Day 129 - 5/9/09 - Movie #129
BEFORE: I could watch more movies with animated cats, but that last movie actually had more dogs than cats, and I don't have movies like "All Dogs Go to Heaven" on my list... Plus my oldest cat, Merlin, is spending the night at the vet's office for observation, after a strange "low blood sugar" episode yesterday...the less said about that, the better...
Instead I'll pick another Disney version of a classic novel - I might have been a little harsh with my criticism of "The Great Mouse Detective", and I did like Disney's take on "Oliver Twist"... But my original point about Disney's strip-mining of Western literature is still valid, I believe. As proof, look how they want the word "Disney" to be considered part of the official movie title. We don't say, "Warner Bros. Dark Knight" or "20th Century Fox's Star Wars", now do we? I don't know how Disney Corp. gets away with this - it should be called "Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame"...
THE PLOT: A deformed bellringer must assert his independence from a vicious government minister in order to help his friend, a gypsy dancing girl.
AFTER: I read this book so long ago, I don't remember all the details - so I'll have to check Wikipedia to see where this movie deviates from the original story. There were at least some minor story flaws - like if Quasimodo spent his whole life hidden in the bell tower, how did someone in the festival crowd recognize him? For that matter, were the animated gargoyles supposed to be real, or just figments of Quasimodo's imagination? And if not real, how did they hurl stones down on the soldiers from the cathedral?
The Disney-esque songs seemed a bit overly complex, and awkward as a result. As for the voices, I recognized Kevin Kline, Tom Hulce, Jason Alexander, and Charles Kimbrough (from Murphy Brown), but I had to look in the credits to identify Demi Moore and David Ogden Stiers (I must be slipping...) The French Gothic architecture is nice to look at, but the story hits some of the same notes (about appearances vs. inner beauty) as "Beauty and the Beast" did.
RATING: 6 out of 10 flying buttresses (mostly for appearances, not for structure...)
UPDATE: Wikipedia informed me that this film had the same directors as "Beauty and the Beast", so that explains the exploration of similar themes. Also I learned about the changes made from Victor Hugo's book, which include splitting Archdeacon Frollo into 2 characters - an archdeacon and the main villain, Minister Frollo. Quasimodo is also deaf in the book, from living so close to the cathedral's bells. Oh, yeah, and in the novel, apparently all the main characters die in the end. Not in a Disney film, though!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Oliver & Company
Day 128 - 5/8/09 - Movie #128
BEFORE: I conclude my tribute to Dom DeLuise with this film based (loosely) on Oliver Twist. I just don't have any more to watch - I've already watched 4 films on my list with Dom prior to this week, including 3 animated films - "The Secret of NIMH", "An American Tail", and "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West". I actually had no idea he did so much voice-over work, but it makes sense. Here he provides the voice for the "Fagin" character.
THE PLOT: A lost kitten joins a gang of dogs engaged in petty larceny in New York.
AFTER: The opening scenes affected me, because they show a stray kitten in the rain - on Sunday I watched a man abandon a cat in the parking lot near my house. By the time I rushed outside to tell him off, he was gone - he had brought the cat in a carrier with an open can of tuna, opened the carrier and headed for the hills. I saw the cat in a nearby stairwell, but after I went back inside to get some cat treats, the cat was gone too. Then it rained for 5 days straight - I can only hope that the cat wanders into our backyard and finds the plastic tubs lined with straw for strays to live in.
My first impulse was to track down (somehow) the heartless bastard who abandoned the cat and drag him out to the middle of a desert (again, somehow...) in a crate with a cheeseburger, to see how long he would last. My anger has cooled a bit since Sunday - life on the streets of Queens might be better than being euthanized in an animal shelter, but there are enough stray cats in our neighborhood already (one now lives in our basement, two more now live with a friend in Texas), and I don't have the time or resources to rescue them all.
