Les Vampires, 2nd Half

Click here to see parts 1-5

Parts 6-10:

Part 6 -Hypnotic Eyes:


Part 7 -Satanus:


Part 8 -The Thunder Master:


Part 9 -The Poisoner:


Part 10 -The Terrible Wedding:


9/20/2007:

1001Flicks has a review.

Les Vampires

This is on the list of 1001 must-see movies I posted on earlier. I can see that I'll have to buy this book. The list is interesting, but it tells me nothing about why these particular movies are listed. I guess that's why lists aren't copy-rightable.

Anyway, tonight I started watching Les Vampires, a 1915 silent French detective story. FilmReference.com says

It is the anarchistic view of society, the supreme disregard of logic—so appropriate when the old social order of Europe was crumbling under the impact of World War I—which led André Breton and Louis Aragon to see in Les vampires "the reality of this century. Beyond fashion. Beyond taste."

The review at FilmsdeFrance.com says

Les Vampires is widely regarded as a masterpiece of the crime/thriller genre (made long before the genre had been established). The series has entered into French popular culture, providing a great inspiration to successive generations of writers and film-makers. Famously it had an impact on the surrealists, notably André Breton and Luis Buñuel, and also the New Wave film directors Alain Renais and Georges Franju.

GreeneCine:

A runaway hit in its initial release, which proved to be a major influence on the work of Fritz Lang and Alfred Hitchcock

I can't find this 10-part serial for sale on DVD, but it is in the public domain and is available online at Internet Archive and at youtube:

Part 1 -The Severed Head:


Other parts are also available online.

9/11 Quiz

from #comments:

Rio Bravo

Rio Bravo is a western starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan and Angie Dickinson. Martin, Nelson and Brennan get to sing. The movie has had two re-makes. It is #67 on the list of TheyShootPictures.com's top 100 films. It's on Images Journal's list of 30 great westerns. FilmReference.com calls it "one of the greatest westerns".

The New York Times says, "it is well-made but awfully familiar fare". Variety has a short review. DVDTalk calls it one of Hawks' best westerns.

My Rifle, My Pony And Me:



Cindy Cindy:



Rio Bravo trailer

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12/21/2007: Fruitstand has a review.
5/7/2008: FlimSquish has a review.
3/18/2009: Edward Copeland on Film celebrates the film's 50th anniversary.
3/30/2009: 1001 Flicks has a post.

R.I.P. Joe Zawinul

Joe Zawinul, Weather Report pianist, has died.

obits:

AP
BBC
Euronews
UPI
All About Jazz
Reuters


Weather Report:







9/16/2007:

Positive Liberty has a couple of links.

Some Like It Hot

The Younger Son had not seen it before, so The Elder Son and I shared it with him over lunch. Some Like It Hot stars Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe and featues Joe E. Brown as Jack Lemmon's love interest and George Raft as the bad guy. This is a wonderful comedy with one of the best closing scenes in film history:



Here's the trailer:


1/18/2008:
1001 Flicks has a review.

Recycle Everything

Well, almost everything. Co-op America has information on how to recycle stuff you might not have realized was recyclable. Some of them are not practical for us. For example, this one:

6. Compact fluorescent bulbs: Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling: www.ikea.com.

would require quite a trek, as the closest Ikea store looks to be well over 300 miles away.

and when I search for a local place for composting bio-plastics as this point suggests:

7. Compostable bio-plastics: You probably won’t be able to compost these in your home compost bin or pile. Find a municipal composter to take them to at www.findacomposter.com.

I get a local site that specifically excludes compostable plastics. Hmmm...

But there are good ideas there. I especially like this one:

21. Stuff you just can’t recycle: When practical, send such items back to the manufacturer and tell them they need to manufacture products that close the waste loop responsibly.

I remember at one point hearing the suggestion that excess packaging be removed at the point of purchase and left at the store. The logic was that if everyone did that the stores would insist companies use more responsible and less bulky packaging. When I do it the store personnel always look at me funny.

HT: treehugger

SF Movie Remakes

Sigh. I wish they would come up with new ideas. I believe in recycling, but this is ridiculous. It seems they are going to remake The Day the Earth Stood Still, Logan's Run and Tron.

