Reeling/Tusk - Halloween Horror Movie Special!!!

Today's Tusk piece:

You can read the thing or LISTEN TO THE REELING HORROR MOVIE SPECIAL!

http://www.thecapstone.ua.edu/Podcast/halloweenspecial.mp3

This thing was put together in about an hour, so the production quality isn't my favorite, but the genre allows it, I think. Just glad to be back with the show! It airs live today on 90.7-FM at 11am and 1 pm.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Horror movies for a Happy Halloween
By Ben Flanagan
Ben Around
October 31, 2008

What defines a horror movie?Something that scares us, right? Pretty plain and simple. Most of us reach for the clear classics that we can find in the horror section of our nearest video store, and that’s fine. But once we think a little harder about what gave us those uneasy, queasy feelings we couldn’t shake in the theater. We learn that some movies, no matter the genre, are simply horrifying. This Halloween, reach for the traditional titles for sure, but take a look at a few of these gems we may not think of every day as our run-of-the-mill, timeless horror films. While I’m at it, I can’t leave out the standards. Here’s what gives me the heebie-jeebies.

The End-All-Be-All:The Shining (1980) – Let me stress that nothing lights a candle to Stanley Kubrick’s masterful, horribly and beautifully unsettling adaptation of Stephen King’s book. While King purists scoffed at the loose rendering, I say fiddlesticks.With every slow turn we make with the Torrance family through the great,haunted halls of the Overlook Hotel, I’m both happily committed and psychologically terrified throughout this haunted odyssey. Nicholson’s crazed patriarch has maybe the single-most chilling movie conversation in the hotel bathroom with the former caretaker Delbert Grady, edging out a previous conversation old Jack had with Lloyd the Bartender. A true masterpiece in anygenre and just another notch Kubrick’s belt, this one is not only a must-see for the horror geeks out there who want a little friendly Friday night PTSD,it’s essential for those who just like the movies.

The Close Second:John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) – One of my first picks once I signed up for Netflix, director John Carpenter cemented himself as a horror pioneer in the early 80s with this one only to fizzle out with questionable projects and inconsistency. Carpenter scores here with grade-A performances from all of its cast members, especially the mega-bearded Kurt Russell (and a rare Wilford Brimley with no mustache!). Its wonderfully desolate Antarctic locale makes for a terrifying setting in this highly unique take on the genre where members of an American scientific research outpost in remote Antarctica find themselves terrorized by an extraterrestrial organism capable of assuming physical appearances of any of life forms it inhabits. Not unlike what you’d think a David Mamet horror script would resemble.

Painfully Obvious: When this holiday rolls around, most of us probably load up our Netflix queues after we Google “top horror movies ever” and get the regular list that’s dished out every single year, and rightfully so. John Carpenter’s“Halloween” (1978) set a gold standard in terms of how the rest of Hollywood chops up its teenagers. Tobe Hooper hurt my high school street-cred when I saw“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974) late one night in the Ferguson Center theater. Did I run out like a girl? No, but I did think about it. Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (1960) remains at the top of the heap if not only for Bernard Hermann’s wicked musical score. Elsewhere, you’ve got the Friday the 13thand “Nightmare of Elm Street” series that stretched from the 80s on into the90s, and at times they were even pretty good. The franchise names have stood the test of time better than the films, I’m afraid, but each follows the teen slasher formula closely enough to give you your money’s worth this time of year.

Romero of the Dead: While zombies don’t necessarily send my blood running cold, there’s a certain camp value they all embody that wouldn’t work anywhere else but the horror genre. Who nailed walking cadavers better than Romero, considered by many as the father of the zombie film. His iconic satire (as some like to call it since it portrays zombies aimlessly sauntering through a shopping mall, yuk-yuk) “Dawn of the Dead (1978)” delivers the chaos early on as all hell breaks loose and folks start chomping on each other’s brains from the word “go.” Before that,Romero had established himself with the disturbing and minimalistic “Night of the Living Dead” (1968). Years later,Romero returns to form with his much sillier “Day of the Dead” (1985). How you out-silly a zombie movie, I don’t know. I do know that director Zack Snyder paid a nice homage to Romero with the updated and even innovative remake of“Dawn” (2004), a rare, highly worthy remake.

Supernatural Scariness:David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986), now an opera, will certainly gross you out if you’re a fan of bones not snapping on screen. Jeff Goldblum’s Brundlefly makeup will either haunt your sleep or make you cackle. We may never know who actually directed the haunted house classic Poltergeist (1982). Whether it was Tobe Hooper or Steven Spielberg, we can agree that whoever the hell it was scared our pants off with a PG-13 flick. Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) stands up as agenre masterwork where a frightening cat-and-mouse thriller where Sigourney Weaver’s spaceship crew gets picked off one-by-one by a terrifying space creature. "Event Horizon" (1997) is another creepy space-set contemporary release that falls into this and the underrated category.

