list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Family Guy [Animated TV Series] 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/Family_Guy_Animated_TV_Series/228692/default.aspx Title: Family Guy [Animated TV Series]
Year: 2003
Plot: Created by 25-year-old wunderkind Seth MacFarlane, the weekly, half-hour cartoon series Family Guy shamelessly -- and hilariously -- exploited the nothing sacred, anything goes TV animation field fostered by such earlier trailblazers as The Simpsons and South Park. Set in Quahog, a suburb of Providence, RI, the series' main characters were the Griffin family: dad Peter, an impulsive fathead who worked at a local toy factory and who turned "dysfunctional parenting" into an art form; mom Lois, a frustrated social climber who bore the humiliation heaped upon her by her family in quiet desperation; 16-year old daughter Meg, as high-strung and neurotic as they came; 13-year-old son Chris, whose oafish slothfulness gave other slackers a bad name; and little Stewie, a sinister-looking one-year-old infant with an erudite vocabulary, the mind of a serial killer, and the ambitions of Genghis Khan. By contrast, the family's talking, martini-imbibing dog, Brian, was a monument to well-adjusted normalcy. The Griffins' neighbors included whiny, self-loathing Cleveland, paraplegic police officer Joe Swanson, and sex-obsessed Glen Quagmire. The tone of the series was established by its debut episode, "Death Has a Shadow," originally telecast just after Super Bowl XXXIII on January 31, 1999, in which most of the running time was devoted to the gimlet-eyed Stewie's elaborate efforts to murder his mother! Making its formal debut over the Fox network on April 6 of that same year, the series followed the Simpsons pattern of irreverent, iconoclastic plotlines, cutting-edge, borderline obscene dialogue, and wildly non sequitur pop-cultural references. However, Family Guy went far beyond Simpsons or any other prime time cartoon of its era in its pursuit of the bizarre and the grotesque, and also heaped on more culture-shock gags, in jokes, and obscure movie and literature references than any other series in living memory. It was not an unusual sight to see Peter and Lois don S&M gear before going to bed, or for a pimple on Chris' cheek to suddenly develop a diabolical mind of its own, or for Stewie and Brian to embark upon European vacations at the drop of a hat, or for Meg to watch her slumber party morph into a ribald MTV-esque reality series. Finally, name another series of the era in which the head of the family would kidnap Pope John Paul I in broad daylight just to prove a point to his father, or a mob boss would demand that the family take a petulant "wiseguy" to the movies, or Mr. Death (skull, scythe, and all) would break his bony leg in the family living room and be forced into a Man Who Came to Dinner extended stay-over, or a disgruntled paterfamilias would try to figure a way out when actor James Woods insisted upon being his best friend forever! (Woods was one of several celebrities who provided voices for their "surprise" appearances. Others included Adam West, Victoria Principal, Gene Simmons, Erik Estrada, and Randy "Macho Man" Savage). If ever a cartoon series was creator-driven, Times Tagged: 8
Number of Lists: 3
Number of blog posts: 3
Number of discussion threads: 5
SpoutRating: 4
]]>Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:18:14 GMTFamily Guy [Animated TV Series]2003Created by 25-year-old wunderkind <a href="/players/P___367500/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Seth MacFarlane</a>, the weekly, half-hour cartoon series <a href=/films/292671/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Family Guy</a> shamelessly -- and hilariously -- exploited the nothing sacred, anything goes TV animation field fostered by such earlier trailblazers as <a href=/films/278047/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>The Simpsons</a> and <a href=/films/203537/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>South Park</a>. Set in Quahog, a suburb of Providence, RI, the series' main characters were the Griffin family: dad Peter, an impulsive fathead who worked at a local toy factory and who turned "dysfunctional parenting" into an art form; mom Lois, a frustrated social climber who bore the humiliation heaped upon her by her family in quiet desperation; 16-year old daughter Meg, as high-strung and neurotic as they came; 13-year-old son Chris, whose oafish slothfulness gave other slackers a bad name; and little Stewie, a sinister-looking one-year-old infant with an erudite vocabulary, the mind of a serial killer, and the ambitions of Genghis Khan. By contrast, the family's talking, martini-imbibing dog, Brian, was a monument to well-adjusted normalcy. The Griffins' neighbors included whiny, self-loathing Cleveland, paraplegic police officer Joe Swanson, and sex-obsessed Glen Quagmire. The tone of the series was established by its debut episode, "Death Has a Shadow," originally telecast just after Super Bowl XXXIII on January 31, 1999, in which most of the running time was devoted to the gimlet-eyed Stewie's elaborate efforts to murder his mother! Making its formal debut over the Fox network on April 6 of that same year, the series followed the <a href=/films/278047/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Simpsons</a> pattern of irreverent, iconoclastic plotlines, cutting-edge, borderline obscene dialogue, and wildly non sequitur pop-cultural references. However, <a href=/films/292671/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Family Guy</a> went far beyond <a href=/films/278047/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Simpsons</a> or any other prime time cartoon of its era in its pursuit of the bizarre and the grotesque, and also heaped on more culture-shock gags, in jokes, and obscure movie and literature references than any other series in living memory. It was not an unusual sight to see Peter and Lois don S&M gear before going to bed, or for a pimple on Chris' cheek to suddenly develop a diabolical mind of its own, or for Stewie and Brian to embark upon European vacations at the drop of a hat, or for Meg to watch her slumber party morph into a ribald MTV-esque reality series. Finally, name another series of the era in which the head of the family would kidnap Pope John Paul I in broad daylight just to prove a point to his father, or a mob boss would demand that the family take a petulant "wiseguy" to