April 20, 2008 - April 26, 2008

Great moments in movie history

It's a double feature of clips that could be called pioneers of the music video, directed by two of the movies' all-time greats.

The first is "Drum Boogie" from Ball of Fire (1941), directed by the immortal Howard Hawks. Barbara Stanwyck is lust-alicious singer Sugarpuss O'Shea, and the bandleader is WWII-era superstar drummer Gene Krupa. The first half is amazing-- big-band rock-and-roll, really-- but it's the hushed second half that stuns, when you realize Krupa really is playing with matchsticks.

A couple decades later, a movie could get away with more than just the name "Sugarpuss," but even so, Erica Gavin's "fish dance" from Russ Meyer's Vixen! really pushed it. Today, it would be rated PG, at the most, but it was eye-popping in its day, and even now some of you might not want to watch it at work. Let's just say that the symbolism is blatant. (And note the Shatner-ish guy who's loving every smelly moment.)

Posted by Steve Monaco at April 24, 2008 3:04 AM

The Monday Movie Quiz #172

Talk about movie trivia! It's hard enough to believe these two people were in a movie together, let alone come up with the title. But if you know it, send me an email by late Sunday, and if you're right, we'll sing your praises in next week's winner's circle. (You talkin' to me?)

Posted by Steve Monaco at April 21, 2008 2:47 AM

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Last week's quiz movie in question was Bob Roberts, Tim Robbins' 1992 political satire (and directorial debut), and it inspired a fair amount of commentary. "For all its flaws, I love this movie-- it still gives me the chills about how prescient it was about the direction of Republican politics." "I rewatched it a few years back and if anything, it's more relevant today than it was in the early '90s." "Oh my God-- that's Jack Black in pic #3!"

Even those who don't love it have to admit that the film's political prescience is indisputable. Robbins played the title character, an ultra-rightwing entertainer who's running for the Senate, and the film is done as a mockumentary detailing his campaign. Much of what Robbins parodied was the twisted directions that politics and media coverage were going at the time, but watching it today is like seeing an almost quaint prediction of the politics/news nightmare that we live with now.

Like this:

Robbins took many chances with his film (just making it at the tail-end of the Reagan-Bush years was a huge one), but the biggest gamble was also his masterstroke: using Gore Vidal for the role of Bob's senatorial rival, Brickley Paiste. What Vidal lacked as an actor, he more than made up for with his wonderful improvised dialogue. And Vidal was in on the main joke: that his old-school liberal character (speaking Vidal's own words and thoughts) was the loser.

Even though the email this week was fairly political, there was just as much from people who were surprised to see Jack Black in the clues. Actually, the cast of Bob Roberts is full of recognizable names and faces, like Alan Rickman (clue #2), James Spader, John Cusack, Helen Hunt, Susan Sarandon (of course), and David Strathairn, just to name a half-dozen. But yes, it was Jack's first feature film, and even then, he stood out as one of Bob's super-fans. "I remember those creepy kids, and to realize it was Jack Black-- man, that's too much." Here, then, is Jack's first movie closeup:

So congratulations and a Bob button to the following winners: Vince Tuss, Thomas Miller, Wayne Palmer, Song-Un Lee, Jack Sparks, Corey Anderson, Dean Carlson, Michael Mattson, Bob Redwing, ron frigstad, Jim Moomey, Fred Lorence, Bill Hearne, Kenneth Gramer, Dave Mallow, Nancy Louise Rutherford, Joe Rosenberg, E. Yarber, Kevin Musolino, and Stacy Sarrette.

Posted by Steve Monaco at April 21, 2008 12:37 AM

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