Monsters Inc.: Pixar seems to have lost a little bit of its soul when it started cranking out all these sequels (Toy Story doesn't count because all those are awesome), but my son loves the characters, he'll probably love this movie, and if you're against it, you're against my son. Do you really want to be against my son? No, I didn't think so.
R.I.P.D.: It hasn't been Ryan Reynolds' year, and this bomb is another reminder of that. Hey, though, maybe this one will be rediscovered and beloved on DVD and cable, just like that other box office disappointment in which he played...uh, the superhero guy. You know, the one with the color in his name. Yeah, this one could be just as beloved as that one!
Home Alone: The Holiday Heist: Dammit, NO. And I don't care if YOUR kid likes the characters and the other movies.
Bruce Springsteen: Springsteen and I: I sure hope this is a split-screen of the Boss "interviewing himself" for 90 minutes.
American Experience: War of the Worlds: PBS digs up this long forgotten classic episode--it aired yesterday--and finally gives it the home video release it so richly deserves.
Warner Archives brings us season 4 of the late 80s/early 90s syndicated Adventures of Superboy (how is it I have no memory of ever seeing that show?), Jeff Bridges in Fearless on Blu-Ray, and most interestingly (to me), 3 old Lee Tracy pictures: Half Naked Truth (with Lupe Velez!), The Nuisance (with Frank Morgan!), and Turn Back the Clock (with Clara Blandick!). "Truth" used to be on TCM regularly, but I don't recall the other two. Oh, and I meant to say Clock features in a small role The Three Stooges. Apologies to Clara Blandick fans out there, but they might be just a bit of a bigger draw.
And in Streaming...
Some interesting recent releases showed up on Netflix this week. It seems like mere weeks since I highlighted The Sapphires (Chris O'Dowd), Phantoms (Ed Harris/David Duchovny), and Redemption (Jason Statham). In fact, it is! All of these sound worth at least a try on Instant Watching. Also, the run of prominent documentary adds continues with We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks.
Here's your latest Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse on Hulu update: The number of available episodes has grown from a laughable 1 to a still-odd 2 to a respectable 13.
Warner Archive Instant added a new showcase category: Screen Sleuths. This area features two George Sanders Falcon movies, a Sanders Saint flick, James Garner in Marlowe, and the 4 Charlie Chan films (all with Sidney Toler or Roland Winters as Chan and, maybe more importantly, all with Mantan Moreland) that were featured in 2010's TCM Spotlight DVD set. I know the Chans are new to Instant--and a welcome addition they are, to be sure--and I believe the other 3 are as well.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
YOU Make the Call!
What would you do, sports fans, if this happened to ypu?
You go to the library and stumble upon the recent TCM Spotlight set of 4 Charlie Chan movies. Delighted, you borrow one for a week. Less than two days later, you note that Warner Archive Instant just added those same 4 movies to its On Demand lineup.
Do you:
1) Watch the movie on DVD since, hey, you already have it sitting there by the TV
2) Watch the movie on Warner Archive Instant since, hey, you're paying for that
3) Watch the movie on DVD AND on streaming to somehow "justify" the library transaction AND get value out of the streaming service
4) Shake your fist at the heavens, yell, "O cruel movie Gods," and refuse to watch the movie at all
5) Sit down and watch an episode of "Love That Bob" for no apparent reason
6) Go to the library and demand your money back, then write an angry letter to the local paper complaining about misuse of taxpayer dollars
7) Write a blog post soliciting advice
Fans, this is your chance to make the call!
You go to the library and stumble upon the recent TCM Spotlight set of 4 Charlie Chan movies. Delighted, you borrow one for a week. Less than two days later, you note that Warner Archive Instant just added those same 4 movies to its On Demand lineup.
Do you:
1) Watch the movie on DVD since, hey, you already have it sitting there by the TV
2) Watch the movie on Warner Archive Instant since, hey, you're paying for that
3) Watch the movie on DVD AND on streaming to somehow "justify" the library transaction AND get value out of the streaming service
4) Shake your fist at the heavens, yell, "O cruel movie Gods," and refuse to watch the movie at all
5) Sit down and watch an episode of "Love That Bob" for no apparent reason
6) Go to the library and demand your money back, then write an angry letter to the local paper complaining about misuse of taxpayer dollars
7) Write a blog post soliciting advice
Fans, this is your chance to make the call!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Over at ClassicFlix...
Just in tine for Halloween, my latest "TV Time" column is up at ClassicFlix, and it looks at the scary side of growing up on classic television.
http://classicflix.com/TV-Time-The-Scary-Side-of-Growing-Up-with-Classic-TV-ar-37.html
TV Time: The Scary Side of Growing Up with Classic TV
I had a great relationship with television when I was growing up. It amused me, thrilled me, and at times maybe even baby-sat me. But there were times when the images and sounds on that little set flat-out scared me. This month I ‘fess up to some of the classic television elements that spooked me when I was younger.
