December 2007

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The Monday Movie Quiz #156

Who knew those two icons were ever such an item-- or is the above pic just a Movie Quiz clue? If you decide the latter, send me an email by late Sunday with the title-- if you're right, expect to thrill to the sight of your name in next week's shotgun-friendly winner's circle.

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 31, 2007 2:52 AM

 

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Last week's quiz movie in question was director Allan Arkush's 1983 comedy Get Crazy, a Looney Toons version of a New Year's Eve extravanganza at the Fillmore East. (It's called The Saturn in the film, but if there was any doubt what theater it really was, Arkush is even in a shot wearing his old Fillmore T-shirt.) Despite the poster slogan about saying goodbye to your brain-- and it's definitely at the same low-brow level of Arkush's earlier hit, Rock and Roll High School-- the more you know about music of the Fillmore era and B movies in general, the funnier it is.

The dopey plot about a bad millionaire (Ed Begley Jr.!) wanting to blow up the theater at midnight is just an excuse for some inspired sight gags (all the blind guys at the old bluesman's funeral is a standout), decent music parodies (especially Malcolm McDowell's Mick Jagger/Rod Stewart turn), and some of the weirdest casting choices ever made. Arkush used musicians-- like head Turtle Howard Kaylan (last week's third picture clue), Doors' drummer John Densmore, and Minneapolis' own Lee "Fear" Ving-- for his character actors, and his lead actors for the concert's singers. The standout in the latter category is McDowell's ultra-noxious strut-rocker, Reggie Wanker.

Just as memorable, though, is the Dylan pimpery behind Lou Reed's portrayal of the reclusive genius . . . Auden!

(There are lots of nice pop culture nods, too, like using Fabian and Bobby Sherman for Begley's henchmen.)

Get Crazy's drug humor still stands out for its outrageousness-- the picture clue of the dead guy with the enormous syringe in him is from the scene in the theater's men's room-- and it was the last hurrah for that kind of comedy in American movies for several years. While people today forget (or never knew), there was a time, beginning in the mid-'80s, when drugs became no laughing matter as far as their depiction on-screen. The ratings were ultimately changed so that depiction of drug use could get an automatic R, and this movie's shots of huge buds and other illicit substances (supplied by space cowboy Electric Larry) wouldn't even have been allowed by most studios.

Fortunately, Hollywood and the country have both moved on and set their sights on demonizing the use of other things, like tobacco.

This quiz was tougher than almost any other this year-- a little Xmas present to myself-- and I was very impressed by how many still got it. So congratulations and a holiday basket delivered by Electric Larry to the following wiiners: Thomas Miller, Wayne Palmer, Corey Anderson, Song-Un Lee, Bill Kelly, The Curmudgeon, Bob Redwing, Michael Mattson, Fred Lorence, Bill Hearne, Nancy Louise Rutherford, Kevin Musolino, and Vince Tuss. And Happy New Year to everybody!

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 31, 2007 12:10 AM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz #155

Yes, I know it's Xmas eve, but you have to go back to work sometime, and when you do, here's this week's quiz:

Possibly the funniest New Year's eve movie ever, not that the list of those is all that long. If you've seen it, I'm sure you agree-- so what is it? If you know, send me an email by late Sunday (New Year's Eve eve), and if you're right, expect to feel the head-spinning rush of seeing your name in next week's Bill Graham-approved winner's circle.

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 24, 2007 12:18 AM

 

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Apparently, not many people recognize Nana the dog, Mr. Smee the pirate, or even Tiger Lily unless they're drawn by the Disney animation team, because last week's movie in question was the 1924 version of Peter Pan. It was as beloved as any children's film of the silent era-- film historians William K. Everson and James Card both wrote about it glowingly decades later, even though neither man had seen it since it came out-- and it was long considered a lost film, to the chagrin of Everson, Card, and many other film buffs.

Card, the film archivist and curator for Eastman House, finally found a copy in a vault of decomposing prints in an Eastman-owned theater. Just being in the vault was dangerous: besides the toxic fumes emanating from the films, there was the possibility that they could spontaneously combust at any second! But never underestimate the dedication of the serious film fanatic, especially one who's just found the movie of his childhood. We have Card to thank for the beautiful print of the picture that, now, all of us can enjoy.

The production of Peter Pan was as big as any major studio "event" today, and the top stars of the era all wanted the title role. Both Gloria Swanson and Mary Pickford tried to get the part and failed, mainly because the author, J.M. Barrie, wanted complete control over who played his character, and he didn't want a known actor. He chose a 17-year-old girl from New Jersey named Betty Bronson, and his reason proved to be inspired: while the teenager had almost no acting experience, she was a trained ballet dancer, and reviews both then and now all comment on the gracefulness of her "flying." Her naivete also helped communicate the eternal childlike state of the hero, and while no one would ever say it's a subtle performance, it may be a perfect one.

