February 2005

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The Monday Movie Quiz #48

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Very well known film this time, but-- I hope-- a tough quiz just the same. Put this screen-shot:

together with this sound clip. Then, if you can come up with the title of the film they come from, send me an email by late Sunday night. If you're correct, you'll see your name in next week's strange winners circle.

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 28, 2005 11:40 PM

 

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

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Last week's quiz film was The Letter (1940), with Bette Davis and Herbert Marshall (and, in the picture clue, Minnesota's own Gale Sondergaard), directed by William Wyler and script by Howard "Casablanca" Koch, based on a short story by Somerset Maugham.

Most of the people who identified it mentioned how Hitchcock-esque it is, and it has much of the style and mood of the best of his '40s Hollywood pictures. But Hitchcock never had (in my opinion) an actress as good as Davis, whose opening appearance is still a jolt (see pic above), and-- again, as most of the winners agreed-- it's as rich and unmannered a performance as she ever gave. Plus, the picture itself is as impressive an argument for black-and-white as any later noir title you'd care to name. If you've never seen it and you like old Hollywood at its best, check it out, especially now that it's on a great-looking DVD.

So congratulations to the usual quiz winners: Wayne A. Palmer, Steve Perry, Hank Parmer, Evan Cook and Kika Warner.

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 28, 2005 11:40 PM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz #47

Filed under: Imported

Since it seems like the quizzes are tough no matter when the movie in question came out, this time it�s another old one, in fact, a black-and-white big studio classic. Put this picture:

And this sound clip together and see if you can figure out the title of the film. The woman in the audio clue has one of the most recognizable voices of all time (although she�s not camping it up here the way she often did) and the woman in the picture is as well known for being blacklisted as she was for the parts she played. Another hint: the film is based on a short story by a 20th century British writer whose other work was turned into pictures that starred people like Leslie Howard, Tyrone Power and even Bill Murray.

So let�s see how difficult this one is (will it even stump Wayne A. Palmer?)�if you know the name of the movie, send me an email by late Sunday night, and next week you, too, can see your name in the Couch Pundit�s winners circle. And this time I will say good luck, because you�ll likely need it.

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 21, 2005 6:55 PM

 

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

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"No actual mothers were harmed during the making of this motion picture"

It never fails-- when I think a quiz is easy, it isn�t, and this week�s seemed to be a stumper for almost everybody. Usually, that doesn�t bother me (much), but this time it did, because I�m a near-lifelong fan of Albert Brooks, and I think last week�s mystery movie, Mother, is his best film to date.

If you haven�t seen it, and apparently most of you haven�t, it�s possibly the best place to start with Albert�s small body of filmwork. It�s not as gimmicky as Defending Your Life, which is further spoiled by the presence of the loathsome Meryl Streep, or relentlessly neurotic as Modern Romance. His first film, Real Life, while a very clever satire of the earliest days of reality TV (some of its �predictions� for how far the genre would go are as prescient as Network was about newscasts), is now dated, and The Muse was just too slight. Mother, however, is the kind of comedy that stays with you and stays funny with repeated viewings.

Brooks� character, a science-fiction writer named John Henderson (possibly the most downscale character he�s ever written for himself), moves back into his old boyhood room in his mother�s house, in hopes of figuring out who he is and why he can�t seem to get along with women (he�s just gotten divorced for the second time). He believes that all his problems started with the first woman in his life, and most of the film is him asking his mother questions about why she screwed him up so badly.

The real key to why Mother works so well is Brooks� choice of movie moms, Debbie Reynolds. Brooks told an interviewer that after he talked with her for a short time, he hired her on the spot; when she immediately questioned his authority to do so, he knew he�d made the right choice. She handles their low-key two-person scenes flawlessly, and is actually as funny in them as Brooks himself, which is the highest of comedic praise. The ten-minute scene where the two argue their way through a grocery store is almost a perfect one-reel comedy all by itself, and there are many other equally funny moments before its unexpected Freudian ending, which-- amazingly-- actually works.

So while we have no prizes for the few winners who correctly named the movie, the best gift I can give the rest of you is to recommend this film. Watch it on a day when you�re feeling down, and the chances are good you�ll feel better after you do.

