Friday Morning Videos: MINNIE THE MOOCHER

1 comment October 30th, 2009 08:56am Will Pfeifer

I posted this clip over at my own, non-work related pop culture blog, so I apologize if you’ve seen it before, but I wanted to post it here at the Movie Man too, because it’s just a great mix of fun nostalgia, wild animation, wonderful music and a strange sense of oddness that makes it just right for Halloween.

Plus, where else do you get to see Cab Calloway as a ghostly, moonwalking walrus?

If that acting career doesn’t work out, he could headline in Vegas

1 comment October 29th, 2009 04:08pm Will Pfeifer

Here, via Cinematical, is a clip of Kevin Spacey showing his surprising talent for impressions. He’s well known for nailing a dead-on Christopher Walken, but he also does a pretty solid Jimmy Stewart, a so-so Johnny Carson and a great Marlon Brando. Too bad he didn’t do his William Hurt here — he’s one of the only guys I’ve ever seen imitate Hurt, and he’s dead solid perfect.

 

Spacey’s new movie, THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, opens next week.

New AVATAR trailer

Add comment October 29th, 2009 01:48pm Will Pfeifer

A lot more detail, a lot more plot specifics and, in general, a much better idea of just what the heck this movie is going to be about. I’m still not sure if it’s going to be good or not — let alone the mind-bending adventure the hype is promising — but we definitely now have more to go on.

Click here to watch it in Hi-Def.

What does Scorsese consider scary?

1 comment October 29th, 2009 08:58am Will Pfeifer

This time of year, you have thousands of schmucks on the Web recommending scary movies for Halloween viewing. Most of them you can safely ignore. But when Martin Scorsese — a man whose directing talent is exceeded only by his knowledge of movie history — makes the suggestions, it pays to pay attention.

The Daily Beast has 11 picks from the man himself. Here’s a sample:

5. DEAD OF NIGHT: A British classic: four tales told by four strangers mysteriously gathered in a country house, each one extremely disquieting, climaxing with a montage in which elements from all the stories converge into a crescendo of madness… It’s very playful… and then it gets under your skin.

7. THE SHINING: I never read the Stephen King novel, I have no idea how faithful it is or isn’t, but Kubrick made a majestically terrifying movie, where what you don’t see or comprehend shadows every move the characters make.

9. NIGHT OF THE DEMON: Jacques Tourneur made this picture about ancient curses near the end of his career, but it’s as as potent as his films for Val Lewton. Forget the demon itself—again, it’s what you don’t see that’s so powerful.

I’d quibble with Scorsese’s pick of ISLE OF THE DEAD, which I’d consider producer Val Lewton’s worst movie (CAT PEOPLE and I WALK WITH A ZOMBIE are much, much better), but he gets credit for picking NIGHT OF THE DEMON, a truly unnerving movie that deserves a bigger audience.

Check out the rest of the list here, along with video clips from the movies.

The Problem with The Princesses

4 comments October 28th, 2009 03:51pm Will Pfeifer

As the father of a four-year-old girl, I’ve seen my share of Disney princess movies over the past couple of years (and I know I’ll be seeing many more in the years to come). As anyone who’s sat through multiple viewings of SNOW WHITE, SLEEPING BEAUTY and CINDERELLA can confirm, these are some of the absolute worst role models for girls (of any age) in the history of cinema. (Especially CINDERELLA — don’t get me started on CINDERELLA!)

Now, courtesy of a link at Cinematical, someone has condensed the disturbing side of Disney’s moneymaking ladies in one handy image…

OK, maybe the author/artist is simplifying things a tad, but it’s tough to argue with the basics. Thankfully, recent Disney movies have improved things a bit. POCAHONTAS, while undeniably a Disney babe, stands tough to her beliefs and defies both her dad and the European invaders. MULAN is even better, defying Chinese law and convention to fight for her family’s honor and her country. In neither movie do the beauty of the women drive the plot, as in previous efforts, and marriage is not the goal, thank Walt.

Disney’s upcoming movie, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, will be its first animated feature to star an African-American character. Let’s hope she’s a step forward in other ways, too.

Adam and …. Adam?

Add comment October 28th, 2009 10:17am Will Pfeifer

Have you ever dreamed of seeing Adam Sandler playing both the male and female roles in a romantic comedy?