Fun Times with Screaming:Mixing Christmas with frights, Joe Dante’s Gremlins (1984) works wonders for the kiddies this time of year or a few months later. Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice(1988) remains nearly flawless in term of overall surreal weirdness. Edgar Wright’s “Shaun of the Dead” (2004) gives more laughs than scares but serves as a formidable entry into the zombie canon. Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead 2” (1987) will never escape its well-earned cult status, and why should it. Bruce Campbell taking on an onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits out in the woods will live forever. Who says you can’t laugh and shriek?

Stephen King of the Castle:Sure, it’s expected and a bit corny, but this author handed us some doozies in his heyday, including a clown I’d like to have forgotten years ago from “It”(1990). Maybe my favorite King adaptation is Rob Reiner’s simple stalker movie “Misery”(1990), where Kathy Bates “heals” an ailing James Caan. But a few months ago, I finally caught David Cronenberg’s “The Dead Zone” (1983), where a young Christopher Walken gains psychic powers after a car crash, and it’s duking it out with Reiner’s gem.

Unconventional Scares:David Fincher’s serial killer masterpiece “Se7en” (1995) literally saw me checking my door locks over and over the night I first saw it. Without spoiling the surprise, once we meet the killer we’re under a brutal trance we knew was coming more than an hour beforehand.

While you’re all hyped on “The Dark Knight” please do not forget about director Christopher Nolan’s beautifully realized magician thriller “The Prestige” (2006), a disquieting tour-de-force that gets better every time I see it. Last year’s highly suspenseful bestpicture winner “No Country for Old Men” boasts one of contemporary film’s greatest supervillains ever with Javier Bardem’s hitman Chigurh, rocking a sinister death-stare I’d like not to see in person please.

The always creepy David Lynch served up his best and creepiest movie in “Mulholland Drive” (2001) where a chipper actress (Naomi Watts) arrives in Hollywood where she soon finds herself entangled in murder, intrigue, nightmares and confusion.

Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)” has some of the scariest images, sounds and situations I’ve ever seen in film, which is why it would be crime to leave it off of this list.The evil, man-made HAL 9000 compromises his crew’s mission, putting his astronaut colleagues in the worst danger imaginable. The lip-reading sequence is chilling stuff.

Finally, what’s a list without Woody Allen? It takes a lot to find this guy’s place on the list, but out of nearly forty movies, I got one. His horror film is “Shadows and Fog” (1992), a dark ode to German expressionism about a small town serial killer who murders his victims by strangulation. Pretty scary stuff from Mr. Annie Hall, huh?

Underrated Shockers:M. Night Shyamalan’s criminally dismissed thriller “The Village” (2002) will age well I think, once the snobs who claim to have figured out the twist early on admit their lies and their love for the film.

Francis Ford Coppola’s “BramStoker’s Dracula” (1992) shows us the once untouchable maestro mustered his strength again for a throwback adaptation to the horror classic, remembered by many only for Keanu Reeves’ “bad” British accent.

To me, “Rope” (1948) is one of Hitchcock’s finest efforts, not only technically, as we see two young men strangle their best friend “for fun” and hide the body during a dinner party.Filmed in one location with just a few edits, this remains an unsung classic.

Guilty Pleasures from Outer Space!: Two B-movie delights that don’t really make us feel guilty unless we love them for the wrong reasons. “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” (1988) and Edward D. Wood Jr.’s “Plan 9 from Outer Space” (1956) areperfect examples of when bad is painfully good.


HallNOween with The Great Big No tonight at the Mellow Mushroom: Dress yourself up and march down to the Mushroom where one of our favorite T-town bands will rock evening into a frenzy for a second straight year. This time, they'll be joined by Atlanta's Random Rabbit who will play in between GBN's three sets. I've had plenty of good times at this venue on Halloween night, where there have been some extremely creative costumes. Do your best (or worst) this year because there will be a cash prize for creativity. Rumor has it that there might be a few surprise musical guests joining the headliners, and based on the Mushroom's impressive performance thus far this fall, that's almost no surprise at all. BOO!