As for the winners, they deserve even more praise than usual for coming through on what was, again, a much tougher quiz than I expected. Kudos to Wayne A. Palmer (who told me so), Steven Jay Gellert (who got it right . . . this time), Hank Parmer (educated guesses count, too) and C. L. Lavorato. Nice work, guys and gal, and thanks especially for not letting this week's quiz go winner-free.

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 21, 2005 6:53 PM

 

TIERISCHE LIEB, aka ANIMAL LOVE (1995)

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My favorite Henny Youngman joke: "My father was the town drunk. Usually, that's not so bad, but New York City?"

I bring it up because that's how I felt when I saw the following blurb on the cover of this DVD: "Never have I come so close to looking directly into Hell." Now, that's the kind of dark hyperbole you might get from any number of fellow filmmakers, but Werner Herzog? That would be similar to seeing a film being labelled "Worst Movie Ever" by Ed Wood Jr.

So I had to see it, and now that I have, I feel confirmed in a belief I've long held-- among other bad things, Hell will be filled with assholes who can't control their pets. (One of the most harrowing scenes is a loose Doberman chewing a leashed-and-muzzled one, while the two idiots who own the wild one scream and punch at it to no avail.) Director Ulrich Seidl has found a collection of down-and-outers who all love their critters far too much.

Unless the subject is on the move, the film is done with static shots that, put together, look indeed like a talking portrait album from Hell. Here are a few of my favorites.

1) This guy and his buddy live in an apparent hole in a hill in an auto-junkyard. They take their pet rabbits to the subway station and beg for carrot money.


"Three months after I was born, I was found in a dumpster. That's how my great life began. So, I live here now." (Note the rats helping themselves to leftovers.)

2) These two are shown in a series of cinematic blackouts that parallel the fat guy's own state of blotto-ness, as he gets drunker and more abusive to the woman, who's either his wife or mistress-- he hates them both. Despite their squabbles, they dote on their pet ferret, and fixate on who might have hurt it. (It comes out later that the guy might have done it himself.)

"Its whole rear-end is busted. What shithead did this? That sucks. Whoever did this is my enemy."

3) These two maniacs, the owners of the out-of-control Doberman, are arguably the stars of the show, mainly because of tender scenes like this.


4) Possibly the only non-grotesque in the cast, and you wonder what such a beauty is doing in this film . . .

until she calls in her Siberian Husky. Fortunately, the camera looks away while it's still foreplay.

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 16, 2005 5:54 PM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz #46

Filed under: Imported

I'm away from Couch Pundit Media HQ this week, so the quiz will be a descriptive one. Name this movie:

This is a story about a parent and a child. Although they've lived apart for decades, the parent and child begin to share the parent's home again, at the child's insistence. While they're together, they:

1) argue about food, especially meatloaf, cheese and sherbet,

2)  attempt to converse on a picture-phone, and

3) try to figure out why they annoy each other so much.

Pretty easy, eh? If you think so, too, send me an email by late Sunday night, and next week you can see your name in our circle of winners. No need to say "Good luck" this time, because it's so easy, you won't need it.

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 14, 2005 5:47 PM

 

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

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The three pictures that made up last week's clues were from Petey Wheatstraw, the Devil's Son-in-Law, starring the one-and-only Rudy Ray Moore.

If you don't know Rudy's best-known films, Dolemite I and II, they are a crazed combination of blaxploitation, kung fu and chitlin'-circuit humor that have to be seen to be disbelieved.  In his own foul-mouthed, arrogant way, Rudy is almost as charming and likable a screen presence as Jackie Chan, although Jackie never needed his martial arts scene speeded up like Keystone Kops to make them look better. Dolemite II (The Human Tornado) is especially recommended as a truly great bad movie.

