Friday, September 26, 2008

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Good God, It's Another One

I just found out about another remake, and this one's a doozy. They're making a remake of Sunset Blvd. One of my favorite movies of all time, starring one of my favorite actors, William Holden... being regurgitated.

When the movie had been redone in to a musical stage version, I was disappointed. But now it's going to be turned back again in to a musical movie.

Another remake!

ANOTHER REMAKE! Who in their right mind thinks that this is a good idea? It's one thing to put something onstage, but putting it right back on the big screen is absolutely absurd.

For petesake, Gloria Swanson is being replaced with Glenn Close! Argghhhh....

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Must-See Movie: The Fighting Sullivans

The Fighting Sullivans (1944)
I like war movies, especially about WWII. Not just because I'm fan of the clothes, hair, and music of the time. But there was a certain romantic patriotism during this era. Men stood up to fight for our country and the women stood by them. Our entire country stood by them!

What makes this film unusual is not that it's based on the true story of the Sullivan brothers, but that it focuses more on life before the war: family, mothers, fathers, loved ones, sisters, and brothers -- entire lives that are affected when our country is attacked at Pearl Harbor.

The Sullivan brothers grew up doing everything together: fishing, fighting, taking in stray dogs, mending old broken-down boats, and especially getting in to lots of trouble. So it was expected that they should all go to war together in 1941 and be assigned to the same boat. In fact, they insisted on it.

This film is not so much about how the five Sullivan brothers' lives ended, but how they lived: as a loving, supportive family that would do anything to be together. And it helps us all remember that each soldier that dies for our country has a life, a love, and a family that they've left behind.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Happy "Talk Like a Pirate Day"!

Keep yer eyes off me booty! It be "Talk Like a Pirate Day!"
Go t'arrrr previous post from las' year wit' some mighty good links for ye!

An' enjoy, me matey!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Attack of the Remakes!

If you're getting that feeling of deja vu, it's because there's more of Hollywood's lack of originality on the way. Besides the ones we've previously mentioned, expect these additional regurgitations coming soon to theaters near you:

The Day the Earth Stood Still, an update to the 1951 classic, this time starring Keanu Reeves.

1984, updated from the 1965 version, which doesn't even make sense. It's supposed to be about the future, yet it's titled 1984 and its expected release is 2009??

Barbarella, this time starring Rose McGowen as the title character.

Land of the Lost, a remake of the popular 1974 TV series.

Star Trek, directed by J.J. Abrams.

The legendary cult fave The Rocky Horror Picture Show is in the works, much to the chagrin of Susan Sarandon.

The Birds starring Naomi Watts.

The Wolf Man, a remake of the 1941 classic.

Friday the 13th, called a 'reboot', not a remake -- but the lack of originality is still there.

The A-Team, in production since the mid-1990's, is finally set to be released in 2009.

Robocop, which is being kept hush-hush as to whether it will be a "re-imagining," a sequel, or a remake.

There's also talks about remakes of "Dune" and "Nightmare on Elm Street." And don't forget all the sequels!

Jurassic Park IV
Lethal Weapon 5
Pink Panther 2 (which is a shameful sequel to a remake of the original Peter Sellers comedy)
Night at the Museum 2
Fast and the Furious
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Toy Story 3
Alvin and the Chipmunks 2
Iron Man 2
Shrek Goes Fourth
Beverly Hills Cop IV
Cars 2
...and more Spiderman movies...
The list goes on and on as the years go by...Anyone heard of any others??

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

'Memba Him?

Remember the 80's TV show Voyagers? Now that I've discovered that the entire series is available for rent at Netflix and purchase at Amazon, I was wondering what child star Meeno Peluce was up to. Meeno played the young Jeffrey who was thrown in to the world of time travel.

I had a major crush on him when I was little, but now he's all growns-up... I found out he's a celebrity photographer, all married and stuff with kids. Funny, he kept a similar hairstyle though...