Oh, and by the way, the beta version has now become the official new and improved version, so update your bookmarks and links to delete that "beta" part from the URL. Classicflix.com is where it's at, baby!
Of course, you have been keeping up with things over there? Right? If not, in addition to my pieces, you missed a great primer on classic movie comedy teams , a profile of noir standout Coleen Gray, and a review of the notorious Warner Brothers pre-code Wonder Bar.
http://classicflix.com/TV-Time-The-Scary-Side-of-Growing-Up-with-Classic-TV-ar-37.html
TV Time: The Scary Side of Growing Up with Classic TV
I had a great relationship with television when I was growing up. It amused me, thrilled me, and at times maybe even baby-sat me. But there were times when the images and sounds on that little set flat-out scared me. This month I ‘fess up to some of the classic television elements that spooked me when I was younger.
Oh, and by the way, the beta version has now become the official new and improved version, so update your bookmarks and links to delete that "beta" part from the URL. Classicflix.com is where it's at, baby!
Of course, you have been keeping up with things over there? Right? If not, in addition to my pieces, you missed a great primer on classic movie comedy teams , a profile of noir standout Coleen Gray, and a review of the notorious Warner Brothers pre-code Wonder Bar.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Stuff I Scrambled to See on Netflix Before It Expired: American Grindhouse
Hey, folks, for a change, I'm doing you a solid and writing about something while it's still actually available. So do take advantage and see the 2010 documentary American Grindhouse. Directed and produced by Elijah Drenner, it's an entertaining and well organized history of grindhouse and exploitation cinema. I highly recommend you sit down and reserve an hour and a half for this if that sounds interesting.
Then again, any grindhouse aficionado might not find a whole lot that's new or revelatory in this documentary. Still, I think the mark of a good movie of this type is that it inspires newbies to go see the films discussed...and it inspires experts to go see the fi;ms discussed again. On this count, "Grindhouse" succeeds; its enthusiasm and love of the material is infectious. hey, it would be great if more of the movies mentioned were on Netflix!
Robert Forster is both a credible and approrpriate choice to narrate the doc, but the more prominent voices are the many talking heads who are interspersed with vintage film clips, trailer excerpts, and footage of moviegoers and theaters. It's no surprise to see Trailers from Hell proprietors Joe Dante and John Landis here. Czar of Noir Eddie Muller is a welcome presence as well, and the resident representative filmmaker talking head is Herschel Gordon Lewis.
There are fun stories and great highlights of some of the landmark exploitation movies in history, and the narrative does a solid job of weaving that history with American cultural history and explaining the synergy. Make no mistake, though, this 80-some minutes will leave you wanting more. It is a fast-paced, enjoyable primer on the subject and a great Instant Watch...for another few days or so.
Then again, any grindhouse aficionado might not find a whole lot that's new or revelatory in this documentary. Still, I think the mark of a good movie of this type is that it inspires newbies to go see the films discussed...and it inspires experts to go see the fi;ms discussed again. On this count, "Grindhouse" succeeds; its enthusiasm and love of the material is infectious. hey, it would be great if more of the movies mentioned were on Netflix!
Robert Forster is both a credible and approrpriate choice to narrate the doc, but the more prominent voices are the many talking heads who are interspersed with vintage film clips, trailer excerpts, and footage of moviegoers and theaters. It's no surprise to see Trailers from Hell proprietors Joe Dante and John Landis here. Czar of Noir Eddie Muller is a welcome presence as well, and the resident representative filmmaker talking head is Herschel Gordon Lewis.
There are fun stories and great highlights of some of the landmark exploitation movies in history, and the narrative does a solid job of weaving that history with American cultural history and explaining the synergy. Make no mistake, though, this 80-some minutes will leave you wanting more. It is a fast-paced, enjoyable primer on the subject and a great Instant Watch...for another few days or so.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
This Week in DVD and Instant Watching
The Conjuring: This scary movie is one of the bigger surprise hits of the year, but they could have been more timely with the DVD release. I mean, they totally missed a natural Columbus Day tie-in.
The Internship: Remember when Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson made such a popular screen team in "The Wedding Crashers?" You do? Yeah, that was a long time ago, wasn't it?
Before Midnight: Years ago, Richard Linklater charmed us with "Before Sunrise." Some years later, he kind of cheapened it by doing a sequel. Now that we know its a trilogy, does that make it more legitimate?
Dead in Tombstone: Any movie with this title that stars Mickey Rourke AND Danny Trejo should come with a free bottle of sanitizer.