Petey Wheatstraw is Rudy's lesser-known cinematic alter-ego, and if it's not his Citizen Kane, it's at least his Chimes at Midnight. Petey is a nightclub comic who, because of his supernatural birth and powers (in the hilarious opening scene, he's born fully-grown), becomes the Devil's first choice for a son-in-law. "Lucipher" is played by non-actor G. Tito Shaw, who looks both  satanic and ridiculous running down the street in a jogging suit, and Petey's arch-enemies are a couple of old-school black comics named-- brace yourself-- Leroy and Skillet. The movie goes from maudlin social drama to X-rated nitwit comedy, sometimes in the same scene, all of it held together by Rudy's intensely awful wardrobe.

(The film looks fine on DVD, but don't bother with the new commentary track by the star himself. Rudy seemed to be feeling no pain whatsoever, and says very little except "Okay, DVD lovers, run it back" when he comes to a favorite scene. That's not often, either-- there are long stretches of silence, making me wonder if Rudy wasn't dozing through much of it.)

So congrats and a dose of the Alabama claps to Wayne A. Palmer (of course),  Evan Cook (welcome), and Hank Parmer (welcome back).

P.S. Don't know if this represents the market for Rudy Ray-affiliated vinyl these days or it's just the act of a new eBayer gone mad, but a sealed copy of the soundtrack-- which is tasty stuff-- which went for $5 a few years ago, just closed in an auction for $300!  That would have paid for all of the movies' special effects, with enough left over for Rudy to buy a new pimp suit.

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 14, 2005 5:25 PM

 

Jimmy Smith hates Des Moines

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I suppose that should actually be "Jimmy Smith hated Des Moines," since he passed away on Tuesday. Anyway, Jimmy's appearance at a free concert in my home town several years ago resulted in one of the craziest radio broadcasts ever aired there or anyplace else. Here's what I recall:

Never a city bursting with good music, over the past few years the concerts at an old but renovated theater called Hoyt Sherman Place have provided much-needed high-quality entertainment for those of us stuck in the place the locals call Dead Moines. (Alas, this seems to be no more: a quick perusal of the theater's webpage touts upcoming "talent" like Cokie Roberts and Suze Orman, with not a single good musical act in sight.) One season in particular-- I believe it was 1999-2000-- the fare was outstanding, and the shows did so well that the final concert of the season, starring Mr. Smith, was changed to a free show for everyone, with the city actually picking up the tab.

Apparently, when he learned of this, Jimmy wasn't pleased. Stories were already going around that he wasn't the most agreeable guy on the concert circuit anyway, which was clear in a pre-concert interview he gave to Des Moines mayor Preston Daniels, printed in the town's weekly paper Cityview. Daniels, a big jazz fan and record collector, wanted to talk music, while Jimmy seemed only to want to zing Daniels for "talking white." (Daniels was DSM's first black mayor.) A glutton for punishment, Daniels introduced Smith on stage by offering him a key to the city. Jimmy's response: "Shit, man, I don't want no fuckin' key to the city. I only came here for your wife."

From then on, every intro Smith gave was peppered with "shit" and "fuck," and all of it broadcast live and uncensored on the city's very staid NPR affiliate. (Today, the FCC would probably sock the station about $20 million in fines.) Musically, of course, he cooked, thanks in no small part to guitarist and Smith protegee Phil Upchurch (who, local rumor had it, was being paid half of Smith's $8,000 fee-- if so, he deserved it), but as the performance went on, Jimmy got even stranger. Finally, he seemed to start talking in tongues, like someone had just given him an extra-large sack of snakes to fondle.

And then it was over-- 45 minutes and Smith was done. The audience, not believing he was actually finished, started calling "More!" After a few minutes, Jimmy came back on stage and said, "More? What the fuck do you assholes mean, more? Shit, y'all got in for fuckin' free!" Then he stormed off, leaving the poor public-radio host to say something like, "Well, uh . . . it looks like the show is really over. Maybe it's just as well."

Needless to say, Jimmy Smith wasn't invited back to Des Moines, or if he was, he turned the invitation down. And to the best of my knowledge, that radio station never broadcast another live jazz show again.

