Tis the season to be watching tons of the most merry programing and movies Hollywood has to offer. Even though I consider the Halloween season to be the most anticipated time of the year for fun TV, the Christmas season is arguably the most popular. Why I say this is because of all the cable channels that are 100% dedicated to the Holidays like AMC, Hallmark, Lifetime, ABC Family, QVC and TMC. Plus, Christmas movies outnumber any other holiday movies probably 51,687,342 to 1. So today I am going to pick a few of the 51,687,342 Christmas movies and see what the actors are up to today. I hope there are not too many dead.

“Stuck? Stuuuck? STUUUUUCCCKKK!!!”

Poor Flick. The kid that proved sticking your tongue to a flagpole is not an urban legend like previously believed. His role in the Christmas movie to end all Christmas movies, The Christmas Story, was really a prominent role to me. I think it was because he captured what kids were really like and that was his high pitch, shrill screams he belted. Bravo Scott Schwartz!

Holy Jingle Bells! Since his most famous role as Flick, it looks like Scott Schwartz has gotten his tongue stuck on more things than a flagpole. Unbelievably so, Scott made a pretty good run in the porn business through the 90’s. It never ceases to amaze me when writing these “catch up” articles what a few of these childhood stars delve into. But to be fair, he has done other things like his other famous role in The Toy and many after school specials. Today he runs a card shop with his dad and still acts in lower budget movies. His porn star days look like they have gone the way of the Dodo. I mean he is only 5 foot 6 so how impressive could he be? I’m just stating what others think.

“I am not a piece of undigested potato, you fucking dick-hole warrior!”

I don’t know if I quoted that completely accurate but I think I am pretty close. Anyway, Frank Finlay played the ghostly assistant to Scrooge (George C. Scott), Marley in the 1984 made for TV movie Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. And holy holly shit, Marley scared the nog out of me. Really though, that part of the story was always the most unnerving. Much more than the Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come.

Frank is one of those actors that has been a film legend but has not been privy in my limitless film knowledge because, well, that knowledge is reserved for films like Flight Of The Navigator and Mega Shark 3 (director’s cut). No, Frank is a “serious” British actor that has been in so many films, plays and TV specials from the 1950’s to present, I couldn’t read off the list without taking a pee break. But in that whole list that I am not willing to type, I really only recognized a few like The Pianist, Life Force (amazing space vampire movie) and The Three Musketeers followed a year later by The Four Musketeers (no idea). So with that, thanks Frank. Thanks for scaring the figgy pudding out of me on the most joy-est day of the year.

“Dinosaurs are always linked to the birth of Christ” (Almost made that 10, Norb)

I don’t know if you will remember the “Claymation Christmas Special” but if you do, you will be just as outraged as I am that this isn’t a Christmas classic like “Merry Christmas Charlie Brown” or” How The Grinch Stole Christmas”. No, this amazing TV special died with the dawn of Pixar animation because let’s face it; claymation takes artistic talent and computer geeks out number them 10 to 1. You can probably find the clay animators working for “Ace of Cakes” or something.

So where are our hosts Rex and Douches-Tricer-whocaresish?

Like you didn’t already know that?

“Santa, there is a little boy who wears bear sweaters and corduroy pants that lives in Marietta, Georgia. I think his style is amazing and I totally want to go steady with a guy like that.”

That was actually in the 1985 movie Santa Clause and the actress Carrie Kei Heim said that. I think they edited it out in the TV formated version but I remember it.

Seriously though, I had a huge crush on the young actress as a kid. And if you are a 31-year-old straight male that remembers 1985, you did too. Unfortunately she wasn’t in too many other movies other than Parent Trap II and a few TV programs like “Pippi Longstocking” and “The Equilizer”. No matter, though because she has a successful life as a lawyer, wife and mother of one in Boston. I like learning that child actors have another destiny besides being a guest on “The Smoking Gun TV show”.

That’s where I am going to leave this addition of “Where Did You Go” for the 2009 Christmas season. We learned that Flick’s pole licking led him to a carrier in pornography, Marley is arguably the scariest of the ghosts in The Christmas Carol (except for Goofy), Claymation is awesome and the only way for a comeback is to go buy your own Play-do set, and the cute girl in Santa Clause grew up to be boring and a lawyer. So that means she is damned to Hell. Well, that’s pretty interesting.

Everyone has their favorites. Especially at Christmas time. Favorite cookie, favorite Christmas song, favorite holiday movie. I thought I’d compile a list of some of my favorite movies, the ones that I watch every year.

The classics: This category includes Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life and White Christmas. In the classics for the younger set you can’t forget the stop motion classics, Rudolph, the Red-nosed reindeer and Santa Claus is comin’ to town. A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Grinch who stole Christmas are both not to be missed. 

Some movies that get rolled out every year that are not quite as old as the above include A Christmas Carol (with George C. Scott) This is by far the best version of the Dickens tale. It was originally made for TV in 1984 but captures the essence of the story better than any version I’ve ever seen. Scott brings the perfect gruffness to the beginning scenes with Cratchit and sheds real tears in the finale. A Christmas Story has gained classic status in record time. The “you’ll shoot your eye out” movie has gotten hours of play in Christmas Day marathons over the last few years. Seasons of the Heart is a little seen but excellent film about an orphan boy who helps his new mom fully grieve the loss of her own daughters and find new meaning in the baby in the manger. Tear jerker. 

Some of the newer movies that have made the cut are The Grinch with Jim Carrey which (except for one curse word late in the film) is a funny twist on the Seuss classic. Also good are the Santa Clause movies with Tim Allen. The first one is probably the freshest and best of the bunch but for just good clean holiday fun the other two will do. Martin Short as Jack Frost makes The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause worth sitting through. Elf is probably the newest arrival to the holiday movie lineup. The first time I saw Will Ferrell eating gum from the bottom of a handrail in NYC I thought I was going to break a blood vessel from laughing so hard.