'Rocky Horror Picture Show' tonight at 9:30 p.m. at the Bama Theatre: Presented by Well That's Cool and the Pink Box Burlesque, everyone's favorite corset-donning cult classic will screen at the lovely Bama, hopefully sparking a rivalry with the folks up in Birmingham who do such a fine job. If there's one thing I learned in college, it's that people love their "Rocky Horror," which often astounds me. At a 90.7-Mallet Assembly joint screening at the Ferguson Center Theater last Halloween, I saw ROTC members in full-on drag at the show. Can't make that stuff up. Another Halloween event, another costume contest, so dress nice on your strange journey. EEK!

Hank Williams Jr. tonight at 8 p.m. at Coleman Coliseum: Joined by special guest James Otto, this raucous country crooner will light Coleman's stage up for what promises to be a hell of a party. Even if you can't quite get into the whole country music scene, ol' Hank Jr. will find a way to help you feel included at this concert that should be a knockout in terms of attendance. An extra pat on the back to University Programs for finally landing an act that makes total sense. For the naysayers, put your mask on and hit up your Halloween party - after all, there's always next year. MU-HA-HA-HA!

Thoughts out on the page

Is THE DARK KNIGHT really that good? Will it hold up? With it's re-release on the horizon, I see it only making maybe an additional $20-30M tops, falling well short of TITANIC's record. Really, it's not "well short," I know. But those keeping tabs get the gap. I've watched it twice now, and I still think it's solid - really good even - but its current aura as best movie ever will die down.

Better question: Will this earn Oscar nominations? I think so, especially for Ledger and the technical categories. As for the rest of the big ones, I see a possible screenplay nod and maybe a director nod for Nolan, but that'll be a bit of a stretch for the Academy I think.

Does it deserve these nominations? At this point, sure. Ledger deserves it, as does Wally Pfister. But I'm still not on the all-out, gung-ho, balls-to-the-wall, hype train. It's an awesome time at the movies. A long, awesome time.

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MOVIE-RELATED, I assure you:

Did everyone see the premiere of SOUTH PARK? They went after Spielberg and Lucas, and thank God for it. I've been saying it since it came out, but I don't have the forum those two do. The movie really does blow. Hard. It's really bad. I'll watch it again on DVD when it's out next week, but I have a good memory of last summer. There isn't much merit at all. If it takes an image of Spielberg raping Indiana Jones to remind you, then so be it. But the episode, no matter how hilarious, just reminds you how disappointing it all was.

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I'm in the middle of Steven Soderbergh's fascinating HBO series K-STREET, which aired a few years ago. It's about James Carville and his wife's fictional lobbying firm and it's dealings with Washington D.C. insiders during the presidential primary (so far; I'm not sure if it goes further down, say months). It's wild to me that this is all fiction. In the first episode, former presidential candidate Howard Dean (as himself, of course) gets a nice chunk of screentime along with Carville and Paul Begala (who, if this was acting, is quite good). I'm three episodes in with seven to go. Looking forward to it. It's fun to see Soderbergh play around.



Speaking of that guy, I finally saw some footage of this CHE epic. The trailer for the first film, THE ARGENTINE, is up around YouTube. Just type the title, Soderbergh, Benicio Del Toro and trailer, and it'll pop up. At first glance, it looks great, maybe on the level of TRAFFIC, which Soderbergh hasn't quite reached since (although most of what he's done has been excellent - BUBBLE, OCEAN'S trilogy, etc.) He's a workaholic, which means good things for us.

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I will be seeing BODY OF LIES tonight or tomorrow. Whenever this weekend, so long as I see it. It looks awesome, I think. Two guaranteed, solid actors with a proven (if inconsistent at times) director in a William Monahan script (dude wrote THE DEPARTED; this is kind of like that, just set in the Middle-East). Trailers all look dynamite. I'm only building myself up for disappointment. But this shouldn't, right? Too many good tools and parts to fudge it all up. If they do, Hollywood's got to re-think just who has the most authentic chops. Monahan can overdo it, even with THE DEPARTED. His KINGDOM OF HEAVEN was a bit much most of the time. Safe to say I prefer the Scorsese teaming. Still, looking forward to this one. BANG!

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On DVD, I've got THE HUSTLER, BRUBAKER (Robert Redford prison movie), Sidney Lumet's crime epic PRINCE OF THE CITY and one my dad recommended several years ago that turned up at my public library, WESTWORLD (with Yul Brenner). Hope to get these watched this weekend.



Watched THE FOOT FIST WAY this week. All it's cracked up to be by its distributors Will Ferrell and Adam McKay? No. Those are two dudes who thought it was funny. Lately, I've wondered just how funny they actually are. But for Danny McBride purists, it's a must-must. Overall, it's very funny. Sometimes it just can't get over how low budgeted it is. At times, that can give a movie a certain charm. Here, it kind of hurts the experience. I'm not sure how much more money they really needed for that story, though.

