Movie Mouse

McCarthyism's Effect on Film

2011-06-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

McCarthyism had a chilling effect on Hollywood and the entire movie industry. It was a black period in American history that should never be forgotten because we never want a repeat performance. There will be no encore for McCarthyism.

Joe McCarthy was the senator from Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. McCarthy saw a communist or a communist sympathizer behind every bush (no pun intended). In 1950, McCarthy was the voice and the face of what can only be called the anticommunism movement. According to McCarthy, the government of the United States was filled with communist sympathizers and Soviet spies.

McCarthy was particularly obsessed with the entertainment industry as a whole and the movies in particular. Because of his accusations, writers, directors, actors, and actresses were blacklisted and their movie careers ended.

Records of the subcommittee that Joe McCarthy chaired were released in 2003. Senators Susan Collins and Carl Levin wrote the following as a preface to the documents:

"Senator McCarthy's zeal to uncover subversion and espionage led to disturbing excesses. His browbeating tactics destroyed careers of people who were not involved in the infiltration of our government. His freewheeling style caused both the Senate and the Subcommittee to revise the rules governing future investigations, and prompted the courts to act to protect the Constitutional rights of witnesses at Congressional hearings....These hearings are a part of our national past that we can neither afford to forget nor permit to reoccur."

McCarthy wielded a great deal of power during those years. America was locked in the Cold War with Russia. Communism was a thing to fear and in the beginning Americans wanted Joe McCarthy to rid the world of the communist influence. Later, America turned against McCarthy when he was exposed as an incompetent and malcontent — but not before he had inflicted a great deal of damage on the movie industry.

Read more on the subject - Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies

Review - X-Men: First Class

2011-06-14T04:52:00.000-07:00

Either I have been living under a rock or there was not a whole lot of advertising going on for this film, because I was surprised to see there was a new X-Men movie being released. It does fit Marvels current profile though, which has been revamping a few of their movie franchises lately, such as the upcoming 2012 release of "The Amazing Spider-Man". I enjoyed both "X-Men" and "X2", but was not impressed with the crappy third act. They bounced back though with "Origins: Wolverine" and this latest installment is following that same route and taking us back to the beginning when Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr became Professor X and Magneto respectively. There are many new characters in this film. Most of them will be familiar, especially to the die hards, but not necessarily to the general public. The main roles were all extremely well cast, with a shout out going to Kevin Bacon for playing Sebastien Shaw, and the entire film was done with taste. Comic book fans can put down there weapons and rest easy with this one.

Pre-order your copy today and save! - X-Men: First Class [Blu-ray]

Movie Mouse Approved

Review - The Hangover part 2

2011-06-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

There was a lot of hype leading up to the release of The Hangover part 2, and I myself was really looking forward to watching it. The whole cast was out doing the rounds of the late night talk show circuit promoting the film prior to its release, and judging by the box office numbers opening weekend I'd say it paid off. One segment on Conan(tbs talk show), director Todd Phillips half jokingly took credit for turning the cast of "The Hangover" into "A" list actors. However it's not often a comedy boasts a $90million premier. There are some laugh out loud moments in the latest sequel without a doubt, but for me it has lost some of the magic that the original still holds. Maybe I just relate to the first film better having had my own experience road tripping with the boys to Sin City and tearing up the strip. Either way I definitely recommend checking out "The Hangover part 2" in theaters if you haven't already. But be careful, once Bangkok has you she never lets go....

Pick up the original - The Hangover (Unrated Edition) [Blu-ray]

or

Check out the new soundtrack - The Hangover Part II: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Explicit] [+Digital Booklet]

Movie Mouse Approved

Review - Source Code

2011-06-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a train bound for Chicago to find that he is not quite himself. He has assumed the identity of a passenger on the train. The last thing he remembers is being on a mission in Afghanistan flying an American Army helicopter. Eight minutes later the train explodes along with Stevens and the other passengers. This time he wakes up in some kind of pod and is addressed by a woman named Goodwin via an audio/video feed. Goodwin informs him, he is now part of a project called source code, and he is being sent back into a memory of the final 8 minutes before the bomb explodes in order to stop an ongoing terrorist threat.

