Archive for September, 2009
September 25th, 2009
Back in the glory days of the studio era, Warner Bros. would compile collections of each year’s bloopers and screw-ups and show them at the annual holiday party. Thankfully, many of these have been included on various Warner Bros. DVDs (the first gangster boxed set has plenty). Here’s the reel from 1936. You’ll see some familiar faces — including Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis and Edward G. Robinson — and hear them spout some slightly naughty language.
September 24th, 2009
Not long ago, I posted some fantastic homemade posters from Ghana that went way beyond the usual Hollywood cookie-cutter mentality and headed straight into folk art territory. In that vein, here are some hand-painted posters from Russia. They’re not quite as strange as the Ghana creations, but I like the way they almost-but-not-quite capture the likeness of big Hollywood stars…
SCOOBY-DOO, of course. I love this version of Shaggy, which seems to resemble Munch’s “Scream” – and that’s pretty appropriate, right?
SHALLOW HAL, I think — though that’s the chubbiest Gwyneth Paltrow I’ve ever seen (again, appropriate considering the plot of the movie), Jack Black just looks creepy.
And 50 FIRST DATES, with a Drew Barrymore who really does look like she’s been in some sort of brain-scrambling accident.
See more Russian movie posters here.
September 23rd, 2009
This is just a commercial for an investment firm, but I think any movie fan out there is bound to find it spellbinding.
September 23rd, 2009
Here’s a story from the TIMES ONLINE about Adrian Bennett, a guy who’s such a big fan of the MAD MAX movies that he built his very own Interceptor, just like Max drives.
Bennett tells the times: “From the opening credits of the first film to the closing credits of MAD MAX 2 (what THE ROAD WARRIOR was titled in the rest of the world), my jaw was on the floor, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and I was totally hooked.”
Notice, by the way, that he even has his own blue heeler cattle dog, just like Max does in the sequel. What’s more, he’d done the right thing and named it “Dog” — just like Max.
And here, just to remind you why someone would go to all the trouble to build an Interceptor, is the trailer for THE ROAD WARRIOR — still one of the greatest action movies ever made.
September 23rd, 2009
Courtesy of Mark Evanier’s News From Me blog, here’s a clip of the Ross Sisters doing a little dance number from the 1944 movie BROADWAY RHYTHM. Odds are, you haven’t heard of the movie or the sisters, but watch it anyway. As Evanier says, things get interesting right around the one minute mark.
September 22nd, 2009
This week’s Movie Man column takes a look at JCVD, a surprising little movie starring none other than “The Muscles from Brussels” himself, Jean-Claude Van Damme. It’s very good — mostly thanks to the astonishingly good performance by Van Damme.
Here’s a link to the written review…
And, if you prefer your movie commentary with moving images and sound, here’s the video version…
September 22nd, 2009
Via Tim Burton JP (what appears to be a Japanese Tim Burton fan site) by way of Cinematical, here’s a horrifying glimpse of a costume test from Tim Burton’s ill-fated SUPERMAN LIVES movie that was to star Nicolas Cage.
Once you glimpse the fake Cage in the costume, you’ll be glad it was ill-fated. Very glad.
September 21st, 2009
If you saw Sunday night’s episode of MAD MEN, cleverly titled, “Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency…,”* you know there’s plenty to talk about. The Brits, Joan, Sally, Conrad Hilton and, of course, Ken’s ill-timed acquiring of the coveted John Deere account.
Here’s a link to this week’s podcast.
Spoilers a plenty, as always, so if you haven’t seen it and plan to watch, don’t listen. In fact, don’t even click on that link.
* The punchline is “… and he doesn’t walk out.”
September 21st, 2009
Here are three more contenders for that coveted “Best of the Decade” list I’m casually compiling. All three of these could be considered comedies, though each one has a foot firmly planted in at least one other genre, too.
September 18th, 2009
When he was at his best — i.e. trying to live in a world set against him — there was almost no topping W.C. Fields. And he’s at his best in this clip from IT’S A GIFT, when all he’s trying to do is catch a few much-needed winks.
“La Fong! Carl La Fong! Capital L, small A, captital F, small O, small N, small G! La Fong! Carl La Fong!”
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