McQ (1974)
John Wayne as John Wayne
As I've already posted, I love John Wayne. I really do. A lot. But I really don't like this movie. At all. The first problem is that, as I've also already covered, John Wayne had a short acting range. He was clearly uncomfortable in this movie. There are entire scenes where he keeps fidgeting and shuffling his feet a bit. And worst of all, he's not Dirty Harry. Thankfully, Wayne didn't even try to be like Clint, but the role clearly called for it. In the end, the actor and character didn't really fit that well.
Now, having gotten the acting out of the way, let me get to the main reason I don't like the movie: it's DEPRESSING. Every single person McQ thought may have been a friendly acquaintance in his life turns out to be against him in some way or another. Even his wife leaves him. By the end, I wasn't even that satisfied that he had "gotten the bad guys" because his life ended up becoming so miserable. Unlike Dirty Harry, who really was a lone wolf and never seemed too friendly with anyone, McQ is written as a friendly if abrupt guy. The entire point of the movie is that he is trying to track out down the people responsible for the death of one of his friends; and apparently the only one who was a decent guy. The only good part about how utterly depressing everything was is that John Wayne's best acting came during the scenes in which he felt most betrayed. At this late stage of his life, Wayne was an expert at playing sad men, the most obvious proof being True Grit and especially The Shootist, which was, in my opinion, his greatest performance.
Overall, another movie I'm shipping off to my dad for Christmas.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
If I only had a brain...
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Wow. The restoration Warner Brothers did for the DVD of this movie is just remarkable. This movie looks gorgeous.
I had forgotten how many iconic lines are in this movie. There were also a ton of great lines that aren't famous but should be.
I like the Scarecrow even more today than when I was a kid. The actor who played him was extremely charming, and he had many of the best lines.
While I've been going through these DVDs, I haven't had the time to really take a look at most of the special features. I think I will try and look through the ones for this DVD later, though. Angela Lansbury, who I adore, does the voice-over for a lot of them. That's incentive enough for me.
Judy Garland had one of the best voices I've ever had the pleasure to hear. She was only 17 when this movie came out, but she sang like she was aged beyond her years.
There are a lot more songs in this movie than I remembered, though the ones I had forgotten about are perhaps best forgotten.
Overall, despite its age and inherent corniness, I found The Wizard of Oz to be a wonderful, charming movie; I had a great time watching it.
On an interesting side note, this film was made in 1939. For film buffs, that year holds a vaunted place in film history. Besides Judy Garland's movie, Gone With the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stagecoach, and Goodbye, Mr. Chips all came out that year. Vivien Leigh, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Laurence Olivier, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo and Mickey Rooney were just some of the many great actors nominated for Oscars that year. Sadly, The Wizard of Oz was completely shut out of even the Oscar nominations, with the exception of best film and best special effects; it won neither. Ironically, though the guy who directed The Wizard of Oz, Irving Fleming, did not win anything for directing that movie, he did win an Oscar that year for directing another movie: Gone With the Wind.
1939 must have been a great year to go to the movies.
Wow. The restoration Warner Brothers did for the DVD of this movie is just remarkable. This movie looks gorgeous.
I had forgotten how many iconic lines are in this movie. There were also a ton of great lines that aren't famous but should be.
I like the Scarecrow even more today than when I was a kid. The actor who played him was extremely charming, and he had many of the best lines.
While I've been going through these DVDs, I haven't had the time to really take a look at most of the special features. I think I will try and look through the ones for this DVD later, though. Angela Lansbury, who I adore, does the voice-over for a lot of them. That's incentive enough for me.
Judy Garland had one of the best voices I've ever had the pleasure to hear. She was only 17 when this movie came out, but she sang like she was aged beyond her years.
There are a lot more songs in this movie than I remembered, though the ones I had forgotten about are perhaps best forgotten.
Overall, despite its age and inherent corniness, I found The Wizard of Oz to be a wonderful, charming movie; I had a great time watching it.
