Ed Wood Provides A Thoughtful Ode To The Man Behind Plan 9 From Outer Space

Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) is a filmmaker. Or at least he will be. Right now, in the year 1952, he just writes and directs plays that barely anyone sees, but nobody has a can-do spirit like Ed Wood, yes sir. He's constantly pitching his ideas for movies to anyone in Hollywood who will listen to him and, wouldn't you know it, he's finally got his shot! He's supposed to direct a movie that will eventually turn into Glen or Glenda and it's the feature that establishes the precedent for what kind of films Ed Wood will direct throughout his entire career: cheaply made, full of continuity errors and full of creative passion. Maybe people don't like his movies, but Ed Woods love making them and that's what drives him as an artist.

Remember That 1994 Movie Adaptation of The Flintstones? Probably Not And There's A Good Reason For That

The fifth biggest movie of 1994 was The Flinstones, a live-action adaptation of the animated TV show of the same name. Only four movies (Forrest Gump, The Lion King, True Lies and The Santa Clause) managed to make more cash than this Brian Levant directed project, yet today, The Flintstones has basically faded away from the pop culture landscape. Some of that can be attributed to how its cartoon source material has not been as heavily utilized as a source for merchandise and direct-to-video follow-up's as fellow Hanna-Barbera toons Scooby-Doo or Tom & Jerry, but it can also be chalked up to the fact that The Flintstones is just thoroughly forgettable fare.

Just Because I, Tonya Is Heavily Stylized Doesn't Mean It Can't Also Be Thoughtful

Craig Ferguson is one of my all-time favorite late night TV shows hosts, this guy bent the rules of the American late-night TV show format with such glee and wit, it was absolutely wonderful. Interestingly though, one of my absolute favorite moments of his show comes not in the form of a punchline but in a thoughtful monologue he gave in 2007, which I've embedded below this paragraph for you to watch. Here, he talks about how his jokes lampooning certain people (like Kevin Costner) in situations where they're obviously having actual problems related to health or mental issues were bothering him on a personal level. He goes on to talk about the then-recent actions of Britney Spears and how they'd been the focus of widespread media attention and were the butt of countless jokes from the late night TV show hosts, including himself. He notes his discomfort with mocking her unorthodox behavior and notes how he recognizes that behavior from his own actions from he when he was an addict fifteen years prior.

Fun, Style And Boldness, Not To Mention Some Great Acting..Ya Get It All In Pulp Fiction

Watching Pulp Fiction for the first time was a fascinating experience on multiple levels but I was particularly astounded to watch it and discover just how many moments from assorted pieces of pop culture I'd consumed over the years were, in fact, direct references to this movie. Little jokes in Space Jam and the Simpsons episode 22 Short Films About Springfield immediately come to my mind as examples of this while it's obvious that the entire indie movie scene of the second half of the 1990's was heavily influenced by the way Pulp Fiction wedged its way into the zeitgeist. Quentin Tarantino's 1994 masterpiece became a pop culture touchstone practically overnight, but 23 years later, it's amazing to watch the movie removed from its initial hype and discover that there very much is a great movie nestled in here.

Handily The Best Fantastic Four Movie Can Be Found In An Unreleased 1994 B-Movie

For a movie that never even got a proper release, the backstory behind the 1994 movie The Fantastic Four has become borderline legendary. With famous producer Roger Corman executive producing the movie on a budget of only $1 million, the film was produced as a low-budget excuse for the producers to hold onto the film rights to the characters, something the cast and the rest of the crew was apparently unaware of. That means this take on Marvel Comics first family has languished in obscurity for twenty-three years while the trio of attempts at live-action Fantastic Four movies have come and gone to universally dismal reviews.

Insightful Writing And Audacious Filmmaking Combine For Wong Kar-Wai's Excellent Chungking Express

That old turn of phrase "There's more than one way to skin a cat" is...a really disturbing colloquialism if one stops to think about it for even a second. Why were people skinning cats back in the era in which that saying was conceived?? Those poor kitties! Anywho, while that expression is certainly creepy, it does get a larger truth, which is that there's more than one way to accomplish a certain task. For instance, in the world of small-scale dialogue-oriented character dramas, you can execute such a type of story in a number of ways. You could go about it in a fully naturalistic approach, which has served the likes of Richard Linklater and Yasujiro Ozu immensely well with a number of their best works.

Satantango Is Challenging Cinema That Shatters Conventions As Often As It Makes Powerful Imagery

Sight & Sound Voyage Entry #21
Placement On Sight & Sound Top 50 Movies List: #35 (tied with Metropolis, Psycho and Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles)

"Pushing the envelope" feels like an ill-suited descriptor for what director Bela Tarr is doing with his filmmaking in Satantango, the dude's practically challenging every convention known in the artform to fit his creative vision. While Satantango is my first time watching a movie from the Hungarian filmmaker, it's obvious this guy has got more ambition in his finger than many other directors have in their entire bodies. Now, to be perfectly frank here, that ambition does result in a movie that's frustrating in some aspects (and outright painful in one extended sequence) but actually becomes quite haunting in a way few movies could hope to be in its best moments. It's a give and take scenario, I suppose, when it comes to Bela Tarr's unique style of filmmaking.

Classic Write-Up: Dumb And Dumber Review

Jim Carrey may have lost some of his luster in recent years, but to say he was a comedic titan in the 90's is a gross understatement. The man churned out hit after hit that engrossed audiences. Of his features from this era, I've only seen The Mask, but that finally changed when I caught Dumb and Dumber on Netflix. Perhaps his most famous film (though not his highest grossing), this Farrelly Brothers feature puts Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniel as a dim witted duo on a road trip to Aspen.

Classic Write-Up: The Shawshank Redemption Review

Simply trying to put an exact number on the amount of great things The LEGO Movie accomplishes would be a fools errand. For you see, there are so many contained within that film, trying to name every single one would take an eternity. However, one I do want to point out is how wonderfully it parodies, yet reveres Morgan Freeman. While they use his distinct vocals to deliver deliciously silly lines, he always manages to show just how adept he is in the craft of acting, that even his most humorous scenes still remain plenty of gravitas.