George D. Allen
George produces Movie Irv's video content for MovieFanFare; he loves the Universal Monsters, Tarzan movies, "You Bet Your Life," and Werner Herzog films.
George D.'s Posts
George D. Allen and Irv Slifkin | Movie Buzz, Movie Buzz Podcast
Got a question to Ask Movie Irv? Not of the "When is (title X) coming out on DVD/Blu-ray?" variety—he gets plenty of those queries via the Ask MovieFanFare, DVD Beat and TV Tip Sheet threads—and not of the "trivia quiz" type, either; it's all too easy for him to look up the answers to "What was the name of that actor in (that movie)?" or "How many times was (that actress) nominated for the Oscar?"
No, we are looking for some challenges. And we'll open up Irv's new series with a question that, at first glance, would seem like a softball...but is the answer to the question "How Do You Shop for a Movie Collector?" really so simple? Here's Irv:
I have plenty of other questions for Irv already lined up, but you should also play a role in keeping him on his toes. So, think of a question or two and Ask Movie Irv below!
George D. Allen | Staff Notes
I have a personal relationship with Jesus.
To be more specific, lest the huffing and puffing get too heated right out of the gate: what I mean is that I have a personal experience related to the intersection of Jesus, entertainment, and controversy, which makes the treatment of the Christian savior in motion pictures of particular interest to me. I’ll pocket that story until the end, though, so we can move more quickly into this rumination of Jesus on film.
Talking Jesus and movies is a little like talking politics and movies. I haven’t had any trepidations about occupying this space with pieces involving the latter coupling (go here, and here, or even here to see what I’m talking about), but I will admit that putting words to screen on the former was a job that lent itself easily to much procrastination.
Why? Because even more so than mixing thoughts on movies and politics, venturing into the thorny thicket of Jesus Cinema presents two distinct and intimidating handicaps from the start. There’s the search for an original approach to the subject matter—sort of like what the writer faces trying to discover something “new” to say about Citizen Kane or Psycho—and then, there’s the reality that most people come to the conversation with hardened (if not positively confrontational) opinions about which movies dealing with Jesus are:
…worthwhile;
…meaningful;
…intelligent;
…reverent;
…and, on the flip side of the coin, positively blasphemous.
George D. Allen | Staff Notes
My first indication that editor/filmmaker Robert Larkin was a cool guy (apart from his past patronage of Movies Unlimited) came years ago when I learned he had sold his independent feature film Just Work to Troma (who promptly branded it with the more exploitation-friendly moniker Viral Assassins). What? You sold the movie you made to the guys who put out The Toxic Avenger? Awesome!
That’s the fan’s (and friend’s) reaction, of course—though, as any filmmaker could tell you, the behind-the-scenes details of selling one’s film often turn out to be more emotionally (and financially) nuanced.
Bob racked up an additional cool factor once I’d watched his film, because you could sense that he had all the right artistic heroes—including David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick—but he was not an artist out to steal (as the great Francis Ford Coppola might advise him to do) but to pay affectionate homage while cultivating his own voice.
George D. Allen | Academy Spotlight
What's that everybody always says about the Oscars being predictable? Well, maybe we're just blowing that up this year. Who could have guessed that producer Brett Ratner (he of the Rush Hour films and the less-than-revered third X-Men movie) would step down after shooting his mouth off in a most un-P.C. manner? Will Eddie Murphy be gone too by the time you read this? (Oh, my. Yes, he already is, exiting mere hours after I first prepared this text) Wow. You may or may not recall that I thought he would do a darn good job in what may be an interesting year. Billy Crystal fans may now safely rejoice.
Anyway, it's November 2011, so you know what that means: Oscar prognosticating is well underway! Movie Irv is back, well-rested from making his stellar first round of predictions from 2010 (which you can revisit here if you want to take a stroll down memory lane) to give you some insights and opinion about what to expect when the nominations are announced:
George D. Allen | Staff Notes
Remember your first R-rated movie?
For young movie fans, it’s a major rite of passage whether you see your first “Restricted” title on the big or small screen. At least it used to be. Who knows what's going on with those darn kids today?
As for me, I have very particular memories of first experiencing works branded “No One Under 17 Admitted Without Parent or Guardian” as a big deal on the big screen.
In fact, I not only remember seeing my first R-rated movie, I remember my first three.
George D. Allen | Staff Notes
Holy cow, look at all those people in the streets. You’d think it was the Great Depression!
Or the 1960s.
Maybe a mixture of both?
Some time ago, I offered readers a primer of films designed to illuminate the Tea Party phenomenon, so it’s only fitting to now bring about a new list that participants and observers of the Occupy Wall Street (Philadelphia, Oakland, take your pick of locations, they’re growing fast) movement can benefit from viewing or revisiting.