On an interesting side note, this film was made in 1939. For film buffs, that year holds a vaunted place in film history. Besides Judy Garland's movie, Gone With the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stagecoach, and Goodbye, Mr. Chips all came out that year. Vivien Leigh, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Laurence Olivier, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo and Mickey Rooney were just some of the many great actors nominated for Oscars that year. Sadly, The Wizard of Oz was completely shut out of even the Oscar nominations, with the exception of best film and best special effects; it won neither. Ironically, though the guy who directed The Wizard of Oz, Irving Fleming, did not win anything for directing that movie, he did win an Oscar that year for directing another movie: Gone With the Wind.
1939 must have been a great year to go to the movies.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The French Are Taking Over, Part Deux
The Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le pacts des loups - 2001)
When I made my comments about French movies, I completely forgot about this kickass action movie. This is one of the best action movies to come out in the last decade. There is an actor in this movie, Mark Dacascos, who did an America action movie with DMX that I went to see, knowing it would be terrible, just because he was in it and I wanted to see his martial arts scenes. And you know what? It was worth it. He's just that good.
I love good action movies. I am a sucker for ones that feature slow-motion, Matrix-like special effects. The fight scenes in this movie are a blast to watch, especially since it's obvious that Brotherhood of the Wolf's director is well aware how awesome the action scenes are in this movie, both in pure fighting talent, and in cinematography. He clearly enjoyed making these scenes as much as I enjoyed watching them.
Set in France around the time the royalty were being taking to the guillotine, this movie features a mysterious, vicious monster that has been killing people indiscriminately. All who see it describe it as a giant wolf-like creature. A massive hunt is organized to track it and kill it. Hunters come from all around the countryside to join in. Also along for the ride is a naturalist (who shows surprising skill with weapons) who wants to document the forensic evidence. He is accompanied by his Iroquois sidekick, a man you so don't want to mess with; he provides the best fight scenes in the movie.
This movie has a lot more going for it than just the top notch fight scenes, which is why it is so good.For one, it is an absolutely beautiful movie, and not just because it contains some of the most kickass fight scenes ever. The cinematography is gorgeous, the colors are vivid, and the countryside looks breathtaking. It's also a funny movie, full of bawdy humor. The French do not portray whore houses as seedy and icky like Americans do. The plot is more interesting than I expected as well, which is a good thing since there aren't too many fight scenes. The only real problem with this movie is that it has a few slow parts. The first half is much more lighthearted than the second half, and the transition to that is not handled well.
Overall, if you're looking for a cool movie with great fight scenes, you can't go wrong with this.
When I made my comments about French movies, I completely forgot about this kickass action movie. This is one of the best action movies to come out in the last decade. There is an actor in this movie, Mark Dacascos, who did an America action movie with DMX that I went to see, knowing it would be terrible, just because he was in it and I wanted to see his martial arts scenes. And you know what? It was worth it. He's just that good.
I love good action movies. I am a sucker for ones that feature slow-motion, Matrix-like special effects. The fight scenes in this movie are a blast to watch, especially since it's obvious that Brotherhood of the Wolf's director is well aware how awesome the action scenes are in this movie, both in pure fighting talent, and in cinematography. He clearly enjoyed making these scenes as much as I enjoyed watching them.
Set in France around the time the royalty were being taking to the guillotine, this movie features a mysterious, vicious monster that has been killing people indiscriminately. All who see it describe it as a giant wolf-like creature. A massive hunt is organized to track it and kill it. Hunters come from all around the countryside to join in. Also along for the ride is a naturalist (who shows surprising skill with weapons) who wants to document the forensic evidence. He is accompanied by his Iroquois sidekick, a man you so don't want to mess with; he provides the best fight scenes in the movie.
This movie has a lot more going for it than just the top notch fight scenes, which is why it is so good.For one, it is an absolutely beautiful movie, and not just because it contains some of the most kickass fight scenes ever. The cinematography is gorgeous, the colors are vivid, and the countryside looks breathtaking. It's also a funny movie, full of bawdy humor. The French do not portray whore houses as seedy and icky like Americans do. The plot is more interesting than I expected as well, which is a good thing since there aren't too many fight scenes. The only real problem with this movie is that it has a few slow parts. The first half is much more lighthearted than the second half, and the transition to that is not handled well.
Overall, if you're looking for a cool movie with great fight scenes, you can't go wrong with this.
