Acidemic - Film

Thank god I found this site.

2012-05-24T15:13:32.272-05:00

Thank god I found this site.

Damn right. Thanks Johnny. I didn't know that ...

2012-05-23T16:12:03.787-05:00

Damn right. Thanks Johnny. I didn't know that about Kim Novak, that she was in Paths of Pain or Jewels of Glory, and how dare Lou?? Then again, loving Lou is like being an abusive relationship, where he's cruel and petty and insecure over and over but we keep taking him back, cuz we're idiots, and anyway, we hate divorces.

D'Oh! Another excellent essay. I never got t...

2012-05-23T15:32:02.378-05:00

D'Oh! Another excellent essay. I never got the Jimmy Stewart thing either, but I never got the Darren Stevens thing either. He worked for Larry Tate/Roger Sterling and looked like Dick York and he wouldn't let his amazing wife use her natural abilities to be nice? If that's the definition of the Greatest Generation, I'm happy to be a Slacker.

Kim Novak. I would happily be hoodooed by the Kim...

2012-05-23T15:29:17.399-05:00

Kim Novak. I would happily be hoodooed by the Kim Novak in Bell, Book and Candle, or kick heroin for her or take the Rango route and eat pop tarts with her in heaven. I was devastated to read somewhere that she was the inspiration for The Fat Blonde Actress, for the first time I felt that Lou and I just didn't click on something so basic as Kim Novak. She and I have the same birthday, alas, too many years apart. Anot

Brilliant piece.

2012-05-22T21:48:31.612-05:00

Brilliant piece.

http://www.cracked.com/video_18380_the-dark-secret...

2012-05-22T21:07:31.602-05:00

http://www.cracked.com/video_18380_the-dark-secret-behind-quirky-romantic-comedies.html

I finally saw this on netflix last week, and I was...

2012-05-18T17:11:41.623-05:00

I finally saw this on netflix last week, and I was glad to find that you had written about it already. And Glad All Over that I so agreed with everything you said. What a great movie. I loved the c-Print quality stills at the very beginning, laying out a rough set of plates of what I was about to see, and still surprising me with its story. The dramamine (drama mine?) wedding half was exactly how I always feel at weddings, they are all so forced and pressurized. That said, If I ever have another I would love to have Udo Kier wander around like he was my planner, kind of a performance art piece layered on high state spectacle in the hands of the working class. And good on you for pointing out the painterly classicism of the compositions. Kirsten Dunst lying nude, a lovely adult woman, was a revelation. On the flip side, I, being 49, have never been able to buy Keifer Sutherland as the CIA operative who defends our country through perseverance and grit. He just never sold me on his being tough. He's Donald Sutherland's son, which is a lot, but isn't tough. So to see him play the first to do himself in - You can't fire me, I quit! - was a welcome adult actor decision. This movie is great. It's beautiful, literal, and withstands scrutinizing its own elements. It would work if dvd chapters could be played on shuffle.

Heh. To find a reference to that poem about the wh...

2012-05-17T18:35:26.209-05:00

Heh. To find a reference to that poem about the white chickens in a review of Blue Sunshine is pretty trippy.

Mike, you're damned right about the Wild Boys,...

2012-05-17T10:11:08.962-05:00

Mike, you're damned right about the Wild Boys, why that film isn't more highly praised in the popular film crit lit (as opposed to the similar Grapes of Wrath) is I think as you say, cuz of the code, and also William Wellman's never drawn the fawning like Ford. It's up to us to usher in the new deal of Wild Boys appreciation!

And thanks for the info, Mark. I can't imagine Marlene plucked them herself, certainly she'd wait for them to be killed first, and then take the feathers home as trophies!

Very timely piece. The side-by-side photos of the ...

2012-05-17T02:44:05.615-05:00

Very timely piece. The side-by-side photos of the Disney generated replicants is actually horrifying. Yes, replicants. Manufactured totally and utterly.

Davis was so skilled. Are actors like that truly gone forever?

Wasn't expecting this, but excellence as usual...

2012-05-17T01:01:46.799-05:00

Wasn't expecting this, but excellence as usual. Hope this series plays out for a while.

Erich, I would like to underline WILD BOYS OF THE ...

2012-05-16T16:27:03.619-05:00

Erich, I would like to underline WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD as one of the most touching films ever made. Filmed with grit and sincerity during the depths of the depression, it never flinches from the truth. It could only have been filmed in those days, when the problems were yet unsolved, when the breakup of families for economic reasons was epidemic, and when the stupid code had yet to interfere with the visions of filmmakers.

Those are the tail feathers of Mexican fighting co...

2012-05-15T12:33:15.554-05:00

Those are the tail feathers of Mexican fighting cocks coddling Marlene in 'Shanghai Express'. Chosen by La Dietrich herself, I believe, and it wouldn't surprise me if she swam across the Rio Grande and hand-plucked them herself. Lovely Marlene.

I found your site and I have to say thank-you , I ...

2012-05-14T02:14:30.998-05:00

I found your site and I have to say thank-you , I have been burned out and jaded towards movies and now I'm actually looking forward to finding these movies to watch and actually enjoy ! You nailed it with Albert Brooks in Taxi never have I been more irritated with a character than him . I have to say I've always thought Lester Diamond/James Woods to be the skeeviest everyone who has ever pined away for an unobtainable girl or guy has met Lester Diamond in some form or other who has this stupid magnetic hold on someone who deserves better (like me! ;0) but they just cannot shake him/her loose ! I don't get it and I never will !