Whether you regard the OWS folks as vanguards of a new American revolution or as “urine-soaked deadbeats,” the movies of the past and present can always help us better understand the real world that exists outside the confines of the screen.
These gatherings are large and strong but they are also diffuse in purpose, which is a 99%-er’s way of saying they appear not to know exactly what they want in a broadly agreed-upon manner. That said, there are common themes that have emerged from the dissent. So, call their activities the protest of patriots or the chaos caused by crackpots—these are the films we should be looking at now:
George D. Allen | Movie Buzz, Movie Buzz Podcast
She made her credited feature film debut (as “Party Guest” in director Lewis Milestone's 1929 crime drama New York Nights) at the age of 18; she was tragically gone forever at the age of 26—but, in the years between, “blonde bombshell” Jean Harlow did much to secure one of cinema’s most enduring screen legacies.
Much-requested films starring the beloved actress make their appearance now with the Jean Harlow: 100th Anniversary Collection. Let’s check in with Movie Irv as he gives you a précis on the treats now in store for classic movie collectors:
George D. Allen | Movie Buzz, Movie Buzz Podcast
The last couple of months have been good to movie collectors, with studios opening up their vaults and giving fans access to some much-anticipated, little-seen, or truly strange offerings not seen on home video for a while. Let's check in with Movie Irv as he makes a few of his own favorite selections from their recent releases, including the eccentric 1987 comedy-drama Housekeeping from director Bill Forsyth (Local Hero), The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: 8-Movie Collection, and more!
Oh, but there's more. Might this be what you call burying the lead? Read on, fans of Jean Arthur:
George D. Allen | Horror Movies
Unlike me, perhaps you’ve already made up your mind not to see The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence).
Perhaps you arrived at this decision never having seen the first infamous film in the franchise—a movie, by the way, I reviewed very favorably some time ago. Many of you just don’t like these kinds of movies. That’s OK.
Grand guignol has always been popular, but it only serves an adventurous crowd. Its popularity can be tougher to gauge openly, however—since many people won’t admit to enjoying such trash.
I’ll bet you know something about the movie I’m talking about, though, whether you have seen a single frame of either film or not. Writer/director Tom Six’s first sick, slick horror opus brought forward a premise so inventively grotesque it caught fire in conversation everywhere. Want the definition of a viral success in filmmaking? There it sits (or slinks, as the case may be).
The second film in this series is another story.
George D. Allen | Staff Notes
MovieFanFare Fiends, we are approaching that most sacred of calendar days for horror film buffs. It can be a trying affair indeed, poring through your cobweb-strewn video cupboards and that messy movie meat locker in search of just the right combination of ingredients to blend together for the perfect fright flick feast. It can be a grueling challenge even for a shock-xpert like our own Ghouly Irv.
Fear not!
You are now guaranteed to have an enjoyably eerie holiday meal. Just choose wisely from the following menu designed by your horrorday gourmand (gore-mand?), and after the lights come back up, you will no doubt lean back from your TV table sated with a belly full of butterflies, the delightful clacking of teeth, and the mood music of your gasps, shrieks, and howls.
Have you come with a hearty appetite? I bid you welcome. Let’s dig up—uhm, that is, dig in:
George D. Allen | Staff Notes
They are defeating the meaning of the screen.—Charlie Chaplin, reacting to the development of “talkies”
Now here’s a challenge that comes along in a big way every few decades, whenever the nature of cinema appears poised to undergo some sort of seismic transformation:
Look into your crystal ball now and predict the future of motion pictures—we can’t really call it “film” anymore and have that be a legitimate term, can we?—even if that seems like a daunting task. After all, it would be tough to make a less accurate prediction than (the great) Chaplin made about how sound would defeat, rather than enhance, the storytelling power of the movies.
I have a few ideas of my own about how cinema will change. None of them involve 3-D.
George D. Allen | Movie Buzz, Movie Buzz Podcast
Is George Clooney awesome or what? It's OK to admit it—I already confessed while Playing the Movie IFs Game that, were I (Movie Irv's producer) to be trading places with one of cinema's power players, he'd be the one. The star of Out of Sight? The director (and co-star) of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind? The star, co-writer, and director of Good Night, and Good Luck? Who wouldn't envy this career?
OK, Leatherheads might not have been all that, but that's a minor glitch on a pretty spotless record. Michael Clayton himself is back in the co-writing, directing, starring...and co-producing chairs for the much-anticipated political thriller The Ides of March, which co-stars Ryan Gosling, the up-and-coming leading man who helped make Drive a movie to talk about.
What's Movie Irv's verdict on the latest Clooney? Let's find out:
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