Sleepless in Midland

Name that movie gun

Early this month in Guns for Classic Movie Fans we talked about the guns that were so popular in the old movies. And my eyes lit up as one appeared on my TV screen yesterday on a tape made early that morning of the movie Dick Tracy. Made in 1990, the movie really wasn't that old, but it tried to be as Warren Beatty recreated a cartoon detective in a fantasy city plagued with cartoonish villains.

 

So there was the gun, Dick Tracy's own personal handgun in the very first scene of the movie.  Can you identify it?

Give up? Here's the answer.

Guns for classic movie fans

Went to the gun show this weekend and fell in love with a beautiful nickel plated Colt Detective Special. Didn't buy it, though -- I could cross two or three items off my wish list for what it would have cost. Maybe next time.

Anyone who has watched a dozen or so classic cops & robbers movies will know what the Detective Special is and may even want one of his own. (Women might want one too, but the movie femme fatales seemed to prefer another model, stay tuned.)

So I was talking about it with an old friend, and he had already formed a mental list of guns that gun collectors who were old movie fans would want to have in their collections. And as luck would have it the popular Internet Movie Database has a fan inspired sub-site about guns in movies which turns out to be a pretty good resource.

Back to my friend's list of top guns for classic movie fans. The Detective Special is one of them. This was the good guy gun. Movie detectives used them of course, and another movie mystery staple used them too, the P.I. Occasionally one would fall into the hands of a bad guy, but that was inevitable and shouldn't mar its reputation as the good guy gun. There were three or four versions of the Detective Special made by Colt between 1927 and 1995, and the old ones can be costly today.

Another movie regular was the Colt 1911, a sturdy semi-automatic that could be used by both good guy and bad buy, although in my opinion an ordinary bad guy was more likely to use one than a good guy.

We need to distinguish the ordinary bad guy from the very bad guy, and here we must remember that during a certain period of American movie history some really evil movie characters came from abroad. So foreign made handguns might be more to their liking, and the German Luger was popular in that regard. Any good Nazi would have one, Neo-Nazis, too. But they were also enjoyed by some American bad guys.

Now if the bad guy is really, really bad he might use a Mauser C-96, sometimes known as the "Broomhandle." For example, if an evil villain were to dispatch an evil underling to kill Hannibal Lecter in Hannibal Rising, the henchman might be expected to use a Broomhandle. An assassination attempt on James Bond might involve one, too.

Many classic movie women needed guns, too. Maybe she was a good girl who got caught up in a bad situation. Maybe she was a bad guy's girlfriend, or she may have been an entrepreneurial bad girl in her own right. In any event, the Colt 1903 hammerless semi-automatic fit nicely in her purse, ready to be drawn if the deal went sour.

There were good guy guns, bad guy guns and lady's guns. And after watching a few old movies a fan could probably predict what kind of weapon a character might pull. Those guns are collectibles now, and one can imagine a "Maltese Falcon" type movie in which that valuable object of desire is a gun from that old movie.

Thanks to Jimmie McD for the input. I'm still a fan of the old movie guns but not yet a collector.

Finally, a nod to the western movies, but just a nod. There were a variety of guns used in the westerns, but two stand out: the single action Colt Army revolver, AKA the Peacemaker, and the Winchester lever action rifle. There were two rifle versions which look very much alike, the Winchester Models 1892 or 1894. But to most movie viewers they were indistinguishable.

Have fun at the movies, keep your head down, and save up for that collectible when it pops up at the gun show.

Solid Potato Salad, the video

They're singers. They're contortionists. They're singers AND contortionists! And they sure are limber. This video of the Ross Sisters is supposed to be from a 1944 movie titled Broadway Rhythm, and this 3:50 minute clip will bend you over backwards.

There's an amazing scene beginning at the 2:00 mark where one of the girls stands on the seat of a wagon then glides backward into the wagon bed, then back up to the seat without the use of her arms. Amazing.  Click to watch it, but don't try this at home.

Via LoneStarTimes.com.

Beavis and Butthead do a movie commercial

Remember Beavis and Butthead? Their animated antics entertained TV audiences across the land as their lack of intelligence compensated for hormonal imbalance. There was a time when they were the scourge of every parent, and they took the blame for destroying western civilization and corrupting the youth of America. Then all of a sudden they were gone from the airways leaving behind reality shows to fill the void.

Anyway, B&B are back, albeit briefly, to advertise Mike Judge's new movie "Extract." Watch Film Forum with Beavis and Butthead as the pair do a movie review with a world view and word play that had parents pulling out their hair not so long ago.

How did Mike Judge draw those two out of retirement to make this commercial? He really must have some influence.

Via Collider.com.

A movie about Nazis? Why now?

I've heard more about Nazis in the past few weeks than any other time this century. And now there's a movie in the theaters about killing Nazis that's raking in the money.

If you've read the reviews or seen the commercials for Inglourious Basterds, you know what I'm talking about. It look likes a rip roaring blood streaked WWII movie about good guys vs. bad guys of a style we haven't seen in decades. But why Nazis now?

Maybe the movie has been sitting on the shelf, and as soon as there's a whiff of news with any relation back to that inglorious period, then off to the theaters it went.

We've got an enemy named Al Qaeda with a membership wanting nothing better than to go to heaven having killed as many infidels - that would be us - as possible. Many Americans might like a movie with a pack of handsome stars sneaking into their stronghold and doing to Al Qaeda what the movie characters do to Nazis.