If so, I’m happy to tell you that your sick, twisted dream is about to come true. From Variety…

Adam Sandler is climbing up the hill for Columbia Pictures. The actor will next star in the romantic comedy JACK AND JILL and produce via his Happy Madison shingle. Sandler will play Jack as well as twin sister Jill.

OK, since the characters Sandler is playing are brother and sister, we can be pretty sure they’re not the romantic couple at the center of the story ( I sure hope not!). But after admiring Sandler’s performance in PUNCH DRUNK LOVE and seeing him stretch a bit as an actor in FUNNY PEOPLE, it’s a disappointment to see him fall back into the same dopey comic ruts he’s been stuck in for years. I mean, surely the guy has enough money by now, right?

Oh well. At least it’s being produced by the same guy who brought us PAUL BLART: MALL COP. That means it has to be good, right? Right?

Elementary.

1 comment October 26th, 2009 02:47pm Will Pfeifer

Here, courtesy of Cinematical.com, is the poster for the Guy Ritchie SHERLOCK HOLMES movie, starring Robert Downey Jr. (as Holmes) and Jude Law (as Watson)….

 

Maybe it’s just me, but the first thing I thought of was this…

Aroooooooooooo!

Add comment October 26th, 2009 08:03am Will Pfeifer

Here’s the trailer for the new WOLFMAN movie, starring Benecio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving…

As a fan of classic horror movies, it does my heart good to see that this is a “Universal Picture.” Universal, of course, is the studio that released all the legendary horror films of the 1930s and 1940s, like DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and the original WOLF MAN.

Here’s that original trailer, in case you’re curious…

It’s pretty dated, sure, but there’s something undeniably powerful about the silhouette of the Wolf Man howling in the graveyard.

Friday Afternoon Videos: A trio of trailers

1 comment October 23rd, 2009 04:28pm Will Pfeifer

Things have been busy here at the News Tower today, so I apologize for the lack of postings. But here, to make up for it, are some great horror-themed (well, sort of) trailers.

First, Mel Brooks’ YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN…

Next, Francis Ford Coppola’s BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, which was supposedly pulled because it was too bloody and scary for unsuspecting audiences…

And finally, George A. Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD, which is still pretty intense even though it hides that movie’s landmaking blood and gore…

Do you like scary movies?

Add comment October 22nd, 2009 09:24am Will Pfeifer

BLACK CHRISTMAS

Just in time for Halloween, the Onion AV Club’s “Gateways to Geekery” features focuses on the disreputable movie genre of slasher films, offering recommendations for taking tentative steps into this nasty, bloody – though undeniably fun — little pool.

I question their advice though. Zack Handlen suggests 1996’s SCREAM for newbies, but if you ask me, that’s a movie better appreciated by someone more familiar with the cliches and tropes of slasher movies. Most of the enjoyment of SCREAM comes from hearing the characters comment on their own unlikely predicament, and watching Kevin Williamson’s script play off things we’ve seen in other films. I’d probably go with Handlen’s second recommendation, John Carpenter’s 1978 HALLOWEEN. I’m not as huge a fan of this movie as many are, but there’s no denying it’s a lean, mean scream-making machine, and it helped kick-start the entire genre. More important for the topic at hand — i.e., introducing fans to the genre — HALLOWEEN is essentially the ur-slasher film, a movie stripped down to its absolute essentials with virtually no fat on its bones. If you want to sightsee at ground zero for the modern horror movie, this should be your first stop.

Handlen also mentions Bob Clark’s BLACK CHRISTMAS, which arrived four years earlier and obviously influenced Carpenter’s film. It’s not nearly as lean as HALLOWEEN, with more unnecessary subplots and (as Handlen says) too much comic relief, but it’s got a stronger cast and, I’d argue, generates a more powerful feeling of unease and dread. If you’ve never seen it before, rent it sometime this year — if not for Halloween, then for that other big holiday that arrives in December. (And yes, director Bob Clark is the same guy who brought us that other yuletide tale, A CHRISTMAS STORY.)

Whatever you do, don’t rent that idiotic BLASK CHRISTMAS remake that arrived a few years ago. In fact, avoid all the remakes — and, while you’re at it, all the slasher movies made after 1990 or so. The best stuff in this genre is the early, cheap stuff, before the big studios came sniffing around and realized there was money to be made — if only everything could be slicked up a bit.