June, 2009 Archive
Gary Cahall | Staff Notes
Author's Note: Since this article was first published in June 2009, Warner Home Video has released second volumes of '60s and '70s shows (I've updated the listings to reflect this), with plans to put out a collection of '80s toons (for all you Monchichis fans out there) in May.
Today's youngsters, in the age of Cartoon Network, the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, probably can't conceive of a world without programming just for them 24 hours a day. For we Baby Boomers and most of Generation X, though, finding cartoons and other cool stuff to watch often meant either racing home from school to catch a local TV host's show, usually on a a UHF station, or waking up early on Saturday, getting an oversized bowl of cereal (preferably something with the big, bold letters "S-U-G-A-R" prominently displayed on the box) from the kitchen, and settling in front of the set for a several-hour sensory overload.
Well, you're on your own with procuring suitable breakfast fare (these days us Boomers are skipping "S-U-G-A-R" in lieu of the big, bold letters "B-R-A-N"), but Warner Home Video is supplying the video portion of the entertainment with two series of nostalgia-packed collections, Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 and Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. And you don't have to get up early to watch them!
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Chris Cummins | Staff Notes
Having previously chronicled the subtle disintegration of a friendship in 2006's Old Joy, director Kelly Reichardt set out to explore life at the fringes of society in Wendy and Lucy. The shattering independent drama stars Michelle Williams as Wendy, a poverty-stricken loner travelling from her Indiana hometown to Alaska with hopes of landing work at a fishing cannery there. After her car breaks down in Oregon and her beloved dog--and only friend--Lucy goes missing, she embarks on a desperate search to find her pet as her world slowly collapses around her. In a tour-de-force performance, Williams conveys emotions ranging from anger (including a memorable parking lot run-in with the overzealous supermarket clerk who set her crisis in motion) to stark fear (exlemplified by her encounter with a drifter in the woods). Owing a debt to Italian neorealist films, Wendy and Lucy is more than just a tale of a girl and her dog. It is an examination of the human condition that also serves as a timely commentary on how the economic downturn impacts the most ordinary of people.
Here's the trailer for this contemporary American classic.
Gary Cahall | Academy Spotlight, Staff Notes
Who says Hollywood doesn't have a sense of humor (aside from anyone who sat through Land of the Lost or Imagine That)? In the middle of a summer movie season packed with sequels, 3-D kiddie distractions, and SFX showcases based on toys that the scripters probably played with in the 1980s, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on June 24th that, beginning in 2010, it will double the finalists for the Best Picture Academy Award from five films to 10, a number it used--more or less--from 1932 to 1943.
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Dr. Strangefilm | From the Files of Dr. Strangefilm...
It was Russian author Leo Tolstoy--or perhaps the producers of Jon & Kate Plus Eight--who said, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." This time-tested maxim has also been co-opted by certain cineastes to explain their strange fascination with bad films, from bargain-basement, no-star flops (Teenagers from Outer Space) to big-budget fiascoes (Heaven's Gate) to critically savaged but inexplicable blockbusters (pretty much anything by Michael Bay). There is, however, another type of movie misfire whose appeal is a little more subjective and harder to define: works whose concepts are so twisted, whose execution almost lived up to the word, and whose very existence will have the most diehard David Lynch devotee scratching their head in bewilderment. These are the video oddities that the one and only Dr Strangefilm has dedicated his life to uncovering and sharing with the public.
Case #001: "The Terror of Tiny Town"
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Brian Sieck | Staff Notes
It has gone on long enough. Many folks throughout the nation love to bag on writer/director M. Night Shyamalan, and it's about time for someone to finally come to his defense.
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Jon Morgereth | Dream Casts
Hollywood loves remakes these days. I have a theory that, at some point, we'll see every remotely popular film made between 1960 and 1990 reworked for modern audiences. The best we can hope for is that the filmmakers and performers behind these "re-imaginations" and "re-inventions" are qualified to take a stab at some of our old favorites. From "Freaks and Geeks" to "Funny People," writer/director Judd Apatow has demonstrated a unique comedic sensibility that seamlessly blends raunch with heart and fully realized, robust characters, making him the perfect choice to have a go at Richard Hooker's novel. Here, I take a look at what it might be like if Apatow and his merry band of regulars inhabited the 4077th.