Oh wait, that would involve covert actions, something our current administration couldn't countenance. Furthermore, there's apparently a scene in the movie in which a Nazi gets a Swastika carved on his face. That would be torture, there would be no torture. Captives have a right to remain silent, and if they can't afford an attorney . . . movie fans know the drill. Any violations of human rights, as defined by Attorney General Eric Holder, would be prosecuted. Best stick to an era when enemies were enemies. After all, that was the "Good War."

Putney Swope, ahead of his time

Putney Swope was a 1969 cult movie about a black guy who took over a Madison Avenue advertising agency. To make that happen the plot had the CEO drop dead in the middle of a meeting with the executive board so the board members could set about electing a new chairman. Each of the board members wanted the job, but the rules said no one could vote for himself. They thought Putney Swope, the music director and token black dude on the board, couldn't win, so they voted for him. To their surprise and the audiences delight, he won.

The rules were basically cast aside at that point, and Mr. Swope proceeded to fire most of the white people and replace them with guys from the hood, called "militant brothers" back then. And being the progressive that he was, he dropped tobacco companies and toy gun makers as clients. And any work the company did was to be paid for with bags of cash.

All the cash was put into a large glass container which Mr. Swope planned to distribute in equal shares to the employees -- what a guy. But unfortunately, a disgruntled employee blows up the cash. The end.

The movie was really quite lame, but it was a big hit on college campuses as it exemplified the prevailing view that businessmen were bad people. If only some cool black dude could come along and straighten things out, get tough with those mean old bosses and make them share the wealth. Then everyone could live in peace and harmony and make love, not war, in the age of Aquarius.

The attitude still lives. President Obama was an impressionable eight year old when the movie came out although he was probably schooling abroad at the time. But it's obvious that somewhere along the line he was exposed to that philosophy. I don't recall ever hearing what Mr. Obama's favorite movies are, but I would expect to see "Putney Swope" on that list before I would expect to see "High Noon."

The entire movie is in nine parts on Youtube. As of now Part 1 has had 1,724 views, and the last segment, part 9 has had 336 views which suggests it takes some real dedication to watch the whole thing.

Captain Eo -- Michael Jackson at Epcot Center

It was long ago when the future was far, far away, and the 3D movie "Captain Eo" showed at Epcot Center. It starred Michael Jackson as the captain of a space ship manned by a crazy crew of Muppets. And it was cute.

The beginning of the movie was fantastic. A slow spinning meteor was headed right for the audience. Keep in mind that it was in 3D, so the meteor came right out into the theater. The viewers sat stunned as it stopped just a few feet away from their faces. It looked so real that many audience members reached out to try to touch it.

You can watch it at YouTube. Here's Part 1 and here's Part 2, but it won't be in 3D unless you have the glasses.  The meteor is in Part 1, and the big song and dance number is in Part 2.

Michael Jackson was good too, but you have to put yourself back in another century, at a time before the image of Michael Jackson as an entertainer of children didn't make people cringe.

Man on Wire -- the movie

It was a daring balancing act when wire walker Philippe Petit stunned watchers by walking on a wire stretched between the World Trade Center towers in 1974. (Oops, I just gave away the plot. Sorry about that, but don't worry. I watched it twice and it was just as exiting the second time.)

They made a documentary about it last year titled Man on Wire using some contemporary interviews, archived clips and still shots.

Mr. Petit has a superhuman ability to balance. We see him juggle, we see him ride a unicycle, we see him juggle on a unicycle, and we see him walking a high wire, a very, very high wire. But as impressive as that particular stunt was, there was a gripping subplot of the heist-like scheme to get into the building with almost a ton of equipment, get it onto the roof undetected, set it up, and get Mr. Petit out on the wire before someone showed up to stop them.

The towers had been topped off in 1970, but by 1974 the upper floors were still under construction. So late one August afternoon the two teams were able to get into the buildings with fake IDs. And they spent the night hiding near the roof. In the early morning hours when they thought it was safe the team in the South Tower hauled the cable up to the roof inadvertently walking right past a guard. They must have seemed like they were doing what they were supposed to be doing, and the guard didn't bother them.

The North Tower team shot an arrow tied to a fishing line onto the roof of the South Tower, and Philippe tied it to a larger string which the North team pulled back. That string was tied to a larger string, then a rope, then a wire, then a 7/8 inch cable which they anchored to each roof.

The sun was up, and the elevator wheel started to turn. Mr. Petit placed one foot on the cable and had to make a momentous decision. Once he shifted his weight to that foot either the wire held or he would fall to his death. It held, and he walked out between the buildings putting on a show New Yorkers would never see again while causing no small amount of anxiety to the Port Authority Police.

Eventually, the police convinced his friend on the roof that they would use a helicopter to pluck him off the wire, and Philippe walked back to the roof to surrender.

It's a great movie and well worth the rental fee. And it's a wonderful story to add to whatever memories anyone may have about the Twin Towers.

"The Rocker" on DVD

There's an interesting little inside joke in "The Rocker."  But first, some plot spoilers.

Rainn Wilson and Christina Applegate starred in that hilarious movie about Robert Fishman, a drummer in a heavy metal band named Vesuvius in the 80's on the verge of making it big time. They are offered a record contract with a catch -- the record producer 's nephew will replace Fishman as the new drummer. The band members thought hard about it for at least a minute before giving Fish the boot.

