August 4th, 2008 11:10am
Will Pfeifer
There’s a solid write-up of one of my favorite movies, A FACE IN THE CROWD, over at the Bright Lights Film Journal. If you’ve never seen it, you’re in for a surprise. Andy Griffith — yes, Sheriff Taylor — plays a power-hungry bum who becomes a media sensation. It’s an amazing performance, very different from anything else Griffith ever did.
The cast also includes Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Lee Remick (in her movie debut) and, in a tiny bit near the end, Rip Torn. It’s on DVD, so give it a look. You won’t be sorry. (The Bright Lights article is full of spoilers, so if you do want to watch A FACE IN THE CROWD, you might want to wait until after to read the article.)
August 4th, 2008 08:38am
Will Pfeifer
This exchange is from Sunday’s Roger Ebert Answer Man column:
 Q. If a fantasy film like “Lord of the Rings” can be nominated for the best picture Oscar, why not “The Dark Knight”? Surely, if there ever was a comic book blockbuster to be nominated, this would have to be it. It’s got an acclaimed director, music composers and a fantastic cast. The whole production was executed so well. I suspect that there may be some kind of comic-book stigma attached to the film that would hurt its chances.
Dallas Rabot, Auckland, New Zealand
A. I would be astonished were it not nominated.
Interesting. At first, some critics were saying Heath Ledger had a shot at a nomination, partly because he died before the film was released and, let’s be honest, the Academy always likes a little extra drama with their nominations. (Not that the guy doesn’t deserve it — it’s a truly amazing performance, and one Ledger completely disappears into.) But now, there’ve been more rumblings of a nomination for the movie itself. Heck, it’s the best movie I’ve seen all year. Lord only knows it would be better than 90 percent of the films that take home the best picture statue.
Director Christopher Nolan and Ledger have been nominated for Oscars, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman have won them, and Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal are the sort of respected actors who will probably get the nod sooner or later. Pretty strong pedigree, Oscar-wise, whether the movie features a guy in a leather bat suit or not.
August 1st, 2008 02:50pm
Will Pfeifer
If you get sick of reading about WATCHMEN between now and next spring, when it opens, I apologize in advance — but as a comic book fan who devoured the original series when it was published way back in the mid 1980s, I’m jazzed about the movie. Yes, I realize it could be a completely dud, but so far, director Zack Snyder and crew seem to be hitting all the right notes.
Take, for instance, these new promo posters Warner Bros. has released. They capture the mood of the story perfectly, probably because they’re photographic recreations of posters original artist Dave Gibbons drew 20 years ago to hype the comic. Well, most of them are. This one, featuring Carla Gugino as the original Silk Spectre, is completely new — but somehow captures the humor, nostalgia and spirit of the others. And who’s going to complain about Ms. Gugino dressed up as a superhero? Not me!
Check out the rest of the posters here.
August 1st, 2008 12:44pm
Will Pfeifer
If you’ve seen THE DARK KNIGHT, you’ll remember the scene near the end when the Joker rigs explosives to two boats — one with average citizens, one with hardened criminals — then gives each boat a detonator. Both boats will explode in a short time unless — and here’s the great catch — the people on one boat push the button. Then the other boat will explode, and the lives of the people on the boat that pressed the button will be spared.
It’s an amazingly tense section in the movie, all designed by the Joker to prove that people are just one step away from chaos. (It also includees one of the movie’s best moments. I wouldn’t think of spoiling it here, but I will say that it involves actor Tiny Lister and took me completely by surprise.)
Anyway, the reason I’m even bringing it up is there’s a great discussion of the scene here. The author, Sean Maconachy, doesn’t spoil the plot, but he does consider this compelling philosophical question from several angles. The comments are worth reading, too.
By the way, THE DARK KNIGHT is a shockingly good movie — definitely one of the best of the year. If you haven’t seen it, by all means go. It’s the rare comic book-inspired movie that relies on brains, not braun.
