Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Ten Movies I would Like to See: One Million, BC




I don't mean the better known One Million Years, B.C., which is a film I'm not that fond of (which is something I never thought I'd say about something with cave people, Ray Harryhausen stop motion dinosaurs, and Raquel Welch's breasts).

No, I mean the original 1940 film of which Welch's B.C. is a remake. It was probably the biggest fantasy adventure spectacle since 1933's King Kong, and like King Kong, it came from the mind of a rogue producer. In this case, it was Hal roach, whose legacy includes mostly comedy, but also a few offbeat successes like Of Mice and Men.

The film also involved the talents of an even more legendary Hollywood misfit, D.W. Griffith, the man who invented Hollywood and hadn't had a job there in almost ten years. The subject seemed almost perfect for him, an effectively silent (except for sound effects and grunts) epic in which he would not have to indulge his smug racism. Griffith and Roach didn't get along, however, and Griffith left the project and had his name removed. No one seems to know for sure how much he directed, but popular sentiment seems to credit Roach with almost everything you see on screen.

And what you see on screen is dinosaurs. really cool dinosaurs played by big lizards with prosthetics, sarcastically dubbed "slurpasaurs" by genre fans.

I usually hate slupasaur effects, but there is something unaccountably cool about them in this film that could only be cool because of its time and that you wouldn't want to see somebody try again, like toys with sharp metal edges. (That last clause is lifted from a great review of Little Caesar that I once read.) The abusive treatment of animals would never be allowed today, and caused the film to be heavily censored in the UK in its original release.

Besides this, the film features star making roles for Victor Mature and Carole Lombard as well as Lon Chaney, Jr. in his first fantasy film. (He designed his own make-up, but the Cosmetician's Union wouldn't let him use it.)

I actually have seen this film at least once, but it's vague in my memory, maybe because my recollections of it are scattered among the many movie and TV productions that have borrowed its footage. Even color pictures used it.

It nos seems to be unaccountably hard to find on DVD for something that was nominated for two Academy Awards. TCM has the full feature available for viewing at cell phone size here.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The Ikea Song

Last year I did a blog entry on a great song about the earthy-crunchy supermarket chain Trader Joe's.

Recently I found another nearly-as-funny song about Ikea. It's by Jonathan Coulton, who is like They Might Be Giants if there was just one of them and couldn't come up with a name.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Ten Movies I Want to See: Alice in Wonderland (1933)

I don't think there's ever been a perfect film adaptation of Alice in in Wonderland. The 2010 movie was pretty good, but it was really one of those re-imaginings in which Wonderland (or is the inhabitants call it, Underland) is more grown-up and sensible, and all can be sorted out in a big battle of good versus evil.

Some versions, like Jan Svankmajer's stop motion Alice or Jonathan Miller's surreal 1966 television play capture the creepiness and surrealism of the story, but miss the charm. Other versions, like the Disney one or the 1972 British film, go for nothing but charm. Some even try to shoehorn a moral into the story. (The Disney one's lesson seems to be, don't use your imagination too freely. Seriously.)

The 1933 Paramount version aimed for charm but it struck creepy. The chief culprit was the decision to make just about everyone in the All Star cast wear big fake masks to make them look just like the John Tenniel illustrations. Not only did this undermine its box office appeal (which one is Gary Cooper again?), but they look scary as hell, especially Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee:



One of these guys is Jack Oakie, by the way. Your guess is as good as mine.

Still, it's lavishly produced (to the extent of almost bankrupting the studio), and so off kilter that I just have to see it as an adult. I caught bits and pieces of it as a kid, but was turned off when I saw W.C. Fields was unrecognizable as Humpty Dumpty. (Incidentally, there's a terrific Disney cartoon, Mother Goose Goes Hollywood, which did a much better job casting Field as ol' Humpty. Check it out.)

Universal released a DVD of the movie last year to cash in on the Alice hoopla (I wonder how many parents didn't realize it was in black & white until they popped it in the DVD player), but this is a movie I know I'm going to watch just once, so I'm waiting for a rental.

Th opening credits:

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Fix the Budget Deficit! All by Yourself!

Think you can cut the U.S. Federal budget deficit?

Thanks to the New York Times, here's your chance.

This interactive tool will show the immediate and 20 year impact of various cuts, taxes increases, and combinations of the two.

Of course, I have some issues with some of the fixes.

One of the most popular options is raising the retirement age because people are living longer. Trouble is, as Tom Tomorrow points out, that it's wealthier people who are living longer.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Ten Movie I want to See: Million Dollar Legs

I first heard of Million Dollar Legs (1932) in the Marx Brothers Scrapbook, because its female lead, Peggy Fleming, later became Mrs. Harpo Marx.

And that was before I learned that the Klopstokia, the film's fictional nation, is populated with superhumans, including W.C. Fields, whose immense strength helps him hold the presidency in turbulent times.

Fields decides to have Klopstokia dominate the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles as a means of raising capital for the country.

Aside from Fields and Fleming, the film also features Ben Turpin, Jack Oakie, Hugh Herbert, and Little Rascals/Our Gang star Dickie Moore.

A New Yorker Review recently described MDL as similar to the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup, only not as disciplined. That's all I need to know.

The film was not included on either volume one or two of the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection DVD sets, and I've had no luck finding it for rent or sale from a retailer I know.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

WTF Has Obam Done So Far?

You'll find out here. (Hat tip to my brother Joe for highlighting this.)

SAfe For Work version Here.

Or check out the Palin version here. (parody)

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Ten Movies I Want to See: Kongo (1932)

In the golden age of Hollywood, MGM couldn't do comedies very well, but they were pretty good at horror movies and adventure films. Kongo is a bit of both.

A remake of Lon Chaney's West of Zanzibar (which is a pretty good thriller itself), Kongo is about as gritty as movie as anyone would see for decades. as one reviewer puts it, "It’s a quaint tale of adultery, alcoholism, forced drug dependency and prostitution, voodoo, human sacrifice, sadism, rape, madness, murder and revenge."

The film stars Walter Huston, who also starred in the 1926 Broadway version (BTW, "Broadway" once meant mainstream entertainment, not expensive musicals and weird dramas), which means this version may be even more authentic than its silent predecessor.

Adding to the coolness factor: the film co-stars Lupe Valez (Hollywood Party), AKA Mrs. Johnny Weismuller.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Ten Movies I want to See: He Who gets Slapped

#1: He Who Gets Slapped

This 1924 thriller was the first major film ever produced by the fledgling MGM studios, and has never been on DVD that I could find, even though it seemed to be the biggest thing Lon Chaney did between The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Phantom of the Opera.

I saw about 10-20 minutes as a child, and was excited and disturbed by it, especially his darkly comical act and the hideous audience who laugh at it.

I've always assumed it would show up on DVD, but so far it hasn't.