the movies, or Mr. Death (skull, scythe, and all) would break his bony leg in the family living room and be forced into a <a href=/films/21620/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Man Who Came to Dinner</a> extended stay-over, or a disgruntled paterfamilias would try to figure a way out when actor <a href="/players/P___117297/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>James Woods</a> insisted upon being his best friend forever! (Woods was one of several celebrities who provided voices for their "surprise" appearances. Others included <a href="/players/P____75587/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Adam West</a>, <a href="/players/P____57868/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Victoria Principal</a>, <a href="/players/P____65745/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Gene Simmons</a>, <a href="/players/P____22174/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Erik Estrada</a>, and Randy "Macho Man" Savage). If ever a cartoon series was creator-driven, <a href=/films/292671/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'8Taggedy Taggged (6-10)3354http://www.spout.com/images/no_image.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Family_Guy_Animated_TV_Series/228692/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/risselada/archive/2009/1/29/40062.aspxPost By: Risselada
Post To: Risselada Blog
Post Date: 1/29/2009 12:18:14 PM
Body: This blog entry is part of my "movie year countdown round #2". Read more about that here. Z You have to love these one letter titles. I think one test for the quality of a movie database search engine is to look up the title of this movie or maybe Fritz Lang's M and see how well it handles that. Spout actually fails in this area, but I think most people here are aware that even though they have a large database of titles, the search engine still has some shortcomings. I had to look up the names of the directors in order to find these titles. Anyways Z was a movie that I had a somewhat difficult time following at first. All of the information coming at me. I had a difficult time at first recognizing the political context of the world I was entering. I didn't know who was on what side, and how they were related, and what they stood for. I didn't realize that Z was based on a novel that was based on real events. After a while it picked up as I started to put things together. By the end of the film I was totally taken with it, and excited to watch it over again with commentary (although I would have watched it again without) to see everything over again from the beginning with a better understanding of the context. When it first begins it seems like it may be a very culturally specific story, but you soon realize this is a universal tail of political power and corruption. The struggle for power, manipulation, propaganda, repression, assassinations, all of it seems very familiar and is going on and has gone on in every government and society in the world. You even start to realize that many of the people in the film don't even have names, but are just referred to as The Deputy or The General or The Journalist hinting even more at its universality. I can't find the exact record but keep running across various claims that this was the highest worldwide grossing non-English speaking film at some point or something along those lines. The point is, you can see why this had such a universal appeal. The movie has a style all it's own. The pacing felt unusual to me, but satisfying. There are sometimes many quick cuts, including quick cut flashbacks. These are flashbacks without any dissolve or lingering. They give you the basic flashback information just as long as is needed and then cut back to the action. I can't think of many times this kind of flashback is used, other than maybe on Family Guy for a quick joke. You think at the end of the movie there will be some kind of final satisfaction or justice. You get it for a moment, only to have it complete reversed again before the credits role. But then of course there is another kind of satisfaction in having a movie that presents what is really more of the truth. Rating: 9/10
]]>Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:18:14 GMTRisseladaRisselada Blog1/29/2009 12:18:14 PMThis blog entry is part of my "movie year countdown round #2". Read more about that here. Z You have to love these one letter titles. I think one test for the quality of a movie database search engine is to look up the title of this movie or maybe Fritz Lang's M and see how well it handles that. Spout actually fails in this area, but I think most people here are aware that even though they have a large database of titles, the search engine still has some shortcomings. I had to look up the names of the directors in order to find these titles. Anyways Z was a movie that I had a somewhat difficult time following at first. All of the information coming at me. I had a difficult time at first recognizing the political context of the world I was entering. I didn't know who was on what side, and how they were related, and what they stood for. I didn't realize that Z was based on a novel that was based on real events. After a while it picked up as I started to put things together. By the end of the film I was totally taken with it, and excited to watch it over again with commentary (although I would have watched it again without) to see everything over again from the beginning with a better understanding of the context. When it first begins it seems like it may be a very culturally specific story, but you soon realize this is a universal tail of political power and corruption. The struggle for power, manipulation, propaganda, repression, assassinations, all of it seems very familiar and is going on and has gone on in every government and society in the world. You even start to realize that many of the people in the film don't even have names, but are just referred to as The Deputy or The General or The Journalist hinting even more at its universality. I can't find the exact record but keep running across various claims that this was the highest worldwide grossing non-English speaking film at some point or something along those lines. The point is, you can see why this had such a universal appeal. The movie has a style all it's own. The pacing felt unusual to me, but satisfying. There are sometimes many quick cuts, including quick cut flashbacks. These are flashbacks without any dissolve or lingering. They give you the basic flashback information just as long as is needed and then cut back to the action. I can't think of many times this kind of flashback is used, other than maybe on Family Guy for a quick joke. You think at the end of the movie there will be some kind of final satisfaction or justice. You get it for a moment, only to have it complete reversed again before the credits role. But then of course there is another kind of satisfaction in having a movie that presents what is really more of the truth. Rating: 9/10 http://www.spout.com/groups/Heroines_in_Hollywood/Re_Women_in_Hollywood_The_Good_the_Bad_the_Ugly/647/37061/1/ShowPost.aspxPost By: seely
