Great Show

[Eddie Love]

Informed, intelligent, entertaining. Terrific tribute.

And I completely agree about what a dumb missed opportunity Corman's honorary Oscar was. I realize it's a cliche to slag the Academy Awards, but just think what a tribute they could have had with tons of clips and testimonials from the likes of Demme, Nicholson and Scorsese. Would it have left less time for the gang from Stomp to do some wretched tribute to sound effects? Perhaps -- but it would have actually imparted film history to the viewers as well as having been fitting and doubtlessly entertaining. They really suck at that these days. They waited way too long to honor even a legend / pioneer / humanitarian like Jerry Lewis. By the time he was up there, he seemed self-conscious if not embarrassed by how long it had taken. Even as late as 1995, Jerry would have had them pissing themselves.

Last year they did a tribute to John Hughes, which is fine -- I guess, even if he never made a single truly fine film. And while the year Jimmy Stewart and Sinatra died they both got separate tributes, Paul Newman and Charlton Heston were simply included in the memorial tribute. Those two both deserved stand-alone recognition as artists, film stars and important members of the film community as well as national figures.

[grubl]

I've never taken the Oscar's seriously (obviously very political), but this past year I refused to watch. The highlight for me has always been the special tributes to past greats. The fact that such treasures as Lauren BaCall (only one of three of the Golden Age giants still alive!), Gordon Willis (one of the most talented cinematographers in history) and Roger Corman were given their awards/tributes in a seperate ceremony pissed me off to a degree that I cannot convey. Added to that, we are now nominating 10 films for the first time since the early '40s. Back then you could name a dozen fine films a year. 2009 was total shit. I could barely scrape a list of even watchable films together. For the foreseeable future the Academy Awards and I have split company. And I must say that I do disagree with Derek; dead or alive, talent/performance alone should win out.

One little Corman anecdote. I was at ComicCon a couple of years ago and attended a Roger Corman interview in a large hall. He was very informative and entertaining. When it came time for Q and A, a young man brandished a script that he had just completed. Corman called the kid up, took the script and promised that he would read it. I don't think that he was full of shit, he seemed sincere.

[Eddie Love]

Aug 17, 2010 13:56:42 GMT -5 grubl said:

The fact that such treasures as Lauren BaCall (only one of three of the Golden Age giants still alive!)

So does that mean:

2) Olivia De Haviland
3) Kirk Douglas

?

[grubl]

I rethought it and there are five:

Olivia De Haviland
Lauren BaCall
Mickey Rooney
Shirley Temple
Liz Taylor (she borders on silver age, but her first film was in 1942, so I'll include her)

I put Kirk Douglas in the next generation (Lancaster, Brando, etc.), his first role was 1946 and that was not a very big one. But, that's just how i reckon it.

[Eddie Love]

Good call, I wasn't thinking child stars. Don't forget Maureen O'Hara!

[grubl]

Wow! You're right. I looked it up. I thought that she was dead. So that's six. These people should be front row center at every Oscar ceremony and be lauded regularly.

[dread]

I'm really looking forward to this one.

[Eddie Love]

With the Corman show still ringing in my ears, I took in PIRANHA 3D in the hopes of scoring some fun schlock. There were a couple of bits I liked, some of the underwater stuff looks cool in the 3D, and I love the fact they cast Elizabeth Shue -- a real woman -- in the lead.

But the picture's "ironic" misogyny sure felt after a while like the general article. Plus the film stops dead for a 15 minute piranha holocaust that may be the single bloodiest scene I've ever seen on screen. Not what I would characterize as amusing, as we're simply seeing hundreds of people we know nothing about being eviscerated for what amounts to about one fifth of the film's 85 minute running time.

[tombitd]

Aug 21, 2010 20:16:09 GMT -5 Eddie Love said:

With the Corman show still ringing in my ears, I took in PIRANHA 3D in the hopes of scoring some fun schlock. There were a couple of bits I liked, some of the underwater stuff looks cool in the 3D, and I love the fact they cast Elizabeth Shue -- a real woman -- in the lead.

But the picture's "ironic" misogyny sure felt after a while like the general article. Plus the film stops dead for a 15 minute piranha holocaust that may be the single bloodiest scene I've ever seen on screen. Not what I would characterize as amusing, as we're simply seeing hundreds of people we know nothing about being eviscerated for what amounts to about one fifth of the film's 85 minute running time.

As I mentioned in my Ten Statements, when you look up MILF in my personal dictionary, you'll see Elizabeth Shue--and it's all the more impactful given that I fell head-over-heels in love with her as a teenager and never fell out...

I'd also commend Aja for casting Jessica Szohr in the 'final girl' role of the young people's thread of the story, as she is not one of those Caucasin Wankery Network nyphmettes, just a cute gal with a modest body you can almost imagine seeing hanging out in your neighborhood.

I don't know if I call the misogyny as ironic--what fascinated me about the film was Alexandre Aja's painstaking recreation in tone and pacing of an actual 70's nature-run-amok film including, yes, the sort of view of females as just objects to literally ogle then dispose of, a teasing of child endangerment, the use of big name stars in cameos that echo the roles of their glory days (you should've heard the recognition laughter than ran through the audience when Christopher Lloyd made the scene), and scenes that are there only for excessively shocking gore and nudity... Taken on that level, it's surprisingly successful.

What did bother me was the reaction to the feed-o-thon you refer to....everyone was laughing and cheering and cracking jokes in the theater I was watching, even as Greg Nicotero's make-up crew kept cranking up the gross.

(and yet, the grossest thing in this film o' gross things? Watching Jessica Szohr's puke coming 'right atcha'....)

[Eddie Love]

Cool, I just read your 10 comments. Excellent. Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy the girl-on-girl swim scene as I was too distracted by how long these two could possibly hold their breath. (Maybe Kelly Brook was using as reserves the breath of mine she takes away. I have this buddy who's constantly raving about her, and I'm a convert from some time back.) I don't have an issue with the film's fulsome T&A, but what bugged me was there were two separate scenes of a struggling guy in the water hurling sexist invective at a woman trying to save him, which kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

Second movie in a row I've seen -- after SALT -- that I wouldn't have minded being longer.

[tombitd]

Aug 21, 2010 21:37:59 GMT -5 Eddie Love said:

Cool, I just read your 10 comments. Excellent. Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy the girl-on-girl swim scene as I was too distracted by how long these two could possibly hold their breath. (Maybe Kelly Brook was using as reserves the breath of mine she takes away. I have this buddy who's constantly raving about her, and I'm a convert from some time back.) I don't have an issue with the film's fulsome T&A, but what bugged me was there were two separate scenes of a struggling guy in the water hurling sexist invective at a woman trying to save him, which kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

Well, let's be honest--in keeping with Aja's attempts at keeping the 70's nature-gone-amok vibe going, the film just has a dim view of humanity. Let's not forget Szohr's asshat proto-boyfriend driving a motorboat through a crowded mass of teen flesh, all the while screaming 'get out of the way!,' or that twisted cameo by Eli Fucking Roth using a water-spurting garden hose as his phallic replacement....

I don't know if the film could sustain more running time, though....it feels padded at 85 minutes, especially with the endless underwater Esther Williams sequence.

As for Kelly Brook....what struck me the most about her isn't her beauty, but her personality, which shone through her cookie-cutter part. She managed to give Danni three dimensions while Crystal remains just a set of fake boobs...