Anyway, I enjoyed this film more than I thought I would. Voices were provided by Joey Lawrence, Cheech Marin, Richard Mulligan, the great Roscoe Lee Browne, and Billy Joel (also singing a song about NYC streets as "Dodger" the dog...). Bette Midler and Sheryl Lee Ralph also do acting and singing as female dogs - my only beef is with the character designs, which sort of seem like leftovers from "Lady and the Tramp".
RATING: 7 out of 10 hot dogs
BEFORE: I conclude my tribute to Dom DeLuise with this film based (loosely) on Oliver Twist. I just don't have any more to watch - I've already watched 4 films on my list with Dom prior to this week, including 3 animated films - "The Secret of NIMH", "An American Tail", and "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West". I actually had no idea he did so much voice-over work, but it makes sense. Here he provides the voice for the "Fagin" character.
THE PLOT: A lost kitten joins a gang of dogs engaged in petty larceny in New York.
AFTER: The opening scenes affected me, because they show a stray kitten in the rain - on Sunday I watched a man abandon a cat in the parking lot near my house. By the time I rushed outside to tell him off, he was gone - he had brought the cat in a carrier with an open can of tuna, opened the carrier and headed for the hills. I saw the cat in a nearby stairwell, but after I went back inside to get some cat treats, the cat was gone too. Then it rained for 5 days straight - I can only hope that the cat wanders into our backyard and finds the plastic tubs lined with straw for strays to live in.
My first impulse was to track down (somehow) the heartless bastard who abandoned the cat and drag him out to the middle of a desert (again, somehow...) in a crate with a cheeseburger, to see how long he would last. My anger has cooled a bit since Sunday - life on the streets of Queens might be better than being euthanized in an animal shelter, but there are enough stray cats in our neighborhood already (one now lives in our basement, two more now live with a friend in Texas), and I don't have the time or resources to rescue them all.
Anyway, I enjoyed this film more than I thought I would. Voices were provided by Joey Lawrence, Cheech Marin, Richard Mulligan, the great Roscoe Lee Browne, and Billy Joel (also singing a song about NYC streets as "Dodger" the dog...). Bette Midler and Sheryl Lee Ralph also do acting and singing as female dogs - my only beef is with the character designs, which sort of seem like leftovers from "Lady and the Tramp".
RATING: 7 out of 10 hot dogs
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
Day 127 - 5/7/09 - Movie #127
BEFORE: When Warren Zevon realized that he had a terminal illness, and he made an appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman" in 2002, it was sort of a unique opportunity. Having substituted for bandleader Paul Shaffer on the Jewish holy days, Zevon was considered a friend of the show, and a friend of Dave, so it was a rare chance to ask an intimate question of a famous person who knew that it might be his last interview. When Dave asked if he had any wisdom to impart to the home audience based on his experiences facing death (beyond, you know, maybe visit a doctor more often than once every 20 years...), Zevon, without missing a beat, came up with "Enjoy every sandwich."
Not bad, for words to live by. I get the feeling that this was Dom DeLuise's philosophy as well, and when I go, I wouldn't mind if people said I followed this mantra. This is the 2nd film in my "Tribute to Dom", also my 2nd Gene Wilder film this week. Wilder wrote and directed this film, and stars as Sherlock's brother Sigerson (not Mycroft Holmes, who was actually mentioned in the original books...) The cast includes a number of the Mel Brooks stock-players - Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman, in addition to DeLuise as a high-strung Italian opera singer.
THE PLOT: The younger brother of the famous detective tries to steal Sherlock's glory by solving an important case assisted by an eccentric sidekick and a lovely but suspicious actress.
AFTER: In addition to being "smarter" than Sherlock, Sigerson happens to sing and dance, which better utilizes Gene Wilder's skills, I suppose. Casting Marty Feldman as an ex-Scotland Yard detective with "photographic hearing" is pretty clever too. It's not a terrible Sherlock Holmes film - Sigerson's first interview with client Jenny Hill is classic - except it sort of runs out of steam (and story) about halfway through.
Bonus for Star Wars fans - Moriarty's gunman is played by John "Lobot" Hollis from "The Empire Strikes Back", and the make-up for the film was done by Stuart Freeborn, co-designer of Yoda and other chars. Not too surprising if they filmed in England in the 70's...
