list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Howard the Duck on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Howard_the_Duck/16242/default.aspx Title: Howard the Duck
Year: 1986
Director: Willard Huyck
Plot: In this sci-fi comedy from executive producer George Lucas, Howard the Duck is an extra-terrestrial fowl who is accidentally beamed to earth by physicist Dr. Jenning (Jeffrey Jones) and his assistant Phil (Tim Robbins). The two go looking for Howard and find him in the home of Beverly Switzer (Lea Thompson), who was rescued by the interstellar duck from some mean-looking thugs. Beverly and Phil are friends, and when the government finds out about Howard, she helps Phil and Dr. Jenning hide him from the authorities until they can zap him back home. In the meantime, several wild chases and spectacular special effects keep the picture rolling along. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 18
Number of Lists: 27
Number of blog posts: 5
Number of discussion threads: 2
SpoutRating: 2
]]>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:39:36 GMTHoward the Duck1986Willard HuyckIn this sci-fi comedy from executive producer <a href="/players/P___100308/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>George Lucas</a>, Howard the Duck is an extra-terrestrial fowl who is accidentally beamed to earth by physicist Dr. Jenning (<a href="/players/P____36137/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Jeffrey Jones</a>) and his assistant Phil (<a href="/players/P___108437/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Tim Robbins</a>). The two go looking for Howard and find him in the home of Beverly Switzer (<a href="/players/P____70717/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Lea Thompson</a>), who was rescued by the interstellar duck from some mean-looking thugs. Beverly and Phil are friends, and when the government finds out about Howard, she helps Phil and Dr. Jenning hide him from the authorities until they can zap him back home. In the meantime, several wild chases and spectacular special effects keep the picture rolling along. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide18Tag Target (>10)27522http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/v710866gmqm.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Howard_the_Duck/16242/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/the_mow/archive/2009/7/17/43104.aspx Post By: The_MOW
Post To: The_MOW Blog
Post Date: 7/17/2009 11:39:36 AM
Body: "Howard" (voiced by Chip Zien,and performed by Ed Gale, Yim Rose, Steve Sleap, Peter Baird, Mary Wells, Lisa Sturz and Jordan Prentince) is an average duck who has just got home from wherever and checks his messages and his newest issue of "Playduck," which he has a subscription to. As he is relaxing while thumbing through his magazine, he feels his chair begin to violently shake. Seconds later he and his chair are going through his apartment building's walls and eventually over the streets of "Marshington, DC". As he is screaming, those on the streets look up in shock. Suddenly, "Howard" is flying through space itself and lands on a strange world that appears to be similar to his home, but it is inhabited by strange, featherless creatures who are taller than him. After his first experience with these strange creatures, he finds a female one (Lea Thompson) being harassed by a couple of males. After using the martial art known as "Quack Fu" to fend off the males, he learns from the female that he is in Cleveland. Then, after angrily talking with himself out loud and mistaking the place as the name of the planet, she explains that he is on Earth. After gathering her senses, and realising she isn't imagining a clothes-wearing, cigar smoking talking duck, she takes him back to her place and introduces herself as "Beverly" and explains that she is in a up and coming band called "Cherry Bomb." "Beverly" asks for help in trying to figure out "Howard" from an assistant at a museum (Tim Robbins), who is the on-again-off-again boyfriend of a member of "Cherry Bomb." Eventually, "Phil" (Robbins) introduces "Beverly" and "Howard" to "Dr. Walter Jenning" (Jeffrey Jones) who explains that an experiment he was heading brought "Howard" from his planet to Earth. But they don't realize until it's too late that the experiment brought something even more dangerous to Earth. Now, "Howard", with the help of his new friends, have to save the world from what could be its worst threat ever. The first thing you can't help but see is the duck costumes. Compared to full-body outfits made today, they look pretty cheap and fake. However, they are still nicely constructed. The duck bills move in perfect sync with the audio and the eyes even blink, even if they don't look realistic or in a place on the head that resembles more of the location of human eyes than that of a duck. There are a few flaws with the movie. The first is the script. The story is pretty good, but the dialogue is a bit on the weak side. Because of the weak dialogue, the performances suffer a bit. Zien and those who brought "Howard" to life, and Thompson does a pretty good job with the flawed dialogue. Robbins does a fairly memorable job as a bumbling nerdish character, but doesn't go out of his way to go over the top like he could have in some scenes. Another problem is that the supporting cast is poorly developed. At least one supporting character is seen more than the others, and that doesn't help when it becomes obvious that one of them is directly affected by the threat. Now, it might be because of the fact that the movie is over 20 years old, but the special effects are really weak. It is obvious that the electrical bolts and other electricity-based special effects were animated in during post-production. Then, the threat that was also brought to Earth is obvious a stop-animation creature that was also added into the scene. You also get some fairly weak makeup effects on a certain member of the human cast. There are some bad parodies in this movie that may give you a few chuckles, but that's all. You won't really laugh while watching the movie. Some other jokes, which are purely visual, are a little more for adults than kids. There really isn't anything dirty, nor is the language too colorful. You may get a few "damns" here and there though. Despite the flaws, it really isn't that bad of a movie. It's fairly cute actually. You may like it a little more if you are a fan of the Marvel Comics Group publications that it is based on, but you might be disappointed in the fact that it really isn't a complete adaptation. I would say check it out the next time you see it on TV if nothing else is on.