There are some good elements at work in this particular film. It's an action/thriller, that relies mostly on the story/plot to gain your attention instead of bombarding the movie screen with special effects, and there are good acting performances throughout, including the stunning Michelle Monaghan and Vera Farmiga. The soundtrack, gives the film kind of an old fashioned feel, which works, but almost makes it seem dated. It is not poorly written, but they tried to hard to make it seem smart, and landed somewhere in the middle. It is by no means a waste of your time, it almost made the cut, but overall I have to say no to this one.

Movie Mouse Rejected

Cold war films

2011-06-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

The "Cold War" lasted 45 or 46 years, depending upon which theory you accept about when it started. The Cold War was the consummate staring contest. The Eastern Block, led by Russia, kept one finger on the button that would destroy the West, while the West (that's us) kept its finger on the button that would destroy the East. The Cold War world was filled with espionage, spying, and counterspying — and a whole lot of what can only be called misinformation and unreasonable fear. Hollywood had a bottomless pit of movie material. And there were hundreds of movies made with the Cold War as the backdrop — some pretty good ones, too.

There were many really good Cold War films, but I'll pick just three of the ones that I consider the best here because of a lack of space.

"Fail Safe": "Fail Safe" was released in 1964 and starred Henry Fonda as the president of the United States who was trying hard to avert all-out nuclear war that was just about to start because of accidents and miscommunication. A group of bombers on a routine patrol receives a coded message that tells them to bomb Moscow. This was scary stuff in the Cold War years.

"Seven Days in May": "Seven Days in May" was also released in 1964. (1964 was apparently a great year for Cold War movies because "Dr. Strangelove" was released the same year.) Unlike other Cold War movies, "Seven Days in May" didn't deal with nuclear war or the threat of nuclear war. Instead, it centered around the idea of a military takeover of the government.

"The Hunt for Red October": America and Russia come to the very brink of World War III in "The Hunt for Red October." It's an "edge-of-the-chair" movie that is still one of the most popular rental films ever.

Classic Westerns

2011-06-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

"Shoot 'em ups" is what my grandfather calls them. Western movies — cowboys and Indians, the wide-open spaces, where a man loved his HORSE! I wonder if kids today still play cowboys and Indians — maybe that is socially incorrect now — who knows?

Not many real "westerns" are made any more, but there was a time when a "western" was a sure box office hit. The cowboys that graced the silver screen were household words. There wasn't a person in America that didn't know who Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were. Everybody knew who Trigger and Champion were, too. (For the uninformed, Trigger and Champion were Roy's and Gene's horses, respectively.) The Lone Ranger and Tonto (Silver and Scout were their horses) entertained many movie goers during the 1930s, 1940s, and even the early 1950s.

The good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black hats, so it was easy to keep up with who was who in those old black-and-white movies. Everybody knew you could "cut 'em off at the pass" and that you could "catch 'em at a waterin' hole."

Yes indeed, America loved western movies and Hollywood made western movies — lots and lots of them. The western genre was so popular it was even incorporated into other genres. There were musical westerns ("Annie Get Your Gun") and even comedy westerns ("Buttons and Bows").

Through the 1940s and the 1950s, western movies put the emphasis on heroism and the value of honor and sacrifice (protect the women and children and willingly give your life for the greater good). Later, westerns took a more cynical view of the west by glorifying rebelliousness and emphasizing the brutality and the inequality of the early American west (get yours first and to heck with honor). The old movies are great!

For a complete list of classic western titles check out - The 100 Greatest Western Movies of All Time: Including Five You've Never Heard Of

Censorship: good or evil?

2011-06-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

You can get a heated discussion going anytime you mention movie censorship around those who are involved in the movie industry.

Just about the time the first movies were screened, there were those who considered the moral aspects of the new medium and determined that "guidelines" needed to be established to prevent these new-fangled motion pictures from corrupting America.

The Hays Code was created in 1926. It wasn't formally adopted until 1934 by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. The Hays Code, of course, forbade nudity and profanity, but it went further than that. The Hays Code set up "principles" by which the movie industry was to be governed. The Hays Code supplied the guiding principles of what movie makers could and could not show on the silver screen and the words that actors and actresses could utter.

