October 10th, 2008 10:54am
Will Pfeifer
Here’s a classic bit of cinematical misdirection from the 1942 horror classic CAT PEOPLE, directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by the legendary Val Lewton. The set-up: All-American gal Alice (Jane Randolph) is walking alone through Central Park, and she might — or might not — be followed by exotic beauty Irena (Simone Simon) who might — or might not — have the ability to turn into a panther.
The effect at the end was so successful that it became known as a “bus” (you’ll see why), and Lewton used similiar jolts in his other films.
October 9th, 2008 12:07pm
Will Pfeifer
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When the Academy Awards ceremony airs on Feb. 22, 2009, things will look a bit different. Not with the show itself — that’ll probably be the same combination of poorly chosen film clips, convoluted acceptance speechs and ill-conceived musical numbers. No, the change I’m talking about will involve the commercials.
For the first time, they’ll actually be advertising movies. According to an Associated Press story…
“The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board voted to allow commercials for movies to air on the Oscar telecast for the first time starting with the Feb. 22 ceremony on ABC, academy spokeswoman Leslie Unger said Wednesday. The vote Tuesday night lifts a ban on movie advertising that had been in place since the Oscars hit the airwaves in the early 1950s.”
The rules will limit ads to one spot per distributor, and the ads must (a) be brand new, (b) promote single movies opening two months after the Oscars or later, and (c) not contain the words “Academy Awards” or “Oscars.”
These restrictions are aimed at making sure no one gets the idea that just because a studio is advertising during the Oscars it might be influencing the winners. Personally, I’m just glad that while watching a TV show about movies, I’ll be able to actually see ads for upcoming movies.
Let’s just hope they’re good movies.
October 9th, 2008 11:46am
Will Pfeifer
Over at his fascinating movie blog, Greenbriar Picture Shows, John McElwee takes a loving look at the pairing of FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA in movie theaters. Seems like a natural, almost inevitable idea now, but that wasn’t always the case. As McElwee says…
“For seven years after their initial release in 1931, showmen regarded them separately. Playdates were infrequent as Universal provided sequels (BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA’S DAUGHTER) beginning right where originals left off, but there were gold deposits untapped even as the mine’s route lay not hidden, but in plain sight. The magic was in combining them, but nobody thought of that until seemingly bungled reissues of FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA suddenly caught fire together in August 1938.”
Here’s part one, and here’s part two. They’re long articles, but well worth reading. And Greenbriar always features an amazing amount of rare promotional art. I can only image what McElwee’s personal archives look like — and boy, and I jealous.
October 8th, 2008 01:58pm
Will Pfeifer
Maybe. At least, according to this interview at scifi.com, he’s contemplating a sequel to (in my humble opinion) his best movie, UNBREAKABLE. I’ll spare you the rambling beginnings, where the self-obsessed Mr. Shyamalan describes an event I’m betting never happened where a child happened to be carrying an UNBREAKABLE DVD in his backpack and skip right to the relevant quote:
“How bizarre. I want to write it right now, but I want to write it for the right reasons. I want a story to pop into my head that is organic and expressive of who I am. You know, these are all kind of journals of where I am emotionally, so it’s kind of hard. I’m kind of trying to go back to the journal that existed in 1999 for me. But I know me: As soon as I give up on it is when the idea will come to me. It’s just I need to go into therapy; I guess that’s the end of that answer to this.”
I liked UNBREAKABLE a lot, and thought THE SIXTH SENSE and SIGNS were pretty good, too. Heck, I even liked THE VILLAGE, which few people did. (LADY IN THE WATER and THE HAPPENING, though? They both sucked.) But if you read a quote like that, or the whole interview (or, if you’re really a glutton for punishment, the perversely fascinating Shyamalan love book, THE MAN WHO HEARD VOICES), you can only come to one conclusion: M. Night Shyamalan lives in a very strange little world.
October 8th, 2008 09:17am
Will Pfeifer
You know where they design beautiful, striking, imaginative movie posters?
Poland, that’s where. Here are a few examples. In case you don’t recognize them, they are (in order) posters for Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS, the Disney comedy SON OF FLUBBER and the great Bogart newspaper movie DEADLINE USA.
Want to see more of these great Polish posters? Click here.
October 7th, 2008 10:59am
Will Pfeifer
Simple! You claim it’s all part of a left-wing conspiracy!
