Scott roams the internet far and wide to ply his trade as a link dealer. Fortunately, Scott provides links free to us. Check these out. . . share your thoughts! And away we go. . .
Top 10 conservative Daily Show segments
One of my favorite segments (from when I used to watch the show) features correspondent Rob Riggle covering Berkeley's response to the opening of a Marine recruitment center. One protestor mentions his Constitutional right to free speech and Riggle - a Marine Corps Reserve officer - asks, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if there was a group of people whose job it was to protect that right?"
One of the best analyses of a movie I've ever read
The movie... Ghostbusters. The writer... a film school grad not much older than myself who also enjoys 80s pop culture. Like many people who write in-depth pieces on movies, this guy reaches a bit here and there but he makes some good points. He refers to the film as not "anti-government" but "anti-institution." (I don't expect any comments about this one - it takes a while to read!)
Are we being too hard on movie trailers?
A great movie trailer is a work of art in and of itself. On the other hand, too many trailers give out important plot points and I hate this new trend of teasers for new trailers. Has anyone seen one of these? "Coming this Friday... the trailer!" I am content to wait till Friday; I don't need the fanfare.
The two ways science fiction is slowly destroying itself
In short, too much time travel and too much dystopia. I don't have a problem with either but, to paraphrase Captain Kirk, "Too much of anything isn't necessarily a good thing!" Even Popular Mechanics has gotten into the dystopia issue, stating that we need big, bold (and optimistic!) science fiction to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.
When good movies are bad news
The author makes a good point: thanks to endless sequels, spinoffs, etc. actors like Robert Downey Jr. are tied up for years. If he wasn't Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes, one wonders what other movies he might've done instead.
The classic origins of today's Hollywood design
While I'm no expert, I'm a big fan of "retrofuturism" which is a design aesthetic that pays homage to pre-1960 visions of the future. Thanks to films like Captain America and Men in Black 3, we're seeing more of this influence on the big screen and I think that's a good thing.
Drug doubles: what actors actually toke, smoke, and snort on camera
Interesting. The idea of snorting anything, even if it's fake, disgusts me. Incidentally, on the Scarface DVD documentary, Al Pacino refuses to say what he actually snorted. "Don't get high on your own supply" indeed!
Revisiting the legendary flop Ishtar
I've never seen the film and a DVD/Blu-Ray release was announced and then delayed. Surely it can't be as bad as its reputation suggests? Writer/director Elaine May (along with her old partner Mike Nichols) might be too, uh, intellectual for me at times but I enjoyed her in Woody Allen's Small Time Crooks.
A father's plea: stop supporting bad films "for the children"
Amen! Parents, please stop taking your kids to see crappy movies just because they're "for kids." It has nothing to do with objectionable content and everything to do with the bar being set too low. And the more money these movies make, the faster the studios will rush out the sequels.
The definitive history of Animaniacs
I watched this show as a kid. I had actually forgotten how risque some of the material was. But I will always remember Yakko singing the countries of the world. And who doesn't love Pinky and the Brain?!
What we've learned from audio commentaries
I've sent these articles to Big Hollywood individually over the months but here they are in one shot. A good commentary can be like film school and the guys at Film School Rejects have taken the best bits and presented them for all to see.
What I learned about pregnancy from the movies
"When you’re pregnant, you won’t know until some hilarious or uncomfortable thing alerts you to the fact." Yeah, sounds about right!
Last night's listening:
Danny Elfman's score for Batman Returns, Tim Burton's 1992 follow-up to the enormously successful Batman. I don't care what anyone says... I love this movie. Is it faithful to the comics? No, but I'm not a fanatic when it comes to that stuff. To lure Burton back into the fold, Warner Bros. basically told him, "Forget Batman. Make a Tim Burton movie!" Needless to say, he did. La-La Land Records released the complete, remastered score for the film in 2010 and it sounds great. You get all the usual Burton/Elfman ideas: clown music, a chorus, etc. It's all very Gothic.
