They just want to be left alone... unless you're buying furniture. And yet, their quiet culture has permeated Hollywood since as far back as 1955 when Ernest Borgnine played Stadt, the Amish farmer, in Violent Saturday. Whether they are central to the story, a simple plot device or used for comic effect, it's time someone took note of the Amish and gave credit where credit is due. (They're not going to do it: They don't even watch movies.)

So, I'm introducing the Ishmael Awards, a prize created solely to celebrate the Amish on the silver screen. The envelopes, please.

The Ishmael for Best Amish Spring Break Movie goes to...
Sex Drive. In a surprise upset, the documentary Devil's Playground doesn't get the statuette. There's a new Rumspringa in town. Sex Drive, set for release this October, is a teen comedy that stars Seth Green as Ezekiel, an Amish mechanic that likes to rock. Green told MTV, "I'm like Daniel Day Lewis when I prep, so I was out in Lancaster for a few months just tilling soil, working hard to raise a few barns. I took a few wives." Expect bad beard jokes and Amish girls gone wild.

The Ishmael for Best Achievement in Science Fiction goes to...

Continue reading "Introducing the Ishmael Awards, Celebrating the Amish in Film" »

Once in office, actors-turned-politicians behave in a manner quite the opposite of some of their best-known roles. Former action heroes-turned-governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura left their machine guns, killer robots, six-shooters and pile drivers behind when they took office. Schwarzenegger proved himself to be an especially flexible politician, hiring a Democrat as his chief of staff, in sharp contrast to his on-screen persona, which tended toward the unequivocal and violent, whether you're talking Conan the Barbarian or the Terminator. And while you might argue that Ventura used the People's Elbow on behalf of the citizens of Minnesota on a number of occasions, he was liberal when it came to social policies.

Continue reading "In Law and Order, Ronald Reagan Was a Supporter of Big Government" »

There are many reasons to watch Troy: the crisp direction by Wolfgang Peterson; the all-star cast of Orlando Bloom, Eric Bana, and Brian Cox; the re-telling of Homer's The Iliad with action movie tropes. The very best reason, however, is Brad Pitt.

Pitt spent over seven months training his body to almost physical perfection for his role as Achilles. And since scenes were shot out of chronological order, Pitt had to maintain his exact body appearance throughout the filming, which entailed a long, hard exercise regime for the entire length of the shoot. So herewith, we're going to rate Brad Pitt's film roles and decide whether they're hunky, or the "pitts." He's no slouch in the looks department on a regular day, so keep in mind that zero Pitts is still better than 10 Buscemis.

Interview With a Vampire (1994)
This is, arguably, the film that rocketed Pitt to stardom. He plays an undead vampire so beautiful, even Tom Cruise wants to make out with him. In embodying Anne Rice's Louis, Pitt needed no special effects to make himself seem like a supernatural being.

Rating:

Continue reading "Is Troy the Hottest Brad Pitt Role Ever?" »

Overlooked during its initial release, Striking Distance is notable for three reasons: It's a "boat cop" movie with some solid chase scenes; it's another "macho-tastic" entry in the filmography of director Rowdy "Roadhouse" Herrington; and finally, it's set in Pittsburgh, a vital, but underrated film locale. The cat-and-mouse game between Det. Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis) and the Polish Hill serial murderer is set on the city's "Three Rivers," which was, in fact, the film's original, Pittsburgh-specific title. And though it isn't anywhere near New York City or Los Angeles in terms of film production, Pittsburgh has been the backdrop for a number of distinctive movies.

Continue reading "Hollywood's Infatuation With Gritty Pittsburgh - From Flashdance to Striking Distance" »

Steve McQueen on a motorcycle leaping 65 feet over a barbed wire fence while fleeing the Nazis -- it's one of the most memorable scenes in The Great Escape... and it certainly looks like Steve McQueen on that bike. But even though the King of Cool did much of his own stuntwork, it was Bud Ekins who actually made that spectacular jump.

Ekins, who also doubled for McQueen in Bullitt, was a renowned member of that select club of daredevils, the Hollywood stuntman. It's also an underappreciated club. Stunt performers have the guts but don't get much of the glory, risking their lives without the corresponding payday or A-list cachet. Ekins reportedly made $1,000 for that jump, while McQueen got a paycheck of $400,000 for the movie.

Continue reading "Bud Ekins Is the Real Steve McQueen in The Great Escape's Greatest Scene" »

Man racing to outsmart the machine -- with nothing less than the fate of the world at stake -- is a classic movie storyline. In WarGames, Matthew Broderick convinces the W.O.P.R. computer that thermonuclear war is futile; matinee idol Keir Dullea outsmarts the wily HAL 9000 of 2001: A Space Odyssey by sneaking into the Logic Memory Center; and Linda Hamilton is always one step ahead of Skynet in The Terminator trilogy. Movie computers, for all their power, speed and single-mindedness, still can't hold a candle to real live people when it comes to creative problem-solving. And it's not just on screen.

Continue reading "Mankind Outsmarts Computers on Screen and Off... For Now" »