]]>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:39:36 GMTThe_MOWThe_MOW Blog7/17/2009 11:39:36 AM"Howard" (voiced by Chip Zien,and performed by Ed Gale, Yim Rose, Steve Sleap, Peter Baird, Mary Wells, Lisa Sturz and Jordan Prentince) is an average duck who has just got home from wherever and checks his messages and his newest issue of "Playduck," which he has a subscription to. As he is relaxing while thumbing through his magazine, he feels his chair begin to violently shake. Seconds later he and his chair are going through his apartment building's walls and eventually over the streets of "Marshington, DC". As he is screaming, those on the streets look up in shock. Suddenly, "Howard" is flying through space itself and lands on a strange world that appears to be similar to his home, but it is inhabited by strange, featherless creatures who are taller than him. After his first experience with these strange creatures, he finds a female one (Lea Thompson) being harassed by a couple of males. After using the martial art known as "Quack Fu" to fend off the males, he learns from the female that he is in Cleveland. Then, after angrily talking with himself out loud and mistaking the place as the name of the planet, she explains that he is on Earth. After gathering her senses, and realising she isn't imagining a clothes-wearing, cigar smoking talking duck, she takes him back to her place and introduces herself as "Beverly" and explains that she is in a up and coming band called "Cherry Bomb." "Beverly" asks for help in trying to figure out "Howard" from an assistant at a museum (Tim Robbins), who is the on-again-off-again boyfriend of a member of "Cherry Bomb." Eventually, "Phil" (Robbins) introduces "Beverly" and "Howard" to "Dr. Walter Jenning" (Jeffrey Jones) who explains that an experiment he was heading brought "Howard" from his planet to Earth. But they don't realize until it's too late that the experiment brought something even more dangerous to Earth. Now, "Howard", with the help of his new friends, have to save the world from what could be its worst threat ever. The first thing you can't help but see is the duck costumes. Compared to full-body outfits made today, they look pretty cheap and fake. However, they are still nicely constructed. The duck bills move in perfect sync with the audio and the eyes even blink, even if they don't look realistic or in a place on the head that resembles more of the location of human eyes than that of a duck. There are a few flaws with the movie. The first is the script. The story is pretty good, but the dialogue is a bit on the weak side. Because of the weak dialogue, the performances suffer a bit. Zien and those who brought "Howard" to life, and Thompson does a pretty good job with the flawed dialogue. Robbins does a fairly memorable job as a bumbling nerdish character, but doesn't go out of his way to go over the top like he could have in some scenes. Another problem is that the supporting cast is poorly developed. At least one supporting character is seen more than the others, and that doesn't help when it becomes obvious that one of them is directly affected by the threat. Now, it might be because of the fact that the movie is over 20 years old, but the special effects are really weak. It is obvious that the electrical bolts and other electricity-based special effects were animated in during post-production. Then, the threat that was also brought to Earth is obvious a stop-animation creature that was also added into the scene. You also get some fairly weak makeup effects on a certain member of the human cast. There are some bad parodies in this movie that may give you a few chuckles, but that's all. You won't really laugh while watching the movie. Some other jokes, which are purely visual, are a little more for adults than kids. There really isn't anything dirty, nor is the language too colorful. You may get a few "damns" here and there though. Despite the flaws, it really isn't that bad of a movie. It's fairly cute actually. You may like it a little more if you are a fan of the Marvel Comics Group publications that it is based on, but you might be disappointed in the fact that it really isn't a complete adaptation. I would say check it out the next time you see it on TV if nothing else is on. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/3/10/40945.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 3/10/2009 6:01:08 PM
Body: If you buy the kids only one new video release this week, make it Pinocchio. Obviously. But if you have enough spending money to buy two, pick up Howard the Duck as well. Finally on DVD in America (with a Special Edition no less), the infamous flop is anything but a great film. Yet it is hardly one of the worst films of the 1980s, despite its reputation. For the past 23 years, I’ve stood by my childhood love for Howard the Duck, constantly acknowledging that I even owned Ellis Weiner’s novelization of the film. Technically, the best reason to defend the movie’s existence is that it directly led to the creation of Pixar. But this reason doesn’t influence anyone to watch the thing. So, in order to defend the movie’s onscreen worth, I’ve come up with ten points for why you should pick up the new Howard the Duck disc and not feel at all guilty about doing so. 1. It’s No Longer the Worst Lucasfilm Production Take your pick — there’s The Phantom Menace or there’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, either of which could certainly take the prize for being the worst movie to come from George Lucas in his 40 years producing films. Well, maybe not worse than More American Graffiti. But both films were far bigger creative and franchise disappointments than Howard the Duck (financial success is another story, of course), and so they have a relative sort of wretchedness that places them in the bottom of Lucas’ Sarlacc pit of a career. Even if you’re one of those defend-to-the-end Star Wars fanboys who will argue the pros of Menace, at least then consider Willow to be worse than Howard the Duck. The blatant Lord of the Rings rip-off has its historical relevance, but looking back on it now, it’s even more dated than Howard. And regardless of how groundbreaking it was, Willow’s visual effects don’t hold up quite as well as Howard’s old-fashioned, and oft-celebrated craftsmanship. But that’s another point… 2.  The Special Effects Are Technically Brilliant Those of us who prefer go-motion and other non-CGI effects work will always pay respect to ILM’s achievements on Howard the Duck, particularly their efforts with the Dark Overlord creature in the movie’s final act. People unfortunately tend to focus on the $2 million duck suit (see point #3), but even then Howard didn’t deserve its Razzie for Worst Visual Effects. To compare it to digital creatures, the monster would fit in just fine in either of the Men in Black movies. And for its own time, it was a magnificent creation. So it existed alongside a silly costumed creature in an overpriced B-movie, it still deserved an Oscar nomination for F/X in 1987, a year the Academy recognized Little Shop of Horrors and Poltergeist II: The Other Side (and incomparable winner Aliens). 3. The Duck Suit is Still Better Than Most CGI Those of us who grew up with Muppets, Chewbacca and other non-computer-generated fantasy creatures had no problem with Howard the Duck’s titular fowl being represented as a dwarf in a duck suit. The issue with the effect, though, is that allegedly Lucas had wanted Howard to be a CG creation, but the technology just wasn’t there yet. So, costumes and robotics, all of which reportedly cost $2 million, were viewed as a relative disappointment. But think of how few great CG characters there have been in the past 20 years, and then seriously attempt to argue that Howard would have been any better if made in the years of CGI supremacy. Now, also remember that 1986 was a year that gave us fine puppetry, costumed dwarfs and robotics like that found in Labyrinth (also a Lucasfilm production), Little Shop of Horrors, Legend, Short Circuit, Flight of the Navigator, Troll (sure, why not?) and, yes, Howard the Duck. So really, the only thing disappointing about the duck suit is that it doesn’t really look like the comic book character upon which it’s based. Of course, it’s not likely that a CG version of Howard would have been any more faithful. 