Want more? Fair warning, more plot to follow.

Fast forward 20 years. Vesuvius has had six albums go platinum, and Fishman is working at a customer call center at Zammit's Metal Racking. Fish's co-workers, unaware of his history with the band, force him to listen to a cut from the new Vesuvius album. He loses his temper, loses his job, loses his girl friend and moves in with his sister for a fresh start. Wouldn't you know it, his nephew's garage band needs a drummer to play with them at the high school prom. "You're late." "What do you mean, we're headlining, we won't go on until 11." "It's a prom! It's over at 11!"

So it's a setup for a possible comeback and an eventual confrontation with the band that cast him aside so long ago. It's a good movie with several laugh-out-loud moments.

So, what's the inside joke? As Fish leaves Zammit's call center for the last time, he sits on a bench at a bus stop. And right beside him on the bench is Pete Best. Pete never says a word, and viewers would have had to watch the credits and look it up in IMDB to know why this wasn't an ordinary extra. So who is Pete Best? Mr. Best was a drummer with the Beatles in the early 1960's before being replaced by Ringo Starr. You can bet that he enjoyed the movie.

The Terminator - "Ah'll be back, in the Library of Congress."

"The Terminator" is headed for the Library of Congress. Here's what the press release said:

Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the Librarian of Congress names 25 films to the National Film Registry that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant, to be preserved for all time. These films are not selected as the "best" American films of all time, but rather as works of enduring significance to American culture.

And there is "The Terminator" along with "Deliverance" and "A Face in the Crowd." Here's this year's list of works significant to American culture to be preserved for all time:

1) The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
2) Deliverance (1972)
3) Disneyland Dream (1956)
4) A Face in the Crowd (1957)
5) Flower Drum Song (1961)
6) Foolish Wives (1921)
7) Free Radicals (1979)
8) Hallelujah (1929)
9) In Cold Blood (1967)
10) The Invisible Man (1933)
11) Johnny Guitar (1954)
12) The Killers (1946)
13) The March (1964)
14) No Lies (1973)
15) On the Bowery (1957)
16) One Week (1920)
17) The Pawnbroker (1965)
18) The Perils of Pauline (1914)
19) Sergeant York (1941)
20) The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
21) So’s Your Old Man (1926)
22) George Stevens WW2 Footage (1943-46)
23) The Terminator (1984)
24) Water and Power (1989)
25) White Fawn’s Devotion (1910)

Many of these movies have been shown on tv, and maybe TCM will run them all sometime soon. (Via Science not Fiction.)

Updated 1/7/09, three of these films are available for viewing at archive.org. There's Disneyland Dream (1956), a home movie made by a family that won a free trip to Disneyland. One Week (1920) with Buster Keaton. He and his new bride attempt to put together their new portable house within the time suggested by the instructions. And Femmine Folli (Foolish Wives, 1921) directed by and starring Erich von Stroheim.

A sex chip for the brain -- is the Orgasmatron next?

From the Telegraph comes this science news:

The chip works by sending tiny shocks from implanted electrodes in the brain.

The technology has been used in the United States to treat Parkinson's disease.

But in recent months scientists have been focusing on the area of the brain just behind the eyes known as the orbitofrontal cortex - this is associated with feelings of pleasure derived from eating and sex.

(Via Skepchick.)

That immediately calls to mind the Orgasmatron which is even mentioned in the article. Movie fans know the Orgasmatron from the Woody Allen movie "Sleepers," and you can see it in operation in this Youtube video. Wikipedia describes the Orgasmatron, as follows:

The orgasmatron is a fictional device in the fictional future society of 2173 in the Woody Allen movie Sleeper. It is a large cylinder big enough to contain one or two people. The orgasmatron was made by decorating an elevator in the home where the movie was filmed. Once entered, it contains some (otherwise undescribed) future technology that rapidly induces orgasms. This is required, as almost all people in the Sleeper universe are impotent or frigid, although males of Italian descent are considered the least impotent of all groups.

The main character Miles Monroe, played by Allen, is being hunted by the police as being subversive to security of the state, and attempts to hide in it, thinking it is a closet. He is discovered there, and easily captured in a daze, with a dopey smile on his face.

So if sci-fi movies are inspiring scientists, then it won't be long before they come up with the Marilyn Monrobot. Not that anyone needs this advice, but the educational video from Futurama said it best: Don't date robots!

On the other hand, if Viagra tabs can loosen the tongues of Taliban warlords then a few Orgasmatrons would probably yield an unconditional surrender, and maybe even Osama himself might be induced to crawl out of his cave.

The Tao of Steve (or how to pick up girls)

So I was watching a movie at home Christmas night because I got snowed out of a trip to Santa Fe. (Damn you Al Gore!) It was the The Tao of Steve, and it was the only movie I could recall that was filmed in Santa Fe within the past few years. Although it was mainly filmed indoors, there were some nice outdoor scenes at an afternoon yard party at a beautiful home in the hills.

It was basically a relationship story featuring Dex, the slacker in Santa Fe, and Syd, the gorgeous set builder in town to build the set for the Santa Fe Opera. Dex didn't remember her, but he and Syd had had an encounter in college. That's the way Dex was, love 'em and forget 'em. You wouldn't know it to look at him, but he was a ladies' man. Not cute, not suave, not especially cool. But he was smartest guy in class, and the women loved him. It's ten years later, he's still not cute, and now he's fat. But he still had the knack. He was a Homme Fatale to put a name to it.

