Oscars Live Blog

Costumes by Austin Powers

My family enjoyed watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics last night. My wife made a unique observation as the athletes marched in. Maybe she's the only one, but she thought the ladies carrying the country signs (in English and French, yay Canada) looked like they had gotten their outfits from the set of an Austin Powers movie. Groovy!

Early Oscar Predictions

The Oscar nominees were announced yesterday. Once again I'm having a bit of a contest at my office to see who can pick the most winners. Things are a bit different this year with ten nominees in the Best Picture category, so it'll be a bit harder to pick the winner. Still, here are my early predictions, still subject to change as we see how the wind blows over the next few weeks.



Best Actor

Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

There's no huge stand-out here. I think Freeman having won in the supporting actor category in the past makes him a long shot, Firth's movie isn't as well known, and Clooney...well, I don't know. I'm sure the performance is great but remember back when it seemed like every other movie out had Gene Hackman in it? Clooney has taken over in that department, some folks are a bit tired of him. I think it comes down to Bridges and Renner. Since Bridges has been nominated four times in the past and never won, I think the little gold man is his this year. Having just won a Golden Globe doesn't hurt either.



Best Actress

Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie and Julia

Sidibe has an outside chance since the Academy often awards great performances by actresses in their first movie (Marlee Matlin, Jennifer Hudson). However, I think the battle is between Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock. Streep can never be counted out, but I think the award goes to Bullock.



Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglorious Basterds

Here you have another two man battle. This one between the person many think SHOULD win, and the one who probably WILL win. Who should win? I think most would say Waltz as the main baddie of Quentin Tarrantino's latest. However, in Plummer you have a 50-year veteran of the film industry who has never been nominated before. The Academy would be honoring his whole career with a win this year. My pick would be Plummer.



Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farminga - Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious

Nothing's for sure, but this may be the easiest one to pick. It's never good to have two actresses nominated in the same category for the same movie. So Farminga and Kendrick cancel each other out. Gyllenhaal doesn't seem to have the buzz the others do so she's a long shot. Cruz has won this award recently, and besides, "Nine" has not exactly been greeted with rave reviews. Mo'Nique gets it not just by process of elimination, but from what I understand, her performance is truly one of the best of the year.



Best Director

James Cameron - Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino - Inglorious Basterds
Lee Daniels - Precious
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

Did you know Cameron and Bigelow were once husband and wife? Well they'll be battling it out again, as it would appear they are the front runners. This award is so closely tied to the Best Picture award (get there in a minute), right now it's hard to say how things will go. But I think, even if another film goes away with the top prize, Cameron's innovation on "Avatar" will lead him to his 2nd directing Oscar.



Best Picture

Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

No lie, with 10 films instead of 5 it's harder to pick...and could lead to an upset. I think there are 3 films that have the best chance. "Avatar" dominated the technical categories and is a true movie milestone..."The Hurt Locker" has had almost unanimous critical praise and since it's about the Iraq war some voter may feel they are making a statement by placing their vote with it...and the safe choice for voters "Up in the Air." Anything could happen, but I think enough voters are still amazed enough with "Avatar" to lead it to the win.

I'll probably change my mind on some of this...the awards are March 7.

Guilty Pleasure 10: Young Einstein

The summer of 1989 was an incredible year for the movies. Among the films out that year were "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," "Ghostbusters II," "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," and "When Harry Met Sally." But one studio in particular had a plan for how to rule the summer. That was Warner Brothers. They would dominate the first half of the summer with a little film called "Batman," and that they did. As for the second half of the summer, they looked to an Australian known as Yahoo Serious.

Well, "Young Einstein" didn't exactly set the sort of records the caped crusader did, though it was a moderate success. It is certainly one of the oddest offerings from a major studio during that historic summer.

Yahoo Serious, who was apparently possessed by the same demon of hair care that has long tormented the poor soul known as Carrot Top, plays a fictionalized (to say the least) version of Albert Einstein. Through the course of the film Einstein invents a formula for splitting beer atoms, creates rock n roll and designs the first surf board.

