Category: Movie Dramas (Page 58 of 188)

The pimp and the hippie

June 5, 2010 / Bob Westal

Since “Get Him to the Greek” has been on our mind lately, and if you haven’t read my mammoth press day interview thingy with cast members Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Rose Byrne, and writer-director Nicholas Stoller you may do so now, or at your leisure. I’m also happy to report that, whatever the recently returned Nikki Finke is saying, it’s doing somewhat better than expected and defeating the really horrid looking (and, not surprisingly, horribly reviewed) “Killers” as of this moment at the Box Office.

Be that as it may, inspired by a fun piece over at the Playlist on fake bands from movies, along the lines of Aldous Snow’s Infant Sorrow from “Greek.” This weekend, I’ll be presenting some great moments with great fictional cinema bands. I’ll lead with one of the best moments from 2004’s “Hustle and Flow.” I think this was the moment I realized what I was watching was going to be a little more like “The Commitments” and a little less like “Superfly” when I saw it cold at Sundance. (Did I really declare it “the sweetest pimp movie of all time”? Oh, I was young and foolish then.) Since this is a rap tune created by an actual, fictional, pimp played by Terrence Howard, all the usual work-related provisos apply. Also, I wonder about those subtitles on the video. Just how do you translate “Whoop That Trick” into Greek? For that matter, how do you translate it into English?

And now for something completely different. A lot of you are probably familiar with the gay Hitler from the musical version of “The Producers” but fewer of you may know the hippie Hitler played to insane perfection by Dick Shawn in Mel Brooks 1968 original comedy cult-classic. Here, Lorenzo St. Dubois, call him “LSD” for short, sings “Love Power” and grabs the Broadway glass ring with the help of his all-female back-up band.

External Entertainment, External Movies, Humor, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News

Aldous Snow Dick Shawn Get Him to the Greek Headlines Hustle and Flow Infant Sorrow Killers Lorenzo St. Dubois Love Power LSD Nicholas Stoller Nikki Finke Rose Byrne Russell Brand Superfly The Committments The Producers

RIP William A. Fraker

June 3, 2010 / Bob Westal

Via Anne Thompson comes word of the passing of director of photography William A. Fraker. Fraker wasn’t one of the biggest names in cinematography of the later 20th century, but he had a definite knack for atmosphere and direct storytelling, and wasn’t afraid to take on highly diverse and unusual projects. His CV included everything from “Tombstone,” “Vegas Vacation” and “War Games” to such ultra-culty projects as Ralph Bakshi’s “Coonskin,” Theodore Flicker’s spy-satire “The President’s Analyst,” Curtis Harrington’s “Games,” and the underrated musical biopic “American Hot Wax.” Of course, he also worked on a couple of bonafide sixties mega-blockbusters, the ur-action cop movie, “Bullitt,” and the horror masterpiece that still reverberates whether any of us likes it or not, “Rosemary’s Baby.”

Below are some clips which show what a versatile director of photography like Mr. Fraker can do, starting with the obvious, which really shows that Fraker knew his way around shadows.

More after the flip.

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American Hot Wax Bullitt Coonskin Games Ralph Bakshi Rosemary's Baby The President's Analyst Theodore Flicker Tombstone Vegas Vacation War Games William A. Fraker William Fraker

“Yes, yes I remember, I had lasagna.”

June 2, 2010 / Bob Westal

It’s never been a secret that the Zucker-Abraham-Zucker parody classic, “Airplane!,” was largely inspired by a not-that-frequently seen 1957 disaster flick called “Zero Hour!.” Audiences were, however, familiar with countless other similar films that combined possibly immanent death with various types of melodrama. The definitely included the then-recent series of hugely successful airborne movie suspense-soaps that started with 1970’s “Airport.” It may have helped that “Zero Hour!” had been co-written by Arthur Hailey and “Airport” was based on a best-seller by Hailey.

Still, having never seen “Zero Hour!,” I had no idea just how close the two movies could be until I saw the following. Shirley Surely, you’ll see the resemblance.