The Hays Code was replaced in 1966 by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) rating system. Censorship was abandoned and replaced with a rating system that was intended to guide movie goers as to the content of a movie.

You can get arguments on both sides of the issue and you'd better believe that the issue is not dead and buried. There are those who see movie content censorship as a violation of "free speech," and then there are those that see movie content censorship as the very reason that great movies of the past were great. Producers and directors, say these proponents of censorship, had to be more creative in the ways that sex and violence were portrayed on the screen. There are valid points on both sides of the line, and like with many issues such as this, it is sometimes best to meet somewhere in the middle where the artist can maintain freedom of creativity, to make a picture their own, without becoming distasteful.
Read more - Policing Cinema: Movies and Censorship in Early-Twentieth-Century America

Which side are you on?

Film Icons - The Hollywood Sign

2011-06-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

That Hollywood sign that is made up of nine letters each standing 50 feet high is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world.

The original sign was actually intended as an advertisement for a new housing development. It was erected in 1923 and the original sign said, "HOLLYWOODLAND." Harry Chandler, who owned the Los Angeles Times newspaper and was involved with the land syndicate that was developing a housing project in the hills above the Hollywood district, was advised by his friend H. J. Whitley to erect a sign to advertise the project.

Thomas Fisk Goff designed the original sign. He was the owner of Crescent Sign Company that had contracted to erect the sign. The sign was not intended to be a permanent fixture. It was actually expected to only last about one and one-half years. But the fledgling film industry boomed, and the sign became recognizable around the world, so it was left in place.

In 1932, Peg Entwistle committed suicide by jumping to her death off the letter "H." She felt that the film industry had rejected her.

The sign was well maintained until 1939. Maintenance was discontinued and the sign quickly fell into disrepair. The letter "H" was accidentally destroyed in the early 1940s.

The City of Los Angeles Parks Department was contracted by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in 1949 to repair and rebuild the sign. The last four letters, "L-A-N-D," were eliminated so that the sign would no longer advertise a housing subdivision, but rather Hollywood itself.

The wooden letters, however, continued to deteriorate and in 1978, led by shock rocker Alice Cooper, donations were made and the wooden letters were replaced by letters made of steel.

Today the Hollywood sign is made up of nine letters that each stand 45 feet tall.

Read more - The Hollywood Sign: Fantasy and Reality of an American Icon (Icons of America)

Movies vs. Television

2011-06-01T12:38:00.001-07:00

Moves versus television — which is better? It is a debate that has raged for many years. You can find those who say that a movie just isn't a movie unless it is viewed in a movie theater on the big screen, preferably while munching a bag of movie theater popcorn. These folks say that something is lost when movies that were filmed with the intent of being shown on wide screens in movie theaters are reduced and shown on small home television screens.

Then there are those who will swear that a movie that was shown in a movie theater on a wide screen is more intimate and therefore more enjoyable when viewed on a television screen in a private home.

I suppose it all really boils down to a simple matter of personal preference. The fact is that when moving pictures were new, the adaptation of stage actors and actresses to the "new" moving picture medium was almost anything but graceful. In the early days, stage actors and actresses used the large movements that they used on stage when filming movies. The result, when viewed through the eyes of the 21st century, is nothing short of hilarious and awkward.

There is a great deal of difference between production techniques between the filming of motion pictures and the filming of programming intended for television viewing. A movie is filmed with nearly two hours of continuous action, with no allowances made for commercial breaks. When a movie is shown on television and commercial breaks are mandatory, the action can seem a bit disjointed. On the other hand, if you tried to show made-for-television programming in a movie theater, it would look disjointed as well.

This really is not much of a questing, nor should there be much controversy. Movies and television are two completely different mediums, can both be enjoyed equally and in some cases they even complement each other.

"Cinema"

2011-05-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, words that are worth quoting are a larger idea summed up into a few memorable words, and I am a really big fan of quotes of all kinds. The thoughts of those who were in the middle of the action always give me a better idea of the reality they lived through and their perception of it.

Walt Disney is quoted as having said, "I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained."

On the other side of the spectrum is Samuel Goldwyn, who said, "Our comedies are not to be laughed at!" Huh? I thought that was the idea!

