I wanted to take a moment to clear up something. Over the last week or so, it's been suggested to me that people feel I can't just watch a movie for its own sake; that I'm too critically inclined to watch a movie and enjoy it with "going into theory" mode.
While I admit that I do tend to work through a movie when I'm writing about it, the actual process of dissecting a film and getting "critical" doesn't usually occur until after I've finished the movie. For the most part, I try to go into every film I see without too many preconceived notions. It's true that positive and negative reviews do influence me a bit (I am only human, or a human-like robot programmed to pretend he's human), but for the most part, I like being entertained. I really like being surprised by something, and I always thought of myself as awfully forgiving of movies that others have been harsh to.
There are the odd occasions where something in a film makes me switch over into "theory" mode, but it's not actually that common. I don't take notes when I'm watching movies, not even during class screenings. It takes away from the experience for me. When I sit down to write about movies, then the critic / theorist takes over, even during "So You Don't Have To"'s. It takes a special kind of movie (good or bad) to really pull me out of the experience and turn on the critic in the Cap'n.
I only ever try to watch something critically the third or fourth time I've seen it. The first time is purely about experience. The second time I'll try to pick up things I missed, although I'm pretty good at catching narrative tropes (it's kinda hard for me not to see a "twist" coming, so I really like movies that can do that) so I'm looking for details I didn't catch beforehand. For example, Moon is full of recurring visual motifs that make more sense once you know what GERTY is trying to warn Sam Bell about. When I watched it the second time, it's pretty clear exactly what's going on from the get-go, and Duncan Jones puts it all right out there for you to see.
So does this mean that things only occur to me after I finish a movie? Not really. Like I said, I'll catch things and make a mental note of it for later, but I am actually trying to watch any given movie on its own terms. I don't always succeed, but I am not so steeped in theory that I can't just "enjoy a movie without dissecting it."
Glad I could clear that up for you folks.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Flim-Flammers Yammer
Greetings, my little Katzenjammer Kids! Hope you didn't mind the Cap'n taking the night off out of laziness giving you a blast from the past last night. Actually, considering how long it's been since You're All Doomed magazine actually existed, it might have been brand new for 90% of you. Those reviews are totally legit, by the way. The Cap'n wouldn't lie to you, would he?
---
I know, I know; The House of the Devil. I so promised a review shortly after the disc arrived, and then... life happened. It has a nasty habit of doing that, and my plans to set aside 95 minutes for a movie I've been assured I'm going to dig the hell out of have kinda been put on the back burner. But soon, I promise. Like, on the other side of a paper due on Thursday.
By then, A Serious Man should also be here (it would already be here, but UPS has a curious policy of sometimes leaving packages and sometimes leaving notice for "signature confirmation") and I'd like to see Bronson soon. If you'd like to play a fun game, put bets down on how many of them I actually see between now and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" on Saturday*.
Oh, and Black Dynamite comes out next week on DVD and Blu-satility-Ray-Disc.
---
To follow up a smidge on that "Criterion Out of Print" business, I noticed that next week brings two Blu-Ray releases from Lionsgate of former Spine Numbers: Contempt and Ran. They're being released under the Studio Canal banner, which I suppose is a fancy way of distinguishing them from the likes of Cabin Fever and Frailty. The extras seem to be pretty close to their Criterion dvd counterparts, save for conspicuously missing commentary tracks.
I suppose that this bodes well for some of the "marquee" titles leaving Criterion, like Grand Illusion; there's a reasonably good chance we'll see Blu-Rays after all, and possibly with most of their original supplements. It's not radically different from Disney's release of The Rock, which carried over all of the Criterion extras. The question that remains is if there's somebody out there who is willing to make new covers to put in the BD sleeves so we can pretend they're still part of the collection?
---
Finally, I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty sure that the pill Jack tried to swallow was totally a Velociraptor egg, thus proving my theory that they don't call it Dinosaur Island for no reason!
* Hint, I could just show Bronson and A Serious Man on Saturday, so hedge those bets, folks...
---
I know, I know; The House of the Devil. I so promised a review shortly after the disc arrived, and then... life happened. It has a nasty habit of doing that, and my plans to set aside 95 minutes for a movie I've been assured I'm going to dig the hell out of have kinda been put on the back burner. But soon, I promise. Like, on the other side of a paper due on Thursday.
By then, A Serious Man should also be here (it would already be here, but UPS has a curious policy of sometimes leaving packages and sometimes leaving notice for "signature confirmation") and I'd like to see Bronson soon. If you'd like to play a fun game, put bets down on how many of them I actually see between now and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" on Saturday*.
Oh, and Black Dynamite comes out next week on DVD and Blu-satility-Ray-Disc.
---
To follow up a smidge on that "Criterion Out of Print" business, I noticed that next week brings two Blu-Ray releases from Lionsgate of former Spine Numbers: Contempt and Ran. They're being released under the Studio Canal banner, which I suppose is a fancy way of distinguishing them from the likes of Cabin Fever and Frailty. The extras seem to be pretty close to their Criterion dvd counterparts, save for conspicuously missing commentary tracks.
I suppose that this bodes well for some of the "marquee" titles leaving Criterion, like Grand Illusion; there's a reasonably good chance we'll see Blu-Rays after all, and possibly with most of their original supplements. It's not radically different from Disney's release of The Rock, which carried over all of the Criterion extras. The question that remains is if there's somebody out there who is willing to make new covers to put in the BD sleeves so we can pretend they're still part of the collection?
---
Finally, I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty sure that the pill Jack tried to swallow was totally a Velociraptor egg, thus proving my theory that they don't call it Dinosaur Island for no reason!
* Hint, I could just show Bronson and A Serious Man on Saturday, so hedge those bets, folks...
Monday, February 8, 2010
From the Vaults: Guest Blogger - Movies Reviewed by a 5 Year Old!
*blogorium staff note: the Cap'n sent us these reviews via email last night. He was ranting and raving about their magazine of origin, You're All Doomed, which apparently no longer exists. He insists these reviews are 100% legit and that full credit should be given to the five year old author.*
My movies review
Scooby Doo: Monsters Unleashed
My movies review
By Timothy Brednick
The omen
This may be the bestest movie I ever saw. Damien has dogs and he has toys and a nanny and he goes to the zoo and has a circus at his birthday party and anybody who doesn’t like Damien goes away and never comes back. That’s good because I don’t like knives and if daddy came at me with a knife then the police would come and then I’d be the presidents son and then I go from a mansion to the white house. I went to the white house one time and there were lots of rooms and ropes and stuff and places I couldn’t go but if I was the presidents son I could. I’ma ask mommy if I can change my name to Damien and go to the zoo. Oh mommy says I hafta give it stars like in mr kerners class one time I got three stars for tying my shoes but the omen gets like a hundred stars it is the greatest movie I ever saw!
Brokeback mountain
I don’t understand why people do not like this movie and will not see it. Kissing is gross but only if you kiss girls because they have cooties but if you kiss boys you wont get cooties because boys don’t got them. I mean duh! Of course those cowboys did kiss girls too and one of them gots sick see I told you cooties. Whats a parenpasis mommy? Mommy says there should be parenpasis on the cooties part. Anyway there were fireworks in one part and the blonde cowboy sounded like sling blade hah ha sling blade was funny I met him one time he was a mall santa and smelled funny. Anyway if I play cowboys and Indians I know that it is ok to kiss cowboys and to say “I cant quit you” and then go hide in the tree fort daddy built because the Indians wants to scalp us oh no!
Army of darkness
Daddy has this dvd that’s always sitting on the shelf and so I put it in because I know how to work a dvd player. It is silly. Ash is this guy who has one hand and the other hand has this silver glove on it that crushes stuff like the hulk. ASH SMASH! Hahahahah it rhymes. Parts of it were scary but it was ok because ash would say stuff like “give me some sugar” and “this is my boomstick” and king Arthur was in the movie I saw this movie with king Arthur that was sooooooo boring it was named after his sword boo I hate that movie but ash saved the day and this book tried to eat him and this other book was really a vacuum and his face was silly and I don’t know why im not allowed to watch it it was way funny. Eight stars is good.
Scooby Doo: Monsters Unleashed
1.5 Stars
by Cynthia Brednick
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Like a Fox!