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Show remains on extended hiatus. Radio station refuses to fix its on-air recorder, therefore we can't produce podcasts. No recorder, no show. Stay tuned.

We'll miss Paul Newman

Today's Tusk piece:

We’ll miss Paul Newman
By Ben Flanagan
Ben Around
October 3, 2008

Was there ever a tougher film presence than Paul Newman? Fire away with your John Waynes, Lee Marvins, Charles Bronsons, James Cagneys and such. But give me Butch Cassidy, “Fast” Eddie Felson and Reggie Dunlop anywhere, anytime. On second thought, “tough” doesn’t quite express Newman’s on-screen persona. Where his characters emitted a seemingly tough physical bravado, the image was often deceptive. The “lover, not a fighter” tag suited him better. His brains and talk did the dirty work his fists didn’t need to. But his sucker-punches never seemed unfair. That he’d already outsmarted you made you forget you’d been punched in the mouth or kicked in the groin in the first place. You still liked him after the fight. That was Paul Newman, and there wasn’t or isn’t a more likable figure in entertainment.

Last Saturday, the icon passed away at 83 after a quiet bout with cancer at his home in Westport, Conn. Sadly, we as film lovers lost a giant who rarely let us down while he filled the screen. His last live-action theatrical role, “Road to Perdition,” earned him his final Oscar nomination and further confirmed that the aging actor still had plenty of the pluck, grit and know-how of which we’d grown incredibly fond.

Personally, I thought he’d left the game a few years early. I still felt like he had one or two great ones left in him, which I’m sure he did. But Newman always called his own shots, and he’d decided he was done with acting. His rebels on film were ones we often believed in to lead the way. Into what, who knows, but we would follow. Off screen, Newman enjoyed a considerably quiet life with his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, where they served as notable philanthropists (his salad dressing franchise Newman’s Own resulted in excess of $200 million in donations to various charities).

Dating all the way back to the mid-1950s (“Somebody Up There Likes Me,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”), Newman has energized every film he was in, perhaps never better than when he teamed up with his old buddy Robert Redford. Along with director George Roy Hill, Newman and Redford collaborated on two of American cinema’s most purely entertaining offerings in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969) and “The Sting” (1973). Later on, Newman (sans Redford) would reteam with Hill to release an unsung sports masterpiece, which I’ll touch upon in a few lines.

In no particular order, I want to remember my favorite Paul Newman movies. While I have yet to see what some, including my father, deem the actor’s finest film to date, “Hud” (1963), today I feel an obligation to rush out and soak it in. Just a few months ago, I finally caught his pitifully wonderful courtroom drama “The Verdict” (1982) where he plays a lawyer who takes on medical malpractice. Why it took up until his reprisal of Eddie Felson in Martin Scorsese’s “The Color of Money” (1986) for him to nab his first and only Oscar, we’ll never know. Excluding a few silly ventures in the last decade or so, Newman usually picked his projects carefully and wisely. Without delving too far into his catalogue –it’d take too long – let’s look at some of the great ones.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) – For years, I regarded this hilarious western adventure as my favorite film, and nearly every time I watch it I feel the same way. As a child, I always wanted to side with Redford’s brooding, hot-shot gunslinger the Sundance Kid. But as you march on through the years, you develop a greater appreciation for Newman’s Butch, a genius ahead of his time who just knew there were things to steal in Bolivia. He put it best, “I have vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals.”

The Sting (1973) – An Oscar-winner for best picture among others, this predated Steven Soderbergh’s “Ocean’s Eleven” series as a slick heist yarn that continues to age well. Newman’s interplay with Robert Shaw during a poker game on a train might serve as the late actor’s slyest work to date.

Slap Shot (1977) – Rounding out his impressive trilogy with director Hill is this aforementioned highly profane sports gem. If there's any movie I'll reach for that'll help me remember Newman most fondly, it will definitely be this whack-job about a pathetic minor league hockey team that finds success using fighting and violence during games. If you haven't seen it, make it a top priority.

Cool Hand Luke (1967) – Stuart Rosenberg’s subtle prison dramedy boasts a beautifully heartbreaking moment where Newman, plucking a banjo, woefully sings “Plastic Jesus” after the passing of a beloved family member. Tragic, but awfully poetic.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) – Speaking of unsung masterpieces, this Coen Brothers gem often flies under the radar, thanks partially to what many consider to be an dreadful title (not me). Newman’s supporting work as the vicious, conniving, greedy corporate man Sidney J. Mussburger stands as some of the actor’s funniest and most menacing work ever.