Honorable mentions go to the Christmas episodes of Little House on the Prairie. We have these recorded and watch them every year as well. The Little House episode where Laura sells her pony to buy something for her Ma and then receives a saddle is the best of the bunch.

I have not watched all of these yet. Some used to be reserved for Christmas Eve but our traditions have changed over the years. In past years, due to time limits I haven’t watched some of them until after Christmas. Well, that’s the list. Let me know if I missed any.

CLICK FOR TRAILER

What?

On the 15th anniversary of the exorcism that claimed the life of a young priest, a nightmarish series of bizarre, religious murders shatters the world of a local police officer. A man claiming to be the ‘Gemini’ killer admits responsibility and backs this up with intimate knowledge of the crimes. But the ‘Gemini’ killer was executed fifteen years ago….

Where?

At home.

With?

Yep…that headache again!

Why?

The saga continues…all I ask is that it’s better than part two. It can’t be worse…can it?

Of course it can’t, there’s an actor called Ed Flanders in it!

Worth It?

It was never going to be as bad as part 2, but this was still a bit of a chore to watch. It took some really close concentration to figure out how this was even linked to the Exorcist, it seemed like a completely different film that decided at the last-minute it wanted to be spooky and had more in common with Zodiac than it did with Blatty’s original.

I have to say now, three movies in and I’m tempted to stop, I’ve heard terrible things about both prequels and I’m wondering if I should just no waste my time. Oh well, I’ll see how i feel tomorrow.

Until then, another day, another poor film.

4/10

Dr. Strangelove or:how i lerned to stop worrying and love the bomb, 1964 – Direção: Stanley Kubrick – Elenco:Peter Sellers,Peter Sellers,Peter Sellers.

Uma das obras mais geniais que o cinema já proporcionou no quesito humor. Tudo é milimetricamente pensado e planejado por Kubrick e arranca risada apenas dos que estão preparados com o tema do filme (guerra fria) ou com quem já viu mais de uma vez. Acho difícil rir bastante da primeira vez que se vê esta obra de arte magnífica.

Temos um arsenal de piadas subscritas e atiradas de maneira tão sutil que revendo a coisa fica muito mais divertida. Pra começar, acho que Kubrick pensou como eu penso ao fazer o filme. A guerra fria foi o momento mais humorístico da história sendo que tudo foi uma grande piada que poderia ter tido consequências assustadoras. Portanto decidiu pegar suas idéias e juntá-las a um livro que achou interessante. O livro, é claro, não tinha humor, até porque falava de guerra, certo? E na guerra não se pode fazer piadas certo? Mas Kubrick anarquiza idéias conservadoras como essas e transforma o livro em um roteiro de humor negro fantástico e que faz pessoas babarem até hoje pela genialidade das piadas.

Um general pirado aciona um comando onde todos os aviões que sobrevoam determinadas regiões próximas a Rússia carregados de bombas nucleares com a força muito maior que as bombas da segunda guerra, têm por obrigação bombardear suas áreas marcadas por causa do comando. Depois de dada essa ordem, o aviões ficam incontactáveis para qualquer um que queira impedir o ataque, menos quem tem a senha de desativação do bloqueio dos rádios aéreos, nesse caso, o general pirado.

Logo depois dessa loucura toda descobrimos que o general acionou os aviões sem a permissão do presidente, que é claro que vocês já sabem, é o único que pode acionar um ataque nuclear. Mas como o general conseguiu isso então? Mais que simples. Descobrimos tudo isso pela, talvez, cena mais engraçada de todo o filme, onde o presidente questiona um de seus generais no comando, o Buck, e descobre (sim cara, descobre!) que todo um protocolo foi aceito por ele mesmo ao concordar com um módulo de defesa onde, se o país sofresse algum ataque soviético qualquer general no comando de sua base poderia, em sua defesa, acionar um contra-ataque nuclear. Mas é claro que a Rússia não atacou ninguém e o general que acionou o ataque é um louco. Toda a cena da explicação me fez chorar de rir. É maravilhosa de mais!

Mas não é só essa cena que se destaca levada pelas consequencias dos atos dos personagens. A maioria das cenas depois dos cinco primeiros minutos de exibição são hilárias e eternas. No QG onde está o general e seu assistente acontecem momentos assustadoramente engraçados, como quando ele dá um discurso sobre fluidos corporais e água com flúor e quando ele se mata. Rir é a única escapatória.

Mas Kubrick não era apenas gênio por pegar uma historia normal e fazê-la provocar risadas. Nas cenas de guerrilha o cara arregaça com movimentos de câmera livre e sem perfeccionismo extremo. As câmeras nessa cena passeiam com os soldados e tremem por estarem a vontade e filmarem num realismo documental que proporciona mais ligação com a platéia ao ver o filme.

Peter Sellers não merece um parágrafo porque ele é um espetáculo de ser visto e não falado ou escrito. Portanto vejam um cara em três papéis (ou mais) que anarquiza tudo em termos de atuação e nunca se parece a mesma pessoa.

O jogo envolvendo a URSS e os EUA é muito hilário. Kubrick mostra que a guerra da época era apenas um pretexto pros “líderes” de cada nação poderem construir bombas a vontade sem ter ao menos quem atacar. Claro, os americanos tinham quase todo o seu povo contra a URSS só por ser comunista. E é claro que os comunistas queriam o mundo, mesmo não tendo nada de comunista em suas idéias. E em diversas cenas onde o talento de Sellers era o mais importante, afinal ele fica com um telefone no ouvido com uma penca de gente envolta e ainda consegue arrancar uma chuva de risadas, acho que não é um trabalho muito fácil não. E é nessas conversas ao telefone que percebemos que a guerra era uma brincadeira sem graça. O presidente dos EUA, além de levar até a sala de guerra um representante russo, tem conversas mais do que amigáveis com o embaixador russo pelo telefone.