Necessary Evil: The Villains of DC Comics: Surely this documentary will give special attention to perhaps the single most reviled and feared villain the company has had in years: Co-publisher Dan DiDio.
Sugarfoot Season 2: New from Warner Archive is the second season of perhaps its most popular Western from the classic TV era. Well, next to "Maverick." And of course "Cheyenne." And probably "Bronco." And--aw, let's just say it was one of its most popular Western series and be thankful its out, OK?
Alice Season 4: Also from Warner Archive. It's kind of weird that this show was so ubiquitous when I was growing up, yet has disappeared now and is relegated to the Archive. I watched way more of this show than was healthy as a kid, but the last time I saw it...I didn't watch very much. Of course, the show was butchered by ION, which surely didn't help, but still it's a very shlocky, sitcommy kind of sitcom. Still, anything with Marvin Kaplan and Dave Madden deserves a little more respect.
And in streaming:
It was a slow week at Netflix, but it did add the excellent 2008 In Bruges.
Hulu added a handful episodes of the late 1970s New Soupy Sales show because--well, why not?
The real action is on Warner Archive Instant. The service didn't add a new showcase category, but it added a variety of movies including, to name just a few, Jean Harlow in Bombshell, several Red Skelton movies including Half a Hero, Steve McQueen in The Cincinnati Kid, and the 1981 documentary This is Elvis. Granted, Netflix has thousands of titles and Warner Archive Instant is a more curated streaming provider, but still, that sounds a lot more exciting to me than Netflix adding Emily Owens M.D. Season 1.
The Internship: Remember when Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson made such a popular screen team in "The Wedding Crashers?" You do? Yeah, that was a long time ago, wasn't it?
Before Midnight: Years ago, Richard Linklater charmed us with "Before Sunrise." Some years later, he kind of cheapened it by doing a sequel. Now that we know its a trilogy, does that make it more legitimate?
Dead in Tombstone: Any movie with this title that stars Mickey Rourke AND Danny Trejo should come with a free bottle of sanitizer.
Necessary Evil: The Villains of DC Comics: Surely this documentary will give special attention to perhaps the single most reviled and feared villain the company has had in years: Co-publisher Dan DiDio.
Sugarfoot Season 2: New from Warner Archive is the second season of perhaps its most popular Western from the classic TV era. Well, next to "Maverick." And of course "Cheyenne." And probably "Bronco." And--aw, let's just say it was one of its most popular Western series and be thankful its out, OK?
Alice Season 4: Also from Warner Archive. It's kind of weird that this show was so ubiquitous when I was growing up, yet has disappeared now and is relegated to the Archive. I watched way more of this show than was healthy as a kid, but the last time I saw it...I didn't watch very much. Of course, the show was butchered by ION, which surely didn't help, but still it's a very shlocky, sitcommy kind of sitcom. Still, anything with Marvin Kaplan and Dave Madden deserves a little more respect.
And in streaming:
It was a slow week at Netflix, but it did add the excellent 2008 In Bruges.
Hulu added a handful episodes of the late 1970s New Soupy Sales show because--well, why not?
The real action is on Warner Archive Instant. The service didn't add a new showcase category, but it added a variety of movies including, to name just a few, Jean Harlow in Bombshell, several Red Skelton movies including Half a Hero, Steve McQueen in The Cincinnati Kid, and the 1981 documentary This is Elvis. Granted, Netflix has thousands of titles and Warner Archive Instant is a more curated streaming provider, but still, that sounds a lot more exciting to me than Netflix adding Emily Owens M.D. Season 1.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Was this really an occupation?
I know there were a lot of occupations back in olden days that no longer exist, but when I saw "I Scream" starring Gus Shy, a short on Disc 2 of Warner Archive's Vitaphone Comedy Collection, I had to question this oneL
He's holding an ice cream cone! In fact, he has a whole little basket of ice cream cones, and he apparently has cold-called (sorry) this business meeting to try to hawk them. This despite no visible means of refrigeration. He makes his way over to the table later and starts handing them out.
I mean, we've all seen ice salesmen go around with those gigantic chunks of ice (that profession was responsible for approximately 43% of all screen comedy before 1935), but at least they went around with a big wagon and some form of refrigeration. A door-to-door ice cream cone salesman doesn't seem like a practical vocation.
He's holding an ice cream cone! In fact, he has a whole little basket of ice cream cones, and he apparently has cold-called (sorry) this business meeting to try to hawk them. This despite no visible means of refrigeration. He makes his way over to the table later and starts handing them out.
I mean, we've all seen ice salesmen go around with those gigantic chunks of ice (that profession was responsible for approximately 43% of all screen comedy before 1935), but at least they went around with a big wagon and some form of refrigeration. A door-to-door ice cream cone salesman doesn't seem like a practical vocation.
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