Generally speaking, I like to stick to a plan. The plan was to review The House of the Devil, but I was doing a cursory search of how new readers end up finding the Cap'n, and one of them was so amazingly out of left field that I'm dropping the plan in order to devote an entire entry to it.
You see, somebody found the blogorium by looking for movies where the "character goes insane at the end", and I can't back away from a challenge like that. The kind reader ended up on one of my many Friday the 13th tangents, so in order to give the people what they want, the Cap'n is going to try to name as many movies as I can where the character goes insane at the end.
Because so many of these are going to sound abundantly clear, I'm going to pepper in some movies that are maybe a little less obvious, and make an argument that some may find ridiculous. Would you expect any less from the Cap'n?
For example:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - I guess it's debatable whether you think Kevin McCarthy goes insane at the end or the world goes insane, but I say it counts.
Citizen Kane - Okay, this is technically a cheat. Charles Foster Kane goes insane near the end, and is clearly insane at the beginning, but if we take the story as a narrative of his descent into madness, then technically speaking I'm correct.
Sunset Boulevard - No doubt here; Norma Desmond is bat-shit crazy at the end of the movie.
In the Mouth of Madness - Not to spoil anything if you haven't seen it, but the title should give that away.
Martyrs - more than one person loses it by the end of this movie.
The Return of the King - It's fair to say that Frodo loses his mind and has to leave because he's never coming back mentally or emotionally.
Taxi Driver - Don't be fooled by the coda. Travis Bickle is still a ticking time bomb of insanity.
The Major Works of David Lynch (excluding, perhaps, The Straight Story, Dune, The Elephant Man, and Wild at Heart. Okay, maybe not Wild at Heart) - I was going to rule out Wild at Heart because Sailor and Lulu get together and seem happy, but then again Sailor does see Glenda the Good Witch float down from the sky first. As for the rest, you tell me which characters in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Eraserhead, Lost Highway, Mullholland Dr., and INLAND EMPIRE aren't crazy at the end.
D.O.A. - In addition to dying at the end of the movie, Edmund O'Brien's character is pretty bonkers.
Detour, Night and the City, Out of the Past, The Underneath, Ace in the Hole, Chinatown, oh to hell with it most noir and neo-noir - I could probably do an entire piece on the suicidal psychotic era of Film Noir and its echoes in neo-noir, but almost all of them end with the main character no longer in control of their mental faculties. The exceptions, oddly, are the two best known: Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil.
Soylent Green - you could lump this in with the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" argument, but Chuck Heston screaming "IT'S PEEEEEEOOOOOPLE!!!!!!" really doesn't do him any favors in the sanity department. Speaking of which:
The Planet of the Apes - I contend that Heston's Taylor never recovers from the Statue of Liberty reveal at the end of the film, and when James Franciscus finds him in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, he's as looney as a Dodo.
Gremlins 2 - I'm just going to go out on a limb and say this: to live through the events of this film, everybody that walked out of that building was crazy at the end.
Casino Royale - Considering that the entirety of The Quantum of Solace involved James Bond trying to regain his sanity, I don't think I have to argue too much that he went crazy when Vesper died. That, or from the rope to the gonads.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - Again, kind of a cheat, because Francis is already crazy. We just don't know it until the end of the film.
The Wrestler - Well, it's one of two things. Either Randy "The Ram" has a sobering epiphany that he only belongs in the ring, or he goes mad from an crazy combination of 'roid rage and crowd fervor. Take your pick.
There Will Be Blood - I shouldn't even have to argue this. Daniel Plainview goes from sociopath to bonkers by the end of the film.
Rescue Dawn - Technically speaking, Dieter Dengler starts going crazy after Steve Zahn's character dies about 3/4's of the way in, but I'll allow it.
Observe and Report - Seth Rogen's shift from crazy to crazy dangerous is still an issue of going crazy at the end. I mean, he doesn't shoot anyone in a crowded mall until the end.
The Bridge on the River Kwai - Poor Alec Guinness. He put so much effort into building that bridge, only to go nuts and destroy it. Spoiler.
Chasing Amy - To propose what Holden does at the end of Chasing Amy (the threesome), you either have to be an idiot or crazy. I'm leaning crazy.
World's Greatest Dad - If I have to see Robin Williams do a naked diving board jump, then he's crazy. The rest of the movie supports my case. See for yourself.
Oldboy - That twist would drive you crazy too.
Heathers - Forget the whole "shooting J.D." or the "murdering people and trying to blow up the school" arguments. No way a Heather (okay, a Veronica) would hang out with Dumptruck. She must be nuts.
Crank: High Voltage - I include this because when Chev Chelios is on fire, he finally turns his insanity away from the movie and directs it at the audience. Now that's just crazy. We didn't do anything but cheer for him!
81/2 - I'm not sure how else you would characterize the end of this movie without resorting to film school snobbery.
The Mist - Few sane characters are screaming on their knees at the end of a movie because they killed everyone else out of desperation only to discover the military was restoring normalcy. Spoiler.
Drag Me to Hell - According to a reading of the film by Patton Oswalt, this is as logical a conclusion as Alison Lohman actually being dragged to hell. It's actually a rather good reading of the film, which I suggest you seek out.
Mother Night - You go undercover as a Nazi propagandist only to be disavowed by your country and branded an actual Nazi propagandist and try to maintain your faculties. Oh, and you're Nick Nolte. Good luck.
Donnie Darko - Donnie embraces his madness, and an airplane engine.
One Hour Photo - A slow burn still ends with crazy in the end for (shock!) Robin Williams!
Insomnia - For the purposes of this list, I'm dealing specifically with the 1997 Stellan Skarsgard version, where his sanity degrades in a much clearer way than Al Pacino's loose grip on reality as it is.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (parts 1 and 2) - Both final girls lose it, which is the logical reaction to what happens in to them.
The Wicker Man (both, I guess) - I never finished the remake, but Edward Woodward's Sgt. Howie certainly goes crazy. Nicolas Cage is arguably always crazy, but for the sake of argument I'll include the remake.
Videodrome - You call "embracing the New Flesh" clarity. I call it insanity. Different strokes for different folks.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers - Corey Feldman and Danielle Harris both go psycho at the end of their respective fourth chapters. Neither series bothered to take this seriously in subsequent films.
Vertigo - Anybody going to argue this? Scotty doesn't go totally nuts? Anyone?
Brazil - Again, I don't think I need to make a case for this. It's pretty straight forward. Big Brother wins; Sam Lowry loses.
Blood Car - It was inevitable, considering what happens in Blood Car.
The Descent - Certainly the UK cut makes no bones about whether Sarah is crazy or not at the end. I do not acknowledge The Descent 2 for the purposes of this argument.
The Hills Have Eyes - Wes Craven's expressed intent for the film was that the "civilized" family would become as crazy as the cannibal family. He succeeded.
The Limits of Control - Oh, wait; I went insane at the end of this movie.
Is there anything I forgot? (hint: yes) Leave a comment or drop the Cap'n a line.
You see, somebody found the blogorium by looking for movies where the "character goes insane at the end", and I can't back away from a challenge like that. The kind reader ended up on one of my many Friday the 13th tangents, so in order to give the people what they want, the Cap'n is going to try to name as many movies as I can where the character goes insane at the end.
Because so many of these are going to sound abundantly clear, I'm going to pepper in some movies that are maybe a little less obvious, and make an argument that some may find ridiculous. Would you expect any less from the Cap'n?
For example:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - I guess it's debatable whether you think Kevin McCarthy goes insane at the end or the world goes insane, but I say it counts.
Citizen Kane - Okay, this is technically a cheat. Charles Foster Kane goes insane near the end, and is clearly insane at the beginning, but if we take the story as a narrative of his descent into madness, then technically speaking I'm correct.
Sunset Boulevard - No doubt here; Norma Desmond is bat-shit crazy at the end of the movie.
In the Mouth of Madness - Not to spoil anything if you haven't seen it, but the title should give that away.
Martyrs - more than one person loses it by the end of this movie.
The Return of the King - It's fair to say that Frodo loses his mind and has to leave because he's never coming back mentally or emotionally.
Taxi Driver - Don't be fooled by the coda. Travis Bickle is still a ticking time bomb of insanity.