The word I'm reading is that Keanu Reeves will be Klaatu and that this remake is set to be released in 2008. You can watch The Day the Earth Stood Still online:



but each person should have a DVD of their very own.

The Logan's Run remake is set for 2010 according to the IMDB entry. I was in college when the original was released. I loved Michael York as the Sandman. I also liked him as John the Baptist -I thought the casting for Jesus of Narareth was nearly perfect, and as King Arthur on Babylon 5 -I loved that series. I haven't heard yet who will play this part in the remake, but I have heard that it'll stick closer to the original book than to the movie.

We watched Tron not too long ago, knowing Disney was planning a remake. It would be a lot of fun for me if they could re-use some of the actors I've known and loved from both Tron and Babylon 5. I've seen no word yet, though, on who the actors will be.

I've been seeing scattered news of these remakes for ages and don't remember where I first heard any of it. I do know I've seen news lately at Cinematical

/film has a Tron article here.

9/12:

SFSignal has a Tron article, too.

9/11

Here's my post from last year.

Some current reports:

CNN
GetReligion
MSNBC
NYTimes
The Freedonian
Alternet
Tennessee Guerilla Women
Claw of the Conciliator
Respectful Insolence
Questionable Authority
Laelaps
Bad Astronomy
The Daily Helmsman
Henry's Web

Slapstick Blog-a-Thon Day 4, part 3

I thought I'd finish out the Slapstick Blog-a-Thon with a Marx Brothers Mini Marathon. I'm the only one home right now so I'm starting with The Cocoanuts, their first film, and The Boys can jump on board when they get home if they like. This movie can be seen in parts online. Click here for part 1 (and links to the other parts). Here's the "Why a Duck" scene:



I do think the Marx Brothers are funny, and they are a big favorite of The Husband, so we've saved the best 'til last.

We changed the mini marathon to a double feature and are heading to bed after seeing Monkey Business. This film is viewable online in parts, with part 1 and links to the other parts here.

Slapstick Blog-a-Thon Day 4, part 2

Offerings from The Husband:

In honor of the lost art of slapstick:

Harold Lloyd was great.

ditto Snub Pollard

ditto Charley Chase

and Harry Langdon

the Keystone Cops

But then, Dick van Dyke puts it all in perspective: he did this bit for twenty years.

See? I said he'd like the Slapstick Blog-a-Thon!

R.I.P. Jane Wyman

Jane Wyman died this morning at the age of 93. I saw the news here at Edward Copeland's blog.

obits:

AP
BBC
Reuters
Wonkette
CNN
NPR

9/12:

Movie Morlocks has a post on Jane Wyman's other movies:

Slapstick Blog-a-Thon Day 4

I thought I'd watch a bit of Chaplin on this last day of the Slapstick Blog-a-Thon. This video



contains these four shorts: The Immigrant, The Adventurer, The Cure, and Easy Street. I'm not a Chaplin fan and don't think these are funny at all. Easy Street was the only one of the 4 I liked, and it's just such a sweet story.

The Kid, online here:


was Chaplin's first full-length film. Jackie Coogan plays the title character. The visual symbolism is heavy-handed, and it does seem to be an overt "message" film. Still, it's sweet, too, and I liked it. It's looking as if I like Chaplin movies to the extent they tell a tender tale. Could be, could be, but there are ones I liked ok that weren't primarily sweet stories.

We have seen The Gold Rush, but we may have rented it because I can't find it here anywhere right now. The Husband and I both liked it, but he did think the wrap-up at the end was too quick. It can be viewed online at youtube in 10 parts. Part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10

We have also seen and liked Modern Times.

We watched The Great Dictator a while back, and I see historical significance and courage in its making. But not comedy.

Shatner and the New ST Movie

I've been bemoaning the lack of Shatner in the new Star Trek film, and I loved this part of an interview he gave:

And then there's Denny Crane. What would Shatner like to see that randy ol' attorney do in the coming season? "I'd like to see him play Captain Kirk in the new 'Star Trek' movie."

Gotta love it.

HT: TrekWeb

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

The Elder son was interested in showing this film, and I'm always up for another movie. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is not slapstick but a different kind of comedy -a comedy of errors. This heist film has everything going wrong that can go wrong and a cliff-hanger ending that reminded me a bit of Michael Caine's The Italian Job.

trailer:
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - Trailer



12/4/2008:
/film reports that this film can now be viewed at hulu.

