Category: Movies (Page 382 of 498)

The original Brad is none too thrilled about MTV’s “Rocky Horror” remake

August 14, 2008 /

When asked his opinion of the news that MTV was planning a remake of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Barry Bostwick, who played Brad Majors in the original version of the film, hadn’t heard anything about it…and once he had, he was none too thrilled.

“Oh, really? That’s a waste of money,” said Bostwick, in an interview with Bullz-Eye.com done in conjunction with his upcoming Spike TV film, “Depth Charge.” “That would be like saying…and understand that I’m not making this as a total comparison, but it would be like saying, ‘Hey, let’s go remake ‘Casablanca’!”

“How are you going to remake it?” Bostwick asked. “Every time it was done on stage, I thought it showed the flaws of the piece. I think it’s a one-off; I don’t think you can repeat that. I mean, look at the sequel, ‘Shock Treatment.’ I never saw that, but it was a miserable failure…even more of one than ‘Rocky Horror’ was when it first came out! That one wasn’t even re-discovered and turned into a cult hit.

“I think films like (‘Rocky Horror’) are stand-alones and brilliant for what they were at the time they were done,” concluded Bostwick. “You should just leave those things alone.”

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The Passion of Greg the Bunny: The Best of the Film Parodies, Vol. 2

August 9, 2008 /

The mourning continues over the early demise of “Greg the Bunny” from the Fox line-up, which had so much potential that was never allowed to be exercised by the network, but at least we still have the gang’s film parodies from their show on IFC. As usual, there’s plenty of occasionally tasteless comedy to be found amongst the movie-related gags, with Greg, Warren, and Count Blah taking shots at “Monster,” “Dogville,” VH-1’s “Behind the Music,” Biblical epics, body-switching flicks, and David Lynch’s entire oeuvre. Your personal mileage may vary, but for my money, you can’t beat “The Passion of the Easter Bunny: Fabricated American Movie,” which reunites Mark Borchardt and Mike Schank from “American Movie” to great effect while skewering Christianity more than enough to get everyone involved a free pass into Hell. (Example: while playing Jesus, Greg says that, after the Last Supper, “I just thought I’d hang out and try to get some sun; I don’t want to be nailed down to any specific plans.”) Like Volume 1, this set is thoroughly filled with special features, including audio commentary, deleted scenes, webisodes, a gag reel, Warren’s failed pilot for a “Dinner for Five”-like series, interviews with Greg and Warren from Comic-Con 2006, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and footage of Greg from his earliest public-access days. Lastly, remedying a complaint about the previous volume, we’re also finally given “Fur on the Asphalt,” the reunion special which serving as the transition between the Fox series and Greg’s return to IFC.

Click to buy “The Passion of Greg the Bunny: The Best of the Film Parodies, Vol. 2”

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Making Of

August 6, 2008 /

Bahti (Lotfi Abdelli) is a talented, girl-loving, Tunisian breakdancer and pretty much the last person you’d expect to find under the tutelage of an Islamist cleric with Al Qaeda sympathies (Lotfi Dziri), begging for a chance a shot at the suicide bombing big-time. That, however, is the precise trajectory traced by Nouri Bouzid’s astute and emotionally adept, but initially slow-moving, look at the causes of terrorism.

“Making Of” starts out as pretty much a straight-up neorealist look at the issue, as we spend time observing how limited 25 year-old Bahti’s life has become and how the U.S. invasion of Iraq provides a powerful, but ideologically confused, focus for his generalized anger. Then, just as Bahti starts to be carefully schooled on the ways of hating Westerners and despising women, the film takes a sudden meta/post-modern turn as the actor Lotfi Abdelli switches from Arabic to French, goes out of character, and begins to angrily question the nature of the film to director Bouzid, and suddenly the title becomes a self-conscious double entendre. These staged segments appear to be aimed at diffusing anger among Tunisians who prefer to deny the existence of terrorism in their homeland, as well as observant Moslems who might be insulted by the film’s respectful, yet critical, look at modern day Islam. In any case, Bouzid’s film is compelling viewing, largely because of two charismatic lead performances from Abdelli as the alienated youth and Lotfi Dziri as the low-key fanatic who indoctrinates him in the ways of hate and death. With its strong stand against terrorism and outspoken humanism, “Making Of” is a thoughtful and poignant choice for Westerners curious about exactly what is being said and thought on the so-called Arab “street.”

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Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood

August 2, 2008 /

If you’re a movie buff, you probably smiled when you saw the elbow-in-the-ribs joke of this film’s title, but to illuminate those who don’t know their Hollywood trivia, it’s been said that the success of “Where the North Begins,” which provided a similarly-named canine star (Rin Tin Tin) with his first starring role, was responsible for keeping Warner Brothers from going bankrupt. “Won Ton Ton: The Dog Saved Hollywood” takes that approximate concept – a dog becoming a bigger star than most human actors – and adds to the plot a would-be actress (Madeline Kahn) who’s the only person to whom Won Ton Ton will listen. Bruce Dern plays the aspiring director whose career takes off thanks to the dog, Art Carney is the studio head, and Ron Leibman gets a lot of laughs out of his role as Rudy Montague, a very thinly-veiled version of Rudolph Valentino, but the real fun of the flick comes from the number of old-Hollywood stars who make cameos. Indeed, “Won Ton Ton” might actually beat “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” for the number of guest stars, though it’s a little sad to realize that, in 2008, only real cinemaphiles will appreciate how cool it is to see a cast which includes…wait, let me take a deep breath…Johnny Weismuller, Victor Mature, Rudy Vallee, Walter Pidgeon, Ann Miller, Ann Rutherford, Peter Lawford, the Ritz Brothers, Andy Devine, Alice Faye, Dennis Day, Broderick Crawford, Cyd Charisse, Fernando Lamas, Sterling Holloway, Dorothy Lamour, William Demarest, Jackie Coogan, Phil Silvers, George Jessel, Edgar Bergen, and even Stepin Fetchit. “Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood” isn’t a true classic of the ’70s, but when it comes to films which provide opportunities to say, “Hey, look, that’s (INSERT ACTOR HERE),” it’s in a league of its own.

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Starship Troopers 3: Marauder

July 29, 2008 /

Whatever self-awareness the “Starship Troopers” franchise may have had about its neo-fascist nature is long gone in this latest installment, which is a shame because it certainly started off promisingly enough. Casper Van Dien is back as Col. Johnny Rico, who goes from villain to hero in time to save old friend Lola Beck (Jolene Blalock) from attack on a hostile bug planet. The artwork promotes the new weapons the Federation has to play with, but they don’t come into play until the final 15 minutes…and look just like Obadiah Stain’s suit from “Iron Man.” Not only that, the soldiers operating them have to be naked for them to work. Yep, that’s the plot piece they wrote into the story in order to get the girls’ tops off. (Strange, then, that Van Dien later steps out of his Marauder suit fully clothed.) They have some fun with the character of Sky Marshall Anoke – not only is he Sky Marshall, but he’s a million-selling pop star with songs like the recruitment anthem “A Good Day to Die” – and the Federation Updates are always amusing, but it seems completely lost on all concerned that they are asking the viewer to root for a “1984”-style government that sentences protestors to death and views religious faith as an act of rebellion in a godless society. Who funded this, Pat Robertson?

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