This is just awesome! Thank you!!!!

2012-05-13T02:15:01.017-05:00

This is just awesome!
Thank you!!!!

You mention that DreamMaster was the last film in ...

2012-05-12T11:45:32.179-05:00

You mention that DreamMaster was the last film in which Freddy was scary, but to me that was the turning point, to me that film was where it all changed. Freddy is spewing one liners left and right, suddenly he is a comedian, and eating meat balls with his victimes faces on them, we get dogs pissing fire...Freddy on the beach wearing shades.

Not that I dont like NOES 4, I do, in fact, it's one of my favorites, but I think it's the one where Freddy stopped being scary and started to turn into a joke spewing, one line hurling comic book character.

I liked your analysis of both of these films, Waxworks is a cool little horror film from the 80s, it has a cool concept, I just didnt like the ending which feels kind of rushed and cheap and silly.

That scene with Sade is a good one, I like the one with the vampires better, it's a blood bath! And the werewolf they have on this film looks pretty cool as well. The second Waxwork film isnt as good,but it does star Bruce Campbell, so it has that going for it.

1. Just a Heads Up: Let's Scare Jessica To D...

2012-05-11T22:55:14.356-05:00

1. Just a Heads Up: Let's Scare Jessica To Death will be on TCM on 5/12/12 at 1:00 AM Central Time. 2. The first time I ate acid was in Germany in 1982, dead of winter, we had peaked while walking in the snowfall for hours, and were on that long slow exhale phase and had to retreat to the barracks or freeze. A room mate was watching The Exorcist on VCR, and I my mind told me "Richard Pryor prepared you for this." Given that I had seen it several times already, the first time when I was 11 or 12 at a drive in with my sister and her boyfriend, I knew everything that was going to happen, and was able to digest it. It's such an amazing movie! However, room mate plugged in "I Spit On Your Grave" afterwards, and I had to go back out into the snow.

Pert Kelton in "Bed of Roses" was NOT &q...

2012-05-09T14:57:42.117-05:00

Pert Kelton in "Bed of Roses" was NOT "Molly the Maid" in "My Man Godfrey". Molly was played in that screwball classic by Jean Dixon, a famous Broadway leading lady (i.e. Kaufman and Hart's "George Washington Slept Here"). Dixon played quite a few "best friends" in '30s films, and the best and last of these was as Susan Potter in Cukor's 1938 "Holiday," after which she returned to the stage. Other than that, love your posts!

You're right KC, and thanks Marcos for the cla...

2012-05-09T12:44:28.883-05:00

You're right KC, and thanks Marcos for the clarification

Lee-- I love James Whale and his wind sound effects but I can never get into the Invisible Man - for one thing, come one, you can't catch a naked man running around a room crammed with cops who have their arms out? And second -- eww! Naked running around in the snow? It kind of makes me shrivel up to imagine. Even the Hulk gets to keep his purple shorts.

I think I should point out that, after getting som...

2012-05-09T11:14:03.096-05:00

I think I should point out that, after getting some sleep, I realized my comments on THE INVISIBLE MAN are wildly inaccurate. I was getting it mixed up in my head with THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940), which is the one with the trembling, castrated hero (Vincent Price). The Whale film was still a pseudo-sexual tragicomedy, but Claude Rains played the invisible man as a fabulous sadist, a precursor to Ernest Thesiger's Dr. Pretorius in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN.

Erich, I just want to point out that The Grapes of...

2012-05-09T09:47:38.584-05:00

Erich, I just want to point out that The Grapes of Wrath is a 1940 release. It was released March 15, 1940, with a NY premiere date Juanuary 24. Even if it was produced late in 1939, it has to count as a 1940 film. I find that the AFI Catalog (double-checked with imdb) is the best source.

As far as I'm concerned, movies lost something...

2012-05-08T18:37:27.580-05:00

As far as I'm concerned, movies lost something special after 1933. The code killed that great, adventurous spirit for good. I'm sure you could add many more titles to this list, but I can't think of even one right now!

And I forgot MURDERS IN THE ZOO!

2012-05-08T12:37:08.978-05:00

And I forgot MURDERS IN THE ZOO!

Thanks for the additions Lee. That's a good de...

2012-05-08T08:26:31.317-05:00

Thanks for the additions Lee. That's a good desc. of Sons of the Desert and fits why L&H give me the melancholy creeps. I could never really explain it before. i find them very disturbing, like a sad nightmare that haunts the dreamer all the rest of the week.

Samuel - I love your description of MGM's extremes of frills and insanity...I'd say you nailed the pros and cons of the pre-code studios.

Matthew - some of my 33s are listed as 32 depending on the source, but in my mind they're 33s. Island of Lost Souls was released in January of 33 for example, so it's right on the cusp. 1931 is a favorite year for sure - but then again I love a little static.

Haven't you got a couple of 32s lurking in her...

2012-05-08T01:30:34.319-05:00

Haven't you got a couple of 32s lurking in here? But whatever, any of the pre-Code years kick 1939's ass. I've always had a preference for '31.
http://www.movietone-news.com/search/label/1931