The French movies are taking over the world
The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
I don't know what has changed in France, but I do know that for the past decade, they have been making the most interesting movies. I'm not just talking about the artsy-fartsy, Truffaut-like stuff for which they are deservedly famous, either. Even their modern thrillers are better than American thrillers. If you don't believe me, go check out the movie Tell No One (Ne le dis a personne). I had no idea the French could make good suspenseful action movies. The Triplets of Belleville shows that not even the animated world is safe from French domination.
The first time I saw this movie, I fell in love with it immediately. Watching it Thursday, it was clear to me that my love has only grown stronger. The film is just so adorable and cute, in a strange and quirky way. Set in France,The movie starts off with a woman who is desperately trying to find something that her sad grandson will take an interest in. His parents are dead, seemingly due to World War II. She finally finds its in bike riding, likely steered in that direction when she notices his only connection to his dead parents is a picture of them on a bicycle. His love for it develops into a freaky obsession, wanting even at that very young age to be the best bicyclist in the world. She is right behind him every step of the way, pushing him in his grueling training every single day, willingly giving up her whole life to help him achieve his dream. The more I watch this movie, the more I wonder if part of her isn't perhaps, in some way, pushing this obsession on him. Either way, it is clear that in the entire world, he cares only about three things: his grandmother, his dog, and riding bicycles, not necessarily in that order. When he is an adult, she is still there pushing him every step of the way when he enters the Tour de France. But, disaster strikes when he is kidnapped by dangerous henchmen who force him and two others into a deadly, and extremely weird, gambling scheme. With his dog along for the ride, the grandmother sets off on a long search to rescue him.
This all sounds fairly straightforward, but this one of the most surreal movies I have ever seen. First off, there is just so much character to the movie. Every single character, including the dog, is fully developed, with interesting and sometimes hilarious quirks. One of my favorites is the dog, who is completely obsessed with barking at any train that goes by a window he is near through the entire film. He also has wonderful dreams where he is floating on an ocean being waited on by his owner.
My absolute favorite characters, though, are the Triplets of Belleville, three singers who start off the movie performing in a small musical hall during the 1930s; Fred Astaire even makes an appearance in the only professional performance in the film. I cannot convey how wonderful and thrilling the song they sing is. It has stuck with me all these years. After their performance, they disappear from the movie until the desperate grandmother searching for her grandson runs into them on a street corner. She starts using her son's bicycle wheel, which she carries with her, as a musical instrument, and they pop up singing that wonderful title song. They help her in her journey to rescue the kidnapped bicyclist. There are no words to describe how completely strange they are, in an absolutely delightful way. I love them. Their method of finding food is one of the funniest moments in film history I have ever seen.
Above all else, though, this movie is about a devoted grandmother who will do absolutely anything to get her grandson back. It permeates the film, and is so profoundly sweet. Even before I saw the end note where the filmmaker dedicates the film to his mother, it was plain that this was an ode to mothers everywhere who will do anything to make their sons happy and keep them safe no matter the cost. The movie is completely surreal, especially in how the characters' bodies defy logic, not to mention the theory of gravity, but I accepted it so easily because the message was so heartfelt.
I must also add that the most surprising part of this movie is that I didn't notice the first time that there is very little dialogue; no more than ten or so lines, and most of it is from radio news broadcasts. The characters are so expressive that it is clear what they are thinking, even the dog. Plus, the music was so wonderful that it felt like it was all the dialogue that was needed.
I recommend this movie to absolutely everyone, though I think it will appeal to adults much more to children.
I don't know what has changed in France, but I do know that for the past decade, they have been making the most interesting movies. I'm not just talking about the artsy-fartsy, Truffaut-like stuff for which they are deservedly famous, either. Even their modern thrillers are better than American thrillers. If you don't believe me, go check out the movie Tell No One (Ne le dis a personne). I had no idea the French could make good suspenseful action movies. The Triplets of Belleville shows that not even the animated world is safe from French domination.