He had developed a set of three simple rules for picking up girls, to wit:

1. Eliminate your desire for the woman;

2. Do something excellent in her presence; then

3. Retreat.

We pursue that which retreats from us. If the guy does it right, she will follow. This worked so well for Dex that he lost all ambition to do anything else. He explained his attitude to some people at the above mentioned party thusly:

"Look, men try and achieve success for one reason: to impress women, right? That's the only reason they build companies, write books or compete in sports and stuff. The problem is, if you figure out how you could get laid without achieving anything then you could lose your motivation all together. So there's no reason to get off the couch."

Well, he met Syd, and he fell hard for her. His three precious rules fell by the wayside, and we got to watch him violate them right and left. So how did it turn out? Sorry. It' s time for me to retreat. You'll have to see it for yourself, but it's a cute movie.  And whether you're interested in the life lessons or the brief scenes of the beautiful hills of Santa Fe, it's worth the time it takes to watch it.

Paul Newman in "Tales of Tomorrow"

Jeff penned a very nice eulogy for Paul Newman, and if you click on the list he linked you'll see how productive Mr. Newman was. I'm sure we'll be exposed to many of his movies in the weeks to come, but in the meantime let's look at a tv oldie.

Archive.org has the ambitious mission of digitizing things that are in the public domain, and it's a fun place to browse. And sure enough, there were some old tv shows with Paul Newman.

For example, there's Tales of Tomorrow - Ice from Space, a 1950s sci-fi tv show, in which Mr. Newman has a minor role as Sgt. Wilson. The show really isn't worth the time to watch except for a glimpse of a young Paul Newman. So I'll go ahead and spoil the plot for you.

It seems that an AR76 test missile was fired into the sky, but it didn't come back down right away like it was supposed to. When it finally returned to earth it contained a large block of ice. So for 20 something minutes the characters pondered what to do about that ice as it grew larger, became more radioactive, and developed an internal flashing light. The actors speculated that it would eventually freeze the entire planet earth, but a brave Major Dozier saved the day by having it loaded back onto the AR76 and flying with it on a suicide mission to blow it up in space.

Although we got to see a film of the rocket take off in the beginning, the entire show was filmed on a set that could have been someone's den and garage. There now, aren't you glad you didn't watch it yourself?

Updated 10/2/08 -- TCM has scheduled a tribute to Paul Newman on October 12 with the following movies:

Eastern time:
6:00 AM The Rack
8:00 AM Until They Sail
10:00 AM Torn Curtain
12:15 PM Exodus
3:45 PM Sweet Bird of Youth
6:00 PM Hud
8:00 PM Somebody Up There Likes Me
10:00 PM Cool Hand Luke
12:15 AM Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
2:15 AM Rachel, Rachel
4:00 AM The Outrage

Loved the meat pies, Mrs. Lovett

Maybe it's an acquired taste.  Or maybe it's the simple appreciation of a well told story of pain, abuse of power, revenge and ultimate justice.  Also there's that touch of cannibalism.  It's the movie version of Sweeney Todd.  Here's the official site (all Flash).

It's the story of the London barber who was shanghaied and banished by a corrupt judge who lusted after the barber's wife.  And the story begins as the tortured barber returns and reunites with his razors to settle the score.

The Stephen Sondheim music and lyrics are mesmerizing and sung admirably by Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.  Even the quintessential villain Alan Rickman gets to belt out a tune.

Maybe fans of the stage version are tempted to turn up their noses at the movie version, but not I.  On stage what the audience saw is what the actors gave on that particular night.  But in a movie the viewers get to see the best of several takes of both acting and singing.  No late entrances.  No forgotten lines.  No missed notes.  Add a computer generated old London, and the result is a visual and auditory feast.

The squeamish might do well to remind themselves that movie makers can create an amazingly realistic look.  But the wounds are illusions, the blood is fake.  And remember, modern day barbers don't use straight razors.

Two thumbs way up, but count your fingers on the way out to assure yourself that it's only a movie.

Attention old movie fans

Gary Ott has a great old movie quiz at his MR-T column.

"Death at a Funeral," the movie

If you haven't experienced a parent's funeral, you will.  And for me, my parents' funerals were times to let go and experience an emotional release followed by an unexpected serenity.  Or maybe a little guilt.

Leave it to the Brits to come up with a movie that will make you laugh at a funeral.  It's Death at a Funeral, and it's hilarious.  And it's great fun to laugh at a situation you've experienced with an entirely different emotion.

Death of a Funeral looks like it could have been a stage play, and the action takes place mostly at a  beautiful British country estate.  It's a family of means, and one might expect the solemn affair a funeral was intended to be.  But it's a family with quirks.  The deceased dad had a secret, and the siblings experience all the conflicts that siblings everywhere experience.  Throw in an amateur, unlicensed, pharmacist who mixes drugs for recreational use.  Add an accidental ingestion by an unsuspecting future in-law.  Pitch in a stranger with a photo album the family might want to buy and bury, and there's a funeral story worth telling.

It's now showing at the Bijou at the Crossroads in San Antonio, where movie goers can order and consume food and adult beverages right there while watching the movie.  (Take smallish bites to avoid spit-takes.)