Post To: Heroines in Hollywood
Post Date: 11/7/2008 1:02:46 PM
Body: In the light of the times, and cast next to Jackie Gleasons (hilarious) alcohol bloated image, Alice was gorgeous! She was never too made up in keeping with the lower-class housewife look, but she definitely had a lot of those 'timeless beauty' qualities, and certainly was a bit better looking than her other half on the show. She also was a brilliant writer/comic, and contributed a fair bit to some of the more memorable sketches that she and Gleason would hammer out over a bottle of Scotch (my kinda woman!). [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="seely"] And the grandaddy of them all--The Honeymooners, which were the inspiration for the Flinstones, and undoubtedly contributed some inspiration to the creators of Family Guy and The Simpsons. [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="Risselada"] Can we throw According to Jim in that mix too? [/quote] And The Flintstones and Family Guy? Heck they actually had an opportunity to draw the characters however they wanted and they even made the guys less attractive than the women. [/quote] [/quote] Yeah I knew Honeymooners was the model for most of these, although I haven't seen it too much, and for some reason I personally didn't remember his wife as being that attractive. But maybe my memory serves wrong, or I just didn't see the same appeal everyone else did. [/quote]
]]>Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:02:46 GMTseelyHeroines in Hollywood11/7/2008 1:02:46 PMIn the light of the times, and cast next to Jackie Gleasons (hilarious) alcohol bloated image, Alice was gorgeous! She was never too made up in keeping with the lower-class housewife look, but she definitely had a lot of those 'timeless beauty' qualities, and certainly was a bit better looking than her other half on the show. She also was a brilliant writer/comic, and contributed a fair bit to some of the more memorable sketches that she and Gleason would hammer out over a bottle of Scotch (my kinda woman!). [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="seely"] And the grandaddy of them all--The Honeymooners, which were the inspiration for the Flinstones, and undoubtedly contributed some inspiration to the creators of Family Guy and The Simpsons. [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="Risselada"] Can we throw According to Jim in that mix too? [/quote] And The Flintstones and Family Guy? Heck they actually had an opportunity to draw the characters however they wanted and they even made the guys less attractive than the women. [/quote] [/quote] Yeah I knew Honeymooners was the model for most of these, although I haven't seen it too much, and for some reason I personally didn't remember his wife as being that attractive. But maybe my memory serves wrong, or I just didn't see the same appeal everyone else did. [/quote] http://www.spout.com/groups/Heroines_in_Hollywood/Re_Women_in_Hollywood_The_Good_the_Bad_the_Ugly/647/37005/1/ShowPost.aspxPost By: Risselada
Post To: Heroines in Hollywood
Post Date: 11/5/2008 5:18:03 PM
Body: [quote user="seely"] And the grandaddy of them all--The Honeymooners, which were the inspiration for the Flinstones, and undoubtedly contributed some inspiration to the creators of Family Guy and The Simpsons. [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="Risselada"] Can we throw According to Jim in that mix too? [/quote] And The Flintstones and Family Guy? Heck they actually had an opportunity to draw the characters however they wanted and they even made the guys less attractive than the women. [/quote] [/quote] Yeah I knew Honeymooners was the model for most of these, although I haven't seen it too much, and for some reason I personally didn't remember his wife as being that attractive. But maybe my memory serves wrong, or I just didn't see the same appeal everyone else did.
]]>Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:18:03 GMTRisseladaHeroines in Hollywood11/5/2008 5:18:03 PM[quote user="seely"] And the grandaddy of them all--The Honeymooners, which were the inspiration for the Flinstones, and undoubtedly contributed some inspiration to the creators of Family Guy and The Simpsons. [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="Risselada"] Can we throw According to Jim in that mix too? [/quote] And The Flintstones and Family Guy? Heck they actually had an opportunity to draw the characters however they wanted and they even made the guys less attractive than the women. [/quote] [/quote] Yeah I knew Honeymooners was the model for most of these, although I haven't seen it too much, and for some reason I personally didn't remember his wife as being that attractive. But maybe my memory serves wrong, or I just didn't see the same appeal everyone else did. http://www.spout.com/groups/Heroines_in_Hollywood/Re_Women_in_Hollywood_The_Good_the_Bad_the_Ugly/647/37004/1/ShowPost.aspxPost By: Risselada
Post To: Heroines in Hollywood
Post Date: 11/5/2008 5:18:03 PM
Body: [quote user="seely"] And the grandaddy of them all--The Honeymooners, which were the inspiration for the Flinstones, and undoubtedly contributed some inspiration to the creators of Family Guy and The Simpsons. [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="Risselada"] Can we throw According to Jim in that mix too? [/quote] And The Flintstones and Family Guy? Heck they actually had an opportunity to draw the characters however they wanted and they even made the guys less attractive than the women. [/quote] [/quote] Yeah I knew Honeymooners was the model for most of these, although I haven't seen it too much, and for some reason I personally didn't remember his wife as being that attractive. But maybe my memory serves wrong, or I just didn't see the same appeal everyone else did.
