Pat Morita (1932-2005)

Pat Morita dies at age 73 on Thanksgiving Day

I was sorry to hear that this oscar-nominated actor died recently.

Perhaps Ralph Macchio said it best upon hearing the sad news...

"It was both my honor and privilege to have worked with him and create a bit of cinema magic together," Macchio said in a statement. "My life is all the richer for having known him. I will miss his genuine friendship. Forever my Sensei."

Read a few other thoughts about The Karate Kid in my post here.

Films Recently Watched:

The Girl Next Door (2004) dir. by Luke Greenfield

Crash (2004) Written and Directed by Paul Haggis
Paul Haggis also wrote the screenplay for Million Dollar Baby. These two films are the only ones that I've seen recently that have made me want to physically interact with on-screen action in order to prevent something from happening. It's about an emotional connection with the characters, something that only a few of the many are able to accomplish as hard as they may try. That said, it is important that you view this film as a modern-day fable. The coincidental events that occur during the film are unlikely at very best, and probably closer to completely implausible in a city the size of Los Angeles. Nonetheless, as a moral tale, it is well-connected and well-written. I definitely recommend it to those who can tolerate the "R" rating: "for language, sexual content and some violence."

Robots (2005) dir. by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha
This, from the makers of Ice Age is another example of a CG film with amazing visuals and astounding voice talent, but no heart. I remember enjoying Ice Age, but Robots isn't Ice Age. I hope for better things from the sequel, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown.

Today In History...

If you've seen Steven Spielberg's film, Saving Private Ryan, you probably remember the scene early on where letters of condolence are being typed to families of the fallen soldiers. General Marshall (played by Harve Presnell, pictured here--->) reads a letter that Abraham Lincoln wrote to a mother of five sons, all of whom were killed in the Civil War.

Well, in the movie, that emotional reading compels the powers that be to dispatch an entire platoon of troops to save Private Ryan, the one remaining son whose three brothers have all been killed in the U.S. war effort.

That letter by Abraham Lincoln, now known as The Bixby Letter, was written on today's date, November 21, in 1864. But there's more to that story than what I knew previously.

First, as it turns out all five of Lydia Bixby's sons were not killed in the Civil War. Though still tragic, only two of her sons were killed in combat. Of the other three, two deserted the Union Army, and the other was captured by Confederate forces and was later honorably discharged from the Army.

Furthermore, it appears that the letter may not have even been written by Abraham Lincoln at all. Though admittedly, there is no absolute proof either way, some speculate for various reasons that the letter was a forgery.

Anyway, it was news to me, so I thought it might be news to you, too.

Everybody have a safe and happy Thanksgiving (and Black Friday, too!)

DVDs May Be Hazardous To Your Health?

Oh dear! Color Me Concerned!

Apparently, some state attorneys general believe that portrayals of smoking in movies causes "these kids today" to begin smoking. Well, I don't know about that, but the film studios can do whatever they want as long as any public service announcement on any DVD that I purchase can be skipped by either fast-forwarding or pressing "MENU." That goes for the FBI anti-piracy warning too, but more and more of those are becoming non-skippable. :angry:

In related news, I decided to participate in The Great American Smokeout yesterday. Despite the fact that I've never smoked a cigarrette or otherwise consumed tobacco/nicotine products, BUT, as a consumer of DVDs, and now, with this new information; I mean, hey - you can't be too careful, right? Am I right, or am I right?


Finally,

Films Recently Watched:

Sin City (2005) dir. by Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez

Contained in this film, there are several instances of glorified tobacco use, and yet, even now, I have no desire to begin smoking. My committment to the Great American Smokeout is paying off already!!

I very much enjoyed the highly stylized visuals in this film. The nature of the source material apparently didn't lend itself to integrated plot threads so the story jumps around a bit.

For examples of how they used the graphic novel to establish the look of the film, look at Ward's Post about the film.

Have a great weekend!

What Hannah Said #2

Hannah: Are you tired, Mommy?
Christy: I'm a little tired.
Hannah: I'm BIG tired.

McZoli's = Fazoli's (EDIT: a late addition)
tu-bana = banana
tu-jamas = pajamas
nay-care = daycare
potato = tomato (and vice versa)

What are you doing in the whole world?

Poke-a-nut!

Hannah's first joke:
Hannah: Knock, Knock
Me: Who's there?
Hannah: Baby
Me: Baby Who?
Hannah: With a Bottle!


Films Recently Watched:

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) dir. by George Lucas
The new DVD looks and sounds good to me!

