Category: External Movies (Page 177 of 336)

Celluloid Heroes: David Medsker’s Top Movies of the 2000s

December 28, 2009 / David Medsker

For better or worse, every decade has a couple of unique characteristics that serve as a convenient description for the period as a whole. The ’70s had disaster movies and the explosion of auteurs like Scorsese and Coppola. The ’80s had Spielberg, John Hughes, and the rise of the cheap slasher film. The ’90s were all about the indie explosion (and more disaster movies). What will history remember about the 2000s? If I had to guess, I’d sum it up in four words: Attack of the Fanboys.

Take a quick look at the top ten grossing movies of the decade (using worldwide box office numbers): There are four “Harry Potter” movies, two “Lord of the Rings” movies, two “Pirates of the Carribean” movies, “The Dark Knight,” and “Shrek 2.” And don’t forget the three “Spider-Man” movies, the two “Transformers” movies, the last two “Star Wars” movies, “300,” or “Iron Man.” Put them all together, and you have one mondo pile o’ fanboydom, right there. The first movie on the list to feature an original screenplay is Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” at #15, which brings us to the unofficial subtitle for the 2000s: The Decade When Everyone Ran Out of Ideas.

Ah, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There were some original ideas out there, and on the flip side, some of those fanboy movies made as much money as they did because they were phenomenal pieces of work. As we continue our series of reflections on the decade that was, I submit to you for your ~~snarky dismissal~~ approval, my top ten movies of the 2000s.

10. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
I’ve still only seen this movie once, but so much of it is still imprinted in my mind. The final fight between Frodo and Gollum. Samwise kicking orc ass while carrying Frodo at the same time. That hellacious battle of Minas Tirith. And then, just when you think that Peter Jackson will let you take a breath, he unleashes another horrific shriek from those damn Fell Beasts. Yes, I admit that when Sam and Frodo had their tearful goodbye at the movie’s end, I wanted to scream, “For God’s sake, just kiss him already!” But there is a reason this movie won every single Academy Award it was nominated for. It’s an extraordinary piece of work.

9. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
What began as an innocent look at the classic video game circuit slowly morphed into a tale of David vs. Goliath proportions, as unknown Donkey Kong wizard Steve Wiebe encountered a political shitstorm that would give Machiavelli pause. Billy Mitchell is my pick for movie villain of the decade, and worse: he’s real.

wall-e
8. WALL·E (2008)
Only Pixar could turn a story about a lonely robot into the most heartfelt movie Hollywood’s made in years. The fact that this didn’t win a single Academy Award for its sound work is disgraceful.

7. Hot Fuzz (2007)
There’s no other way to say it: this movie makes me giddy. Self-aware without being self-congratulatory, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost deliver a smart and sincere love letter to American action movies while getting their Michael Bay swerve on at the same time. And you’ll never hear the words “for the greater good” the same way again.

6. The Prestige (2006)
Not to be confused with “The Illusionist” – which, for my money, was vastly inferior – Christopher Nolan’s tale of dueling magicians is an embarrassment of riches, from the characters to the scenery to the dangerous game of ‘top this’ that Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale perform up until the bitter (and I mean bitter) end.

5. Kill Bill, Vol. II (2004)
“Kill Bill Vol. I” was an orgy of blood, and enjoyable though it was, I’ll take the level-headed back half of the story any day of the week, which shows the Bride fighting to give her daughter the childhood she deserves – a normal one. This also contains one of the biggest ‘holy shit‘ moments of the decade when the Bride squares off with Elle Driver

4. Children of Men (2006)
Forever redefining the possibilities of a tracking shot – twice. How this movie failed to find an audience or the love of its peers is positively lost on me.

requiem
3. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
If there is a more devastating movie about addiction than this, I haven’t seen it. Darren Aronofsky perfects that quirky blend of hyper-editing and sound – I love when he shows the sun before cutting to Ellen Burstyn and friends tanning, and all you hear is the sound of eggs frying – while coaxing four unforgettable performances from his leads. If this doesn’t scare the loved one in your life off of drugs, nothing will.

