Gene Wilder Dead at 83

Well, crap. I knew he was getting old, and frail. And we hadn't seen him much lately. But dammit, mortality sucks. Gene Wilder is probably in my top five all time favorite performers. His late wife Gilda Radner ranked even higher. But Gene had far more success, and left so many marks in my pop culture database, this one hurts almost as much. Blazing Saddles. Young Frankenstein. Willy Wonka. Silver Streak. Stir Crazy. The Producers. His heyday may have been too long ago for Millennials and late Gen-Xers to remember, but even then, his Wonka character has been one of the most successful and versatile memes out there:

And the one quote that resonates so well as an answer to anyone bested:

But for me, there are those iconic roles in some of my favorite movies, not to mention appearances in oddball features like The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, and many others. I didn't expect he'd probably be well enough to ever make new contributions to culture. But there's something about knowing that he never will that makes me very sad. RIP, Mr. Wilder. You will truly never be forgotten.

[Excerpt]

Gene Wilder, ‘Willy Wonka’ Star and Comedic Icon, Dies at 83

Gene Wilder, who regularly stole the show in such comedic gems as “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “Stir Crazy,” died Monday at his home in Stamford, Conn. His nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said he died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83. . .

Read more at: Variety

Blast from the Past: Oscar's Best Pictures of My Lifetime

This past weekend was an odd one for me. I had more part-time graphics work than usual. We had a friend in from out of town. I got started watching Downton Abbey (after an attempt at finding Homeland on demand failed), from episode 1, season 1. I quite liked it, but even without commercials or interruptions, that takes time. Also, I managed some couch-time for reading, though my couch is more interested in making me fall asleep.

In short, I ran out of time for blogging, and actually spent quite a lot less time using my desktop computer this weekend than I have in years. So, please excuse this rerun, but at least it is apropos to the Academy Awards (which I also watched, thus whittling my time down even further!).

***

Nearly every year, I watch the Academy Awards, and seemingly as often, I haven't seen any of the films up for Best Picture.  Almost certainly, I haven't seen the winning movie. I'll be 46 47 this April, meaning that there have been 45 46 Oscar telecasts since I was born (the 46 47th begins in moments, as I type this). And I've seen enough Best Pictures to fill this column, nothing more. Here they are:



1. Midnight Cowboy (1969) - For some reason X-rated. It's a very good film, but uncomfortable to watch.
2. The French Connection (1971) - I caught this one on "Telecinema" the precursor to HBO, when I was no more than 10 or 11. But Gene Hackman is good in everything.


3. The Sting (1973) - Another caught as a youth. Other than the stars and the theme, The Entertainer, I remember very little of it.

4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - Wow, I guess I caught a lot of these on Telecinema. More memorable (to me) for the Mad Magazine parody with "Nurse Wretched" than the movie itself.


5. Driving Miss Daisy (1989) - Yes, the stretch is this long. So, not only did I miss both Godfather movies, I also have never seen Rocky, The Deer Hunter, Rain Man, Out of Africa, Terms of Endearment, Ordinary People, Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Kramer vs. Kramer, Annie Hall or Amadeus!

6. Dances With Wolves (1990) - Apparently, in this stretch, I was going to the movies a bit. This particular one was of course, epic. But I never understood why "Stands with a Fist" had such perfect, blow-dried hair.


7. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - By far my favorite from this list. Jodie Foster is amazing, and Anthony Hopkins kills! With fava beans and a nice Chianti.

8. Schindler's List (1993) - It took me a good many years to get around to it, but I finally watched this one. And I'm very glad I did.


9. Forrest Gump (1994) - Again, I didn't watch this one right away, but got around to it on video. It was good, but the hype was a bit overblown. Tom Hanks is brilliant in the movie, but the story was ludicrous in parts.

10. Titanic (1997) - I saw this movie on two different dates with two different men! The second time was with my current husband in 1998, so you could say the movie got things rolling. Fortunately we have only hit minor icebergs along the way. I do remember we both had to pee very, very badly by the end of this very long movie!


11. Shakespeare in Love (1998) - Another seen in the early days with my hubby. Another big favorite for both of us.

12. Gladiator (2000) - Big, epic. . .overblown. I like Russell Crowe, but, meh.


13. Chicago (2003) -  With rare exceptions--Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More, with Feeling!--I'm not a fan of musicals. But this one? I thought they did a pretty good job!

14. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2004) - The Other Half loves this movie and its sequels. Never having read the Tolkien books? This is a big interminable first part of a big interminable movie series. Torturous.

And that's it! 14 out of 45 46! I'm sure I've seen a few that came before my birth, but that is a longer list. And the holes in my list here really should be filled if I'm going to continue thinking of myself as a pop culture genius. I can only guarantee one thing: I haven't seen the film that will win tonight (last night, to you Monday readers)!

Blast from the Past: Disney Live-Action Movies of the 70s

While watching ABC's Once Upon a Time, I got my inspiration for my weekly Blast from the Past feature. I know, late in the evening right? Well, I've been busy with upgrades to my phone, my car and my computer. . .and finding myself up to my hubcaps with more trouble than I bargained for. Anyway, that's beside the point. My inspiration was--as usual--kind of roundabout. Once Upon a Time takes advantage of ABC's Disney ownership, and uses their fairytale characters. My brain hopscotched to Disney's live action movies, particularly the ones I grew up with in the 1970s.

When I carried The Columbus Dispatch, they were always running a Sunday cartoon strip based upon whatever movie Disney had coming up in theaters. And when you're a kid, you pretty much get G rated fare to pick from. So, I remember reading these strips with interest, and thrilled to have "spoilers" about what was going to happen. Hey, it's the best thing we had going before the internet! Enjoy.