Alfred Hitchcock was an original — a one of a kind! He said, "A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it." He made a lot of them that were "worth it."

There are two Will Rogers quotes about movies that rank right up there with my favorites. The first on is "There is only one thing that can kill the Movies, and that is education." My other favorite Will Rogers quote about movies is, "I'm not a real movie star. I've still got the same wife I started out with 28 years ago."

Clint Eastwood had it right when he said, "This film cost $31 million. With that kind of money I could have invaded some country."

Jean-Luc Godard said, "Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world."

Which brings me back around to Walt Disney. He said, "Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood."

I don't know anybody who doesn't love movies — at least some kind of movie. Maybe that is what makes movies one of those things that help bring people together.

The Magic of Disney

2011-05-25T12:24:00.001-07:00

Walt Disney epitomized the American Dream. Walt was born in 1901. He was the fourth of five children. The family was what could best be described today as "lower middle class." Walt mostly grew up on a farm in Missouri, although he had been born in Chicago. Those early years that Walt spent on the farm seemed to shape his vision of the world. His friends and playmates were pigs, cows, dogs, and mice.

Disney lied about his age so that he could participate in World War I. He served as an ambulance driver. After the end of the war in 1919, he returned to Chicago and landed a job with a commercial art studio. The best thing that came out of this job for Disney was meeting and becoming friends with Ub Iwerks. Iwerks was also a young artist who shared Disney's fascination with animation. Iwerks was much better at the mechanics of animating than Disney, but Disney was a great deal more creative than Iwerks. Iwerks provided the technical ability while Disney supplied the ideas, and together they were an unstoppable team.

Iwerks and Disney started a company called "Laugh-o-Grams". The company produced animated shorts using fairy tale characters — Little Red Riding Hood, the Four Musicians of Bremen, and Puss in Boots. The audiences loved the shorts, but the company went broke and had to declare bankruptcy in 1924.

Disney convinced his brother Roy, who was an astute businessman, to join himself and Iwerks. They moved to Hollywood to be closer to the heart of the movie industry. The Disney Company was born and the rest, as they say, is history. The Disney employees were pressed to incorporate all new technology in animated film making.

Disney died in 1966 of lung cancer, but he left the world with a body of work that will probably live forever.

Animation nation

2011-05-23T04:55:00.000-07:00

People are fascinated with motion. Still paintings, drawings, and photographs are good; but if they move, they are even better. Movies can be moving pictures of people or animals, of course, but movies can also be drawings that appear to move — what we call "animation."

The clearest and most concise definition of "animation" is on the Go Encyclopedia website. According to Go Encyclopedia, animation "is the filming of a sequence of drawings or positions of models to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision."

When we think of animation in movies, we just automatically think of Walt Disney. He was really the father of animation in the movies, but he didn't just wake up one morning and decide that he could make a series of still pictures appear to be in motion.

The oldest concept of animation that we have is a pottery bowl that was discovered in Iran. The bowl is about 5,200 years old. On the inside of the bowl is a series of five pictures of a goat and a pear tree. When the bowl is spun, it appears that the goat leaps up and snatches a pear from the tree.

But we have a great deal to thank the late Walt Disney for. He brought us Mickey Mouse in 1928 and never looked back. He also brought us Pluto, Donald Duck, Bambi, Goofy, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp — the list goes on!

Animation has, of course, changed over the years. In the beginning, each frame was drawn by hand including the background. The first advancement was technology that allowed the background to remain constant with the images changed. This is most commonly known as "Cell animation"

Today animation is almost all done with computers and is used in a variety of different ways. "Toy Story" was the first full-length, three-dimensional, computer-generated feature film, and the screenplay was written by Joss Whedon.

Review - The Adjustment Bureau

2011-05-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

Do we decide our own destiny's? Is our fate are own? Are we just pawns on a large game board being shifted around, or puppets controlled by our strings? These are the thoughts and ideas behind the film "The Adjustment Bureau" It takes us into a world where their are unseen forces manipulating us, steering us towards certain paths.

Matt Damon who has become one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, is cast as the leading man in the thriller "The Adjustment Bureau" playing a man who accidentally gets a peek at the future Fate has planned for him but realizes it is not what he wants.

