Tag: movies

MOVIE REVIEWS: The Oscar-Nominated Live-Action Shorts

I must say that The Shore was the most fully realized film, dealing with the current economic woes, as well as The Troubles, and it deserved to win.

I had thought they had already gone away but discovered that the Oscar-nominated live-action shorts were still playing at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany. So, taking advantage of having a child sitter, the Wife and I went to the movies a week ago Sunday.

Pentecost (Ireland / 11 mins)

Damian, who messed up his last chance to serve as an altar boy, gets a reprieve, with the carrot of getting to watch his beloved football. The pep talk one priest gives to the altar boys was reminiscent of a sports coach’s pep talk before the Big Game. Slight, but extremely funny.

Raju (Germany / India / 24 mins)

The most serious of the five films.

“A German couple adopts in Kolkata an Indian orphan.” Then they discover more than they bargained for. It’s quite good.

The Shore (Northern Ireland / 30 mins)

This about says it all: “Two boyhood best friends – Joe…and Paddy…- divided for 25 years… When Joe returns home to Northern Ireland, his daughter brings the two men together for a reunion, with unexpected results. What happened all those years ago? Can old wounds be healed? The answer is both hilarious and moving.” Includes one of the most organically funny scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie. I loved this film.

Time Freak (USA / 11 mins)

“A neurotic inventor creates a time machine…” and, let’s say, did not take full advantage of the technology. Silly fun.

Tuba Atlantic (Norway / 25 mins)

Oskar, 70 years old, is told by his doctor PRECISELY how many days he has left to live. He wants to reconcile with his estranged brother who lives in New Jersey. Inger, an unlikely public “death angel” is sent out to help Oscar through his remaining days. Will Oskar contact his sibling before it’s too late?
Funny, in a dark, Scandinavian sort of way. (My wife’s least favorite film.)

I managed not to know the winner until after I saw the presentation. I must say that The Shore was the most fully realized film, dealing with the current economic woes, as well as The Troubles, and it deserved to win.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Lorax in 3D

The Lorax movie seemed to want to play to every audience.

I promised my daughter that we could see a movie last Saturday. What I had in mind was The Secret World of Arrietty, based on The Borrowers books. Unfortunately, it was in town for two weeks and then it was gone. Boo hiss. Since my wife had gone to see another film – Pina – the Daughter and I decided to see The Lorax at the Madison Theatre in Albany.

While I was/am a fan of Dr. Seuss, I was totally unfamiliar with the Lorax book, as was my daughter. In the movie, treeless Thneedville is where everyone seems to have the perfect suburban life. Well, almost.

Mr. O’Hare (Rob Riggle), who vaguely looks like the superhero boss lady in The Incredibles, gets to sell folks air. Young Ted (Zac Efron) is smitten with Audrey (Taylor Swift), and when she (somehow) starts drawing trees, real trees, and desiring to see them, Ted springs into action.

What follows is Ted talking to the Once-Ler (Ed Helms) about where the trees all went. He tells the story involving the Lorax (Danny DeVito), and I don’t want to reveal any more plot points, except that Ted’s grandma (Betty White) runs interference for Ted re: his mom (Jenny Slate).

The movie seemed to want to play to every audience. The Mission: Impossible theme for the adults – the animals were occasionally funny, though too cute; a sense of (not too much) danger for older kids; an environmental message as subtle as the Once-Ler family RV.

There were occasional good bits. The cameras everywhere remind me of the movie The Truman Show, or modern-day London or New York City. The budding romance had a couple of moments I could relate to. I laughed a few times. But ultimately, I thought it was a bit of a mess. The Lorax was a major player in such a small part of the movie. And paying extra for a 3D effect, which I could have done without, did not endear me either.

The Lorax movie website.

H is for Help!, the Beatles albums

In the United States, Help! really was a SOUNDTRACK album. So the songs on the first side of the UK LP were spread onto the two sides, augmented by movie instruments written or arranged by Ken Thorne.