Nikita (1990) dir. by Luc Besson

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) dir. by Wes Anderson

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) dir. by Rawson Marshall Thurber

Camille (1936) dir. by George Cukor

Racing Stripes (2005) dir. by Frederik Du Chau

Office Space (1999) dir. by Mike Judge

L.A. Confidential (1997) dir. by Curtis Hanson

Finding Neverland (2004) dir. by Marc Forster

The Thin Man (1934) dir. by W.S. Van Dyke

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) dir. by Adam McKay

Cheerful Notes

Our church has had a children's singing group called, "Cheerful Notes." Hannah finally was old enough to join shortly before the group was eliminated. This was probably her first and last time to sing with this group. I have video, for those who are interested. She was either lip-synching or singing very quietly. At least she didn't fall down or lift her dress up!

A few weekends ago, we travelled to north-central Ohio to visit Christy's cousin, Dana and her family. Dana recently had her third child, Vivian Hannah (her first girl is named Ruth -- we joked that if she has any more girls before we do, she might actually have to come up with an original name for her!). While there, we also got to visit Aunt Rosie, who would be Christy's Mom's Mom's Sister (Great-Aunt?). Anyway, we also got to be there for the apple harvest. In the pictures below, you can see the cider press at work. Here are the photo highlights from our trip to Ohio:
(click on any picture for a bigger version)






Tonight, we're headed down to Indianapolis for the final Praise Gathering. If you come, I'll be the one wearing the button reading, "Stick A Fork In It" :-)

Films Recently Watched:

Heat (1995) written and directed by Michael Mann
I'd never seen this, but I really enjoyed it. This is not your typical action movie. This one takes its time (nearly 3 hours worth), allowing for plenty of character development even for relatively minor characters. It delivers in spades on each and every setup throughout. It's a lot of fun to watch.

The Blob (1958) dir. by Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr.
Campy Halloween fun! Christy calls this site my "blob". This "horror" movie starts with this catchy tune over the opening credits that has been stuck in my head ever since.

Yojimbo (1961) dir. by Akira Kurosawa
What a cool movie. Cool characters, cool music, cool story. This was later remade by Sergio Leone in his "A Fistful of Dollars."

Léon (1994) dir. by Luc Besson
I muscled Christy into watching this one with me -- She likes it! -- Hey Mikey!

Dracula (1931) dir. by Tod Browning
A Halloween Feature

Happy Halloween!

This year, Hannah was an Indian Mommy for Halloween. Not Pocahontas, not an Indian Princess -- an Indian Mommy.

RANT

! !

Why is it that every time I open individually wrapped Starburst candies -- you know, the ones with two candies per package, the kind you get for, say, Halloween -- why is it that every time I open one of these, both candies are freaking LEMON!

Lemon candies should be wiped from the face of the earth!!

I'm done now -- go about your business.

Off To The Races - Double-Double Feature

Films Recently Watched:

Double-Double Feature (Part I):

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes (1965) dir. by Ken Annakin
Up until this one, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was the longest-titled film that I had watched. Well, according to this list, even this one is only the 15th longest film title (Strangelove is 124th), so I guess I've got a long way to go (so to speak).
The list also shows Disney's upcoming The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe weighing in at #164. What's #1, you ask? Another Demonstration of the Cliff-Guibert Fire Horse Reel, Showing a Young Girl Coming from an Office, Detaching Hose, Running with It 60 Feet, and Playing a Stream, All Inside of 30 Seconds, of course.

The Great Race (1965) dir. by Blake Edwards

When Volcano and Dante's Peak came out in 1997 and then Armageddon and Deep Impact came out in 1998, I was convinced that either the film studios were blatantly ripping each other off or they had completely lost the ability to generate an original story idea and more than likely, both. But once again, I learn there's nothing new under the sun. Hollywood couldn't come up with two original ideas in 1965 either, so they apparently decided to make the same film twice! Those Magnificent Men and The Great Race are both films about a race to Paris. Both feature an American hero/lead with the antagonist being a dastardly/sabotaging over-acted fiend with a idiot sidekick who does much of their dirty work. Both have enormous male casts with nearly singular female roles, despite Race's theme of Women's Lib. Both clock in at well over 2 hours (137 and 160 minutes, respectively), including musical intermission breaks. Both use a "scope" aspect ratio. Both use an old-timey introduction/opening credits and both use a healthy amount of vehicle operation "acting" in front of rear-projection screens. Finally, both feature the female leads repeatedly losing their clothing. Other than that, they couldn't be more different!


Double-Double Feature (Part II):

Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) dir. by Michael Anderson. Produced by Michael Todd.
This was the Academy's Best Picture winner for 1956. It's IMDB rating is only 6.8. I began to wonder if '56 was a slow year at the movies, but the other four pictures nominated (and their respective IMDB rating) were: Friendly Persuasion(7.5), Giant(7.5), The King and I(7.5), and The Ten Commandments(7.7). No one has ever said that the Academy is free from politics, and my guess is that the Academy chose to honor Michael Todd for his accomplishment of making this monster of a film instead of honoring the actual "Best Picture." See, Michael Todd is considered by some to be the greatest film producer ever. He produced one film and with it, won the Producers' most coveted award, the Oscar for Best Picture. In many ways, the film tells the story of how the film was made. Both Michael Todd and Phileas Fogg, the main character in the story, are convinced that they can accomplish something that their closest friends believe is impossible. For Phileas Fogg, the task is to travel around the world in 80 days. For Michael Todd, it was to create a successful film adaptation of Jules Verne's famous story. Both had to overcome huge obstacles and constantly improvise in order to accomplish what they set out to do. Another accomplishment of Todd's in this picture was the invention of the "cameo;" the bit part played by a major star (e.g. Buster Keaton, Caesar Romero, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lorre, and Red Skelton, to name a few from this one).