He meets a beautiful contemporary ballet dancer(played by Emily Blunt) while in the middle of his campaign for senator and ends up falling for her. In order to keep seeing her he has to outsmart the agents of Fate themselves who have considerable power and have conspired to keep them apart. It all comes down to choice in the end. Either accept his predetermined path or fight for the woman he loves.

This movie is a well written, entertaining thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and rattle your mind. The entire cast work well together, particularly Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. It takes you on a ride from start to finish. My only criticism is that I did not care for the ending. While everyone hopes the two lovers will be together in the end, I did not enjoy the final bit of morality dialogue that felt all to cliche. Overall though a great film, well worth a couple hours of your time.

Movie Mouse Approved

Order your copy for the June 21 release date - The Adjustment Bureau

The age of special effects

2011-05-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

Special effects are sometimes what make a movie, well, special. In today's computerized world, with the help of computers, movie makers can put moviegoers right into the action. Special effects are used in almost every film today. But the first movie (not a full-length movie, but a short) with special effects was actually the result of an accident.

It happened in 1896. George Milies (a name frequently found in any historical account of movie making) was using a hand-cranked camera to film a documentary about the Place de l'Opera in Paris in 1896 when the camera jammed. It took him about two minutes to get the camera working properly again. When he had the camera fixed, he continued cranking it.

When Milies developed the film, what he saw was a complete surprise. Between the last frame before the camera jammed and the first frame after the jam had been cleared, it appeared that magic had taken place on the street of Paris. It appeared on the film that men had become women and a horse and coach had been suddenly transformed into a tram car.

Film editing was born, and Milies went on to make several short films that he called "trick films." In one film he begins cranking the camera just as a woman is taking her seat in a restaurant. Then he would stop cranking, replace the girl with a skeleton, and then begin cranking again. The result was a film where the girl was transformed into a skeleton.

Special effects continued to mature. In 1956 one the greatest special effects ever put on film happened in "The Ten Commandments," starring Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, with the parting of the Red Sea, and was done without any kind of help from computers. Today computers dominate the effects industry, and the boundaries are constantly being pushed allowing us to enter into fantastical worlds with no limits. If we can dream it, we can now see it up there on the big screen.

Review - Rio

2011-05-17T11:52:00.001-07:00

It all starts when Blu, a domesticated macaw from a small-town in Minnesota is taken to Rio de Janeiro to save their species by mating with the only other remaining macaw in the world, a fiercely independant female named Jewel who turns out to be the bird of his dreams.

It's a visually stunning film about how love can break you out of your shell and help you discover who you really are. The level of animation and the writers really created a magical adventure in Rio de Janeiro where the two endangered macaws find true love. The movie also has a variety of other interesting and entertaining characters along the way.

The setting of "Rio" offers a lot of natural elements like exotic beaches, Carnival, views of the moutains, and of course Latin music that really add to the creative musical numbers.

The main characters "Blu" and "Jewel" are voice acted by Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway respectively

It is a simple tale about the journey towards finding love and while it is relatively predictable, sometimes simple works, and in this case it does. This movie is brilliantly animated; is still offered in 3D at most theaters and is fun evening that the entire family can enjoy.

Movie Mouse Approved

Pre-Order your copy today and save - Rio (Blu-ray/ DVD Combo + Digital Copy)

A night at the Oscars

2011-05-16T04:29:00.000-07:00

Most movie lovers refer to the Academy Awards as "the Oscars." Each year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents awards (Oscars) to recognize excellence in various categories of film making. Some categories have been included in the Academy Awards from the first awards given in 1929. Other categories have been added over the years, and some categories have been eliminated altogether. Other award ceremonies have also been added over the years, but none are as prestigious as the Oscars.

The Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood was the site of the first Academy Awards ceremony on May 16, 1929. The awards that were given were for movies that had been released in 1927 and 1928. Douglas Fairbanks and William DeMille hosted the event. The last Academy Awards (the 83rd annual) were held at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. They were hosted by Anne Hatheway and James Franco on February 27th, 2011. The next Academy Awards ceremony will be held on February 26th, 2012, also at the Kodak Theater, however the host has not yet been announced.

