January 2008 - Old Movies

Old Movies

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Old Movies - January 2008

How did R2-D2 get his name?

January 22nd 2008 13:33

We've loved it from the instant we heard it. The name of the little garbage can robot, R2-D2, has been murmured at hundreds of moments in my life, since I was a little little kid.

Where did ol' George come up with the name?

You'd imagine that he thought up an entire taxonomy for his armies of bots... each name signifying something important.

Nope. That's not it.

You could imagine that he had an out-of-body experience, that he was being chased across the galaxy by a dark empire, and he gave his synopsis for the original "Star Wars" to a robot named R2D2 with the message "Help me, Steven Spielberg. You're my only hope."

The truth, according to /Film, is that Lucas was editing "American Graffiti" and stumbled upon it. From the source:

"Rumor has it that George Lucas and a co-worker were editing American Graffiti, when a co-worker asked Lucas for “Reel Two, Dialog Two”, which is abbreviated “R2D2”. Lucas supposedly wrote down the abbreviation and used it as the name of the now famous droid in Star Wars."

Are we disappointed? I'm not surprised in the slightest...

Of note: I mentioned that R2D2 looks like a garbage can, which you might take offense to, depending on how sci-fi geeky you are. Well, check this post out.

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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Profiles, Trivia and Talking Crap

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No Country For Old Men

January 19th 2008 12:40

This isn't a proper review. There's no point. Everyone knows this movie straight-out rules so hard that your testicles get bigger from watching it. It's a fact. Yes, this applies to women as well.

I just want to say to all the people out there jumping on the Javier Bardem bandwagon: Welcome. I've been driving this bandwagon for a couple of years, so hop aboard. Now go and watch Before Night Falls and The Sea Inside and prepare to have your mind blown at how freaking unbelievable this guy is and amaze yourself with the fact that he has only been nominated for an Oscar once before, and that it wasn't for The Sea Inside!

PS. This looks like it will be a really good year for the Oscars, No Country for Old Men is just one of a few really decent films this season that look to be shaping up to be deadset classics. This makes it all the more sad that this year's Oscars will probably not be televised due to the Writer's Strike. I'm so depressed.

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Academy Awards

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Coming Home

January 13th 2008 10:14

It's official, 'Coming Home' has the greatest soundtrack of all time. I don't know how much money was spent in securing these songs for use in the film, but I doubt you will ever see such a soundtrack assembled for a film ever again... for example, Beatles song are notoriously expensive to use because Michael Jackson owns the rights, and the executives of Jimmi Hendrix are very particular about what kinds of films they allow his music to be used in. Anyway, check out this great soundtrack...

"Hey Jude"
Performed by The Beatles

"Strawberry Fields Forever"
Performed by The Beatles

"Call On Me"
Performed by Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin

"Once I Was"
Performed by Tim Buckley

"Expecting to Fly"
Performed by Buffalo Springfield

"For What It's Worth"
Performed by Buffalo Springfield

"Time Has Come Today"
Performed by Chambers Brothers

"Just Like A Woman"
Written & Performed by Bob Dylan

"Save Me"
Performed by Aretha Franklin

"Follow"
Performed by Richie Havens

"Manic Depression"
Performed by Jimi Hendrix

"White Rabbit"
Performed by Jefferson Airplane

"Out of Time"
Performed by Rolling Stones

"No Expectations"
Performed by Rolling Stones

"Jumpin' Jack Flash"
Performed by Rolling Stones

"My Girl"
Performed by Rolling Stones

"Ruby Tuesday"
Performed by Rolling Stones

"Sympathy For The Devil"
Performed by Rolling Stones

"Bookends"
Performed by Simon and Garfunkel

"Born To Be Wild"
Performed by Steppenwolf

All perfect choices to represent the late 60s/early 70s (in others words, the Vietnam War era). The movie itself isn't bad either, and features some excellent performances from Jon Voight, Jane Fonda and Bruce Dern.

Released at the same time as The Deer Hunter, these two very different films about the Vietnam War duked it out at the 1978 Oscars, and almost all the major awards went to one or the other. I think it's fair to say though that The Deer Hunter is probably the better film and has stood the test of time somewhat longer by taking a less reactionary stance against the war. Jane Fonda had the gall to suggest The Deer Hunter was the Washington/pro-war version of events (and she said this in the same breath she used to admit she hadn't seen it), but I think the main distinction to make between these two films is that The Deer Hunter takes a more complex view of the war and opts not to take the easy route of just saying "War is bad, mmmmkay?" (like, say, Coming Home tends to do). To say that Coming Home take a lazier angle by not actually showing the war in any capacity is probably missing the point though, so as I'm feeling charitable I'll let in slide in favour of looking at this movie as more of a character piece than the anti-war propaganda Jane Fonda wanted it to be.

With this in mind, there are three main things that I think elevate this film above dreary melodrama, and I'll list them to round this review off...

1. The awesome soundtrack. Also, the decision to run these songs at mid to low-volume almost completely through from beginning to end simultaeneous to the action on screen whilst flicking between the characters lends the film a terrific sense of atmosphere and feeling that it probably would've otherwise been unable to achieve. The use of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" in particular comes to mind, it really helps build the film's momentum.

2. Jon Voight. This guy is one of the unsung screen legends, and he won a Best Actor Oscar for his work here. Whilst his contemporaries (Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, etc) all went from strength to strength and gained cult icon status to varying degrees, Voight eventually faded from the public consciousness and never achieved such success. The sad thing is, he has a bigger range than either De Niro or Pacino, but audiences never latched onto him the way they did with those guys, and Voight's films (whilst sometimes acclaimed) aren't the huge classics or blockbusters that, say, The Godfather, Scarface or Tootsie are.

3. Hal Ashby's underplayed direction and slick editing. I wouldn't really say Ashby is a subtle director but he definitely isn't one to overdo it, and his unassuming style goes a long way towards lifting this film out of telemovie territory. It's heavily rumoured that his editing helped reign in Voight's performance (particularly in his speech scene towards the end).

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Drama

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Ghostbusters

January 1st 2008 09:15

It may not be that old (1984), but Ghostbusters is an eternal classic for me, a little boy that wanted to bust ghosts really, really bad.

The premise is brilliant - three dubious scientists get shucked from the world of academia and decide to take their research to the streets of Manhattan, making a buck off of paranormal activity

[ Click here to read more ]

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