Cinema Uprising by Steve Evans

Same as it ever was: Taxi Driver's mean streets

2012-02-04T14:14:00.015-05:00

By Steve EvansA recent conversation about the physical transformation of New York City over the last 40 years set my mind to thinking about some of the great films made in Gotham and one picture, in particular, that still works brilliantly today as social commentary. Martin Scorsese’s 1976 classic, Taxi Driver, remains a virtual travelogue of the sights and sounds one could experience in NYC

Spike Lee is Peeved. Again.

2012-01-23T09:50:00.005-05:00

By Steve EvansThe 2012 Sundance Film Festival got an injection of hubris from director Spike Lee, who is angry again, this time at Hollywood for not greenlighting his projects and for offering what he suggested was ...too many suggestions on how he should write his scripts."I didn't want to hear no motherf------ notes from the studio telling me ... about what a young 13-year-old boy and girl

Backstage at the Golden Globes

2012-01-12T17:26:00.003-05:00

By Steve Evans Every year Hollywood royalty strut the red carpet outside the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the Hollywood Foreign Press Association awards the Golden Gobes.The HFPA does this in January to beat the Academy Awards in February, since passing out Golden Globes after the Oscars would be even more irrelevant than passing them out at all.It's a little-known fact that a mere 90 people are

George Clooney to Battle Nazi Art Thieves

2012-01-09T16:37:00.011-05:00

By Steve EvansGeorge Clooney says he will co-write, direct and star in an adaptation of Robert Edsel’s 2010 nonfiction book, “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History.” No word on casting, beyond Clooney himself.The “Monuments Men” were a group of men and women from 13 nations who worked collaboratively to protect monuments and art objects from

Girls, Dragons, Tattoos & Hollywood Remakes

2012-01-07T10:37:00.014-05:00

By Steve EvansIn the entire history of cinema I cannot name a single significant foreign film that was a remake of a motion picture made in the United States. However, the number of American remakes of major foreign movies must be close to 1,000.Sometimes the remake is only approximate. “The Seven Samurai” (1954), Akira Kurosawa’s action masterpiece of feudal Japan, was remade six years later

Cleaning Out the Closets & Caveat Emptor

2012-01-05T16:43:00.006-05:00

By Steve EvansCame across this concert DVD, Steve Hackett: Once Above A Time, while clearing out the closets. Spring cleaning gets done early around here. At first, I couldn't imagine how I came into possession of this disc, then remembered I'd found it in the cutout bin of a used record store.For those of you who don't know but might still be interested, anyway, Steve Hackett was a guitarist for

Bluesman Gary Moore Dies at 58

2011-02-06T18:32:00.004-05:00

By Steve EvansBlues fans are saddened by the news that former Thin Lizzy guitarist and renowned bluesman Gary Moore was found dead today in a hotel room in Spain. The Belfast-born Moore, 58, was a hard-rockin‘ founding member of Dublin band Skid Row before he hooked up with Thin Lizzy in 1973. He left after four months but rejoined in ’77 for the band's “Black Rose” album. Today, Thin Lizzy is

Academy Announces 2011 Oscar Noms

2011-01-25T09:06:00.007-05:00

By Steve EvansThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 2011 Oscar nominations this morning. No big surprises in the noms, but some potentially serious upsets could be in the making on awards night Feb. 27.Nominees in the main categories:Best Picture: Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True

Wild Turkey: Aronofsky's "Black Swan"

2011-01-14T10:14:00.005-05:00

By Steve EvansNothing flatters an artist so much as an homage, which can sometimes be a fancy word for plagiarism. It was with this in mind that I saw Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” at the umpteenoplex last night with the lovely Claudia.If “Black Swan” isn’t exactly a rip-off of that 1948 Technicolor wonder, “The Red Shoes,” directed by the brilliant team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

Zagat's got nuthin' on Steve's Top 20

2010-11-11T20:36:00.007-05:00

By Steve EvansZagat is known for ranking restaurants, but recently got into the film-ranking bidness by releasing a top 20 list of rather predictable titles. The Godfather and its sequel, Part II, topped the Zagat list. Yawn.These sorts of things are calculated to create buzz for Zagat out of nothing by sparking conversation and perhaps even controversy through the release of an arbitrary list

Howls of Laughter: The Wolfman, Redux

2010-10-14T11:59:00.010-04:00

By Steve EvansHere's a Halloween rental idea for a flick that most people managed to miss when it hit theaters last winter after a delay of nearly two years. Take a looky at Benicio Del Toro's pet project, The Wolfman. Keep the volume at a moderate level for effective background texture at your Halloween party. Or crank it up for a laff.Universal Studios had a hairy idea: take one of the lesser

Loose Nuns of Black Narcissus

2010-09-12T20:06:00.005-04:00

By Steve EvansIf you've never seen Black Narcissus, co-directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, indulge yourself in the glorious Criterion Collection edition, recently revamped and re-released last month. Deborah Kerr leads as a nun charged with starting a mission in the mountains of the Himalayas, where the exotic locale and sensuous locals gradually push the holy women over the edge

Dennis Hopper dead at 74

2010-05-29T13:59:00.013-04:00

By Steve Evans Two-time Oscar nominee and legendary hellraiser Dennis Hopper died today of complications stemming from prostate cancer. The 74-year-old Hollywood iconoclast partied with James Dean, bedded Natalie Wood, smoked grass with Jack Nicholson and was once married to Michelle Phillips of Mamas and Papas fame for an entire seven days. Those aren't even the highlights of the man's life;

