Tagged: movie

Review: ‘The Odd Couple’ on DVD

Review: ‘The Odd Couple’ on DVD

You know the music. You know the set-up and you’ve seen it played out in countless variations.  Still, there is nothing like the original.  Paramount’s Centennial Collection continues today with two more classic releases, including Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple.

Based on his box office smash play (which in turn was inspired by his brother’s life), Neil Simon took the story of two mismatched divorced men trying to live together and made a sad state of affairs hilarious.

On Broadway, the inimitable Walter Matthau was matched with Art Carney, fresh from his run with Jackie Gleason, but for the film, Paramount exec Robert Evans went for Jack Lemmon, who played previously with Matthau in [[[The Fortune Cookie]]]. On screen, the two had chemistry in spaces and it was necessary to make this work.  One is a sports writer slob, the other a high-strung metrosexual (long before the word existed) news writer. When Lemmon’s Felix Unger is tossed out of his house, he makes several attempts at suicide before turning up at Oscar Madison’s pigpen apartment during the weekly poker game with the guys.  Madison takes pity on Unger and invites him in.

Over the course of three weeks, Unger spruces up the apartment, saves Madison a ton of money (so he can finally catch up on his alimony), and quickly drives his best friend nuts. And when they try a double date dinner with the Pigeon sisters, you see just how hurt Unger is, something Madison never seems to note until then. It just takes him longer to understand what to do.

The movie has a supporting cast of poker buddies filled out with the late John Fielder and Herb Edelman among the quarter. They show how the circle of friends are shades of Oscar and Felix and why they put up with—and support–one another.

The set pieces are brilliant, with terrific comic timing that remains funny even today. On the other hand, the 1968 movie is based on a 1965 play and completely is self-contained so you have no sense of the changes going through Manhattan and American society. As a result, it has a somewhat dated feel regardless of the fine direction by Gene Saks.

As with the first six releases in the set, the second disc comes with an assortment of original production commentary. Unlike the 1950s offerings, this one feels very thin with several short pieces interviewing the surviving production crew and cast, starting with Saks. Simon is nowhere to be seen.  Matthau and Lemmon’s sons talk about their fathers and what it was like growing up with them.  The shorts celebrate the brilliance of Simon and his script but it still incomplete.  Even though Brad Garrett is on screen talking about his part in the most recent revival, everything in between is ignored.  Not a word about how the concept gave birth to the first great sitcom of the 1970s, with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall taking these great roles and running with them for six seasons. Nothing about subsequent revivals of the play, nothing to show how it has endured.

Also missing were features that linked this disc to the overall centennial celebration which is a disappointment.

Still, the movie makes you laugh out loud and it’s nice to have a pristine edition for repeated viewing.

ComicMix Quick Picks – March 9, 2009

Today’s list of quick items– Watchmen, Watchmen everywhere:

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

Review: ‘Pinocchio’ 70th Anniversary DVD

Review: ‘Pinocchio’ 70th Anniversary DVD

Walt Disney learned much from the work performed in [[[Snow White]]], his first animated feature.  The story was fairly basic and almost too short and to the point. For his second outing, he intended for something to further demonstrate his mastery of the animated form. As a result, his work in translating Carlo Collodi’s [[[Pinocchio]]] from book to cartoon kept changing through the production and as a result, the finished product was a giant leap forward.

The lush color palette and ease of motion employed by the characters is confident, evoking a storybook feeling while telling an entertaining tale.  You’re reminded of all this when re-watching the film on the new 70th Anniversary DVD, on sale Tuesday.

Disney took the popular 1883 novel, which focused largely on social themes and reshaped it into an American kid-friendly story with heavy lessons to be imparted. Interestingly, the movie, released February 7, 1940, didn’t fare well at first thanks to the global concerns over war, but grew over time to be an enduring classic.

