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Joan Rivers is still working for E!
23 December 2009 11:30 AM, PST
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There have been three constants in this late stage of Joan Rivers' career. First, her project will involve her daughter Melissa. Second, she will work for E! Entertainment. Third, it will involve interviews on the red carpet of some awards show. All three of these are true in her new series of Fashion Police specials for E! Although in this case, Melissa Rivers is a producer and won't generally be appearing on screen.
I remember her best as the voice of Dot Matrix in Spaceballs. I did watch her Comedy Central Roast and found it to be lackluster. After all the plastic surgery, I'm surprised she can even move her mouth anymore. It's frozen in a grin like Jack Nicholson's Joker.
I'm fascinated to know why Joan Rivers' red carpet interviews are so popular that E! keeps asking her back. Does anybody out there watch and like the interviews?
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- Brad Trechak
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Mel Brooks' Classics Debut In Hi-Def DVD Collection
23 December 2009 3:12 AM, PST
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Comedy legend Mel Brooks' timeless classics are available for the first time in high definition. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has debuted "The Mel Brooks Collection on Blu-ray Disc" on December 15.
The nine-disc collection features an exclusive book created in conjunction with him highlighting his life and unforgettable films.
It includes nine of his critically acclaimed films, including "High Anxiety," "History of the World Part 1," Robin Hood: Men in Tights," "Silent Movie," "Spaceballs," "To Be or Not to Be," "The Twelve Chairs," and his most commercially successful films "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein."
Brooks wrote, directed, and starred in the satirical Western comedy "Blazing Saddles" in 1974 with co-stars Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, and is considered one of the greatest American comedies of all time.
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DVD Playhouse--December 2009
19 December 2009 3:11 PM, PST
| The Hollywood Interview
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DVD Playhouse—December 2009
By
Allen Gardner
Public Enemies (Universal) Johnny Depp portrays legendary Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger in co- writer/director Michael Mann’s take on America’s first “Public Enemy Number One.” Like many big studio releases today, Public Enemies has it all: A-list talent before and behind the camera, but lacks a heart or soul that allows its audience to connect with it. Film plays out like a “true crime” TV show with re-enactments of famous events cast with top actors and shot by the best technicians in the business, with little, if any, character or story development to hold it together in between. A real disappointment from one of our finest filmmakers and finest actors. The lone standout: the great character actor Stephen Lang as a hard-eyed lawman who’s seen a lot, but manages to retain a tiny piece of his heart. For a better take on the same subject,
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- The Hollywood Interview.com
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Making The (Up) Grade: The Mel Brooks Collection
19 December 2009 6:02 AM, PST
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For contemporary audiences, Mel Brooks shares a lot in common with filmmakers like the Zucker brothers: he's a guy who pioneered a lot of the conventions of modern parody who may or may not quite still be relevant. In other words, his influence is undeniable; but the longevity of his body of work? Not quite as assured.
Brooks' films are definitely not 100 percent consistent (it should tell you something that Dracula: Dead and Loving It and Life Stinks never seem to find their way into his home-video boxed sets), but the ones that hold up are truly great: Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, and Blazing Saddles still have viewers in stitches, and many others from that time, including To Be or Not To Be, Spaceballs, and High Anxiety, still hold special places in the hearts of their fans. But whether you like only one or two of Brooks' films or all of them,
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- Todd Gilchrist
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'Spaceballs' Asks You To Use The Schwartz In Today's Sick Day Stash
16 December 2009 12:00 PM, PST
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Call them "cult classics." "Guilty pleasures." "Comfort movies." We all have a mental rolodex of flicks that may not be terribly popular but, for one reason or another, they resonate in a very special way. Maybe you saw it at the right moment. Maybe you just see gold where everyone else sees feces. Whatever the case, these are the special favorites that you keep stashed away for sick days. Here are some of ours.
With the last name of Schwartz, it's no doubt that my Sick Day Stash preference happens to be "Spaceballs." After having "May the Schwartz be with you!" screamed at me by seven year olds on my school bus for weeks on end, I knew it was time to send my mother to the video store and get my first taste of Mel Brooks. And yes, I was young enough to still be single digits in the 90s.
