Though I haven’t seen them in many, many years, I have a great fondness for the Pink Panther movies. Kino Lorber is releasing all five of the original films (but not that dreadful remake with Steve Martin) in UHD. Sadly, there is no boxed set, but I grouped them together anyway for my pick of the week.
There are a few other interesting things coming out this week as you can see in my post over at Cinema Sentries.
I’ve written over 1,300 articles for Cinema Sentries. I don’t know what the breakdown is between reviews and other things like Picks of the Week and Five Cool Things. I regularly try and do a post on this site with a link to my Cinema Sentries articles, but I’ve still got a ways to go.
I try to keep up with my new writings, but sometimes I get distracted. And when I have caught up, I try to dig into much older posts. I know none of this matters to anyone, but I’m kind of astounded I’ve written that many articles for Cinema Sentries. I really ought to branch out and write for some other publications.
Anyway, I forgot to post this review when I wrote it in August. Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror isn’t a Frankenstein movie at all, but rather it is Paul Naschy’s first werewolf film. He directed and starred in a whole bunch of werewolf films back in the day. I actually got a collection of them for Christmas. They are a lot of fun, as you can read in my review.
I love Stanley Kubrick’s films. I think he was a genius. I’ve now seen all of his films (save for two short films he made very early in his career). For reasons I get into in my review I only just this weekend watched Barry Lyndon. I don’t know why I waited to long, its brilliant.
Earlier this afternoon I was watching a movie. When it was over, I looked at my phone. There were messages from friends from all over the country. They were all saying something like, “I hate to be the one to tell you, but Bob Weir has passed.”
I didn’t know what to say. Now I don’t know what to write. I’m still processing the news.
I first listened to the Grateful Dead in high school. I bought Skeletons From the Closet – a collection of their “greatest hits” from one of those Columbia House deals where you got 12 CDs for a penny or some such thing. I liked quite a lot of it, but found some of it to be a bit weird (strangely, I absolutely loved “Rosemary” one of the most un-Dead like things they ever recorded.)
But I didn’t venture any farther than that until college. I had a buddy who had a handful of shows he’d recorded off a guy he knew in high school whose brother was a collector (the kid would allow him to tape one show every time my friend would take him to McDonald’s for lunch.) He’d play those tapes loud while we were driving around Montgomery, Alabama, and I totally dug it (I also thought the idea of these unofficially released tapes was just the coolest.)
From there I bought American Beauty, and I’ve been on the bus ever since.
In 1994 the Dead came to Birmingham, and my friend asked me if I wanted to go with him. The tickets were like $30 (!), which I thought was way too expensive for my budget, so I figured I’d catch them the next time they came around. Obviously, they never did come around again for the next year Jerry was dead.
I did get to see Bob Weir in various bands over the years and always loved the shows. The last time I got to see him was on the Americanarama tour in Nashville. That was the time Bob Dylan toured around with bands like Wilco and My Morning Jacket. Weir did just a few gigs with them as a solo artist. Before that show, we were all standing around outside the gate, waiting for them to open it. It was an outdoor venue, and the fence keeping us out wasn’t very high.
Suddenly I hear a familiar sound. I’d know Bob Weir’s guitar sound anywhere. Sure enough, I peek over the fence, and there he is, standing all by his lonesome on stage with his guitar. It was a soundcheck, and I could hear him clear as day. He ran through several songs, including a great version of Dylan’s “Most of the Time.”
People all around me were chatting and paying no attention. I kept giving them glares and quietly telling them all to shut up. Didn’t they know one of the greats was on stage giving us a little private concert?
I was enthralled. And Bob wasn’t just going through the motions; he was really playing and singing those songs. He was always the consummate musician. Later that night he joined Wilco for a rousing version of “Bird Song” and an incredible cover of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows.”
I had tickets to see him with Dead & Co. in Texas for their “final tour” but I got sick and couldn’t go.
I’m rambling now. Like I said, I’m still processing this loss. I’ve loved The Grateful Dead and Bob Weir for longer than I’ve lost just about anything else. If there is any comfort in this, it is that his music will live on without him. Those songs are timeless. And the fact that so many of his shows were recorded means we can still be listening to them for decades to come.
I’m not good at knowing what my favorite performances of anything are. So I don’t have a list of Bob Weir’s greatest moments. But someone mentioned this performance of “Greatest Story Ever Told” and by god it is a good one.
I find I have mixed feelings about Guillermo del Toro. He’s clearly a great visual stylist, and his apparent love of cinema imbues all of his films with a certain reverent love, but I find his stories to be hit or miss. Because of that, I’ve been putting off watching his first film, Cronos, afraid that I’d be disappointed.
I was not.
With caveats.