Time has been kind to both Bronson's performance and the film in general. While it probably won't win over people who are simply unable to appreciate silent films (even a couple of usually smart quiz winners said some not-so-smart things about silents in general), it could certainly convert those with more open minds. Its special effects were state-of-the-art for the time, and now are so quaint that they almost seem brand new. The cast is fine-- the Lost Boys are cute, the pirates are a zesty bunch of bad guys, and besides George Ali in a dog suit as Nana (in his only film!), that was none other than Anna May Wong as Tiger Lily in last week's picture clues. And Tinker Bell was actually played by an actress named Virginia Brown Faire!

Here's a production still with Bronson ready for her closeup, directed by Herbert Brenon-- the young man behind the camera is one of the greatest of cinematographers, James Wong Howe, at the very beginning of his career.

So congratulations and a Christmas story told by the lovely Wendy Darling to the following intrepid quiz winners (or should I say sleuths, since almost none had actually seen the film): Wayne Palmer, Vince Tuss, Song-Un Lee, John Middleton, Bob Redwing, Michael Mattson, Jack Sparks, Bill Hearne, Nancy Louise Rutherford, Martha Kiesling, Bill McLaughlin, Stacy Sarette, Fred Lorence, Thomas Miller, E. Yarber, and Christina O'Sullivan.

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 23, 2007 8:33 PM

 

Hellish Xmas

Some things I found while trolling Google Images with those anti-seasonal words:

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 23, 2007 1:00 AM

 

Great moments in movie history

Dennis Murren has done the special effects for Hollywood's biggest sci-fi extravaganzas since he worked with George Lucas on Star Wars. Nothing against Murren, but I have no interest in any of the movies he's made-- except, that is, the 1970 drive-in classic, Equinox. A feature film about college kids and black magic was fashioned around a much shorter student film Murren had made, one that was filled with stop-motion Lovecraftian monsters and other ghoulish effects (like a giant blue caveman), and the result was half joke, half masterpiece. It's been enshrined with its own ultra-thorough and great-looking Criterion DVD, but this splicy trailer actually gets the spirit of the film across perfectly. Incidentally, the dead professor is played by none other than science fiction writer Fritz Lieber, and the dark-haired college boy is Frank Bonner, better known to most as Herb Tarlick from WKRP in Cincinnati.

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 22, 2007 12:55 AM

 

Gift suggestions for the hard-to-buy-for

Vintage video games

Soothing health & beauty products

An Aleister Crowley Hat (complete with Aleister Crowley)

Some fine Iowa pork

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 21, 2007 1:42 AM

 

Season's gratings

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 20, 2007 1:56 AM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz #154

A nice family movie for the holiday season:

Let me guess: you haven't seen it, but it still looks familiar, right? Then send me an email by late Sunday (the 23rd) with the title-- if you're right, expect to feel the glow from seeing your name in next week's clap-happy winner's circle.

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 17, 2007 12:27 AM

 

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Once again, let the griping commence! "Even easier than last week." "Oh, please-- with those photos you've handed it to them on a plate. Robin Hood is so iconic that the archetypes of Friar Tuck and Maid Marian should be recognizable no matter who is playing the part." "Come on, Steve! Some of your fans are older than Diablo Cody." I'm not surprised that so many people recognized the 1938 mega-classic The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn. (The news that I have fans, on the other hand, was a huge surprise, and I appreciate you both.)

For any admirer of the golden age of Hollywood, the supporting cast is one of the film's great delights: beside Flynn's lovely costar, Olivia de Havilland, and her picture-clue companions Claude Rains and (as Tuck) Eugene Pallette, it also featured Basil Rathbone and Alan Hale, both of whom would have been even bigger giveaways. And, in smaller roles, it also featured a couple of my old movie faves, Una O'Connor and Montagu Love-- maybe I should have used them for the clues.

(Even without checking the schedule, I knew TCM wouldn't let me down, and more than one quiz winner pointed out that they just showed it again. "I noticed that Turner was running it yesterday. You're right-- the channel would be dead air without it.")

At least one quiz winner's thoughts about the film and its star were the same as mine: "Can you imagine the amount of cigarettes and booze consumed during the filming? I would have given my eye-teeth to have been an extra on the set!" Well, it's well-documented that Flynn himself went through two-fifths of hooch a day, so considering that heavyweights like Hale and Pallette were also around, the after-hours whiskey was probably sold in vats.