Interessante saber que o filme tem apenas três cenários, o avião que bombardeará o seu objetivo, a sala de guerra no pentágono e o QG onde o general pirado dá as ordens malucas.

Outra questão a ser levantada é que ao tentar impedir o ataque os russos acertaram mísseis em alguns aviões americanos, e um deles o que agente acompanha desde o começo do filme é atingido, mas consegue se manter, para ainda sim, bombardear seu objetivo. O que o presidente, lá na sala de guerra descobre é que os russos têm a “arma do juízo final” e que se qualquer bomba cair em solo russo ela é ativada por um computador e deixa o planeta terra inabitável por exatos 93 anos. E depois de muito correr e conseguir fazer os aviões voltarem e não atacar mais seus alvos, o que o presidente e todos na sala não imaginavam é que o avião que , nós espectadores acompanhávamos durante o filme todo, conseguiria lançar uma bomba em território soviético com um cowboy louco em cima dela gritando como se fosse 4 de julho.

E no fim, o que nos resta é apenas uma mão, uma mão que tenta nos enforcar. Uma mão que não se controla. Uma mão que a qualquer momento pode roubar nosso cigarro. Uma mão chamada ganância. Uma mão que os homens insistem em manter e que um dia poderá dar uma escapada do controle e soltar uma bomba que dure 93 anos apenas por brincadeira de ego.

5/5

I think my 2nd All Freakin Night truly solidified my love for Olympia.  Drinking tepid rum and cokes out of Dasini bottles while leaning forward to throw trash off a 2nd floor balcony, all the time attempting to slur out a quip at a theater screen (as loud as fucking possible), which is playing a movie about space slugs that turn people into zombies; I even turned down taking mushrooms that night.  The funny thing is that there were at least four more movies afterwards.  What I’m trying to expertly transition into is my love for Night of The Creeps.

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This is one of those movies I always saw sitting up on the rack at the local video/liquor store when I was a kid.  I’d go into the stagnant shop once a week with my Dad to rent a NES game and if I’d been good that week I could maybe get a movie too.  When my Dad would browse the “walk-in closet” sized section of ever so fine spirits (always coming out with rum) I could be found gawking at whatever creepy or crazy VHS caught my eyes.  Some of my favorites that I can still remember today are:  Dead Alive, Evil Dead 2, and Nightmare On Elm Street 3. Of course I was never allowed to rent any of these movies and probably didn’t see most of them until I was 18.  My Mom told me about seeing The Exorcist in theaters when my oldest brother Andrew was a toddler (he just turned 40).  The movie fucked with my Mom so bad that she sped home right when the end credits started to roll, convinced my brother was most likely speaking in tongues and telling the babysitter that his/her mother sucks cocks in Hell (he does love Motorhead).  Anyways, it makes sense that I wasn’t priviliged these gems as a child.

Sci-fi horror is the basis of many of my nightmares growing up.  Once Andrew blossomed into the old brother that wished to enlighten/terrify his uncultured sponge of a sibling, I found – very bluntly – the ingredients to being frightened via film.  Let’s all give a hand for John Carpenter at his cinematic raping of the senses: The Thing. Even to this day I can’t think of a movie that hucks bundles of dynamite at the caveman side of human nature as his remake did.  I know at some point in my youth Andrew threw on what would become a film that rests comfortably in my top ten favorites and I couldn’t shit right for a week.  No joke; my Dad had to sit in on all my bathroom endeavors for a bit because I was afraid of Charles Hannahan’s detached spider fuck-me-I-never-ever-wanna-see-that-thing-whether-in-real-or-fucking-Oz head.

Aliens is right there with The Thing when it comes to a movie that caused me to always run and jump on my bed when it was lights out.  How was I to know there wasn’t a facehugger under the box spring;  didn’t fuck about.  It also spawned my HATE for Paul Reiser even though I know Burke was just a character, but I don’t care.  Every time I watched Mad About You (don’t even ask me why, I don’t even know) I would stare at Reiser and think, “You lied to Ripley and so many good people were killed because of it.  I wish I could have punched you to death before that alien got you… prick.”  Guilty by association:  I hate Helen Hunt too.  Whatever, she sucks.

So when my parents would leave me home alone I’d dig through the pile of copied VHS tapes (my favorite had The Great Mouse Detective, Wayne’s World, and Addams Family on it) and usually end up with Aliens because The Thing disappeared once Andrew left for college.  Between the releases of these two sci-fi horror titans I was missing out on the teen/college equivalent:  Night of The Creeps.

Doofy college freshmen – whose best friend has polio – attempts to take out his dream girl for the formal, but of course zombie jocks/bros who are afflicted with space brain slugs derail the evening.  Solution?  A shotgun, flamethrower, revolver, lawnmower, and Tom Atkins.  I know for a fact I would have grown up to be a better person if I had this movie in my possession as a youngster.  I probably would have been nicer to people with disabilities too, but my parents insisted I play t-ball.  Thus it’s not my fault that I love Christopher Reeves jokes, but Mom and Dad’s.

Horror is the genre that I can’t get tired of and am always willing to watch.  If I wanna have trouble sleeping I’ll put on The Changeling (I’m actually a little uneasy right now just thinking about it) and keep thinking I see something just out of my peripherals.  How about bad people getting exactly what they deserve?  Then it’s Sleepaway Camp, just make sure no one spoils the ending for ya.  What keeps horror fresh is the blending of genres.  I’m trying to stay on the subject of sci-fi horror, but what makes a film watchable over and over again for me is the humor.  Re-Animator is a rare title that I could easily watch every day because it’s funny as shit.  A roommate justifies hiding a dead cat in his mini-fridge because he didn’t wish to leave a sticky note that read “cat dead, details later”.  Dr. West is a gentleman and don’t you forget it.