Nobody’s Fool (1994) – That same year, Newman turned in what may have been his swansong in Robert Benton’s poignant drama about a failed father who does his best to make things right, even if he’s no good at that either. Another Oscar-nominated role in another highly underrated addition to the great actor’s stellar repertoire .



P.S. - What's YOUR favorite Paul Newman movie???


HAPPENING IN TUSCALOOSA, AL
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DJ Logic tonight at the Mellow Mushroom: Another special occasion at the Mellow Mushroom will boast a nationally renowned turntable maestro along with several Tuscaloosa bands for what ought to be a memorable night downtown. Widely credited for helping to bring jazz into hip-hop's sphere of influence, DJ Logic (yes, that one) hails from the Bronx in New York and has toured all over this country with other talented folks (like Medeski, Martin and Wood), and usually makes an annual pit stop at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee. Featuring the likes The Great Big No, Fractalnaut, Glove Box Heat and Mobscene Mike, this is just the Mushroom at it again, taking another big step in the right direction. Keep 'em coming! Show starts pretty early at 7 p.m.

Moundville Native American Festival: Today and tomorrow, you head head down south on highway 69 where one of Alabama's top 20 tourism events and a Cultural Olympiad Event will taking place at University of Alabama’s Moundville Archaeological Park. There, Native American performing artists, craftspeople, and musicians will fill your heads with entertainment and knowledge about the rich culture and heritage of Southeastern Native Americans. Stay ready for some southern Indian choral music, traditional Cherokee daning and Muscogee stories all within the beautiful landscape of Moundville. Quite a sight to see, especially for those of us who haven't been back since our fifth grade field trip.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist at the Cobb Hollywood 16: Another spirited attempt at giving this generation its own "Sixteen Candles," or perhaps the more appropriate "Before Sunrise," this romantic comedy about an all-night first date between to high schoolers should make a strong case for early cult status, thanks in large part to Michael Cera's presence. Cera, who's already proved his worth in hits like "Arrested Develpment," "Juno" and "Superbad," keeps increasing his stock with every project he's a part of. So far, he and his agent are making plenty of good decisions, something lots of young actors his age rarely do. This cast also features Kat Dennings (Catherine Keener's daughter in "The 40 Year-Old Virgin"), Jay Baruchel and Andy Samberg.

Thoughts on BURN AFTER READING

Seen it!

*** (out of four)
letter grade: B+

These are certainly much kinder responses than I had to THE BIG LEBOWSKI, although I don't think BURN is nearly as good.

Finally, we've had ourselves another authentic Coen Brothers experience - much more so than THE LADYKILLERS and even NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (which I really feel was a major departure, albeit a progressive one). Maybe it has something to do with the fact that those were adaptations. A true-to-the-game Coen Bros. experience just feels better when it's their original script.

What might have really done it for me, in terms of it feeling like the real deal again, is Carter Burwell's score, which echoes previous gems like FARGO and BARTON FINK.

I like this better than THE LADYKILLERS, INTOLERABLE CRUELTY (though I liked it) and O BROTHER (relax, His Starkness - you're getting married). Repeat viewings are really going to enhance this movie, which is already a ton of fun.

One aspect that doesn't quite catapult it to the top of the catalogue might be the entire point of the movie (which means I'll probably like it even more for this reason once I watch it a few more times, which I will). The stakes just didn't feel high enough for the characters, even if they resulted in a few deaths, the highest stakes imaginable. Like Mr. Strickland and the CIA man suggested, the whole situation was a giant clusterf*ck, where the big picture wasn't quite as dire as everyone (aside from the Russians) seemed to think it was. The CIA sequences might have been my favorite in the movie. I don't get your beef. Corey's Greek-chorus comparison is appropriate. That they were so dry probably sold it better than broader delivery would have. JK Simmons was used very well here, unlike how he was in the Coens' sh*t sandwich.

THE BIGGEST, BADDEST, HEAVIEST, PUREST COEN BROTHERS MOMENT: the Princeton reunion party. That felt like a mash-up of several of their films; a scene that belongs with their best ones.

Quite frankly, the script just doesn't have the firepower of their previous efforts. Looking back at HUDSUCKER, FINK, MILLER'S CROSSING and RAISING ARIZONA, it's certainly hard to top their previous achievements, but we can have high expectations, can't we? Plenty of the dialogue was fun, but I didn't find a ton of it to be as unique as what they've written before. Most of Osbourne Cox's lines and actions were great, though.

SPOILER STUFF (no kidding)

Regarding the closet. While I think it's appropriate to laugh here, it was maybe the scariest scene in the movie (other than the Princeton reunion). That damn smile right before stuck with me until the end of it all. Personally, I think the Coens are getting a little to good at violent shootings - they're right up there with Spielberg if you ask me (SCHINDLER'S LIST and MUNICH are BRUTAL). Poor Chad.

