More Bill Murray Letterman Amazingness

Last October, I dedicated a post to some hysterical Bill Murray news that I got from two sources on the same day. You might've noticed, but clips of him have become commonplace here, he has his own tag, and I want to have a biweekly post here, to celebrate one of my favorite actors ever.

Today's entry is a clip I found myself, while browsing the interwebs. I was going to save this 'til next week, but I know that lots of folks are getting snowed in, so I wanted to provide some entertainment on this cold, icy, blustery day:

Great moments in... Film Jokes by 1-Line Actors

I dated a bigot once. It took a long time before I realized that she hadn't been joking when she claimed a racial problem would keep me from being accepted by her family. Once it was clear that she had been serious and I heard my future m-i-l use a slur - it was heart-breaking, and shameful. Bigotry is just so awful.

Of course, having grown up in NYC, I'm used to the fact that many natives have (at least) two weird traits: (a) they are very racially-aware without necessarily being racist and (b) school kids make lots of ethnic/race jokes with and at their friends, but only in an ironic way. No, really, I've thought that old school NYC rules require everyone to be able to tell one funny joke with a racial/ethnic component, yet to not be genuinely bigoted at all; this is totally crazy, but it's true.

And lots of NYC neighborhoods were defined by the ethnicities of their residents. In the past, there might have been a lot of racism and violence, sadly. Even today, tho, people are still aware of which groups make up which parts of town; it's considered "information" not an "objective judgment."

You might only have subtle indicators as to whether someone's being genuinely horrible, but it's the wise-ass spirit that's part of the character of this town. I haven't shied from it, when I know I won't hurt anyone's feelings, although we could just, y'know, not joke that way and find something else to be clever about...

Question for the Week of Feb 4-10: Film Games

What's your favorite film-themed game?

I won't apologize for how brief this entry is - I just think that I've written exactly what I need to express my answer... I owe this one to my coworkers Josh, David, and Melissa. I started laughing the moment I heard the name, even though I didn't know what they were talking about; I just waited for a good pause in the conversation and asked them what "Edward Fortyhands" meant.

Looper's Big Flaws, in 3 Minutes

Rian Johnson's Looper was an impressive film. All I can say is that I enjoyed watching it immensely, all flaws aside. I haven't been able to review it yet, only to offer things like the great Looper parody video I wrote about last month.

Star Wars Abrams, Amazon, Netflix, Youtube, HBO Updates

This post is a bit shameful as it's about news that's already weeks old by now. I'd meant to post all of this earlier, but hadn't found the time with my busy schedule. I went with the posts I was already preparing - hell, I don't know how much people enjoy the Netflix and Streaming news I used to cover, anyway...

So let's start off with an image, shall we? Last week, we got the news that JJ Abrams is going to direct the next Star Wars picture, the first to come out under the new Disney banner. Now, I've had a long-standing issue with some of the tropes in JJ Abrams' film and TV work. He's a fine technical director, but I don't like how he handles characters and the audience.

But other fans had even more fun with this news, and they immediately started making gifs and images, many of which mock one of the most typical visual elements of JJ's work: the lens flare. I think the one on the right is my favorite, and I hope you laugh along with me now.

Question for the Week of Jan 28-Feb 3: Retro Opening Credits

What recent movie do you think nails the use of its retro-style opening credit sequence?

Easy peasy: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. I have a lot of love for this movie, for a variety of reasons (I wanted it for another post, but lacked the embed clips). I'm really happy with the interaction between Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer, the story is funny and told in a fun way, and I like the script...

The credits sequence, however, is both fine and unexpected.

Honest Trailers: LotR

I'm keeping things brief today because yesterday's review of The Words had some fluke where the last 4 paragraphs became one big clumped-together paragraph. It was extra-weird, since the error only popped up once I made a few corrections - then the two times I corrected that, it reappeared immediately... Anyway, after yesterday's sucky experience, I'll just get to the point and go.

It's another week, and so we have another Fan-made Gem! This time out, it's an Honest Trailer entry - for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films.

The Words Review: Bloody Awful

I went to a friend's house to hang out. I almost never use cable services to order movies, but Rachel wasn't in the mood for any of my DVDs and I wasn't in the mood for hers. So we looked through all of the On-Demand film offerings, and Rachel was interested in The Words. She said it sounded good, and I was convinced when I looked at the cast: Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Dennis Quaid, Jeremy Irons... We both figured we were in for a good film.

We were both wrong.

The Words seemed to start off well enough - the cinematography was pretty, with little dialogue, scenes of Bradley and Zoe preparing for a big social event; he's getting an award, but he looks unhappy... and the rain creates an atmosphere.

However, it still invited some mockery early on because of the intrusive voiceover work. After a few moments of Cooper and Saldana, Dennis Quaid's voice pops in to narrate what's occurring on screen, and it just didn't work. Even as I was gamely sinking in to it, the narration felt kind of odd, describing what didn't need to be described - Quaid's voice adding nothing.