RATING: 5 out of 10 sandbags
BEFORE: When Warren Zevon realized that he had a terminal illness, and he made an appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman" in 2002, it was sort of a unique opportunity. Having substituted for bandleader Paul Shaffer on the Jewish holy days, Zevon was considered a friend of the show, and a friend of Dave, so it was a rare chance to ask an intimate question of a famous person who knew that it might be his last interview. When Dave asked if he had any wisdom to impart to the home audience based on his experiences facing death (beyond, you know, maybe visit a doctor more often than once every 20 years...), Zevon, without missing a beat, came up with "Enjoy every sandwich."
Not bad, for words to live by. I get the feeling that this was Dom DeLuise's philosophy as well, and when I go, I wouldn't mind if people said I followed this mantra. This is the 2nd film in my "Tribute to Dom", also my 2nd Gene Wilder film this week. Wilder wrote and directed this film, and stars as Sherlock's brother Sigerson (not Mycroft Holmes, who was actually mentioned in the original books...) The cast includes a number of the Mel Brooks stock-players - Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman, in addition to DeLuise as a high-strung Italian opera singer.
THE PLOT: The younger brother of the famous detective tries to steal Sherlock's glory by solving an important case assisted by an eccentric sidekick and a lovely but suspicious actress.
AFTER: In addition to being "smarter" than Sherlock, Sigerson happens to sing and dance, which better utilizes Gene Wilder's skills, I suppose. Casting Marty Feldman as an ex-Scotland Yard detective with "photographic hearing" is pretty clever too. It's not a terrible Sherlock Holmes film - Sigerson's first interview with client Jenny Hill is classic - except it sort of runs out of steam (and story) about halfway through.
Bonus for Star Wars fans - Moriarty's gunman is played by John "Lobot" Hollis from "The Empire Strikes Back", and the make-up for the film was done by Stuart Freeborn, co-designer of Yoda and other chars. Not too surprising if they filmed in England in the 70's...
RATING: 5 out of 10 sandbags
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Silent Movie
Day 126 - 5/6/09 - Movie #126
BEFORE: I was all set to continue the "boating" theme from the last 2 movies, and watch "The Perfect Storm", "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", etc. - but then yesterday I heard about the death of Dom DeLuise - so I'm switching it up. (Instead I'll transition from actual silent movies to a spoof of silent movies...so that still works) I'm doing this because a co-worker said to me, "Who's Dom DeLuise?" After I named a half-dozen or so of his films, with zero recognition, she finally remembered him, from his Ziploc plastic bag commercials in the 1980's - but that's a little like remembering Einstein for his crazy haircut instead of his Theory of Relativity.
While I'm sure his Ziploc work was quite entertaining - please, if you were born after 1980, are unfamiliar with the films of Mel Brooks, or find yourself even CLOSE to saying "Who's Dom DeLuise?", I urge to you to run out and rent (or add to your Netflix queue, or whatever you kids do these days...) the following: "Fatso", "History of the World Part I", "The Twelve Chairs", and "Blazing Saddles". I don't think Mel Brooks could have properly ended "Blazing Saddles" without DeLuise's cameo as a choreographer. If you like those films, check out DeLuise's long association with Burt Reynolds, in films like "Smokey and the Bandit II", "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas", and of course "Cannonball Run II" (I saw that dubbed into German, which didn't hurt it one bit - in fact, it might have made it better...) And if you've seen all those films, track down a clip on YouTube of Dom DeLuise on the Tonight Show - the REAL Tonight Show, with Johnny Carson - doing a trick with eggs, some rolled-up matchbooks and some glasses of water. It's not just the physical stunt, it's the STYLE of the execution, and the hilarious aftermath.
I did not know the man personally, but I know that the world was a funnier place with him in it, and it's a little less fun now that he's gone. Bottom line - he made people laugh, and that is a noble calling indeed.
