretty amazed at the ending as well.

Film noir should be tough and gritty-- and this one fits the bill.  Perfect for a hot summer night.

FILM NOIR WEEK: The Killers

Director Robert Siodmak's take on Ernest Hemingway's short story features Burt Lancaster as a man hiding out in a small town while hired gunmen are hot on his trail.  This one is brutal and sweaty and features just about all the elements you need for good film noir.

Fast paced and in your face this one doesn't disappoint.

FILM NOIR WEEK: Postman Always Rings Twice

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE is almost the same story as Double Indemnity.
Lana Turner runs a roadside diner with her older husband and she wants more.  When John Garfield happens by she decides to go for it and the two of them hatch a plan to murder him and collect the insurance money.

It's ending isn't as strong as DOUBLE's but it's interesting to watch the two films to compare and contrast.

This disc I'm recommending also has DIAL M FOR MURDER, THE MALTESE FALCON and THE BIG SLEEP on it.  I already own all of these movies but I might just order this myself anyway!  The movies are that good.

FILM NOIR WEEK: Double Indemnity

I've taught a few Film Noir classes in the past and one of the toughest things to start with is just what is film noir and what movies qualify?

1941's STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR certainly has a lot of the elements, so does THE MALTESE FALCON (also 1941) but I'd argue that REAL film noir must have certain elements:

1. Dark shadowy cinematography (the term Film Noir translates into Dark Film).
2. A Femme Fatale-- she's no good and usually leads the protagonist down a dark road.
3. A protagonist who is either equally dirty him (or her) self or makes a bad choice.
4. The film has to be American.  The French coined the term in reference to post WWII American films they were watching.
5. The ending should be pessimistic or at the very least end on a dour note.

I'd even quantify by adding there has to be death involved, and there should be hot weather.  Film noir's are dark and sweaty.

Using those qualifications Billy Wilder's 1944 film DOUBLE INDEMNITY becomes the first film noir.  Perfect because our protagonist is none other than Fred MacMurray-- the guy who was the dad in MY THREE SONS, the professor in FLUBBER, and the physical basis for Captain Marvel.   This guy is red white and blue white bread-- but in this movie he's lured by Barbara Stanwyck into a plan to murder her husband and collect the insurance money.

This Week on TCM: FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO

Tuesday night at 8pm is Billy Wilder's excellent Five Graves to Cairo.  This is one that you'll be riveted to.  Great cast, set design and cinematography.

Book a Workshop!

I happen to think our flyer is genius-- and it makes me laugh.
I want you to go out-- find your local library and demand that they book one of our cool workshops!
:)

Captain America: The First Avenger

CAPTAIN AMERICA had the potential to be on the calibre of the INDIANA JONES trilogy (yes I said trilogy-- I know there were four movies-- stick to trilogy) or even the lesser but still fun first two MUMMY films with Brendan Fraser.

It stars Chris Evans who is perfectly cast as the humble Steve Rogers with the fighting spirit of a man twice his size.  Evans was able to shake his crappy Human Torch persona from the Fantastic Four bore-fests of recent years and the supporting cast is well placed.  Stanley Tucci as the Doc who comes up with the formula looks like he stepped right out of the comics and Tommy Lee Jones as Roger's CO provides a good balance and sometimes comedy relief.

The effect of Evans as a half pint is convincingly done with CGI-- possibly the first time that method has worked in the history of film, but when the CGI comes in later for the 3D effects (and I saw it in 2D-- won't see 3D movies, sorry) that's when the film slows to a crawl.

Action scenes which should have been exciting instead slow down to that awful Matrix effect of freezing the frame for a second to give you time to ooh and ahh at how amazing the shot is-- instead it makes you giggle at how stupid someone in mid air in front of a huge explosion looks.    Director Joe Johnston (who should know better with films like the ROCKETEER under his belt) also falls into the modern film-making technique of keeping a character completely in frame as they run through an action sequence, instead of creating drama it gives us a sense that we're watching a video game-- and we all know how exciting it is to watch someone else play a video game.

The film drags in places, a clever scene explaining why Rogers first puts on the Cap costume goes on too long by about ten minutes and it takes us forever for Hugo Weaving to reveal he is the Red Skull, which we all knew from the start.

