Archive for August 1st, 2008
August 1st, 2008
If you get sick of reading about WATCHMEN between now and next spring, when it opens, I apologize in advance — but as a comic book fan who devoured the original series when it was published way back in the mid 1980s, I’m jazzed about the movie. Yes, I realize it could be a completely dud, but so far, director Zack Snyder and crew seem to be hitting all the right notes.
Take, for instance, these new promo posters Warner Bros. has released. They capture the mood of the story perfectly, probably because they’re photographic recreations of posters original artist Dave Gibbons drew 20 years ago to hype the comic. Well, most of them are. This one, featuring Carla Gugino as the original Silk Spectre, is completely new — but somehow captures the humor, nostalgia and spirit of the others. And who’s going to complain about Ms. Gugino dressed up as a superhero? Not me!
Check out the rest of the posters here.
August 1st, 2008
If you’ve seen THE DARK KNIGHT, you’ll remember the scene near the end when the Joker rigs explosives to two boats — one with average citizens, one with hardened criminals — then gives each boat a detonator. Both boats will explode in a short time unless — and here’s the great catch — the people on one boat push the button. Then the other boat will explode, and the lives of the people on the boat that pressed the button will be spared.
It’s an amazingly tense section in the movie, all designed by the Joker to prove that people are just one step away from chaos. (It also includees one of the movie’s best moments. I wouldn’t think of spoiling it here, but I will say that it involves actor Tiny Lister and took me completely by surprise.)
Anyway, the reason I’m even bringing it up is there’s a great discussion of the scene here. The author, Sean Maconachy, doesn’t spoil the plot, but he does consider this compelling philosophical question from several angles. The comments are worth reading, too.
By the way, THE DARK KNIGHT is a shockingly good movie — definitely one of the best of the year. If you haven’t seen it, by all means go. It’s the rare comic book-inspired movie that relies on brains, not braun.
August 1st, 2008
Two candidates are running for president, only to discover that the entire election will be decided by a single vote. The plot for Kevin Costner’s new movie, SWING VOTE, which opens today? Nope. The plot for POPEYE FOR PRESIDENT, a 1956 cartoon where Popeye and Bluto are the candidates, and Olive Oyl is that lone voter. A commenter over at Hollywood Elsewhere pointed out the plot similarity. Here’s the cartoon itself as proof:
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Another reader comments that virtually the same plot was also used in the 1939 John Barrymore movie THE GREAT MAN VOTES.
August 1st, 2008
Here’s one of my favorite bits from a Marx Brothers movie: Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) Â is wooing both Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont) and Mrs. Whitehead (Margaret Irving) when, after mentioning Eugene O’Neill, he breaks from the scene, walks up to the camera, and has a “strange interlude” (which was a reference to O’Neill’s 1928 play of the same name).
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It’s vintage Groucho — fast paced, funny and pretty much nonsensical. There are so many great lines packed into this single short scene you can quote them for years. I especially like “Yes, I don’t think I’ve ever seen four more beautiful eyes in my life. Well, three anyway.” And his declaration of “whim wham!” is a great comeback when someone’s talking nonsense.