THE PLOT: A film director and his strange friends struggle to produce the first major silent feature film in forty years.
AFTER: I take back what I said about "Sherlock Jr." - surely THIS is the most self-referential film ever made. A silent movie about the making of a silent movie. Though it's technically not "silent", since there's sound effects and incidental music. Plus there is exactly one word of spoken dialogue, performed quite ironically by the famous French mime, Marcel Marceau. It's an interesting proposition, making a film without spoken dialogue - it seems like it required not only a memory of how comedy was performed in the early days of cinema, but probably a complete re-invention of how to make a movie. I imagine it would be like losing the use of one's voice and having to learn a new way of communicating... The movie's filled with sight gags, and most of them connect, but not all.
RATING: 6 out of 10 entertainment lawyers
BEFORE: I was all set to continue the "boating" theme from the last 2 movies, and watch "The Perfect Storm", "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", etc. - but then yesterday I heard about the death of Dom DeLuise - so I'm switching it up. (Instead I'll transition from actual silent movies to a spoof of silent movies...so that still works) I'm doing this because a co-worker said to me, "Who's Dom DeLuise?" After I named a half-dozen or so of his films, with zero recognition, she finally remembered him, from his Ziploc plastic bag commercials in the 1980's - but that's a little like remembering Einstein for his crazy haircut instead of his Theory of Relativity.
While I'm sure his Ziploc work was quite entertaining - please, if you were born after 1980, are unfamiliar with the films of Mel Brooks, or find yourself even CLOSE to saying "Who's Dom DeLuise?", I urge to you to run out and rent (or add to your Netflix queue, or whatever you kids do these days...) the following: "Fatso", "History of the World Part I", "The Twelve Chairs", and "Blazing Saddles". I don't think Mel Brooks could have properly ended "Blazing Saddles" without DeLuise's cameo as a choreographer. If you like those films, check out DeLuise's long association with Burt Reynolds, in films like "Smokey and the Bandit II", "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas", and of course "Cannonball Run II" (I saw that dubbed into German, which didn't hurt it one bit - in fact, it might have made it better...) And if you've seen all those films, track down a clip on YouTube of Dom DeLuise on the Tonight Show - the REAL Tonight Show, with Johnny Carson - doing a trick with eggs, some rolled-up matchbooks and some glasses of water. It's not just the physical stunt, it's the STYLE of the execution, and the hilarious aftermath.
I did not know the man personally, but I know that the world was a funnier place with him in it, and it's a little less fun now that he's gone. Bottom line - he made people laugh, and that is a noble calling indeed.
THE PLOT: A film director and his strange friends struggle to produce the first major silent feature film in forty years.
AFTER: I take back what I said about "Sherlock Jr." - surely THIS is the most self-referential film ever made. A silent movie about the making of a silent movie. Though it's technically not "silent", since there's sound effects and incidental music. Plus there is exactly one word of spoken dialogue, performed quite ironically by the famous French mime, Marcel Marceau. It's an interesting proposition, making a film without spoken dialogue - it seems like it required not only a memory of how comedy was performed in the early days of cinema, but probably a complete re-invention of how to make a movie. I imagine it would be like losing the use of one's voice and having to learn a new way of communicating... The movie's filled with sight gags, and most of them connect, but not all.
RATING: 6 out of 10 entertainment lawyers
Monday, May 4, 2009
The Navigator (1924)
Day 125 - 5/5/09 - Movie #125
BEFORE: I'm sort of cheating by watching two short silent films each night, but it did help me catch up. And since I'll probably lose a week in July due to Comic-Con, I'd actually prefer to be ahead in the numbers at this point.
THE PLOT: Two spoiled rich people find themselves trapped on an empty passenger ship.
AFTER: Keaton plays a stuffed-shirt type here, which leads to a different set of comedy gags - like not knowing how to open a can of food in the ship's galley. Likewise, his lady friend doesn't know how to make coffee - I guess the servants always did that for her. Some of the physical gags here seem really contrived, though - as the nearly empty ship turns into a sort of haunted house at night. Or getting into a fencing battle with a swordfish, using another swordfish as a sword.