Monday, September 15, 2008

"My Fair Lady" Remake Planned

The Fabulous Audrey Hepburn blog has reported that there will be yet another Hollywood remake, this one taking the classic My Fair Lady and casting Keira Knightley in the Audrey Hepburn role of Eliza Doolittle. Daniel Day-Lewis is on the producers' wish list to play the role of Henry Higgins.

I know the 1964 film was a remake of a Broadway play that was based on a Greek myth, but this is ridiculous. Must Hollywood make another remake?? Are there no original ideas out there anymore? I mean, why did the writers strike when all it seems like they're doing is recycling old ideas?

And once again a classic film is being "updated." Please, we're not that stupid that we can't interpret old movies to our time period.

Update: Speaking or remakes (especially ones we've already harped on), as for recent news on Race to Witch Mountain, the producers announced who the kids will be: AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig. My favorite part...they're calling it a "modern reimagining" of the earlier film. It's called a remake, people!!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Monday, September 08, 2008

Must-See Movie: Teacher's Pet

Teacher's Pet (1958)
I got the chance to watch this movie over the weekend (as Dyno watched football). It's yet another Doris Day comedy where a man pretends to be someone else after he finds out she hates him, although she's never met him.

James Gannon (played by Clark Gable), the gruff city editor of a newspaper, believes that the only way to learn the business is by doing, and so thinks college education is superfluous. Thus he's not pleased when he's invited to lecture at a college journalism class. He turns down the invitation and writes a nasty letter to the instructor. Yet his editor-in-chief orders him to go. When Gannon shows up to confront Professor Erica Stone (played by Doris Day), he finds her attractive. Before he is able to introduce himself and apologize for the letter, Erica reads it aloud and mocks Gannon before the entire class.

Humiliated, he decides to join the class to show her up, posing as a wallpaper salesman named Jim Gallagher. As they circle around their mutual attraction, they both begin to gain respect for each other's approaches to reporting news.

I found myself laughing out loud many times during the movie. Especially whenever the character of Dr. Pine was on-screen. Played by Gig Young, the character is the successful doctor that Gannon sees as his competition for Erica's affections. Young has played these types of characters before (especially in Doris Day movies), and he's always hilarious. His role in this film, however is different in that we don't know what kind of relationship he has with Erica.

Gable is great in this comedic role (much like his gruff It Happened One Night character), and his reactions are priceless. The only thing distracting is the obvious age difference between Gable and Day. Apparently the movie was deliberately filmed in black & white in an attempt to disguise Clark Gable's age and weight. And other actors turned down the role, seeing that there was such a huge age difference (Cary Grant and James Stewart, allegedly -- although it didn't seem to bother Grant in That Touch of Mink). But all in all it was a fun movie to watch and laugh along with.

Friday, September 05, 2008

Lounge-O-Rama

Almost as if they were named after us, the jazz combo Lounge-O-Rama rocks the SoCal area with rockabilly, big band, and classic standards. The band consists of a trumpet, baritone sax, bass, keyboard, and both female and male singers.

Tomorrow they perform at Pinocchio's Pizza in Pasadena, starting at 8 PM. They promise "Great music from the Great American Songbook; great food (especially the pizza!); family-friendly environment, full bar and beautiful decor at their new location on North Lake. Oh, and...NO COVER!"

The address is:
1449 N Lake Ave
Pasadena, CA 91104

Dyno and I are going to try and go. I've seen them perform and they're SO good! Below is a video of their performance of Louis Prima's "Just a Gigolo." Hope to see you all at Pinnocchio's!

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Internet Gold

"Step by step and day by day...reaching out along the way..."

Remember the 80's TV shows that had the great opening theme songs, under a montage of classic scenes from the show? I used to sing along to the likes of Charles in Charge, Perfect Strangers, and The Hogan Family.

Well I found the site where you can download all your favorite 80's TV theme songs! (And other decades, too.) It's called Television Tunes! "Sha-la-la-la...!"