It began as a simple, minor mistake, having the VO tell us that an old man is watching a successful writer as he gets into a limo. Great, we now know that this is something important. As the picture goes on, such clumsy narration is used until it gets funny...

And, oh god, the story! On its surface, The Words is a highly-clever story-within-a-story-within-a-story-within- ugh! I'll just describe the entire plot, because you shouldn't have to sit through it yourself:

Bradley plays a struggling writer with a great girlfriend (Saldana). He writes a fine novel, but an agent who meets with Bradley tells him that his work is "too bold" for a first-time novelist; no one, we're told, would tolerate such out-of-the-box art. Bradley struggles with money issues (though we have no idea why Zoe isn't contributing financially, herself), which he resolves by taking a mailroom job at a publishing company. He also marries his girl, and honeymoons in Paris, which he can somehow afford.

Reviewing with Others, Pt 37: Swoon

After a little spell of not doing these indie movie reviews, I've finally watched and written about Swoon. In part, it was the film's fault: Swoon is a dense and bold work, and it's the sort of film that you really need to pay attention to - while all this is not usually a problem for me, I've been overworked, pressed for time, and I wanted to do right by this picture.

As such, you'll be able to read my review over at Man, I Love Films shortly. I'll add the link once I give it a final pass. [Update 1: I decided to give myself more time, so I'll have it up by noon tomorrow] [Update 2: I did not expect that I would publish this near midnight on Sunday and only be satisfied with my review by Tuesday at 10PM EST - it's later than I promised, but this movie is both complex and high-quality, and so I needed extra time to make sure that I did it some justice. I hope that my words were worthy of the subject, and that you enjoy the same...]

Reviewing with Others, Pt. 36, sorta: Top 10 of 2012

It's funny, the Indie Spotlight reviews I do for Man, I Love Films require a score (tho it's hearts, not stars), which is something I don't give to my film coverage here. Similarly, I posted my unusual Year-End Roundup in December, listing my best and worst experiences. I wrote a little about each entry, but I didn't provide anything like a top 10 list.

Well, guess what? Man, I Love Films asked me for a top 10 of 2012 list, with no explanation or text, and the lists of the site's writers went up today, near the end of January. Yes, that site and mine handled these things in opposite ways, but I'm happy that they waited 'til now, as I've been incredibly busy, and the delay gave me a chance to see at least one more 2012 movie (Django).

Bill Murray as The Dark Knight's Joker

Youtube user "habibistheman" lives up to his handle with this great clip, which is one of the best Fan-made Gems to ever appear on this site. Using shots from one of my 90's favorites, Quick Change, this clever bloke spliced those scenes into Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. And so, somehow, Bill Murray becomes the Joker in Nolan's tDK.

Quick Change is a film I've wanted to review, but I'm never sure whether to give it the possibly-excessive-if-I-don't-restrain-myself full review treatment, or whether to just cover it in an MRQ. It's a great comedy with that features New York City at its most NYC - where a successful bank heist is followed by the worst possible run of bad luck, preventing the robbers from being able to accomplish the simple task of grabbing their luggage and getting to the airport.

In case you can't tell, I think habibistheman's video is really well-done, so if you only bother checking out one Fan-made Gem this year, let it be this one:

Die Hard Has Come To This?

The first time I saw Die Hard, I was floored. It was so funny, and so intense, and the action was so good. I understand why Bruce Willis catapulted from a TV star to a film mega-star. I also understand why the Die Hard formula was copied over and over - the insane fight against the odds in a cramped location made for an undeniably engaging experience.

In another post, I might write a lot of words about at least one of its sequels, which grew less satisfying with every film. I might also write about the original film, which I adoringly reviewed two Christmases ago - and I might note that the series is a combination of a disaster pic (e.g., The Towering Inferno) and an action film (e.g., Escape from New York, Lethal Weapon).

The last thing I would do is bag on Bruce Willis for getting older. This is a natural thing, and I'm not that superficial or cheap... Bruce hasn't had a lot of obvious plastic surgery done, nor ever tried to hide his hair loss (he's always looked good, in every phase of his battle with going bald)...

Question for the Week of Jan 21-27: Favorite Dream Sequence

What's your favorite dream sequence in a film?

The dream sequence is a favorite tool of film-makers. On the one hand, you can make impossible things happen, kill characters, and break most every rule of traditional narrative and dialogue. Often these moments are used to scare the audience, or to have the dreaming character realize something...

I wish I could be more sophisticated about this. I wish I could go with the dreams that Salvador Dali designed for Hitchcock's Spellbound. The dreams in Coen films like Raising Arizona or The Hudsucker Proxy. Or the horrifying vision of bike destruction in Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Or even more obvious recent options, like Inception or Dreamscape. Huge swaths of each take place in the mind.