And for that matter, Poor Ted (Richard Jenkins), too. One of the best and saddest lines in the movie: "You've changed, Linda! And that's sad." Maybe more viewings (spotting a theme here?) will change my mind, but I can't decide what I think about the inclusion of this character. Or maybe not so much the inclusion but the amount of screen time he gets. He's a wonderful, pathetic character, but there are times when I don't feel like he really belongs in the bigger picture. For a clinic in how secondary characters with minimal screen time are used to their fullest potential, take another look at FARGO. Every actor deserved attention from the Academy. I mean EVERY ACTOR. Even the snow-shoveling eyewitness. It's still their masterpiece. Maybe by far, which says something.

Another favorite scene: Clooney's last moments. Yet another Coen Bros. character that deserves a movie onto himself. I really am still scratching my head over his secret basement project.

In no way is this movie close to their sh*t sandwich. It's really good and will likely get better.

Lame movie season deserves your patience

Last Friday's Tusk piece:

Lame movies til November
By Ben Flanagan
Ben Around
September 5, 2008

The end of summer until around mid-November marks perhaps the darkest days of the theatrical movie release calendar, rivaled only by January through April.

Ben Stiller's kind-of-funny Hollywood send-up 'Tropic Thunder' unofficially closed out an overall decent summer at the multiplexes, putting more of a positive spin on it based on such strong performances from key titles ('The Dark Knight,' 'Iron Man,' 'Wall-E'). Although domestic ticket sales so far total $3.9 billion, up a little more than 1 percent from last year's record summer (yes, the summer of 'Speed Racer,' 'The X-Files: I Want to Believe' and 'The Love Guru' broke records).

Shifting our attention away from the financial end of America's favorite movie season, are we happy with another remake-adaptation-sequel-r

idden summer Hollywood seems to churn out from an assembly line each year? Looking back, you'd almost lost the 'sequel' tag, as only a few of the major releases followed successful (enough) predecessors ('Indiana Jones,' 'Chronicles of Narnia,' 'The Dark Knight,' 'The Mummy,' 'Hellboy,' 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,' 'The X-Files'). Wow, never mind. Sequel city once again.

Makes you wonder just how much fresh, original material studio heads demand from their creative workforce. Quick answer is none at all, so long as they see dollar signs. If it's fresh and original, see that it's within an already established, $100 million (at least) domestic grossing franchise. Creativity-shmeativity. Oh well.

On the docket for summer 2009? More sequels. Another 'Terminator,' 'Harry Potter,' 'Transformers,' 'Fast and the Furious,' 'Ice Age,' 'Star Trek,' 'X-Men' and 'Da Vinci Code' (its prequel, 'Angels and Demons'). This doesn't even touch on the cartoon/comic/TV adaptations which we're all totally or somewhat familiar with ('G.I. Joe,' 'Land of the Lost,' 'The A-Team' – sigh).

Does this excite you? Do you feel your sources for escapism are in good hands? Will we really have to rely on Pixar ('Up') and Sacha Baron Cohen ('Bruno' — brace yourselves) yet again for the profitable originality that sets an example Hollywood can't seem to follow? God save us until we must endure next year's studio repetition stripped of a now mythical paradigm Tinseltown generates every once in a while: new ideas.

One solution: revolution. Lose sequels, prequels, remakes, adaptations and narratives based on true stories (the factual content takes the air out of it when viewers can simply visit Wikipedia for a climax). Devote 2-5 years to nothing but spanking new, original inspiration that'll propel a new Hollywood movement, culminating in a golden age unseen since the glorious 1970s.

Sad part is radical thoughts like this will never happen unless studios see the guaranteed payoff.

Until next summer, we've got the critical darlings and big holiday releases that set groundwork for the battle for Oscars and other throwaway awards that matter not to the masses but to your friendly blogger with a soft-spot for independent art. No guarantees folks like us will see the best of what modern film has to offer, unless the Cobb Hollywood 16 shifts its philosophy and lands art-house titles sure to generate a little controversy if not golden statuettes.

Stop right there. We'll get there — together — but we've got another month and a half or so until the real party gets rocking, so we're stuck with some studio throwaways that hope to generate a little revenue until Thanksgiving, when the Oscar ad campaigns begin.

Unfortunately, what we get this time of year is less than stellar. Take the last couple of weeks, where eight new movies opened up and subsequently bit the dust both critically and financially ('The House Bunny,' 'The Rocker,' 'Death Race,' 'The Longshots,' 'Traitor,' 'College,' 'Disaster Movie,' 'Babylon A.D.'), though a few of them did clear $10 million.