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
The heart wants what it wants. There is no arguing or reasoning with it, and even if you could erase someone from your memory, odds are you’re going to fall for them all over again, so don’t bother fighting it. What a perfect backdrop for Michel Gondry to work his bizarro magic.

1. The Dark Knight (2008)
Fanboy wet dream or not, “The Dark Knight” is the superhero movie to end all superhero movies. Whip-smart, ruthless (he killed Rachel Dawes!), and relentless, “Knight” is literally a breathtaking experience. And God help Christopher Nolan when it’s time to hash out a follow-up; from here, I’m not sure it’s even possible.

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movie DVDs, Movies

Children of Men End of Decade Movies Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Headlines Hot Fuzz Kill Bill Vol. II King of Kong Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Requiem for a Dream The Dark Knight The Prestige Top 10 Movies of the 00s Top 10 Movies of the 2000s Top Movies of the 2000s WALL-E

“Mel Brooks Begins”

December 28, 2009 / Bob Westal

You can see Mel Brooks collecting his Kennedy Center Honor from the president on television Tuesday night, but only right here on the Internet can you see the first ever film by one of the funniest men in movie history.

In this 1963 Oscar winning animated short subject, a cantankerous old Jewish man (voiced by Brooks, of course) watches an abstract/experimental short in the style of Canada’s Norman McLaren. It’s called, “The Critic.”

Brooks wrote this, of course, but the actual director and producer who handled the animation was Ernest Pintoff. Nevertheless, I think we can agree that it’s really Mel’s movie.

Just for fun, just a few years later, Mel shows off his mimicry skills to chat-show host Dick Cavett and then-celebrity critic Rex Reed. This clip gets gradually funnier as it goes, and the Frank Sinatra bit is kind of a gas.

External Entertainment, External Movies, Humor, Movie Comedies, Movies, TV

America the Beautiful Dick Cavett Frank Sinatra Humphrey Bogart Jimmy Cagney Kennedy Center Honors Mel Brooks Norman McLaren Rex Reed The Critic

Sherlock Holmes’ most terrifying assignment

December 28, 2009 / Bob Westal

We’re in the mid-Holiday lull here and I’d rather not bore you me with rehashing the weekend box office or endless lists and Oscar speculation…though here’s a cool compilation of various awards guru’s thoughts, via Anne Thompson who happens to be one of them, for those who can’t get enough of that.

Instead, in recognition of the success of “Sherlock Holmes” over the weekend, I’m going to bore entertain you with a scene from what I think has to be the best of the near sub-genre of off-beat, “non-canonical” Holmes films, Billy Wilder’s 1970 “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.” Below, Robert Stephens as Holmes meets with a genius obsessed Russian ballerina and her manager, who is helping her with a highly personal matter. Can Holmes be of assistance?

Fun fact: that’s real life Russian expat ballerina Tamara Vladimirovna Tumanova playing the dancer, she really was 49 years old in this scene and was married to the great screenwriter Casey Robinson.

So, is Holmes telling the truth re, Tchaikovsky not being an isolated case? About him and Watson — not a chance, not in a mainstream movie in 1970, anyway. But what about himself? Well, for that you’re going to have to watch the whole flick, which is really quite a wonder. Both a darned good Billy Wilder comedy and a great, if episodic, Sherlock Holmes mystery drama.

The reason it remains obscure is that while Stephens is a very good Holmes and Colin Blakely is an entirely solid Watson, they weren’t exactly huge on that indefinable whatsis that makes for star power. If Wilder had gotten his original choices, Peter O’Toole as Holmes and Peter Sellers as Watson, you likely would have heard of this film by now, I think.

Come to think of it, Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law might have worked quite well here also. How sad no one every thinks to reshoot great screenplays since remakes nearly always use entirely new screenplays. In this case, the studio demanded a shorter version of Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s original script, forcing Wilder to thoroughly re-edit the film, so it would also be a kind of restoration.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies

Awards Billy Wilder Colin Blakely Robert Stephens Sherlock Holmes The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Advice for directors of new musicals in a wicked little town

December 27, 2009 / Bob Westal

So, earlier tonight I went off on a bit of rant inspired by a really strange sounding remark made by show-biz reporter-pundit Nikki Finke to the effect that she thinks “Nine” failed at the box office not because it’s a fairly poorly received film with a vague premise, but because it wasn’t gay friendly enough. No need to repeat my snark-laden commentary, but I thought I’d present the piece below as a bit of food for movie thought.