I’ve heard “splatter comedy” tossed around when talking about movies like Creeps, but The Return of The Living Dead was the first movie to be labeled by this sub-genre to my knowledge.  Without going off the deep end about it, they’re films that use gore and violence – not just funny dialogue – to heighten the comedic qualities as the story pans out.  To someone who isn’t big on horror it can sound perverse that laughter can come from someone being blown up, but with the right line delivered, piece of music used, or sometimes even the lack of both, humor can come spilling out in bloody abundance.

The real appeal in Creeps is writer/director Fred Dekker’s stew of a tale that involves so many aspects in cinema.  You got two buddies who are bumbling around a college campus and all they really want is some lady-loving, which leads to partying.  Apparently getting into a frat gets you laid, so just like any “sex comedy” whacky antics need to ensue; a prank.  The prank brings us to a previous flashback of the cliche 50’s that is familiar as Hell because of old throwback black and whites.  An object jettisoned from an alien craft streaks over make-out point and of course it lands nearby; it MUST be investigated.  It’s a perfect catalyst to the ridiculousness that object – a singular space slug – will cause years later.

Once bursting heads start spurting out legions of wiggly-jiggles that dart across tile floors looking for an open orifice (my God that was fun to type) we need a hero and we get one:  Tom “Thrill Me” Atkins.  His character Detective Ray Cameron easily sits alongside dudes like Reggie, Peter, and Ash at the big boy table for bad asses in horror.  He’s full of one-liners, a fucked up past, and finishes every sentence with a shotgun blast (I’m on a God damn roll).  That’s the issue I have with many hero characters these days, is that they can’t be fun and kooky.  The ones that are a little odd-ball are typically very young characters, but rarely are they the old-timers with age in their face and stories to tell.

And don’t let me forget J.C. played by Steve Marshall (he was also on 21 Jump Street, so you know this guy is big time).  Now I always say he had polio in the movie – even though there’s no mention of it – so maybe I’ll just switch to “handicapped”… even though I wanna say “cripple”.  Having a character with a disability for no good God damn reason does add some realism to a film that is so far passed the limits of normality.  I hate when every actor in a film looks like they just got done tanning in the OC and are on their way to getting frap-a-fucking-chinos at some coffee shop before they zoom off to blow each other while watching Friends. The characters in this movie look like normal to partially awkward people, just like every other random you pass on the street.  Dekker threw in a guy who should easily be a shut-in, but J.C. turns out to be one of the better characters in the movie.  He pushes his buddy Chris (the actor Jason Lively was also on 21 Jump Street; P.I.M.P.) to actually talk to a woman and not be such a pussy that bitches about everything wrong in his life, but actually assists him in fixing all the bullshit.

I don’t think I ever wanna have kids.  I’m already too damn selfish as it is and if I have to fork out cash to some free-loader that can’t even walk or talk; don’t think so.  But if I ever become “responsible” and “stop peeing in the sink” which – God forbid – leads me into parenthood, my kid would get a VHS tape (yup, just because I’m an adult doesn’t mean I’m NOT poor) with three titles on it:  The Thing, Aliens, and Night of the Creeps.  Because isn’t the whole point of having kids so as not to be your parents or do I have that backwards?  I really don’t know.  Well I’m off to get a vasectomy; wish me luck.

I call myself a pacifist.  I’m pretty sure that there isn’t a time when killing swaths of your fellow humans could be justified.  I can’t think of a war that 1) couldn’t have been avoided if the right people were in charge, 2) didn’t go terribly wrong in terms of casualties, civilian and military and 3) bring out the worst in human behaviour.  But I have a dark, dirty secret (that isn’t so secret to those who know me well)…I LOVE war movies.  I don’t just mean the anti-war classics like All Quiet On the Western Front and Paths Of Glory.  I mean good old-fashioned jingoistic flag-wavers with John Wayne and Van Johnson.  I mean modern classics like Saving Private Ryan and Platoon.  I know this seems like a disparity and I suppose it is, in a way.  But in war movies, I often see men (and women) rising to humanitarian heights, overcoming physical limitations and demonstrating partisanship and cooperation, bringing out the man’s best in the worst of circumstances.  This week is Remembrance Day here in Canada and in Britain and Veteran’s Day in the United States and at this time, I always feel led to watch a few of my favourites as well finding one or two I may have overlooked.  As I grow older however, I become more aware of my mortality and more appreciative of the sacrifices made  by others who chose to go into harm’s way for the ideal of freedom and this year in particular, I have been thinking of people I have known who were connected to war in some way and of course, the movies their situation brings to mind.

Although my dad was a couple of months shy of active service in World War 2 (he joined up on his 18th birthday but all he saw was basic training outside Toronto and weekend furloughs in Toronto), I have several uncles who saw a great deal of action.  My uncle Mike was shot down behind German lines early in the war and sat through the war in a POW camp.  As a child, when he and my aunt Kaye would come over for a swim and he would take off his shirt, I would marvel at the foot long scar rippling across his left shoulder from stray bullets during his capture.  The Canadian military was ultimately very generous, providing him with a pension and a cushy job chauffeuring military types around Southern Ontario until his retirement but that would be a small price for the indignities he must have suffered and horrific sights he must have been privy to in those years in the German camp, as in the quintessential POW movie, The Great Escape.  Although this rollicking and exciting adventure strays sometimes from the source material, the book by Paul Brickhill that outlines his own experiences as a prisoner at the infamous Stalag Luft II, the truly amazing thing is that the most unbelievable parts in the film are those that actually happened with Steve McQueen’s unpredictable behaviour and demands accounting for the bulk of the changes from the book.  Another great movie (and book) from this same event is the British classic, The Wooden Horse, the true-life story of how an escape tunnel was dug essentially using only a wooden gymnastic horse and the ingenuity of dozens of prisoners.

