Archive for February 20th, 2009
February 20th, 2009
In honor of this Sunday’s impending Academy Awards ceremony, here’s a highlight (or, more accurately, lowlight) reel from THE OSCAR, a 1966 drama generally considered one of the worst movies ever made. It stars charisma-free Stephen Boyd as ruthless actor Frank Fane, and features a memorable supporting performance by Italian crooner Tony Bennett as the obviously not-Italian flunkee Hymie Kelly. As a bonus, you get to see such Hollywood legends as Joseph Cotten, Milton Berle, Walter Brennan and Broderick Crawford trying desperately not to embarras themselves.
Be sure not to miss Borgnine back-flipping over a desk!
It’s not on DVD, alas, but it does show up on Turner Classic Movies every so often. In the meantime, here’s a sample of its sheer badness…
February 20th, 2009
Over at Slate.com, Willing Davidson, who says “REVOLUTIONARY ROAD is both the worst movie I saw this year and one of the best novels I’ve read,” tries to answer the question: why do great novels make such bad movies?
He has an answer, too: Novels are long, but movies are short.
This is what the movies do to literature, typically: There’s so much plot to get in that there’s no time to tell the story. Perhaps it’s the insecurity of Hollywood: Inflated by the borrowed prestige of books, producers and directors won’t stray too far from the guide-ropes of the story. Â
And he’s right — though, of course, it’s a lot more complicated than that. Read the rest of his piece here.
February 20th, 2009
Cinematical has posted a trio teaser posters for Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. Naturally, since they’re from a World War II film where Brad Pitt demands “one hundred Nazi scalps!,” they’re a bit violent. Here’s my favorite…
You can see the rest of them here.