4. Parallels, Puns and Playful Philosophy Some fans of the original Howard the Duck comics could argue that the duck suit is hardly the worst offense of unfaithfulness. Other complaints might be the alteration of Beverly’s career or the occasional sacrifice of the comic’s tone in order to pander to younger audiences. But real sticklers may take issue with Howard’s origin, the inclusion of Duckworld (which did come from the comics but wasn’t Howard creator Steve Gerber’s idea of what the character’s home world was like) and the punny parallels that came with it. Yet for those of us who love corny jokes and puns, the idea of an alternate world where everything’s the same, just with descendants of ducks rather than apes, is a lot of fun. It’s the same appreciation that allowed me to enjoy the ska scene and the similarly parallel worlds of The Flintstones and Dinosaurs and the parodies in MAD Magazine. In the first few minutes, we get treated to the following cheesy but delicious sight and audio gags: a Rolling Egg magazine, a Playduck magazine, movie posters for “Splahsdance,” “Breeders of the Lost Stork” and My Little Chickadee (starring W.C. Fowls and Mae Nest), and commercials for feather fungus treatment and the Crazy Eddie spoof “Crazy Webby.” This, plus the opening credit narration and theory of Duckworld evolution were enjoyable to a kid in the midst of learning about Darwin and pondering the existence of alternate worlds. 5. Jeffrey Jones as Dr. Jenning/Dark Overlord Between Howard the Duck and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Jeffrey Jones was one of the biggest and best villains of the summer of ‘86. For kids, anyway. But even adults recognized the quality of Jones’ performance in Howard, as Dr. Jenning, the scientist who becomes possessed by the Dark Overlord. To cult audiences, he may have seemed like just another Dr. Lizardo/Lord Worfin (of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension), but while John Lithgow was fine and nutty, Jones is much creepier and much, much more evil, even when he finds time to be deadpan hilarious during the greatest scene in the film, in the “cajun sushi” diner. 6. The Diner Scene Although it’s mostly thanks to Jones that this scene is so memorable, it’s not just his performance alone that makes it so terrific. Every time I watch the movie, I look forward to the entire episode, from Jones/Jenning/Dark Overlord’s exposition to the waitress’ interactions with the “family” to Howard’s pie and quack-fu fight with a bunch of rednecks. And I will always recommend the movie for this scene alone. It includes a lot of disturbing elements, such as Beverly’s claim that she’s Howard’s girlfriend and the angry mob’s desire to kill and cook a talking duck man, that might have worked better had Howard been represented as an animated character rather than a guy in a suit (bestiality and homicide is just fine in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Looney Tunes cartoons), but it’s also one of the weirdest and funniest scenes from any comic book adaptation ever. 7. Lea Thompson as Beverly Switzler I would go so far as to argue that Lea Thompson’s crimped-haired Beverly is the hottest female comic book character come to (cinematic) life, but that is certainly subjective. Plenty of people probably prefer Kirsten Dunst, Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner, Michelle Pfeiffer, Pamela Anderson or even Margot Kidder. But Thompson is definitely in there as one of the greatest physical incarnations of a comic book femme d’ fantasy, and the scene where she goes to bed with Howard wearing barely a bit of lingerie (as creepy as the scene is infamous for being) is up there with Dunst’s wet tshirt/upside-down kiss in Spider-Man and any of Pfeiffer’s bondage-bound Catwoman scenes in Batman Returns as one of the hottest moments from any comic book adaptation ever. 8. Cherry Bomb and the Howard the Duck soundtrack Beverly may not have been a rocker in the comics, but this was the 1980s, and you had to have a great synthpop soundtrack, so the character was given a change in career as the leader of a Runaways-inspired band called Cherry Bomb. And for having beaten out more musical contenders for the role, including The Go-Go’s Belinda Carlisle and Tori Amos (then of Y Can’t Tori Read), Lea Thompson does quite well singing such catchy tunes as “Howard the Duck” and “Hunger City.” Cherry Bomb’s music also had some help from Thomas Dolby, George Clinton, Joe Walsh and Stevie Wonder. As for the rest of the soundtrack, Oscar-winning composer John Barry (Out of Africa; the James Bond films) contributes a very fine score. 9. It’s For Kids Because everyone always defends the Star Wars prequels as being for kids, as if that’s really an excuse for faulty filmmaking, I’m going to do the same here. But to do that, I guess I have to also defend the idea that it is indeed a movie for kids. Watching the thing, it’s hard to tell, because there is a lot of content and humor that only adults can or should appreciate, and certainly one of the biggest criticisms with the movie is it’s fluctuations between wanting to be a biting, sarcastic comic book adaptation for older audiences and fans of the source and needing to be a silly movie for kids. But for all the duck nudity, sexuality and other material better suited to mature audiences, there’s not really anything harmful to a kid, and there’s millions of us ‘80s children who grew up okay to prove it. So, while you adults may not be able to enjoy Howard the Duck anymore, even as a nostalgic artifact, your kids will probably like it as much as you used to. 10. It’s Not Redundant Unlike some comic book adaptations, Howard the Duck isn’t a straight lift from the pages of the source material, and it’s better off for it. Some fans of the comic may be annoyed with Howard’s appearance or Beverly’s occupation or the absence of any of Howard’s usual foes, but those of us who saw the movie first can appreciate the differences, because these allow for a better introduction to and curiosity about the comic. In a way, it’s to the original Marvel series as The Incredibles is to the graphic novel of Watchmen (though it’s certainly not anywhere near as smart nor well-crafted as The Incredibles). Now, if you still aren’t sure whether or not you should get the DVD, watch some (or all) of the movie on Hulu: Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:01:08 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com3/10/2009 6:01:08 PMIf you buy the kids only one new video release this week, make it Pinocchio. Obviously. But if you have enough spending money to buy two, pick up Howard the Duck as well. Finally on DVD in America (with a Special Edition no less), the infamous flop is anything but a great film. Yet it is hardly one of the worst films of the 1980s, despite its reputation. For the past 23 years, I’ve stood by my childhood love for Howard the Duck, constantly acknowledging that I even owned Ellis Weiner’s novelization of the film. Technically, the best reason to defend the movie’s existence is that it directly led to the creation of Pixar. But this reason doesn’t influence anyone to watch the thing. So, in order to defend the movie’s onscreen worth, I’ve come up with ten points for why you should pick up the new Howard the Duck disc and not feel at all guilty about doing so. 1. It’s No Longer the Worst Lucasfilm Production Take your pick — there’s The Phantom Menace or there’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, either of which could certainly take the prize for being the worst movie to come from George Lucas in his 40 years producing films. Well, maybe not worse than More American Graffiti. But both films were far bigger creative and franchise disappointments than Howard the Duck (financial success is another story, of course), and so they have a relative sort of wretchedness that places them in the bottom of Lucas’ Sarlacc pit of a career. Even if you’re one of those defend-to-the-end Star Wars fanboys who will argue the pros of Menace, at least then consider Willow to be worse than Howard the Duck. The blatant Lord of the Rings rip-off has its historical relevance, but looking back on it now, it’s even more dated than Howard. And regardless of how groundbreaking it was, Willow’s visual effects don’t hold up quite as well as Howard’s old-fashioned, and oft-celebrated craftsmanship. But that’s another point… 2.  The Special Effects Are Technically Brilliant Those of us who prefer go-motion and other non-CGI effects work will always pay respect to ILM’s achievements on Howard the Duck, particularly their efforts with the Dark Overlord creature in the movie’s final act. People unfortunately tend to focus on the $2 million duck suit (see point #3), but even then Howard didn’t deserve its Razzie for Worst Visual Effects. To compare it to digital creatures, the monster would fit in just fine in either of the Men in Black movies. And for its own time, it was a magnificent creation. So it existed alongside a silly costumed creature in an overpriced B-movie, it still deserved an Oscar nomination for F/X in 1987, a year the Academy recognized Little Shop of Horrors and Poltergeist II: The Other Side (and incomparable winner Aliens). 