Flynn's final days were recounted in one of the craziest books ever written, The Big Love, "told by" Florence Aadland, the mother of Flynn's 15-year-old girlfriend, Beverly. The book has one of the greatest opening sentences of all time: “Now, I want to make one thing clear right off: my baby was a virgin the day she met Errol Flynn.” And then the book gets even better! One fact that I believe Mom omitted, however, was the results of the autopsy performed on Flynn after his death at age 50-- the doctor who performed it declared that the actor had the internal organs of a poorly-preserved 90-year-old.

I'll let you decide about his exterior.

So congratulations and a bite of Eugene Pallette's mutton to the following quiz winners: Wayne Palmer, Vince Tuss, Josefina Avila, Thomas Miller, Kenneth Gramer, Bob Redwing, Mark Gisleson, Nancy Louise Rutherford, Jack Sparks, Dean E. Carlson, Bill Kelly, Bill Hearne, Song-Un Lee, ron frigstad, Joe Rosenberg, Tild, Doug Smith, Michael Mattson, Fred Lorence, Martha Kiesling, E. Yarber, Kevin Musolino, Sharon Nordskog, and Stacy Sarette. May you all be in like Flynn!

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 16, 2007 5:18 PM

 

Great moments in movie history

Okay, I'm cheating this week-- it's a (gag! retch!) commercial, but one starring one of my all-time movie favorites. Around the time of Death Wish, Charles Bronson was one of the first American superstars to do the kind of ad for Japanese television that he wouldn't have been caught dead doing in the U.S., in his case for a cologne called-- brace yourselves-- Mandom! Apparently, he-men like Chuck use the stuff a bottle at a time, while waxing philosophic about how "all the world loves a lover." An interesting smell-well approach for its era, considering that his only co-stars in the ad are a Bobby Short imitator (or is it Brook Benton?) and, best of all, the stubby, wheezy character actor Percy Helton, in one of his last roles-- Mandom indeed! Here it is, and I defy you to rid your mind of the stupid-but-suave jingle anytime soon.

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 16, 2007 2:34 AM

 

Why We Fight

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 11, 2007 10:37 AM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz #153

"Too easy." "Way too easy!" "It can't be that easy-- is this a trick quiz?"

I gather some of you found last week's quiz-- shall we say-- too easy. Well, okay, chumps, try this one:

Of course, if I'd included a shot of the star, this quiz would be over. But let's see how well-known this supporting cast is, especially to the Phoebe Cates fan club.

I'm not sure TCM would survive without this week's quiz movie in question, and I'm sure everyone here knows it. So what is it? If you know the title, send me an email by late Sunday (the 16th)-- if you're right, expect to see your name in next week's heavily-taxed winner's circle.

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 10, 2007 12:18 AM

 

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

"Awesome! Totally awesome!" "No shirt, no shoes . . . no dice?!" "What are you people-- on dope?" Those and about 400 other wonderful lines come to mind any time Fast Times at Ridgemont High comes up in a conversation-- or a quiz, for that matter. Directed by Amy Heckerling (her first feature film!) and written by Cameron Crowe (based on his novel), it's still arguably the best teen film of all time, and certainly the most knowing look at American high school this side of Frederick Wiseman. And-- hard to believe-- it's 25 years old this year!

Even harder to believe that it spawned the cast it did, including two Oscar winners, Forest Whitaker and Sean Penn. Whitaker was funny as the deranged quarterback Charles Jefferson, but Penn's portrayal of stoner Jeff Spicoli immediately placed both actor and character in the pantheon of movie comedy. Crowe claims that Penn never once broke character through the entire shoot, even when he wasn't on camera, and it was only at the wrap party that he went to all his co-workers and introduced himself as Sean Penn! The dedication shows on screen, but he also may have needed it in his scenes with Ray Walston, who was Mr. Hand, the Hawaii Five-O-loving history teacher who gives the punk as good as he gets. (Their final scene, where he pays an unexpected visit on Jeff at home and passes him-- just barely-- is one of the nicest moments in the movie.)

The cast also featured early appearances by Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Eric Stoltz, Anthony Edwards, and Nicolas Cage (the latter three as Jeff's stoner buds), as well as a great part for perennial quiz favorite Vincent Schiavelli as Mr. Vargas, the only science teacher who makes autopsies a field trip. ("They sold their bodies to medicine for money. About $30, I think." To which Spicoli responds, "Righteous bucks!")

Still, going by all the mail this week, you'd think that Fast Times at Ridgemont High was a solo performance-- this one:

Or as one lecherous quiz winner (named Corey Anderson) put it: "Mmmm-- Phoebe!" He wasn't alone with the dirty thoughts about Ms. Cates. Apparently, my readers know this scene like, er, the palm of their hand.

