Irv Slifkin
Irv Slifkin has been with Movies Unlimited for 20-plus years in different capacities with their annual catalog and website. He has also found time to write two books (Filmadelphia and Groovy Movies), review films on radio (he's currently on The Frankie Boyer show on the Lifestyles Radio Network) and recently made his debut on stage in Disney's Beauty and the Beast for the Moorestown Theater Company.
Irv's Posts
Irv Slifkin | Staff Notes
“Speech is silver; silence is golden.”
--Ancient Egyptian proverb.
Who would have thunk it? Two films about the world of silent movies, showing in theaters at the same time.
We have Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s mesmerizing 3-D adaptation of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the graphic novel/kid’s book about an orphan living in a in a Paris train station who encounters a toy store proprietor with a mysterious past. The boy uses a robot that his late father gave him to find out the secret of the toy salesman, who turns out to be none other than—SPOLIER ALERT!—Georges Melies, the French pioneer of early fantasy and science fiction films.
Then there’s The Artist, the delightful, heavily praised silent black-and-white picture from French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius, in which dashing silent screen star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) fears his career may be in danger when talkies are introduced in the late 1920s. At the same time, a female fan (Berenice Bejo) with aspirations of becoming a movie actress finds her stock rising as his descends in the new era of sound motion pictures. Any similarities between the lead character and real actor John Gilbert are probably not coincidental.
Irv Slifkin | Staff Notes
Frank Capra was a great director, but probably a lousy businessman. How else do you explain his Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life falling into the public domain, and not earning a nickel for the director or his family for decades?
Although the financial rewards were obviously non-existent for some time, the value of Capra’s film rose higher and higher over the years because of its unpaid exposure. VHS tapes, then DVDs, were duped by anyone who wanted to earn some quick cash. Television stations looking for cheap yuletide programming just slotted Frank’s film in the schedule. The result was the multi-decade rollout of It’s a Wonderful Life, a film that made little impact when first released in 1946 although it was nominated for five Academy Awards, but is now recognized as a classic and, in many people’s estimation, the greatest Christmas movie of all time.
The movie is far from simple and not altogether cheery. Its themes of greed, morality and troubles in small town America play particularly powerful in this day and age. Set on Christmas Eve in 1946 in the hamlet of Bedford Falls, New York, the film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, the owner of a failing savings and loan company, who is contemplating suicide. We learn that a mistake has put George in the red for $8000 and likely to be sent to prison for the debt, while the local businessman/despot Potter (Lionel Barrymore) takes over the town.
George D. Allen and Irv Slifkin | Movie Buzz, Movie Buzz Podcast
Last year, I received The Invention of Hugo Cabret as a Christmas gift. This year, Martin Scorsese's film of it, Hugo (Gee, was the original title too "intellectual"?), is getting tons of high praise. I didn't get around to reading the book before the movie hit the screen; now I face a tough choice.
Am I going to experience novelist Brian Selznick's original vision via the Caldecott-winning book before seeing Marty's new picture? (It shouldn't take long. Lots of big pictures) Or, being a devoted Scorsese fan, will I want to see what the revered filmmaker hath wrought first? At the moment, I'm stuck for a decision. Think I'll Ask Movie Irv:
Have different opinions about the whole book-before-movie, book-versus-movie, movie-better-than-book thing? While you're thinking up mind-tickling new questions to Ask Movie Irv (he's already given you his insights about shopping for movie collectors), ante up with some reactions below.
UPDATED: Since the preparation of this post, I (George, not Irv): read the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret; then saw the movie Hugo. Still not sure if that was the "right" choice or not (If you know the story going into the film, you will already be well aware of the movie's big revelation)...but that was the one I made. Yours?
Irv Slifkin | Staff Notes
Smooth-talking and amiable as they come, you’d think James Garner pretty much made his living playing himself on the big and small screen. But one of the revelations of The Garner Files, the new autobiography written by the actor with Jon Winokur, is that Garner is not who he appears to be. At least, not all the time.