Corey Haim and Other Has-Beens of the Modern Age

2010-03-12T22:00:00.002-05:00

By Steve EvansFormer teen actor Corey Haim died earlier this week at 38 of an apparent prescription drug overdose. While few people may remember, much less care about, Haim’s fleeting acting career, his passing got me to thinking about other actors who stubbornly fail to acknowledge their time is up, their careers are over, kaput. Would someone gently tell these top 10 has-beens, please, to go

Wanna watch the Oscars? Don't Wait for Mickey Mouse

2010-03-07T14:36:00.009-05:00

By Steve EvansMillions of Cablevision customers will not be able to watch the annual Academy Awards ceremony tonight due to a pissing contest between Cablevision and the Walt Disney company, which owns the ABC network that broadcasts the Oscars.Cablevision says Disney wants $40 million more annually to provide service to the cable system, while revealing that the company already pays the House of

Fox Studio Classics Presents: Orchestra Wives

2010-01-21T12:19:00.003-05:00

By Steve Evans"It's hep! It's hot! It's hilarious!" ~ From the promotional poster.Opening shotIt's also the Big Band era, when the Glenn Miller Orchestra was such a phenom that 20th Century Fox developed a film project to capitalize on their popularity. Released in 1942, Orchestra Wives features the only original stereo recordings of Glenn Miller and his band. The film was Oscar nominated for

Hot Tickets for 2010

2010-01-07T17:37:00.019-05:00

By Steve EvansIt’s never too early to handicap the slate of pictures coming this year to a theater near you. Here are 11 films in order of release date that either look promising or promise to lure massive crowds. The ineviotable blockbusters can be found among one or two smaller pictures that I suspect will find an audience and become sleeper hits.Edge of Darkness (Jan. 29) Mel Gibson makes his

Best Films of 2009

2010-01-01T21:44:00.005-05:00

By Steve EvansA trying year for most people failed to boost box office fortunes in 2009 as the economy knocked a dent in ticket sales, a counter-intuitive phenomeonon that shows movies are not always the escapist fare their promoters would have them be.Or it could just be that 2009 was not a banner year for American cinema.Exceptions:The SoloistRobert Downey and Jamie Foxx acted their asses off

Holiday Farce From Film Noir Folks at Warner Bros.

2009-12-12T12:42:00.007-05:00

By Steve EvansChristmas in Connecticut (1945)Warner Bros. // 1945 // 101 Minutes // Not Rated“Barbara Stanwyck keeps pace with a happy holidaze!” ~ from the promotional poster.Opening shot…This screwball comedy/holiday picture offers entertaining moments, but I prefer Babs when she plays double-crossing dames.Warner Bros. plucks a bit of Yuletide fluff from the vaults with the release of this old

Roger Corman Cops an Academy Award

2009-11-21T14:53:00.021-05:00

By Steve EvansOne of the great entertainers in Hollywood finally gets his due.B-movie maestro Roger Corman, 83, received an Academy Award for lifetime achievement during a special ceremony this month hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.Corman bragged in his 1990 autobiography how he made “100 Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime.” Although the claim is as redolent with

Salieri's Humble Origins in Underwear Sales

2009-11-08T18:22:00.009-05:00

By Steve Evans"Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." ~ Thomas Edison.The next time life gets you down and the brass ring seems just out of reach, think about F. Murray Abraham (below), the actor who played Mozart's nemesis Antonio Salieri in Best Picture winner Amadeus (1984). His performance is so note-perfect that Abraham's

The Ghost of Kubrick Loiters in Times Square

2009-11-03T11:58:00.010-05:00

By Steve EvansStanley Kubrick was on to something.When the late director filmed 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), he had the brilliant idea to use a shiny, black monolith as the medium for triggering an evolutionary advance in the intelligence of Primitive Man. The awestruck apes encountered the monolith, touched it, and the next morning were seen using bones as rudimentary tools. The monolith

Woooooooo! A Spooky Film Marathon for Halloween

2009-10-21T12:44:00.030-04:00

By Steve Evans “I runne to death, and death meets me as fast, and all my pleasures are like yesterday.” ~ Holy Sonnet VII.Psychological research into the appeal of the horror film suggests that scary movies supply a way to deal with the inevitability of death in a controlled situation. The mantra "it's only a movie" reminds us that the credits will eventually roll and the imaginary terrors will

My Sharona

2009-10-09T22:44:00.008-04:00

By Steve EvansIn the news, U.S. President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace prize today. Bully for him.More importantly, I heard My Sharona by The Knack on the radio this afternoon and a flood of 30-year-old memories washed across my troubled mind.There is nostalgia. And then there is The Knack.A quartet of misogynistic bastards they may have been, but those sonsabitches crafted a perfect

Sharon Tate's Killer Dead at 61

2009-09-25T18:08:00.020-04:00

By Steve EvansSharon Tate's unborn child would be 40 years old this month if she and her baby had not been stabbed to death on Aug. 9, 1969, by a woman named Susan Atkins.Tate (left) was married to Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski and was pregnant with his child when she was murdered.For those of you who don't remember or were not born when it all went down (and the sixties came to a crazy