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 11, 2005 4:17 AM

 

From the archives: Iron Butterfly gets Banned

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First, go here and check out the official webpage of Iron Butterfly, the band every metalhead loves to laugh at. If only rock history were as kind to their music as they are themselves: according to their self-penned hagiography, every album they made was a classic, they shared the stage (as opposed to being blown off it) with the greatest rock acts of all time-- i.e., their "peers"-- and are still knocking them dead all around the world. (Their last tour in 2004 took them to Holland, England, and Harbor City, California.) While they include the name of every TV show they were on, including The Dating Game and The Red Skelton Comedy Hour, there's no mention of original guitarist Eric Braunn, who died in 2003, or lead singer and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" co-writer Doug Ingle, who makes an honest living these days painting houses.

There's also no mention of the radio commercial for Ban deodorant that they did at the peak of their fame. Since it's every bit as good as anything they ever recorded, it would be a shame if it disappeared, so you can listen to it here.

P.S. For a more realistic look at the band's career, check out this webpage, which is almost as funny as the group's records.

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 9, 2005 4:42 AM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz #45

Filed under: Imported

I can't believe it-- everything's working and I'm actually able to post a new quiz! So here's the one I had ready to go last week: it's another esoteric, older (but not too old) favorite of mine, so again, the clues are pictures, not sounds, in hope of making it more accessible.

Clue #1:

These two tubs of oleaginousness (or, as the film's protagonist might call them, "rat-soup-eatin' sonsabitches") have our hero bumped off early in the story, much to their later chagrin when he comes back to life.

Clue #2:

This natty character, named in the film's title, wants our hero to join his family.

Clue #3:

Our hero, who's never looked better. More's the pity.

Okay, it's a tough one, but since it's a movie that becomes more well known with every passing year, I'm sure we'll still have a healthy turnout of correct answers this time. If you know the title, send me an email by late Sunday night, and, if you're right, next week you can see your name in our hellish winners circle. Good luck.

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 7, 2005 12:35 AM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz Curse Must Be Destroyed!

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As my hero Raymond Huffman said after he dropped a 40-ouncer onto the floor at Walgreen's, "Not my fault! Was not my fault!" Imagine my chagrin late Sunday/early Monday when I tried to log in and post last week's Movie Quiz winners, only to find that the entire City Pages' Babelogue section was down. It couldn't have happened Friday or Saturday, oh no! It had to happen on Quiz day. So, once again, here I am a day late (I was already a dollar short, but then, I work for City Pages) with the answer to last week's apparent stumper.

The movie was the wonderful 1933 comedy International House, with W.C. Fields, Burns and Allen, Bela Lugosi, and Franklin Pangborn, as well as "Baby" Rose Marie (the girl in clue picture #1, later known as Sally Rogers in The Dick Van Dyke Show) and Cab Calloway (pic #2, performing "The Reefer Man"). It was directed by Edward "Eddie" Sutherland, a favorite director and close friend of Fields who also directed Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello. (He also directed Lionel Atwill at his most sinister in the unknown horror gem Murders in the Zoo.) Clocking in at a mere 70 minutes, this movie packs more laughs into its short running time than any three new Hollywood "comedies" manage today.

The plot gimmick that it uses to cram in so many performers and routines is also so clever that, in a way, the film qualifies as genuine science-fiction: a Chinese hotel serves as the meeting place for important people from all over the world as they inspect (and bid on) a brand new invention: television. The amazing machine's creator, Dr. Wong (played by a silent film actor named Edmund Breese), attempts to broadcast a six-man bicycle race but instead picks up every other damn thing flying across the airwaves, including Rudy Vallee, Calloway and Baby Rose. Not all the bits are equal-- the older I get, the unfunnier Gracie Allen seems-- but at its best, it's one of the best of all-time.

Unlike some other Fields classics of this era, International House has always been available on tape, and now-- the best video news of last year, for my money-- it and four other of The Great Man's Universal films are available on a five-disc DVD set, and all the movies look great. Highest recommendation.

So, congrats as usual to the two quiz unstumpables, Wayne A. Palmer and Kika Warner, as well as Steve Perry, Cab Calloway fan. P.S. If the Babelogue page is actually working, yours truly is still enough of a sucker that he'll try to post a new quiz next week.

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 1, 2005 6:41 AM

 

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