Cronos is basically a vampire story, though one that is different from any vampire story I’ve ever seen. It begins with a prologue where we’re informed that in the 1500s some alchemist invented a scarab-looking device that will prolong one’s life forever.
Flash to the present, and Jesús Gri (Federico Luppi) finds the scarab hidden in the bottom of a statue a strange man left in his shop. He fiddles with it, and it opens; the scarab’s legs extend, grabbing his arm, while a stinger pricks his skin. Inside the scarab, we see a living creature sucking the blood.
The next morning, Jesús feels good. And he looks younger. Also, he’s got a hankering for some blood. At a party a man has a nosebleed, and Jesús laps it up like a dog. Then he’s bumped on the head and killed. Or not killed, as he can no longer die.
The killer is Angel de la Guardia (a young Ron Pearlman). He’s the son of Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook), a rich, dying man who’s been trying to find the scarab for many years. He’s got a book that tells you how to use the scarab. He wants to make a deal with Jesús so they can both live together. Or he’ll just kill Jesús and take the scarab. Either way is fine.
There is also a little girl named Aurora (Tamara Shanath) who is Jesús’ granddaughter, and Mercedes (Margarita Isabel), his wife. Del Toro tries to do a lot with them emotionally, but they feel underwritten. Especially Mercedes.
There are some of the tropes of vampire movies – Jesús feels pain at sunlight, Aurora builds him a coffin to sleep in. And some utterly wild additions – Jesús’ skin peels off revealing a blindingly white skin underneath.
It definitely feels like a first movie, but the practical effects are mostly terrific. Del Toro has always been a master of those. It is a lot of fun watching Perlman at this stage of his career, acting a bit more goofy than menacing. The whole thing is well worth your time.
Albert Brooks is one of those guys whom I naturally like, but I don’t actually know all that well. I’ve seen him in films like Taxi Driver and Out of Sight, where he played memorable side characters. I loved him in Finding Nemo and Drive. He was amazing as Homer’s James Bondian boss on The Simpsons. Etc. But he’s been in a million other things, he’s made comedy albums, and most importantly (for this post anyway) he’s written and directed several underseen but beloved movies.
I would often hear film nerds talk about the films he made as a director and think to myself that I ought to watch them, but I never seemed to get around to it. But then when I saw Lost In America show up on the Criterion Channel (as part of their Fresh Starts collection – a theme that fits in perfectly with mine), I decided to give it a go. I’m glad I did because it is delightful.
Brooks stars as David Howard, who has a successful job at an ad agency. His wife, Linda (Julie Hagerty) works in HR at a department store. They make good money, drive nice cars, and live in a nice house. They are successful but unsatisfied. David is up for a promotion at his job, and he’s quite sure he’ll get it. He’ll be an executive with a much larger salary. He’s so sure he’ll get it he’s already put a large down payment on a much bigger house, and he’s regularly talking to a guy about buying an expensive car. This, he thinks, will surely make him happy.
Or will it? Brooks gives David that nervous persona many of his characters have. He’s nerdy and nebbish and constantly worries.
Of course he doesn’t get the promotion. Instead, he’s asked to move from LA to New York, where he’ll run the newly acquired Ford campaign. His boss thinks he’ll be happy with the move. He’s staying in the creative field, where he strives instead of being bored in the executive branch. But David is furious. He wanted that promotion. He deserved that promotion. That promotion would have made him fulfilled. He absolutely loses it, and his boss fires him.
But then, he has an epiphany. Maybe losing his job was the best thing for him. Maybe he was living in a rut and didn’t know it. The rat race is no place for a man like him. He talks his wife into quitting her job. They sell the house; they sell everything. They buy a big RV and make big plans to drop out of life like in Easy Rider. They’ll get back to nature. They will travel the country completely free.
The genius of this film (which was cowritten by Brooks and Monica Johnson) is that they never get anywhere. Their first destination is Las Vegas, and they spend that first night not in their RV but in a chintzy hotel where the beds are shaped like hearts (but aren’t big enough for the two of them to sleep together.) By the morning, disaster has struck, and they have to drastically change their plans.
There is one scene late in the film where David is looking for a job in a small town in Arizona. He goes to an employment agency and tells the man about his previous job, where he made $100,000 a year. When he explains that he’s quit his job so he could change his life, the counselor replies, “You couldn’t change your life on a hundred thousand a year?”
That’s a perfect encapsulation of the movie. These two yuppies have everything and aren’t happy. Someone with much less cannot even begin to fathom what they could be unhappy about or why they find themselves broken down in the middle of nowhere. The line delivery is also absolutely hysterical.
It was about that point in the film that I started to worry it was going to screw up the landing. There was a way they could have ended it that would have felt wrong. I don’t want to spoil how they got there or how it ends, but they did not go in that direction and it ends perfectly.