The Oscar statuette is officially known as the Academy Award of Merit. An art deco style knight stands holding a crusader's sword on a reel of film that has five spokes. The five spokes represent the original branches of the Academy: actors, writers, directors, producers, and technicians. The statuette stands 13½ inches tall on a black metal base. The statuette itself is made of gold-plated britannium.

How the statuette came to be called "Oscar" is a matter of debate. Some claim that Bette Davis named the statuette after her first husband, bandleader Harmon Oscar Nelson. Others claim that the Academy's executive secretary, Margaret Herrick saw the statuette in 1931 and said that it reminded her of her Uncle Oscar. But however the name came about, Oscar it is, and Oscar it will always be!

Read more on the subject - 80 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards

Review - No Strings Attached

2011-05-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

The movie "No Strings Attached" is a story about a female doctor (Natalie Portman) who doesn't believe in relationships and falling in love. As a doctor Emma Franklin(Portman) works long hours, her schedule is crazy, and she really only wants to have someone to have sex with. Her and her friend Adam(Ashton Kutcher) start sleeping together with the premise that there is no emotions or love involved. Before long Adam develops feelings and starts to fall for his friend Emma. Their once pure sexual relationship begins to fall apart, and Emma pushes Adam away not wanting to give into her own emotions, but soon realizes her mistake, and attempts to win him back before it is too late.

Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher together in this film is a winning combination. Their chemistry is fantastic, and they balanced the the scale between drama and humor nicely. Kevin Kline who plays the character of Adams father in the movie also added quite a few laughs himself. I sat down to watch the film and it was over way too soon. I am not usually a big fan of the romantic comedy genre, but this film truly brings something special to the table.

Movie Mouse Approved

Movies & Musicals

2011-05-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

Movies and music has always gone hand in hand. Before sound was added to movies, there was a score that accompanied each silent movie, with a pianist, organist or orchestra hired to play while the movie was being shown. It was just the natural order of things that the first full-length movie was "The Jazz Singer." You couldn't, even with a big stretch of the imagination, call "The Jazz Singer" a musical, though.

"The Broadway Melody", which was released in 1929, is generally accepted as the first true movie musical. "The Broadway Melody" won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1929, and that set off a rush by the studios to hire singers and dancers that were stars of Broadway hits to star in musical movies.

The public loved it! "The Desert Song" was also released in 1929. It was actually an operetta, but no expense was spared by Warner Brothers studio in filming the movie. It was mostly filmed in Technicolor (a very expensive method of making color movies). "On with the Show" was also released in 1929. So was "Gold Diggers of Broadway," a musical that held the enviable position as the highest-grossing film ever produced from the time of its release until 1939.

Probably the best-known dancers in musical movies ever are Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. But there were so outstanding stars of musical movies — Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Ann Miller, Donald O'Connor, Cyd Charisse, Mickey Rooney, Vera Ellen, Jane Powell, Howard Keel, and Kathryn Grayson — the list goes on.

The studios sparred no expense in the filming of the musical scenes in musical movies. "The Wizard of Oz," "Meet Me in St. Louis," "Easter Parade," "On the Town," "An American in Paris," "Singin' in the Rain," and "The Band Wagon" are just a few of the musical movies with very extravagantly staged dance numbers. Musical movies today have been few and far between, but such films as "Chicago", "Moulin Rouge", "Nine", and recently "Burlesque" prove that although scarce the genre is as strong as ever.

Are you afraid of the dark?

2011-05-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

A great many people, it seems, are absolutely fascinated with gruesome events — real and imaginary — and the bloodier, the better. That's probably why horror movies have always done so well at the box office.

The early horror movies that Hollywood produced featured characters from classic horror novels — Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Wolfman, Phantom of the Opera, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The first horror movie wasn't actually a full-length movie. It was a movie "short" that was created in 1896, several years before the first full-length film, by Georges Melies. His "The House of the Devil" is the first horror film, according to most authorities.

Horror movies are broken down into three categories: evil people who elicit horror, evil demons who elicit horror, and catastrophic events that elicit horror.

The movie going public seems to adore horror films, and the movie critics who have a lot of clout seem to be equally impressed. Horror films have gleaned awards — a lot of awards — through the history of movie making. There are many others, of course, but a few that come to mind are "Jaws," "The Exorcist," "Silence of the Lambs," and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Horror films have won in every category, from best picture to best actor to best score to best wardrobe, and all categories in between.