So congratulations and a pizza delivered by Taylor Negron to the following Fast Timers: Vince Tuss, Wayne Palmer, John Seffl, Nancy Louise Rutherford, Isaac Kaufman, Corey "The Perv" Anderson, Joe Rosenberg, Bob Redwing, Dean E. Carlson, Mark Gisleson, Bill Hearne, Jack Sparks, Song-Un Lee, ron frigstad, Michael Mattson, Kenneth Gramer, Doug Smith, Thomas Miller, Martha Kiesling, sarahsicheneder, E. Yarber, and Kevin Musolino.

Wait-- you don't want pizza? Then how about some fish and chips? I don't think this guy's doing much these days-- he'll be right over!

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 9, 2007 6:21 PM

 

Great moments in movie history

While Universal's bread-and-butter '40s comedy stars Abbott and Costello have secured their rank (as Somerset Maugham described himself) in the first row of the second-raters, the studio's runners-up, Olsen and Johnson, are practically unknown today. It doesn't help that their biggest movie, the ultra-surreal Hellzapoppin', has never even had a VHS release, let alone a DVD. While it's said to be a watered-down version of their even more frenetic and strange stage performance, the film is filled with hilarious, unbelievable moments like the following dance number, featuring the most murderous version of The Lindy Hop you'll ever see-- look up "Jumpin' Jive" in your interactive dictionary, and if it doesn't include this clip, get a refund.

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 9, 2007 3:10 AM

 

Man's best meal

Banner announcing the Han Seong dog meat conference, happening now in China.

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 7, 2007 1:50 PM

 

The return of WTF and then some

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 5, 2007 7:14 PM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz #152

If you've seen the movie in question-- and of course you have-- you know that the above death threat was heartfelt. (That's not a shot from the film, by the way, but a supposedly rare pre-release publicity pic.) And if you've seen it, no other clues are necessary, so that's it. If you know the title, send me an email by late Sunday, and, if you're right, you'll see your name in next week's winner's circle. Aloha!

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 2, 2007 11:56 PM

 

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Last week's movie in question was the ultra-fast-talking comedy classic His Girl Friday (1940), Howard Hawks' gender-bending take on the Hecht-MacArthur play The Front Page. As one winner put it (speaking for many others), "One of the rare examples of a good remake-- they kept what worked in the play, yet made the story virtually new by turning Hildy into a woman." And what a woman!-- Rosalind Russell at her smartest and sexiest, two qualities she needed in abundance to keep up with her co-star, the equally witty and beautiful Cary Grant in one of his very best roles. (Some even recognized the latter in the third clue, even though his back is to the camera, although one unnamed correspondent opined, "To be fair, the only person who might be able to pick the back of Cary Grant's head out of a line-up would be Randolph Scott-- ba-dum dum!")

No newsroom in the real world ever moved-- or talked-- as fast as the one in His Girl Friday, and it's doubtful that any editor was ever as duplicitous as Grant's character Walter Burns, as he tries to keep his star reporter (and ex-wife) Hildy Johnson (Russell) from quitting and getting remarried (to Ralph Bellamy, who had a mini-career as the nice guy who always lost the girl). The adjective "breakneck" is often applied to the speed of the dialogue, but it may be even faster than that! One quiz winner, an old hand at old films, admitted that when he first saw it, "it took 20 minutes for my ear to catch up with the dialogue. Then I went back and restarted the movie." Another quiz regular once tried to replicate the film's fast pace on stage: "I was working with semi-pro actors who had training and long resumes and a good deal of talent and still I couldn't get them to play the lines as fast as they need to be played without losing all the nuance."

Since it's agreed His Girl Friday is one of the classic comedies of all time, at least one quiz winner wants to know the following: "Maybe you can explain to me why this classic is available for $4 from the cheap bin at Snyder's drug stores� Doesn't anyone want to copyright this beauty?" Somehow the film was one of the few major studio holdings that slipped into public domain, leading to decades of subpar prints being sold and shown on television. So while I almost never feel like praising Columbia and Sony (especially now), you have to give them credit for the sparkling "official" DVD, which was struck from a beautiful 35mm archive print from UCLA. Since they were releasing it at a premium price into a market already glutted with cheaper knockoffs, it appears that, for once, they did the right thing and let art take precedence over commerce. Now, someone check-- how cold is Hell these days?

(If you just want to see the film and can't even wait to get to a Snyder's, it's also available online, and you can go watch it here.)

So congratulations and a brim from Roz's hideous hat collection to the following winners: Vince Tuss, Thomas Miller, John Seffl, ron frigstad, Wayne Palmer, Song-Un Lee, Peter Schilling, Bob Redwing, Bryan Jackson, Jack Sparks, Bill Hearne, Denny Lynch, Tild, Brian Jennings, Michael Mattson, mick, E. Yarber, Stacy Sarette, Vincent McCrary, Kevin Musolino, and Nancy Louise Rutherford.

Posted by Steve Monaco at December 2, 2007 10:35 PM

 

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