My uncle Harry was one of the 76,000 Canadian troops that participated in the invasion of Sicily and ultimately Italy and spent many long months working his way north to free Italy from the fascist grip of Mussolini.  On a recent trip to Italy, we were in Salerno, where the disembarkation of the Allied invasion of Italy took place and and as I walked on the boardwalk next to the Mediterranean, I couldn’t help but think of the thousands of young men who lost their lives where I was walking.  The invasion of Sicily brings to mind the Oscar-winning film about the man who led the great invasion, Patton.  General George Patton was an imposing, brash, egotistical man but a brilliant tactician and the ideal fodder for a movie biography.  Francis Coppola and former military man Edmund North wrote a terrific script that perfectly captured the enigma that was Patton.  George C. Scott would not give a better performance, even if he felt it necessary to turn down the Oscar that came with it and the movie would famously become Richard Nixon’s favourite.

Many years ago, I watched what was essentially another rip-off of The Dirty Dozen, The Devil’s Brigade.  An entertaining romp, this one held a place of importance  and pride to me though because it concerned a ragtag U.S. commando unit drummed into shape by Canadian Special Forces officers, led by Cliff Robertson.  For once, the Canadians were the real heroes.  It was many years later that my dad informed that not only was the Devil’s Brigade a real World War 2 unit, but the best man at my parent’s wedding, George Stocking, was a former member of the Devil’s Brigade.  I promptly rushed home and watched it again and got a copy for my dad, who had never seen the movie.

My favourite war sub-genre is the submarine movie.  The idea that a small group of men from every background works together for the greater good (and their own safety) inside a giant tube, constantly facing stress and danger is a formula that never gets old for me.  Purists will list Das Boot and Run Silent Run Deep as the classics of the genre but my favourite is a propaganda piece that may lack in realism, but more than makes up for it in heart, Destination Tokyo.  Released at the start of the Second World War to give audiences a glimpse into the heretofore unknown world of the silent service, it stars Cary Grant as the skipper of a sub that has the unenviable task of sneaking into Tokyo Bay on an espionage mission, providing us with humour, pathos, excitement, and sheer bravado in spades.  Yeah, it’s old-fashioned but it’s old-fashioned fun.

Many may feel, even with the advent of ultra-realistic movies like Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line, that war movies diminish the great sacrifices the men and women who have served have made but I know that during virtually every war movie I watch, I have at least a moment of reflection when I’m thankful uncles Mike and Harry and all the other uncles, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives and aunts were willing to make the decision to serve their country so that pacifists like myself can enjoy the freedom they fought for.

Classic scene from1967’s  “The Flim Flam Man,” starring George C. Scott, Michael Sarrazin, and the irascible Slim Pickens. Scott was only 40, and Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. was 48 when this was made.

Where do we go from here? Patton? No. Too obvious, so let’s find something Y’all haven’t heard in a while, also from 1967.

Mannix. What kinda name was that? A very cool one.

Ironsides rocked the courtroom, even before handicapped parking was invented.

The 2nd greatest TV theme song ever. Book ‘im, Danno.

Inane sitcom with a great intro.  Very loosely based upon the great movie “Stalag 17.”

1965’s “Wild Wild West” intro.  So what if it’s not from 1967. The animation, updated during the program, counts big time.  Forget Robert Conrad. The real star was Ross Martin, aka Artemus Gordon.

Best TV theme song ever? This.

Três horas de filme que super valeram e que te ganha desde a apresentação inicial. PATTON é singular pela sua trama que beira a um épico inspirado nas ações de um general herói[ou antiherói?] da II Guerra Mundial. O tal Patton nasceu pra nada menos que isso mas ao mesmo tempo é tido como um estranho no ninho por conta de sua ambição e vontade de guerra. Mais curiosa ainda é a interpretação de George C. Scott interpretando o ríspido general. Não tem quem não louve sua atuação mesmo com toda a ambiguidade por trás. Um general conservador e poeta que acha que viveu em Esparta em vidas anteriores e que louva o seu país natal[Estados Unidos]. Uma das atuações mais brilhantes que eu já vi. Um filme obrigatório vencedor de 8 Oscars, incluindo melhor filme, diretor[Franklin J. Schaffner], ator e roteiro adaptado[Francis Ford Coppola]. Ainda tem o adorável e sempre coadjuvante Karl Malden no elenco.

Changeling, The (1980)
★★★ / ★★★★

Initially, I thought this was going to be a ghost story like the truly horrific “The Shining” (which I was excited for), but toward the end it ended up being more like “The Ring” (which I wasn’t as excited for). Directed by Peter Medak, “The Changeling” was about a man who loves to play the piano (George C. Scott) and his grief for losing his wife and daughter. After about four months of their death, with the help of a friend (Trish Van Devere), he decided to move in to a creepy historical mansion to work on his music and to move on from the tragedy. However, the house would not let him work or heal because it would make strange noises, play the piano when he left the room, open the door ever so slowly as he composed music, and throw his daughter’s ball down the stairs… even after he seemingly got rid of it. Those truly scary moments (aided by a haunting soundtrack) made this film worth watching. However, I did not enjoy the last third as much because it reminded me of “The Ring” (even though I enjoyed that movie). Granted, this was made first but the whole well being buried under a house was too much of a distraction for me so it definitely took me out of the experience. If I were to pick a favorite scene in this picture, it would hands down has to be the séance scene when Scott, the medium, and others finally made contact with the ghost. It was done in such a scary manner which reminded me of the exorcism scene in “The Exorcist.” I tried not to blink in fear that if I closed my eyes, something would suddenly appear in a dark corner in the living room (I saw the movie with all the lights out). I’ve heard all too often that this is not known by many, especially my generation. I think it definitely deserves to be seen, especially the fans of horror films, because it was able to generate genuine scares without sacrificing the story. This is a very good haunted house picture that could have been as good as “The Shining” if it had been longer (perhaps a tour of the deeply atmospheric house?) and the whole bit about the well was eliminated. But then again I’m just being picky about the difference between “good” and “great” (to warn those who are expecting “The Shining”-level filmmaking). Don’t get me wrong, this is still a must-see.

