This year is the first time in my life that the Winter Olympics and the Academy Awards have fallen in the same month. Because I grew up with a great love for watching both figure skating and movies, it seems like 2014 should be a banner year for me to tune into the events that represent the highest level of competition in these two pastimes. Instead, 2014 is the first year that I watched neither. (more…)
A sad day in comics is coming.
Sad days are in my opinion, the one thing that the comic book business knows better that any other entertainment business. Yes, other media has its share of sad days but those are usually the death of someone.
I wish (and so do you) I had a dollar every time I’ve heard some newscaster, after lowering their voice, state with deep, deep sorrow:
“It’s a sad day in Hollywood, Bart Simpson was shot and killed this morning when he smiled at a man in Florida. After the man shot the famed Simpson he told police he thought the smile was a gun. This was the latest in what has become a wave of ‘colored’ killings. Florida’s ‘Stand your ground ruling’ accomplished what critics of the law thought it was intended for, the elimination of Black kids from the cites of Florida. Once the last Black child was eliminated, killings of other colored youth (including cartoon characters) spiked to new highs.
Heart and soul.
It’s what Josh Baskin and MacMillan play during the memorable dance scene in 1988’s Big but it’s also what the film is infused with, making it stand up to the test of time. Yeah, its look is dated thanks to bad hair and big shoulder pads, but the story of a 13 year old’s wish to become an adult endures.
20th Century Home Entertainment has released Big 25th Anniversary Edition this week, in time for last minute stocking stuffers. It belongs under every tree because it’s just so well crafted, explaining how Tom Hanks earned an Oscar nomination for his performance. His work stems from the Academy Award nominated script by Gary Ross and Annie Spielberg.
Frustrated at being small for his age and unable to achieve his modest goals, Josh (David Moscow) makes a wish at the local carnival. The unplugged Zoltar fortune telling machine grants his wish in a nice touch of magical realism and then we’re off. Josh (Hanks) wakes up as a 30 year old complete with stubble. He panics after discovering the carnival has packed up and left, and goes on to terrify his mother (Mercedes Ruehl), who believes the man an intruder. Thankfully, his best friend Billy (Jared Rushton) accepts his crazy explanation and uses his savvy to help him navigate an adult world.
When the two learn it’ll take six weeks to receive details on carnivals in the state, it’s clear Josh needs a job so he can survive on his own. Fortune leads him to a computer job at MacMillan Toys where his unique perspective rockets him up the corporate ladder, much to the consternation of Paul Davenport (John Heard), confusion of Susan Lawrence (Elizabeth Perkins), and fascination of MacMillan (Robert Loggia). Of particular interest is Josh’s pitch for an interactive comic book way before graphic novels and digital comics were tangible parts of our world.
Director Penny Marshall brought a light touch to the film, encouraging improvisation from her cast, and a keen eye on treading the line between drama, comedy, and slapstick. She unleashes Hanks, who excels in several set pieces beyond the immortal dance bit such as the office party where he demolishes the appetizer table or gently caresses a woman for the first time. Her casting was pitch perfect, allowing the film to be alternatively sharp and warm.
The film comes nicely packaged with a Blu-ray and DVD, along with sound chip playing “Heart & Soul” and Zoltar cards for personal wishes. The Blu-ray offers you the 1988 theatrical release (104 minutes) along with the extended cut (130 minutes) which was first released in 2007. The deleted scenes are reinserted for the longer version and it’s not appreciably better. If you prefer the original, the ten deleted scenes are included as an extra, with five intros by Marshall.
Ported over from the 2007 release are several features including the audio documentary by Ross and Spielberg and the Carnival Party Newswrap. New is the Big Beginnings where Marshall, producer James L. Brooks, Ross, Spielberg, Perkins, Loggia, Perkins, and Rushton discuss the film’s origins. Interesting to note is that even though they had the body switching notion first, mounting the production took so long that other stories, now easily forgotten, hit the screens first making everyone nervous about its reception. Chemistry of a Classic further breaks down elements of the film, including behind the scenes footage of key scenes. The Work of Play is a nice companion feature looking at the real world of toy manufacturers and how closely Big captured the goings on. Finally, the syndicated Hollywood Backstory episode on Big is included.
The Cookie Monster finished duct taping Kermit to the chair, stepped back, removed a cattle prod from somewhere within his fur and growled, “Where cookie?”
“I don’t know where your cookie is,” Kermit whined.
The Monster brandished the cattle prod. “Last chance. Where cookie?”
Then he jammed the cattle prod into the part of Kermit’s anatomy that would have sported genitals, if puppets had genitals, and pressed a stud.
Fzzzzzzzzt!
“Ow!” Kermit complained.
“One last time,” The Cookie Monster said. “Where friggin’ cookie?”
Robert Kirkman, the brain behind THE WALKING dead talks to us about the comics, the TV show – and if the two will ever meet. Or better yet, what about a WD movie? Plus ARGO‘s director-producer-star, Ben Affleck, explains why that film is generating so much Oscar buzz, and why Marvel is using A List talent on new B List books.
Alfred Hitchcock is today best known for his work in the 1950s and 1960s, thanks to Universal and Warner Bros. steady stream of restored re-releases on Blu-ray but recently, 20th Century Home Entertainment reminded us that the master director wasn’t exactly idle in the years before. A trio of his 1940s works – Notorious, Spellbound, and Rebecca – are now out on Blu-ray for the first time and it begs a fresh look at his black and white thrillers.
