December 2007 - Old Movies

Old Movies

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Old Movies - December 2007

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

December 24th 2007 10:50

It's a comedy, but it scared the hell outta me when I saw it as a little kid. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein teams up the classic comedy duo of Abbott and Costello with classic movie monsters.

They run into Frankenstein (actually, Frankenstein's monster), Dracula and the Wolfman. I wasn't scared of the Wolfman, as he was kind of an animal, and I partly wanted to be a wolf. Dracula never scared me either, as I was pretty sure my cross on a chain would protect me. Plus, they didn't like garlic, and my mom's cooking as pretty garlic-intensive.

No, I was freaked out by Frankenstein. Even though I laughed at those two bumbling idiots, and laughed harder at silly faces and slapstick routines.

Woah, according to Wikipedia, the cast had several pie fights during the production. Sounds like fun, as long as the pies were plain cream pies. My concern would be if they were piping hot apple or cherry pies... straight out of the oven, pie filling is as bad as napalm- and I think there's been enough napalm dumped on the world.

Is this a good movie? It's a nostalgic one for me, one of those weekend movies that plays on cable, chewing up time before the main sporting event. Still, it's classic comedy, and it's the heavy foundation for American humour. Embrace it!

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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Comedy

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Oscar Season has officially started!

December 22nd 2007 05:31

Well, it's getting to be that time again, the lead up to the Oscars has well and truly started. The Golden Globe nominations came in last week, closely followed by the Screen Actors Guild awards and all the other knock offs, and it's looking like the best year for award-films in quite some time. I can't remember the last time the prospective nominees actually happened to look like genuinely good films... American Gangster, There Will Be Blood, Eastern Promises, No Country for Old Men, Juno, etc, etc, seem less along the lines of typical Oscar-bait and more along the lines of films that appeal to a wider audience without getting lame about it.

After looking at all the films that have been getting nominated and noticed by reviewers, I've collected a list of movies to check out this season for those who want to be on the ball when the Awards actually come around (of course, that's if the writer's strike doesn't get in the way). I'm not saying all these films will neccessarily get nominations, I'm just saying, hey, at least 90% of the nominations will be coming from this list, so don't get caught short.

American Gangster
Atonement
Eastern Promises
The Savages
The Great Debators
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
Juno
There Will Be Blood
Away From Her
Sweeney Todd
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Charlie Wilson's War
Hairspray
The Brave One
A Mighty Heart
Youth Without Youth
The Darjeeling Limited
La Moine
The Kite Runner
I'm Not There
Lars and the Real Girl
Into the Wild
Lambs for Lions

and some other probably un-nominated films also worth checking out around about now (and soon) look like these (and some of these have been out a while)...

3:10 to Yuma
Superbad
Stardust
Cloverfield
I Am Legend

I'm excited.

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Academy Awards

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The Maltese Falcon

December 13th 2007 01:30

What am I talking about? The crime novel written by Dashiell Hammett?

The film made in 1931?

No, for this review, we go all the way forward to 1941, 10 years after the first film, and a remake. This is the one that everyone remembers, the one that inspired film noir and has been called one of the greatest films of all time.

Directed by John Huston, it's a dark, seedy look at the underbelly of American life. Humphrey Bogart plays Sam Spade, a cynical private detective that is hired by Mary Astor to find her missing sister... however, Spade's partner is killed trying to follow the suspected kidnapper.

The tangled lines of the plot grow and grow until it is revealed that everyone's in on the play for the Maltese Falcon.

What is the Maltese Falcon? Well, the opening of the movie gives us a little text to supply ourselves with the background:

"In 1539, the Knights Templar of Malta paid tribute to Charles V of Spain by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels -- but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day."

But that's not the point of the story. In fact, the Maltese Falcon is the most famous Macguffin in the history of cinema - a script device to push the characters along.

What the movie gives us, then, is the brilliantly complicated interactions by all the players. Once Bogie gets wise to what's going on, he starts playing each character against each other. It's a wonderful story, complemented by some of the finest American actors.

Who wouldn't love Bogart after this? With his scowl and his rough-talk, he's been the inspiration for generations of anti-heroes and bad dudes that walk the fine line.

Huston's direction is masterful throughout, using the feeling of claustrophobia in his shots to show how confined Spade is, and, similarly, giving each main character an angle to complement them. It's widely disseminated that the Fat Man gets angles that show off his impressive belly.

I saw The Maltese Falcon when I was quite young, but only really appreciated it when I rewatched it last year. A finely made, exquisitely written masterpiece... one to make you long for the days of dames in distress and rogues that have a sliver of a good heart.

114

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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Action/Thriller

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