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- Terri Schwartz
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Golden Globe-Nominated 'Hangover' Takes A Swig, 'Inglourious' Storms Shelves And More, In The DVD Report For Dec. 15
15 December 2009 4:00 PM, PST
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Getting some of the funniest guys in show business and dropping them in Vegas for a bachelor party sounds like a winning formula, but nobody expected "The Hangover" to gross a whopping $450 million dollars worldwide. Now the film is hitting DVD and Blu-ray, and is our lead film for this week's DVD Report.
Todd Phillips already had hits like "Old School" and "Road Trip" in the bank at the time he was begged to director "The Hangover," and the veteran comedy helmer pulled together a cast of unproven but fan-favorite stars. Headlining the zany misadventure romp would be Bradley Cooper (best known as the quintessential a-hole in "Wedding Crashers), Ed Helms ("Daily Show" and "The Office" alum) and underground comedy icon Zach Galifianakis. While all three shared a level of success, none had ever held a film together on their own, making this a considerable experiment for all involved.
What resulted,
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- Brian Jacks
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This Week On DVD and Blu-ray: December 15, 2009
15 December 2009 2:44 AM, PST
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DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed
Inglourious Basterds
I just reviewed the Blu-ray edition, which you can read right here, but if you're looking for the short version... Buy this one right now. My recommendation is Blu-ray.
The Mel Brooks Collection [Blu-ray]
I almost made this the first previewed release, but at $92.99 I know it isn't exactly something people are going to be rushing out to buy as it takes a little more thought before handing over that kind of money. However, considering the set comes with nine of Mel Brooks's films on beautiful Blu-ray transfers that means you are getting each at just over $10. That's a pretty good deal.
The titles included in the set are Twelve Chairs, Silent Movie, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, History of the World - Part I, To Be or Not To Be, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
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- Brad Brevet
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Review: 'The Mel Brooks Collection' on Blu-ray
14 December 2009 1:33 PM, PST
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I first encountered Mel Brooks’ work, without realizing it, when I began watching Get Smart, the wonderful spy satire he cocreated with Buck Henry (who just happened to be my father’s college roommate – small world and all that). It wasn’t until Blazing Saddles and being in high school before I could put a name to the madman who unleashed these wonderful works. From that point on, when I saw his name I was guaranteed to be there.
In time, I learned of Brooks’ career prior to Get Smart and understood the steps taken that led to the work that I adored. My respect for his determination as a writer, performer, and romancer only grew with time and understanding. There was no single style to his humor – it could be slapstick, word play, satire – and he blended it unlike anyone previously. Nothing was sacred and he continually pushed the
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- Robert Greenberger
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What I Watched, What You Watched: Installment #21
13 December 2009 2:19 AM, PST
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On top of everything below I recently received the Mel Brooks Collection on Blu-ray and watched a pair of Brooks's films I hadn't seen yet (Twelve Chairs and Silent Movie). The set contains seven more films, all on Blu-ray as well as six all-new featurettes exclusive to Blu-ray (such as, Silent Movie has a trivia track as well as a new 24-minute featurette focusing on silent films and how they inspired the movie). Also included are Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, History of the World - Part I, To Be or Not To Be, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I will have a full review of the complete set as soon as I can and hopefully before it's released this Tuesday. Stay tuned for that, but for now let's have a look at what else I watched and then hear from you!
Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963)
Quick Thoughts:
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- Brad Brevet
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Blu-ray Giveaway: The Mel Brooks Collection
3 December 2009 10:16 AM, PST
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Mel Brooks oldies but goodies are coming to Blu-ray in a big way on December 15 in The Mel Brooks Collection. This massive 9-disc set includes the high definition debut of High Anxiety, History Of The World Part I, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Silent Movie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Twelve Chairs, as well as Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles and Spaceballs.
One lucky reader will have these 9 Mel Brooks films on Blu-ray mailed to their doorstep on us. For a chance to win, fill out and send in the entry form below. You can optionally return any or every day thereafter to enter again and increase the odds each time. Good luck!
