Guess Who's Back

This has been a very busy month. Between school, getting sick, getting sick again, and a few other things, I haven't had time to post here. Luckily, I have been keeping up with my movie schedule. I decided tonight to try and post my thoughts on a movie or two a night for the rest of the month. They probably won't be as detailed or even as interesting as I would like, but I suppose I should take what I can get.

Poltergeist (1982)

This was one of my favorite movies growing up. Watching it as an adult, I have an even greater appreciation of how well-written this movie is. Spielberg really knew how to write a good movie back then. I had originally saved this movie for the last day of the month, but after spending several days fighting the flu, I wanted something fun to watch. So, I watched sooner than anticipated.

Here's some general notes I made while watching:

I can't believe JoBeth Williams got top billing above Craig T. Nelson. Even though she was the bigger start at the time, that is such a rare thing.

I cannot believe I forgot about the broadcast signoff.

This has one of the coolest opening scenes of all time. It's weird how much I forgot. And it was so similar to my childhood. My dad always watched television at night, and inevitably when the broadcast signoff would come on, he would be asleep on the couch or recliner.

Holy crap! The parents are smoking pot! I sometimes forget how cool Steven Spielberg used to be.

Oh, the station wagon. I so don't miss you.

There is an awful, awful edit cut at about the 34 minute mark. I looked it up and apparently a bit was cut out because Craig T. Nelson said "I Hate Pizza Hut" in the scene and Pizza Hut took issue.

That small woman is so awesome.

I still believe to this day that that clown is far scarier than the creepy tree.

"This house is clean." How wrong you were, lady.


This movie rocks. It's scary, funny and generally quirky. Everything a Spielberg film used to be.


Ed Wood (1994)

Johnny Depp as Ed Wood
Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi

This was a very strange movie. As a big movie fan, I've know who Ed Wood was for a while, mainly through the notoriety of his Plan 9 From Outer Space, often given the dubious award of worst movie of all time. I suppose I should have known that a guy that would make a movie that bad would be pretty quirky.

I had no idea that Bela Lugosi and Ed Wood had such a close relationship. I am glad, if only because it led to one of the most interesting relationships I've ever seen in a movie. I always though Martin Landau won the Oscar for playing Lugosi as a charity award for much a long career. After seeing the movie, I can say that he more than deserved it. I had to kept reminding myself it was Landau, because the man on the screen looked nothing like him. This is the only time I've ever seen an actor overshadow Johnny Depp.

Landau's performance really saves this movie. I can't imagine it being good without him. The movie is a bit charming, and even sweet, but without Landau the movie would be far too lightweight.


A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All (2008)

Starring:

Stephen Colbert as himself
Elvis Costello as himself
Jon Stewart as himself
John Legend as himself
Willie Nelson as himself
Toby Keith as himself
Leslie Feist as herself
George Wendt as the Godless Killing Machine


Stephen Colbert rocks! So it stands to reason that his Christmas special does as well.

One of the best parts of this special is how closely it nails the old 70s and 80s specials. My personal favorite is the fake audience applause played after Colbert introduces each celebrity. I always thought the clapping was funny when I was a kid.

All of the singing parts are great. I love Jon Stewart's ode to Hanukkah, and Willie Nelson's voice is just as good as it has always been. But my absolute favorite is the call center angel.

The best part of watching this, though, is finding out it was better the second time around. The first time, though I did enjoy it, I found it a bit underwhelming. I suppose that going in this time with no expectations allowed me to just sit back and enjoy it for what it is.

The DVD has some great extras, too. It offers a few alternate endings, a couple of them even better the one they went with. There is also a DVD advent calendar, which was fun to go through.

Over all, this was well worth the money.