RATING: 5 out of 10 soggy playing cards
BEFORE: I'm sort of cheating by watching two short silent films each night, but it did help me catch up. And since I'll probably lose a week in July due to Comic-Con, I'd actually prefer to be ahead in the numbers at this point.
THE PLOT: Two spoiled rich people find themselves trapped on an empty passenger ship.
AFTER: Keaton plays a stuffed-shirt type here, which leads to a different set of comedy gags - like not knowing how to open a can of food in the ship's galley. Likewise, his lady friend doesn't know how to make coffee - I guess the servants always did that for her. Some of the physical gags here seem really contrived, though - as the nearly empty ship turns into a sort of haunted house at night. Or getting into a fencing battle with a swordfish, using another swordfish as a sword.
RATING: 5 out of 10 soggy playing cards
Steamboat Bill Jr.
Day 125 - 5/5/09 - Movie #124
BEFORE: Most people have entertainment preferences - Star Wars vs. Star Trek, Letterman vs. Leno, and Charlie Chaplin vs. Buster Keaton. For me, it's Keaton all the way - he was so much more versatile than that one-note "little tramp".
THE PLOT: The effete son of a cantankerous riverboat captain comes to join his father's crew.
AFTER: Here Keaton plays the Boston-raised son of a Mississippi boat captain, and of course, his love interest is the daughter of his father's main rival. It's a little like "Romeo and Juliet", but with physical stunt gags. Some of the gags go on too long, like when it takes 5 minutes to select a hat in a shop - I suppose it's funnier then when the wind blows the hat away, but still... This film is most famous for the often-imitated scene where the side of a house falls on Keaton, but he's safe thanks to a strategically-placed window. Keaton executes a number of other classic comedy bits, like walking against the wind, walking off of planks, and mistaking a backdrop for reality and trying to walk into it. When a hurricane hits, it's his chance to keep the boat afloat and save the day - while winning the girl's heart too, of course.
RATING: 6 out of 10 paddle-wheels
BEFORE: Most people have entertainment preferences - Star Wars vs. Star Trek, Letterman vs. Leno, and Charlie Chaplin vs. Buster Keaton. For me, it's Keaton all the way - he was so much more versatile than that one-note "little tramp".
THE PLOT: The effete son of a cantankerous riverboat captain comes to join his father's crew.
AFTER: Here Keaton plays the Boston-raised son of a Mississippi boat captain, and of course, his love interest is the daughter of his father's main rival. It's a little like "Romeo and Juliet", but with physical stunt gags. Some of the gags go on too long, like when it takes 5 minutes to select a hat in a shop - I suppose it's funnier then when the wind blows the hat away, but still... This film is most famous for the often-imitated scene where the side of a house falls on Keaton, but he's safe thanks to a strategically-placed window. Keaton executes a number of other classic comedy bits, like walking against the wind, walking off of planks, and mistaking a backdrop for reality and trying to walk into it. When a hurricane hits, it's his chance to keep the boat afloat and save the day - while winning the girl's heart too, of course.
RATING: 6 out of 10 paddle-wheels
Sherlock Jr.
Day 124 - 5/4/09 - Movie #123
BEFORE: I'm done with train movies, but I've got some more Buster Keaton films, since TCM ran a mini-marathon a few months ago. They did make us watch this film at NYU as part of a movie criticism course, so perhaps I shouldn't count it as a new movie - but that was over 20 years ago, and I've forgotten most everything about it.
THE PLOT: A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
AFTER: Considering what year it was made (1924) the FX are pretty impressive - from the "double image" technique when the projectionist starts to dream, to the changing scenes after he steps into the movie screen. And the dual role as Sherlock Jr. in the movie-within-the-movie (how Shakespearean!) makes this one of the most self-referential films, right after "Duck Amuck".