]]>Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:18:03 GMTRisseladaHeroines in Hollywood11/5/2008 5:18:03 PM[quote user="seely"] And the grandaddy of them all--The Honeymooners, which were the inspiration for the Flinstones, and undoubtedly contributed some inspiration to the creators of Family Guy and The Simpsons. [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="Risselada"] Can we throw According to Jim in that mix too? [/quote] And The Flintstones and Family Guy? Heck they actually had an opportunity to draw the characters however they wanted and they even made the guys less attractive than the women. [/quote] [/quote] Yeah I knew Honeymooners was the model for most of these, although I haven't seen it too much, and for some reason I personally didn't remember his wife as being that attractive. But maybe my memory serves wrong, or I just didn't see the same appeal everyone else did. http://www.spout.com/groups/Heroines_in_Hollywood/Re_Women_in_Hollywood_The_Good_the_Bad_the_Ugly/647/36997/1/ShowPost.aspxPost By: seely
Post To: Heroines in Hollywood
Post Date: 11/5/2008 3:06:15 PM
Body: And the grandaddy of them all--The Honeymooners, which were the inspiration for the Flinstones, and undoubtedly contributed some inspiration to the creators of Family Guy and The Simpsons. [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="Risselada"] Can we throw According to Jim in that mix too? [/quote] And The Flintstones and Family Guy? Heck they actually had an opportunity to draw the characters however they wanted and they even made the guys less attractive than the women. [/quote]
]]>Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:06:15 GMTseelyHeroines in Hollywood11/5/2008 3:06:15 PMAnd the grandaddy of them all--The Honeymooners, which were the inspiration for the Flinstones, and undoubtedly contributed some inspiration to the creators of Family Guy and The Simpsons. [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="Risselada"] Can we throw According to Jim in that mix too? [/quote] And The Flintstones and Family Guy? Heck they actually had an opportunity to draw the characters however they wanted and they even made the guys less attractive than the women. [/quote] http://www.spout.com/groups/Heroines_in_Hollywood/Re_Women_in_Hollywood_The_Good_the_Bad_the_Ugly/647/36938/1/ShowPost.aspxPost By: Risselada
Post To: Heroines in Hollywood
Post Date: 11/4/2008 11:55:42 AM
Body: [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="seely"] I always like to bring up the King of Queens/Everybody Loves Raymond formula, where its perfectly fine to have a pretty average (or even below average) looking guy but for some reason they have an auspiciously attractive wife. Not saying it couldn't/doesn't happen, but it just seems strange that it happens so often in TV land, and on screen.[/quote] Can we throw According to Jim in that mix too? [/quote] And The Flintstones and Family Guy? Heck they actually had an opportunity to draw the characters however they wanted and they even made the guys less attractive than the women.
]]>Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:55:42 GMTRisseladaHeroines in Hollywood11/4/2008 11:55:42 AM[quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="seely"] I always like to bring up the King of Queens/Everybody Loves Raymond formula, where its perfectly fine to have a pretty average (or even below average) looking guy but for some reason they have an auspiciously attractive wife. Not saying it couldn't/doesn't happen, but it just seems strange that it happens so often in TV land, and on screen.[/quote] Can we throw According to Jim in that mix too? [/quote] And The Flintstones and Family Guy? Heck they actually had an opportunity to draw the characters however they wanted and they even made the guys less attractive than the women. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/9/26/35618.aspxPost By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 9/26/2008 6:01:20 PM
Body: In the new movie Eagle Eye, three characters participate in a re-creation of the famous crop duster sequence from Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. Only the plane from NbN has been replaced with an electrical tower and power lines, and it takes Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan and Anthony Azizi to perform Cary Gran’t part (Azizi also substitutes for the pilot and the farmer, I guess). Such an homage is not surprising coming from director D.J. Caruso, whose last picture, Disturbia, is currently involved in a lawsuit for being an uncredited remake of Hitch’s Rear Window. This time, fortunately, Caruso borrows enough from other films, including Hitch’s second version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, 2001: A Space Odyssey and I, Robot, to keep from being sued by any single party. Eagle Eye will likely also remind audiences of The Dark Knight, if not for the similar cell phone surveillance tactics then for Caruso’s even less capable talent for directing car chases. While Caruso does a good job at allowing his audience to compare him to better filmmakers (yes, even I, Robot’s Alex Proyas), he doesn’t give us the world’s worst redo of the crop duster bit (that is probably this). But he also doesn’t come anywhere close to giving us the best. And for such a famous scene that is so widely studied and imitated, giving us merely another so-so re-creation is very disappointing. After the jump, you’ll find some of my favorite tributes to North by Northwest, mostly paying homage to that one beloved sequence. 10. Seth Rogen as Roger Thornhill, from Vanity Fair magazine I can’t think of many modern actors less like Cary Grant than Seth Rogen, but maybe that’s why I like this photo so much. Just looking at the shadow of Rogen’s gut lets me know that this is more appreciable as parody than reproduction. Also, Thornhill’s out-of-his-element storyline somewhat corresponds to Rogen’s ill-fitting position in Hollywood. 