Top 10 Visions of the Vietnam War

Episode 4 - Open Thread

2008-08-24T14:40:17Z

What did you think of Episode 4, "Three Sundays"?

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

2008-08-22T21:30:03Z

Clones as Imposters -- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Clones have the uncanny ability to appear as if they were the original product, a fact that, when coupled with Cold War paranoia, birthed the idea of the body snatcher. The pod people appear human, but in truth, they're the first wave of an alien invasion force. They're here already... and you're next...

Invasion of the Body Snatchers, King Donovan, Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, 1956. Courtesy The Everett Collection.
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What's your favorite clone movie? Click here to vote.

Old Commercials

2008-08-22T18:51:48Z

Hello All,
Thought you might enjoy a website that allows you to listen to sound bites from old commercials. Some are newer than others, but these brought back a lot of memories for me...especially the ones listed under smokers.

http://soundboard.com/sb/classic_audio_recording.aspx

Is the Sky Falling on Independent Film?

2008-08-22T18:20:34Z

Audiences and filmmakers are excited about the start of the festival season but, sadly, distributors are not. Warner Bros. recently closed its Picturehouse and Warner Independent specialty divisions and Paramount Vantage folded into its parent company, Paramount Pictures. The specialty film business, or at least, studio participation in it, is dying.

It's not hard to see why when you read Variety's "Specialty films see rising costs." Notice it's not called, "Specialty films see rising profits." Box office totals for 2008 films from the studio-owned art house divisions totaled $161 million to date, down from $330 million in 2007 and $418 million in 2006. "Ain't no one taking a risk these days," says Shootout co-host Peter Bart. "You're seeing the big blockbusters, but the interesting spectrum of independent films you used to see -- they're not there anymore."

]]> Studios spending too much to make these films is only part of the problem. The cost to market them rose nearly 70% from 2006 to 2007. Are the days when a movie financed on credit cards, filmed in New Jersey and starring no-name actors can end up with a big screen distribution deal over? Miramax showed Clerks on a small number of screens, but still, it was something. And it was successful.

"The whole deal with independent films is, going back to the old Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein model, you take a chance," explains Bart. "These pictures don't present themselves fully blown. You gotta gamble with them." Shootout co-host Peter Guber agrees the model is broken. "Flatulence driven, noisy, testosterone, stoner films can't be the only audience that should be served," he adds, likely in reference to those enjoying Sony's current offering, Pineapple Express.

Some say it's the filmmakers fault; there aren't any independent voices worthy of distribution right now. But do you really trust studios to make that call? And while Guber suggests new media and Internet distribution could solve the problem, the artist has no control with exactly how the film ends up being seen. "Are audiences watching films on a PDA, in a four-inch browser window, on a laptop with poor resolution, or syncing the film to a big-screen TV?" writes festival guru Christian Gaines in Variety. "Are films being watched uninterrupted from beginning to end, or is it being paused numerous times, watched in bits and pieces?"

How can niche audiences connect with the independent films they want to see? Can independent artists survive without the big screen or should Tarantino consider himself lucky he made Reservoir Dogs when he did? Comments below.

The Opposites Attract in Starsky & Hutch

2008-08-22T16:00:54Z

As cop buddies go, David Starsky and Ken Hutchinson are a study in opposites: intense vs. laid back; dark vs. light. It was true when the television series aired with Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul in the 1970s. It was truer when Hollywood remade it as a movie nearly 30 years later with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. To see how one generation's cool haircuts, stylish wardrobe, and dance moves become the next generation's source of ridicule, you've got two choices: Either check out the accompanying slide show or see the lampoon in action tonight at 8PM | 7C. (For a full schedule of the movie on AMC, click here.)

Joan Holloway by Glenda Pannell (Los Angeles, CA)

2008-08-22T15:54:40Z

About Glenda: "Currently Glenda can be seen playing the role of Annie Hayes, opposite actor Mike Shannon in Shotgun Stories. New York Magazine named Shotgun Stories as one of the top 10 films to see."

Betty Draper by Tim Cridland (Georgetown, DE)

2008-08-22T15:52:07Z

About Tim: "Did mad men see shrinks in the '60s? The royalty-free music is from Kevin MacLeod."

Don Draper by Yaniv Rokah (Los Angeles, CA)

2008-08-22T15:49:52Z

About Yaniv: "Yaniv is from Israel."