3. The Duck Suit is Still Better Than Most CGI Those of us who grew up with Muppets, Chewbacca and other non-computer-generated fantasy creatures had no problem with Howard the Duck’s titular fowl being represented as a dwarf in a duck suit. The issue with the effect, though, is that allegedly Lucas had wanted Howard to be a CG creation, but the technology just wasn’t there yet. So, costumes and robotics, all of which reportedly cost $2 million, were viewed as a relative disappointment. But think of how few great CG characters there have been in the past 20 years, and then seriously attempt to argue that Howard would have been any better if made in the years of CGI supremacy. Now, also remember that 1986 was a year that gave us fine puppetry, costumed dwarfs and robotics like that found in Labyrinth (also a Lucasfilm production), Little Shop of Horrors, Legend, Short Circuit, Flight of the Navigator, Troll (sure, why not?) and, yes, Howard the Duck. So really, the only thing disappointing about the duck suit is that it doesn’t really look like the comic book character upon which it’s based. Of course, it’s not likely that a CG version of Howard would have been any more faithful. 4. Parallels, Puns and Playful Philosophy Some fans of the original Howard the Duck comics could argue that the duck suit is hardly the worst offense of unfaithfulness. Other complaints might be the alteration of Beverly’s career or the occasional sacrifice of the comic’s tone in order to pander to younger audiences. But real sticklers may take issue with Howard’s origin, the inclusion of Duckworld (which did come from the comics but wasn’t Howard creator Steve Gerber’s idea of what the character’s home world was like) and the punny parallels that came with it. Yet for those of us who love corny jokes and puns, the idea of an alternate world where everything’s the same, just with descendants of ducks rather than apes, is a lot of fun. It’s the same appreciation that allowed me to enjoy the ska scene and the similarly parallel worlds of The Flintstones and Dinosaurs and the parodies in MAD Magazine. In the first few minutes, we get treated to the following cheesy but delicious sight and audio gags: a Rolling Egg magazine, a Playduck magazine, movie posters for “Splahsdance,” “Breeders of the Lost Stork” and My Little Chickadee (starring W.C. Fowls and Mae Nest), and commercials for feather fungus treatment and the Crazy Eddie spoof “Crazy Webby.” This, plus the opening credit narration and theory of Duckworld evolution were enjoyable to a kid in the midst of learning about Darwin and pondering the existence of alternate worlds. 5. Jeffrey Jones as Dr. Jenning/Dark Overlord Between Howard the Duck and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Jeffrey Jones was one of the biggest and best villains of the summer of ‘86. For kids, anyway. But even adults recognized the quality of Jones’ performance in Howard, as Dr. Jenning, the scientist who becomes possessed by the Dark Overlord. To cult audiences, he may have seemed like just another Dr. Lizardo/Lord Worfin (of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension), but while John Lithgow was fine and nutty, Jones is much creepier and much, much more evil, even when he finds time to be deadpan hilarious during the greatest scene in the film, in the “cajun sushi” diner. 6. The Diner Scene Although it’s mostly thanks to Jones that this scene is so memorable, it’s not just his performance alone that makes it so terrific. Every time I watch the movie, I look forward to the entire episode, from Jones/Jenning/Dark Overlord’s exposition to the waitress’ interactions with the “family” to Howard’s pie and quack-fu fight with a bunch of rednecks. And I will always recommend the movie for this scene alone. It includes a lot of disturbing elements, such as Beverly’s claim that she’s Howard’s girlfriend and the angry mob’s desire to kill and cook a talking duck man, that might have worked better had Howard been represented as an animated character rather than a guy in a suit (bestiality and homicide is just fine in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Looney Tunes cartoons), but it’s also one of the weirdest and funniest scenes from any comic book adaptation ever. 7. Lea Thompson as Beverly Switzler I would go so far as to argue that Lea Thompson’s crimped-haired Beverly is the hottest female comic book character come to (cinematic) life, but that is certainly subjective. Plenty of people probably prefer Kirsten Dunst, Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner, Michelle Pfeiffer, Pamela Anderson or even Margot Kidder. But Thompson is definitely in there as one of the greatest physical incarnations of a comic book femme d’ fantasy, and the scene where she goes to bed with Howard wearing barely a bit of lingerie (as creepy as the scene is infamous for being) is up there with Dunst’s wet tshirt/upside-down kiss in Spider-Man and any of Pfeiffer’s bondage-bound Catwoman scenes in Batman Returns as one of the hottest moments from any comic book adaptation ever. 8. Cherry Bomb and the Howard the Duck soundtrack Beverly may not have been a rocker in the comics, but this was the 1980s, and you had to have a great synthpop soundtrack, so the character was given a change in career as the leader of a Runaways-inspired band called Cherry Bomb. And for having beaten out more musical contenders for the role, including The Go-Go’s Belinda Carlisle and Tori Amos (then of Y Can’t Tori Read), Lea Thompson does quite well singing such catchy tunes as “Howard the Duck” and “Hunger City.” Cherry Bomb’s music also had some help from Thomas Dolby, George Clinton, Joe Walsh and Stevie Wonder. As for the rest of the soundtrack, Oscar-winning composer John Barry (Out of Africa; the James Bond films) contributes a very fine score. 9. It’s For Kids Because everyone always defends the Star Wars prequels as being for kids, as if that’s really an excuse for faulty filmmaking, I’m going to do the same here. But to do that, I guess I have to also defend the idea that it is indeed a movie for kids. Watching the thing, it’s hard to tell, because there is a lot of content and humor that only adults can or should appreciate, and certainly one of the biggest criticisms with the movie is it’s fluctuations between wanting to be a biting, sarcastic comic book adaptation for older audiences and fans of the source and needing to be a silly movie for kids. But for all the duck nudity, sexuality and other material better suited to mature audiences, there’s not really anything harmful to a kid, and there’s millions of us ‘80s children who grew up okay to prove it. So, while you adults may not be able to enjoy Howard the Duck anymore, even as a nostalgic artifact, your kids will probably like it as much as you used to. 10. It’s Not Redundant Unlike some comic book adaptations, Howard the Duck isn’t a straight lift from the pages of the source material, and it’s better off for it. Some fans of the comic may be annoyed with Howard’s appearance or Beverly’s occupation or the absence of any of Howard’s usual foes, but those of us who saw the movie first can appreciate the differences, because these allow for a better introduction to and curiosity about the comic. In a way, it’s to the original Marvel series as The Incredibles is to the graphic novel of Watchmen (though it’s certainly not anywhere near as smart nor well-crafted as The Incredibles). Now, if you still aren’t sure whether or not you should get the DVD, watch some (or all) of the movie on Hulu: Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/8/21/34239.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 8/21/2008 4:01:18 PM