The horror genre is so popular that many actors and directors have based their entire career on horror films. Alfred Hitchcock, Boris Karloff, and Bela Lugosi come to mind.

Because fear is one of the strongest emotions to draw on, the B-movie industry has specialized in horror films from the beginning. Low budgets, poor lighting, and poor filming techniques just added to the horror.

It seems that the popularity of making horror movies within the movie industry comes and goes. Right now a great many horror films are being produced, but the actual "horror" seems be lacking in a great deal of them. Oh well, at least we will always have the classics!

Review - Prom

2011-05-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

The official synopsis for this film is "A group of teenagers get ready for their high school prom." Were you expecting more? Unfortunately for anyone who already went to see it, that brief sentence about sums up this film.

Prom is the latest Disney release meant to capture a large moment in the average teenager's life. It is a preteen/teen film about the excitement and drama involved in asking someone out to the prom. Hooked yet? If not I can't say I blame you. It was like they did another version of High School Musical, but decided to cut out the singing and dancing.

The dialog in this movie was weak and juvenile, but considering it's target audience I was not shocked about this, and it was kind of expected. I will admit the soundtrack fits the film nicely, and certainly speaks to the current teenage generation, however they certainly were not taking any chances by using all mainstream radio songs from All Star Weekend and nothing against Katy Perry, but if I hear her song "Firework" again it will be all too soon.

I do have one positive thing to say; the overall acting from this young cast was not bad at all and many of them show potential for the future. One thing Disney has always done well is nuturing and growing young stars.

While this movie will likely make preteen/teenage girls laugh, cry, and swoon over cute boys, it is defiantly not on the nomination list of films heading to a shelf in the Disney classics vault. If your not a 13 year old girl, I don't think you should stand in line for this one.

Movie Mouse Rejected

Review - Thor

2011-05-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

The latest Marvel film release introduces Thor the god of thunder to the big screen. Thor who has become an arrogant warrior, gets cast out of the god's realm of Asgard by his father Odin. Odin takes away his power and sends him to earth to live amongst the humans. Meanwhile back home Thor's trickster of a brother Loki gains control of Asgard. On earth Thor begins to fall for a scientist name Jane Foster who helps him get back on his path just in time to battle forces sent by Loki to destroy him.

Marvel is really starting to get the hang of moving their comic book heroes/heroines to the big screen, and as a major fan of the franchise, I must say: "Thank you!" It has taken sometime, but after a few setbacks like Daredevil, Elektra, Fantastic Four, I think they may have a winning formula.

"Thor"spends a good amount of time on the character development and you can really get a sense of how he grows throughout the film. Marvel managed to fit in sufficient back story of Asgard and creating the rivalry between Thor and Loki as well, which will play an even larger role in the may 2012 release of "The Avengers". The special affects are phenomenal without stealing anything away from the story. I am happy that Marvel has finally started to open up and intertwine their stories and characters. We are getting crossovers now which all is part of what makes the Marvel Universe. I recommend this film as it has something to offer everyone. For all the Marvel fans, look for the July 2011 release of "Captain America: The First Avenger"

Play the game - Thor: God of Thunder or Listen to the soundtrack - Thor

Movie Mouse Approved

Dramatic Film

2011-05-09T05:23:00.000-07:00

Tragedy has always been a favorite movie theme. Or, maybe I should say, tragedy and then triumph over tragedy has always been a favorite movie theme. We call it drama.

There are a great many subsets under the general genre "drama," such as historical dramas, melodramas, epics, romantic dramas, even dramatic biographies. A drama is a serious, plot-driven movie that depicts realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories that involve intense character development. Usually a drama is not based on special effects, comedy, or action, Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre.

Here are my picks of the five best dramatic films of all time. I had a hard time narrowing down my selection, and there are so many others that should have been included.

1. "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang": It was released in 1932 and is what I call a "social Justice" drama. It's about how prisoners were mistreated in southern prisons. Its story of a World War I veteran who battles unemployment during the Depression, is unjustly convicted of a petty robbery, and then twice serves and escapes from a southern chain gang.