The Major Works of David Lynch (excluding, perhaps, The Straight Story, Dune, The Elephant Man, and Wild at Heart. Okay, maybe not Wild at Heart) - I was going to rule out Wild at Heart because Sailor and Lulu get together and seem happy, but then again Sailor does see Glenda the Good Witch float down from the sky first. As for the rest, you tell me which characters in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Eraserhead, Lost Highway, Mullholland Dr., and INLAND EMPIRE aren't crazy at the end.
D.O.A. - In addition to dying at the end of the movie, Edmund O'Brien's character is pretty bonkers.
Detour, Night and the City, Out of the Past, The Underneath, Ace in the Hole, Chinatown, oh to hell with it most noir and neo-noir - I could probably do an entire piece on the suicidal psychotic era of Film Noir and its echoes in neo-noir, but almost all of them end with the main character no longer in control of their mental faculties. The exceptions, oddly, are the two best known: Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil.
Soylent Green - you could lump this in with the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" argument, but Chuck Heston screaming "IT'S PEEEEEEOOOOOPLE!!!!!!" really doesn't do him any favors in the sanity department. Speaking of which:
The Planet of the Apes - I contend that Heston's Taylor never recovers from the Statue of Liberty reveal at the end of the film, and when James Franciscus finds him in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, he's as looney as a Dodo.
Gremlins 2 - I'm just going to go out on a limb and say this: to live through the events of this film, everybody that walked out of that building was crazy at the end.
Casino Royale - Considering that the entirety of The Quantum of Solace involved James Bond trying to regain his sanity, I don't think I have to argue too much that he went crazy when Vesper died. That, or from the rope to the gonads.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - Again, kind of a cheat, because Francis is already crazy. We just don't know it until the end of the film.
The Wrestler - Well, it's one of two things. Either Randy "The Ram" has a sobering epiphany that he only belongs in the ring, or he goes mad from an crazy combination of 'roid rage and crowd fervor. Take your pick.
There Will Be Blood - I shouldn't even have to argue this. Daniel Plainview goes from sociopath to bonkers by the end of the film.
Rescue Dawn - Technically speaking, Dieter Dengler starts going crazy after Steve Zahn's character dies about 3/4's of the way in, but I'll allow it.
Observe and Report - Seth Rogen's shift from crazy to crazy dangerous is still an issue of going crazy at the end. I mean, he doesn't shoot anyone in a crowded mall until the end.
The Bridge on the River Kwai - Poor Alec Guinness. He put so much effort into building that bridge, only to go nuts and destroy it. Spoiler.
Chasing Amy - To propose what Holden does at the end of Chasing Amy (the threesome), you either have to be an idiot or crazy. I'm leaning crazy.
World's Greatest Dad - If I have to see Robin Williams do a naked diving board jump, then he's crazy. The rest of the movie supports my case. See for yourself.
Oldboy - That twist would drive you crazy too.
Heathers - Forget the whole "shooting J.D." or the "murdering people and trying to blow up the school" arguments. No way a Heather (okay, a Veronica) would hang out with Dumptruck. She must be nuts.
Crank: High Voltage - I include this because when Chev Chelios is on fire, he finally turns his insanity away from the movie and directs it at the audience. Now that's just crazy. We didn't do anything but cheer for him!
81/2 - I'm not sure how else you would characterize the end of this movie without resorting to film school snobbery.
The Mist - Few sane characters are screaming on their knees at the end of a movie because they killed everyone else out of desperation only to discover the military was restoring normalcy. Spoiler.
Drag Me to Hell - According to a reading of the film by Patton Oswalt, this is as logical a conclusion as Alison Lohman actually being dragged to hell. It's actually a rather good reading of the film, which I suggest you seek out.
Mother Night - You go undercover as a Nazi propagandist only to be disavowed by your country and branded an actual Nazi propagandist and try to maintain your faculties. Oh, and you're Nick Nolte. Good luck.
Donnie Darko - Donnie embraces his madness, and an airplane engine.
One Hour Photo - A slow burn still ends with crazy in the end for (shock!) Robin Williams!
Insomnia - For the purposes of this list, I'm dealing specifically with the 1997 Stellan Skarsgard version, where his sanity degrades in a much clearer way than Al Pacino's loose grip on reality as it is.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (parts 1 and 2) - Both final girls lose it, which is the logical reaction to what happens in to them.
The Wicker Man (both, I guess) - I never finished the remake, but Edward Woodward's Sgt. Howie certainly goes crazy. Nicolas Cage is arguably always crazy, but for the sake of argument I'll include the remake.
Videodrome - You call "embracing the New Flesh" clarity. I call it insanity. Different strokes for different folks.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers - Corey Feldman and Danielle Harris both go psycho at the end of their respective fourth chapters. Neither series bothered to take this seriously in subsequent films.
Vertigo - Anybody going to argue this? Scotty doesn't go totally nuts? Anyone?
Brazil - Again, I don't think I need to make a case for this. It's pretty straight forward. Big Brother wins; Sam Lowry loses.
Blood Car - It was inevitable, considering what happens in Blood Car.
The Descent - Certainly the UK cut makes no bones about whether Sarah is crazy or not at the end. I do not acknowledge The Descent 2 for the purposes of this argument.
The Hills Have Eyes - Wes Craven's expressed intent for the film was that the "civilized" family would become as crazy as the cannibal family. He succeeded.
The Limits of Control - Oh, wait; I went insane at the end of this movie.
Is there anything I forgot? (hint: yes) Leave a comment or drop the Cap'n a line.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Get those wallets ready, fanatics!
I seem to come back to this every few months, but in the waning days of the DVD market, the Cap'n finally has the opportunity to show you just how tricky it is for a smaller distributor like Criterion to keep movies, let alone get the ones you really want them to carry*. For the first time that I can remember, Criterion sent out an email letting viewers know exactly which movies would be added to the dreaded "Out of Print" list.
The list is as follows:
Finally, I found at least half of this video - which posits the question "what if famous directors filmed the Super Bowl?" - amusing. The David Lynch joke has been done to death, but the video is totally worth it for the one-two punch of Jean-Luc Godard and Werner Herzog at the end.
If only they'd thrown in some footage fromNatural Born Football Any Given Sunday and pretended it was Oliver Stone's "Super Bowl" footage.
* Yes, this goes back to the long-standing "Troll 2: The Criterion Collection" joke, among others, like Cannibal! The Musical.
The list is as follows:
Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard)
Carlos Saura’s Flamenco Trilogy (Eclipse Series 6)
Le corbeau (The Raven - Henri-Georges Clouzot)
Coup de torchon (Bertrand Tavernier)
Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson)
The Fallen Idol (Carol Reed)
Forbidden Games (René Clément)
Gervaise (René Clément)
Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir)
Le jour se lève (Marcel Carné)
Last Holiday (Henry Cass)
Mayerling (Anatole Litvak)
The Orphic Trilogy (Jean Cocteau)
Peeping Tom (Michael Powell)
Pierrot le fou (Jean-Luc Godard)
Port of Shadows (Marcel Carné)
Quai des Orfèvres(Henri-Georges Clouzot)
The Small Back Room (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
The Tales of Hoffmann (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
Trafic (Jacques Tati)
Le trou (Jacques Becker)
Variety Lights (Federico Fellini and Alberto Lattuada)
The White Sheik (Federico Fellini)
Criterion is losing the rights to these films soon, and they'll revert to Lionsgate, who will release them in their own way as they see fit. I wouldn't be surprised to see several films by the same director released in "no extras" boxed sets, which Lionsgate has done recently with other "art" films. Or they might get Blu-Ray releases. It's hard to say, because as DVD winds down, studios are groping for whatever they can get in order to package quickly and get into stores.
As they mention in the email, Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion has another important distinction for any serious Criterion collector: in addition to being a terrific film, it bears the Spine Number 1. Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai is still Spine Number 2 (and Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes 3), but soon it's going to be tricky to begin your collection. I suspect, like many low numbered items, that Grand Illusion will become the expensive "collector's item" out of this batch, but it's a hefty list of movies to pick up quickly, if that's your steez.