9. North by Northwest Airplane Scene: WoW Version People love re-creating their favorite movie scenes using video game characters, and this isn’t even the best example. So, why do I love it so much? OK, I’ll admit, I don’t actually love it. It’s actually pretty lame. But I wanted to showcase it, because it brings up the idea of a North by Northwest video game, which I think someone should produce, like what was done with The Godfather and Scarface. 8. Ralph Fiennes avoids the crashing plane, from The English Patient (1996) I’m not sure if this was officially meant to reference North by Northwest – the connection isn’t mentioned in either film’s “Movie connections” section on IMDb — but it’s clearly similar. 7. Roger Thornhill in bra and panties, from the photography of Michael Jang Maybe it isn’t actually Roger Thornhill, but Jang’s photos of an underwear-clad female model running from a plane is inspired by North by Northwest, and the woman is substituted for Grant, and well, I couldn’t think of anything else to call it. Anyway, the pics, which you can see at the end of the making-of video above, are nicer to look at than the Rogen picture. Perhaps Vanity Fair should have ripped Jang off and just had an actress re-create the scene for its spread. 6. Opening credit sequence, from Panic Room (2002) Taking a little break from the crop duster copies, here’s a different sort of homage to North by Northwest, specifically Saul Bass’ famous opening credits sequence. It’s only cool, though, if you don’t think about how after 40 years, the computer effects used for Panic Room aren’t actually any better than Bass’ work. 5. Peter re-enacts the crop duster sequence, from Family Guy “North by North Quahog” This image (and the episode it’s from) go even further with the gut thing than the Rogen photo. But not only does this episode feature a parody of the crop duster scene, it pays tribute to much of the plot of North by Northwest (hence the title), including a bit where Peter rescues Lois from Mel Gibson’s home atop Mt. Rushmore. 4. Homer falls under a truck, from The Simpsons “Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment” Family Guy is ok, but nobody pays homage to movie scenes better than the makers of The Simpsons, as you can see on the site Actualidad Simpson, which posted the comparison screenshots above, as well as other movie references from the show. 3. Balloon Travels North by Northwest, from Famous Balloon Movies Oh, what people do with their time now that the internet exists! If you’ve never seen any of the famous balloon movies, which were apparently made by an animator who works for Disney, you must. Consisting of 19 parts, balloons are humorously inserted into films such as Safety Last and The Empire Strikes Back. Though I don’t think I can name a favorite, I really, really love the way Grant looks off at his lost balloon here. 2. Vincent Gallo’s talent, from Arizona Dream (1993) Gallo’s character loves to ape his favorite movie scenes, and during a talent show he hilariously re-enacts the crop duster sequence. Well, he mostly only re-enacts the parts where Cary Grant jumps to the ground. He really should have gotten a 10, don’t you agree? 1. Big Bird, Ernie and Bert, from Follow That Bird (1985) I got crap as a kid for wanting to see this, but I’ve always been a lifelong Muppets fan, and that includes anything associated with Sesame Street. Plus, who knows if I would have also loved North by Northwest so much had I not already seen the spoof of the crop duster sequence in Follow That Bird? Actually, I’m sure I hadn’t even recalled Big Bird narrowly escaping being run down by Ernie and Bert when I first saw NbN. If anything, though, I at least was able to appreciate FTB even more after realizing the connection between the films. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:01:20 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com9/26/2008 6:01:20 PMIn the new movie Eagle Eye, three characters participate in a re-creation of the famous crop duster sequence from Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. Only the plane from NbN has been replaced with an electrical tower and power lines, and it takes Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan and Anthony Azizi to perform Cary Gran’t part (Azizi also substitutes for the pilot and the farmer, I guess). Such an homage is not surprising coming from director D.J. Caruso, whose last picture, Disturbia, is currently involved in a lawsuit for being an uncredited remake of Hitch’s Rear Window. This time, fortunately, Caruso borrows enough from other films, including Hitch’s second version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, 2001: A Space Odyssey and I, Robot, to keep from being sued by any single party. Eagle Eye will likely also remind audiences of The Dark Knight, if not for the similar cell phone surveillance tactics then for Caruso’s even less capable talent for directing car chases. While Caruso does a good job at allowing his audience to compare him to better filmmakers (yes, even I, Robot’s Alex Proyas), he doesn’t give us the world’s worst redo of the crop duster bit (that is probably this). But he also doesn’t come anywhere close to giving us the best. And for such a famous scene that is so widely studied and imitated, giving us merely another so-so re-creation is very disappointing. After the jump, you’ll find some of my favorite tributes to North by Northwest, mostly paying homage to that one beloved sequence. 10. Seth Rogen as Roger Thornhill, from Vanity Fair magazine I can’t think of many modern actors less like Cary Grant than Seth Rogen, but maybe that’s why I like this photo so much. Just looking at the shadow of Rogen’s gut lets me know that this is more appreciable as parody than reproduction. Also, Thornhill’s out-of-his-element storyline somewhat corresponds to Rogen’s ill-fitting position in Hollywood. 