All that we can really rely on in the coming weeks is Joel and Ethan Coens' sure-to-be surreal comedy 'Burn After Reading,' the follow-up (starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt) to last year's best picture winner 'No Country for Old Men.' The new one looks more along the lines of their cult masterpiece 'The Big Lebowski' than anything in recent memory.

Other than that, some titles from notable directors (Spike Lee, Ridley Scott, Fernando Meirelles, Neil LaBute) will surface here and there until the 'movies that matter' hit the streets come winter time. I'd like to include 'Righteous Kill' here if I didn't think stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino hadn't lost all interest, ambition and will when it comes to the craft they mastered years back and deserted years later.

In the meantime, I'll certainly settle for some of the early autumn offerings, but my Netflix queue better ready itself for a busier workout than it's gotten since late spring. I'm just sayin'.

SUFFICIENT Comedy Trio (I guess)

To close out this overall so-so summer, Hollywood served up three hard-R comedies all full of tasteless filth and naughty words, as spouted out by a slew of our favorite funny people. All opening within almost one month of each other, STEP BROTHERS, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS and TROPIC THUNDER each had the creative firepower that promised to knock last summer's strong comedy quartet (KNOCKED UP, HOT ROD, SUPERBAD, THE BROTHERS SOLOMON) off of the top of its recently-claimed mountain.

Did it?

Almost.

Based on my rating system, EACH of these movies lands a *** (out of four), solidifying an nearly disappointing label of funny enough. Given the fact that the following names couldn't guarantee memorable comedic experiences in the theaters has to be letdown however you look at it: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Danny McBride.

What happened? Honestly, I'm reluctant to hand out overall positive reviews for each of these titles; frankly, I feel like they're more deserving of the dreaded **1/2 (not good when applicable to comedies). But each film delivered enough laugh-out-loud moments to justify a satisfied reaction.

Which is the best movie out of the three? Honestly, they are EQUAL. They're all good enough and flawed enough in similar ways, most notably in the storytelling department (which doesn't require a whole lot from crude R-rated comedies; but each story had enough potential to tell a good one).



I'll put it to you like this: STEP BROTHERS is better than TALLADEGA NIGHTS but nowhere even remotely near ANCHORMAN.

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS is about as good as SUPERBAD but not on THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN or KNOCKED UP's level (even FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, perhaps this year's best comedy thus far, is better). Saddest part about PINEAPPLE though is that it probably never could have lived up to what remains one of the best trailers I've ever seen (didn't do itself any favors leaving M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" off of its soundtrack).

TROPIC THUNDER doesn't hold up to ZOOLANDER, which might be Ben Stiller's strongest work to date (though I'm a CABLE GUY guy).



None of them transcend their respective predecessors in any way.

What's going to salvage these titles that had high quality written all over them PRIOR to their releases? REPEAT VIEWINGS. With comedies, the more and more we watch them, it seems the funnier they become. I'll give each of these the benefit of the doubt in that regard, but I'm still convinced that, after one viewing apiece, they didn't deliver.

BUT, they've all got plenty of laughs to keep your attention.

Only slightly recommended - and it hurts me to say that.

Can stoners make bank?

Can stoners make bank?
By Ben Flanagan
Ben Around
August 8, 2008

If a pack of lazy, blazing stoners can generate millions of dollars at the box office, what has four years of college actually done for me?

My third pick for a surefire summer bet, 'Pineapple Express,' opened nationwide Wednesday, and while it boasts recently established comedy megastar Seth Rogen and mogul-of-funny Judd Apatow's names on its poster, its chance at bringing in serious seasonal dough hinges on whether a mainstream audiences can accept pervasive drug use throughout a near two-hour running time.

Rogen and former Apatow crony James Franco (television's 'Freaks & Geeks') star as a pair of tokers on the run from a slew of ruthless killers.

While the Rogen/Apatow alliance has yet to falter, based on the success of last summer's pair of R-rated raunchy comedies 'Knocked Up' and 'Superbad,' the existence and evolution of the stoner comedy as a box-office champion has seen a flatline, neither going up or down and remaining almost painful ignored by audiences.

As a bit of a subgenre, stoner films tend to center around the fairly explicit use of marijuana, predominantly in comedies. In most cases, to fall into this subgenre, marijuana should act as the catalyst that sends the plot into motion, though sometimes it acts as a prevalent background artist.

Looking back at this classification's catalogue, several titles suggest that we as a collective audience tend to adore and even worship these films to the extent of leaving the DVDs in our players for weeks to months. But perhaps it's a generational thing.