"The Brave One" - the movie

Jodie Foster seems to like the action hero role, and what star wouldn't if she can do it convincingly?  It's the old James Stewart "everyman" who gets sucked into a extraordinary situation, and in this movie Jodie plays the victim of a brutal crime who takes matters into her own hands.  If you are inclined to see the movie you'll probably see it regardless of what I say, but here's the spoiler alert for those who haven't seen it yet:  Spoiler alert!

I seldom see first run movies, but I was in another city, and a relative and I saw two movies in one afternoon, one of which was The Brave One.  And it was a pretty good movie.  There were a few movie cliches, and the basic theme had been done a few decades ago by Charles Bronson, but it held its own.

So Jodie and her fiance go for a walk.  The fiance is presented to us as such a likable guy that anyone who has seen the commercials knows that his role is to be the homicide victim.  They stumble into a circumstance in which three thugs attack them, beat them, kill the fiance, and video tape the whole ugly scene.

And Jodie buys a gun.

A gun is probably seen by the Hollywood set as a device that transforms psychology, a device which can change an ordinary, decent citizen into a person who in the blink of an eye can become a mad murderer.  And in the hands of a crime victim, like the one Jodie plays in the movie, a gun must turn her into a killing machine, a vigilante bent on cleansing the earth of scum, one or two thugs at at time.  Doing what the cops can't.

But a satisfying movie needs the good guys prevailing over the bad guys with little or no consequences.   And this was a satisfying movie.  To someone who doesn't regularly see movies in theaters, it was interesting to hear audience members react to certain scenes.  The movie makers created some frightening scenarios, and the audience can feel the terror that subway riders might feel when a couple of menacing creeps start harassing passengers.  But we're comforted, because we know Jodie is packing a piece in her purse.  And the audience applauds the screen as the tables are turned, and a bad boy buys a ticket to eternity.

Okay, a minor quibble.  The investigators say they found 9mm casing where she's done her thing, but Jodie's gun looked exactly like a .45 caliber Sig Sauer P220 ST.  And her reconciliation with the lawman was a bit contrived, but hey, it's only a movie.

All in all, it was very entertaining.  And it will be interesting to see how well it scores in the competition for ticket dollars.  There's action, there's excitement, there's revenge, there's good conquering evil.  But  Death Wishes 1thru 5 came out when the NY crime rate was much higher -- didn't Rudy Giuliani clean all that up?  Anyway, we'll see how audiences take to it.

"Hairspray," the original

There's a movie about to hit the big screen that's a remake of a play that was a remake of a movie.  It's "Hairspray."

The original movie was indeed an original.  Made in 1988 by the incomparable John Waters, it starred Divine, Mink Stole, Ricky Lake, Sonny Bono and others.  IMDB.

Anyone who wishes to see the original "Hairspray" will have that opportunity tomorrow as TBS is scheduled to show it on Friday, 7/20/07, at 9:00 am Central.

John Waters made some very controversial movies back then, although "Hairspray" was rather tame compared with some of the others.  Nonetheless, it's worth a look if you haven't seen it, and it probably won't ruin your appetite.

Early prediction:  John Travalta is no Devine.

Peter Weller, the way we were

Was watching a tape of the last season of  24 and who shows up?  None other than Peter Weller as a major villain.

We weren't friends, but we were both students at NTSU years ago. I caught him stealing some roses from the yard of the house where I was renting a room, but he said the owner had given him permission.  An unlikely story as the owner lived a few blocks away, but I couldn't prove it.

He was a handsome drama student, popular with the ladies.  His acting ability helped him in that regard, too, no doubt.

Anyway, my girl friend at that time was friends with him, and I was a tiny bit jealous.  So I resorted to the old tried and true weapon of ridicule.  I said to her, “Peter Weller, what's that?  Some sort of venereal disease?”

Ha ha, good  joke, right?  Well, I was the only one laughing.  I've repeated the story a couple of times over the years and got the same blank stare my girl friend gave me.  I thought it was a clever play on words, but I guess it's one of those jokes only the teller can enjoy.  Or to their credit, maybe they simply weren't familiar enough with vulgar slang.

But who knew he would grow up to be Robocop?  Not to mention Buckaroo Banzai, gasp!

So there he was as arch villain Christopher Henderson on “24.”  Well, Mr. Peter Weller, best of luck to you, but here's hoping Jack Bauer kicks your character's rear.

United 93

That movie, United 93, is opening this weekend and is all over the news.  The people on that United flight 93 were real heroes, and they deserve every bit of the attention they get for many reasons, not least of which is the lesson they gave us on how to reason, organize and respond in the face of terrorism.

But this entry isn't about the movie itself, it's about all the attention it's getting.

The cable channel A&E showed a made for tv movie about the same incident a few months ago.  It was a great movie, an emotional tv event.  The Flight 93 surviving family members who were interviewed gave it a thumbs up.  But, apparently, very few of people actually watched it.  (I did, by the way.)

So along comes this new theatrical release titled "United 93."  And in a stroke of marketing genius, commercials for it were shown in theaters in NYC to unsuspecting audiences.

"Too soon!"  "Too soon!"  We all heard the reports.  But it seems that the movie producers had to spend very little money on advertising, because the news folks gave them as much exposure as any movie producer could ever hope for.