Help! was the second Beatles movie, after A Hard Day’s Night, but the first one I saw. When I watched it in a movie theater, back in 1965, I loved it! Viewing it again in 2009 on TV, with the Daughter, it really didn’t hold up, but it was nevertheless enjoyable for the music if nothing else. Here is the trailer to the 2007 video release. And here or here or here is the 90-minute film, in its entirety, or it was there, as of this posting.

But what I really wanted to talk about is the album. Or to be more precise the albums. In Great Britain, and other civilised places in the world, when the LP came out in 1965, the playlist was based on the wishes of the group, and looked like this:

Side one

1. Help!
2. The Night Before
3. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
4. I Need You
5. Another Girl
6. You’re Going to Lose That Girl
7. Ticket to Ride

Side two

1. Act Naturally
2. It’s Only Love
3. You Like Me Too Much
4. Tell Me What You See
5. I’ve Just Seen a Face
6. Yesterday
7. Dizzy Miss Lizzy

You can find the individual songs, I’m sure, on YouTube. Here is the whole album.

But in the United States, Help! really was a SOUNDTRACK album. So the songs on the first side of the UK LP were spread onto the two sides, augmented by movie instruments written or arranged by Ken Thorne.

Side one

1. Help! (preceded by a James Bondian instrumental intro)
2. The Night Before
3. From Me to You Fantasy (Lennon–McCartney; arranged by Thorne)
4. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
5. I Need You
6. In the Tyrol

Side two

1. Another Girl
2. Another Hard Day’s Night (Lennon–McCartney; arranged by Thorne)
3. Ticket to Ride
4. Medley: The Bitter End/You Can’t Do That (Thorne/Lennon–McCartney; arranged by Thorne)
5. You’re Going to Lose That Girl
6. The Chase

American ears, at least those of a certain age, had gotten used to a particular order of their songs, and while, for most albums, one could take the CDs (based on the British order) and rearrange the songs to suit our aural needs, there were those five instrumentals on the US Help! album that for a long time weren’t digitally available elsewhere. It was ALMOST reason enough to buy The Capitol Albums, Volume 2, which contains The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, the US version of Help! (with the instrumentals) and the US version of Rubber Soul.

What happened to the seven songs on Side 2 of the UK album? You Like Me Too Much and Tell Me What You See, rejected for the movie, ended up on Beatles VI, as did Dizzy Miss Lizzie. I’ve Just Seen a Face and It’s Only Love start Sides 1 and 2, respectively of the US Rubber Soul album; the US and UK Rubber Soul album have 10 common songs, with the other four UK songs ending up on the US Yesterday and Today. Yesterday and Act Naturally from UK Help also ended up on Y&T, which didn’t exist in the UK.

From Wikipedia: A few songs that were intended for the film were not used… because of The Beatles’ suggestions. Lennon and McCartney wrote If You’ve Got Trouble for Ringo Starr to sing, but the song was rejected…That Means a Lot was written for the film, but The Beatles were not satisfied with their performance of the song and they gave it to P.J. Proby, who released it as a single [The linked versions are from Beatles Anthology 2.]…Yes, It Is ended up being released as the B-side of Ticket to Ride and was also on Beatles VI.

ABC Wednesday – Round 10

February Rambling: Military Draft, Muppets and Graceland

“’Soul Train’ was the first and only television show to showcase and put a spotlight on black artists at a time when there were few African-Americans on television at all, and that was the great vision of Don.”

 

When I mentioned the military draft earlier in the month, I may not have been very clear. Think of a large goldfish bowl with 365 or 366 balls with every date for the year represented. The first date for a particular year pulled would be the first selected for military service, the second date pulled the second selected, etc. There would be a cutoff number, based on the need for the war effort. Check out this article and then this one.

The food stamp President; note that Arthur had this BEFORE MoveOn.com helped propel it viral. He also remembers the first anniversary of the Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake, the 50th anniversary of John Glenn’s flight aboard Friendship 7, and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.

Rosa Parks Did Much More than Sit on a Bus

The Stories I Tell: “Like most of us I was raised to tell the truth and be honest. This can present a minor dilemma for resellers.”