2. "The Grapes of Wrath": It was released in 1940. "The Grapes of Wrath" is about an indomitable, Depression-era family from Oklahoma — the Joads — who survive a tragic journey from Oklahoma to California because of the tragic circumstances of the Dust Bowl.

3. "Rebel Without a Cause": It was released in 1955 and was about a troubled teen who was trying to deal with life and life changes (sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll) that he didn't understand and couldn't control.

4. "Days of Wine and Roses": It was released in 1962. It's a dramatic film about the effects of alcoholism on marriage and family.

5. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest": It was released in 1975. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was filmed in a mental hospital. It tells the story of a wise-guy antihero who stages a fishing trip and a drinking party in a mental ward, which leads to him being given a lobotomy.

Review - Fast Five

2011-05-08T05:45:00.000-07:00

This is the fifth installment of the "Fast and the Furious" franchise. The "Fast Five" opens with Brian and Mia busting her brother Dom out of custody and fleeing to Rio de Janeiro. They get backed into a corner in Brazil with authorities closing in. The authorities are lead by a new character Hobbs played by "The Rock" who is a hard nosed federal agent hell bent on capturing them by whatever means necessary. So they gather a team of elite racers to pull one last job in order to secure their freedom.

There is a few things that set this movie apart from it's predecessors: 1. There is far less meaningless car racing 2. We get a big heist 3. It brings all the characters together in one film, and most importantly it pits Vin Diesel and Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson against each other in a full out brawl. Plus who doesn't love to see criminals succeed and get a happy ending. I went into this movie with low expectations but came out pleasantly surprised.

Movie Mouse Approved

I am a fan of the "Fast and the Furious", but did we really need four more? Probably not, however "Fast Five" is definitely the best of the sequels. It showed strong opening numbers at the box office, and has helped to kick start the summer blockbuster season.

Watch the Whole Collection - Fast & Furious 4-Movie Collection

The Development of Technicolor

2011-05-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

The original Technicolor technology that was developed was a beam-splitter that would take the original image coming through the lens of the camera and split it into two separate images that would then strike two different strips running in a special camera. One film strip would have a red filter placed between it and the beam-splitter and the other film strip would have a green filter. The "red" film strip and the "green" film strip would still look black and white to the naked eye, but each strip would contain different gradations of gray that matched the spectrum of red, yellow, and blue colors.

Wait, that isn't all. When the two strips of red- and green-filtered black-and-white film were developed into negatives, they were then processed with a dye-saturated film stock that was made of a gelatin-like substance. The red-tinted film strip would then be cemented to the green-tinted film strip, and then both would be placed over the original black-and-white film strip. When the extra powerful light of a Technicolor projector passed through all three layers, the result was a color image with almost realistic skin tones and backgrounds.

In the 1930s a third yellow filter film strip was added to the Technicolor process, and the result was even more realistic color images.

It sounds like a simple enough procedure, and it is basically simple technology, but producing a film using the Technicolor system was very, very expensive. First, there was the special camera that was required. Then there was the processing of the film that was anything but cheap.

Even though the technology for producing color film was readily available for years before, only half of the movies released in 1954 were in color. Today, of course, movies are very rarely released in the black-and-white format.

Read more - Technicolor Movies: The History of Dye Transfer Printing

Review - The Town

2011-05-04T05:51:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would say this, but it is official; Ben Affleck is back. Long gone it seemed were his early hits like Good Will Hunting, and Armageddon, but his latest work has almost made me completely forget the disasters that are Jersey Girl, and Gigli.

His latest film "The Town" which he both co-wrote and directed is based on the renowned high number of armed robbers that are churned out of the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston. It follows a local crew of four who are fully immersed in the Charlestown lifestyle, robbing a bank, and planning armed robberies. Meanwhile Doug (played by Ben Affleck) falls for the manager from the bank heist and gets caught between trying to live two different lives, threatening his crews way of life.

This movie is bad ass from start to finish with great action/suspense, complicated emotions, and awesome performances from the entire cast. It's the type of movie that psyches you up and makes you want to go out and rob a bank. Best movie of its kind since Heat. Welcome back Mr. Affleck!

Movie Mouse Approved