9. North by Northwest Airplane Scene: WoW Version People love re-creating their favorite movie scenes using video game characters, and this isn’t even the best example. So, why do I love it so much? OK, I’ll admit, I don’t actually love it. It’s actually pretty lame. But I wanted to showcase it, because it brings up the idea of a North by Northwest video game, which I think someone should produce, like what was done with The Godfather and Scarface. 8. Ralph Fiennes avoids the crashing plane, from The English Patient (1996) I’m not sure if this was officially meant to reference North by Northwest – the connection isn’t mentioned in either film’s “Movie connections” section on IMDb — but it’s clearly similar. 7. Roger Thornhill in bra and panties, from the photography of Michael Jang Maybe it isn’t actually Roger Thornhill, but Jang’s photos of an underwear-clad female model running from a plane is inspired by North by Northwest, and the woman is substituted for Grant, and well, I couldn’t think of anything else to call it. Anyway, the pics, which you can see at the end of the making-of video above, are nicer to look at than the Rogen picture. Perhaps Vanity Fair should have ripped Jang off and just had an actress re-create the scene for its spread. 6. Opening credit sequence, from Panic Room (2002) Taking a little break from the crop duster copies, here’s a different sort of homage to North by Northwest, specifically Saul Bass’ famous opening credits sequence. It’s only cool, though, if you don’t think about how after 40 years, the computer effects used for Panic Room aren’t actually any better than Bass’ work. 5. Peter re-enacts the crop duster sequence, from Family Guy “North by North Quahog” This image (and the episode it’s from) go even further with the gut thing than the Rogen photo. But not only does this episode feature a parody of the crop duster scene, it pays tribute to much of the plot of North by Northwest (hence the title), including a bit where Peter rescues Lois from Mel Gibson’s home atop Mt. Rushmore. 4. Homer falls under a truck, from The Simpsons “Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment” Family Guy is ok, but nobody pays homage to movie scenes better than the makers of The Simpsons, as you can see on the site Actualidad Simpson, which posted the comparison screenshots above, as well as other movie references from the show. 3. Balloon Travels North by Northwest, from Famous Balloon Movies Oh, what people do with their time now that the internet exists! If you’ve never seen any of the famous balloon movies, which were apparently made by an animator who works for Disney, you must. Consisting of 19 parts, balloons are humorously inserted into films such as Safety Last and The Empire Strikes Back. Though I don’t think I can name a favorite, I really, really love the way Grant looks off at his lost balloon here. 2. Vincent Gallo’s talent, from Arizona Dream (1993) Gallo’s character loves to ape his favorite movie scenes, and during a talent show he hilariously re-enacts the crop duster sequence. Well, he mostly only re-enacts the parts where Cary Grant jumps to the ground. He really should have gotten a 10, don’t you agree? 1. Big Bird, Ernie and Bert, from Follow That Bird (1985) I got crap as a kid for wanting to see this, but I’ve always been a lifelong Muppets fan, and that includes anything associated with Sesame Street. Plus, who knows if I would have also loved North by Northwest so much had I not already seen the spoof of the crop duster sequence in Follow That Bird? Actually, I’m sure I hadn’t even recalled Big Bird narrowly escaping being run down by Ernie and Bert when I first saw NbN. If anything, though, I at least was able to appreciate FTB even more after realizing the connection between the films. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/8/13/33965.aspxPost By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 8/13/2008 3:01:08 PM
Body: From what I hear, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is really bad. Bad enough for the king of the fanboys, Harry Knowles, to reportedly write, “I hated the film. HATED IT. REALLY HATED IT.” Bad enough that Warner Bros. had the review removed from Aint it Cool News due to a review embargo — though probably it had more to do with it being so damaging to the studio’s marketing of the film (apparently Warners had no issue with Variety publishing its so-so review on the same day). I’m not in the least bit surprised. Most people I know who used to be big Star Wars fans won’t be bothering to see the film. But if it bombs at the box office this weekend, what will that mean for Lucasfilm’s upcoming Clone Wars animated series, which is set to spin off from the movie? The show will probably do OK, thanks to the few geeks who still worship the franchise, but it’s not likely to make my list of best animated series spun off from movies: Muppet Babies - The cute infant versions of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie and (most of) the others officially debuted in The Muppets Take Manhattan, so this cartoon series counts. Even though my brother disagrees (”the Muppets are a whole entity outside of the movies”). And it’s so good that I’d almost say it’s the best Muppet project ever. It’s at least better than the movie it spun off from. Plus, it was especially entertaining for movie fans. Long before Family Guy did it, the Muppet Babies had their own brilliant animated take on the Star Wars films. Star Wars: Droids - When I was a kid, I definitely preferred the cuter, longer-running Star Wars: Ewoks (both cartoons were later united as Ewoks & Droids Adventure Hour), but looking back, Droids was the cooler series because it retained Anthony Daniels as the voice of C-3PO (R2-D2 was humorously credited as himself) and featured characters like Boba Fett and IG-88. As a bonus, it also featured an awesome theme song co-written and performed by Stewart Copeland. The only theme that might top it is the Fat Boys’ rap for Police Academy: The Series. Back to the Future - I’m a sucker for cartoon spin-offs that feature voices from the original movies, and this one had both Mary Steenburgen (Clara Brown) and Thomas F. Wilson (Biff Tannen) reprising their roles. Strangely enough, the animated Doc Brown was voiced by Dan Castellaneta (also the voice of Homer Simpson), while the live-action Doc Brown, who introduced and closed each episode, was actually played by the movies’ Christopher Lloyd. Someone please put this show on DVD already. