April, 2010 Archive
George D. Allen | Staff Notes
What monster lover (of a certain age) doesn’t remember the board game Creature Features? And what fright film fan wouldn’t love to see a follow-up edition? That’s what I had in mind some time ago when a friend’s birthday (a major one, at that) was fast approaching and I needed inspiration for a creative present.
For the uninitiated, Creature Features was unleashed to acolytes of the uncanny in 1973 by Research Games Inc. Patterned quite obviously after the wildly popular Monopoly, this horror-themed product had players purchasing not properties and public utilities but classic monster movies. In the pre-home-video days, how exciting that was for a young movie fan to fantasize about—actually “owning” a movie! How little we knew then of the things to come.
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guest-blogs | FanFare Guests
Guest blogger Greg Ferrara writes:
I started going to the movies in the seventies and Steve McQueen was one of the first stars I got to know in current releases. When I saw his last film in the theatre, The Hunter, on opening weekend no less, so excited was I to see it, I felt I knew him well. I didn't. Even though I loved movies like The Blob, The Great Escape, Bullitt, Papillon and, yes, The Hunter, mediocre as it may be, I didn't fully understand Steve McQueen as an actor. I liked him and his movies but never felt he was doing the job I thought others were doing when it came to big screen acting. I certainly didn't think he was bad, I just never gave him much thought as an actor overall. But then, very recently in fact, I had a revelation.
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Brian Sieck | Staff Notes
“Drugs are bad, mmm-kay,” says South Park’s Mr. Mackey, and while he couldn’t be more spot-on, movies about drugs certainly aren’t bad… many of them, anyway. In fact, drugs are fodder for filmmaking that has become increasingly popular over the years, as evidenced by the numerous projects produced that deal with such lurid subject matter. And, why not? The topic of substance abuse and addiction can lend itself well to some pretty absorbing material much needed for an engaging film. However, many critics seem gun-shy about praising such films. The gripes usually stem from their feelings that the movies are too formulaic and just trite retreads of previously released material. Though, it often seems that these criticisms are missing the point. After all, these films aren’t always about presenting a new take on addiction. The subject is used simply to provide fuel for an interesting narrative. Besides, drug use itself doesn’t really offer tons of opportunity to unveil unique revelations. While the details of each addict’s descent may be different, the journey is often the same. Additionally, reviewers proffer that characters aren’t inherently interesting solely because they’re addicts. This is a legitimate concern, but it’s this mindset that too commonly causes critics to adopt an overly dismissive attitude towards the material. Conversely, on the rare occasion when they do laud a drug film it goes primarily unnoticed by a large audience. It’s with all this in mind that the following list is presented. Sure, everyone knows about films such as The Man With The Golden Arm, Scarface and Traffic, but there are plenty of other worthwhile films dealing with drugs that have been produced over the years that are either undeservedly unappreciated or overlooked.
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George D. Allen | Movie Buzz, Movie Buzz Podcast
What was the first film to receive a rating from the Motion Picture Association of America? Stumped--or, should we say, "staked"--? Ghouly Irv is here to give you the skinny on another ghouly (and, dare we offer a spoiler--groovy) decade of shockers in this installment of the MovieFrightFare series:
(And, in case you missed it, go back into the darkness of the Ghouly One's cinema crypt to see what tidbits he offered about
the silent era!)
Irv Slifkin | In the Director's Chair, Movie Buzz
Deception, intrigue, murder, bribery, stolen money, blackmail, arson, illicit trysts. Sounds like classic film noir turf, the stuff that Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, The Postman Always Rings Twice and even Body Heat are made of.
So you would think that Nash Edgerton, the director of The Square, the knockout modern noir that boasts all of these elements, would be well-schooled in the dark and dangerous films of the past.
Surprisingly, Edgerton has never seen any of the aforementioned films, which makes his acclaimed directorial debut even more remarkable.