August 1st, 2008 10:09am
Will Pfeifer
Two candidates are running for president, only to discover that the entire election will be decided by a single vote. The plot for Kevin Costner’s new movie, SWING VOTE, which opens today? Nope. The plot for POPEYE FOR PRESIDENT, a 1956 cartoon where Popeye and Bluto are the candidates, and Olive Oyl is that lone voter. A commenter over at Hollywood Elsewhere pointed out the plot similarity. Here’s the cartoon itself as proof:
Â
Another reader comments that virtually the same plot was also used in the 1939 John Barrymore movie THE GREAT MAN VOTES.
August 1st, 2008 09:36am
Will Pfeifer
Here’s one of my favorite bits from a Marx Brothers movie: Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) Â is wooing both Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont) and Mrs. Whitehead (Margaret Irving) when, after mentioning Eugene O’Neill, he breaks from the scene, walks up to the camera, and has a “strange interlude” (which was a reference to O’Neill’s 1928 play of the same name).
It’s vintage Groucho — fast paced, funny and pretty much nonsensical. There are so many great lines packed into this single short scene you can quote them for years. I especially like “Yes, I don’t think I’ve ever seen four more beautiful eyes in my life. Well, three anyway.” And his declaration of “whim wham!” is a great comeback when someone’s talking nonsense.
July 31st, 2008 03:35pm
Will Pfeifer
Check out these clever posters for the Canadian Film Fest that give classic Hollywood images a distinctly Canadian twist.
July 31st, 2008 12:18pm
Will Pfeifer
According to Cinematical.com, the new horror flick THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN is only opening on 100 screens this weekend. That’s sort of strange, but even stranger is the fact that all those theaters are second-run houses. And even stranger than that is that one of those houses is our very own North Towne Theater.
Based on a story by horror writer Cliver Barker, THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN follows a photographer who explores the subways of New York City and encounters a nasty character called “The Butcher” who preys on unwitting passengers. It looks like a genuinely grim and gory movie, as the title seems to indicate. Reviews are surprisingly good — if you like this sort of movie, you’ll probably like THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN.
So this post is for you, horror movie fans — check out MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN this weekend. If it’s only playing on 100 screens nationwide, there are probably a lot of other gorehounds all over this great land of ours who wish they had a chance to see it.
July 31st, 2008 11:05am
Will Pfeifer
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Duane Dudek has an interesting interview with Woody Allen over at his blog. Among the revelations: Allen still uses the same Olympia portable typewriter he bought when he was 16.
“I know how it works, “Dudek quotes Woody as saying. I know its ins and outs. I don’t do the kind of typing a stenographer does. Where a computer comes in handy. And I can type fast. I’m perfectly happy with a typewriter. Only it’s getting harder and harder to find ribbons for it.”
Allen’s next movie, VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA, stars Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson, and opens in August. But I’m more interested in his next movie, which is titled WHATEVER WORKS and stars comic genius Larry David (he of SEINFELD and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM fame). Woody’s recent comedies have been so-so, but a jolt of David’s patented dark humor might be just what the Woodman ordered.
The movie’s not due out til next year, but here’s a photo of Woody and Larry on location. I like how, even talking with one the legends of film comedy, Larry still looks skeptical about the whole thing.
July 30th, 2008 11:09am
Will Pfeifer
The political cartoonist at THE ONION is the only one willing to address the touchy topic of DVDs replacing VHS tapes…
In all seriousness, is there a single advantage of tapes over discs? You can argue LPs are better than CDs, but DVDs seem to have it over tapes in every way: better picture, easier use, more bonus features — heck, they’re even smaller and easier to store. Whenever I actually have to put a tape into my DVD/VCR, I can’t believe I’m dealing with such archaic technology. It feels like I’m turning the crank on a Model T!
 Of course, now we have to replace them all with Blu-Rays. D’oh!
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