Best known as a creator of broad film farces and uproarious parodies, jack-of-all-trades Mel Brooks has been entertaining audiences for years with his wacky and absurdist humor. Now just in time for the holidays, the
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MovieWeb's 2009 DVD Holiday Gift Guide
24 November 2009 5:51 AM, PST
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Black Friday is approaching, fellow readers. No, I'm not talking about some sort of economic free-fall or any apocalyptic event that we might see in 2012. I'm talking about the shopper's paradise/nightmare that is the day after Thanksgiving, where all the hot holiday items are paraded about with slashed prices galore. While this day does wonders for your pocketbook, it takes a toll on your sanity with malls full of shoppers packed in like sardines, scurrying to complete their lists. We all know how trying these times are, so we here at MovieWeb are trying to make it a little easier on our readers. No, we won't be selling Blu-ray players for under $100, but we are compiling a tidy little list of our own complete with our top DVD buys of the season. Below you'll find a comprehensive guide to all of the hot titles that will be on the shelves this season,
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Gora's Cem Yilmaz Goes Western With YAHŞİ Bati
23 November 2009 9:29 AM, PST
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Regular readers of this space should be well familiar with the name of Cem Yilmaz by now. The hugely popular comic was already a highly sought after performer when he also hit international success as a director with his scifi comedy Gora. A film that drew immediate comparisons to Mel Brooks with its blend of high concepts, lowbrow slapstick, and Yilmaz's portrayal of multiple roles Gora traveled widely on the international festival circuit and still stands in my mind as the most technically accomplished genre film to ever come out of Turkey.
Well, if Gora is Yilmaz's Spaceballs then Yahsi Bati is his Blazing Saddles. Yes, kids, we've got a Turkish comedy-western on our hands and, as you'd expect from Yilmaz, the technical work is stellar while the comedy - think lots of Turks in red-face - teeters right on the edge of bad taste. Check the first trailer below!
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Walk This Way: Nine-Disc Mel Brooks Blu-ray Set!
27 October 2009 4:48 PM, PDT
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If you're a fan of the irreplaceable and wonderful Mel Brooks, chances are you've already got The Mel Brooks Collection -- a DVD box jam-packed with most of the directors classic films. I already double-dipped to get them all in one spot, in space-saving super-slim cases, but now there's a collection worthy of a double or triple dip. And -- darn you all! -- yet another reason to get a Blu-ray player.
As DVD Snapshot shares, there's a new The Mel Brooks Collection on the way, and this time in glorious Blu-ray. But it's not just the old collection in high definition. It's the same roster +1 -- the film that was surprisingly lacking from the first release -- Spaceballs. That means, vacuum cleaner intergalactic hijinx along with Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety, History of the World Part I, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Silent Movie, To Be or Not to Be,
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- Monika Bartyzel
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How Does Jim Carrey Playing Multiple Roles in 'A Christmas Carol' Benefit the Film?
26 October 2009 1:22 PM, PDT
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The idea of one actor playing multiple characters in a film isn't a new one even though many people begin and end the conversation with Eddie Murphy for his performances in films such as Nutty Professor and Norbit all while forgetting the comedy he brought us in Coming to America.
Before Murphy we had the likes of Mel Brooks in History of the World and Spaceballs, Alec Guiness in the fantastic Kind Hearts and Coronets and Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove. Outside of Murphy it seems only Mike Myers has endured the same kind of ill treatment, primarily for taking the joke to the point it wasn't funny any longer (debatable) in the Austin Powers films and then dropping the bomb that was The Love Guru.
Looking at the performances listed above I am reminded of some classic films as well as a couple that missed the mark, but we
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- Brad Brevet
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Cradlewood Grabs Ian Somerhalder
16 October 2009 6:38 AM, PDT
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Pretty boy Ian Somerhalder, perhaps best known for his work in The Vampire Diaries and Lost, has joined the cast of the “romantic gothic fairy tale” Cradlewood.
According to THR:
“The movie centers on an Australian woman living in Boston with the heir (Somerhalder) to an incredible fortune whose family history is swirled in a legend that tells of a pact made with a demon which ensures that whenever a boy is born into the family, the father is killed.
The heir suspects his girlfriend is pregnant, and after strange events occur, he comes to believe he will die if he continues to fall in love.”
The film will be directed by Harry Weinmann, who did the visual effects for Spaceballs and was on the art department for Race to Witch Mountain. In other words, he’s relatively unproven, even after more than 20 years in the field. Weinmann created the
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- John Cooper
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What I Watched, What You Watched: Installment #12
11 October 2009 1:08 AM, PDT
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Okay, so I didn't watch only these two movies, but I have a few movies I am saving for actual reviews including the new Natural Born Killers Blu-ray and Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding which hits Criterion Blu-ray on October 20. While Monsoon Wedding will be a traditional review, I hope to encourage some conversation when I post my commentary on Natural Born Killers.