From the official site: “If you have noticed other irregularities with the theatres in your area please let us know in the comment section below. For instance, Rated R film rating (when in fact we are rated PG-13), posters not being up, not being listed on the marquee, image or focus problems, sound issues, etc.”
Rest easy, America. As the site says (in bold type, no less), “We are investigating.”
Did anyone actually see AN AMERICAN CAROL? Politics aside, it just looked awful. Like some distant sequel in the SCARY MOVIE franchise that’s even worse than the sequels we’ve already seen.
If you saw it — and especially if it’s actually funny — please let us know in the comments
October 7th, 2008 09:06am
Will Pfeifer
Just in time for the Halloween pre-season, The New Yorker gets its hands a bit dirtier than usual with a list of the five scariest movies of all time. It’s not surprising that there’s no mention of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREETÂ or any other obscure bit of cinematic nastiness, but it’s a pretty good list nonetheless.
Topping things off is Tobe Hooper’s endurance-test classic THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, followed by SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (good movie, not that scary), THE BODY SNATCHED (so-so Val Lewton movie, but not very scary) and NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (one of the great American movies, not scary — but definitely unsettling). Winding things up is maybe the best pick on the list, David Lynch’s 2000 brain-bender, MULLHOLLAND DR., which has one of the scariest scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie (and which I wrote about last year on my own non-Movie Man blog). RETROCRUSH.com called it the scariest movie scene ever, and they might be right.
Here it is. Takes place in the daylight. No blood, no guts, no violence at all. And it scares the pants off my every time I watch it. (By the way, if you’re a MAD MEN fan, you might recognize actor Patrick Fischler as comedian Jimmy Barrett. But he’s playing a whole different sort of character here.)
October 6th, 2008 04:41pm
Will Pfeifer
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is often described as the worst movie of all time, but it’s not. In fact, it’s not even close.
It’s a simple question, but I want you to think before you answer. I’m not talking about a movie you don’t like, or a blockbuster that was disappointing, or a movie with a bad performance, or bad direction, or a bad script.
I’m talking terrible. Awful. So bad you can’t believe it was made. So bad you can’t believe the people who made it had enough sense to load film into a camera and press the “start” button.
Post your picks in the comment section. Feel free to name more than one, and feel free to explain why you think your choices deserve the title of “Worst Movie Ever.”
 Because in next week’s Movie Man column, I’m going to top them all.
I guarantee it.
October 6th, 2008 01:03pm
Will Pfeifer
Not only is Jeff Bridges one of the best (and most underrated) actors working today, he’s laid-back enough to not be embarrassed by his early work. As you may remember, one of Bridges early roles was in the 1982 film TRON. Now, I love TRON as much as any movie geek who came of age in the 1980s can love a movie, but even I realize it’s essentially a kids film, and not an especially good one at that. What makes TRON special is the truly groundbreaking special effects work that went into creating a world inside a computers, way back in the days when computers were something mysterious and not that thing that’s sitting in the family room of every home in America.
Bridges played Flynn, a proto-slacker who developed the “hit” video game Space Paranoids, had it stolen away by an evil corporate type and spent his post-programming days running a popular arcade. The script is serviceable at best, but Bridges (as always) brings energy and enthusiasm to his performance. Special effects aside — and they are pretty damn special, even 26 years later — he pretty much makes the movie.
The good news? He’s coming back for the sequel, TR2N (dumb name, I agree). There’s not much info about it yet, but Bridges did talk a bit with The Guardian, and he seems to be having fun with the whole concept:
 ”[It’s] another unique, wild experience that was too good to turn down. Engaging in that world again feels just like it did all that time ago. Basically, I’m still a child, I love being childlike, and here was another chance to play with these crazy toys. And the cutting-edge technology makes it exciting.”
With Bridges on board, is it possible Cindy Morgan (best known as Lacey Underalls in CADDYSHACK) might return to the world of TRON as well? Stay tuned!
End of line
October 6th, 2008 09:45am
Will Pfeifer
Hey, gang. Sorry about the lack of posting last week, but I was on vacation — and not just any vacation, either. I was with the family at the Most Magical Place On Earth, aka Walt Disney World. And allow me to offer you one tip, that happens to be (sort of) movie related:* No matter how harmless, charming and amusing you might think the Haunted Mansion ride is, I can guarantee it still seems pretty terrifying it you’re 3 years old.
Trust me on this one.
* Remember the bad Eddie Murphy HAUNTED MANSION movie that was Disney’s failed attempt to jump start another PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise? You don’t remember it? Don’t feel bad. No one else does, either.
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