Jim Henson's A Muppet Family Christmas
A great crossover of Henson creations: Sesame Street, Muppets, Fraggle Rock, et al.
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25 films, from Iron Man to When Harry Met Sally, added to the National Film Registry
Every year, 25 films are added to the National Film Registry for preservation and posterity, selected based on their cultural legacy within American film history. Films must be at least ten years old to be selected. This year's selections bring the grand total of films on the registry to 850.
Perhaps the most famous film added this year is The Little Mermaid, Disney's animated musical about a teenage mermaid who dreams of being human. The film's induction comes ahead of Disney's live-action remake starring Halle Bailey, which is currently slated for a 2023 release.
Other films added to the registry this year include the prom-gone-wrong Stephen King novel adaptation Carrie (1976), the original Hairspray (1988), the Blaxploitation crime drama Super Fly (1972) and Cyrano de Bergerac (1950), for which José Ferrer became the first Latino to win an Oscar for Best Actor.
The oldest film inducted this year is Mardi Gras Carnival (1898), a recording of the New Orleans parade that was thought to be lost but was recently rediscovered in the Netherlands. Pariah (2011), a low-budget coming-of-age drama directed by Dee Rees, is the most recent film added.
This year, at least 15 of the 25 films were directed or co-directed by filmmakers of color, queer filmmakers or women.
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Most politically successful movie?
Predator had two actors who went on to become governors, this post on Mastodon got me thinking if there was a movie with more political success.
I believe I have found one which says yes, though it is definitely arguable. I played around on Oracle of Bacon with Reagan. He was in This is The Army with George Murphy. Murphy went on to be a 1-term Senator for California from '65-'71.
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Seeker of Power, a Rene Belloq story
I decided to put Raiders of the Lost Ark on this morning while doing some other things. One of my go-to movies that I can watch an infinite amount of times. This morning I was struck by how much I wish they would reboot this franchise in a new way rather than what looks to be Indiana Jones 5 coming our way.
Here's my idea:
Titled: "Seeker of Power"
- Movie opens with the finale of Belloq's life, a screaming soul racing at his face, and then goes black. Transition screen (X years before...)
- We see young Rene Emile Belloq growing up on his family vineyard, finding an old Etruscan artifact and igniting his fascination with historical relics. Something his family does not approve of, his father expects him to take over their vineyards. And thus he is driven by a constant striving for his father's approval.
- Next is him going to college at Sorbonne, where we meet young Indiana Jones as they become friends, bonding over their family backgrounds, before ultimately Belloq betrays Indy to snatch the Archaelogical Society Prize.
- We see the schism and the betrayal; Belloq tries to make his own way and leaving Indy behind him, and yet by nature of their careers they keep intersecting. Their stories repeatedly interweaving as they chase the same treasures. Imagine the map with flight paths overlapping or racing, etc.
- Then enters the Nazi intrigue as Belloq finds a growing source of money for treasures to be Hitler. And the growing discomfort with the Nazis as a benefactor, but as we've seen - he'll do anything to win. So he does more and more jobs until it leads to the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
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Review: Bros (2022)
Katie and I finally sat down to watch Bros, and holy shit is it a good movie. I really enjoyed it.
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Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) - 5/5 stars
Katie and I finally got around to watching Everything last night. We had meant to see it in the theater but then life got in the way, and then it just languished in our "eventually" list. So, last night, we finally sat down and turned it on.
To be honest, even with hearing the positive reviews, I had very little idea of what it was before we watched. So, to say it wasn't what I expected, would be unfair as I had no real expectations.
It was, to put it mildly, very good. It was engaging and it carried an important message. It was also quirky and weird as hell, but we really enjoyed it.
As I posted on Mastodon yesterday: I wish I could have been a fly on the wall as Michelle Yeoh saw the script for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
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Moonfall (2022) - 2 of 5 moons
I had an itch for a disaster movie, so I turned to Roland Emmerich. It did its job. And now, I'll treat it like a shameful secret and never mention the movie again.
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Weird: The Al Yankovich Story (2022)
I'm spending some time with family this morning, and rooming with my older brother Adam. We had planned to watch this together during the weekend and last night we made good on those plans.
I cannot recommend watching this movie enough. It might be the pinnacle of absurdist comedies, and I am not sure it will ever be beaten. It is silly and wild and features endless cameos in very unexpected roles.
Do not read or watch anything more about the movie, I urge you to go into it blind beyond the premise and just buckle in for the ride.
