Before watching the movie:
What’s more Halloween than a haunted house? A haunted house owned by Vincent Price. Well, it’s probably not so much haunted as the scene of seven deaths and soon more, but “haunted” is in the name. Suspense, horror, death, probably jump scares, but I doubt much gore.
I hadn’t known the more recent movie of the name was a remake until I came across this in the collection of classic movies loaned to me by my grandparents. I haven’t seen the remake either.
Before watching the movie:
I first heard of this movie as the project that made Eddie Murphy back out of Star Trek IV. It was probably for the better, since the comedy of that movie comes from the serious characters being dumbfounded by the 20th century, and a wisecracking, street smart native would have made it more farcical.
Besides that, I know what the blurb says, about a social worker searching for a Tibetan boy destined to save the world, and I recall there being some kind of prop/replica in the quiet footpath with movie memorabilia at King’s Island before they replaced that area with something more interesting for their target clientele. Probably a gift shop, I don’t remember.
It’s been tempting to do this every week for the last two months I’ve had rehearsals on review nights, but as this week has had a rehearsal every night in preparation for the show this weekend, I’m afraid I won’t be able to post a review this week.
Instead, here is the schedule for the upcoming Heartland Film Festival. I’ve heard that many people believe film festivals are for film snobs, but my experience with Heartland has been one of a festival specifically intended to bring good films to everybody.
Before watching the movie:
I remember all my classmates in middle school going nuts about this movie when it came out. I had no idea what it was other than a funny name and some incessantly repeated, grammatically shaky line about a school. I later learned Zoolander is a fashion model, and he has a rival model, and that’s about it. Apparently there’s an international assassination plot that he gets involved with somehow, but that’s not funny enough for people to talk about, I guess.
Before watching the movie:
The intent to depict contrast is very overt here. Separated at birth, a pair of twin babies grow into Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, from completely opposite walks of life. A series of comic misadventures happen when they finally meet that probably has a “not so different” or “family is stronger than upbringing” theme.
I thought this marked my entry into Schwarzenegger’s infamous comedy period, but technically Last Action Hero is infamous and a comedy also, even if I liked it. I’ve also seen Jingle All The Way, which is frequently derided, but doesn’t get lumped in with the infamy surrounding Twins, Kindergarten Cop, and Junior. Hopefully I’ll like this better than the conventional wisdom as well.
Before watching the movie:
What attracts me to this movie is the names. Jerry Lewis, Ray Walston, Agnes Moorehead, and Frank Tashlin (whom I know as a golden age Warner Bros. cartoon director). It occurs to me I haven’t seen any of Ray Walson’s work from before the 90s. Sometime I should track down My Favorite Martian.
I’m realizing now that I’ve chosen another movie that will probably be light on plot. The focus will likely be on getting Jerry Lewis’s character into situations where he can do physical comedy routines. However, it won’t be as tightly fixed on that as a film from the era of Buster Keaton.
Before watching the movie:
Our culture will probably never get tired of telling stories about Sherlock Holmes. I wasn’t sure if this was an adaptation or an original story until I remembered it was about the Jack the Ripper case, but I’m just looking forward to seeing Christopher Plummer try the role. He’s always interesting to watch, but I don’t think he’s the best at disappearing into a role. Particularly for a larger than life character like Holmes, I expect some scenery chewing.
Before watching the movie:
It’s hard to tell if I’ve heard of all of Buster Keaton’s greatest films and this isn’t one of them but silent film fans know it, or if I’ve barely scratched the surface of silent film. Either way, I only found out about this in doing costume research for a play about a silent film set.
It’s hard to know what to expect. The General was a very straightforward narrative with emphasized physical humor. On the other hand, Sherlock, Jr (and indeed most silent film comedies I’ve seen) meandered to wherever the jokes might be. In addition, Sherlock, Jr is very much a movie about movies (Keaton’s character has a literal dream of jumping into a Sherlock Holmes movie), so I’m not sure where this can go that parts of Sherlock, Jr didn’t.
Apparently, Keaton’s character gets a job as a cameraman to be close to his love interest. That still doesn’t tell me much about what to expect, since that’s probably just an excuse to get the story to the gag theme.
Before watching the movie:
This movie is one I’ve been only vaguely aware of. I don’t know much more about the plot than “brilliant janitor”, and until I saw it categorized, I wasn’t fully sure it was a drama (I was just going by the rule I think was proposed by Family Guy: if Robin Williams is wearing a beard, he thinks it’s a serious role.
This has been sitting around my digital shelf for a while, but its pending expiration has pushed me to go ahead with it. Also it’s been on sale where I work for weeks, whispering to me.
Before watching the movie:
Another movie from the collection loaned to me by my grandparents.
Apparently there are some crooks trying to get out of an Italian port to get to Africa. I think I can see the humor potential here, but it wouldn’t have caught my attention if the booklet hadn’t noted that the director intended the movie to spoof The Maltese Falcon.
I’m interested in seeing Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre spoofing their types.
Yesterday's Movies 