Body: This week, thanks to The Rocker, we can add another fictional band to the long list of music groups created solely for the movies. They’re called Vesuvius, and they’re an ‘80s hair band with a hit song titled “Promised Land.” As part of the film’s marketing, the track was offered as a free download for play on Rock Band (see the clip above). But if you ask me, the wrong tune was used in the promotion. Another song from the soundtrack, also credited to Vesuvius, is called “Pompeii Nights,” and it’s definitely the better of the two. I’m not surprised, though. While most people favor the songs of Spinal Tap, a once-fictional band that has become popular enough to evolve into a “semi-fictional” performing act, I’ve preferred such gems as “The Whites of Their Eyes” by PEZ® People, from The Big Picture. Also co-written by This is Spinal Tap’s Christopher Guest and Michael McKean, and sung by McKean, this song is apparently so underrated that I can’t even find an audio sample, let along a YouTube clip of the fake band’s music video, which was directed by fictional filmmaker Lydia Johnson (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Fortunately, for the benefit of this list, the rest of these under-appreciated tracks have a few fellow fans. “Howard the Duck” by Cherry Bomb, from Howard the Duck I’m still certain that I was this movie’s biggest fan. While growing up, I owned a VHS copy, the comic book adaptation and the novelization, and I still watched the edited version whenever it showed up on commercial television. Unfortunately, though, I never owned the soundtrack, which is, unsurprisingly, out of print (though available on eBay). It’s okay, because the catchy theme song has forever been lodged in my head. Performed diegetically by a fictional Runaways-inspired band, the Razzie-nominated “Howard the Duck” features vocals by actress Lea Thompson and funk legend George Clinton, plus Joe Walsh on guitar and Thomas Dolby, who co-wrote and produced all of Cherry Bomb’s songs, on synthesizer (off screen the song is credited to “Dolby Cube”). Cherry Bomb had four songs in the movie’s soundtrack, and some were definitely better than others. “Hunger City” is also kinda catchy, but that’s possibly only because it sounds reminiscent of Hall & Oats’ “Family Man.” Meanwhile, I absolutely love the slower “Don’t Turn Away,” which, unlike the title number, lacks Clinton’s vocals and Walsh’s guitar playing; yet it makes up for it with a little harmonica part performed by none other than Stevie Wonder. Perhaps its just my being a fan of ‘80s girl groups like The Go-Gos (check out Thompson doing a duet with Belinda Carlisle here) and The Bangles, but I could really have gone for a full album, and maybe a tour, a la Spinal Tap, from Cherry Bomb. “BBC” by Ming Tea, from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery As far as fictional ‘60s bands go, Ming Tea is by far my favorite over such groups as The Oneders, aka The Wonders (from That Thing You Do!) and The Rutles (from All You Need is Cash), the latter of which is only as good as the Beatles tunes they spoof. Of course, I do like to think only of this poppy number from the first film, as well as the “psychedelic scene breaks” from the first and second films and ignore the relatively ‘90s-sounding “Daddy Wasn’t There” from Austin Powers in Goldmember, which seems like a reject from one of Matthew Sweet’s later albums (Sweet is a member of and co-songwriter for the fictional Ming Tea). Again, part of my love for Ming Tea could be due to my love for The Bangles, whose Susanna Hoffs was a member of the fake group (she is also the wife of Jay Roach, who directed all three Austin Powers movies). Someday I’d like to see another Nuggets box set featuring only fictional garage rock bands like Ming Tea, The Archies, etc. “Riverbottom Nightmare Band” by The Riverbottom Nightmare Band (or simply The Nightmare), from Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas Speaking of The Archies, if a fictional rock band from a cartoon can have a hit song continually played on oldies radio, why can’t this fictional rock band from a Muppet TV special get the same treatment? Is it because the vocals are actually pretty terrible? Is it because they’re the villains of the story? Maybe The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar” was the #1 pop song of 1969, but this eponymous tune was written by Oscar-winner Paul Williams, who also gave us such memorable songs as “(Just an) Old Fashioned Love Song,” “The Rainbow Connection” and The Carpenters’ “Rainy Days and Mondays” and “We’ve Only Just Begun.” Plus, if it’s any consolation, RNB’s keyboardist, a bear named Chuck, could totally kick Archie’s ass. Also worthy of radio play, though it’s probably not quite as underrated: “Can You Picture That” by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from The Muppet Movie (and also co-written by Williams). “Goodbye, Eddie, Goodbye” by The Juicy Fruits, from Phantom of the Paradise I’m not always a big fan of this doo-wop revival kind of glam rock, but I really like this track from Brian DePalma’s musical, favoring it over such “real” tunes as Gary Glitter’s cover of Dion’s “The Wanderer” and “made-up” songs as those in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Maybe it’s because this song is also penned by Paul Williams? Technically, because the movie bombed and is still hardly celebrated (at least compared to TRHPS), the whole soundtrack should be on this list. “Two-Way Romeo” by The Bang Bang, from Brothers of the Head I don’t think anyone else even saw this faux rock documentary (it’s not funny enough to be considered a mockumentary), let alone paid attention to its better-than-necessary soundtrack. Basically the song is by British pop-punk band Crackout (or members of the band, anyway), but it’s pretty authentic sounding for the film’s ‘70s setting. “Never Did No Wanderin’” by The Folksmen, from A Mighty Wind Part of my disappointment with this movie was that the songs are actually pretty good — and not necessarily funny. Silly, yes. Witty, yes. But not exactly over the top, laugh-out-loud funny, the way I prefer Christopher Guest movies to be. Yet I would actually go see The Folksmen before I would go see Spinal Tap, which features the same three actors (Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, who in fact opened for themselves by having The Folkmen and Spinal Tap tour together in 2001). If they didn’t perform their cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up,” though, I would be very dissatisfied. Much of the non-Folksmen songs on the soundtrack are actually pretty lame, including the Oscar-nominated “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow.” I believe that had it all been more upbeat, a la The Folksmen’s “Old Joe’s Place” (which, along with “Blood on the Coal,” was actually introduced on Saturday Night Live way back in 1984), “Corn Wine” and “Never Did No Wanderin’” it could have been as successful an album as the O Brother, Where Art Thou? CDs. “Sweat of My Balls” by CB4, from CB4 The more memorable song from this near-mockumentary might be “Straight Outta Locash,” yet like the songs by The Rutles, it’s too clear a redo of a preexisting song (N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton”). I guess I’m not that knowledgeable about rap music, but I had always thought “Sweat of My Balls” was actually original. Turns out, it’s actually a parody of Kool G. Rap’s “Talk Like Sex.” Well, since that song is also underrated (enough that I’d never heard of it), I stand by my inclusion of the less familiar-sounding CB4 track. “My Peanuts” by N.W.H., from Fear of a Black Hat I am at least aware that this song, which comes from a film similar to — though much less successful than — CB4, is a redo of Run-DMC’s “My Addidas.” But it’s so damn ridiculous that I wasn’t able to make the connection between the songs until many years after first seeing the movie. Just imagine how popular peanuts would be if the National Peanut Board used this rap in advertisements. “(Just Around the Corner to the) Light of Day” by The Barbusters, from Light of Day It’s not uncommon for a song written for a movie to become a real-world hit. And when it’s written by Bruce Springsteen, as this one was, you almost expect it to be a success. Yet despite the fact that both Springsteen and Joan Jett, who stars in the film as a member of the fictional Barbusters, have made the tune a staple of their respective live concert sets, it still doesn’t get the kind of general attention paid to, say, “On the Dark Side” from that other ‘80s bar band movie, Eddie and the Cruisers. Why isn’t this played heavily on classic rock radio? And by “this” I of course mean the version featuring Michael J. Fox and, yes, Michael McKean (man, he loves the fictional bands). “It Don’t Worry Me” by Albuquerque, from Nashville This is just a solo singer (played by Barbara Harris) rather than a whole group, but she’s still fictional and the song was still written for the film. And it’s sung during what may be the best film ending of all time (hence its appropriate position at the end of the list). Somehow Keith Carradine won an Oscar for writing the most boring tune in this Robert Altman classic (“I’m Easy”), while this song, also written by Carradine, is clearly more enjoyable. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:01:18 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com8/21/2008 4:01:18 PM This week, thanks to The Rocker, we can add another fictional band to the long list of music groups created solely for the movies. They’re called Vesuvius, and they’re an ‘80s hair band with a hit song titled “Promised Land.” As part of the film’s marketing, the track was offered as a free download for play on Rock Band (see the clip above). But if you ask me, the wrong tune was used in the promotion. Another song from the soundtrack, also credited to Vesuvius, is called “Pompeii Nights,” and it’s definitely the better of the two. I’m not surprised, though. While most people favor the songs of Spinal Tap, a once-fictional band that has become popular enough to evolve into a “semi-fictional” performing act, I’ve preferred such gems as “The Whites of Their Eyes” by PEZ® People, from The Big Picture. Also co-written by This is Spinal Tap’s Christopher Guest and Michael McKean, and sung by McKean, this song is apparently so underrated that I can’t even find an audio sample, let along a YouTube clip of the fake band’s music video, which was directed by fictional filmmaker Lydia Johnson (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Fortunately, for the benefit of this list, the rest of these under-appreciated tracks have a few fellow fans. “Howard the Duck” by Cherry Bomb, from Howard the Duck I’m still certain that I was this movie’s biggest fan. While growing up, I owned a VHS copy, the comic book adaptation and the novelization, and I still watched the edited version whenever it showed up on commercial television. Unfortunately, though, I never owned the soundtrack, which is, unsurprisingly, out of print (though available on eBay). It’s okay, because the catchy theme song has forever been lodged in my head. Performed diegetically by a fictional Runaways-inspired band, the Razzie-nominated “Howard the Duck” features vocals by actress Lea Thompson and funk legend George Clinton, plus Joe Walsh on guitar and Thomas Dolby, who co-wrote and produced all of Cherry Bomb’s songs, on synthesizer (off screen the song is credited to “Dolby Cube”). Cherry Bomb had four songs in the movie’s soundtrack, and some were definitely better than others. “Hunger City” is also kinda catchy, but that’s possibly only because it sounds reminiscent of Hall & Oats’ “Family Man.” Meanwhile, I absolutely love the slower “Don’t Turn Away,” which, unlike the title number, lacks Clinton’s vocals and Walsh’s guitar playing; yet it makes up for it with a little harmonica part performed by none other than Stevie Wonder. Perhaps its just my being a fan of ‘80s girl groups like The Go-Gos (check out Thompson doing a duet with Belinda Carlisle here) and The Bangles, but I could really have gone for a full album, and maybe a tour, a la Spinal Tap, from Cherry Bomb. “BBC” by Ming Tea, from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery As far as fictional ‘60s bands go, Ming Tea is by far my favorite over such groups as The Oneders, aka The Wonders (from That Thing You Do!) and The Rutles (from All You Need is Cash), the latter of which is only as good as the Beatles tunes they spoof. Of course, I do like to think only of this poppy number from the first film, as well as the “psychedelic scene breaks” from the first and second films and ignore the relatively ‘90s-sounding “Daddy Wasn’t There” from Austin Powers in Goldmember, which seems like a reject from one of Matthew Sweet’s later albums (Sweet is a member of and co-songwriter for the fictional Ming Tea). Again, part of my love for Ming Tea could be due to my love for The Bangles, whose Susanna Hoffs was a member of the fake group (she is also the wife of Jay Roach, who directed all three Austin Powers movies). Someday I’d like to see another Nuggets box set featuring only fictional garage rock bands like Ming Tea, The Archies, etc. “Riverbottom Nightmare Band” by The Riverbottom Nightmare Band (or simply The Nightmare), from Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas Speaking of The Archies, if a fictional rock band from a cartoon can have a hit song continually played on oldies radio, why can’t this fictional rock band from a Muppet TV special get the same treatment? Is it because the vocals are actually pretty terrible? Is it because they’re the villains of the story? Maybe The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar” was the #1 pop song of 1969, but this eponymous tune was written by Oscar-winner Paul Williams, who also gave us such memorable songs as “(Just an) Old Fashioned Love Song,” “The Rainbow Connection” and The Carpenters’ “Rainy Days and Mondays” and “We’ve Only Just Begun.” Plus, if it’s any consolation, RNB’s keyboardist, a bear named Chuck, could totally kick Archie’s ass. Also worthy of radio play, though it’s probably not quite as underrated: “Can You Picture That” by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from The Muppet Movie (and also co-written by Williams). “Goodbye, Eddie, Goodbye” by The Juicy Fruits, from Phantom of the Paradise I’m not always a big fan of this doo-wop revival kind of glam rock, but I really like this track from Brian DePalma’s musical, favoring it over such “real” tunes as Gary Glitter’s cover of Dion’s “The Wanderer” and “made-up” songs as those in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Maybe it’s because this song is also penned by Paul Williams? Technically, because the movie bombed and is still hardly celebrated (at least compared to TRHPS), the whole soundtrack should be on this list. “Two-Way Romeo” by The Bang Bang, from Brothers of the Head I don’t think anyone else even saw this faux rock documentary (it’s not funny enough to be considered a mockumentary), let alone paid attention to its better-than-necessary soundtrack. Basically the song is by British pop-punk band Crackout (or members of the band, anyway), but it’s pretty authentic sounding for the film’s ‘70s setting. “Never Did No Wanderin’” by The Folksmen, from A Mighty Wind Part of my disappointment with this movie was that the songs are actually pretty good — and not necessarily funny. Silly, yes. Witty, yes. But not exactly over the top, laugh-out-loud funny, the way I prefer Christopher Guest movies to be. Yet I would actually go see The Folksmen before I would go see Spinal Tap, which features the same three actors (Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, who in fact opened for themselves by having The Folkmen and Spinal Tap tour together in 2001). If they didn’t perform their cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up,” though, I would be very dissatisfied. Much of the non-Folksmen songs on the soundtrack are actually pretty lame, including the Oscar-nominated “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow.” I believe that had it all been more upbeat, a la The Folksmen’s “Old Joe’s Place” (which, along with “Blood on the Coal,” was actually introduced on Saturday Night Live way back in 1984), “Corn Wine” and “Never Did No Wanderin’” it could have been as successful an album as the O Brother, Where Art Thou? CDs. “Sweat of My Balls” by CB4, from CB4 The more memorable song from this near-mockumentary might be “Straight Outta Locash,” yet like the songs by The Rutles, it’s too clear a redo of a preexisting song (N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton”). I guess I’m not that knowledgeable about rap music, but I had always thought “Sweat of My Balls” was actually original. Turns out, it’s actually a parody of Kool G. Rap’s “Talk Like Sex.” Well, since that song is also underrated (enough that I’d never heard of it), I stand by my inclusion of the less familiar-sounding CB4 track. “My Peanuts” by N.W.H., from Fear of a Black Hat I am at least aware that this song, which comes from a film similar to — though much less successful than — CB4, is a redo of Run-DMC’s “My Addidas.” But it’s so damn ridiculous that I wasn’t able to make the connection between the songs until many years after first seeing the movie. Just imagine how popular peanuts would be if the National Peanut Board used this rap in advertisements. “(Just Around the Corner to the) Light of Day” by The Barbusters, from Light of Day It’s not uncommon for a song written for a movie to become a real-world hit. And when it’s written by Bruce Springsteen, as this one was, you almost expect it to be a success. Yet despite the fact that both Springsteen and Joan Jett, who stars in the film as a member of the fictional Barbusters, have made the tune a staple of their respective live concert sets, it still doesn’t get the kind of general attention paid to, say, “On the Dark Side” from that other ‘80s bar band movie, Eddie and the Cruisers. Why isn’t this played heavily on classic rock radio? And by “this” I of course mean the version featuring Michael J. Fox and, yes, Michael McKean (man, he loves the fictional bands). “It Don’t Worry Me” by Albuquerque, from Nashville This is just a solo singer (played by Barbara Harris) rather than a whole group, but she’s still fictional and the song was still written for the film. And it’s sung during what may be the best film ending of all time (hence its appropriate position at the end of the list). Somehow Keith Carradine won an Oscar for writing the most boring tune in this Robert Altman classic (“I’m Easy”), while this song, also written by Carradine, is clearly more enjoyable. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/minerwerks/archive/2008/5/23/29798.aspx Post By: minerwerks
Post To: minerwerks Blog
Post Date: 5/23/2008 12:25:45 AM