There's nothing really laugh-out-loud funny about the movie, but it's hard not to like. In many ways, the exaggerated behavior of most of the cast, not to mention the physical humor, points to some influence from the days of silent comedies. The level of humor is nowhere near what Chaplin or Keaton could pull off, but it brings a certain innocence that just brings a smile to my face.

I guess the world wasn't completely ready for Yahoo Serious. He's only made a few other films to date and none have had as big a release as this one did. In the years that have passed he's tried some other activities, though, like suing Yahoo for stealing his name. I'll give you one guess how that one turned out.

Guilty Pleasure 9: The Legend of Billie Jean

Summer 1986 was when cable TV first came to Wheaton, IL. So the movies that we watched endlessly on cable that summer were the films out in theaters the previous summer...including one of 1985's big bombs, "The Legend of Billie Jean." It's a movie that many people seem to want to forget. According to Wikipedia, it's original VHS video release shortly after the film's brief theatrical run is the only home video release the film has ever had. It has yet to appear on DVD. However, through the magic of Netflix and their "view instantly" feature, Billie Jean can be experienced via the internet. It is definitely one of my guilty pleasures.

It stars Helen Slater (who has already made an appearance in my list of "guilty pleasures" thanks to her role as Supergirl) as a girl who ends up accidentally becoming the most wanted criminal in Corpus Christi, TX. It all starts when her brother, played by Christian Slater (no relation to Helen), gets in a fight with some local jerks which results in his prized scooter being trashed. When Billie Jean tries to collect the money for the repairs from the boy's father...well, he has other things on his mind when it comes to Bille Jean. Long story short, he gets accidentally shot and Billie Jean, her brother, and some friends take it on the lam. Eventually, Billie Jean ends up becoming a sort of celebrity criminal with the public gladly cheering her on.

The story is really pretty silly. These "criminals" hang out in a distinct looking vehicle, in wide open spaces, yet nobody seems to be able to find them. The movie is just plain unbelievable, right down to both Slater's overdoing the Texas twang. The worst part of the movie is the character played by Yeardley Smith, the future voice of Lisa Simpson. She was 21 years old at the time of the film's release, but is playing a part that seems to have been written for an 11 year old.

So what makes the film likable? Well, for one, just like with "Supergirl," Ms. Slater is just irresistible to watch...especially for a 15 year old boy, as I was when I first saw the film. Adolescent hormones aside, and despite the accent issues, she really can draw you into a film. And of course, when you're a teenager, a film about a bunch of your peers taking matters into their own hands has a certain appeal. It's the same reason why a movie like "Home Alone" or the Our Gang shorts have such an appeal with younger kids. It's that built in desire to stick it to the man.

So Billie Jean, it's good to see you pop up on Netflix, it's about time. After all..."fair is fair." (That's a famous quote from the movie...see how I worked that in there...because...see it's...never mind).

Guilty Pleasure 8: Dune

When "Dune" was released at Christmas 1984 I avoided it like the plague. It looked creepy... and it had that new rating, PG-13. I wasn't sure what to make of that. The film was not well received when it was released, in fact Siskel & Ebert declared it the worst film of 1984 on one of their end of the year episodes. I finally checked the film out as an adult, while I agree the film has some major problems, I keep finding myself returning for another look every year or so.

The film is based on Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel. The book is challenging to say the least. It's a complicated mix of sci-fi, religion and politics that leaves many readers scratching their heads while just as many others cheer it's greatness.

In the director's chair was David Lynch. Yes that David Lynch, the man behind such strange creations as "Blue Velvet," and the TV series "Twin Peaks." But "Dune" was only his third film, following his bizarre debut "Eraserhead" and the more mainstream "The Elephant Man." It was certainly his most ambitious project to date. Lynch took on writing the screenplay as well, anyone who has read the book knows that many would prefer the Chinese water torture over such an assignment. Much of the screenplay works well, while other parts, especially the overuse of our being able to hear the characters thoughts, do not.