In the mean time, if you were still wondering why your favorite random movie wasn't getting the full-on Spine Number treatment, they have their hands full hanging on to the films they have. Taxi Driver probably isn't going to be the kind of movie they can get ahold of. In fact, the HD release of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has none of the Criterion supplements; just the barebones Universal dvd "spotlight on location" and some deleted scenes. But, if I may interject, 2010 is the 25th anniversary of Terry Gilliam's Brazil, so maybe Universal and Criterion could cut some kind of Blu-Ray deal. Maybe?
Finally, I found at least half of this video - which posits the question "what if famous directors filmed the Super Bowl?" - amusing. The David Lynch joke has been done to death, but the video is totally worth it for the one-two punch of Jean-Luc Godard and Werner Herzog at the end.
If only they'd thrown in some footage from
* Yes, this goes back to the long-standing "Troll 2: The Criterion Collection" joke, among others, like Cannibal! The Musical.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Successful Gimmickry!
Ladies and Germs, I spoke to you last week of an awfully clever idea MPI and Dark Sky Films had to cross promote their new release, The House of the Devil. In order to keep with the decidedly 80s throwback vibe, Dark Sky packaged the dvd copy of HotD with an authentic G-Damned VHS version of the film!
And today, the Cap'n got his grubby mitts on said VHS copy (along with a Blu-Ray copy and extra dvd copy that might end up as a prize for some future contest), so let's take a look at this bad boy, mmhm?
First things first: much respect for the "clamshell" approach. Not only does it look like a rental I could've seen at Carbonated Video or The Video Bar, but it has the weight of "old ass videotape" that dvds just don't replicate. The "new release" doesn't hurt things either. As a child of the 80's, I've seen many a tape that looked suspiciously like this.
I realize that my photo taking leaves something to be desired on the "text" front, but the most important part is the "Caution" section, which is spot on for the time period. It says " Caution: This film contains satanic references and graphic violence." In fact, only the Copyright 2009 indicates in any way that this wasn't just some lost film from the era.
Look at that shit. It's been a long time since I saw a new videocassette as is, but they made a concerted effort to keep it on the level. In this picture and the next one you can kinda see the "Gorgon Video" logo above the title. It also opens the tape, so if you haven't seen Faces of Death in a while, get ready for a pleasant reminder.
How do you like that? Me, I likes it plenty.
If I have one gripe about the VHS tape (and yes, I put it in my VCR), it's that the film is presented "letterboxed" instead of "pan and scan". Normally I abhor all panning and scanning, especially in this age of widescreen tvs, but there weren't too many letterboxed videotapes that I can remember from the early 80's (it happened much later in the game; I can remember "letterboxed" copies of the Star Wars Trilogy and, of all things, Die Hard). In the interest of maintaining verisimilitude, I do wish that they'd created a faux "full frame" copy for the tape.
Stay tuned in the next day or so for a review of the film proper, but I had to share this geekiness with you folks tonight.
And today, the Cap'n got his grubby mitts on said VHS copy (along with a Blu-Ray copy and extra dvd copy that might end up as a prize for some future contest), so let's take a look at this bad boy, mmhm?
First things first: much respect for the "clamshell" approach. Not only does it look like a rental I could've seen at Carbonated Video or The Video Bar, but it has the weight of "old ass videotape" that dvds just don't replicate. The "new release" doesn't hurt things either. As a child of the 80's, I've seen many a tape that looked suspiciously like this.
I realize that my photo taking leaves something to be desired on the "text" front, but the most important part is the "Caution" section, which is spot on for the time period. It says " Caution: This film contains satanic references and graphic violence." In fact, only the Copyright 2009 indicates in any way that this wasn't just some lost film from the era.
Look at that shit. It's been a long time since I saw a new videocassette as is, but they made a concerted effort to keep it on the level. In this picture and the next one you can kinda see the "Gorgon Video" logo above the title. It also opens the tape, so if you haven't seen Faces of Death in a while, get ready for a pleasant reminder.
How do you like that? Me, I likes it plenty.If I have one gripe about the VHS tape (and yes, I put it in my VCR), it's that the film is presented "letterboxed" instead of "pan and scan". Normally I abhor all panning and scanning, especially in this age of widescreen tvs, but there weren't too many letterboxed videotapes that I can remember from the early 80's (it happened much later in the game; I can remember "letterboxed" copies of the Star Wars Trilogy and, of all things, Die Hard). In the interest of maintaining verisimilitude, I do wish that they'd created a faux "full frame" copy for the tape.
Stay tuned in the next day or so for a review of the film proper, but I had to share this geekiness with you folks tonight.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
O Cap'n, where art thou?
Tis true, dear readers, that your Cap'n has been mentally absent from the last round of posts. I could whisper sweet nothings in your ears and pretend that it was all some misunderstanding, but the truth is I've had Scheiße zu machen.
I had shit to do. But, as I remain dearly devoted Dexter to my readers, I shall endeavor to be less "absent father figure" today and make with the cinematic chatter, which I assume is why you folks keep coming back.
---
In the past three days, I watched Raising Arizona twice (the second time quite by accident; my industrious nature as a student foolishly led me down the path of assuming everyone else would independently view the film, and you know what they say about assumptions...) To wit, the second time was a bit better than the first, as I was predominantly occupied in a strange and unseemly head space on Monday, of which I will say no more.
Dr. Adams made his best effort to pitch Raising Arizona as the Some Like It Hot to Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, but there's very little doubt in my mind the brothers Coen were making a live action cartoon. The second go-around in seventy two hours bore out this theory, as the film is largely bloodless, despite innumerable rounds of ammunition spent, broken noses, and exploding Randal "Tex" Cobb's.
I'm still formulating a good point of reference for the film, as it loosely borrows from the Looney Tunes and Tex Avery catalog, and much of the set pieces clearly inform what they would make later (take, for example, the gas station scene in Raising Arizona and juxtapose it with No Country for Old Men, or the obsession George Clooney has for Pomade in O Brother Where Art Thou?). At any rate, the Cap'n is quite certain I'll have a working thesis for Raising Arizona by Saturday or something to that effect*.
---
I hope folks don't mind that "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer" is more likely than not going to be on February 13th. The whole Valentine's Day Weekend thing doesn't really mean much here at Blogorium central, and if I need to pitch it thusly, look at it as a cheap excuse to drink your romantic woes away. Just don't expect yr master of ceremonies to join in; I have to stay sober enough to keep you from talking me into Teenage Mother again.
---
On that note, I'm 60% certain I can get this German homework done and still watch some Doctor Who. It's about time to say goodbye to David Tennant, even if I don't share the overwhelming disdain for new Doctor Matt Smith. Please refrain from passing judgment on the new Doctor, folks. He could be just what the Cap'n ordered...
* I mean, I'd better. Discussion is on Monday and there's some business about papers to be sussed out.
I had shit to do. But, as I remain dearly devoted Dexter to my readers, I shall endeavor to be less "absent father figure" today and make with the cinematic chatter, which I assume is why you folks keep coming back.
---
In the past three days, I watched Raising Arizona twice (the second time quite by accident; my industrious nature as a student foolishly led me down the path of assuming everyone else would independently view the film, and you know what they say about assumptions...) To wit, the second time was a bit better than the first, as I was predominantly occupied in a strange and unseemly head space on Monday, of which I will say no more.
Dr. Adams made his best effort to pitch Raising Arizona as the Some Like It Hot to Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, but there's very little doubt in my mind the brothers Coen were making a live action cartoon. The second go-around in seventy two hours bore out this theory, as the film is largely bloodless, despite innumerable rounds of ammunition spent, broken noses, and exploding Randal "Tex" Cobb's.
I'm still formulating a good point of reference for the film, as it loosely borrows from the Looney Tunes and Tex Avery catalog, and much of the set pieces clearly inform what they would make later (take, for example, the gas station scene in Raising Arizona and juxtapose it with No Country for Old Men, or the obsession George Clooney has for Pomade in O Brother Where Art Thou?). At any rate, the Cap'n is quite certain I'll have a working thesis for Raising Arizona by Saturday or something to that effect*.
---
I hope folks don't mind that "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer" is more likely than not going to be on February 13th. The whole Valentine's Day Weekend thing doesn't really mean much here at Blogorium central, and if I need to pitch it thusly, look at it as a cheap excuse to drink your romantic woes away. Just don't expect yr master of ceremonies to join in; I have to stay sober enough to keep you from talking me into Teenage Mother again.