As always, remember you can keep tabs on my personal Netflix queue right here. I now have 50 friends on the movie rental site and would love to have a few more if those of you out there with accounts are interested. Now, here's the recap of my week in movies...
The Thaw (2009)
Quick Thoughts: I already mentioned the Ghost House Collection this was a part of in my DVD/Blu-ray round-up last tuesday and Sara reviewed all four films from the collection last week. I finally got
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- Brad Brevet
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There's No Place Like Blu-Ray For 'Wizard Of Oz,' In The DVD Report For Tuesday, September 29
29 September 2009 3:00 PM, PDT
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Rare is the occasion where the week biggest release isn't a new blockbuster but rather a septuagenarian, but that's the case this time as a young girl from Kanas eclipses anything New Hollywood has to throw at us. This is your DVD Report for Tuesday, September 29, 2009.
Since the advent of Blu-ray, studios have casually mined their catalogues for suitable re-releases, and while the results have often been notable, they're usually nothing to stop the presses over. But every once in a while, that little extra effort is made that blows something out of the water and we get something like MGM's timeless "The Wizard of Oz," which breezes into its 70th birthday with one of the best Blu-ray collections of all time.
Presented in a large hardbound rectangular case, the 70th Anniversary Edition of "Oz" comes as a three-disc Blu-ray set featuring a whopping 20+ hours of bonus content, and is
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- Brian Jacks
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9 Mel Brooks Movies Bundled for Blu-ray
18 September 2009 8:00 AM, PDT
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Online retailers DVDEmpire.com and Amazon.com have both added active pre-order listings for The Mel Brooks Collection on Blu-ray Disc with an Srp of $139.99.
Per the listings, the 9-disc set will include previously released Brooks' films on Blu-ray Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs and Young Frankenstein, along with newcomers High Anxiety, History Of The World Part I, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Silent Movie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Twelve Chairs.
A little trivia: Robin Hood: Men in Tights will mark the fourth Robin Hood adventure to appear on Blu-ray. The first three are The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner and the first season of BBC's Robin Hood television show.
Pre-order The Mel Brooks Collection on Blu-ray at Amazon.com.
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'Inglourious Basterds': Five Of Cinema's Badass Jewish Action Heroes
21 August 2009 2:30 PM, PDT
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"Inglourious Basterds" opens this week with one of the most intentionally Jewish casts of action heroes that any writer or director has ever assembled. Quentin Tarantino's ultra-violent tale sets itself historically during a time that many films have tackled, showcasing the tales of real-life heroes in Jewish history like Oscar Schindler in "Schindler's List" and Anne Frank in "The Diary of Anne Frank." I'm talking of course about World War II.
Tarantino's trademark penchant for extreme black humor and overshooting reality, meanwhile, places his ambitions somewhere between those more somber films and other over-the-top performances, like Adam Goldberg in the Comedy Central TV movie "The Hebrew Hammer." Eli Roth and his fellow Basterds will join a long history of Jewish action heroes in film, though. Here are five of the most famous figures who have earned that distinction.
The Thing (Michael Chiklis) -- "Fantastic Four"
Michael Chiklis' character
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- Brian Warmoth
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Boos! and Whoop-doos!: The Power of F*@# in a PG-13 World
21 August 2009 12:30 PM, PDT
| MovieWeb
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Fuck? Whoop-doo!
The fabulous "fuck" word. A pair of glistening titties. A subplot about spoiled underpants. Gratuitous underage alcohol consumption. Granny bashing. And a horny Asian co-op student that rubs his dick on a seven-foot tall beast of a woman. All in a PG rated movie. What? How did this happen? The year was 1984, and John Hughes got away with murder. His film Sixteen Candles came just before Mola Ram graciously ripped the heart out of an extra on the set of Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom. Moments before Steven Spielberg preformed this one malicious act on the filmgoing youth of America, our PG rated films used to be a lot meaner. Sexier. Funnier. Right on the edge of being R rated. Now, most PG-13 films won't touch the material found in those early PG rated affairs. You need look no further than the original The Bad News Bears
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