How the book was adapted complete with an alternate ending is just part of the anniversary extras included on the Blu-ray and two-disc standard DVD editions. The Blu-ray also includes the single disc DVD which has just the movie, some trailers, and some music videos. The rest of the goodies, of which there are many, were not available for review since just the Blu-ray was provided to journalists.

So, let’s talk about the movie.  The story of the kindly toy maker, Geppetto, who constructed a boy puppet as a substitute son, is a lovely beginning. The turquoise fairy (renamed the simpler blue fairy in the movie) arrives and bestows life on the toy and promises to turn him into a real boy if he learns to behave and accept the responsibility that comes with life. Being entirely naïve about what that means, and presuming Geppetto too old to teach him, the fairy taps Jiminy Cricket to play the role of conscience. The boy begins a series of exploits that shows the audience the need to listen to the little voice in the back of your mind.

Pinocchio is easily lured away from the tried and true path, such as attending school, for the easier vices.  He’s constantly taken advantage of by adults, both human and anthropomorphic.  By film’s end, none of them are made to pay for their perfidy. In fact, they remain at large; tempting others to stray while Pinocchio, having learned his lesson, returns to Geppetto’s loving arms. As they manage to survive the whale Monstro’s hunger, Pinocchio earns his human flesh.

The animation is lush, the backgrounds colorful.  A lot of time and attention is given to showing off, especially early on in the toy shop as the various creations perform.  Later, there’s tremendous activity in the background, notably when Pinocchio and Lampwick find the other boys who are a busy bunch.

We all know the songs from the film and the signature moments such as the wooden boy’s nose grow long enough to house a bird’s nest when he lies.  There is a gentle humor to Jiminy’s commentary and affection runs strongly through the good characters.  It’s not a terribly scary movie, compared with the chilling Queen-turned-witch in the previous feature.  There are thrills, such as the escape from the whale, and the 88 minutes pass with nary a lull.

The film transfer is crisp, the colors as rich as ever.  The sound is sharp. If this is not in your family’s video library, it probably should be and you have three versions to pick from so it all depends upon how many extra bells and whistles you want.

Make-at-home recipes for fans on a budget

Make-at-home recipes for fans on a budget

  • News
  • March 7, 2009

With warmer weather on the horizon and the promise of many interesting theatrical releases in the coming year, people are beginning to make plans to gather with friends for dinner and a movie. If you have been making these plans, you have probably noticed that many of your friends are bowing out for the dinner portion.

One of the most important social rituals for people is the shared meal, yet in these financially difficult times, it is becoming more and more difficult to afford the luxury of dining out or even ordering in.

But don’t write off feasting with your friends just yet. Instead, consider making a meal at home.

Whether you are gathering at a friend’s house to have an anime marathon, getting together at a pal’s apartment before that preview screening of a hot new movie, or meeting up with friends at a convention to which you have a free pass, there are things you can make yourself for a fraction of the cost of restaurant, movie theatre or convention food.

Some of the easiest things you can do when having guests for dinner is to have a taco night, where everyone either chips in toward the total cost of food or brings one of the components for making tacos (shells, meat, beans, cheese, salsa, peppers, lettuce, tomato, etc.). Even if you are making food for a game group that consumes vast quantities of food, when all is said and done, you will have spent less and eaten better than if you had ordered out or picked up fast food. And even if you are not concerned about eating healthier snacks, you can certainly see the value in spending the same amount on a huge batch of homemade cookies as you would have spent on one standard sized store bought package.

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ComicMix Quick Picks – March 4, 2009, very late

ComicMix Quick Picks – March 4, 2009, very late

You know Hellblazer #63, the issue where John Constantine turns forty? Yesterday was like that for me, only with cheesecake. And today was definitely like that scene at the end.

So, now that I’m more or less recovered from that, today’s yesterday’s list of quick items:

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

I got a golden ticket…

I got a golden ticket…

  • News
  • March 4, 2009

…and no, I’m not going to the midnight showing. If there’s ever a movie to not see at midnight in Times Square, Watchmen is it.