Hitchcock began his stormy relationship with MGM producer David O. Selznick with 1940’s Rebecca, a psychological drama which is noteworthy as the director’s first American film. Adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s bestseller, it featured Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and Judith Anderson. Being a gothic tale of loss, while gently questioning whether or not Olivier killed his first wife, it was a good fit for Hitchcock, introducing him to the American way of shooting a feature film. Clearly it worked since it went on to win a Best Picture Oscar. (more…)
We admit it, we’re hooked by this trailer. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars has a look and feel that separates it from our previous visual incarnations while remaining faithful to the source material. With this and The Hunger Games in March, suddenly that month is starting to feel like summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlvYKl1fjBI (more…)
In the mid-1920’s, an up-and-coming young animator had a brief encounter with an up-and-coming child star. Although they only met in passing, Mickey Rooney remembers Walt Disney as “a very charming man.” More than 50 years later, in 1981, Rooney would find himself starring in one of Walt Disney Studio’s most beloved animated films, The Fox and the Hound. Rooney voiced the character of Tod, an orphaned fox cub who forms an unlikely friendship with Copper, a coonhound voiced by Kurt Russell. The film also stars Pearl Bailey, Pat Buttram and Jack Albertson. The Fox and the Hound and its sequel The Fox and the Hound 2 will be released in a 30th Anniversary 2-Movie Collection on August 9, 2011.
Although he is quick to deny it, Mickey Rooney is the definition of a Hollywood legend. With a career that spans nine decades, he has defied the odds in an industry that often typecasts performers. He got his start crashing his parents’ vaudeville act while still a toddler and, just a few years later, he became a silent film sensation; starring in the popular “Mickey McGuire” shorts. In the 1930’s Rooney made a successful transition to sound films, headlining in the long-running “Andy Hardy” series and teaming with his friend Judy Garland in such classic musicals as Strike Up the Band and Girl Crazy. Rooney was awarded a special Juvenile Oscar at the 1939 Academy Awards ceremony and the next year was nominated in the competitive Best Actor category for Babes in Arms, the first of four Oscar nominations. He also won an honorary Academy Award in 1983 in recognition of 50 years of memorable film performances. Having also won an Emmy and two Golden Globes by that time, many actors would be content to rest on such precious laurels but Mickey Rooney, now 90, continues to work on stage, screen and television and recently wrapped a cameo role in the highly anticipated Walt Disney Pictures Holiday 2011 release, The Muppets. (more…)
One of the joys of the Warner Archive program is that movies and television shows for small groups of fans can be released. The restoration costs seem to have reached a reasonable scale and these direct-to-order projects don’t really require the bells and whistles higher profile releases deserve. As a result, we can revel in the stuff we grew up or recall fondly. In my case, that includes a ton of Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears stuff that has been coming out over the last year or two. It also meant I finally got a good copy of the pilot to the Search series.
And while some will turn their noses up to those offerings, they may begin salivating at some of the others that have been released; titles which I personally find not worth our time and attention. One such series is the short-lived NBC clunker Man from Atlantis, best known as the vehicle that gave the world Patrick Duffy pre-Dallas. The premise is certain high concept enough to have been interesting: amnesiac Mark Harris displayed the ability to breathe underwater and withstand the crushing deep sea water pressure. His origins remained murky but as was the formula from the 1970s, he was immediately set up with a purpose that served others rather than himself: working for the Foundation for Oceanic Research, a front for top secret activity. He was accompanied by a team of humans (co-stars Belinda J. Montgomery and Alan Fudge) aboard the high-tech sub called the Cetacean. And rather than delve into her personality or explore the things that made him unique, he became another handsome, shirtless hunk who went through the motions.
NBC’s Fred Silverman green lit the series, first as a number of telefilms, running four during the 1976-1977 television season and these are collected in the just-released two-disc Man from Atlantis: The Complete TV Movies Collection.
The concept proved durable enough it was given a weekly series order and those 13 episodes have also been collected and released as a four-disc Man from Atlantis: The Complete Television Series. I should stress, the pilot film was previously released on its own. (more…)
Disney has done such a spectacular job with their upgraded high definition releases of their classics through the years so each announcement is most welcome. Personally, I question the value of a 3-D home video release but it’s nice they have the option for those interested. Here’s the official release:
BURBANK, Calif. (May 26, 2011) — Simba, Mufasa, Nala, Timon and Pumbaa are back and better than ever this fall when Disney’s The Lion King roars into theaters and homes in breathtaking 3D. A special two-week theatrical extravaganza kicks off Sept. 16, 2011, showcasing the Oscar®- and Golden Globe®-winning film on the big screen in Disney Digital 3D™ for the first time ever, and its highly anticipated home entertainment debut kicks off October 4, celebrating the Diamond Edition release of the epic movie “The Lion King” in high-definition Blu-ray™ and Blu-ray 3D“The Lion King is the best-selling home entertainment release of all time—and this is The Lion King like never before,” said Bob Chapek, president of distribution, The Walt Disney Studios. “The all-new 3D format immerses viewers in the epic settings and puts them face-to-face with these beloved characters. We’re showcasing one of the all-time favorite Disney movies in theaters and making it available in Blu-ray hi-def and in Blu-ray 3D—it’s the must-see, must-own title for everyone.”
Nearly a decade since The Lion King last appeared on the big screen, the upcoming theatrical release invites new generations into the “Circle of Life.” The two-week, 3D-only presentation is a planned wide domestic release—the biggest since the film’s 1994 debut—and the film’s first-ever 3D release.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
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