Overall, a good summer movie, the best filmed version of Captain America to date (which is not saying much, Cap has one of the worst histories on celluloid) but a movie that lacks the punch of the great Indiana Jones movies that leave you breathless after each adventure.

6.5

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE

If you're thinking WALKING DEAD type zombie you're going to be disappointed.  I Walked With A Zombie (1943) features voodoo created zombie slaves in its plot and it's done by Val Lewton who was a master of creating mood and atmosphere.

It's on this disc with another Lewton classic, THE BODY SNATCHER which features Boris Karloff and Henry Daniell in a sort of take on the real life story of Burke and Hare, two mid nineteenth century men who were convicted of grave robbing for the purpose of science.

Both of these are great movies.

MYSTERY MEN

I don't know why this doesn't get credit for being one of the funniest spoofs of the superhero genre ever put on film.  Adapted from Bob Burden's offbeat comic series MYSTERY MEN tells the story of a group of C- Level Superheroes who don't get the same level as respect as their cities A List Superhero, Captain Amazing, does.  It's a great movie with a stellar cast including Ben Stiller, William H Macy, Paul Reubens and Geoffrey Rush.  Rush is fantastic as the scene stealing Casanova Frankenstein released from the insane asylum as a publicity ploy by Captain Amazing when he starts losing sponsors because he lacks any real enemies.

Captain Amazing is actually a billionaire playboy who happens to wear glasses.  When Ben Stiller argues with William H Macy as to the fact that they are one and the same guy Macy replies;

"Lance wear's glasses, Captain Amazing doesn't.  How would he see without them?"

Making all of us who've thought Clark Kent's friends are all idiots for not seeing through his disguise laugh.

This is a great movie and don't let word of mouth, box office receipts or critics opinions sway you-- it's well worth seeing.

MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE

Next week I'm only covering movies in the FILM NOIR genre so let's take a look at one of the best Noir-parodies ever made, 1947's MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE with Bob Hope as a baby photographer turned private detective.  Not sure which line of work is more dangerous.

There are two rules to watching these old comedies-- the first is to pay attention, the writing is smart and assumes you are listening so a lot of the ad libs are the best parts.   In one scene, Hope and co-star Dorothy Lamour are attempting to escape from a mental asylum so they stop at the coat closet before leaving.

Hope:  All I could find is this old rag.
Lamour:  That's mine.
Hope: Oh, it's nice material.

The second rule is that you have to watch a decent print.  A lot of these oldies are available in bargain bins but you aren't getting a bargain most of the time.  If the print is watery or washed out it becomes hard to watch.  Choose releases from companies like ROAN, KINO, TCM or the major studios over titles from ALPHA, MAYDACY and the countless others.

Give this one a shot-- if you appreciate Film Noir this is a good way to whet your appetite.

The Road To Morocco

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby made seven "Road" pictures and I'm a late convert to them.  Frankly, I don't like musicals, or even movies that have instances where the characters break into song.  I manage to stomach it in the early Abbott & Costello and Marx Bros films although it's another matter completely if Groucho is doing the singing.

But manning up I got through this one on TCM a few months ago and it got me to go out and buy this Road set.

Hope and Crosby end up in Egypt after their boat is sunk during World War II-- and they manage to ad-lib their way through most of the adventure.  There's great chemistry between the two leads and a lot of in-jokes to keep things light.

Be warned however, if you are one of those PC types there are things in here that might get your panties in a bunch.  But if you're able to not take things too seriously this is a great way to forget what troubles ya and just have a few laughs.  Unlike today's comedies, this one has brains.

JUDGE DREDD (1995)

Sylvester Stallone has made one great movie, one good movie and one mediocre movie.  The rest are unwatchable.

Rocky is a great movie.  Rocky III is a good movie.  JUDGE DREDD is mediocre but I still like it.  Based on the British Comic of the same name the movie takes place in the apocalyptic future where Judges rule the populace as both policeman, judge, jury and executioner.  The comics keep the stories tongue in cheek and parody a lot of pop culture-- for example in one adventure Dredd has to navigate the area known as the Cursed Earth-- approximately the land between New York and Chicago-- and along the way he encounters the Burger Wars, warring clans intent on killing each other who have come to worship the symbols of Ronald McDonald and the Burger King respectively.