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures - Even better than BTTF, this cartoon initially featured the voices of the three original stars of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter and George Carlin. Unfortunately, the bogus second season of the series screwed everything up with a different production company (DiC instead of Hanna-Barbera), new actors (Evan Richards and Christopher Kennedy, stars of the live-action Bill & Ted series) and a broader premise (the dudes could now travel into literature, TV shows and the human body). At least for awhile, the series was most triumphant. Beetlejuice - Talk about changing the premise. I don’t know what the creators were thinking when they decided to suddenly make Beetlejuice and Lydia best friends, but somehow it works. And, as much as I’d have loved for Winona Ryder to reprise her role, I’m glad Lydia was voiced by one of my favorites, Alyson Court (Jubilee in X-Men: The Animated Series and Veronica in The New Archies). I don’t understand how it really fits with the plot of Tim Burton’s movie anymore than I get why Daniel and Mr Miyagi were suddenly adventurers in the Karate Kid cartoon, but I was at least a big fan of the imaginative Netherworld setting of the Beetlejuice series. The Real Ghostbusters - Like Beetlejuice, this animated version of Ghostbusters turned enemies into friends by making Slimer a cute mascot. In fact, the series was eventually retitled Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters because of how kids responded to the green guy, with Slimer receiving his own half-hour storylines. This despite the initial attraction of the series having a darker tone than most Saturday morning cartoons. TaleSpin - Forget all the later Disney cartoon series based on animated features, this was the best and most inspired. Maybe because it’s another example in which the premise of the series is completely different than the premise of the films. Aside from starring the characters Baloo, Louie and Shere Khan, it has nothing at all to do with The Jungle Book. And except for the lack of songs performed by Louis Prima, the series is much cooler than the movie. She-Ra: Princess of Power - I’m counting this even though the movie it’s spun off from, The Secret of the Sword, is also the first four episodes of the series. It was released theatrically, though. Besides, including it on the list means I don’t have to choose a best of the three lame Jim Carrey movie spin offs (The Mask; Dumb and Dumber; Ace Ventura), nor do I have to familiarize myself with The Animatrix, which I’m sure has it’s fans, or attempt to justify the cool in theory but terrible in reality Teen Wolf cartoon. Toxic Crusaders - Among all the R-rated movies that were turned into cartoons for kids — including First Blood (Rambo), Highlander, RoboCop and Police Academy – the decision to make an animated series out of The Toxic Avenger is the most questionable and therefore the most ingenious. I doubt something like this could be created today; we kids of the ’80s were just more exposed to inappropriate material and also had room for more sanitized versions. I saw the original, extremely violent movie when I was 8 years old and would have also loved this cartoon back then, despite it’s lack of head-crushings and nudity. Unfortunately, it didn’t debut until I was in my teens, when I was typically sleeping in on Saturday mornings and napping on weekday afternoons. Clerks - I’ve honestly never seen this cartoon, but I have a good reason to include it. While taking a film studies course titled American Film Comedy in college, I had a classmate who literally finished each session — having just watched The Circus, The General, Sherlock Jr., Duck Soup, The Palm Beach Story, It, Trouble in Paradise, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, His Girl Friday, It Should Happen to You, Tootsie or some other classic — by saying, in all seriousness, “I guess I don’t have the right sense of humor for these movies. I prefer smart comedies like Chasing Amy.” A devout Kevin Smith fan, he also continuously would reference the animated Clerks series, despite the fact that nobody else seemed to have any familiarity with it. For a cartoon spin-off to so completely appease the biggest fan of the movie, it has to be considered a success. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:01:08 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com8/13/2008 3:01:08 PM From what I hear, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is really bad. Bad enough for the king of the fanboys, Harry Knowles, to reportedly write, “I hated the film. HATED IT. REALLY HATED IT.” Bad enough that Warner Bros. had the review removed from Aint it Cool News due to a review embargo — though probably it had more to do with it being so damaging to the studio’s marketing of the film (apparently Warners had no issue with Variety publishing its so-so review on the same day). I’m not in the least bit surprised. Most people I know who used to be big Star Wars fans won’t be bothering to see the film. But if it bombs at the box office this weekend, what will that mean for Lucasfilm’s upcoming Clone Wars animated series, which is set to spin off from the movie? The show will probably do OK, thanks to the few geeks who still worship the franchise, but it’s not likely to make my list of best animated series spun off from movies: Muppet Babies - The cute infant versions of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie and (most of) the others officially debuted in The Muppets Take Manhattan, so this cartoon series counts. Even though my brother disagrees (”the Muppets are a whole entity outside of the movies”). And it’s so good that I’d almost say it’s the best Muppet project ever. It’s at least