Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Sidney Lumet directed this film about a bank-heist gone awry based on a true incident. Al Pacino (Sonny) and John Cazelle (both from The Godfather) decide to rob a bank and take it over, holding everyone inside hostage. The robbers use guns to scare and intimidate but Pacino's character doesn't want to hurt anyone. It's a great performance and you are convinced that he's this character, who wants the money to pay for his lover's sex change surgery. Chris Sarandon plays the lover who calls Sonny on the phone a few times; it's a small part but memorable. Charles Durning is also good as a cop who wants to negotiate and deal with Sonny to let the people out. Meanwhile, the local crowd outside gathers and even cheers on Sonny as a hero, and the hostages inside are getting hungry. In one of my favorite scenes, Sonny decides to order a pizza and cokes; the pizza delivery guy comes and you get the sense that this is his greatest claim to fame so far in life. The ending is sad, as the police follow Sonny and Cazale to the airport where they think they are going to be let go and fly away. It's an interesting film that shows how one criminal incident can grow into a cultural and news media sensation. 

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

I first watched this movie on television about 25 years ago, and it was a pleasure to watch it again for the first time in so many years. It's still a very funny film and I found myself laughing many times throughout. I love the character that Walter Matthau brings to life - an old vaudevillian comedian who will not give up acting, even if it means working in commercials. It sort of reminded me of when Betty White and Abe Vigoda did a Snickers commercial a few years ago for the Super Bowl.

Richard Benjamin plays the nephew who is trying to reunite the old man with his old comedy partner played by George Burns.

Some modern productions of The Sunshine Boys  update the characters to be pioneer TV stars rather than vaudevillians, which I suppose works just as well. But in the original play and this film, the whole vaudeville thing really works well. George Burns was an actual vaudevillian, so he was absolutely perfect for the role as Matthau's partner. When this movie came out in the 1970s, we still had vaudeville stars still living, but today there aren't any around anymore. Mickey Rooney was probably the most famous vaudevillians still living until he passed away this year.

I like Burns' line when he says to Matthau, "You know...I don't think we get along too good". That really sums up the movie in a way. The two comedians are able to reunite, and in a way say their last goodbye, realizing they are better off going their separate ways. I love the movie because it portrays two people who can't get along, but really love each other - sort of like a family member or friend you use to have, but just can't be with them too often. Such a great story, and great humor by Neil Simon.

It'd be cool to see this show performed live on stage.

Back to the Future 2 (1989) and how it envisioned 2015

Sigh! Back in 1989 when I first saw the movie Back to the Future, Part 2, the year 2015 seemed like such a long time off. Now it's here! Sigh!! 

Even though many of the future ideas are meant for laughs, it's still kind of amazing how much the filmmakers got right about what life would be like in 2015; some examples below. (Flying cars and hoverboards are still a way off, though!)

Flat-panel, widescreen televisions

Watching multiple channels simultaneously
Video conferencing

Employers monitoring employees

Playing video games without using controllers

Outdoor video advertising

Drone cameras 

Making a payment using fingerprint 

Fingerprint scanning

Plastic surgery craze

Robotic fueling systems

Point and shoot digital cameras

Face detection cameras

Voice recognition for electronics

Operating computers without push-keys

Wearable computer glasses

Mobile tablets

The Right Stuff (1983)

The new sci-fi / space movie Interstellar has been one of the most talked-about films of the year; but if one stops to consider, there would be no Interstellar without the events depicted in 1983's The Right Stuff,  the true story of the space race and the first American astronauts, IE the "Mercury Seven".

The film spans about 20 years, from the late 1940s to the mid 1960s as we get to see how test pilots such as Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn) and Gus Grissom (Fred Ward) handle their new lives as astronauts.

In his Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin writes, "it is a long movie, but never boring" with "exhilarating moments". My favorite scene is when John Glenn (Ed Harris) first orbits the globe. It's an awesome moment in a great film about real heroes.

I love how each character becomes memorable in his or her own way, even the minor characters such as the military recruiters played by Jeff Goldblum and Harry Shearer.  Veronica Cartwright  has a small role but is very memorable as one of the test pilots' wives; in one scene she suffers a breakdown when she realizes she wont be able to meet President Kennedy and his wife.   Also excellent are Dennis Quaid, Barbara Hershey, Pamela Reed, Kim Stanley, Kathy Baker, and Sam Shepard as record-setting test pilot Chuck Yeager (1923 - ). Intelligently directed by Philip Kaufman.

The film earned Roger Ebert's and Gene Siskel's pick as the  #1 Film of 1983.

Read Roger Ebert's essay on The Right Stuff in his "Great Movies" series:
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-right-stuff-1983

They Live (1988) and Branded (2012)

Here's another movie celebrating a milestone 25th Anniversary: They Live. This is a movie that didn't interest me until I recently learned that it was a satire about consumerist society. I went to see a similarly themed movie last year called Branded (review below).

They Live is more entertaining and has more enjoyable actors such as Meg Foster and Keith David.  Roddy Piper plays a lonely drifter arriving in LA and discovers that America is being dominated by aliens, whose human disguises and subliminal advertising messages are visible only through a special pair of sunglasses, and later, contact lenses. It's interesting how the small group of human rebels are labeled "terrorists" and how the police (the aliens) attack and beat the resistors, including a blind preacher who tried to warm people. You know you're watching a movie made before the 1990s when there is no mention of the internet, nor any scenes involving people using cell phones. The film was written and directed by horror legend John Carpenter (The Thing, Halloween).