And that's what entertainment was like for kids in the 1970s. The last one, in particular, is still pretty good. Now, back to my work. Happy Monday!

Blast from the Past: Classic Horror Movies of the 70s & 80s

Yes, there are a lot of Halloween-themed posts lately. Get used to it! We've got a week to go, and this is my holiday, dammit!  Anyway, I thought there was no better theme for Blast from the Past this week than something Halloween related. Some of my favorite movies of all time are horror films, and they don't even have to be good ones. Shoot, some of the bad ones are my favorites. I don't know how many I'll be able to exhume from the YouTubes, but let's give it a stab. . .








1. Friday the 13th (1980) - This series of films was never deep, never super-high quality, and really not all that good. Loved it anyway, especially the first one, with Betsy Palmer and Kevin Bacon.
2. Halloween (1978) - Without this one, Friday the 13th wouldn't ever have been made. This wasn't just the prototype for every slasher picture that would follow, it's a hell of a good movie. Scary too. And it put Jamie Lee Curtis on the map.
3. It's Alive (1974) - There's only one thing wrong with the Davis baby. . .It's Alive!
4. Phantasm (1979) - Bar none the creepiest, most surreal horror film to come out of the 70s.
5. Squirm (1976) - Did you know that worms can be scary? No, wait, they aren't.
6. Terror Train (1980) - After they ran out of creepy holidays, they started thinking they could make anything scary.
7. Happy Birthday to Me (1981) - Oh wait, one more holiday!
8. Truth or Dare? A Critical Madness (1986) - I had to throw in an obscure one, and they don't get much more obscure than this one. Terrible in every way, but mesmerizing in its ineptitude, this one is a classic of bad cinema. If you think the crazy see-sawing synthesizer music is bad, that's just a preview of the awesome awfulness of this picture.

Unpleasant dreams!

Haley Barbour: The Mayor of Jaws' Amity Island

The other day with a friend at work, I discussed Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's similarity with the Mayor of Amity Island from the movie Jaws.  While the massive oil spill spews in the Gulf of Mexico, Barbour has been hand-waving it away, insisting there wasn't enough oil on his beaches to "fill a milk jug." Bring your family to the beach! Ignore the nay-sayers!  So, I was surprised and delighted to find that someone has done a YouTube mashup of Barbour pontificating, juxtaposed with the classic scene from Jaws.

Frivolity Break: 100 Cheesiest Movie Lines of All Time

My Favorite Movies: Comedy Edition #2

It's that time again. Time to get away from the politics, and on to something fun. A while back, I brought you some clips from four of my favorite comedy movies. But there are so many more. Of course, I'm limited by the clips that are available, but I've found a great batch for you. If you haven't seen one of these (or even if you have), this might provide you with a movie night idea this weekend.




#1 - 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are the perfect comedy trio in this classic from 1980. Offices have changed a lot since then--there's no computer in sight--but bosses like Franklin Hart haven't gone away. What's your fantasy for doing in the boss? This clip is the trailer for the movie, proving once again that the art of movie trailer making has only improved with time.

#2 - Airplane! - The granddaddy of all spoof movies. Oh sure, Mel Brooks got there first, and many of his are terrific, but this one takes the cake. Hilarious from beginning to end, through and past the credits. Demands many, repeated viewings to catch all the gags. And it set Leslie Nielson up on a whole second act to his career.

#3 - Planes, Trains and Automobiles - Surely the best John Candy movie, and one of Steve Martin's best. It suffers from a sappy ending, and an extremely 80s soundtrack. But it might help you win Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and you'll be quoting it years later. "Her first baby come out sideways, and she didn't scream or nothin'" "Wow. What a trouper!"

#4 - What's Up, Doc? - Barbra Streisand's funniest role, Ryan O'Neal's as well, and it introduced us to the immortal Madeline Kahn. Marvelously funny, a great historical view of early 70s San Francisco, and some of the best lines in any comedy movie ever. A must see.

Previously:
My Favorite Movies: Comedy Edition #1

Movies I Can't Wait to See: Logan's Run

Image from source, Wikipedia

There was a very interesting breed of movie back in the 1970s. While the studios were pumping money into quality productions like Star Wars, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, they were also cranking out sci-fi on the cheap. Saturn 3, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Battle Beyond the Stars and Flash Gordon (1980) all come to mind.

And so does Logan's Run. But for some reason Logan's Run holds a soft spot in my heart. I think it was the fact that it was a dystopian future story like 1984 or Brave New World. I don't know why, I just dig those sorts of stories. The film starred Farah Fawcett (-Majors), then at the peak of her fame, Michael York and Jenny Agutter. The premise is a future where people live in paradise under domed cities. But paradise is limited. These domed cities lie in a wasteland of man's ruins. To keep the population in check, you must voluntarily submit to euthanasia.

Those who flip out, and decide not to off themselves are hunted down by "runners." When Logan--himself a runner--decides to run, the movie's action begins. The story still holds up well 30 years on, but the cheapie special effects doom it to be a period piece.

Fortunately, the film is being remade as a major motion picture, currently slated for 2010. While I'm sure I'll be there opening weekend, I'm hoping they don't screw it up. Yeah, I'm jaded. Of course, the remake has had a tumultuous genesis, and may never come to pass. Jaded or not, I'm crossing my fingers.

[Excerpt]

Known so far:

Distributor: Warner Brothers

Release Date: 2008+ [IMDB.com says 2010]

Production Company: Silver Pictures

Producer: Joel Silver

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Screenwriter: Tim Sexton (based on the novel "Logan's Run" by William F. Nolan & George Clayton Johnson )

Original Music: Not yet announced

Cinematography: Not yet announced

From: Logan's Run Remake News and Updates