In fact, Garner calls himself a “curmudgeon,” then sets out to prove himself worthy of this description that he has given himself throughout The Garner Files. He does a nice job making his case, reveling in laying forth his no-holds-barred philosophies on show business, racing, golf, politics, people he’s worked with and, well, life.
Born James Bumgarner in 1928 in storm-heavy Norman, Oklahoma, Garner escaped a fractured early life—his part Cherokee Indian mother dying when he was four, physical abuse from his stepmother, apathy leading to his becoming a high school dropout—to look for guidance by joining the Merchant Marines, then winning two Purple Hearts while fighting in the Korean War. A move to Los Angeles, a non-speaking part in a stage production of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, and some swimsuit modeling helped get into the entertainment business.
Garner pulls no punches, particularly when it comes to his travails in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes in show biz. Maverick, he insists, was a landmark show that tweaked the typical western formula with humor. While Garner loved playing the part of the black-clad gambler, he hated working for Warner Brothers, who overworked and underpaid him, then hired Jack Kelly to play his brother and gave the performer a better contract. This action persuaded him to take the studio to court to get out of his deal.
Irv Slifkin | Staff Notes
Strange things can happen anywhere, but things that occur in movie theaters tend to be REALLY strange.
Case in point: Years ago, I was a regular guest on a popular morning radio show. We would take calls each week, allowing listeners to comment on different topics. One topic we rolled out was “What is the weirdest thing that ever happened to you in a movie theater?”
The response was so great that we repeated the topic a few times.
I’ve had some weird experiences myself. Like the time I went to see a forgotten comedy called Head Office on a snowy evening in January 1985. It starred Danny DeVito and Judge Reinhold, and that’s pretty much all I remember about the movie. I was the only one in the Orleans Theater when the movie started. I sat towards the back of the auditorium. Two guys walked in a few minutes later, and proceeded to take seats near the front of the theater. About midway through the movie, something hit me square in the head—it was a sticky piece of Dot candy. The impact stunned me, and I realized I was the target of one of the two incredibly accurate morons sitting upfront. The gooey cherry-flavored confection must have been hurled from at least 75 feet away. I stood up—stunned as much by their accuracy as their audaciousness—and yelled, “Yo! What the hell is your problem?!” Both chuckled and made a beeline for the exit. Into the frosty night they went, leaving me and my wet, red Dot all alone in the theater.
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!
Irv Slifkin | Staff Notes
Out of the cycle of 1970s buddy cop action comedies like The Super Cops, Cops and Robbers and Freebie and the Bean comes Busting, a 1974 effort soon releasing on DVD. Elliott Gould and Robert Blake play the Los Angeles vice cops who often ignore the law in order to get their man. In this case, the man is Alan Garfield, a scuzzy mob kingpin. The cops’ vice squad antics involve busting prostitution rings, gay bars and massage parlors. While the film could easily fated into the obscurity of others of its time and ilk, it sticks out today thanks to its energy, its cynicism and its principal characters’ reckless disregard for the law. Additionally, the film boasts a great cast of supporting actors that includes Antonio “Huggy Bear” Fargas, Michael Lerner, Sid Haig and former model Cornelia Sharpe.
The movie, just coming to DVD now, was the first feature written and directed by Peter Hyams. The filmmaker went on to have a decades-long career as a workmanlike director, usually delivering solid genre films with a glossy sheen. Beginning with 1984’s 2010, he’s been one of the few directors who also act as their own director of cinematography—Steven Soderbergh is another.
Irv Slifkin | Ask Movie Fanfare
Q: Hi, I would like to know if you would be able to find out if the title Fast Charlie, the Moonbeam Rider with David Carradine and Brenda Vaccaro will be released soon on DVD or Blu-Ray. As a motorcycle enthusiast, I think this movie is right up there with the best. It was released in 1979, I believe, and I have seen it on VHS although to find one for sale is almost impossible. Thank you for any information you may be able to provide.