Last year's Branded (2012)

Last night I went to see "Branded"---big mistake. The trailer made it look somewhat intriguing, sort of a cross between They Live, The Matrix, and Inception. No way - this movie is FAR inferior in quality. Bad acting, bad direction, bad editing and screenwriting.

This trailer makes the film look like a cool Sci-Fi flick; after all, it's got Max Von Sydow as a sinister media mogul. But just like the plot of the story, the trailer a big advertising deception. It makes you think that the story takes place in America--it doesn't. The whole film is set in Russia. Much of the dialogue is in Russian too. It's a Russian film, with some American actors appearing in small English-speaking roles.

It's not sci-fi at all, really. It's more of a satire of marketing that could have been done in a 10 -minute short YouTube parody. It tries to be funny in some parts (like the opening shots in the trailer), but too often it tries to be too serious, to the point of absurdity. I was laughing so hard in the theater I almost couldn't contain myself.

About 90% of what is in this trailer comes in the last 20-25 minutes of the film....and you have to sit through an hour and a half of boring flashbacks and bizarre farm rituals that are hardly needed at all.

 

I admit I didn't do my homework and research to learn more about it.... I often like to see movies "cold"---but this is NOT one of those films.

Norman Corwin turns 100 years old today

Today, May 3, American writer, journalist, screenwriter, producer, and essayist Norman Corwin celebrates a milestone birthday: 100 years young!

He began his radio career as a local commentator. He moved to New York City in 1938 and produced Norman Corwin’s Words Without Music for CBS. Two of Corwin’s masterworks, “The Plot to Overthrow Christmas” and “They Fly Through the Air with the Greatest of Ease,” debuted on this series.

In 1941, CBS’ Columbia Workshop gave Corwin a 26-week radio series; he responded with stories ranging from the whimsical to the darkly serious to the inspirational. A similar approach was taken on 1944’s Columbia Presents Corwin.

In December of 1941, Corwin wrote and produced We Hold These Truths, an all-star celebration of the Bill of Rights’ 150th anniversary. This landmark program aired over all four networks simultaneously.

Corwin created the special V-E Day broadcast On a Note of Triumph, which Carl Sandburg called “one of the all-time great American poems.”

Listen to "On A Note of Triumph" - the entire broadcast - from NPR (1 hour long) (opens in a new window; Flash player needed)

It's absolutely fascinating!

Three months later, he wrote 14 August, a V-J Day documentary narrated by Orson Welles.

Corwin wrote and produced over 100 programs during the golden age of radio. Notable programs include:

The Plot to Overthrow Christmas - December 25, 1938
They Fly through the Air with the Greatest of Ease - February 19, 1939
Spoon River Anthology - March, 1939
Descent of the Gods - August 3, 1940
Mary and the Fairy - August 31, 1940
Psalm for a Dark Year - November 9, 1940
We Hold These Truths - December 15, 1941
America at War (series) - February 14, 1942
The Lonesome Train - March 21, 1944
Untitled - May 30, 1944
Home For the 4th - July 4, 1944
El Capitan and the Corporal - July 25, 1944


On a Note of Triumph - May 8, 1945
The Undecided Molecule - July 17, 1945
14 August - August 14, 1945
God and Uranium - August 19, 1945
Hollywood Fights Back - October 26, 1947
Could Be - September 8, 1949
Document A/777 - March 26, 1950

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He also wrote screenplays for motion pictures, and was nominated for an Oscar in 1956 for the words he gave to Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn in "Lust for Life" about the life of Vincent Van Gough.



Filmography:

1967 "Sametka" (story)
1962 "Madison Avenue (writer)
1960 "The Story of Ruth" (writer)
1958 "The Naked Maja" (writer)
1956 "Lust for Life" (screenplay - Nominated for Oscar)
1956 "No Place to Hide" (screenplay)
1953 "Scandal at Scourie" (writer)
1951 "The Blue Veil" (wrter)

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In the early 1970s Corwin produced and hosted the television show Norman Corwin Presents.

In 1979 he hosted Academy Leaders, a weekly showcase for short animated films, such as those produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

Corwin wrote several books, which include Trivializing America; plus many essays, letters, articles and plays.

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In recent years, National Public Radio has aired several new Corwin plays under the title More By Corwin. These included:

Our Lady Of The Freedoms, And Some Of Her Friends - A play about the Statue of Liberty.

No Love Lost - A lively debate about the nature of democracy in America, in the form of an imaginary dialogue between Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr; the work is based on their writings. This play featured Lloyd Bridges, Jack Lemmon, Martin Landau and Corwin's friend William Shatner. Shatner appeared in a number of Corwin productions.

The Writer With The Lame Left Hand - Based on the life story of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. This production featured Ed Asner, Charles Durning, Samantha Eggar and William Shatner.

The Curse Of 589 is a comedy about a physicist (William Shatner) who comes across an honest-to-goodness real life fairy, with a working magic wand.

The Secretariat - A play on the meaning of prayer. This production featured Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, Phil Proctor, and William Shatner.

50 Years after 14 August - A reflection on the end of World War II. Co-produced with Dan Gediman.

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A 40 minute long documentary was produced about him in 2005. Partipants in the documentary included Robert Altman and Walter Cronkite. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. (It lost)

These days he keeps busy as a writer in residence at the Journalism School at USC. He writes articles for various publications, and is active in various organizations in and around the Los Angeles area.

Last year someone wrote on Huffington Post that Norman should have a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to Radio. Read the Post Here. I wholeheartedly support that idea, as his work is legendary.

We wish Norman all the best on his 100th birthday today!

Sources:
Biography from the Radio Hall of Fame
Norman Corwin Official Website (http://normancorwin.com)
Wikipedia entry: Norman Corwin