Body: About 20 minutes into 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,' there is a humdinger of a chase that glides and slides through the streets and corridors around the campus where the legendary Dr. Jones (Harrison Ford) is a Professor. I'm not sure exactly how the conclusion of the chase affected the plot, but I do remember that it ended with a punchline - and nobody in the theater laughed. It's sad to say, but a heck of a lot of this new adventure plays like a parody of the (much better) films that have gone before. I'd like to think I gave the film a fair shot. As with the previous Indiana Jones adventures, we open on something natural that resembles the Paramount logo, followed by the credits in the elegant typeface that has graced each film (save 'Temple of Doom'). A simple, fun sequence orients us that this story takes place in 1957, and we end on a military base hidden in the middle of the desert. So far, so good. It's even exciting to get our first glimpse of Indy's fedora, coming to rest on its familar head in sillhouette. But then people start speaking, and it's all downhill from there. Harrison Ford seems more than happy to be here, but I really question whether his choice was more dependent on the payday rather than any allegiance to the beloved character he personifies. There is the occasional spark of the Indy we love, but too much of this performance feels unfamiliar, contradictory and (dare I say it) lazy. There is a plot here, too, but I'll be damned if I couldn't make heads or tails of it. But see, it doesn't matter because (SPOILER ALERT) there's a nuclear blast, a chase through the forest that includes a travelling swordfight, a boat that plummets down three waterfalls, giant ants, and ultimately, an alien ship. Excuse me, an "interdimensional being" ship. I hope H.R. Geiger got some royalties on these updated Crystal Skulls - that should tell you a lot. Forgive me for laying it all out, but I don't have much allegiance to protecting a story that so assaulted my intelligence. It truly does play like a Sci-Fi Channel original movie but with Indiana Jones instead of some twenty-something hack. Along the way, we are reintroduced to Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Indy's love interest from the 'Lost Ark' adventure. Evidently, Marion was always the love of his life, and with a tossed-off line worthy of a Lifetime movie, those years spent split apart are forgiven and they get all pie-eyed over each other. They are brought together again by Marion's son (Shia LaBeouf), who enters the story trying to locate a missing colleague (John Hurt). All these characters are underwritten and underplayed, and their interactions don't amount to a hill of ants in the plot. Even the requisite baddie, a Russian agent played by Cate Blanchett, is severely underutilized. I was bored and distracted, and I lost track of who these people were and what they were trying to accomplish. My theory on what went wrong here is that Spielberg and Lucas have unwittingly given in to their worst instincts. A large chunk at the front of this film plays an awful lot like Spielberg's misbegotten attempt at comedy, '1941,' even coming awfully close to copying a couple of the overblown setpieces in that film. The tail end, sad to say, has all the coherency and sense of 'Howard the Duck.' Maybe the idea was to run with the times, and instead of making a WWII-era serial pastiche, they wanted to make a pastiche of nuclear-age B-movies. Either way, the choices are so ridiculous because they don't respect the integrity of the Indiana Jones character. When they first announced Ford would be coming back as Indiana Jones, many wondered if they would address how Indy has aged. The resulting film proves that the age isn't really that big a deal. The real missed opportunity here is that Jones is a man out of his own time. He's still an archeologist and a professor, but the word around him is different. There's a bit of humor up front that plays on this idea, but the idea never resurfaces, left in the dust of some broad and ridiculous setpieces with hollow ciphers in place of characters.
]]>Fri, 23 May 2008 04:25:45 GMTminerwerksminerwerks Blog5/23/2008 12:25:45 AMAbout 20 minutes into 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,' there is a humdinger of a chase that glides and slides through the streets and corridors around the campus where the legendary Dr. Jones (Harrison Ford) is a Professor. I'm not sure exactly how the conclusion of the chase affected the plot, but I do remember that it ended with a punchline - and nobody in the theater laughed. It's sad to say, but a heck of a lot of this new adventure plays like a parody of the (much better) films that have gone before. I'd like to think I gave the film a fair shot. As with the previous Indiana Jones adventures, we open on something natural that resembles the Paramount logo, followed by the credits in the elegant typeface that has graced each film (save 'Temple of Doom'). A simple, fun sequence orients us that this story takes place in 1957, and we end on a military base hidden in the middle of the desert. So far, so good. It's even exciting to get our first glimpse of Indy's fedora, coming to rest on its familar head in sillhouette. But then people start speaking, and it's all downhill from there. Harrison Ford seems more than happy to be here, but I really question whether his choice was more dependent on the payday rather than any allegiance to the beloved character he personifies. There is the occasional spark of the Indy we love, but too much of this performance feels unfamiliar, contradictory and (dare I say it) lazy. There is a plot here, too, but I'll be damned if I couldn't make heads or tails of it. But see, it doesn't matter because (SPOILER ALERT) there's a nuclear blast, a chase through the forest that includes a travelling swordfight, a boat that plummets down three waterfalls, giant ants, and ultimately, an alien ship. Excuse me, an "interdimensional being" ship. I hope H.R. Geiger got some royalties on these updated Crystal Skulls - that should tell you a lot. Forgive me for laying it all out, but I don't have much allegiance to protecting a story that so assaulted my intelligence. It truly does play like a Sci-Fi Channel original movie but with Indiana Jones instead of some twenty-something hack. Along the way, we are reintroduced to Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Indy's love interest from the 'Lost Ark' adventure. Evidently, Marion was always the love of his life, and with a tossed-off line worthy of a Lifetime movie, those years spent split apart are forgiven and they get all pie-eyed over each other. They are brought together again by Marion's son (Shia LaBeouf), who enters the story trying to locate a missing colleague (John Hurt). All these characters are underwritten and underplayed, and their interactions don't amount to a hill of ants in the plot. Even the requisite baddie, a Russian agent played by Cate Blanchett, is severely underutilized. I was bored and distracted, and I lost track of who these people were and what they were trying to accomplish. My theory on what went wrong here is that Spielberg and Lucas have unwittingly given in to their worst instincts. A large chunk at the front of this film plays an awful lot like Spielberg's misbegotten attempt at comedy, '1941,' even coming awfully close to copying a couple of the overblown setpieces in that film. The tail end, sad to say, has all the coherency and sense of 'Howard the Duck.' Maybe the idea was to run with the times, and instead of making a WWII-era serial pastiche, they wanted to make a pastiche of nuclear-age B-movies. Either way, the choices are so ridiculous because they don't respect the integrity of the Indiana Jones character. When they first announced Ford would be coming back as Indiana Jones, many wondered if they would address how Indy has aged. The resulting film proves that the age isn't really that big a deal. The real missed opportunity here is that Jones is a man out of his own time. He's still an archeologist and a professor, but the word around him is different. There's a bit of humor up front that plays on this idea, but the idea never resurfaces, left in the dust of some broad and ridiculous setpieces with hollow ciphers in place of characters. http://www.spout.com/blogs/robertsmor/archive/2008/1/22/24216.aspx Post By: robertsmor
Post To: robertsmor Blog
Post Date: 1/22/2008 2:40:31 PM
Body: If only the producers would've mined the wealth of satiric genius found in the original comic this would be a much-loved instead of a much hated flick. Where's Pro-Rata the Financial Wizard?! The Kidney Lady?! The Space Turnip?! Dr. Bong (no...not that kind of bong...he's got a bell for a head which he hits with his metallic clapper hands)?! Talk about a massive missed opportunity.Only Michael Bey could've f***** it up more.