Great work, someone. A huge h/t to /Film.

External Entertainment, External Movies, Humor, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies

Airplane Airport Shirley Surely Zero Hour!

A press day chat with director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, of “Micmacs”

June 1, 2010 / Bob Westal

If you’re even a halfway serious film fan, you may have noticed that directors like Wes Anderson, Tim Burton, and Quentin Tarantino do not make movies set on Planet Earth, they make movies set on Planets Anderson, Burton, and Tarantino. I’m a bit less of an expert on France’s extremely popular Jean-Pierre Jeunet, but it’s obvious that, even when his films are set in Paris, they’re really set on Planet Jeunet. His films have their own look and exist in their own reality.

As with Tim Burton, Jeunet’s roots are in animation. Together with his early collaborator, cartoonist Marc Caro, he made two films that pretty much destroyed the idea of France as a land where all movies were gritty examinations of the lives of depressed intellectuals (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Dystopic but decidedly non-realistic, “Delicatessen” and, to a much greater extent, 1995’s “The City of Lost Children” broke through internationally, with the latter becoming a popular midnight selection and attracting a geek audience that might have ordinarily rejected subtitled films. That was followed by his first solo production and also his first and, so far, only American film. 1997’s “Alien: Resurrection” was a domestic commercial disappointment that generated mixed reviews and more than a little fan hate in the U.S. — even its screenwriter, fan-master Joss Whedon, has entirely disowned it — but it was nevertheless an international success which is still warmly embraced by its jovial director. After that, Jeunet broke through even bigger with the worldwide success of “Amelie” in 2001, easily one of the most widely seen French films in the United States of the last couple of decades — so much so that it was simply referenced as “the French movie” in last year’s “Up in the Air.”

Now, Jeunet is back with his first film since his worldwide box office and critical hit, 2005’s “A Very Long Engagement,” with his own take on Chaplinesque/Keatonesque comedy with just a dash of Rube Goldberg not-quite-sci-fi. “Micmacs” stars comic Dany Boon (“My Best Friend”) as the hapless Bazil, whose father was killed by a landmine and whose health and livelihood was ruined by a bullet — each produced by a ruthless arms manufacturer. Homeless, he is befriended by a ragtag assortment of seven eccentrics with various unique skills. Bazil enlists their aid in avenging himself against the two firms.

The film has done reasonably well in its initial New York opening, and will be expanding to more theaters this Friday. It’s generally also been a hit with critics, very definitely including PH’s own Jason Zingale.

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

3-D A Very Long Engagement Akira Kurosawa Alien Alien: Resurrection Amelie Ang Lee Audrey Tautou Buster Keaton cannon men Charlie Chaplin Dany Boon David Lynch Delicatessen Doc Savage Fellini Headlines Jason Reitman Jean-Pierre Jeunet Jean-Pierre Jeunet interview Joss Whedon Julie Ferrier Life of Pi Lord of the Rings Marc Caro Max Steiner Micmacs Micmacs review My Best Friend Once Upon a Time in the West Orson Welles Pedro Almodovar Pixar Quentin Tarantino Rube Goldberg Snow White Snow White and Seven Dwarfes Star Wars Terry Gilliam Tetsuo Nagata The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension The Big Sleep The City of Lost Children the French film The Great Dictator Tim Burton Up in the Air Wes Anderson

Memorial Day with Mr. Eastwood, part 2

May 31, 2010 / Bob Westal

Following on my earlier post, here are a couple of moments from Clint Eastwood’s “Letters from Iwo Jima,” his film made from the point of view of Japanese soldiers and primarily shot in Japanese. It seems to me a like a sign of possible creeping maturity as a nation a rather conservative sort could make a film which sets out to humanize an enemy, even a former one. Anyhow, “Letters” isa great piece of work from a filmmaker who has, rather remarkably, made most of his best films after reaching 70. It’s been an amazing decade for Mr. Eastwood.