RATING: 7 out of 10 boxes of chocolate
BEFORE: I'm done with train movies, but I've got some more Buster Keaton films, since TCM ran a mini-marathon a few months ago. They did make us watch this film at NYU as part of a movie criticism course, so perhaps I shouldn't count it as a new movie - but that was over 20 years ago, and I've forgotten most everything about it.
THE PLOT: A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
AFTER: Considering what year it was made (1924) the FX are pretty impressive - from the "double image" technique when the projectionist starts to dream, to the changing scenes after he steps into the movie screen. And the dual role as Sherlock Jr. in the movie-within-the-movie (how Shakespearean!) makes this one of the most self-referential films, right after "Duck Amuck".
RATING: 7 out of 10 boxes of chocolate
The General (1926)
Day 124 - 5/4/09 - Movie #122
BEFORE: "The General" is a train, and its engineer is silent film star Buster Keaton. He has to get back the train, and his lady love, who was aboard when it was captured.
THE PLOT: When Union spies steal an engineer's beloved locomotive, he pursues it single handedly and straight through enemy lines.
AFTER: According to the host on TCM, this story was based on actual events, some Union soldiers stole a Confederate train and drove it north, destroying the rails along the way. It's a great showcase for Keaton's stunts, as he is able to ride and walk on various parts of the engine. But it's hard to call it a "comedy" given the serious Civil War framework. Some of the shots seem very complicated for the 1920's, including a train falling from a collapsing burning bridge.
RATING: 6 out of 10 water towers
BEFORE: "The General" is a train, and its engineer is silent film star Buster Keaton. He has to get back the train, and his lady love, who was aboard when it was captured.
THE PLOT: When Union spies steal an engineer's beloved locomotive, he pursues it single handedly and straight through enemy lines.
AFTER: According to the host on TCM, this story was based on actual events, some Union soldiers stole a Confederate train and drove it north, destroying the rails along the way. It's a great showcase for Keaton's stunts, as he is able to ride and walk on various parts of the engine. But it's hard to call it a "comedy" given the serious Civil War framework. Some of the shots seem very complicated for the 1920's, including a train falling from a collapsing burning bridge.
RATING: 6 out of 10 water towers
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Silver Streak
Day 123 - 5/3/09 - Movie #121
BEFORE: Hey, if you don't make fun of my list of movies to watch, I won't make fun of yours... Train Movie Week keeps rolling down the track - this time Gene Wilder becomes involved with a woman on a train traveling from L.A. to Chicago, and then witnesses a murder...or does he?
THE PLOT: On a long-distance train trip, a man finds romance but also finds himself in danger of being killed, or at least pushed off the train.
AFTER: Essentially, it's sort of an update of Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes", except there's not enough suspense. And clearly they cast Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor to be funny, but there's not enough comedy. At the same time, the filmmakers were probably riffing off of action movies like "Airport" - (with Richard "Jaws" Kiel, who later was a James Bond villain, added for good measure) and it's not a terrible action movie. But unfortunately it's impossible to succeed as a mystery, comedy and action film all at the same time. Wilder and Pryor's later pairings were much more successful films...this one was most notable for Wilder's "blackface" scenes when in disguise.
RATING: 4 out of 10 train tickets
BEFORE: Hey, if you don't make fun of my list of movies to watch, I won't make fun of yours... Train Movie Week keeps rolling down the track - this time Gene Wilder becomes involved with a woman on a train traveling from L.A. to Chicago, and then witnesses a murder...or does he?
THE PLOT: On a long-distance train trip, a man finds romance but also finds himself in danger of being killed, or at least pushed off the train.
AFTER: Essentially, it's sort of an update of Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes", except there's not enough suspense. And clearly they cast Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor to be funny, but there's not enough comedy. At the same time, the filmmakers were probably riffing off of action movies like "Airport" - (with Richard "Jaws" Kiel, who later was a James Bond villain, added for good measure) and it's not a terrible action movie. But unfortunately it's impossible to succeed as a mystery, comedy and action film all at the same time. Wilder and Pryor's later pairings were much more successful films...this one was most notable for Wilder's "blackface" scenes when in disguise.
RATING: 4 out of 10 train tickets
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