Celluloid Heroes

G.D. Spradlin (1920-2011)

Paul McElligott — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:39:10 PDT

The name G.D. Spradlin might not ring any bells, but if you’re a movie lover, you knew his face. He was the general who gave Martin Sheen his assignment in Apocalypse Now, as well as a senator in The Godfather, Part II and a minister in Ed Wood.

Vacation Almost Over

Paul McElligott — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:05:27 PDT

Don’t worry! I’m still alive and will resume posting soon!

Murder by Death (1976)

Paul McElligott — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 08:20:42 PDT

No pulse, no heartbeat. If condition does not change, this man is dead. This is Neil Simon’s attempt to do a Mel Brooks number of the genre of detective fiction and it’s probably for the best that he tackle it, because I think that the director of Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety would have wielded [...]

Duck Soup (1933)

Paul McElligott — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 08:19:50 PDT

Remember, you’re fighting for this woman’s honour, which is probably more than she ever did. I would offer up Duck Soup as the spiritual great-grandfather of movies like Blazing Saddles and Airplane!. Its plot seems to exist as an afterthought, unnecessary baggage that gets in the way of the movie’s true purpose: “four Jews trying [...]

Poll: How Do You Watch Movies at Home?

Paul McElligott — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 06:01:10 PDT

I’m curious how many folks have transitioned to streaming services. I keep hearing that physical media like DVD and Blu-ray is passe and that streaming services like Netflix and Amazon are the wave of the future. I remain skeptical. [poll id="8"] Choose as many as apply to you.

The Road Warrior (1981)

Paul McElligott — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 08:19:19 PDT

Oh, so that’s it, you lost your family? That makes you something special, does it? Three or four career meltdowns ago, Mel Gibson was still a fresh face on the scene when he went into a bar the night before his audition for a little film called Mad Max. The brawl that temporarily battered his [...]

The Great Race (1965)

Paul McElligott — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 08:11:33 PDT

Push the button, Max. This big-budget, globe-trotting comedy is almost exactly as old as I am and I’ve always held a warm place in my affections for it. It’s not quiet or subtle, but it is spirited, like a Clydesdale that thinks it’s a quarter horse. The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) and Professor Fate (Jack [...]

Hold on to Your Butts, Blu-ray fans… Feeding Time at Jurassic Park

Paul McElligott — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:27:08 PDT

We mentioned it was a virtual certainty three weeks ago, but Universal Home Video has officially announced that the Jurassic Park trilogy will be released on Blu-ray on October 25. Pre-orders on not yet open but expect that to soon follow. Again, this is only the trilogy and you will not be able to buy [...]

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Paul McElligott — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:12:39 PDT

Now don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re a terminator, right? You have to hand it to James Cameron. He knows how to spend money. Not only did he spend $300 million on Avatar without blinking, but he was the first to sink $200 million into a picture, that being Titanic. Even before that, [...]

The Green Hornet (2011)

Paul McElligott — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:18:14 PDT

I’m a dinosaur – not in the scary way, in the extinct way. I think someone learned the wrong lesson from the success of Iron Man. It’s either that or the movie studios need to implement drug testing before their pitch sessions. “Hey, if Robert Downey, Jr. can be a comic book hero, what about [...]