The Un-Ethics of Watchmen, Part 1: A Bird’s-Eye View

  • News
  • March 2, 2009

Editor’s note: With the imminent release of Watchmen, we thought we’d try and get a different perspective. So we asked Alexandra Honigsberg, a professional ethicist and genre author, to read the book for the first time and delve into the ethos of the world created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

If super-hero comics are the literature of ethics, then Watchmen is the literature of un-ethics. It is the template for what not to do and makes Batman look like a Boy Scout, even at his darkest Dark Knight. They make Dirty Harry look clean. There’s a new saying on the street that Bitch is the New Black, it Gets Things Done. Well, these guys and gals are certainly the biatch. But is there any way to redeem their actions so that the ends justify the means? Or, more importantly, that even the most inhumane or inhuman retains some sense of what it means to be human?

The study of ethics is the exploration of the good life and how to live it. Now by the “good life” I don’t mean the bling life. I mean a life that is honourable, virtuous and, on a profound level not shaken by the winds of change, happy. Happiness (or pleasure or joy or The Good). That’s the end, the ultimate goal, or what Aristotle calls “that at which all rational beings aim.” Ari makes a fine distinction between the acts of a man (animal, non-rational) and the acts of a human (rational) or what some of us might term the mensch (gender neutral). One of the biggest invectives that Laurie hurls at Dr. Manhattan/Jon Osterman is that, after working for so long in the lab and being so all-powerful (the man not only to end all wars, but end all worlds), he ceases to be human. Moore emphasizes this with quotes from Nietzsche, who claims that when we become evolved enough we will not need rules, we will have become extra-moral – the superman (not the Nazis’ bastardization thereof) who has no need of ethics as we now know them. But are we still human? Extreme means change the agent and therefore change the end (e.g., The Comedian’s total amorality). Can we still give a damn if we’re all god-like? Or in the midst of so much horror that no human could reasonably be expected to survive unscarred (think of the Holocaust), are we still human? What’s human? What’s life? What’s good and who decides? Who gives authority to whom and why?

 

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ComicMix Quick Picks – February 25, 2009

ComicMix Quick Picks – February 25, 2009

Today’s list of quick items:

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

SLG’s The Ghouly Boys being produced

SLG’s The Ghouly Boys being produced

  • News
  • February 16, 2009

Slave Labor Graphics’ comic The Ghouly Boys is coming to the big screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Ghouly Boys comic book series was created, written and illustrated by Christopher (he goes by just the one name) and was originally published by SLG Publishing (Slave Labor Graphics) in 2004. Lindsay Doran (Nanny McPhee) is producing the movie via her Three Strange Angels production company.

Here’s hoping this is the first of many pieces of good news for SLG, which could use some of late.

Stretch Armstrong: the movie?

Stretch Armstrong: the movie?

  • News
  • February 16, 2009

First Hasbro turned Transformers into a movie. (Obligatory Mark Ryan link and reference to The Pilgrim here.) Then Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June 26, 2009) and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (August 7, 2009). And then they put Monopoly, Candyland, and Ouija into production with Universal. And now, announced just in time for Toy Fair International, writer Steve Oedekerk (Bruce Almighty, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius) has been tapped to write Universal’s movie adaptation of Stretch Armstrong, a comedy based on Hasbro’s stretchy strong guy toy, according to Variety.

Stretch Armstrong was first introduced by Kenner in the late 1970s, which eventually featured a line of stretchy characters, including Stretch Monster, Wretch Armstrong, and Fetch Armstrong. Stretch Armstrong was later re-introduced after Hasbro acquired Kenner (which was part of Tonka) in 1991. Disney had acquired the movie rights to Stretch Armstrong and worked at developing a movie first with Danny DeVito and then Jackie Chan.

If nothing else, this puts an interesting twist (sorry) on the possibility that the Wachowskis will get to do their long-gestating Plastic Man film.

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