Normally I prefer to stick to writing my own material, but this one is too good not to share. Soft core Italian porn on Sesame Street? Kindasortayeah…
Image Source: http://www.msichicago.org/fileadmin/Exhibits/temporary/henson/Henson_SnowthsMahnaMahna_484.jpg
Last summer I attended Wizard World ComiCon as part of my birthday present. I had a short checklist of items to take care of, including picking up a new copy of the Watchmen graphic novel (to replace one that was borrowed) and staying on the lookout for clever Doctor Who T-shirts. (Sadly I didn’t come across any that met my definition of clever…) At the top of the list was getting to chat with Richard Roundtree, star of the 1971 MGM classic Shaft. I hoped to spend a few minutes with him and speak about the movement he helped start in the early 1970s. I would be more than a mere slobbering fan, for I would impress him with my vast knowledge of the sub-genre of which he is considered to be one of the founding fathers. I would tell him about how I spend an entire class discussing the Blaxploitation movement and its importance to modern cinema in one of the college film courses that I teach. I could picture his respect that I was exposing these films to a new generation of students, and placing their importance in the appropriate historical context. I have to admit, it was a meeting I was looking forward to, and toted my well-watched DVD copy of Shaft along with me for an autograph…so imagine my surprise when he called me an ignorant asshole. Read the rest of this entry »
Silent films featuring German expressionism about a dystopian future just aren’t as popular as they used to be. One film however keeps coming back year after year, decade after decade, like Rosie O’Donnell but without the fallout of mass suicides: Fritz Lang’s 1927 masterpiece Metropolis. Yes, it’s in black and white. Yes, it’s silent. Yes, it’s German. Yes, it’s also arguably the most important science fiction film of all time. German expressionist films in general aren’t particularly accessible to modern audiences, but they do tend to be peppered throughout pop-culture, occasionally shaking their ass in the face of the mindless masses. Metropolis has slipped into our cultural iconography as perhaps the most influential film to come out of Germany in the pre-WWII days, and still dips it’s balls into the pop-culture stew with surprising regularity. Don’t believe me? Read the rest of this entry »
Couldn’t resist this one for today, in honor of Halloween…
We (the film geeks of the world) are hard-wired to believe that studio interference is evil and the director’s cut of a movie is the seldom seen, but much sought after ambrosia that keeps us slogging through the theatrical versions of movies. It is a gospel truth that the theatrical release of a film is far inferior to what the director intended you to see, and it is only later, on the DVD or Blu-Ray that maybe you’ll get to see that elusive vixen, the director’s cut…or “the way the movie was supposed to look before the malignant growths that run the studio made the director change his movie.” In many cases, this is 100% true – there are a shit-ton of movies that are significantly improved by the director’s cut, extended version, etc. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is generally considered to be great in the theatrical cut and friggin’ fantastic in the extended cut, and Daredevil actually steps up from being cinematic bile to a watchable, dare I even say “good” movie. But sometimes the director’s ego grows to a point where it eclipses his ability to watch his film objectively, and that’s when the director’s cut can go horribly wrong… Read the rest of this entry »
Have you ever wanted to pitch an ace movie to a friend and an imdb link just wasn’t enough so you search for a trailer online and pre-screen it before showing them and think, “what the fuck is this?” Ever see a trailer for a movie and it just strokes you in all the right places like a well seasoned prostitute only to find out some of the scenes from the trailer weren’t in the movie. And the prostitute had a bigger penis than you? Read the rest of this entry »
You know that guy: Sideburns. Short-sleeve concert shirt of a punk band from the 70s (undoubtedly worn over a long-sleeve shirt.) Reading well-word copies of Burn Collector. Maybe he rides the same bus as you. Maybe he serves you coffee at an indie coffee shop (but never Starbucks.) One time he overheard you talking on the phone about watching Rush Hour 2, and he looked at you with that smug expression, iPod ear-buds leading to his original 1986 Sony Walkman, knowing that his taste in movies is so much deeper, so much hipper than yours. Next time you see that guy just punch him in the fucking face or shit in his army surplus satchel because you’re never going to change his mind about the movies you watch…but in the meantime, you should watch American Movie. Read the rest of this entry »
Russ
noggin.psd