---
On that note, I'm 60% certain I can get this German homework done and still watch some Doctor Who. It's about time to say goodbye to David Tennant, even if I don't share the overwhelming disdain for new Doctor Matt Smith. Please refrain from passing judgment on the new Doctor, folks. He could be just what the Cap'n ordered...
* I mean, I'd better. Discussion is on Monday and there's some business about papers to be sussed out.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The Oscar's Destiny Fulfilled.
It's the Dinosaur Island season premiere tonight. I think you can understand if I keep things short and to the point. This show is the only vice I'm allowing myself during the school year.
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Let's do a quick once-over on the Academy Award Nominations, some of which were pretty surprising (in a good way):
Best Picture for 2009:
Okay, I'm still on the record that the "bumping the nominees from 5 to 10" doesn't really change anything. More exposure? Maybe. Does it make it harder to guess the "front runners"? I don't think so. Still, it did allow for one genuinely unexpected nomination:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
I'm very happy to see District 9 on that list. I can't imagine in a million years that it's going to be the Best Picture, but if Moon's not going to be anywhere come March, it's good to have another excellent science fiction film that's not the Highest Grossing Movie of All Time on the list. I don't necessarily get nominating Up when it's the front-runner in Best Animated Film, the category created so that this sort of thing didn't have to happen. Forgive me for not understanding The Blind Side's inclusion, as it is so not the kind of movie I'm going to watch.
What do I think is going to win? No idea.
Sorry gang, but I don't do the Acting Categories. That's total Neil territory.
Best Direction:
Avatar - James Cameron
The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow
Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino
Precious - Lee Daniels
Up in the Air - Jason Reitman
Look, I don't know anything about Precious, but it certainly seems like the odds-on favorite if Bigelow doesn't win for The Hurt Locker.
Best Original Screenplay:
The Hurt Locker - Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger - Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
A Serious Man - Joel and Ethan Coen
Up - Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
I haven't watched The Hurt Locker yet, but I'm planning on getting to it soon. Inglourious Basterds was a very well written film, and I've heard nothing but good things about A Serious Man. Still, Up does manage to entertain, enthuse, and tug the heart strings effortlessly. Hard to say...
Best Documentary:
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
Don't know. I haven't seen any of these documentaries, but I notice that none of my favorite docs from last year are even mentioned near this list.
---
There are more categories, but Avatar seems to have many (if not all) of the technical categories locked up, and I don't much care about the adapted screenplay (either Up in the Air or Precious), short subjects category, or even the Animated Picture (as I've said, I thought Coraline was very good but it's no Up, and I didn't see The Fantastic Mr. Fox). Over the last few years I've been increasingly off when it comes to predictions, but award season isn't really what I focus on. If there's an Oscar Party, I'll let you know.
In the meantime, I desperately need to convince myself to do homework and not watch Doctor Who: The End of Time or The House of the Devil.
---
Let's do a quick once-over on the Academy Award Nominations, some of which were pretty surprising (in a good way):
Best Picture for 2009:
Okay, I'm still on the record that the "bumping the nominees from 5 to 10" doesn't really change anything. More exposure? Maybe. Does it make it harder to guess the "front runners"? I don't think so. Still, it did allow for one genuinely unexpected nomination:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
I'm very happy to see District 9 on that list. I can't imagine in a million years that it's going to be the Best Picture, but if Moon's not going to be anywhere come March, it's good to have another excellent science fiction film that's not the Highest Grossing Movie of All Time on the list. I don't necessarily get nominating Up when it's the front-runner in Best Animated Film, the category created so that this sort of thing didn't have to happen. Forgive me for not understanding The Blind Side's inclusion, as it is so not the kind of movie I'm going to watch.
What do I think is going to win? No idea.
Sorry gang, but I don't do the Acting Categories. That's total Neil territory.
Best Direction:
Avatar - James Cameron
The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow
Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino
Precious - Lee Daniels
Up in the Air - Jason Reitman
Look, I don't know anything about Precious, but it certainly seems like the odds-on favorite if Bigelow doesn't win for The Hurt Locker.
Best Original Screenplay:
The Hurt Locker - Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger - Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
A Serious Man - Joel and Ethan Coen
Up - Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
I haven't watched The Hurt Locker yet, but I'm planning on getting to it soon. Inglourious Basterds was a very well written film, and I've heard nothing but good things about A Serious Man. Still, Up does manage to entertain, enthuse, and tug the heart strings effortlessly. Hard to say...
Best Documentary:
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
Don't know. I haven't seen any of these documentaries, but I notice that none of my favorite docs from last year are even mentioned near this list.
---
There are more categories, but Avatar seems to have many (if not all) of the technical categories locked up, and I don't much care about the adapted screenplay (either Up in the Air or Precious), short subjects category, or even the Animated Picture (as I've said, I thought Coraline was very good but it's no Up, and I didn't see The Fantastic Mr. Fox). Over the last few years I've been increasingly off when it comes to predictions, but award season isn't really what I focus on. If there's an Oscar Party, I'll let you know.
In the meantime, I desperately need to convince myself to do homework and not watch Doctor Who: The End of Time or The House of the Devil.
Monday, February 1, 2010
From the Vaults - The Crow: Wicked Prayer (A Cautionary Tale)
Ok, so I must warn everyone NOT to see The Crow: Wicked Prayer.
Yes, I am sure that many of you are already saying:
"Well, duh. Why did YOU watch it?"
to this I will make the case why I did watch it. Let's say, for example:
* You liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel.
* You really liked Edward Furlong in Pecker
* It's Dennis Hopper, man! Playing a Satanic Gangsta Priest!
* And Danny Trejo! Danny fucking Trejo!
* The first Crow was a personal favorite of yours, and even though you didn't like City ofAngels
* You liked Six String Samurai
(okay, I've probably lost a lot of you right here, because I can't imagine anyone but me really saw every one of those factors as a plus, but I'll continue)
Okay, let's systematically destroy those pluses:
* David Boreanaz plays the Satanic Cult leader broad, to the point that when he is possessed by Satan, it borders on cartoonish. He's terrible in this *ahem* movie.
* Have you ever stood outside a Hot Topic and watched every fifteen year old goth kid walk in and out? You know the ones that just figured out they needed makeup? Make that kid the hero of this movie, and then tell him to pretend he is anguished. More than he already would.
* Yeah, except that Dennis Hopper has no idea how to deliver lines like "Do you agree to make Satan your homey?" and "I declare you dude and shorty." It's not even funny how boring he is.
* Poor Danny Trejo. They must have forgotten to tell him he'd be shirtless during the ridiculous "wake up the crow" dance, and he's jiggling all over the place, making this goofy face like he didn't know the camera was rolling.
* If Salvation is half a bad as Wicked Prayer, I'll never see it.
* Forget Six String Samurai. Throw any sense of visual style or coherence out the window. Not only does it feel like no one making the movie knew what happened in the plot, but the frenetic editing or head scratching flashbacks/hallucinations.. fuck. ok, this movie is incomprehensible. I almost turned it off twice, but for the sake of saying I went the distance, I watched it all. If you can figure out the plot, let me know. There's something to do with a Satanic Cult and an Native American Reservation and miners, but for the life of me I couldn't tell you how it fit together.
This is a disjointed piece of shit, and I warn you, do not waste your time. This movie isn't even "funny" bad, it's just BAD.
Oh yeah. Tara Reid is the bad girl. The less said, the better.
In other news, Hellraiser: Deader and Hellraiser: Hellworld will be joining The Prophecy 4 on shelves soon. (that's Hellraiser 7 and 8, for those keeping count. With Kari Wuhrer and Lance Henrisken, respectively)
I won't be watching any of them*, so if you do, keep it to yourselves, ok?
* Future intercession: Total Lie. I watched the Hell out of Hellraiser: Hellworld. Best Hellraiser sequel that has virtually nothing to do with the first film ever.
Yes, I am sure that many of you are already saying:
"Well, duh. Why did YOU watch it?"
to this I will make the case why I did watch it. Let's say, for example:
* You liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel.
* You really liked Edward Furlong in Pecker
* It's Dennis Hopper, man! Playing a Satanic Gangsta Priest!