I debated whether or not to include this sequence in my recent look at musical films of the 2000s, but opted to include another scene from John Cameron Mitchell’s amazing “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” easily my choice for one of the two or three best musicals made over the last decade or so. Now it seems apt.

Given the storyline, this movie — and this scene — certainly does not lack for the LGBT awarness Finke seems to demand of a modern musical. However, the reason I’m including it here is that, despite my personal opinion that Kate Hudson is way cuter than anyone you’re about to look at (sorry, Kwahng-Yi, et al), I think Mitchell’s approach to filming a musical sequence is pretty vastly superior to Marshall’s — though they are both disciples of Bob Fosse.

Sometimes all you need to do is to keep things simple. So far, I’ve never seen Marshall try that approach. Maybe he’ll give it a shot sometime.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movies, News

Hedwig and the Angry Inch John Cameron Mitchell Kate Hudson Kwahng-Yi Nikki Finke Nine Rob Marshall

“Avatar” tops a weekend of holiday box office bounty

December 27, 2009 / Bob Westal

If you’ve been following the horse-race over at Nikki Finke’s place, you’ll know it’s been a very long holiday weekend of box office ups and down. However, for those of us who can wait a day or two for the results, it’s actually somewhat simple.

James Cameron‘s super-expensive 3-D extravaganza for Fox, “Avatar,” emerged as the victor of a three-way battle for the top prize with an outstanding second-weekend estimated take of $75 million and an absolutely minuscule drop from it’s first weekend of 2.6%, according to Box-Office Mojo. The Hollywood conventional wisdom has it that most science fiction films drop by at least 50% on their second weekend. Clearly, this is not most science fiction films and the fact that people are waiting to see this one in 3D and paying extra for the privilege is not hurting. So, as I’ve alluded to often enough, the word of mouth on this thing is something else. However, as always, I await the backlash as some folks plunk down their extra-heavy 3D ticket price and fail to have a religious experience.

Second place, of course, was Guy Ritchie’s unorthodox action-comedy take on probably the oldest genre franchise in the biz, “Sherlock Holmes.” The Robert Downey, Jr./Jude Law team-up loosely drawn from the late 19th/early 20th century works of Arthur Conan Doyle defeated “Avatar” and all-comers on its record setting Christmas opening. It then fell a bit and earned a still whopping estimated $65.38 for Warner Brothers, a company that certainly has some experience with franchises. Better yet, this one is in the public domain, which means fewer folks get a share in the wealth.

Fox’s “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” actually beat “Avatar” by a couple of million on its early opening day last Wednesday, but fell sharply on Christmas Eve and rebounded the rest of the weekend, for a very healthy estimated third place showing of $50.2 million. Critics may detest it; parents may barely tolerate it, but, to paraphrase the old blues song, the little kids understand (or don’t know any better). The film’s total estimated take starting from its early opening is just a tad over $77 million.

Considering it’s a Golden Globe-nominated sex comedy presumably aimed at a very grown-up audience — not only because of the average age of its stars but also because it’s R-rated, Universal’s “It’s Complicated” has generated the critical equivalent of a shrug, with our own David Medsker coming down on the very much negative side. That doesn’t bode extremely well for this sort of movie, which can use all the critical and awards help it can get.

Still, this weekend’s rising tide managed to lift this boat to the tune of an estimated $22 million or so, which is really not bad for this kind of film. Or, it wouldn’t be because Nikki Finke claims the budget was $80 million, which is way high for this kind of movie and suggests to me that it’s possible stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin let their agents negotiate extra-hard for a big pay-day because they were perhaps less than wowed by the film artistically. Universal just doesn’t seem to be cutting itself any breaks lately.