The first time I saw this movie, I fell in love with it immediately. Watching it Thursday, it was clear to me that my love has only grown stronger. The film is just so adorable and cute, in a strange and quirky way. Set in France,The movie starts off with a woman who is desperately trying to find something that her sad grandson will take an interest in. His parents are dead, seemingly due to World War II. She finally finds its in bike riding, likely steered in that direction when she notices his only connection to his dead parents is a picture of them on a bicycle. His love for it develops into a freaky obsession, wanting even at that very young age to be the best bicyclist in the world. She is right behind him every step of the way, pushing him in his grueling training every single day, willingly giving up her whole life to help him achieve his dream. The more I watch this movie, the more I wonder if part of her isn't perhaps, in some way, pushing this obsession on him. Either way, it is clear that in the entire world, he cares only about three things: his grandmother, his dog, and riding bicycles, not necessarily in that order. When he is an adult, she is still there pushing him every step of the way when he enters the Tour de France. But, disaster strikes when he is kidnapped by dangerous henchmen who force him and two others into a deadly, and extremely weird, gambling scheme. With his dog along for the ride, the grandmother sets off on a long search to rescue him.
This all sounds fairly straightforward, but this one of the most surreal movies I have ever seen. First off, there is just so much character to the movie. Every single character, including the dog, is fully developed, with interesting and sometimes hilarious quirks. One of my favorites is the dog, who is completely obsessed with barking at any train that goes by a window he is near through the entire film. He also has wonderful dreams where he is floating on an ocean being waited on by his owner.
My absolute favorite characters, though, are the Triplets of Belleville, three singers who start off the movie performing in a small musical hall during the 1930s; Fred Astaire even makes an appearance in the only professional performance in the film. I cannot convey how wonderful and thrilling the song they sing is. It has stuck with me all these years. After their performance, they disappear from the movie until the desperate grandmother searching for her grandson runs into them on a street corner. She starts using her son's bicycle wheel, which she carries with her, as a musical instrument, and they pop up singing that wonderful title song. They help her in her journey to rescue the kidnapped bicyclist. There are no words to describe how completely strange they are, in an absolutely delightful way. I love them. Their method of finding food is one of the funniest moments in film history I have ever seen.
Above all else, though, this movie is about a devoted grandmother who will do absolutely anything to get her grandson back. It permeates the film, and is so profoundly sweet. Even before I saw the end note where the filmmaker dedicates the film to his mother, it was plain that this was an ode to mothers everywhere who will do anything to make their sons happy and keep them safe no matter the cost. The movie is completely surreal, especially in how the characters' bodies defy logic, not to mention the theory of gravity, but I accepted it so easily because the message was so heartfelt.
I must also add that the most surprising part of this movie is that I didn't notice the first time that there is very little dialogue; no more than ten or so lines, and most of it is from radio news broadcasts. The characters are so expressive that it is clear what they are thinking, even the dog. Plus, the music was so wonderful that it felt like it was all the dialogue that was needed.
I recommend this movie to absolutely everyone, though I think it will appeal to adults much more to children.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Then...
September saw me take a bit of a fall of my own making. I realized two weeks into the month that, unlike my September schedule, I had not actually scheduled a film a day in August; it was more like 5 a week. Being the stubborn person I am, I tried to get through it anyway. Well, I couldn't. I finished the month with 7 to go, which is about the same rate I had kept in August. I had originally thought about trying to add the 7 to the 25 I'm scheduled to watch this month, but I would just be making the same mistake. So, they will go back into the mix to be picked another month.
So, this is my first real setback. At least I know my limits.
Now...it's on to October.
So, this is my first real setback. At least I know my limits.
Now...it's on to October.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Holy Cow, Batman!
Comic Book: The Movie 2004
Mark Hamill
Kevin Smith
Stan Lee
Bruce Campbell
When I sat down to watch Comic Book: The Movie, I honestly thought I was just watching a documentary. All the actors on the cover, guys involved in the comic book world, were billed over their own names, and it seemed to take place at a convention.
Boy was I wrong. Sort of. This is not a documentary. It's a mockumentary. Mark Hamill is in it, but he doesn't play himself. It's about a huge comic book nerd, Donald Swan, who becomes famous as a comic book nerd via his online fanzine, and ends up being invited to be a technical adviser for a movie being filmed based on an old 1940s comic called "Commander Courage." The studio gives him a camera crew to make a documentary of his adventure to California, including his all expenses paid stay at the San Diego Comic-Con. Unfortunately, for the movie studio, Donald doesn't like the changes the studio has made to the original comic book in making the film, "Codename: Courage," and he sort of fumbles his way around, trying to make the changes he thinks are necessary.