* And Danny Trejo! Danny fucking Trejo!
* The first Crow was a personal favorite of yours, and even though you didn't like City of
* You liked Six String Samurai
(okay, I've probably lost a lot of you right here, because I can't imagine anyone but me really saw every one of those factors as a plus, but I'll continue)
Okay, let's systematically destroy those pluses:
* David Boreanaz plays the Satanic Cult leader broad, to the point that when he is possessed by Satan, it borders on cartoonish. He's terrible in this *ahem* movie.
* Have you ever stood outside a Hot Topic and watched every fifteen year old goth kid walk in and out? You know the ones that just figured out they needed makeup? Make that kid the hero of this movie, and then tell him to pretend he is anguished. More than he already would.
* Yeah, except that Dennis Hopper has no idea how to deliver lines like "Do you agree to make Satan your homey?" and "I declare you dude and shorty." It's not even funny how boring he is.
* Poor Danny Trejo. They must have forgotten to tell him he'd be shirtless during the ridiculous "wake up the crow" dance, and he's jiggling all over the place, making this goofy face like he didn't know the camera was rolling.
* If Salvation is half a bad as Wicked Prayer, I'll never see it.
* Forget Six String Samurai. Throw any sense of visual style or coherence out the window. Not only does it feel like no one making the movie knew what happened in the plot, but the frenetic editing or head scratching flashbacks/hallucinations.. fuck. ok, this movie is incomprehensible. I almost turned it off twice, but for the sake of saying I went the distance, I watched it all. If you can figure out the plot, let me know. There's something to do with a Satanic Cult and an Native American Reservation and miners, but for the life of me I couldn't tell you how it fit together.
This is a disjointed piece of shit, and I warn you, do not waste your time. This movie isn't even "funny" bad, it's just BAD.
Oh yeah. Tara Reid is the bad girl. The less said, the better.
In other news, Hellraiser: Deader and Hellraiser: Hellworld will be joining The Prophecy 4 on shelves soon. (that's Hellraiser 7 and 8, for those keeping count. With Kari Wuhrer and Lance Henrisken, respectively)
I won't be watching any of them*, so if you do, keep it to yourselves, ok?
* Future intercession: Total Lie. I watched the Hell out of Hellraiser: Hellworld. Best Hellraiser sequel that has virtually nothing to do with the first film ever.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Weather, why must you block my Cap'n?
Well gang, "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer" has been postponed. While not indefinitely, there is no set date for its return. I'll try to get on that, but weekends get a wee bit busy as we move along the semester. I'm not at all disappointed, except with the stupid weather that willingly took my long planned event and shat frozen water all over it.
It's not any warmer here at the moment. We're inching towards a balmy 15 degrees tonight, so bundle up and buckle down, as many folks did. The parking lot outside is quite literally covered in a sheet of ice, which is in turn covered by a later of packed snow. I know this because a) you can hear the ice cracking when you walk on the snow, and b) you can uncover the ice with your foot until you fall over.
Some super troopers are coming over nevertheless, and depending on the mood of the Blogorium, we'll either watch Raising Arizona or play this ridiculous Japanese game I have called Katamari Damacy. I don't know what it means either, but it looks like this:
So yeah... I cannot make this stuff up.
---
In other news: Tuesday brings some nutty business on digital versatility disc and Blue Laser Unlimited Ray. In addition to a non-Criterion BD of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, you can pick up The House of the Devil (previously mentioned here in a post about the awesome VHS packaging gimmick), Universal Soldier: Regeneration (which I hear "sets the bar for direct to video"), The Complete Doctor Who specials, a little movie I like to call Zombieland, plus the one everybody's been waiting for.
Yes folks, I speak of The Music Man on Blu-Ray. And I'm only being half sarcastic, because as we've established, the Cap'n is a sucker for musicals, and I happen to be a fan of The Music Man. So I've got that going for me, ladies.
---
Okay, my feet are cold. I could put on slippers or wrap this blog up, and I think that we both know how this is going to end.
It's not any warmer here at the moment. We're inching towards a balmy 15 degrees tonight, so bundle up and buckle down, as many folks did. The parking lot outside is quite literally covered in a sheet of ice, which is in turn covered by a later of packed snow. I know this because a) you can hear the ice cracking when you walk on the snow, and b) you can uncover the ice with your foot until you fall over.
Some super troopers are coming over nevertheless, and depending on the mood of the Blogorium, we'll either watch Raising Arizona or play this ridiculous Japanese game I have called Katamari Damacy. I don't know what it means either, but it looks like this:
So yeah... I cannot make this stuff up.
---
In other news: Tuesday brings some nutty business on digital versatility disc and Blue Laser Unlimited Ray. In addition to a non-Criterion BD of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, you can pick up The House of the Devil (previously mentioned here in a post about the awesome VHS packaging gimmick), Universal Soldier: Regeneration (which I hear "sets the bar for direct to video"), The Complete Doctor Who specials, a little movie I like to call Zombieland, plus the one everybody's been waiting for.
Yes folks, I speak of The Music Man on Blu-Ray. And I'm only being half sarcastic, because as we've established, the Cap'n is a sucker for musicals, and I happen to be a fan of The Music Man. So I've got that going for me, ladies.
---
Okay, my feet are cold. I could put on slippers or wrap this blog up, and I think that we both know how this is going to end.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Damn You, Weather!
The hideous Sou'Easter is upon Blogorium central. If folks are still wondering (or feeling foolhardy), tomorrow's "One bourbon, one scotch, one beer" is still going on. I might end up watching them by myself, but what the hell?
It's a good line up:
Bourbon - David Lynch's Wild at Heart
Scotch - Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Beer - a surprise.
plus I'm throwing together trailers for films that were considered in each category. No stupid snowstorm and freezing temperatures are going to chase the Cap'n off of a movie night, although I suddenly understand why I've never tried a 'thon in January...
---
Confession time: Remember when I was talking about those Criterion discs? Okay, so several of those "would like to have"'s were movies I ordered used from Amazon. Mona Lisa, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Night and Fog, Salesman, Insomnia, Nanook of the North, Peeping Tom, and Dead Ringers are all on their way.
My criteria for these Criterions had everything to do with being able to get them for less than $20 apiece and the relative ease of locating the films. Most of them never show up in stores, and I've been oogling Salesman ever since I parted ways with it, so I'm glad to have it on the way.
---
Adam has been gently reminding me that J.D. Salinger died yesterday, and that the unlicensed movies should be coming any day now. Heh heh. May I suggest Shia LeBouf for Catcher in the Rye? Don't even ask me what they should do with Franny and Zooey. Heh. Heh. Two words: Brett Ratner.
---
Stay warm, and risk those broken limbs for movie night Saturday!
It's a good line up:
Bourbon - David Lynch's Wild at Heart
Scotch - Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Beer - a surprise.
plus I'm throwing together trailers for films that were considered in each category. No stupid snowstorm and freezing temperatures are going to chase the Cap'n off of a movie night, although I suddenly understand why I've never tried a 'thon in January...
---
Confession time: Remember when I was talking about those Criterion discs? Okay, so several of those "would like to have"'s were movies I ordered used from Amazon. Mona Lisa, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Night and Fog, Salesman, Insomnia, Nanook of the North, Peeping Tom, and Dead Ringers are all on their way.
My criteria for these Criterions had everything to do with being able to get them for less than $20 apiece and the relative ease of locating the films. Most of them never show up in stores, and I've been oogling Salesman ever since I parted ways with it, so I'm glad to have it on the way.
---
Adam has been gently reminding me that J.D. Salinger died yesterday, and that the unlicensed movies should be coming any day now. Heh heh. May I suggest Shia LeBouf for Catcher in the Rye? Don't even ask me what they should do with Franny and Zooey. Heh. Heh. Two words: Brett Ratner.
---
Stay warm, and risk those broken limbs for movie night Saturday!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Video Daily Double Plus A DVD Cover Gripe
I'm not really sure why I'm so irked by this, but the DVD for Big Fan arrived yesterday, and I have to say it has one of the worst covers for a movie, especially considering the subject matter. Allow the picture to speak a thousand words, followed by a few of mine:
Okay, so anybody who's seen Big Fan will notice immediately that the DVD cover makes the film look like some kind of inspirational sports film starring Patton Oswalt as a mentally handicapped NY Giants fan. Seriously. That's what the juxtaposition of the picture of Oswalt to the cheering fans at the game suggests. It's very Radio-esque. That is not what Big Fan is. In an odd and pathetic way, it is uplifiting at the end, but not even close to the way that cover makes it look.