better than the movie it spun off from. Plus, it was especially entertaining for movie fans. Long before Family Guy did it, the Muppet Babies had their own brilliant animated take on the Star Wars films. Star Wars: Droids - When I was a kid, I definitely preferred the cuter, longer-running Star Wars: Ewoks (both cartoons were later united as Ewoks & Droids Adventure Hour), but looking back, Droids was the cooler series because it retained Anthony Daniels as the voice of C-3PO (R2-D2 was humorously credited as himself) and featured characters like Boba Fett and IG-88. As a bonus, it also featured an awesome theme song co-written and performed by Stewart Copeland. The only theme that might top it is the Fat Boys’ rap for Police Academy: The Series. Back to the Future - I’m a sucker for cartoon spin-offs that feature voices from the original movies, and this one had both Mary Steenburgen (Clara Brown) and Thomas F. Wilson (Biff Tannen) reprising their roles. Strangely enough, the animated Doc Brown was voiced by Dan Castellaneta (also the voice of Homer Simpson), while the live-action Doc Brown, who introduced and closed each episode, was actually played by the movies’ Christopher Lloyd. Someone please put this show on DVD already. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures - Even better than BTTF, this cartoon initially featured the voices of the three original stars of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter and George Carlin. Unfortunately, the bogus second season of the series screwed everything up with a different production company (DiC instead of Hanna-Barbera), new actors (Evan Richards and Christopher Kennedy, stars of the live-action Bill & Ted series) and a broader premise (the dudes could now travel into literature, TV shows and the human body). At least for awhile, the series was most triumphant. Beetlejuice - Talk about changing the premise. I don’t know what the creators were thinking when they decided to suddenly make Beetlejuice and Lydia best friends, but somehow it works. And, as much as I’d have loved for Winona Ryder to reprise her role, I’m glad Lydia was voiced by one of my favorites, Alyson Court (Jubilee in X-Men: The Animated Series and Veronica in The New Archies). I don’t understand how it really fits with the plot of Tim Burton’s movie anymore than I get why Daniel and Mr Miyagi were suddenly adventurers in the Karate Kid cartoon, but I was at least a big fan of the imaginative Netherworld setting of the Beetlejuice series. The Real Ghostbusters - Like Beetlejuice, this animated version of Ghostbusters turned enemies into friends by making Slimer a cute mascot. In fact, the series was eventually retitled Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters because of how kids responded to the green guy, with Slimer receiving his own half-hour storylines. This despite the initial attraction of the series having a darker tone than most Saturday morning cartoons. TaleSpin - Forget all the later Disney cartoon series based on animated features, this was the best and most inspired. Maybe because it’s another example in which the premise of the series is completely different than the premise of the films. Aside from starring the characters Baloo, Louie and Shere Khan, it has nothing at all to do with The Jungle Book. And except for the lack of songs performed by Louis Prima, the series is much cooler than the movie. She-Ra: Princess of Power - I’m counting this even though the movie it’s spun off from, The Secret of the Sword, is also the first four episodes of the series. It was released theatrically, though. Besides, including it on the list means I don’t have to choose a best of the three lame Jim Carrey movie spin offs (The Mask; Dumb and Dumber; Ace Ventura), nor do I have to familiarize myself with The Animatrix, which I’m sure has it’s fans, or attempt to justify the cool in theory but terrible in reality Teen Wolf cartoon. Toxic Crusaders - Among all the R-rated movies that were turned into cartoons for kids — including First Blood (Rambo), Highlander, RoboCop and Police Academy – the decision to make an animated series out of The Toxic Avenger is the most questionable and therefore the most ingenious. I doubt something like this could be created today; we kids of the ’80s were just more exposed to inappropriate material and also had room for more sanitized versions. I saw the original, extremely violent movie when I was 8 years old and would have also loved this cartoon back then, despite it’s lack of head-crushings and nudity. Unfortunately, it didn’t debut until I was in my teens, when I was typically sleeping in on Saturday mornings and napping on weekday afternoons. Clerks - I’ve honestly never seen this cartoon, but I have a good reason to include it. While taking a film studies course titled American Film Comedy in college, I had a classmate who literally finished each session — having just watched The Circus, The General, Sherlock Jr., Duck Soup, The Palm Beach Story, It, Trouble in Paradise, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, His Girl Friday, It Should Happen to You, Tootsie or some other classic — by saying, in all seriousness, “I guess I don’t have the right sense of humor for these movies. I prefer smart comedies like Chasing Amy.” A devout Kevin Smith fan, he also continuously would reference the animated Clerks series, despite the fact that nobody else seemed to have any familiarity with it. For a cartoon spin-off to so completely appease the biggest fan of the movie, it has to be considered a success. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/hysterical/MemberTagFilms.aspxhysterical
Number of films tagged: 62

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]]>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:30:35 GMT624276Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Freakin-sweet/MemberTagFilms.aspxFreakin-sweet
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Number of films tagged: 1

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