Chris Cummins | Staff Notes
Even though summer isn't here for almost a month, the summer movie season is already upon us. With The Avengers currently breaking all sorts of records, I thought it might be fun to see what your favorite blockbusters were.
Jaws? Star Wars? Titanic? Avatar? Which cinematic blockbuster did you find yourself returning to, and why? Let me know in the comments!
guest-blogs | FanFare Guests
Guest blogger Rick 29 writes:
The popularity of Blaxploitation films had already begun to wane by 1974, just three brief years after Shaft made a box office splash. The genre needed a kick and producer Fred Weintraub hoped to provide that--literally--with his urban martial arts film Black Belt Jones. Weintraub and director Robert Clouse were responsible for the previous year's international hit Enter the Dragon, which sealed Bruce Lee's superstardom. Their idea to blend Blaxploitation and kung fu must have seemed like a natural fusion. To ensure a smooth transition, they cast African-American karate champion Jim Kelly, who appeared in Enter the Dragon, in Black Belt Jones.
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Jason Marcewicz | Create-A-Caption
You know the drill. Below is a classic movie photo with Jason’s caption.
You’re encouraged to leave your own suggestion in the comment section below!
Foreign drivers...sheesh.
guest-blogs | FanFare Guests
Guest blogger Fritz presents his views on a classic film favorite in today's guest post:
It's another movie that is usually considered one of the worst winners in the Best Picture Academy Awards category, but I have to admit that Around the World in 80 Days (1956) provides some terrific entertainment, even though it still has various flaws which bring the overall quality down. Considering the possibilities that Jules Verne’s novel offered, Around the World in 80 Days surely took many wrong turns. A lot of times, the movie unfortunately focused on too unimportant details and protracted the movie unnecessarily. And yes, at various moments, the whole production becomes a huge bore, which is certainly shocking considering that this is a story of endless opportunities.
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Jay Steinberg | This Week in Film History
May 15, 1900: The Lumiere brothers dazzle audiences at the Paris World's Fair with films projected onto an enormous 82' x 49' wide screen.
May 17, 1912: Carl Laemmle oversees the merger of a number of independent production companies to form Universal Manufacturing Company.
May 18, 1912: The first feature film from what would go on to be a burgeoning cinema industry in India, Pundalik, opens in Bombay.
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Chris Cummins | New Releases This Week
It's that time again! Here's a rundown of what new DVD and Blu-ray releases are now available. Check it out, I'm sure there's something here that you'll want to watch!
Jean Arthur Drama Collection
A reporter (Jean Arthur) assigned to cover a high profile mob trial discovers that she shares an unexpected familial connection to the nightclub owner (Jack Holt) providing the accused with an alibi, in "Whirlpool" (1934). Donald Cook, Allen Jenkins, Lila Lee also star. Arthur and Holt star in "The Defense Rests" (1934), a courtroom drama about a sleazy attorney who persuades his female clients to use their feminine wiles to influence juries. Nat Pendleton, Arthur Hohl co-star. Then, "The Most Precious Thing In Life" (1934) stars Arthur as a cleaning lady at a college who becomes confidante to a young student who turns out to be the son she was separated from years earlier. With Richard Cromwell, Cook. And, a small town's gossip mill nearly ruins the reputation of a local good girl (Arthur) when a misunderstanding leads everyone to wrongly assume she's gotten pregnant out of wedlock, in "Party Wire" (1935). Victor Jory, Helen Lowell, Charley Grapewin, Robert Allen also star.
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Jerry Frebowitz | Talkin' the Oldies
They say that the mark of the great ones is that they make their accomplishments look so effortless, and that certainly applies to this inimitably graceful figure who defined the musical film genre for generations with his polish, skill and class. Born in Nebraska on May 10, 1899 to Austrian immigrants, Fred Austerlitz demonstrated a gift for dance even as a small boy tagging along to his big sister Adele's ballet lessons. While still children, the siblings were booked as a vaudeville novelty act, and they polished their craft until obtaining their Broadway break in 1917.
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Jason Marcewicz | Art of the Movies
Six Pix presents a sextet of movie posters representing a particular actor/director/genre. You pick the one you feel is visually the most artistic or best sums up the film.
In honor of Mother’s Day we’ve featured posters highlighting moms in film.
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George D. Allen and Irv Slifkin | Movie Buzz, Movie Buzz Podcast
Oh, how we hear it on this blog. How the movies today are awful. The violence. The sex. The language.
The acting. The writing. The messages being shoved down our throats.
If we were to ask the question, Do You Get Into Fights About the Movies?, this is the fight that would probably come up the fastest. (Oh, wait: It did.) Of course, this is where we Ask Movie Irv, not Ask George the Guy Who Makes These Videos, so I won't go on at length about how generally illegitimate I find those assertions to be, seeing as how they pretty much barf themselves up repeatedly the moment the members of a given generation begin waxing nostalgic about the era of cinema they grew up with (and consequently feel the most magical about) and look down their noses at whatever "those %#&$! kids" find so engrossing today. I recently read a great article—and I kick myself now for not remembering where so I could helpfully link to it—that spelled out clearly just how sex-obsessed the movies were back in the DeMille days, and also how relatively chaste they are today compared to them, or, say, to the daring films of the 1970s. And furthermore...
Oops.
Here's Irv on the question that never ceases to result in a near-uniform answer:
OK, now that that's over, let's hear it for how today's movies are lousy! And if you think this question was way too easy (or gives you too much agita), try something a little more challenging by answering Who's The Funniest of The Three Stooges instead.
guest-blogs | FanFare Guests
In today's guest post, blogger Clara Fercovic writes about some of her favorite saddest movies:
Well, you know them. You're watching them and you're thinking: "Mother of god, life can be awful. Why people have to suffer so much! I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry. Think of something positive. Or something that makes you angry. Oh no, a tear is coming. I'm gonna cough to try to pass this heavy lump in my throat. Oh, what did she or he have to say that line? That's the saddest thing..."
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guest-blogs | FanFare Guests
Guest blogger Allen Hefner presents this overview of the career of character actor great Neil Hamilton:
I happened to be watching a 1932 Constance Bennett movie the other day. You remember her...Joan's sister? The movie was called What Price Hollywood? and she was the star. Not a bad flick for 1932; it showcased some of the excesses of the Hollywood life, with a love story and a "girl finds her dream" melodrama mixed in (its story was also the basis for A Star Is Born).
The male lead, a polo-playing millionaire, was played by Neil Hamilton (1899 - 1984), a handsome actor with 162 titles on IMDb from 1918 to 1971.
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