March, 2010 Archive
Gary Cahall | Staff Notes
Last week I began exploring one of the more infuriating aspects of the home cinematic experience: when you're looking forward to watching a particular movie, only to find out that what's on TV or what you've purchased is another, totally different film with the same name. It's a little-known fact that titles--be they for films, songs, books or what have you--cannot be copyrighted, although the Motion Picture Association of America has a registration bureau so its members can avoid stepping on each other's ideas. So while you probably cannot go out and shoot a movie about space marines who infiltrate a pastoral world of tailed, blue-skinned aliens, it's perfectly legal to make, say, a comedy about reincarnation and call it Avatar (please bear in mind that I'm not an attorney and James Cameron is very rich and can afford high-priced legal teams).
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Irv Slifkin | In the Star's Trailer, Movie Buzz
As an actor, Andy Garcia is best-known for either his cool, what-the-hell demeanor in films like The Untouchables and Black Rain or his brooding intensity in movies such as The Godfather, Part III, Internal Affairs and the Ocean’s films.
In his latest, City Island, which he also co-produced, the actor reveals another side of himself, one rarely seen on screen. The 53-year-old Garcia goes for laughs in this comedy-drama that casts him as Vince Rizzo, a New York corrections officer who encounters the son he abandoned years ago and brings him home to spend time with his eccentric family.
Garcia pulls off the part wonderfully, garnering yuks and plugging into the vulnerable side of the befuddled Rizzo, who harbors a secret desire to be an actor.
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Jay Steinberg | This Week in Film History
March 31, 1915: The nascent serial genre has its first true star when Pearl White plays the hazard-plagued heroine of The Perils of Pauline.
March 28, 1920: Broadway legend John Barrymore moves to center stage of the film world with his portrayal of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
April 1, 1923: Moviegoers are thrilled by the death-defying, high-rise antics of comedian Harold Lloyd in Safety Last.
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guest-blogs | FanFare Guests
Guest blogger Kristine Blinn writes:
Hollywood actresses often get a bad rep. People think they’re dumb. Not model-dumb or anything that bad, but dumb nonetheless. And sure, most of them might be, but it’s just not fair to make sweeping generalizations (unless you're talking about models).
Take Hedy Lamarr, for example. The 1940s MGM actress - famous for roles like Delilah in Samson and Delilah - was not only beautiful…chick was a scientist! True story. We know this, of course, because Rachel Weisz is allegedly being considered to play Lamarr in an upcoming indie film about the undercover scientist’s life. Face Value will focus on Lamarr’s private life as an early pioneer of what would eventually bring us cell phones and internet and all that stuff.
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Chris Cummins | New Releases This Week
March may be coming to an end, but there's still plenty of great DVD and Blu-ray picks to usher in April with. This week's new releases include Robert Downey Jr.'s action-packed take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famed crime fighter, a critically acclaimed (not to mention Oscar-nominated) drama set in 1960s England, the DVD debut of Steven Seagal's compelling reality series, the second season of a 1970s TV classic, and a portrait of one of history's most notorious terrorist outfits. Without further adieu, let's begin!
Sherlock Holmes
The world's most famous detective gets a stylish and action-filled reinvention, courtesy of director Guy Ritchie and title star When an occult-obsessed nobleman (Mark Strong) captured by Holmes appears to have returned from the dead, the sleuth and his often-exasperated colleague Dr. Watson (Jude Law) must stop the villain's plan to topple the British government. Rachel McAdams also stars as seductive adventuress Irene Adler, who may or may not be on Holmes' side. This one probably isn't for fans of Jeremy Brett's take on the character, but if you are open to the idea of a different kind of Holmes, there's much that will please you here.
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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!
His “love connection” was a goat.
Clearly the army’s new video dating service had some kinks to be worked out.
George D. Allen and Irv Slifkin | Movie Buzz, Movie Buzz Podcast
Movie Irv designated writer/director Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale one of his favorite movies of the decade. Now, the Brooklyn-born Baumbach has another film on the moviest critic's radar--Greenberg, starring comic superstar Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig (of many a "mumblecore" movie) and the uncompromising Jennifer Jason Leigh, aka Baumbach's better half, who also is responsible for the story behind Baumbach's screenplay. Is this film destined to be remembered by Irv (and others) long after its theatrical run?
George D. Allen | Staff Notes
“Rage eventually undoes the enraged, even if the anger is merited. And no, the media isn’t everything. The battle isn’t everything. Something else remains.” –Andrew Sullivan, columnist for The Atlantic, discussing the nature of the ideological Internet and the online personas of Matt Drudge and Andrew Breitbart
They don’t call it “listen radio,” so should it really be any surprise that Oliver Stone’s fiery 1988 drama Talk Radio is more about the distinctive lack of communication taking place all around Barry Champlain (Eric Bogosian), the quick-witted and controversial Dallas radio host who’s been given a shot at national syndication—if only he can get through an all-important “tryout” night in front of the corporate executive in attendance, representing the network certain his abrasive shtick will bring them big audiences and big money?
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Gary Cahall | Staff Notes
Trying to find your way to the right film in today's 10-, 12-, and 24-and-beyond-screen multiplex cinemas can sometimes turn into a tricky feat of navigation the equal of Theseus making his way through the Labyrinth. Matters weren't made any easier for moviegoers late last year, when it was conceivable that some theaters were showing both a film called 9 and one called Nine. Obviously, anyone hoping to watch the vibrant and sexy musical starring Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson and Fergie probably wasn't in the mood to instead see an animated tale of doll-like figures in a harsh post-apocalyptic world, and vice versa.
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guest-blogs | FanFare Guests
Guest blogger TheLadyEve writes:
Marlene Dietrich is one of only a very few film legends whose career spanned 60+ years. Her life in film began in the early 1920s with silent pictures. It came to a close with Maximilian Schell's 1984 Oscar-nominated documentary, Marlene, in which she speaks but does not appear on camera.
Dietrich shot to fame as Lola-Lola in Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel (1930). Shortly after the film premiered, she left Germany for the U.S. where she and von Sternberg collaborated on six more films during the 1930s, all for Paramount Pictures. The first, Morocco (1930), was nominated for four Oscars, including a Best Actress nod for Dietrich. By the late 30s, her career had cooled somewhat, but was reignited when she co-starred with James Stewart in the 1939 hit, Destry Rides Again.
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Gary Cahall | Staff Notes
Late last year I wrote an article for MovieFanFare on the final screen appearances of six classic movie comedy teams (Abbott and Costello, Hope and Crosby, Laurel and Hardy, Martin and Lewis, the Marx Brothers, and the Three Stooges). Not counting the potentially still-active Cheech and Chong or the Monty Python troupe, and with a knowing exclusion of Burns and Allen and Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, I thought the most popular laugh ensembles of the 20th century were covered, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of comments from readers on a team I omitted, the truly madcap duo of John "Ole" Olsen and Harold "Chic" Johnson.
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