Even within the realm of stoner comedies, an upper echelon for the headiest efforts exists while most sophomoric, self-evident releases teeter on the bar just above awful.

To suggest the stoner comedy can manifest itself as an art form isn't a joke. Even the most eclectic contemporary filmmakers dabble into the disoriented, hazy atmosphere in which dimwitted inhabitants wander aimlessly into misadventure. Joel and Ethan Coen's stoner odyssey 'The Big Lebowski' may arguably stand as the all-encompassing stoner masterpiece, chronicling the baked escapades of an unlikely hero, The Dude.

Fried fans of Richard Linklater's Austin-set thing of beauty 'Dazed and Confused' (1993) might beg to differ, pitching this '70s high school yarn as '‘American Graffiti' high on weed.' 'Dazed' and 'Lebowski' would sit atop my own list, were I to make one.

Locals shouldn't forget University of Alabama filmmakers' Chris Merritt and Matthew Stewart's 'Killer Weed,' a series about marijuana that turns smokers into zombies.

But real purists will reach back into the late '70s and early '80s, when Cheech and Chong reigned supreme among slackers who rolled massive joints their dogs digested (see 1978's 'Up in Smoke' if you feel the need to partake).

'Pineapple Express' marks what could be a first within the genre: a stoner action comedy. Car chases, shootouts, explosions, a Huey Lewis title song and inhalation will serve as the vehicles that send this movie from point A to point B.

But will the sum of its parts send 'Pineapple Express' to the top of the box office this weekend, possibly surmounting Warner Bros.' juggernaut 'The Dark Knight' as No. 1? Certainly, opening numbers will depend on its marketing campaign. So far, so good. A clever red-band trailer released last spring featured Rogen and Franco up to no good in a slow-mo mishmash of mayhem set to M.I.A.'s popping reggae/hip-hop track 'Paper Planes.'

With Rogen starring and co-writing with fellow 'Superbad' scribe Evan Goldberg, Apatow's Midas touch and strong early critical buzz, Columbia Pictures looks to have a hit on its hands. But why haven't stoner comedies fared all that well financially prior to this release?

Recent marijuana-driven yarns such as 'Super Troopers,' 'Grandma's Boy,' 'Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny' and the 'Harold and Kumar' pair haven't shot up into the $100M stratosphere, but sometimes these theatrical numbers can deceive us. Usually, these releases don't get monster, blockbuster budgets to begin with, therefore a profit never falls too far out of the line of sight. 'Super Troopers' and the 'Harold and Kumar' movies both fared well monetarily, doubling and sometimes tripling their budgets (not to mention their substantial performances when released on DVD).

Sometimes, the trick for studios is to find that built-in cult audience prior to theatrical release, well before it reaches video stores. What 'Pineapple Express' has going for it is that it looks like a solid movie that should draw heady word-of-mouth. Along with Rogen, Apatow and Franco (trust me, give him a chance) plenty of talent, including indie director David Gordon Green and funnyman Danny McBride (in a supporting role), has jumped on board to give this thing an extra hit of street cred.

But this movie either hopes parents won't catch on or will show a sense of humor this time around. After all, one message the movie has dished out in its marketing campaign is that where there's weed, there are bad guys with guns.

Myself, I'm banking on the promise I made earlier this summer. In between two other hard-R comedies ('Step Brothers' and 'Tropic Thunder'), 'Pineapple Express' should bring the funny stuff that'll keep people laughing and laughing — the kind of people who tend to laugh for no reason at all.

The Binary Blitzkrieg tonight at Mellow Mushroom: Rockers Model Citizen return to our town for the first night since I don't know when (this will be my first time seeing the longtime favorites, but don't tell anyone). The show will also feature last week's pick Squirrelhouse, a sneak peek at an upcoming performance from the Pink Box Burlesque and a live taping of 'Well That's Cool,' a video podcast to be posted on the hosts' Web site, wellthatscool.com.

KrautFest at the Mellow Mushroom Wednesday: Former WVUA 90.7-FM station manager and everyone's favorite German techno- enthusiast Tim Neunzig will bid farewell to Tuscaloosa in style, hosting an event that'll feature several rocking acts upstairs at the Mellow Mushroom (doing a few things right this week, it seems). Druid City Rockers, Mansfield, Me, THREE and one of the town's more entertaining bands, Skullduggery. Neunzig, known as DJ KrautDawg by many, will spin plenty of popping beats and rockin' tunes between acts. Things will get going as early as 8 p.m., with a $2 cover, where one of those bucks heads straight to non-profit organization Empower Alabama.