Tentative list of things I think kick ass: Killin’ Nazi Bastards, George C. Scott, tanks, bull terriers, good old fashioned plain talking men, hating Communism. Yep, let’s just get this right out of the way here. Patton kicks large sized portions of my ass. This movie was great.

To clarify, I’m the type of fellow that’s not particularly into biopic pieces. I’m a fiction man. More specifically, I’m a science fiction man. But nothing could matter less here. From Jump Street, Patton grabs you and really never lets go. I know that the opening scene has become an iconic part of our culture, so this isn’t saying much. However, I’ve found that a lot of the revered parts of our culture tend to be overrated anyway. With Patton, this is not the case.

This is one of those difficult films where the goal is to make the audience connect with and even love a character that has some tough traits to fall in love with. Luckily, Franklin Schaffner knew what he was doing. This movie wasn’t about the War. It was about a great man trying to conform in order to preserve his dream. Granted, Patton’s dream was to make himself famous for killing a shitload of dudes. But, nonetheless, the man had vision, and it is impossible to resist respecting him for it, and it’s obvious that Schaffner does.

I may be biased, because I have a massive hard on for Scott, and have since Dr. Strangelove, but this performance is masterful. He captures the true essence of Patton, which is no easy task. The man was revered, hated, mocked, feared, and respected, depending who you talked to and when it was that you talked to them. This is a character with so many different sides to his personality, it would take a master to do him justice on screen, which is exactly what happened.

A great portion of the movie is spent illustrating the differences between Patton and General Omar Bradley, masterfully played by Karl Madden. Bradley was shown to be a reserved and humble man, typically characteristics of someone deserving respect. It’s no different here, however, the restraint that he shows also shows us the mistakes of living a life with no driving passion. Patton’s all or nothing attitude is what ended in success, not the restraint shown by “Monty” and “Brad” on D Day.

In the end, it’s evident that all of the problems that Patton ever had were brought on himself. However, they always came on him because of the same personal characteristics that brought him success in the first place.

But, possibly the best aspect of this film is the sweeping from genre to genre in each new scene. I can’t see how any single movie fan could not love this film. You like interpersonal dramas, and hate war movies? Fine, just be patient through the tank battles, and you’ll shortly be watching a power struggle between two opposing personalities. You want to watch a rise and fall success/failure story? Just hang tight, it’s in there. You love to see shit get blowed up? Done.

Overall, this film can make you think, can make you feel patriotic, can make you tune out and watch shit explode, can take you down a path in history, and all the while was shot beautifully. As opposed to the last war movie I reviewed, Glory, this is a movie well deserving to be on the list of top films ever.

The Decisions That Changed the Face of Hollywood As We Know It

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The Decisions That Changed the Face of Hollywood As We Know It

‘Twilight’ without Kristen Stewart? No Brangelina without ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’? ‘Friends’ without Jennifer Aniston? ‘Titanic’ without Leonardo DiCaprio? It could have been. With one decision from the casting directors, one suggestion from a co-star or a gut reaction from a director, our favorite movies and TV shows could have wound up completely different. Take a look at some of the decisions that changed the face of Hollywood.

Fate in Hollywood: What Almost Was

Everett Collection / Paramount Vantage

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Robert Pattinson supposedly attended the ‘Twilight’ casting because he liked Kristen Stewart’s performance in ‘Into the Wild.’ See More Coincidences & Casting Decisions That Changed the Fate of Our Fave Flicks and Shows >>>

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Fate in Hollywood: What Almost Was

Robert Pattinson supposedly attended the ‘Twilight’ casting because he liked Kristen Stewart’s performance in ‘Into the Wild.’ See More Coincidences & Casting Decisions That Changed the Fate of Our Fave Flicks and Shows >>>

Everett Collection / Paramount Vantage

Everett Collection / Paramount Vantage

//

– Bruce Willis was originally cast as Danny Ocean in ‘Ocean’s Eleven.’ Replacement George Clooney celebrated by having a keg of Guinness installed in his dressing room. Jon Favreau, who wrote ‘Swingers,’ turned down the offer to write the screenplay. Owen and Luke Wilson dropped out of playing the brothers Virgil and Tuck to film ‘The Royal Tenenbaums.’ Michael Douglas and Warren Beatty were all considered for the role Terry Benedict which eventually went to Andy Garcia.

– Englishman Hugh Laurie, star of ‘House,’ won the British national title as a member of the junior coxed pair and was a varsity rower at the University of Cambridge before quitting due to mononucleosis. He rebounded by taking up acting and starring alongside love interest Emma Thompson with the Cambridge Footlights. In response to Laurie’s audition for ‘House,’ producer David Shore exclaimed “See, this is what I want; an American guy.” The audition video was shot in a hotel bathroom in Namibia. “It was the only place with enough light,” confessed Laurie.

// — Ewan McGregor turned down the role of Neo in ‘The Matrix’ to work on ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.’ His uncle, Denis Lawson, acted in the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy and was McGregor’s inspiration to get involved in show business. Will Smith turned down the role of Neo because he “wasn’t smart enough as an actor.” Sean Connery was originally offered the role of Morpheus but refused because he couldn’t understand the script. Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity) didn’t tell anyone she twisted her ankle while filming for fear she would be re-cast.