Roger Sterling by Jamie Marrs (Union City, NJ)

2008-08-22T15:46:40Z

About Jamie: "Jamie Marrs is a New York improviser, filmmaker and actor. Currently, she is on a house improv team at Magnet Theater and is one half of the comedy duo Fun Dip Variety Hour."

Predictions for Ep. 5

2008-08-22T15:41:35Z

I think the theme will be hand-to-hand combat.

Betty Draper by Lisa Mettlen (Raytown, MO)

2008-08-22T15:40:43Z

About Lisa: "I am a 26-year-old graduate of the University of Central Missouri with a BFA in Theatre Performance and a minor in Broadcasting and Film. I am also a trained dancer in Tap, Jazz and Irish Step Dance."

Don Draper by Nathaniel Acuna (Kernersville, NC)

2008-08-22T15:13:09Z

About Nathaniel: "Born and raised in Texas. Got into acting after taking a video recorded behavior test when applying for Round Rock PD. Afterwards, I thought to myself, 'This is like an audition. This is fun!' Live in NC."

Fitzgerald

2008-08-22T15:09:12Z

In "The Benefactor", Arthur asks Betty if she knows the F. Scott Fitzgerald story "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" and she replies No.

Then in "Three Sundays" when Betty and Don are sitting on the sofa, she's reading a book by Fitzgerald.

Hmm... anyone else think this is foreshadowing for a very interesting encounter with Arthur?

Roger Sterling by Eric Franklin (Gallatin, TN)

2008-08-22T15:07:40Z

About Eric: "WWII re-enactor and commercial service plumber from Nashville, TN. Married to Sarah Franklin also featured in this contest. Vote for us!"

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer Review - A Throwback to the Cinematic Horror Carnivals of the Mid-Eighties

2008-08-22T15:00:00Z

Pass the cheese, please. Or just put on another screening of Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer. A throwback to the cinematic horror carnivals of the mid-'80s, Jack Brooks is a low key, amiable flick in the vein of Evil Dead, Phantasm 2 or Killer Klowns from Outer Space. These days, when "fun" has been surgically removed from horror movies, this amounts to sheer genius and, to its credit, Jack Brooks is as enjoyable to watch as Hellboy 2, for a fraction of the Hellboy production budget. People have been giving it a hard time because it's slow-moving, not very bright, and lumpy, but that's what people said about Sloth from The Goonies and he's everyone's best friend.

Produced by a pack of Canadians, Jack Brooks tells the tale of a rage-a-holic plumber, Jack Brooks. Life is tough for Jack: His high maintenance girlfriend is making him go to night school, his plumbing jobs are few and far between, and the jobs he does get, he usually loses -- due to his tendency to punch customers in the throat. Also, his parents were eaten by a monster when he was a kid. A human connection is forged when his chemistry teacher asks for a little after-school help with his new house's balky plumbing system. But in the course of fixing the clogs, Jack uncorks a grave containing a disgusting, demonic black heart that possesses his teacher and turns the mild-mannered night school instructor into a monster-spawning womb sack with a rapacious appetite, wallowing in its own vomit.

]]> It's when the monsters start appearing that Jack's life, and the movie, come together. His rage is not a problem, it's the tool he needs to beat down the creatures. Whereas Ash relied on a chainsaw, and Ghostbusters relied on proton packs, Jack just gets angrier and angrier, beating monsters in the head with whatever comes to hand until they fall apart in a puddle of slime. It's an elegantly boneheaded solution and one that underlines the movie's sly sense of humor. Robert Englund plays the chemistry teacher, and he's having the time of his life not appearing in Zombie Strippers. David Fox is terrific as a cadaverous hardware store clerk, rivaling Christopher Walken for weird line readings, and Trevor Matthews is not only co-writer and co-producer, but he plays Jack with great gusto. Every actor looks like they're trying to steal the scenes they're in, from Rachel Skarsten as Jack's put-upon princess girlfriend to James A. Woods as a hippie/stoner/New Age/jock combo creature.

Praising Jack Brooks is problematic: This movie is far more fun if you stumble across it on your own. The second you have a single, solitary high hope for it, start counting to ten and by the time you reach nine those hopes will be dashed. I got sick of the number of opportunities that the director let go sailing by, unnoticed, and by the time this flick finally cranks into high speed, it's almost over. But it's hard not to love a movie in which actors play actual characters (albeit broadly drawn ones) and where the monsters are all latex and rubber, with nary a CGI effect to be seen. And in a world of extreme in your face attitude, it's downright Canadian in its lowkey charms.