It is a film that I found more enjoyable than hilarious. I laughed at a few scenes, but mostly I just smiled with amusement. Brooks pitches the film with an ironic smile, and he’s perfectly cast against Julie Hagerty. Most of the film is just them talking, and arguing, and they are perfect together.
I’m very much looking forward to his other directorial efforts.
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to think of a new theme for January. A couple of years ago I did a theme called “Frozen in January” which was all about watching movies that took place in some frosty climate, but that proved difficult. I couldn’t find that many movies set in cold places.
I’m a big fan of alliteration, and you can see that with Awesome ’80s in April, Mysteries in May, Animation in August, and Sci-Fi in July (ok, technically that last one isn’t alliteration, but it is a good rhyme.) But I couldn’t figure anything out that worked with January.
My wife suggested something to do with the new year, and that felt right. A good movie theme needs to be able to encompass a lot of movies. I should be able to find lots of movies within that theme, and there should also be a little wiggle room. I’ll get bored if I’m watching basically the same movie over and over again.
New Year, New You could mean a lot of things. A lot of us make resolutions for the new year; we try to make meaningful changes in our lives. We aren’t always successful, but a new year brings with it hope. Maybe this year we will lose that weight, or write that book, or do whatever thing we really wish we could do to improve ourselves.
There are lots of interesting films where a character sets out to improve themselves. Or often they don’t set out to do anything, but they find themselves on a quest, and that changes them. Or if not a quest, they get involved in something that changes them before the credits roll. There are hero’s journeys and character arcs. I can work with a theme like that.
Journeys can also mean travel. I might write about movies in which the characters take a long trip to somewhere. I actually thought about doing an entire theme on road trip movies, but that seemed a little more limiting than I wanted it to be.
I never know how these themes are going to go when I start them. Sometimes I write about a lot of movies and have a lot of fun. Sometimes I struggle to find anything to watch. Sometimes they keep going year after year, and other times I never return to it.
I hope this one lasts. It sounds fun to me. I hope it sounds fun to you.
I’m back from the holidays, refreshed and ready to talk about more cool things. This week I’m talking about Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Girl With Hyacinths, The Naked Gun, Over the Garden Wall and The Princess Bride. Click here to learn more.
Like most people my age I first came to Alec Guinness through Star Wars and his memorable role as the old Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi. Later, I loved him in The Bridge on the River Kwai and Oliver Twist. For years and years I thought of him solely as a dramatic actor. It was quite surprising, then to discover him as a delightful comedic actor.
I was quite thrilled to obtain this four movie set of some of his best comedies (Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Man in the White Suit, and The Ladykillers.) You can read my full review here.
The Naked Gun (2025)
Directed by Akiva Shaffer
Starring Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, CCH Pounder
Only one man has the particular set of skills… to lead Police Squad and save the world: Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. Following in his father’s footsteps, he must solve a murder case to prevent Police Squad from closure.
Rating: 7/10
I was twelve when the original The Naked Gun came out. I can’t remember if I watched it in the theaters, but I watched it many times on home video and loved it. It was one of those movies that seemed to be always playing on cable TV. Or my friends and family members would rent it regularly. I remember seeing it often. I remember it would come on, and me and whoever was with me would sit and watch it.
It was a film that everyone seemed to love. Me, my friends, my parents, sibling, and other relatives. It felt like the funniest movie ever. I watched both sequels in the theater. I remember liking the second one quite a bit but finding the third to be rather terrible. I think most people did, as the franchise kind of died afterward.
And then we all collectively forgot about the films. I hadn’t thought about them in years. I think last year, or maybe the year before, I caught the first one on some streaming service. It was funny, but not hilarious. My sense of humor has changed since I was twelve, and I don’t tend to like movies that are just one joke after the other without much story.
Which brings me to this new one. When it came out, a lot of the critics I follow were excited about it. Some were declaring it the future of cinema. I guess a lot of straight-up comedies don’t make it to the cinemas much anymore, so the fact that this one had big stars and got a real theatrical release got them excited.
I skipped it in the theater because, again, my comedy instincts are weird, and this looked like non-stop gags. But I finally caught up with it this weekend, and guess what? It’s funny.
Liam Neeson is terrific in this. He’s basically sending the type of character he’s played in a thousand movies. He plays it completely straight, which makes all the insanity going on around him that much funnier.
As I figured, there are a lot of gags. I won’t say too many of them because that is how this type of comedy works, but it was a lot. Quite a lot of them worked for me. Not all of them, probably not even half of them, but that’s the thing with throwing tons of jokes at the audince – if only a small percentage of them work, we are still laughing quite a lot.
themidnightcafe.org 