To speak to my particular scenario for watching it, which I cannot recommend highly enough. Crash with your brother in a divey hotel, get a bottle of champagne, and put the movie on a projector on the room's wall. Then drink champagne and laugh your ass off together. Highly recommend this experience if you're able to recreate it.
Core memory locked.
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Regal Cinemas' owners Cineworld are reportedly filing for bankruptcy in the UK
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the London-based Cineworld is expected to file for bankruptcy in both the UK and US having amassed $4.8 billion in debt. It operates more than 9,000 screens in 751 locations around the world, including Picturehouse and Cineworld cinemas in the UK and Ireland, Cinema City in Europe, Yes Planet in Israel, and Regal Cinemas in the U.S. It is the second largest theater chain in the world, following AMC, which has weathered post-pandemic issues partly because of becoming a meme stock.
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Chicken Soup for the Soul bought Redbox - yes really
Rouhana’s company has been on a buying spree for a few years now, strategically acquiring video assets that weren’t able to fully flourish under their previous owners.
- This includes the ad-supported video pioneer Crackle, which Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment acquired from Sony in 2019.
- Other CSSE brands include Popcornflix, Frightpix and Truli. “Each one of these has got its own sort of voice,” Rouhana said.
- By adding Redbox to the fold, Rouhana is gaining access not only to 36,000 DVD kiosks, but also a sizeable digital rental business, a FAST service with 145 streaming channels and a customer loyalty program with 40 million members — something he wants to use as a marketing vehicle for the company’s other services, as well as a source of insights.
- “People do have a life outside of Netflix,” Rouhana told me. By learning about the things people are looking for at DVD kiosks, he hopes to gain better insights to fine-tune personalized recommendations. “We’re very interested in data,” he said.
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Has anyone had AI "watch" movies and then analyze movie synopses and/or movie revews, and then have it do its own synopses and review of movies it has not been trained for? Would be fascinating to see how it did.
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My Hollywood Plan
When I decide to go Howard Hughes and go to Hollywood and make movies, I've already figured out my thing. You know, every director has a thing. M. Night Shyamalan makes movies with twists. Spielberg is simply about making great movies. Christopher Nolan makes blockbusters which you feel smart if you understand (or just say you understand so you don't appear dumb to your friends.) Ron Howard makes movies that tug your heartstrings and wistful for simpler times. George Lucas' is proving that you don't have to be a great writer to make great movies. You know, that sort of thing.
Well, when I decide to go make movies, I want to be known as the director who creates "alternate realities." I don't necessarily mean in my movies, though I might do that too. But when I have a movie come out, I want to pick a theater somewhere in the world like say- Sioux City, Iowa. And what I'll do is everywhere in the world gets the movie, except Sioux City. A theater there gets a movie with a significant difference from the rest of the world's for the first showing, and JUST the first showing. After that the alternate film is destroyed / deleted / erased.
Say, if I made 'Titanic,' Sioux City would get the version where the ship doesn't sink and everyone is rescued and Rose and Jack live happily ever after. Or, maybe, if I made Ocean's Eleven, I'd have a version shown in Icapuí, Brazil that would feature Tom Cruise as Rusty instead of Brad Pitt. Or I'd make Spinal Tap, and the version in Hasselt, Belgium would go to 12 instead of 11.
You get the idea.
I'd refuse to answer questions or ever acknowledge it. Everyone on the film would be contractually obligated to do the same.
Everytime a movie of mine came out, the world would be wondering where the alternate reality would appear. And only after the first film goers left their theater would they find out if they had just been transported to an alternate reality from everyone else.
After I die, my autobiography would come out. And, well... you can guess what I'd do with it.
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The Gray Man (3.5 out of 5 shades of gray)
I wouldn't call it great. It's a good first step for a new action franchise. It sets up the myserious "Six" and dumps him into action against his handlers. They've already greenlit a sequel and I'm not mad about it. Am I clamoring for it? Not really. But I'm a sucker for action movies.
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Disclaimer: I work for Wizards of the Coast, maker of Dungeons & Dragons.
That said - I am so excited for this movie.
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Death on the Nile (2022)
My Rating: 3 out of 5 Belgian Mustaches
Been meaning to watch it and finally sat down with Katie and her mother. Overall it was fine, but it was nothing amazing.