My suspicions in 1984 were true, the film is is creepy. Imagine that, a creepy David Lynch film (that's sarcasm by the way). In fact, Lynch takes the creepiest elements of Herbert's book and cranks the creep-factor up to 11. For example, the book's main villain, Barron Harkonnen is one of the most vicious and vile villains I've ever encountered in print. In the film he's much worse, played by Kenneth McMillan as a cackling, slobbering mad man covered in disgusting sores.

Certain elements of the film do work really well. I love the opening of the movie in which Virginia Madsen as Princess Irulan gives us the back story. It echoes the tone of the book in which each chapter begins with a quote from one of Irulan's many writings on the events depicted. Kyle MacLachlin (a Lynch favorite in his first film) is well cast as Paul Atreides, as is future Law & Order girl Alicia Witt as the scariest 8 year old in the universe, Alia. Best of all is the unique costumes and set design which contribute to setting a distinct tone for each of the three "houses" that figure prominently in the story.

Several different versions of the film have popped up over the years. An "extended edition" clocks in at 40 minutes longer than the theatrical cut and thoroughly complicates the already complicated story. Lynch disowned this version of the film which lists "Alan Smithee" as it's director and "Judas Booth" as screenwriter. For that matter, Lynch has pretty much disowned the theatrical version as well. He rarely speaks of the movie and according to Wikipedia he is quoted as having said that he "probably shouldn't have done that picture."

"Dune" is intriguing but flawed and is certainly far from being the worst film of 1984.

Tim Burton's "Batman"...20 years ago.

Do you remember what you were doing 20 years ago this evening? I do. I had a date! I know it probably doesn't seem that big of a deal to you, but you don't realize how rare of an occasion that was. A good friend took pity on me and accompanied me to a late evening showing of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," which I had already seen once. As we exited the theater around 11:00 that evening, we passed by the line that had formed for the midnight showing of the summer of 89's most anticipated movie..."Batman." The June 23rd release date had been stamped on our brains many months before, and now the day was upon us. Part of me wanted to suggest to my date that we just turn around and make the night a double feature, but I ended up waiting for the first showing the next day. My movie pals and I lined up early and we had such a great time. The movie was worth the wait. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years.

With all the excitement, deservedly so, over Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" last year, I fear that many have forgotten what a great movie Burton's "Batman" is. This was only Burton's third feature. With only the bizarre fun of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" and "Beetlejuice" under his belt, he seemed an odd choice for such a potentially big franchise. But Burton's take on the material was spot on. Jack Nicholson was an inspired choice to play the Joker and Michael Keaton gave the fanboys who whined about his casting a swift batkick to the pants. Mix it with the incredible production design and what is still one of Danny Elfman's best scores, and you've got a classic.

Happy 20th to Tim Burton's "Batman!" You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?

10 years of The Phantom Menace

This Tuesday marks the 10th anniversary of the release of "Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace." It's hard to believe that it's been that long. I remember going on the opening day. My office pretty much shut down and we all went to an afternoon show together. It was such a thrill being in a packed theater and having every single person in the audience cheer when the words "Star Wars" appeared on the screen. The look of the title and the "a long time ago..." lead in were exactly the same as the three original films. I didn't fully believe I was seeing a new Star Wars film until the words "Episode I" scrolled up.

Many people were less than thrilled with this new creation from the mind of Lucas. I had a great time at the movies that day, and I still enjoy the film today. I admit it is probably the weakest of the Star Wars films, but the way the current generation has responded to this film and it's sequels over the last few years I think proves that it is not the films that changed, but the audience. Simply put, the children of the 70's grew up and many were unwilling to approach these films as they did when they were young.

So, in celebration of the film's 10th anniversary, here are a few of the things I love about The Phantom Menace:

- Giant Monsters

It must be the Godzilla fan in me, but I loved the giant undersea creatures that Qui Gon, Obi Wan, and Jar Jar encounter during their underwater bongo trip to Theed. Giant monsters are a Star Wars tradition, so it was fun to meet some of the aquatic variety.