“I’m definitely a fan of Fargo and Blood Simple and Bound, but I hadn’t seen them in a long time before I made this film,” says the 37-year-old Aussie during a stop at the Philadelphia Film Festival. “I was saying to my brother (Joel, the co-star and co-scripter of The Square) the other day that I’ve never seen Double Indemnity or The Postman Always Rings Twice. He’s seen them, and wrote this, and I hadn’t, but I got to give my fresh perspective on those kinds of stories.
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Jason Marcewicz | Art of the Movies
More movie posters that are slightly off letter-wise. See what a simple misspelling can bring about…
All cooped up
• 12 Angry Men
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Irv Slifkin | Staff Notes
It seems like we haven’t been able to get away from Jeff Bridges for the past few months. First, there was the launch of Crazy Heart, the indie film that featured the actor as Bad Blake, a down-and-out country singer-songwriter, trying to make a comeback in his career and his life with reporter Maggie Gylenhaall. Then, we saw a bombardment of Bridges all through awards season, featured in magazine priofiles and winning over and over again for his Bad Blake turn in virtually every televised award ceremony. Always engaging and looking genuinely touched by all the recognition, the younger brother of Beau was obviously relishing his time to shine in a career-defining role.
Bridges has never been a real box-office draw, so audiences were continually reminded during this time of the actor’s previous Academy Award nominations (Best Supporting Actor, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Last Picture Show, The Contender; Best Actor, Starman), as well as his more high-profile roles, particularly as Jeff “the Dude” Lebowski in The Big Lebowski, Jack Forrester in Jagged Edge, Jack Baker in The Fabulous Baker Boys, Kevin Flynn (aka Clu) in Tron, and the evil Obadiah Stane in Iron Man.
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Jay Steinberg | This Week in Film History
April 20, 1903: A judgment on appeal in Edison v. Lubin allows a film to be copyrighted in its entirety, rather than each individual frame.
April 20, 1909: Broadway star Mary Pickford signs to appear in films for director D.W. Griffith; her first, The Violin Maker of Cremona, opens a few weeks later.
April 24, 1913: With The Bangville Police, the Keystone Kops arrive on scene. Though they'll last only a few years, they'll become synonymous with Mack Sennett's studio.
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Chris Cummins | New Releases This Week
This week's notable new releases include an Oscar-winning performance from one of Hollywood's most talented actors, Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's enthralling novel, the first season of a TV soap opera classic set in the heart of California's wine country, a British drama that makes me sleepy just watching the trailer, and the latest volume of Perry Mason episodes. Oh yeah, there's also the biggest money maker in motion picture history: Avatar. There's a lot of worthwhile choices this week, so let's take a look at what DVDs you can now add to your collection.
Crazy Heart
Jeff Bridges took home a Best Actor Academy Award for his superb performance as a down-and-out country music singer struggling to hang on to what little fame he's achieved. With several failed marriages under his belt, a son he hasn't seen in years, and rapidly declining health, Bridges finds his dreary life unexpectedly rejuvenated through his relationship with a small-town reporter (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her 4-year-old son (Jack Nation). Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell also star in this compelling drama. It was great to see the Dude finally get his Oscar, wasn't it?
Please check-out the article "The Lost Films of Jeff Bridges"
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guest-blogs | FanFare Guests
Guest blogger Kendra Bean writes:
One of the things Vivien Leigh did after finishing filming on Gone with the Wind was test for the role of the second Mrs. DeWinter in the film version of Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca. The film, being directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David O. Selznick, was set to star Laurence Olivier (Vivien’s then fiancee) in the lead as Maxim DeWinter. Vivien wanted the part because she’d be acting opposite Olivier, but not many people were enthusiastic about her getting it. It wasn’t because they doubted her acting ability, it was because her personality was deemed too strong for such a weak character.
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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!
Dressing up for dinner meant something
completely different to Clark Kent than it did Lois Lane.
Tags: horror movies