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Memphis Flyer - Elvis
Chris McCoy, a film critic in Memphis, wrote the linked review about the new Baz Luhrmann Elvis movie. But, right at the start of it, he talks about my brother's experimental short film from 2010:
The most insightful film I’ve ever seen about Elvis Presley is “The Singing Canary,” a five-minute experimental short by Memphis director Adam Remsen. It contains neither images of Elvis nor his music, only footage of astronauts and rocket launches. Remsen’s voice-over casts Elvis not as a singer or entertainer or idol, but as an explorer of new psychic spaces.
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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Saw it last night and overall I enjoyed it but I didn't love it. It was VERY Sam Raimi, and he just is not a director I find really enjoyable.
I think it feels like we're in the middle of transitioning Marvel's story eras and I found this movie as a transition piece to be a bit rough and tumble.
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Can we take a moment to appreciate the murderer's row of actors in The Martian? Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Mackenzie Davis, Michael Pena.
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My Philosophy on Entertainment Trailers
I constantly have friends who are befuddled why I stringently avoid most trailers. Trailers are, to me, a tool for a binary choice - Am I going to watch this thing or not? As soon as I have a decision (in either direction!) then the trailer becomes superfluous. And if my choice is "to watch" the thing the trailer is advertising, then the trailer is a potential risk for me.
If the trailer gives away too much plot, or sets my expectations wrong, etc. then it can harm my viewing of the media.
This post was inspired by everyone online talking about the new 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' trailer. And, look, without even seeing the trailer - I'm going to watch the show. I'm hyped already. So, I am not going out of my way to see the trailer. I'm expecting I'll see commercials and I won't be militant about avoiding stuff, but I am definitely not going to willfully watch anything for the show.
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The Courier (2020)
Benedict Cumberbatch and Rachel Brosnahan in a Cold War era film. My first movie of 2022. Overall quite good though the ending dragged.
3.5/5
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Dune (2021)
I just got home from seeing Dune, and this is my spoiler free review.
TLDR: The movie does a lot to get the book to screen adaptation right, possibly too much. I'm not sure how much people who aren't familiar with the story will enjoy it.
Now my longer thoughts:
First, some very important context: I have read the book probably a dozen times. It was one of the books I'd name as being very formative for me, and has been a mainstay for me as something I regularly would revisit. I have a half-dozen copies of it in various printings. I love the book.
Second, the story itself has its problems as it comes from another era. Sexism, racism, and all sorts of other -isms. Looking at it requires looking through the lens of awareness and time.
Now, I saw the movie in just a regular theater. And, for a solid portion of this movie, I had tears leaking from my eyes at the beauty and story that was on screen in front of me.
There have been a number of previous attempts to tell this story on the big screen. First was the movie that included such names as Patrick Stewart and Sting. Second was the TV miniseries for Syfy.
This one nailed it in so many ways. I don't agree with everything. I don't agree with all of the casting. But... man they got so much right.
That said, to make the movie they did, they had to cut from the story. A lot of what they cut would have made a lot of what they kept make more sense, or in some cases, is completely needed for things to make sense.
For example, there are people in the story called Mentats. You'll know them by a black stripe on their bottom lip. They are essentially human computers. Why are they there? What do they do? You get no context to them in the movie. And there is importance for them to the sides in the story.
The soldiers in the movie all fight with blades, even though you see lasers and projectile weapons? Why? The book gives you a reason, but they skip explaining it in the movie so you are forced to just accept this.
They also barely provide the context that is the intergalactic setting for the defining conflict of the story. You get bits of it, but I am not sure how obvious it is to people who don't have the book in their head to fill in the gaps and it definitely lacks some of the larger context.
Now, I get it. Things had to go otherwise this would be a series of four four-hour epics. But I air these as examples of why I think reading the book before seeing the movie is so beneficial, it lets you appreciate the story at a deeper and more complete level.
The visuals and the way they portrayed the story is largely true to the book. It also hits the tone and epic feel of the story; unfortunately I think that to hit those things, lends to the way that many will find the movie slow and plodding.
I am thrilled to see it getting such good ratings on Rotten Tomatoes; I am just worried we're about to see those ratings dip as others are enticed to see it.
Lastly, I understand why they did it, but it was not advertised that this is not the whole Dune story. It's just "Part 1." No, I don't mean multiple books as the story of Dune. I mean the first book of Frank Herbert's series. My estimate is that they see it being a trilogy, but I have no idea if we'll get more than just this movie.
We'll see.
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Finished Season 3 of Man in the High Castle and I began Season 4 but just am not feeling it right now. I might go back to it at some point, but I switched over to HBO Max and have been reminded of one of my favorite movies: The Mummy.
Released in, oh god, 1999. It ages well and is so very enjoyable as a silly adventure movie.
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