September 11th, 2009
Here’s the trailer for BLACK DYNAMITE, a faux-blaxploitation movie that looks like it nails the genre more accurately than anything I’ve ever seen, from the frenzied voice-over to the kung fu to the list of (fake) actors’ names at the end. (The actual trailer it most resembles is the hard-to-believe-it’s-real promo for Rudy Ray Moore’s oddball masterpiece, DOLEMITE.)
It opens Oct. 16, and as a fan of crazed ’70s cinema, I can’t wait to see it. Here’s one of the posters which, like the trailer, nails the time-period perfectly. (For more, check out the official site.)
September 11th, 2009
Well, yes… sort of. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced who will be receiving the honorary Oscars this year — actress Lauren Bacall, producer/director Roger Corman and cinematographer Gordon Willis.
From the Associated Press report…
Bacall made her screen debut with Humphrey Bogart in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT in 1944. She went on to star in more than 30 films, including such classics as THE BIG SLEEP and KEY LARGO. Corman has directed more than 50 films and produced more than 300 during his five-decade career, including IT CONQUERED THE WORLD and THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960). Willis is a two-time Academy Award nominee for ZELIG  and THE GODFATHER, PART III.
The board also voted to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer-executive John Calley. His producing credits include POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, for which he earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination, CLOSER and THE DA VINCI CODE.
All four awards will be presented at the Academy’s inaugural Governors Awards gala event on Nov. 14 in Hollywood.
I know Bacall will get most of the attention because, well, she’s the one who was actually onscreen, but Corman and Willis are the two who really deserve an Oscar. Corman changed the nature of Hollywood, turning out cheap, exciting movies for the growing teen audience (and doing it with wit and style, too), and he also gave many of the biggest names in Hollywood their first breaks, including Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro.
And summing up Willis’ career by noting his nominations for ZELIG (great film) and GODFATHER, PART III (not so great) does the man a tremendous disservice. He also acted as director of photography for, among other film, THE GODFATHER, THE GODFATHER PART II, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, ANNIE HALL, KLUTE, MANHATTAN, STARDUST MEMORIES and PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, films anyone would be proud to have on his or her resume.
Here’s the opening for MANHATTAN. Is this an example of the visuals telling a story or what?
(Please, by the way, forgive the squashed composition. That’s not how Willis shot it.)
September 11th, 2009
This time around, I’m adding a movie to make a quartet of films contending for the coveted spots on my personal best-of-the-decade list. They’re all documentaries. Can you name ‘em?
The first three are actually pretty easy, but I’ll be seriously impressed by whoever names the last one. And no, it’s not INN OF THE DAMNED.
