The Man Who Changed The Movies

My love of Roger Corman has been well documented. So it should go without saying that I am over the moon excited for this upcoming documentary Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel! And guess what?There's even going to be a screening of it tomorrow at LACMA!

Unfortunately I am going to have to miss it due to work. But luckily for you, the fine folks over at Badass Digest are giving away 2 pairs of tickets! So I highly recommend you get your asses in gear and try to win those babies. I on the other hand will have to content myself with watching this trailer on an endless loop...

Cinema Love on the Interwebs!

I have a nasty head cold, and I'm not really feeling up to reviewing a movie. So! I thought I'd link to some of my favorite cinematic time-wasters.




The "How It Should Have Ended" series on Youtube


"The Golden Age of Video" by Ricardo Autobahn


I love a good re-edited trailer!


The famous Marx Bros mirror scene. So amazing!


My Man Godfrey outtakes!


100 Years at the Movies...I've posted this before, but it's still so good!

Sporcle Addiction! Craig and I love to do the movie quizzes on this site...here are a few to get you started.

AFI Top 100 Films (2007 list) - http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/afitop100
Disney Animated Films - http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/disneyanimatedmovies
Movie Posters - http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/movieposters
Lesser Known Movie Quotes - http://www.sporcle.com/games/burningriver/obscurequotes
Movies by Showdown - http://www.sporcle.com/games/JESUPO/movies-by-great-showdowns-pics

OK, my head's going to blow up now. Blahhh. I'll have something better on Friday, I promise!

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent up river to find and kill Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) while the Vietnam War rages on around them.

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The common consensus on Apocalypse Now is that the reason the film is so effective, is because the insanity of the subject matter was mirrored in the actual production of the film. All you have to do is check out the amazing documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse and you will find ample basis for this  opinion. And while it's fun to gossip about who said what and who was or wasn't high, the often glossed over fact is that EVERYONE involved in this film was an artist of the highest order: Francis Ford Coppola, Marlon Brando, Vittorio Storaro, Walter Murch, the list goes on. I don't care how much dope you smoke, film students with video cameras could not have produced a work this brilliant. Only this elite squadron of creative minds could have pulled such beauty from such chaos. I could honestly watch this movie all day on a loop.

Double Bill: L.A. Blue

Heat and Collateral 

Master Woody

Though we haven't seen fit to publish a list like Andrew Sarris, Cinema Nerds definitely has a pantheon of directors who we think are absolutely the bee's knees. One such auteur is Woody Allen.

Needless to say, we here at Nerd HQ are over the moon about the fact that later this month Woody will be the subject of a 3+ hour American Masters documentary on PBS!

Watch Woody Allen: A Documentary on PBS. See more from American Masters.

Part 1 will air November 20th and Part 2 on the 21st, both at 9pm. Not to be missed!

Behind the Burly Q (2010)

Behind the Burly Q is an interesting documentary about the "good ol' days" of classic burlesque. The documentary features lots of veteran strippers (including Tempest Storm!) sharing stories about their introduction to burlesque, their personal lives, and crazy goings-on backstage! Also interviewed is Alan Alda, whose father was a comedian in burlesque, and Lou Costello's daughter Chris (who shares about Abbott and Costello's beginnings in burlesque). They talk about the theatres, the patrons, the scandals, the novelty acts, the big name stars, and the tragedies.

But can we talk about the girls? Oh my god. They're all absolutely gorgeous. The documentary contains lots and lots of beautiful photos of the girls and videos of some of their performances. Some of them reminisce about how beautiful they were...there's even video footage of legendary burlesque icon Lili St. Cyr talking about her fear of losing her looks and growing old.

This film is streamable on Netflix, so if you're a fan of pasties and feathers and tassels and all that good stuff, I suggest you give it a watch!

V For Vendetta (2006)

A young woman (Natalie Portman) finds herself allied with a terrorist known only as V (Hugo Weaving) who is attempting to bring down a brutal totalitarian government.

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Not since Fight Club had a film this venomous come out of a major Hollywood studio. From the outside it looks like any other summer action film, but underneath beats a politically subversive heart. When "Street Fighting Man" kicks in over the end credits, there is not a shadow of a doubt: This film is was meant as a call to arms! Yet here we are five years later and not much is different.