To wit, here's the theatrical poster:
First off, I will openly admit that it's less aesthetically pleasing than the stupid DVD cover, but as unmarketable as this image is, it perfectly conveys the tone of the film. This is the story of Paul Aufiero, this total loser that gives no positive impression on you and who would let a football player beat the shit out of him and do nothing. Not the chubby man-child who loves football and finally goes to the big game where the Giants win and give him the game ball.
So that's my two cents on the bungling of that DVD artwork. Stay tuned for videos.
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Video Daily Double Part One: 40 Inspiration Speeches in 2:15.
Strangely, it kinda did the trick for me. I feel quite motivated to fight aliens or the British. Or something...
Finally, Video Daily Double Part Two: the trailer for Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.
I really have no idea how I feel about this. It's a well made trailer, but I can't help but worry about the movie. It may be the most unnecessary sequel there is...
Okay, so anybody who's seen Big Fan will notice immediately that the DVD cover makes the film look like some kind of inspirational sports film starring Patton Oswalt as a mentally handicapped NY Giants fan. Seriously. That's what the juxtaposition of the picture of Oswalt to the cheering fans at the game suggests. It's very Radio-esque. That is not what Big Fan is. In an odd and pathetic way, it is uplifiting at the end, but not even close to the way that cover makes it look.
To wit, here's the theatrical poster:
First off, I will openly admit that it's less aesthetically pleasing than the stupid DVD cover, but as unmarketable as this image is, it perfectly conveys the tone of the film. This is the story of Paul Aufiero, this total loser that gives no positive impression on you and who would let a football player beat the shit out of him and do nothing. Not the chubby man-child who loves football and finally goes to the big game where the Giants win and give him the game ball.So that's my two cents on the bungling of that DVD artwork. Stay tuned for videos.
---
Video Daily Double Part One: 40 Inspiration Speeches in 2:15.
Strangely, it kinda did the trick for me. I feel quite motivated to fight aliens or the British. Or something...
Finally, Video Daily Double Part Two: the trailer for Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.
I really have no idea how I feel about this. It's a well made trailer, but I can't help but worry about the movie. It may be the most unnecessary sequel there is...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
On the "reunited and it feels so good" front:
The Cap'n finally got one of my Out of Print Criterion DVDs back. While it's not Sid and Nancy or Dead Ringers or even a completely gone one like This is Spinal Tap or Tokyo Olympiad, I was happy to find a copy of Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious at a downright reasonable used price. Maybe it's because of the 20th Century Fox boxed set, which also carries alternate editions of similarly OOP Rebecca and Spellbound, but somehow I got Notorious for less than it would have been new six years ago.
Looking at Amazon, it wouldn't be too difficult to get Spellbound and Rebecca at reasonable prices too. Sid and Nancy is still pretty pricey, and Tokyo Olympiad is downright ridiculous at $64 used and $115 new. This is Spinal Tap is comparably silly at $48.95 and $109.99. Many of them aren't so bad any more, as when Criterion loses the rights other companies typically swoop in. Even Hard Boiled and The Killer aren't where they once were (pushing $500), and I bet the guy trying to sell Criterion's old version Salo is going to have his work cut out for him at $68 (to wit: it once sold for $2000 on eBay. Seriously).
The Silence of the Lambs and Robocop have fallen dramatically from where they once were, which is fine because I still have those. If there's one I wish I still had that I don't, it's Bruce Robinson's How to Get Ahead in Advertising, which is baselining around $50 (discount the $20-30 copies, as they're rentals and missing components). Oh, make that two; I had no idea Fellini's Nights of Cabiria was out of print. Damn.
---
My goal with Spine Numbers is to no longer try to get all of them (it is, after all, a fool's errand to keep up with a collection that shows no sign of ending), but to seek out the ones I really want and rent the films that sound interesting. For example, right now I'd really like to have Salesman, Peeping Tom, Sullivan's Travels, Shock Corridor, The Naked Kiss, Mona Lisa, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Insomnia, Nanook of the North, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, House of Games, and Kind Hearts and Coronets. I wouldn't mind having Night and Fog, La Jetee, Hoop Dreams, The Long Good Friday, That Obscure Object of Desire, The Horse's Mouth, Burden of Dreams, Overlord, Children of Paradise, and The Orphic Trilogy. I don't know that I need Maitresse, Border Radio, El Norte, Dodes ka-den, Bad Timing, I am Curious, or Fishing with John. There are others that aren't occurring to me that fit in a nebulous category of "I'd probably just rent it", but I think you get the idea. My days of being a completist are over and done.
I envy some of you mad men and women out there trying to conquer the collection. I no longer want to be you, although I may have to drop some coin in order to pick up a few of those OOP discs (the Sid and Nancy one is worth it for the commentary track alone, which is comprised of members of the NYC punk scene, many of whom dispute the portrayal of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen in the film). I don't know that I'd ever need the John Woo movies, or even This is Spinal Tap, but I suppose it is nice to know they haven't totally vanished from the face of the earth.
Thus endeth the blathering.
Looking at Amazon, it wouldn't be too difficult to get Spellbound and Rebecca at reasonable prices too. Sid and Nancy is still pretty pricey, and Tokyo Olympiad is downright ridiculous at $64 used and $115 new. This is Spinal Tap is comparably silly at $48.95 and $109.99. Many of them aren't so bad any more, as when Criterion loses the rights other companies typically swoop in. Even Hard Boiled and The Killer aren't where they once were (pushing $500), and I bet the guy trying to sell Criterion's old version Salo is going to have his work cut out for him at $68 (to wit: it once sold for $2000 on eBay. Seriously).
The Silence of the Lambs and Robocop have fallen dramatically from where they once were, which is fine because I still have those. If there's one I wish I still had that I don't, it's Bruce Robinson's How to Get Ahead in Advertising, which is baselining around $50 (discount the $20-30 copies, as they're rentals and missing components). Oh, make that two; I had no idea Fellini's Nights of Cabiria was out of print. Damn.
---
My goal with Spine Numbers is to no longer try to get all of them (it is, after all, a fool's errand to keep up with a collection that shows no sign of ending), but to seek out the ones I really want and rent the films that sound interesting. For example, right now I'd really like to have Salesman, Peeping Tom, Sullivan's Travels, Shock Corridor, The Naked Kiss, Mona Lisa, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Insomnia, Nanook of the North, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, House of Games, and Kind Hearts and Coronets. I wouldn't mind having Night and Fog, La Jetee, Hoop Dreams, The Long Good Friday, That Obscure Object of Desire, The Horse's Mouth, Burden of Dreams, Overlord, Children of Paradise, and The Orphic Trilogy. I don't know that I need Maitresse, Border Radio, El Norte, Dodes ka-den, Bad Timing, I am Curious, or Fishing with John. There are others that aren't occurring to me that fit in a nebulous category of "I'd probably just rent it", but I think you get the idea. My days of being a completist are over and done.
I envy some of you mad men and women out there trying to conquer the collection. I no longer want to be you, although I may have to drop some coin in order to pick up a few of those OOP discs (the Sid and Nancy one is worth it for the commentary track alone, which is comprised of members of the NYC punk scene, many of whom dispute the portrayal of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen in the film). I don't know that I'd ever need the John Woo movies, or even This is Spinal Tap, but I suppose it is nice to know they haven't totally vanished from the face of the earth.
Thus endeth the blathering.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Ah, Forever Young Film Preservation...
I had considered writing up a formal review of Blood Simple, but as time just isn't what it used to be, the Cap'n decided to focus on one particular aspect of the DVD, which happens to be a semi-running gag with the Coen Brothers: Forever Young Film Preservation.
Provided you haven't seen the Universal Blood Simple disc or the 10th Anniversary disc for The Big Lebowski, I can imagine this little joke is lost on you. Ever the sneaky DVD extra tricksters, the Coens created a wholly fictional film preservation society in order to mock the "restoration" process, which was - and still is - in vogue when the discs were released.