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Top 10 conservative Daily Show segments
One of my favorite segments (from when I used to watch the show) features correspondent Rob Riggle covering Berkeley's response to the opening of a Marine recruitment center. One protestor mentions his Constitutional right to free speech and Riggle - a Marine Corps Reserve officer - asks, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if there was a group of people whose job it was to protect that right?"
One of the best analyses of a movie I've ever read
The movie... Ghostbusters. The writer... a film school grad not much older than myself who also enjoys 80s pop culture. Like many people who write in-depth pieces on movies, this guy reaches a bit here and there but he makes some good points. He refers to the film as not "anti-government" but "anti-institution." (I don't expect any comments about this one - it takes a while to read!)
Are we being too hard on movie trailers?
A great movie trailer is a work of art in and of itself. On the other hand, too many trailers give out important plot points and I hate this new trend of teasers for new trailers. Has anyone seen one of these? "Coming this Friday... the trailer!" I am content to wait till Friday; I don't need the fanfare.
The two ways science fiction is slowly destroying itself
In short, too much time travel and too much dystopia. I don't have a problem with either but, to paraphrase Captain Kirk, "Too much of anything isn't necessarily a good thing!" Even Popular Mechanics has gotten into the dystopia issue, stating that we need big, bold (and optimistic!) science fiction to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.
When good movies are bad news
The author makes a good point: thanks to endless sequels, spinoffs, etc. actors like Robert Downey Jr. are tied up for years. If he wasn't Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes, one wonders what other movies he might've done instead.
The classic origins of today's Hollywood design
While I'm no expert, I'm a big fan of "retrofuturism" which is a design aesthetic that pays homage to pre-1960 visions of the future. Thanks to films like Captain America and Men in Black 3, we're seeing more of this influence on the big screen and I think that's a good thing.
Drug doubles: what actors actually toke, smoke, and snort on camera
Interesting. The idea of snorting anything, even if it's fake, disgusts me. Incidentally, on the Scarface DVD documentary, Al Pacino refuses to say what he actually snorted. "Don't get high on your own supply" indeed!
Revisiting the legendary flop Ishtar
I've never seen the film and a DVD/Blu-Ray release was announced and then delayed. Surely it can't be as bad as its reputation suggests? Writer/director Elaine May (along with her old partner Mike Nichols) might be too, uh, intellectual for me at times but I enjoyed her in Woody Allen's Small Time Crooks.
A father's plea: stop supporting bad films "for the children"
Amen! Parents, please stop taking your kids to see crappy movies just because they're "for kids." It has nothing to do with objectionable content and everything to do with the bar being set too low. And the more money these movies make, the faster the studios will rush out the sequels.
The definitive history of Animaniacs
I watched this show as a kid. I had actually forgotten how risque some of the material was. But I will always remember Yakko singing the countries of the world. And who doesn't love Pinky and the Brain?!
What we've learned from audio commentaries
I've sent these articles to Big Hollywood individually over the months but here they are in one shot. A good commentary can be like film school and the guys at Film School Rejects have taken the best bits and presented them for all to see.
What I learned about pregnancy from the movies
"When you’re pregnant, you won’t know until some hilarious or uncomfortable thing alerts you to the fact." Yeah, sounds about right!
Last night's listening:
Danny Elfman's score for Batman Returns, Tim Burton's 1992 follow-up to the enormously successful Batman. I don't care what anyone says... I love this movie. Is it faithful to the comics? No, but I'm not a fanatic when it comes to that stuff. To lure Burton back into the fold, Warner Bros. basically told him, "Forget Batman. Make a Tim Burton movie!" Needless to say, he did. La-La Land Records released the complete, remastered score for the film in 2010 and it sounds great. You get all the usual Burton/Elfman ideas: clown music, a chorus, etc. It's all very Gothic.