So, since this movie was such a surprise within the first two minutes, I decided that this post will be something I haven't done since the beginning: I'm just going to highlight my mental running commentary that occurred while watching this film.
**I paused the DVD so I could type this: OMG Peter David is in this movie. I nearly hyperventilated seeing him. I cannot believe I have a DVD with Peter David in it. Sadly, I doubt anyone reading this even knows who he is. Peter David is a writer of both fictional novels and comic books. I used to read Star Trek: The Next Generation books when I was a teenager, and he wrote my favorite ones. He has a web site at peterdavid.net, which I highly recommend. He's a funny, funny guy. Oddly enough, I actually met him at the San Diego Comic-Con held a year after this movie was made, and even had my picture taken with him. He's the most normal person I've ever encountered during my rare and brief encounters into the comic book world.
Donald, concerning how he was going to approach watching the movie being filmed: "So I resolved to keep an open mind and try to stop hating it so much." So true.
This is so great. 3 middle aged guys sitting in a comic book store arguing over whether or not Spider Man's web should shoot out of his butt since that is from where spiders actually shoot their webs. I have witnessed very similar arguments.
That's total BS. I know of no comic book fan that loved Pearl Harbor. I know of no nerd whatsoever that loved that movie.
Woah. Hugh Hefner talking about comics.
lol Mark Hamill incorporates Kevin Smith's giant spider story from Evening With Kevin Smith.
Remember, kids, Kevin Smith says to rip your comic books in half when you're done reading them.
Ricky, the camera guy, does a great impression of the voice of each Beatle. His John Lennon was especially good.
As someone who actually went to Comic-Con, I can say the floor of the convention is ten times more packed than what the movie shows. And I cannot imagine it possible that anyone could walk around the floor and just bump into an awesome guy like Ray Harryhausen. Guys like that would be mobbed by fans on the floor. I want to watch Seven Voyages of Sinbad now.
omgomgomg Joe Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5.
There is this bit where an agent sees Ron Perlman at the Comic-Con, who's promoting the Hellboy film, and tries to offer him a role for the Codename:Courage movie, and Perlman points to the creator of Hellboy standing a few feet away from him and says, "That's Mike Mignola." I am embarrassed to admit that I did that very same thing the next year when my husband and I were there. Seth Green is a huge comic book fan and helped a friend to create a new comic book. They introduced the first issue on the floor. My husband and I got in line to get a signed copy. Well, Seth Green was there and I turned into a total fangirl about Robot Chicken, ignoring the guy who actually wrote the comic book sitting right next to him. Watching this scene in the movie made it doubly embarrassing.
Oh wow! If I had never been to the Comic-Con I would never have been able to recognize the dude that played Chewbacca! How appropriate that he would be the only guy in the movie that would make any reference to the fact that Mark Hamill is playing the character, asking, "Is he somebody famous?"
Matt Groening! Oh, how I love The Simpsons.
"Giant. Mechanical. Spider." Man, Kevin Smith's story about how when he was asked to give a try on the Superman script the producer told him he needed a giant spider in it will live on forever in the comic book world. Even funnier, J.J. Abrams is in this, probably because at the time Abrams was trying to write the script for the new Superman movie, before it finally moved on to Bryan Singer.
I can't believe Mark Hamill was able to get Jonathan Winters and Sid Caesar to do this thing. I am going to treasure this DVD forever.
And we get to the end, where Mark Hamill, as Donald, tells the fans to not buy in to the movie, even though it has the comic book name, because the movie studio doesn't give a crap about being true to the comic book or any of the values it upheld; the movie studio only wants our wallets. It's a plea for the studios to stop making bad movies and plastering the name of a comic book on as a title.