– Steve McQueen was the first to turn down the role of Captain Willard in ‘Apocalypse Now.’ Jeff Bridges auditioned for the role and Nick Nolte expressed interest but director Francis Ford Coppola instead went with Harvey Keitel. Within two weeks of shooting, he was replaced by Martin Sheen.

– ‘Entourage’ is loosely based on the experiences of executive producer Mark Wahlberg as an up-and-coming Hollywood star. Kevin Connolly, who portrays Eric, had retired from acting but was convinced to act in the show after the creators said his part was written with him in mind.

– Paramount Pictures considered Ernest Borgnine, Orson Welles and George C. Scott for the role of Vito Corleone in ‘The Godfather.’ Director Francis Ford Coppola preferred either Laurence Olivier or Marlon Brando. Olivier was too sick so the role went to Brando. Sylvester Stallone was rejected for a role and shifted to screenwriting, later penning the script for ‘Rocky.’ Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson all turned down offers to play the role of Michael Corleone, a role which turned Al Pacino into a star.

– Patrick Dempsey, aka McDreamy, auditioned for the role of Dr. Chase on ‘House’ before taking the role of Dr. Shepherd on ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ Rob Lowe passed on the role. Isaiah Washington (Dr. Burke) also auditioned to portray Dr. Shepherd. The show was originally titled ‘Complications.’

– Quentin Tarantino plied Brad Pitt with five bottles of Pink Floyd Rose wine at Brangelina’s Chateau Miraval estate before he accepted a role in ‘Inglourious Basterds.’ Tarantino approached Adam Sandler to star as a Nazi but was rebuffed by his choice to film ‘Funny People.’

– ‘Gossip Girl’ was originally pitched as a feature film starring Lindsay Lohan as Blair Waldorf. After repeated failings, the show’s backers eventually approached Josh Schwartz, producer of ‘The O.C.,” to turn it into a television series. Mischa Barton turned down the role of Georgina Sparks. It was later given to Michelle Trachtenberg. Leighton Meester dyed her blonde hair brunette to audition to play Blair Waldorf.

– Despite rampant speculation to the contrary, Heath Ledger was director Christopher Nolan’s only choice to portray The Joker in ‘The Dark Knight.’ Rachel McAdams, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Emily Blunt were rumored to play Rachel Dawes, a role turned down by incumbent Katie Holmes and eventually portrayed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Josh Lucas, Mark Ruffalo and Liev Schreiber were considered for the role of Harvey Dent but Aaron Eckhart won out.

– Nicolas Cage was so close to starring in ‘The Wrestler’ that he was seen doing research for the part at a Ring of Honor Wrestling event in New York City. But director Darren Aronofsky decided against the desires of investors that Robinson could only be played by Mickey Rourke.

Sources: IMDB | Research by Dino Sossi and Megan Rumph

On October 18:

1386 The University of Heidelberg opened.

1851 Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick was first published as The Whale.

1867 The United States took possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million.

1897 Isabel Briggs Myers, American psychological theorist, was born.

1922 The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) was founded.

1924 Amateur radio operator Frank Bell made the first trans-global radio transmission to London when he sent a Morse code transmission. It was received and replied to by London-based amateur operator Cecil Goyder.

1925 The Grand Ole Opry opened in Nashville, Tennessee.

1929 Violeta Chamorro, President of Nicaragua, was born.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

How much power and influence does James Van Der Beek have in Hollywood? It may seem like a ridiculous question, but he must have known about someone’s deviant sex life or prostitute killings because he has successfully buried his first movie role for years. However, it seems like Van Der Beek’s tyrannical influence over the Hollywood elite is waning. I just learned that one of the greatest movies of the 90s is finally released on DVD. That’s right, Angus.

I vaguely recall watching this movie when I was a child and thought it was pretty funny. I then saw it on TV during junior high and realized it had much more depth than my eight year old brain could comprehend upon initial viewing. Thankfully, a good friend taped it off TV and made me a copy. That copy has lasted to this day, due in large part to my Vatican like preservation of it. For the longest time I believed that every worthless movie and TV show would receive DVD release while both Degrassi and Angus languished in some studio exec’s basement. Thankfully, Degrassi: The Next Generation prompted interest in the originals and they were released on DVD. That left only Angus. Rollerball, Boat Trip, and Cheaper by the Dozen 2 would all be rushed to DVD production before Angus. Justifiably, I blamed James Van Der Beek. There was no other answer. In my semi-frequent Angus google/imdb searches (surpassed only by my habitual Degrassi searches) I learned of its DVD release. It’s about time. Here’s why.

Angus introduces the cinematic world to Charlie Talbert, starring in the title role, as a hefty teen forced to endure the cruelties of childhood. Angus has been bullied throughout his life by the most popular boy in school, Rick Sandford, played by the aforementioned James Van Der Beek. Rick’s entire purpose in life seems to revolve around making Angus’ life miserable, ostensibly because he is different. Amidst Angus’ daily torture he tries to deal with his love for Melissa Lefevre (Ariana Richards), Rick’s girlfriend. Underlying Angus’ entire world is a conflict raging inside him that asks whether it is better to change yourself to fit in or accept yourself and remain an outcast.

Angus was released in 1995, a pre-Columbine era, where bullying didn’t receive as much mainstream attention and the deadly consequences of it were not fully realized. The approach to bullying Angus takes is at times heartbreaking and sad as we feel the daily misery that Angus must endure. Conversely, we grow with him as he slowly begins to gain more self-confidence and develop his own sense of self. Angus’ transformation is empowering and inspirational. Charlie Talbert exhibits the emotional depth of his character triumphantly, while the supporting cast provide the relationships that allow this emotion to flourish.

