Author: Bob Westal (Page 79 of 265)

“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” — the non-motion picture

August 10, 2010 /

Talking about “Scott Pilgrim” shortly before Comic-Con with someone I know whose work straddles the world of comic books and show biz and who I think has a very good understanding of both mediums, the person commented that the trailer for Edgar Wright’s highly anticipated film version really captured the comic book it’s based on in some rather specific ways.

I was slightly surprised. Wasn’t Bryan Lee O’Malley’s comic book manga-style and aren’t actors like Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead blessed with normal sized heads and eyeballs? Isn’t the book in black and white and the movie in rather vivid color?

I was surprised but also being semi-facetiously silly and superficial, there’s obviously a lot more to visuals than color and the shape of people’s eyeballs and heads. Now, here to prove that point is this very nice reconstruction of the trailer using panels from O’Malley’s comics together with audio from the trailer.

H/t /Film.

Action Movies, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movies, News, test

Wise words on the occasion of “Sunset Boulevard” turning 60

August 10, 2010 /

It’s the 60th anniversary of the release day of the most admired film ever made about Hollywood and the movie business and very possibly the best, Billy Wilder’s “Sunset Boulevard.” If you haven’t seen it, today wouldn’t be a bad day to do so. If you don’t have time, A.O. Scott has a pretty good quick rundown for you.

One observation about how our attitude towards aging has changed since 1950 due to culture and medical science: Norma Desmond was only 50. Meryl Streep is 61 and Helen Mirren is 65. I’m not saying we no longer have a problem with aging, just that it seems possible for some people to do it extremely well and women may at last starting to be catching up to men in being able to play the “ageless” game. Not that Desmondism was rampant in 1950 more than today, though I can’t think of any female stars of the era who were still playing leads in their sixties. Norma’s career problem wasn’t so much physical aging or even being seriously delusional, but that she had been too much associated with a moribund genre and a specific by-gone era. Sort of like David Crosby.

If you have seen the whole movie, then you should check out Edward Copeland’s enjoyable and thoughtful appreciation of one of his favorite films. Also, I thought it would be nice to hear just a couple of notes for directors by the movie’s director and cowriter, Billy Wilder, himself from back in 1976. First on the one thing a director must know how to do.

After the flip, Mr. Wilder addresses a subject highly relevant to his more atmospheric pictures like “Sunset Boulevard” and, almost as much, “Double Indemnity.”

Continue reading »

External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Dramas, Movies, TV, TV Comedies

Why can’t all “Star Wars” prequels be this bad? (Note: by “bad” I mean “good”)

August 9, 2010 /

Boy, wading through a cinematic news landscape of non-news news is getting to me. Somebody is thinking about something. An unlikely rumor that was printed somewhere this morning is definitely not happening now; regurgitations of stuff we already knew or that really doesn’t matter to anyone but the filmmakers themselves (hey “Film X is playing in a festival someplace!”). So, it’s nice to see something new under the sun. Or, in this case, something old that’s new to us. Or, actually, something new pretending to be something old, but in a very amusing way.

Back in May I posted two videos featuring the very cool blaxspoitation historian David Walker of the lovely zine Bad Azz Mofo, which has just recently gone on line via Mr. Walker’s new blog, talking about a possible lost, Afrocentric, low-budget “Star Wars” sequel featuring an early version of Lando Calrissian. Since then a third documentary video has emerged (h/t Patrick Sauriol) Well, today, via the significantly less cool Jeffrey Welles, comes an actual lost trailer for this lost film which reportedly already screened at some nook or cranny (Hall H???) of Comic-Con.

Got all that? Good. Now get this: Watch out “Black Dynamite” here comes “Blackstar Warrior.”

Dy-n0-mite. I am now officially begging George Lucas not to shut this thing down.

Action Movies, External Entertainment, External Movies, Humor, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

Night Train to Munich

August 9, 2010 /

Now available in a flawless restoration from Criterion, this 1940 comedy-spy thriller was a non-sequel follow-up to Alfred Hitchcock‘s final British masterpiece of lighthearted suspense, “The Lady Vanishes.” Leading lady Margaret Lockwood was on board to star in a second wittily askew, fast-paced script from writers Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, who deserved as much acclaim as their director and knew it. Hitchcock, however, had left permanently for Hollywood and male lead Michael Redgrave was unavailable. A young Rex Harrison (“My Fair Lady”) stepped in as a dashing and egotistical British agent charged with rescuing a pretty Czechoslovakian (Lockwood) and her weapons scientist father (James Harcourt) from Nazi captivity on the eve of world war. Replacing Hitchcock, Carol Reed (“The Third Man”) didn’t mess a step. Also returning are masters of comic understatement Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne, back for more train-based foreign intrigue as the cricket-obsessed duo, Charters and Caldicott. New on board is Paul Henreid (“Casablanca”), playing a Czech concentration camp escapee who is no Victor Laszlo. A hit in its day, “Night Train” has been overshadowed by its predecessor, but it’s only a little less brilliant, with obvious miniature effects that embarrassed Reed and marred the climax slightly, and some too-obvious plot holes. Directly addressing World War II, it does have a more modern feel than “The Lady Vanishes,” however, with black comic echoes of “To Be or Not to Be” and ironic foreshadows of James Bond and, yup, “Inglourious Basterds.”

Click to buy “Night Train to Munich”

External Entertainment, External Movie DVDs, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

RIP Patricia Neal

August 9, 2010 /

Patricia Neal circa 1963One of the finest, most beautiful and purely believable of film actresses has past on at age 84 of lung cancer. She had survived numerous personal tragedies and hardships including the loss of a child, a horrifying accident involving another, a beyond problematic marriage to author Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, etc.) and multiple strokes suffered when she was only 39 years old and pregnant.  Despite all of it, she has been consistently outstanding in numerous films and television shows, including three classics that likely wouldn’t have been classics without her, so much depth and believability did she bring to her roles in the “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “A Face in the Crowd,” and “Hud.”

You could reach much more about her amazing life and her even more amazing skill as an actress via two first-rate remembrances by The Self Styled Siren and Sheila O’Malley, and I really think you should. In the meantime, her’s an example of what I think is probably her finest portrayal, from “Hud,” made only about a year after the death of her daughter. For some reason, her three greatest roles have her being involved in some way with men who were just no good, and this is the most vivid example. Her scene starts at about 5:00 or so.

Mubi has a lot more. Joe Leydon, in particular, is worth a read.

Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Premium Hollywood

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