It also deals with something that I am not sure I can get behind. One of the things a lot of the middle aged comic book fans keep trying to say is that movies like The Fantastic Four are great because those old comic books were more lighthearted. They say that the movies that are "edgier," a word that is sneered at in this mockumentary, aren't really comic books. For them, true comic books are more wholesome and fun. A lot of these people tend to be Marvel fans rather than DC ones. DC practically built dark and edgy when they started Batman. Perhaps it is just my age, but I like the darker, moodier comic book movies. Of course, I also like the first Spiderman movie. I just think there's room for everything except a bad script.
Overall, if you aren't familiar with the comic book world (cartoons, movies and comic books), guys like Bruce Campbell and Kevin Smith, this thing will probably bore you to tears. I, on the other hand, have a surface familiarity with everything, and I had a heck of a time playing Spot the Cameo. I think anyone who is really into comic books are cartoons would really love this DVD.
Mark Hamill
Kevin Smith
Stan Lee
Bruce Campbell
When I sat down to watch Comic Book: The Movie, I honestly thought I was just watching a documentary. All the actors on the cover, guys involved in the comic book world, were billed over their own names, and it seemed to take place at a convention.
Boy was I wrong. Sort of. This is not a documentary. It's a mockumentary. Mark Hamill is in it, but he doesn't play himself. It's about a huge comic book nerd, Donald Swan, who becomes famous as a comic book nerd via his online fanzine, and ends up being invited to be a technical adviser for a movie being filmed based on an old 1940s comic called "Commander Courage." The studio gives him a camera crew to make a documentary of his adventure to California, including his all expenses paid stay at the San Diego Comic-Con. Unfortunately, for the movie studio, Donald doesn't like the changes the studio has made to the original comic book in making the film, "Codename: Courage," and he sort of fumbles his way around, trying to make the changes he thinks are necessary.
So, since this movie was such a surprise within the first two minutes, I decided that this post will be something I haven't done since the beginning: I'm just going to highlight my mental running commentary that occurred while watching this film.
**I paused the DVD so I could type this: OMG Peter David is in this movie. I nearly hyperventilated seeing him. I cannot believe I have a DVD with Peter David in it. Sadly, I doubt anyone reading this even knows who he is. Peter David is a writer of both fictional novels and comic books. I used to read Star Trek: The Next Generation books when I was a teenager, and he wrote my favorite ones. He has a web site at peterdavid.net, which I highly recommend. He's a funny, funny guy. Oddly enough, I actually met him at the San Diego Comic-Con held a year after this movie was made, and even had my picture taken with him. He's the most normal person I've ever encountered during my rare and brief encounters into the comic book world.
Donald, concerning how he was going to approach watching the movie being filmed: "So I resolved to keep an open mind and try to stop hating it so much." So true.
This is so great. 3 middle aged guys sitting in a comic book store arguing over whether or not Spider Man's web should shoot out of his butt since that is from where spiders actually shoot their webs. I have witnessed very similar arguments.
That's total BS. I know of no comic book fan that loved Pearl Harbor. I know of no nerd whatsoever that loved that movie.
Woah. Hugh Hefner talking about comics.
lol Mark Hamill incorporates Kevin Smith's giant spider story from Evening With Kevin Smith.
Remember, kids, Kevin Smith says to rip your comic books in half when you're done reading them.
Ricky, the camera guy, does a great impression of the voice of each Beatle. His John Lennon was especially good.
As someone who actually went to Comic-Con, I can say the floor of the convention is ten times more packed than what the movie shows. And I cannot imagine it possible that anyone could walk around the floor and just bump into an awesome guy like Ray Harryhausen. Guys like that would be mobbed by fans on the floor. I want to watch Seven Voyages of Sinbad now.
omgomgomg Joe Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5.
There is this bit where an agent sees Ron Perlman at the Comic-Con, who's promoting the Hellboy film, and tries to offer him a role for the Codename:Courage movie, and Perlman points to the creator of Hellboy standing a few feet away from him and says, "That's Mike Mignola." I am embarrassed to admit that I did that very same thing the next year when my husband and I were there. Seth Green is a huge comic book fan and helped a friend to create a new comic book. They introduced the first issue on the floor. My husband and I got in line to get a signed copy. Well, Seth Green was there and I turned into a total fangirl about Robot Chicken, ignoring the guy who actually wrote the comic book sitting right next to him. Watching this scene in the movie made it doubly embarrassing.