The movie stays fairly true to the source material for about ten minutes and then it turns into any other sci fi film Stallone has ever been in.

The costumes look good and the effects are pretty solid.  A guilty pleasure of mine.

I know you are but what am I?

Pee Wee's Big Adventure is the kind of movie you either love or hate-- I personally love it.  Tim Burton's quasi debut film combined with Paul Reubens oddball character to make a great adventure comedy that I watch several times a year.

Movies this Week: ZORRO!

Tonight on FMC is I WAKE UP SCREAMING at 8 and again at 9:30.  Great little pre-Film Noir movie which lays the groundwork for a lot of the later Noirs.

On Tuesday at 8pm TCM is showing Caesar and Cleopatra with Claude Rains and Vivian Leigh.  I haven't seen it, but it sounds pretty good.
On Saturday at 11:30am TCM starts the serial ZORRO RIDES AGAIN by showing Chapter 1-- if you aren't familiar with serials, sometimes called cliffhangers, they were continued adventure stories shown one episode a week to get you to come back each week to see what happened next.  This is one of the better ones, even though I think Zorro might sing in one episode.

Then next Sunday is THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD which is the movie that the kids are watching in the horror classic HALLOWEEN (1978)-- THE THING is an amazing movie with A-Production values and writing as a group of Air Force men have to face an angry space invader in the frozen arctic.

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (1945)

If you're going to buy this one, buy the one I'm showing you here.  The others available are from grainy bad prints-- this one is stellar.

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (1945)
Directed by Rene Clair
Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Houston, Roland Young

Based on Agatha Christie's TEN LITTLE INDIANS

This movie doesn't get enough credit-- I've seen the big ones, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, yadda yadda yadda-- this one stands with the best of them and takes it's all star cast and absolutely KNOCKS it out of the park.

With a dark sense of humor that would make Charles Addams or Bret Herholz giggle, this story about a group of strangers called together to an old castle in the middle of a lake starts fast with the death of the first character and races through it's conclusion so fast that you'll need to hold on.  Atmospherically shot so you'll get as many chills as you will laughs out of this one.

Five stars-- if you dug Arsenic and Old Lace you'll dig this one.

Mid July Update

So the experiment I'm running this July continues-- a Movie a day-- and my traffic numbers have fallen through the floor-- they've actually fallen through the floor, the basement and then took a lightning elevator ride down to the center of the earth-- it's clear that regular readers of this blog expect the usual nonsense rather than this slew of movie info I've been running.

But a commitment is a commitment and I'm going to forge ahead to the 4 of you who will stay with this blog no matter what!

When the regularly scheduled blog resumes on August 1st I'm going to go back to the idea of themes each day:

Mondays- Movies for the Week you Should Check out.  Mark your calendars, set your DVRs.  I'll cover movies that are being broadcast or released that week.

Tuesdays- Newsday Tuesday  -- News or info regarding the world of comics, art or comic art.  An occasional shout to other blogs out there that I think are interesting.

Wednesday- Webcomic Wednesday - this time with commentary!  Because no one demanded it!!

Thursday - Technique demonstrations, product reviews and more.

Friday- FREE Friday returns!  Yup-- it's popular, it's Friday-- something FREE your way.

Saturday - Webcomic follow up to Wednesday.

Sunday- Things to do for the week and wild wide open subjects!

So stick through this horrible movie month and when we come out on the other side we'll get back to a more scheduled basis!  Okay?  Great!
Thanks for coming by.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)

If you haven't seen SILENCE OF THE LAMBS you should call in sick today and get a copy.  Rookie FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) has to enlist the aide of serial killer Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins) to track down another serial killer on the loose and claiming new victims everyday.   Lector has a brilliant mind and is able to manipulate events from the holding cell of the asylum he is confined to.

While we're talking about this one, let's discuss Full Screen VS Widescreen.
One of my proudest moments in life was when my then 9 year old son picked up a DVD read the back and then put it back because it was FULL SCREEN.  He got it.

Full Screen is the horrible method of Pan and Scan that was used to make a movie designed to be shown on a rectangular screen fit the square layout of the average TV-- cutting off the ends of the picture!  Some people are freaked out by the black bars of Widescreen thinking they are not getting a full picture but THAT is the way the director intended the film to be seen.

In my opinion, FULL SCREEN should be banned and discontinued.