This is another reason why Angus’ absence from DVD shelves is confusing. It holds the honourable distinction of being George C. Scott’s final movie role. Scott plays Angus’ renegade Grandfather who serves as a mentor for the downtrodden teen. His famous advice for Angus is “screw ‘em!” Jenna Jameson’s Grandfather may have given her the same advice, but Angus takes the advice in a different direction. Angus’ emotional support also includes Kathy Bates (sans nudity) as a somewhat overprotective Mother. This overprotection is mainly rooted in her own experiences with bullying as a child, which makes seeing Angus’ high school experience even more painful for her. These three deliver emotional scenes that underscore their strong familial bonds and make their relationships believable and heartfelt. They gracefully emphasize the misery of being bullied and the loneliness of being an outcast.

The funniest lines in Angus belong to a young Chris Owen (The Shermanator from American Pie), who plays Angus’ best friend, and fellow social outcast, Troy. Troy’s character manages to balance the emotional tension revolving around him with some of the funniest one-liners. The film also includes Kevin Connolly (Entourage) as one of James Van Der Beek’s lackeys.

The soundtrack to Angus is also pretty amazing (in case you need another reason to watch this). The rare Weezer gem ‘You gave your love to me softly’ is featured, as well as other mid-90s alt-rock that perfectly captures the teenaged angst of the movie.

This movie is for anyone who didn’t fit in. At the end of the day the James Van Der Beeks of the world may get to star in Varsity Blues and Dawson’s Creek, but their success is temporal, and eventually the only thing they’ll star in is made for TV movies that no one will see.

For anyone lucky enough to live in the U.S. then you can purchase your very own copy through the Warner Bros website. Unfortunately, everyone else can wait for wider release or can haggle with the price gougers populating ebay.

If you need to watch this now, and you should, you’ll be happy to know it’s uploaded in its entirety on youtube. The quality isn’t immaculate considering it’s taken from VHS, but it is a movie that deserves to be seen by more people.

Finding my favorite film of the 1960s was the most difficult decade. So many films stuck out to me, but none quite enough to scream out to me “That’s the one!” The Apartment is great, and I am of course a huge Jack Lemmon fan, but it lacks something, though I am not sure what. Maybe it’s the jarring emotional directions the film takes. Lawrence of Arabia is beautifully shot, but it is a bit too long and nothing else about it is worth noting to me. Bonnie and Clyde? Solid, but no. The Graduate? It is like a sandwich made with delicious bread but in the middle you’ve got (insert own personal least favorite sandwich filling here). West Side Story? I love a movie with fake Puerto Ricans as much as the next man, but I’ll pass. The 60s, incidentally, were overrun with Oscar winning musicals. Ugh.

Then, as I searched through the annals, and by annals I mean wikipedia, I came across the film that finally made me say “Ah yes, that’s the one.” That movie is Dr. Strangelove: Or how I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

At the time it was made, the movie’s satire must have been all the sweeter. Even with the world in a perpetual state of shittiness and political unrest, nothing could have matched Cold War Paranoia back in the day. This movie both makes you laugh at the macho head games of the US and the USSR at the time, but it also might have made you a little afraid. After all, one mad general fearing for his precious bodily fluids could have been all it took to end the lives of a shit ton of people.

Dr. Strangelove is a movie about just that. General Jack D. Ripper, fearing fluoridation is robbing Americans of their precious bodily fluids. He calls for some of the nuclear weapon carrying bombers at his disposal to fly over Russia and start bombing. This would be bad, because the Russians have a doomsday device that will go off if even one bomb hits their soil. What is President Murkin Muffley to do? Can Colonel Mandrake help save the day? And what of the odd, eponymous Dr. Strangelove?

Not only is this film filled with great characters, the acting is tremendous. You’ve got Sterling Hayden as Ripper, and that’s merely the jumping off point. Playing General Buck Turgidson? The awesome George C. Scott. Scott makes every film he’s in better. And his over the top Turgidson would be his finest work if he were most actors. However, even he can’t compete with Peter Sellers in this film. Sellers plays Muffley, Mandrake, and Dr. Strangelove. Three completely different roles, an American, a Brit, and a German who we can be fairly certain used to be a Nazi. Also, he doesn’t have control of one of his hands.

The plot is also fabulous and so well crafted, and it would be difficult to recount it in its entirety here, plus it would ruin the movie if you haven’t seen it. If you have not seen it, what are you waiting for? You are missing out on a classic.

I wouldn’t consider myself a Stanley Kubrick fan, but this movie is tremendous. As far as war satires go, they don’t get any better than this one. It still feels poignant, it still resonates, and most importantly it’s still funny. Sellers was a genius, as was Scott. The only real question is which Sellers character is your favorite? I’m quite partial to Mandrake personally, though I reckon most would go with Strangelove, and with good reason. However, Mandrake’s line about how the Japanese make such bloody good cameras is probably my favorite line in the movie. Although, my favorite part of the movie might be when Turgidson trips, but keeps on walking and talking. I do believe I read somewhere that was an accident, but Scott and Kubrick just went with it. Smart move.

The Cold War might be over, but political mind games never end. As such, Dr. Strangelove will never lose it’s place in our world. It also teaches us many things, like how we cannot allow a mineshaft gap. It’s not just the best war satire ever, it’s my favorite film of the 1960s, even if it took me some time to realize that.

George Campbell Scott (18 Octubre, 1927 – 22 Septiembre, 1999)

George C. Scott moría un 22 de septiembre, legando una filmografía radiante y una biografía plagada de tinieblas. “Me convertí en actor para escapar de mi propia personalidad. Nunca me ha costado empatizar con un personaje porque no me aprecio demasiado a mí mismo“, aseveró en una ocasión el actor.

George C. Scott, la interpretación como huida | Cultura | elmundo.es.