Heck, it’s the Fourth of July — here’s another clip from THE RIGHT STUFF

Add comment July 2nd, 2009 05:52pm Will Pfeifer

This is the clip I mentioned in the comments of the last post: Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn) becomes the first American in space … after a few difficulties involving a request for “permission to relieve bladder” (all true, by the way).  There’s a bit of profanity early on, so consider yourself warned.

Friday Afternoon Videos (a day early): THE RIGHT STUFF

3 comments July 2nd, 2009 03:27pm Will Pfeifer

Thanks to the impending July 4 holiday, I won’t be here tomorrow to post my usual installment of Friday videos. So, in honor of that same holiday, I’m sharing one of my favorite movie scenes of all time — and one that makes my heart beat proudly for the red, white and blue. Ladies and gentlemen, devote 8 minutes of so of your weekend to watching Chuck Yeager (as played by Sam Shepard) break the sound barrier…

RIP Harve Presnell

Add comment July 2nd, 2009 10:32am Will Pfeifer

Though he got his start in musicals such as THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN (on stage and screen) and PAINT YOUR WAGON (where he sang “They Call the Wind Maria), modern audiences probably know him best for a decidedly non-musical role: tough-as-nails father-in-law Wade Gustafson in FARGO.

That unforgettable performance (in a movie that’s full of them) gave Presnell a second career in all sorts of TV and movies, ranging from STAR TREK to MR. DEEDS to a great supporting role on the ill-fated Andy Richter sitcom, ANDY BARKER, P.I. (And though it’s not on his IMDB.com resume, I’m pretty sure he has a cameo as a wrestler in the movie Barton Fink watches in that Coen Brothers movie.)

Presnell died Tuesday at the age of 75 from pancreatic cancer. Here’s a clip from his performance in FARGO. (I apologize for the fact that it was obviously taped off someone’s TV, but it’s the best chunk of Harve in FARGO I could find.)

RIP Karl Malden

Add comment July 1st, 2009 03:01pm Will Pfeifer

Actor Karl Malden  – born born Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago on March 22, 1912 — has died at the age of 97. He died of natural causes at his home in Brentwood, Calif. Here’s a link to the LA Times obit, and here’s a great Malden quote from that article…

“I was so incredibly lucky. I knew I wasn’t a leading man. Take a look at this face.”

Though he was probably best known (especially in the past couple of decades) for his American Express commercials and the phrase “don’t leave home without it,” Malden had a long, distinguished career in theater, movies and television. He won an Oscar for playing Mitch (a role he originated on Broadway) in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE with Marlon Brando and director Elia Kazan. He worked with both of those men again in ON THE WATERFRONT. Here’s a great Malden moment from that movie…

That’s right! Corn!

Add comment July 1st, 2009 08:49am Will Pfeifer

Here’s the trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s new movie, THE INFORMANT. Nice to see that after starring in the Bourne films, Matt Damon still remembers how to play a loveable goofball.

‘Is that the way you say it? ‘That’s a bingo’?

Add comment July 1st, 2009 08:36am Will Pfeifer

As we head into the Fourth of July weekend, what could be more patriotic than a movie about fighting Nazis? Here’s a new international trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS which definitely puts the emphasis on the action and the comedy. I love the opening shot — make that shots.

By the way, I erred in a previous posting. Mike Myers is obviously playing a Brit, not a Nazi. Maybe, just maybe, this will allow him to make up for the cinematic crime that was THE LOVE GURU.

What? Another one?

Add comment June 30th, 2009 01:50pm Will Pfeifer

Best movie question of the day comes courtesy of critic Marshall Fine…

Who is it that keeps making Nia Vardalos movies? Or is it a sign of impending apocalypse that two such terrible ones have been released in one month? Really, isn’t it cheaper just to keep them on the shelf?

OK, that’s three questions, but they’re good ones.

He’s referring to I HATE VALENTINES DAY, which opens Friday, and MY LIFE IN RUINS, which opens a few weeks ago (and closed immediately afterwards). Admittedly, I’m not the target audience for these movies, but after MY LIFE IN RUINS earned a dismal $7 million at the box office (compared with a cost of about $17 million), I wonder if anyone is in the target audience?

Vardalos’ MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING was a genuine word-of-mouth blockbuster, earning more than $240 million on a budget of a mere $5 million, but that was back in 2002. The studios must think (or pray) another big rom-com paycheck lurks around the corner.

One more question: Why release a movie called I HATE VALENTINE’S DAY … on July 4th weekend? It would be like releasing INDEPENDENCE DAY at Christmas.

Oh, wait. INDEPENDENCE DAY made money.

* By the way, if I’m completely wrong and I HATE VALENTINES DAY is a big fat hit, I’ll happily admit I was wrong. But I still won’t see the movie.

Want a free DVD?

Add comment June 30th, 2009 08:57am Will Pfeifer

In this week’s Movie Man column, I’m reviewing TOKYO!, an interesting trilogy of short films directed by three visionary directors (Michel Gondry, Leos Carax and Bong Joon-Ho). And, because I have an extra copy of the DVD courtesy of the fine folks at Liberation Entertainment, I’m giving one away.

All you have to do is send me an e-mail at wpfeifer@rrstar.com with the word “Tokyo!” in the subject line. I’ll pick a random entry and send that lucky person their own copy of the film.

Get those e-mails here by Friday, and I’ll pick a winner next week.

‘An affront of the greatest order’

1 comment June 29th, 2009 09:55am Will Pfeifer

On the one hand, TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN made more than $200 million for the weekend. On the other hand, it got some of the worst reviews in recent memory.

Here’s my favorite, from Robert Humanick over at The House Next Door. Not only does Humanick (who, keep in mind, liked the first TRANSFORMERS movie) blast the movie on a creative level, he blames it for the loss of several lives…

I mourn the volume of human life being wasted on this thing. If the film makes $100 million this weekend and tickets cost $10 a pop, that’s ten million viewers and a total of twenty-five million hours, not including previews, travel and the time spent earning the wasted money. If the average person lives to be 75, that’s 38 lives.

(And, because TRANFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN topped the $200 mil mark, that’s at least 76 lives lost.)

Read the rest of Humanick’s review here. The language, as you might guess from one so enraged, gets a bit salty — starting with the title of the piece. Consider yourself warned.

Get ready for a real tearjerker

Add comment June 29th, 2009 08:38am Will Pfeifer

Via Cinematical, here’s a quote from Pixar animator Angus MacLane (via SciFi Wire) about the much anticipated third film in the TOY STORY series. MacLane created the funny BURN-E short that was included on the WALL-E DVD and worked on TOY STORY 2, where he created the Buzz Lightyear they met in Al’s Toy Barn. So, with all that Pixar experience at his disposal and a deep involvment with TS3 (in which Andy leaves for college), here’s what MacLane said…

“I feel like we’ve grown up making these movies, and each of the films represents where the filmmakers were at the time of making the films. Certainly we’re approaching this film 10 years later, so I think we’re sort of coming at it from the standpoint of [Andy] has grown up, and we’ve grown up with these toys, and we have a reverence for them, but we also have different things as a priority.”

If you don’t think this movie is going to break your heart, remember TOY STORY 2 (which Disney, in its endless wisdom, originally wanted to do as a straight-to-video quickie) contains The Saddest Song In Movie History…