Art cannot change the world. Listen to "Imagine" as much as you want. The only way to really change things is for YOU to get out there and DO SOMETHING!

The Wedding Singer (1998)

Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) is a popular wedding singer who's about to get married to his own lucky lady...until that lady leaves him standing at the altar ("Hey, Linda! You're a bitch!"). Julia Sullivan (Drew Barrymore) is a waitress who befriends the wedding singer, and she's engaged to The Biggest Jerk Ever. I'd imagine that you could figure out the rest. ;)

I love this movie, it's so 80s and cute and fun. I'm sure I'll get rocks thrown at me for saying this, but as fun as Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore are, they're kinda crazy. The Wedding Singer is easily my favorite Adam Sandler movie. He gets to be funny, but he also gets to be sweet, and he and Drew Barrymore have great chemistry together (not so evident in 50 First Dates, sigh). This film also has some memorable supporting characters...Alexis Arquette as a Boy George wannabe (sobbing big fat mascara tears, haha), Steve Buscemi as the drunk best man as one of the weddings, and Ellen Albertini Dow as an adorable old lady who pays Robbie for singing lessons with meatballs.

The Wedding Singer is a date night sort of movie, so if you're in the mood for that, I recommend giving it a watch. See Adam Sandler team up with Billy Idol on a plane! See Sandler sing a bitter and hilarious song about his ex! See Sandler threaten to strangle someone with a microphone cord! And don't take this movie too seriously, it's meant to be fun!

A Trip To The Moon (1902)

A group of astronomers decide to take a trip to the moon. Once there they encounter angry creatures called Selenites who attack them. The astronomers must fend off the attack and find their ship if they ever hope to make it back to earth.

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OK guys. Here's your chance to get ahead of the curve. At the end of this month, Martin Scorsese is releasing his new film Hugo. Since a good portion of the plot centers around pioneering filmmaker Georges Méliès, now would be the perfect time to familiarize yourself with his work so that you can better appreciate Marty's movie. You can be the cool guy who explains all the references to your friends. We all know that people LOVE that guy.

All kidding aside, I'm really excited for Hugo. Of course I'd be excited for any Scorsese film, but this film in particular. This film has the potential to expose a wide audience to the revolutionary work these early filmmakers were doing. Sure the story is disposable and the shots linger for far too long, but the artistry on display is astonishing. It makes total sense that Méliès was originally a magician, because what he was able to do with such primitive tools, is truly magical.

Part of me thinks Perhaps modern audiences are too cynical to really appreciate this magic, but I think kids are still pure enough to get it. My sincere hope is that Scorsese's film will inspire a whole generation of youngsters to pick up the family video camera (or heck even an iPhone) and start telling stories with images. Something to dream about...

In the meantime, please turn off the "irony" part of your brain and just let the magic take you away! I swear it's only 12 minutes and then you can go back to listening to whatever band I'm not cool enough to know about.

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

I know Halloween has come and gone, and I should write something other than a horror film review, but Cinema Nerds actually got a request! Woo! And the request was for none other than one of my favorite horror films, Rosemary's Baby.

Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and Guy Woodhouse (John Cassavetes) are a young couple moving into an old fixer-upper apartment. Guy is a struggling actor and Rosemary desperately wants a baby. They reluctantly befriend the eccentric older couple next door, Minnie and Roman Castevet (Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer). They agree to start trying to conceive, and Rosemary becomes pregnant after a night she doesn't remember, except that she had disturbing nightmares. What should be a happy time in a young woman's life becomes a horrifying experience full of paranoia and terror, and it becomes clear to Rosemary that there is something very wrong about this pregnancy.

This movie FREAKS me out. The idea that almost everyone you know could be involved in a plot against you is truly chilling. The film has so many unforgettable images...a very pregnant Rosemary walking into oncoming traffic, Rosemary's gaunt, almost skeletal face, Minnie Castevet's face through the peephole, Rosemary using Scrabble tiles to figure out the secret behind the book on witchcraft left to her by a friend, Guy Woodhouse pulling away when Rosemary has her feel the baby kicking. Rosemary's Baby proves that sometimes even the quietest moments can be incredibly scary.

Add this one to your to-see list, and don't drink anything with tannis root in it! And don't talk to your neighbors! And...start giving your spouse lie-detector tests! And...and...and...DON'T GET PREGNANT EVER!