Slapstick Blog-a-Thon Day 3

Today is Day 3 of the Slapstick Blog-a-Thon.

We watched another Laurel and Hardy -The Lucky Dog, a short film and the first time the two appeared together.

We also watched Abbot and Costello's Africa Screams. We have the b/w version on DVD, and it can be seen in b/w here or colorized here. Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a staple of our annual October Monster Movie Month, but I've never been much of a fan otherwise. Except, of course, for Who's On First.

Later we watched The Ritz Brothers in The Gorilla:

Not my cup of tea. Too much screaming and fainting, not enough laughs.

Sunday Psalm

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

KJV

Slapstick Blog-a-Thon Day 2

Today we observed Day 2 of the Slapstick Blog-a-Thon by watching a bit more of the Three Stooges -Disorder in the Court, which we have on DVD but which can also be viewed online at the Internet Archive and at googlevideo. I think the funniest part of that one is Curly's swearing-in bit. Here it is:


We also watched Laurel and Hardy in The Flying Deuces. We have this one on VHS and DVD (we'll pass the VHS on to The Elder Son now that we have the DVD), but it can be viewed online at the Internet Archive and at LikeTelevision. In this film Laurel and Hardy join the French Foreign Legion, which still recruits and serves.

We closed the day with Buster Keaton in Steamboat Bill, Jr., which we also have on DVD but which can be viewed online at googlevideo and at the Internet Archive. It is an interesting coincidence that Steamboat Bill, Jr. features a storm that has high damaging winds, rain and flooding, reminding me that this is the Galveston Hurricane anniversary. We have watched Buster Keaton in The General, but not since I started keeping this blog. More recently we have seen him in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (one of my all-time favorites) and as himself in Sunset Boulevard. Shoot the Projectionist evaluates 3 by Buster Keaton as part of the blog-a-thon.

9/20/2007:

1001Flicks has a review of Steamboat Bill, Jr.

The Galveston Hurricane

Today is the anniversary of the Galveston hurricane in 1900. It was the worst natural disaster in our history, with over 6,000 dead. Some estimates are that up to 12,000 people were killed. NOAA has extensive information, including links to contemporaneous accounts and period photographs. CNN has an in-depth report here, including maps and videos. Weather.com lists the Galveston Hurricane as 4th in their list of top 10 storms of the century. The wikipedia entry on the storm is here. There is a 90-minute History Channel special you can watch online here.

Here is a silent video from 1900 of workers looking for bodies in the aftermath of the storm:


Here's a video from the Texana Review, "scenes of devastation, wreck and ruin":


Here's a 1994 news report focusing on the beach-side orphanage that was destroyed in the storm:

A ship smashed into the building, the orphanage was lifted off its foundation and the roof caved in, trapping the orphans and Catholic sisters inside. The only survivors were 3 of the children who clung to a tree where they had washed up.

R.I.P. Madeleine L'Engle

Madeleine L'Engle has died. I remember when I first discovered this author and first read A Wrinkle in Time. She died Thursday of natural causes at the age of 88. We mourn her passing.

NYT

AP

Episcopal Life

Slate

New York Magazine

Reuters

Guardian Unlimited

SciFiScanner:

The genre's lost one of its most important figures: a wonderful woman who led children by the hand as she nurtured in them a lifelong love of science-fiction. She'll be missed.

SFScope has an article.

SFSignal reports.

Religion News Blog:

“Why does anybody tell a story?” Ms. L’Engle once asked, even though she knew the answer.

“It does indeed have something to do with faith,” she said, “faith that the universe has meaning, that our little human lives are not irrelevant, that what we choose or say or do matters, matters cosmically.”

Obit Magazine

obit from Siris

Claw of the Conciliator has a couple of links. and a later post with more links.

9/9:

Salon.com:

Nothing was enough for L'Engle. As an author, she danced with demanding philosophical questions and toyed with quantum physics. She wrote about faith with devotion, dabbled in ethics, psychology, myth, art, politics and nature. And she blended everything into stories that describe the crushing complexity of a child's life in this century. Her books are timeless, but at the same time contemporary. She made art for children, real art.

A video tribute from NPR.

9/13:

GetReligion has a post with a personal touch.