How a mom used Star Wars to answer life’s questions

Marvel/Disney wages petty, vicious war against Ghost Rider creator. Yeah, there are two sides to this story, but Disney’s treatment of writer Gary Friedrich is still most unfortunate. Here’s a more nuanced piece that links to a donate to Gary site. Incidentally, in the comments to the former piece, someone was complaining that Friedrich was selling the art of Mike Ploog, penciler of Ghost Rider. I don’t know about the specifics of this case, but as former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter explained here and here, art pages, which previous to the 1970s were rarely returned at all by comic book companies, were distributed to various participants of the story; this included the writer, though they usually got last dibs. Shooter does explain Marvel’s likely point of view, and here’s a Marvel rebuttal.

I swear I had the same problem as Mitch O’Connell.

I read in Entertainment Weekly about this website that has the feature If 2012’s Oscar-nominated movie posters told the truth. This one riffing on The Help is funny, but so are several others.

I was saddened by the death of “Soul Train” host Don Cornelius of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. From the LA Times: “Don Cornelius’ legacy to music, especially black music, will be forever cemented in history,” said Clarence Avant, former chairman of Motown Records. “’Soul Train’ was the first and only television show to showcase and put a spotlight on black artists at a time when there were few African-Americans on television at all, and that was the great vision of Don.”
But I also remember tuning in when unlikely guests would show up, such as David Bowie performing Fame and Golden Years.

Read about comic book legend John Severin, who died at the age of 90, here and here and here.

The Wicker Muppet and A Muppet phenomenon and REALLY early Muppets.

The film trailer for “Under African Skies,” “the documentary from award-winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger. Paul Simon travels back to South Africa 25 years after his first visit, chronicling the creation and lasting influence of his groundbreaking album, Graceland. Simon revisits the making of the record, surveying from the vantage of history the turbulence and controversy surrounding the album’s genesis.”

HOW TO mix a grody-looking Alien Brain Hemorrhage cocktail
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ROGER AT OTHER BLOGS

Interestingly, on most of these, I don’t get many comments. But I DO get an occasional LIKE on Facebook or retweet on Twitter, so it’s all good. Oh, and speaking of Facebook, I now have but one Facebook account. So if you want to “friend” me, it needs to be this account, the one with the duck logo.

Obviously, we’re still working on that “change the world” thing – also noting Graham Nash’s 70th birthday.

The GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! The GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!

Secrets of the public bathroom

Caring about Multiple Things Simultaneously, which is less about Whitney Houston, and more about people who think other folks shouldn’t care about Whitney Houston’s death

Alan Moore’s Twilight Proposal. Flashmob Fridays’ final outing.

Even a Megaphone Might Have Helped: Albany’s Black History Month bit

Scott Ritter is…complicated

In the spirit of Woody Guthrie. Well, maybe funnier.

The City of Albany didn’t even know the sign was missing until someone – OK, I – pointed it out.

Oscar Micheaux, Pioneering Black Film Director

Micheaux should be celebrated for forging new ground, and providing early roles to some of the finest black talent of the day.

Much of this info is from Rotten Tomatoes:

Oscar Micheaux (January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was the first major African-American feature filmmaker, the most successful African-American filmmaker of the first half of the twentieth century, and the most prominent producer of race films. He directed the first black film (The Homesteader, from 1918, now lost, based upon his own novel) and he was the first black person to direct a sound film (The Exile, from 1931). “His work was a corrective to the prevailing stereotypes of blacks that were rampant in Hollywood at the time. However, his films are not particularly remembered for their quality, and contemporary critics find his treatment of working-class African Americans to be problematic. Still, Micheaux should be celebrated for forging new ground, and providing early roles to some of the finest black talent of the day (like the great Paul Robeson, playing a duel role in 1925’s Body and Soul).” Having seen one or two of his films, I’d definitely agree with this assessment.

More about Oscar Micheaux here and here. Watch this four-minute tribute video, then go to YouTube and type in the name of Oscar Micheaux.
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And on a completely different subject: People with Blogger blogs – PLEASE (I’m begging here) turn off WORD VERIFICATION…it takes too long trying to spell out weird words and most times I have no clue what the letters are – which means I have to type in words more than once. There are even pictures showing you how.

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