Blood Simple opens with an introduction from "Kenneth Loring" of Forever Film Preservation, who promises this all new digital version of the film uses the highest quality digital restoration with all the sound restored and remixed and all the "boring parts" cut out. The Coens are making a savvy crack at the "director's cut" craze by shortening their own film, and to top it off they make up a fake preservation society to oversell the gag. "Kenneth Loring" also appears on a commentary track, reporting misleading and at times patently false information in a scholarly and authoritative tone. Take that, Criterion.
Of course, that's not the only appearance Forever Young Film Preservation makes. For the anniversary edition of The Big Lebowski, "Mortimer Young" introduces the movie with even more flagrant lies. Since there's no edit of the film, "Young" claims that "The Grand Lebowski" had to be meticulously restored from an Eastern European print with a missing soundtrack. In order to save the movie, a John Goodman sound-alike was brought in to voice Walter. There's no commentary track, but you get the idea.
It's a rather dirty trick to play on DVD newbies, or people who have a hard time distinguishing sarcasm, even in such an obvious way. I tried to find you the video files so you could see for yourself, but apparently no one on YouTube thought the jokes were that funny. Too bad, as it reinforces in many ways just how carefully the Coen brothers work to undercut pompous DVD "extras" and what a wicked sense of humor they really have.
Now if only Forever Young Film Preservation could explain what happened on The Ladykillers...
---
Side Note: Avatar is apparently now the highest grossing movie ever made (if not adjusted for inflation), knocking out Titanic. Congratulations nerds; now James Cameron has the two highest grossing films of all time, but the blue cat thing is better than the boat movie. The nerds win.
Provided you haven't seen the Universal Blood Simple disc or the 10th Anniversary disc for The Big Lebowski, I can imagine this little joke is lost on you. Ever the sneaky DVD extra tricksters, the Coens created a wholly fictional film preservation society in order to mock the "restoration" process, which was - and still is - in vogue when the discs were released.
Blood Simple opens with an introduction from "Kenneth Loring" of Forever Film Preservation, who promises this all new digital version of the film uses the highest quality digital restoration with all the sound restored and remixed and all the "boring parts" cut out. The Coens are making a savvy crack at the "director's cut" craze by shortening their own film, and to top it off they make up a fake preservation society to oversell the gag. "Kenneth Loring" also appears on a commentary track, reporting misleading and at times patently false information in a scholarly and authoritative tone. Take that, Criterion.
Of course, that's not the only appearance Forever Young Film Preservation makes. For the anniversary edition of The Big Lebowski, "Mortimer Young" introduces the movie with even more flagrant lies. Since there's no edit of the film, "Young" claims that "The Grand Lebowski" had to be meticulously restored from an Eastern European print with a missing soundtrack. In order to save the movie, a John Goodman sound-alike was brought in to voice Walter. There's no commentary track, but you get the idea.
It's a rather dirty trick to play on DVD newbies, or people who have a hard time distinguishing sarcasm, even in such an obvious way. I tried to find you the video files so you could see for yourself, but apparently no one on YouTube thought the jokes were that funny. Too bad, as it reinforces in many ways just how carefully the Coen brothers work to undercut pompous DVD "extras" and what a wicked sense of humor they really have.
Now if only Forever Young Film Preservation could explain what happened on The Ladykillers...
---
Side Note: Avatar is apparently now the highest grossing movie ever made (if not adjusted for inflation), knocking out Titanic. Congratulations nerds; now James Cameron has the two highest grossing films of all time, but the blue cat thing is better than the boat movie. The nerds win.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Hrmph. Despite all of my rancor a few weeks ago about the deal between Warner Brothers and Netflix to deprive users of new releases, I can't honestly say it's made a huge difference in my rental activity. It's possible that this is because I haven't been keeping track of "big" releases from team Warners coming soon (can anybody? that's not sarcasm so much as an honest query. what are their major releases now that the holidays are over?)
The other determining factor may have something to do with what I've been renting instead. Truth be told, the movies I have at home are kind of a mixed bag, and none of them are from the Studio of the Shield. Right now I have Land of the Lost, The Girlfriend Experience, and The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard at home. Aside from a few people telling me to rent the former and the latter, I'm not really sure why they're here. I haven't been able to talk myself into watching either of them at the moment, especially when better fare like Blood Simple is waiting in the wings.
As for The Girlfriend Experience, I already watched the movie once on Instant Viewing, and checked out the disc for the commentary track and "alternate version", which it turns out isn't so radically different. I need to send that back, and I think Doctor Who: The Twin Dilemma is atop the queue.
*edit* I just went and checked WB's Blu-Ray site, and I honestly couldn't find one major release in the next month or two. This makes their ploy all the more confounding, and I wonder if it really is tied to some asinine plan on New Line's part to force people to buy The Lord of the Rings theatrical cuts on Blu-Ray instead of renting them first. That's pretty cheesy.
---
The Cap'n cannot vouch for Ti West's The House of the Devil at this time; I hear good things, put the trailer up yesterday because it looked cool, but I haven't seen it yet. Beyond the good buzz for the film, which is a throwback to early 80s style horror with Tom Noonan, Dee Wallace, and Mary Woronov, Dark Sky Films came up with a pretty ingenious marketing gimmick for old school horror fans:
That's right. In addition to DVD and Blu-Ray releases, Amazon is currently selling a DVD combo pack that comes with a VHS copy of the film in the old clamshell packaging. This warms my heart, as it reminds me of my beaten up tape of Return of the Living Dead, but what's more fun is that they slapped the Gorgon Video logo in front of the film. Because a particular segment of this readership might not be old enough to remember, Gorgon video is chiefly remembered for putting out the Faces of Death "films" on VHS, a staple of the "do you dare try to rent this" horror shelf selection.
I have to admit that as gimmicks go, it's almost good enough for me to order a copy. I do still have a VCR, and it might be fun to throw on The House of the Devil at a future Fest without telling people when it was made. I wonder what the VHS quality looks like. For once, I hope it's a pan-and-scan, which I never thought I'd hear myself say.
---
Off to bed. You boys and girls behave.
The other determining factor may have something to do with what I've been renting instead. Truth be told, the movies I have at home are kind of a mixed bag, and none of them are from the Studio of the Shield. Right now I have Land of the Lost, The Girlfriend Experience, and The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard at home. Aside from a few people telling me to rent the former and the latter, I'm not really sure why they're here. I haven't been able to talk myself into watching either of them at the moment, especially when better fare like Blood Simple is waiting in the wings.
As for The Girlfriend Experience, I already watched the movie once on Instant Viewing, and checked out the disc for the commentary track and "alternate version", which it turns out isn't so radically different. I need to send that back, and I think Doctor Who: The Twin Dilemma is atop the queue.
*edit* I just went and checked WB's Blu-Ray site, and I honestly couldn't find one major release in the next month or two. This makes their ploy all the more confounding, and I wonder if it really is tied to some asinine plan on New Line's part to force people to buy The Lord of the Rings theatrical cuts on Blu-Ray instead of renting them first. That's pretty cheesy.
---
The Cap'n cannot vouch for Ti West's The House of the Devil at this time; I hear good things, put the trailer up yesterday because it looked cool, but I haven't seen it yet. Beyond the good buzz for the film, which is a throwback to early 80s style horror with Tom Noonan, Dee Wallace, and Mary Woronov, Dark Sky Films came up with a pretty ingenious marketing gimmick for old school horror fans:
That's right. In addition to DVD and Blu-Ray releases, Amazon is currently selling a DVD combo pack that comes with a VHS copy of the film in the old clamshell packaging. This warms my heart, as it reminds me of my beaten up tape of Return of the Living Dead, but what's more fun is that they slapped the Gorgon Video logo in front of the film. Because a particular segment of this readership might not be old enough to remember, Gorgon video is chiefly remembered for putting out the Faces of Death "films" on VHS, a staple of the "do you dare try to rent this" horror shelf selection.I have to admit that as gimmicks go, it's almost good enough for me to order a copy. I do still have a VCR, and it might be fun to throw on The House of the Devil at a future Fest without telling people when it was made. I wonder what the VHS quality looks like. For once, I hope it's a pan-and-scan, which I never thought I'd hear myself say.
---
Off to bed. You boys and girls behave.
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