Around the World in 80 Days (2004) dir. by Frank Coraci
Disclaimer: I have not read Jules Verne's novel, Around the World in Eighty Days.
That said, if the 1956 version of this film is true to the source material, then this remake is barely recognizable as coming from the same source. Perhaps they should have changed the names to protect the innocent, because the names are about the only things that are the same here. This is pretty much Around the World in Eighty Days meets Inspector Gadget (not a compliment) meets every silly Jackie Chan movie you've ever seen. For me, the remake removes the heart and soul of the 1956 version. The come-what-may stoicism of Phileas Fogg and his true-to-self attitude in the face of adversity, to me were the heart of the story. These are replaced by hijinx and sulking in the remake. Also, the traveling sequences were among my favorites in the '56 movie. In 2004, these are replaced by 10 second CG bits so that they can move on quickly to the next big choreographed fight sequence. If you're only going to watch one, watch the original from 1956.


Other Films Recently Watched:

High Plains Drifter (1973) dir. by Clint Eastwood

Deliverance (1972) dir. by John Boorman

I [Heart] Huckabees (2004) dir. by David O. Russell

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005) dir. by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
A simple, sweet story, despite the surface themes of zombies, murder and suicide. I can't help but compare this to Tim Burton's other feature-length claymation work, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Bride's songs are weaker and not as well-used. The story is much simpler, but not as well executed. The characters are fewer, but not as sympathetic. Nightmare is simply better.


I've finally, just recently broken into my birthday present that I got in March even though my birthday wasn't until May. It was a collection of 18 Oscar winners for Best Picture. From it, I've watched five of the DVD's so far: Unforgiven and Around the World in Eighty Days (already mentioned) and the following three titles:

GiGi (1958) dir. by Vincinte Minnelli
Christy enjoyed this one quite a bit.

An American in Paris (1951) dir. by Vincinte Minnelli

Grand Hotel (1932) dir. by Edmund Goulding

The Transporter (2002) dir. by Corey Yuen. Co-produced and Co-written by Luc Besson.
When we were at a movie theater in Indianapolis a couple of months ago, I saw a banner advertising The Transporter 2 with the reference, "From the makers of The Professional." Well, The Professional (aka: Léon) is one of my new favorites, so I figured I'd better watch the original before I considered seeing the sequel. I liked the visual style of the film (the bullet tracers are a really nice effect). It's a simple story that gets complicated, in this case, a little too complicated for its own good, I'm afraid. Similar to other Besson stories: Loner hero doesn't want to get involved, but meets a girl and, of course, gets involved anyway -- saves the day, gets the girl, etc. Completely implausible, but a fun action flick, nonetheless.

What's Wrong With This Picture #6 (Special Hummingbird Edition!)

If you think you know, comment below.

LOL

This thread over at the Home Theater Forum is discussing an interesting phenomenon regarding some very early DVDs from Universal and Warner Bros. They simply stop working. It probably has something to do with the glue used to seal the data between the layers of plastic that make up the disc. It seems the most common titles this is affecting are Psycho, Vertigo, Apollo 13, Contact, and Ghostbusters. Now, some of these titles have fairly new editions (all except Contact), but it is only the older versions of these DVDs that are affected. Whether or not other DVDs will begin to fail 8-10 years after they are manufactured is something we'll have to wait and see about.

But what was funny (hilarious -- to me, at least) is this exchange between two members as follows:

But first, a few things you need to know:

1.) Alfred Hitchcock made the original Psycho in 1960. Gus Van Sant made a shot-for-shot remake of Hitchcock's classic in 1998. Both are available on DVD.

2.) Alfred Hitchcock made Vertigo in 1958. To my knowledge, no one has ever made a remake.

3.) Psycho is spelled P-S-Y-C-H-O.

Alright? -- here we go:

Martin: Also, are we talking about the original classic "VERTIGO" or the Gus Van Sant remake?

Kevin:

Martin: Ooooops. Sorry "PSHYCO"

Kevin:

Martin: Sorry. "PYSHCO"
Kevin:

Ah, emoticons. Some love them -- others hate them, but when used correctly, they can make me laugh out loud.

Click here to see the actual discussion. The above exchange happens on page 2.