A: After a few collaborations between Carradine and producer Roger Corman for Corman’s New World Pictures, Corman and Carradine teamed for this film from Universal. Carradine is a WWI veteran who abandoned his fellow troop members, but tries to make things right by competing in a transcontinental motorcycle race and having his military friends help him. Vaccaro plays the love interest. As the film is owned by Universal, it is unlikely they will put it out. Sorry. It seems to have quite a following, based on the requests we have received for it.
Q: How about The Trap with Oliver Reed ?
A: This 1965 film is a drama with Reed as a rugged trapper in late 19th century Canada who takes a young mute woman (Rita Tushingham) as his wife. Even though she is fearful of him, she comes to his aid in his time of need. The film has never been on DVD, and its rights are under the auspices of MGM. That is a good thing as the company has been aggressive in putting out archive titles of late, so we could see the effort with gorgeous cinematography in the future.
Irv Slifkin | Staff Notes
Nicholas Ray was a tough guy who made tough films like They Drive by Night, Rebel Without a Cause, In a Lonely Place, The Lusty Men, On Dangerous Ground, The Savage Innocents and 55 Days at Peking. Schooled in architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright, writing by Thornton Wilder, music by Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie, radio by John Houseman and directing by Elia Kazan, he was a master of shooting movement within a frame and making pictures for the widescreen format.
Yet despite all of his artistic accomplishments—and there were many more—the way Ray himself viewed his notable career is reflected in the subtitle of Patrick McGilligan’s new book Nicholas Ray: The Glorious Failure of an American Director. In his own estimation, he was a terrible disappointment in life and as a filmmaker. In fact, Ray is on record as saying he never made a completely successful film, whether due to studio interference or his own excesses and demons.
While the body of Ray’s work—the director’s 100th birthday was recognized in September—certainly belies this point, his personal life, as reported by veteran Hitchcock, Cukor, Eastwood, Altman and Oscar Micheaux biographer McGilligan, was often in a shambles.
Irv Slifkin | Staff Notes
On a quiet Tuesday night, in a beautifully restored “art” theater in the Philadelphia suburbs, I went to see a screening of Terry Gilliam’s 1995 science fiction film 12 Monkeys, starring Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt and Madeleine Stowe.
I was not the only one sitting in that art deco treasure of a movie house, wanting to take a second look at this complex, challenging film on the big screen. There was an audience of 50 or so others who paid their $9.50 for the privilege, even though it was readily available for $2.99 on demand or reasonably for sale or rent on DVD or Blu-ray.
It was a good thing that people still wanted to see “old” films in the theaters, and they would go out of the way to do so, I thought. In fact, this particular theater had done quite well in the past, showing Laurel and Hardy movies, Three Stooges shorts, Hitchcock classics and past summer blockbusters like Jaws and Aliens.
The composition of the audience was a generally well-balanced group of college-aged kids, young professionals, middle-aged couples, thirtysomethings and a few senior citizens.
Shortly after I nestled into my comfy seat, next to two co-workers also attending the screening, the film started. A loud rustling of a plastic bag behind me became an intermittent annoyance throughout the film, as well as the occasional tapping of feet at the back of my chair. It was coming from two women sitting behind me. No talking, thankfully, but acts still equally verboten in movie theaters.
Irv Slifkin | In the Director's Chair, Movie Buzz
Simon Curtis has some impressive British TV directing and producing credentials behind him: The award-winning BBC miniseries Cranford, a 1999 adaptation of David Copperfield with Maggie Smith, Ian McKellen and Daniel Radcliffe, adaptations of Uncle Vanya, Twelfth Night and Edward II, and even episodes of Tracey Ullman’s Tracey Takes Off and the American legal drama The Practice .
So, the director wanted to get things right when he set out to make his first feature film. One couldn’t imagine things going any better than My Week with Marilyn, the entertaining, eye-opening account of the making of The Prince and the Showgirl. That 1956 film starred Marilyn Monroe, who executive produced, and Laurence Olivier, who directed. Here, Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh step into the roles of those iconic performers.
“It was a gamble,” confesses the 51-year-old filmmaker about his project. ”There were other things I had talked about doing. I decided to hold out for this because it was the project I loved.”
George D. Allen and Irv Slifkin | 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:
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