Gary Cahall | Scene Stealers
Of character actors it is often said, "I can't remember the name, but the face is familiar." That saying may have never been truer than in the case of Vincent Schiavelli, whose sad-eyed, hangdog features allowed him to easily move between comedic and dramatic roles and who was regularly seen in movies and on TV for over 35 years.
Born in Brooklyn in November, 1948 to an Italian-American family, Schiavelli studied drama at New York University and was active in stage work in the late '60s. His first screen appearance came in director Milos Forman's English-language debut feature, the 1971 counterculture satire Taking Off. The two must have hit it off, because the filmmaker would use Vincent in five more films, including turns as one of the hospital inmates in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, as F. Murray Abraham's valet in Amadeus, and as one of Woody Harrelson's cohorts in The People vs. Larry Flynt. A string of guest shots around the same time let TV audiences catch the actor in such popular series as Starsky and Hutch, Charlie's Angels, Taxi, and Moonlighting, where he played opposite future first wife Alyce Beasley.
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Chris Cummins | Staff Notes
Originally released in 1982, writer/director Frank Henenlotter's Basket Case is one of the cheesiest, sleaziest and most entertaining movies of the Reagan era. Filmed on an incredibly low budget, it has earned a cult following over the years thanks to its revenge-driven plotline and leading man--the lovable basket-dwelling freak known as Belial. Although its effects are anything but special, they possess a charm that have helped add to the movie's enduring appeal. Basket Case was such a success on the midnight movie circuit and home video that it spawned two sequels (of varying quality) and Henelotter also went on to release the equally twisted Brain Damage and Frankenhooker. Trivia: the wad of cash that Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck) carries around through some of New York's seedier areas was actually the film's entire budget.
So, what's in the basket? Nothing but pure viewing entertainment. Check out the trailer for a look at this contemporary cult classic.
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!
Mr. Blonde decided to get the car himself, leaving Mr. White to deal with the parking valet.
guest-blogs | FanFare Guests
Vito from Voorhees, New Jersey writes:
Music rights hold up a lot of movies from being released on video, including one of my all-time favorites "American Hot Wax". It's the story of Alan Freed, the '50s DJ widely credited for coining the term "Rock and Roll". Tim McIntire plays Freed along with early roles for Fran Drescher, Laraine Newman (in a role based on Carole King), and a young Jay Leno!
It's filled with great oldies from the era and features Rock and Roll greats Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry appearing as themselves. The only time the movie was ever available on video was a short stint at the beginning of VHS through the Time/Life Video Club. It rarely plays on cable, and I would want a factory copy anyway.
Anyone who knows the movie or is interested in the story of the roots of Rock and Roll and wants to see this great film on DVD NOW is urged to email Paramount at phe_customerservice@paramount.com.
Irv Slifkin | Ask Movie Fanfare
Letters. We get letters. And we’d like to answer them here, each time we update this column. So email us here at movieirv@www.moviesunlimited.com and we’ll print the letters in this column. Here are a couple of our recent queries:
Question: Love your column! As a huge fan of all things film noir, I have a few questions on the potential availability of a few noir classics and more recent era gems.
The first one concerns the availability of Johnny Stool Pigeon with Dan Duryea, Howard Duff and Shelley Winters on DVD? This winter I was lucky enough to catch this forgotten treasure at the annual San Francisco Noir Festival. It is one of those great pictures that have fallen through the cracks, which is a shame, because the film has a lot to recommend it. The print that we saw was a brand new copy struck especially for the festival by Universal, and it looked gorgeous.
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Ed Weiss | FanFare Guests
All movie fans have 'em! Do you dare film yours and expose it to the world? (From the YouTube channel JLDFilmsPart2)
Tags: animation, TV shows of the 1960s