Oh wow! If I had never been to the Comic-Con I would never have been able to recognize the dude that played Chewbacca! How appropriate that he would be the only guy in the movie that would make any reference to the fact that Mark Hamill is playing the character, asking, "Is he somebody famous?"
Matt Groening! Oh, how I love The Simpsons.
"Giant. Mechanical. Spider." Man, Kevin Smith's story about how when he was asked to give a try on the Superman script the producer told him he needed a giant spider in it will live on forever in the comic book world. Even funnier, J.J. Abrams is in this, probably because at the time Abrams was trying to write the script for the new Superman movie, before it finally moved on to Bryan Singer.
I can't believe Mark Hamill was able to get Jonathan Winters and Sid Caesar to do this thing. I am going to treasure this DVD forever.
And we get to the end, where Mark Hamill, as Donald, tells the fans to not buy in to the movie, even though it has the comic book name, because the movie studio doesn't give a crap about being true to the comic book or any of the values it upheld; the movie studio only wants our wallets. It's a plea for the studios to stop making bad movies and plastering the name of a comic book on as a title.
It also deals with something that I am not sure I can get behind. One of the things a lot of the middle aged comic book fans keep trying to say is that movies like The Fantastic Four are great because those old comic books were more lighthearted. They say that the movies that are "edgier," a word that is sneered at in this mockumentary, aren't really comic books. For them, true comic books are more wholesome and fun. A lot of these people tend to be Marvel fans rather than DC ones. DC practically built dark and edgy when they started Batman. Perhaps it is just my age, but I like the darker, moodier comic book movies. Of course, I also like the first Spiderman movie. I just think there's room for everything except a bad script.
Overall, if you aren't familiar with the comic book world (cartoons, movies and comic books), guys like Bruce Campbell and Kevin Smith, this thing will probably bore you to tears. I, on the other hand, have a surface familiarity with everything, and I had a heck of a time playing Spot the Cameo. I think anyone who is really into comic books are cartoons would really love this DVD.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
October Fest
I am particularly happy with the movies I randomly picked this month. This looks to be the best month so far.
Oct 1: The Triplets of Belleville
Oct. 2: McQ
Oct 3: Brotherhood of the Wolf
Oct 5: The Wizard of Oz
Oct 6: Joyride
Oct 7: True Crime
Oct 8: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone)
Oct 9: Phenomenon
Oct 10: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Oct 12: Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Oct 13: The Muppet Christmas Carol
Oct 14: Silverado
Oct 15: Bewitched
Oct 16: Ghostbusters
Oct 17: They Died With Their Boots On
Oct 19: Fiddler on the Roof
Oct 20: Clerks II
Oct 21: Boys Don't Cry
Oct 23: The Neverending Story
Oct 24: Stage Fright
Oct 26: Peeping Tom
Oct 27: Little Caesar
Oct 28: Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Oct 30: House of 1000 Corpses
Oct 31: The Attic Expeditions
In honor of Halloween, I thought it apropos to end the month with horror movies.
As for TV, I have:
Thundercats (HOO!), Vol. 1
The Office, Series 1 (BBC)
CSI Season 7
I am really looking forward to October.
Oct 1: The Triplets of Belleville
Oct. 2: McQ
Oct 3: Brotherhood of the Wolf
Oct 5: The Wizard of Oz
Oct 6: Joyride
Oct 7: True Crime
Oct 8: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone)
Oct 9: Phenomenon
Oct 10: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Oct 12: Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Oct 13: The Muppet Christmas Carol
Oct 14: Silverado
Oct 15: Bewitched
Oct 16: Ghostbusters
Oct 17: They Died With Their Boots On
Oct 19: Fiddler on the Roof
Oct 20: Clerks II
Oct 21: Boys Don't Cry
Oct 23: The Neverending Story
Oct 24: Stage Fright
Oct 26: Peeping Tom
Oct 27: Little Caesar
Oct 28: Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Oct 30: House of 1000 Corpses
Oct 31: The Attic Expeditions
In honor of Halloween, I thought it apropos to end the month with horror movies.
As for TV, I have:
Thundercats (HOO!), Vol. 1
The Office, Series 1 (BBC)
CSI Season 7
I am really looking forward to October.
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