Archive for December, 2008
December 31st, 2008
… you really should watch Billy Wilder’s 1960 Oscar winner THE APARTMENT at least once. Not only is it (according to me, at least) the greatest romantic comedy ever made, but it also features one of the best villain performances in the history of movies, Fred MacMurray playing smooth, sleazy adulterer (and executive) Jeff Sheldrake. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine ain’t bad either.
Don’t believe me? Listen to what New York Times film critic A.O. Scott has to say in this very entertaining video review.
Of course, just because THE APARTMENT takes place (mostly) during the holidays doesn’t mean you can’t watch it any time of year. But this season, with its contrasting cold and warmth, just seems perfect.
December 31st, 2008
Here, from the fine folks at Smashing Magazine, are 30 great opening title sequences. I especially like the inclusion of LORD OF WAR, a so-so movie with truly imaginative and visually stunning opening titles.
One problem: These listmeisters included a few James Bond openings, as they should have, but left off my favorite, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. I’m rectifying that error here…
I mean, come on — the still-sounds-good song, the girls-and-guns motif, the peekaboo sillhouette nudity? What more could you want in a title sequence?
December 30th, 2008
In most cases, a movie failure is more interesting than a movie success. Just look at the current box office offerings. MARLEY & ME? It’s a movie based on a best-selling book, starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, and it’s about a funny, loveable dog for pete’s sake! Who didn’t expect this to be at least a moderate hit. Same with THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Brad Pitt. An epic story. A movie that screams “Oscar” at the same time of year people get the urge to see an Oscar-type movie. It’s success isn’t very surprising.
But this weekend also saw the release of a THE SPIRIT, a movie that died at the box office ($10.4 million isn’t exactly a DELGO-sized bomb, but it’s no DARK KNIGHT, either) and found no love from the critics, either. (a mere 15 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes).
It’s not hard to see why THE SPIRIT didn’t find an audience, but it’s still fascinating to consider (well, it is to me, anyway). It was based on a comic book few people ever heard of (the fact that it’s one of the great creations in the history of the medium doesn’t matter here) and driven by a directorial vision (courtesy of Frank Miller) that was so personal, so darned odd that it seemed designed to appeal to him and him only. For that alone it deserves points. Instead of making a cookie-cutter imitation of everything else in theaters, Miller made something personal. That doesn’t, however, make it good.
Over at Cinematical, Elisabeth Rappe wrote an interesting piece examining the film and why it ultimately didn’t work in a year dominated by comic book movies. She’s coming at it from a different perspective than most critics — as a self-proclaimed “geek,” she should’ve loved this movie — so what she says is worth a look.
December 29th, 2008
This just in from the Associated Press…
An attorney for 20th Century Fox says the studio will continue to seek an order delaying the release of WATCHMEN.
 U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess last week agreed with Fox that Warner Bros. had infringed its copyright by developing and shooting the superhero flick, scheduled for release March 6. Feess said Monday he plans to hold a trial Jan. 20 to decide remaining issues.
Fox claims it never fully relinquished story rights from its deal made in the late 1980s, and sued Warner Bros. in February. Warner Bros. contended Fox isn’t entitled to distribution. Warner Bros.’ attorney said Monday he didn’t know if an appeal was coming, but thinks a trial is necessary and a settlement unlikely.
Uh oh. Stay tuned for further developments.
December 29th, 2008
In this week’s Movie Man column, I make my picks for my favorite discs of the past year. Categories include CLASSICS, CRIME, COMEDY, DOCUMENTARY, HORROR, TV, SUPERHEROES and ETC (led by Guy Maddin’s BRAND UPON THE BRAIN, as seen above). The online version includes my runner-ups, a bit of a bonus that’s not part of the print version.Â
Here’s a little teaser to lure you over to the full list: My top superhero movie does feature Batman, but it’s not THE DARK KNIGHT. Intrigued? Click here – and then come back here to share your picks and make your comments.
December 29th, 2008
Actress Ann Savage died in her sleep on Christmas Day at the age of 87. Though she starred in more than 30 films in the 1940s and 1950s, she’d been unseen on screen for more than half a century until Canadian director Guy Maddin cast her (as his own mother!) in his 2008 film, MY WINNIPEG.
Among film fans, though, she’s best known for her role as maybe the hardest-boiled hard-boiled dame of all time in the 1945 no-budget noir classic, DETOUR. Here’s a sample of her performance…
December 26th, 2008
This week in his “My Year of Flops” series, Onion AV Club writer Nathan Rabin takes aim at the recent box office bomb DELGO. As he says, this computer-animated fantasy was no ordinary underperformer…
“Failed films are a dime a dozen but DELGO is perhaps the floppiest flop ever to saunter floppily into flopsville and become Dean Of Failure At Flopsville State University.”
Read his review here.
December 24th, 2008
I’ll be taking a day or so off from blog posting duties to celebrate Christmas, but I’ll leave you with this image of the best Santa the big screen ever saw — Edmund Gwenn from the 1947 classic MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET. Forget the awful 1990s remake, this one is the real deal — a beautifully written holiday fable that manages to be both smart and sentimental, and manages to leave the whole question of Santa’s existence up to the viewer.
Plus, you get to see Santa out of his usual red suit and into some snappier duds.
Merry Christmas, everybody!
December 24th, 2008
If you’re looking for a movie to catch after the Christmas presents are opened and the meal has been digested, then you’re in luck. Six major movies are opening in Rockford theaters on Dec. 25. I can’t promise they’re all good, but I can promise they’re all new:
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
MARLEY AND ME
DOUBT (not brand-new, but new to us),
THE SPIRIT,
BEDTIME STORIES
and VALKYRIE.
If you see any (or all) of these movies, why not swing by this blog and let us know what you thought. It’s not often we get such a bounty of cinema treats here in the Forest City. (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is still here too, if you’ve been wanting to check that out.)
December 23rd, 2008
Over at Slate.com, Stephen Metcalf writes an interesting piece about Tom Cruise’s once skyrocketing career…
Cruise is now 46 years old, roughly midcareer for an actor of his stature; and yet the brand has fallen so far that a throwaway summer goof, his cameo as Lev Grossman, the too-Jewish super producer of TROPIC THUNDER, was regarded as a “comeback.” By way of contrast, when Jack Nicholson was 46, he appeared in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT.
At his peak, Cruise might have been as big a movie star as Nicholson, but he can’t touch Jack when it comes to pure acting. What’s interesting about Metcalf’s piece is how it discusses both Cruise the Star and Cruise the Actor, and comes to the conclusion that they have very little to do with each other.Â
VALKYRIE opens on Christmas Day against five other movies: DOUBT, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, BEDTIME STORIES, MARLEY AND ME and THE SPIRIT. It’ll be interesting to see if the once-mighty Cruise brand still sells.
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