Poor A&E.  Been there, done that, they are probably saying.  But their thunder got stolen by a shrewd marketer.  It's as if they were airline passengers watching helplessly as their plane got hijacked.

Instant update!  The A&E show Flight 93 is scheduled for airing again on April 29 and 30.  Great timing, A&E!

Desert Reel Film Festival 2006.

Mark your calendars.  The Desert Reel Film Festival has been scheduled for November 2, 3 and 4, 2006.   And they are currently soliciting entries.

Last year they showed some very unique films, some of which were made by our own home grown film makers.  And this year should be no different.

There are a surprising number of talented writers, actors and film makers around here.  In the past, the cost of making a movie was prohibitive.  But since the use of digital media became so prevalent, the cost has dropped significantly .  And some of last years Desert Reel features were made on a shoe string. 

So all of you talented people out there get cracking.  Why don't I do it?  Got no talent.

Dennis Weaver, star of "Duel," dead at 81

Dennis Weaver, remembered as "Chester" by people over a certain age, passed away last weekend.

I remember him as the hapless driver in the Steven Spielberg movie Duel, a truly terrifying movie.  He plays Mr. Mann, an everyman driving on a lonely highway, who by some relatively innocuous act manages to annoy a truck driver.

They get into a very scary game of highway cat and mouse with Mr. Mann being the mouse in his puny little rented car.  It was a case of road rage before the phrase "road rage" was invented.

If you ever drive on two lane highways, don't see that movie!

Netfix. Maybe, maybe not a good deal

I've been tempted by the advertising to try a subscription to Netflix, but I was holding back to wait for a time when I knew I could watch a lot of movies so that I could get my money's worth.  Now it looks like that strategy has a downside.  See Frequent Netflix renters sent to back of the line:

Netflix typically sends about 13 movies per month to Villanueva's home in Warren, Mich. — down from the 18 to 22 DVDs he once received before the company's automated system identified him as a heavy renter and began delaying his shipments to protect its profits.

The same Netflix formula also shoves Villanueva to the back of the line for the most-wanted DVDs, so the service can send those popular flicks to new subscribers and infrequent renters.

The little-known practice, called "throttling" by critics, means Netflix customers who pay the same price for the same service are often treated differently, depending on their rental patterns.

But, while Netflix might not be as good a deal as it sounds, it still might be a place of last resort to get access to those movies that aren't available at the local video rental shops.

Preview of coming attractions:  A courtroom drama featuring Netflix and the same class action lawyers who sued Blockbuster.

(Story link via James D. Hudnal.)

Going to see.... That movie!

Okay, I say to myself.  Keep you head low.  Don't make eye contact with anyone.

"One, please."

"Which movie?"

"(mumble mumble)"

"Huh?"

"(mumble mumble)."

"Brokeback Mountain?"

"Uh, okay.  Might as well see that one."

So I walk into the theater, the lights were off and the previews were rolling.   I couldn't see a thing, so I just stood there until my eyes adjusted.  I didn't want to run the risk of accidentally sitting on someone's lap.  Not at that movie!

But, I needn't have worried as there were fewer than a half dozen seats filled -- it's not going to be a huge grosser out here.  Or uh, let me rephrase.  It's not going to make a huge sum of money out here.

Director Ang Lee has made a movie that broke down barriers:  It brought gay jokes back out of the closet.  Comics everywhere are now free to make jokes about the gay cowboys of "Brokeback Mountain."  David Letterman and the late nighters along with radio personalities Don Imus and Craig Anderson have been set free of the politically correctness that shackled them for so long.  Heck, even I gave it a try at A Real Man's Guide to Brokeback Mountain.

For those who won't be able to see the movie, it's about two guys who take jobs herding sheep in Wyoming during the summer of 1963.  And one cold, drunken night their lust for each other took over the movie.

When the job ends they both move on their own separate ways, each getting married (to women) and fathering kids.  But over the course of a 20 year span they continue to meet up for fishing, hunting and gay sex, although viewers are spared from having to get too intimate with them in that department.

It was basically a gender bender, buddy film, chick flick, scenery rich, relationship western about an independent guy and a clingy co-dependent.

All in all, the movie was okay, but not great.  It certainly wasn't good enough to have earned all of the hoopla.  The movie has gotten a bunch of awards and will probably get more on Oscar night, not because it's good enough, but because the more-tolerant-than-thou Hollywood crowd loves throwing things in the faces of those who they perceive as intolerant.  Yet by doing that they are demonstrating the same intolerance they purport to abhor.  That spectrum is actually a circle where the extremes are indistinguishable.

So with that in mind, I would like to present to those award givers as well as to those who admonish us to avoid the movie, the "Two Door" award.  The winner gets to stand between two closed doors.  And what that award represents is that the winner doesn't know whether he's coming or going.

A Real Man's Guide to "Brokeback Mountain"

The two most important things that those of us who are "real men" most do is this: (1) make sure everyone knows that you are not gay, and (2) make sure everyone knows that you are not homophobic either, in that order.

It's okay to have gay friends so long as the two of you are never alone together, and never, ever in a hot tub!  And by all means, don't carry a man purse!  Uh, not that there's anything wrong with that.

So if you go to see "Brokeback Mountain" make sure there's a woman sitting beside you.  Better yet, one on each side.