]]>Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:40:31 GMTrobertsmorrobertsmor Blog1/22/2008 2:40:31 PMIf only the producers would&#39;ve mined the wealth of satiric genius found in the original comic this would be a much-loved instead of a much hated flick. Where&#39;s Pro-Rata the Financial Wizard?! The Kidney Lady?! The Space Turnip?! Dr. Bong (no...not that kind of bong...he&#39;s got a bell for a head which he hits with his metallic clapper hands)?! Talk about a massive missed opportunity.Only Michael Bey could&#39;ve f***** it up more. http://www.spout.com/groups/Games/Re_Actor_scramble/445/19382/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Games
Post Date: 9/5/2007 11:51:22 AM
Body: [quote user="joem18b"]Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit,... aren't they all about the same?[/quote]Uh yeah except for the fact that Chicago rocks and the other two are nasty shitholes.[quote user="joem18b"]Here's a real easy road-tripish movie that takes place in one or other of those cities and it's got Donald Duck in it:ABCDFJ[/quote]Hmm, well I was thinking Howard the Duck because he gets mistaken for Donald I think. And that takes place in Cleveland. The initials don't add up right though.
]]>Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:51:22 GMTRisseladaGames9/5/2007 11:51:22 AM[quote user="joem18b"]Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit,... aren&#39;t they all about the same?[/quote]Uh yeah except for the fact that Chicago rocks and the other two are nasty shitholes.[quote user="joem18b"]Here&#39;s a real easy road-tripish movie that takes place in one or other of those cities and it&#39;s got Donald Duck in it:ABCDFJ[/quote]Hmm, well I was thinking Howard the Duck because he gets mistaken for Donald I think. And that takes place in Cleveland. The initials don&#39;t add up right though. http://www.spout.com/groups/The_Casting_Futon/Re_Dreaded_Sequels/305/9190/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: josephkuzma
Post To: The Casting Futon
Post Date: 5/22/2007 8:25:30 PM
Body: I (almost) completely agree.1. F**k Bond. Nothing after Roger Moore even remotely matters. Prequel it all you want, it won't make it good.2. How old is Harrison Ford now? And Lucas and Spielberg have screwed up plenty (Howard the Duck & 1941, respectively) , so there are no guarantees. 3. I feel like the third AP filled in all the laugh gaps of the others. These will more than likely be the same jokes over and over. At least this means Verne Troyer will have a job for the next decade... or until his liver gives out, whichever comes first.4. I knew this was coming. Especially with 3 being such a behemoth right out of the gate. Between this and #3 on the list we're apparently going to be inundated with Mike Myers for the next 8 - 12 years.5. Terminator 3 was terrible. I agree with you here, unless it's all about La Resistance this will be wretched.6. My feeling about this are well-documented.7. Call me a mindless zombie but you attach the word Star Wars to anything and I'll at least give it a chance. There is a screaming 9 year-old somewhere deep in my pysche that's holding out hope for mild redemption (he's also the part of me that's excited about the telelvision series).Other than that, kudos on the rant.
]]>Wed, 23 May 2007 00:25:30 GMTjosephkuzmaThe Casting Futon5/22/2007 8:25:30 PMI (almost) completely agree.1. F**k Bond. Nothing after Roger Moore even remotely matters. Prequel it all you want, it won&#39;t make it good.2. How old is Harrison Ford now? And Lucas and Spielberg have screwed up plenty (Howard the Duck &amp; 1941, respectively) , so there are no guarantees. 3. I feel like the third AP filled in all the laugh gaps of the others. These will more than likely be the same jokes over and over. At least this means Verne Troyer will have a job for the next decade... or until his liver gives out, whichever comes first.4. I knew this was coming. Especially with 3 being such a behemoth right out of the gate. Between this and #3 on the list we&#39;re apparently going to be inundated with Mike Myers for the next 8 - 12 years.5. Terminator 3 was terrible. I agree with you here, unless it&#39;s all about La Resistance this will be wretched.6. My feeling about this are well-documented.7. Call me a mindless zombie but you attach the word Star Wars to anything and I&#39;ll at least give it a chance. There is a screaming 9 year-old somewhere deep in my pysche that&#39;s holding out hope for mild redemption (he&#39;s also the part of me that&#39;s excited about the telelvision series).Other than that, kudos on the rant. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/comedy/MemberTagFilms.aspxcomedy
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]]>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:38:30 GMT10872531342Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/romance/MemberTagFilms.aspxromance
Number of films tagged: 7162

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]]>Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:34:46 GMT13948156Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/robbery/MemberTagFilms.aspxrobbery
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]]>Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:33:51 GMT379842103Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/scientist/MemberTagFilms.aspxscientist
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]]>Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:47:27 GMT14083177Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/suckfest/MemberTagFilms.aspxsuckfest
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]]>Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:25:04 GMT621670Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/alien-not-human/MemberTagFilms.aspxalien-not-human
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]]>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:23:54 GMT13851324Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/rockmusic/MemberTagFilms.aspxrockmusic
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]]>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:02:52 GMT268879Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/duck/MemberTagFilms.aspxduck
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]]>Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:46:11 GMT8669Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/vhs/MemberTagFilms.aspxvhs
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]]>Wed, 06 May 2009 01:21:47 GMT50652Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/dimension/MemberTagFilms.aspxdimension
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]]>Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:02:48 GMT278311Tag