I understand that the two guys who play the gay cowboys are closet heterosexuals.  Well, okay.  But, you just know that most young leading men types really love the adulation they get from their female fans.  That has to be one of the lures of stardom.  What hetero guy wouldn't relish the thought of scores of beautiful gals swooning over them?

So I have to wonder how those two actors will feel when it develops that their biggest fan base consists of gay men.  Oh well, just stay out of the hot tubs.

This movie will eventually appear on tv, Bravo channel is a good bet.  So, fellow real men, if you see the movie then there has to be something you can say you liked about it or else you might appear homophobic.  So here it is: "The scenery is spectacular!"  (Or so I've heard.)

"Robin's Big Date" - A Batman spoof

What better time to reel out a Batman spoof?  I ran across this great little online short titled Robin's Big Date last month.  That's a mirror site, so if it doesn't work go to the movie maker's site at The Red Headed League for a link to other mirror sites.

Found it at  Screenhead, a great source.

Independent Movies - getting the product to the customers

The The Desert Reel Film Festival reached its conclusion Sunday afternoon, and it was an enlightening event packed full of independently made movies, documentaries, music videos and shorts.  Occasionally an independently made movie will hit it big, like "Sideways," but otherwise the indies just don't make it to very many theaters anywhere.  Those of us who live out here in West Texas don't get the opportunity to see independent movies except for festivals such as the one just concluded.

And that's a big problem for the independent film makers.  Some of them make the festival circuit trying to get noticed, but the goal for most of them is to get picked up by a distributor who will give them some exposure.  (Actually, if someone is looking to get into the movie business and doesn't need to be in the spotlight then the distribution side of the industry seems to be where the demand exceeds the supply.)

But there's something to look forward to.  We are in a new century now, and the internet has changed the way that many of us get information.  Currently the download time makes it impractical to download a full length movie, but that hasn't stopping some movie makers.

Here's an example.  One of the short movies (45 minutes) shown at the Desert Reel Film Festival was "Cypress," a movie about a couple who stumble onto an unbelievably low priced house in Odessa, Tx.  It was a story that could have been written by modern day Edgar Allen Poe, so there was eventually a price to pay.  It was made by 6 Bored Guys of Clovis, NM., and you can download the entire movie for free at CypressTheMovie.com.

Here's another example I stumbled upon:  Star Wars Revelations.  Some Star Wars fans made this movie which is available free to the public.  It has a run time of 47 minutes in either QuickTime 5 or Windows Media Player, but the download is a whopping 230 to 260 MB.

Perhaps someday there will be high speed download technology available so that anyone with an internet connection can download a full length movie in a minimum amount of time for a nominal fee.  And when that happens then there will be a whole new audience for independent movies.  But until then there are always the film festivals.

Desert Reel Film Festival - Conclusion

It's a wrap!  The The Desert Reel Film Festival had a very successful run this weekend, and the audiences saw a full range of independent films.  (I guess they are still called "films" even though most movie makers don't actually use film anymore.)

But it was a wonderful experience, and I'm still amazed that there are people making movies all over the country, not just Hollywood.  And some of those talented people are right here in the Permian Basin.

The Desert Reel Film Festival came off without a hitch.  And a huge tip of the hat should go to the co-chairs of the event, Chad Durham and Melanie Nicholas - they are the people you see in the photographs.  It must have been a tremendous amount of work for them, and they were volunteers.  So it was one of those jobs where the only reward was the satisfaction of having done such a wonderful job and having entertained so many folks.

And the theaters were great.  Some of the movies were shown in the Yucca Theatre in Midland which is an old movie theater that has been restored to its early splendor.  And on Saturday and Sunday the films were shown at the Ector Theatre in Odessa, another fine old theater that has been brought back to life.  The sight of the Ector at night is a sight to behold.

So thanks, Melanie and Chad.  It was a great weekend, and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Desert Reel - Saturday at the movies

The Desert Reel Film Festival continued with screening of more films, some of them locally made, on Saturday at the Ector Theatre in Odessa, Texas.

"The Mind's Eye"

"Visualized, realized and finalized by Rick Owens."  So said the film credits, and the entire audience stayed in their seats until the last credit had rolled across the screen as we all wanted to see the names of the local people we recognized on the big screen.

Owens, who wrote and directed "The Mind's Eye," is a very resourceful and ambitious local film maker.  The film had some stunningly photography, too.  One shot of the pagoda at Beal Park in Midland had such beauty that it could take one's breath away.

The movie is about a woman who discovered her mother's body when she was eleven years old.  She developed a software program to record the dreams she has had about it so that perhaps she might be able to make some sense of it all.  The movie turns into a murder mystery which isn't solved until the end.

Caleb Brandon is an actor in the movie, and he was notable in the beginning for his stiffness.  They really have to scrape to come up with actors who will work for free, I thought.  Boy, was I wrong!  As the story progressed, Brandon really started to shine.  He goes through a transformation on screen that made all of us in the audience sit up and take notice.

"The Mind's Eye" certainly showed that director Rick Owens has some movie making potential.

Links:  The Mind's Eye website and the IMDB page for the movie.

"Unnoticed"

Another locally made movie shown at the festival was Unnoticed, directed by David Sean Stringer.  It's got government assassins, good guys and gals, bad guys and gals, preachers, intrigue, betrayal, the Midland Police Swat team, and an outdoor baptism.   You can find an excellent review of the movie at Bull Durham's Hot Corner.

"An Evening with Larry Breeze"

Larry Breeze is a jazz pianist who is the subject of the 33 minute documentary produced by Jeffrey R. Johnson.  Mr. Breeze himself can be heard playing the piano at Hemingway's in Midland on Thursday evenings.  Be forewarned.  Producer Johnson described Hemingway's as a cigar bar, so take a deep breath before going in.

Links:  "An Evening with Larry Breeze" at El Jefe Productions.

"Dirt"

The comedy "Dirt" cost around $300,000, and that's an astronomical sum compared with the budgets of the other movies shown at the festival.  And "Dirt" was actually shown on film which is apparently somewhat rare these days as most movies are shot digitally.

"Dirt" was filmed near Sanderson, Texas, but it had an out-of-town flavor to it.  For example, the West Texas accents didn't sound quite right.  Perhaps those were the accents that actors learn from the Hollywood accent coaches.  And the movie played heavily on what could be Texas stereotypes elsewhere, you know, trailer houses, evil sheriffs, dumb guys, dumb gals, toddlers in diapers with loaded handguns, etc.  The sort of things that might follow "you might be a redneck if ..."

The story was written and co-directed by Michael Covert who was in attendance at the screening.  He starred in the movie along with the co-director Tracy Fraim.  Patrick Warburton, best known for his role as Puddy on "Seinfeld" and perhaps less well known as "The Tick," played a brutal small town sheriff.

Mr. Covert said in the Q&A session that independent film maker's life is not for him as he prefers the knowhow available at the major studios.  But he observed that the expense of filming for seven weeks in West Texas was about the same as filming one day in Los Angeles.

Mr. Covert admitted that his native New Yorker wife, who accompanied him on the trip to Odessa, went into a Wal-Mart store Saturday for the first time in her life.  Bless her heart, the poor dear.  She'll probably have to get therapy after that experience.

But the movie had an important lesson to teach us.  If you're a redneck brawler who has never refused a fight, you can turn your life around by adopting the teachings of Gandhi.  And if after you've done that and you get beaten up by a monstrous bully, then a native American might come along and save your bacon, and you might end up with a gorgeous gal pal.

Links:  An interview with Michael Covert can be found at Filmbrats.com; here's the official  DirtTheMovie.com website; and here's the "Dirt" page at IMDB.

Desert Reel Film Festival - Friday Night at the Movies

The Yucca Theatre

The Desert Reel Film Festival continued Friday night with two full length movies and some shorts at the Yucca Theatre in Midland, Texas.

The inside of the Yucca Theatre is something you have to see to believe -- words alone simply cannot convey the scene.  It's a movie theater from the old days restored to its original look  with ornate decorations all over the walls and ceiling, and it has been refitted with chairs and tables to provide a cabaret type environment. The acoustics are terrible, but that's the trade off for such an elaborate interior.

"Happy Hour"

Last night the first movie up was Happy Hour staring Anthony LaPaglia, Eric Stoltz and Caroleen Feeney.  It's a comedy that demonstrates the funny side of bad jobs, good friends, and death by alcoholism.  The cost of the film was $1.2 million to date, so it was a low budget film by modern day big movie budget standards.

"Kicking Bird" - a movie filmed on the cheap

But talk about low budget!  Get a load of Kicking Bird.  It was literally filmed on a shoestring.  Director, producer and writer Kelley Baker was there for a Q&A, and he described raising the money for the movie.  He figured that he would need $10,000 to make the movie, and he mailed out requests to 100 friends for $100 each.  He got in only $4,900, so he came up with $1,000 of his own money to make the movie.

Kelley Baker is the quintessential guerilla marketer, a technique he teaches to aspiring film makers at workshops such as the one Desert Reel is putting on.  And he is very passionate about the subject.  His story brings to mind scenes from the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter" in which Loretta Lynn and her husband drove from town to town trying to get her records played on local radio stations.   Mr. Baker is going from film festival to film festival peddling his movies and other merchandise.  And he seems to be doing a pretty good job of it.

The way Mr. Baker described it, "Kicking Bird" was really done on the cheap.  Most of the services were donated and the equipment was borrowed.  The biggest expense was food for the cast and crew.

The movie is about a high school kid who is picked on by the jocks, if they can catch him.  But he turns out to be a very fast runner.  The track coach spies him running away from some bullies who happen to be the coach's best runners, so the coach recruits him for the track team.  But the coach has an ulterior motive -- he's really looking to hitch his wagon to a track star so he can bargain his way into a job at the college level.

Mr. Baker described how he called schools to get permission to use their campuses for filming, and results varied.  One of them wanted a payment exceeding Mr. Baker's entire budget for the film, but he didn't let that stop him.  He figured that he could just slip his film crew onto a school campus sometime when no one was looking.  He discovered that the ideal time to do that was on a weekend before a holiday, and so he would do hit and run filming and get away before anyone could muster up a complaint.

The result was "Kicking Bird," and it's obvious that Mr. Kelley loves his work.

To read more about Mr. Baker or "Kicking Bird" here are some sources:   an interview with Kelley Baker about his movie an be found at RunningMovies.com; IMDB has a page on "Kicking Bird;" and Kelley Baker's own Kicking Bird site provides more info.

The festival continues with more movies today and tomorrow at the Ector Theatre in Odessa.