- Watto

Watto, the junk dealer who owns Anakin and his mother, is a great character. I love his design...pot bellied, unshaven, broken teeth that won't fit behind his mouth...he looks like a guy who's spent too much time at the race track. He's also got one of the best character voices of the series. I wish we we could've seen more of him as the saga progressed.

- Pod Racing

The pod race sequence is one of the best action scenes in any of the Star Wars films. This is Lucas' imagination working on all cylinders. Just the idea of racers being dragged along by two giant engines at dizzying speeds is wonderfully insane by itself, but there's so much more to like about this race. The cast of alien drivers make this Episode 1's version of the cantina scene. The nods to the other Star Wars films are great...buzzing by some Jawas, Jabba the Hutt falling asleep at the race, and best of all, Tusken Raiders taking pot shots at the racers. Ingenious! But as good as the pod race is, it may not be the film's best moment, which leads us to...

- Duel of the Fates

It turns out that after all those years we really had no concept of what a real lightsaber battle was like. The moment when Darth Maul ignites his double-edged lightsaber had appeared in the first trailer for the film, so fans had played and replayed it hundred of times in the six months leading up to the film's release, yet there were still audible gasps in the audience when the moment came. The battle that followed was beyond what anyone had imagined. You've got to hand it to Lucas for not giving Darth Maul the same sort of sword fighting chit chat that Darth Vader was fond of in the original trilogy. It helped make this villain a creature of pure rage. I think my favorite moment of the duel is when, to open a door, Darth Maul points at an object on the floor, then points at a control panel to send the item hurling into it, thus opening the door. The music for this sequence also represents on of John Williams' finest moments in either of the trilogies.

So happy 10th anniversay Phantom Menace! Everyone grab your double-edged lightsaber and party like it's 1999, or at least watch the movie again.

Where the Wild Things Are Trailer

The trailer for the long-awaited Spike Jonze directed version of "Where the Wild Things Are" is online. Rumors of a troubled production have been circulating for awhile. I say the film will either be brilliant or will join the likes of "Ishtar' and "Heaven's Gate" in the list of great film disasters. This trailer looks encouraging, though. And kudos for not using CGI wild things! They look great.

Academy Awards Live Blog

Some Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations

Bright and early this morning, the nominees for the 81st Annual Academy Awards were announced. Being a big movie fan, I always enjoy trying to figure out who the winners will be. In fact, the last several years I have held a contest at my office to see who can guess the most winners. The one who gets the most right wins a couple of movie passes.

There are always surprises with the nominations, and of course disappointing snubs. Here are a few of my thoughts after this morning's announcement.

- Academy Voters Belong in Arkham Asylum

"The Dark Knight" did not get a Best Picture nomination this morning. And thus this becomes the biggest crime in the history of the Oscars, replacing the infamous incident of a few years back when "Happy Feet" won for Best Animated Feature. I really don't understand what makes the Academy voters feel that they have to vote for more lofty films. Why can't a film that was a great work of art also be a huge crowd-pleasing summer action movie as well. I mean, who do these people think they are? The Oscars are voted on by industry folks, the same folks that bring you such highbrow pics as "Dude, Where's My Car." Just who are they trying to impress here. I certainly haven't seen every movie of 2008, but of what I have seen "The Dark Knight" is the best movie of the year. The snub of Christopher Nolan in the best director category is almost as bad.

- Danny Elfman finally gets some Academy Love

Danny Elfman is my favorite film composer. Every since I first saw "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," which was his first big score, I have been intrigued by his unique style. Amazingly, his nomination this morning for composing the score for "Milk" is only his 4th nomination in over 20 years of film scoring. His work on films like "Edward Scissorhands," "Beetlejuice," and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was certainly deserving. But here is another example of a weird Academy quirk...we tend to see more nominations for the scores of dramatic films than for fantasy or action films. This is totally bizarre since, in my opinion, the art of film scoring is at it's best in these genres. When I saw that Elfman was scoring "Milk," a drama about openly gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, I had a feeling the Academy might finally take note of him.

- The Whoville Oscar Party has Officially been Cancelled

It was a great year for animated films. "Wall-E" was another great film from Pixar, though I think it's a tad bit overrated, "Kung Fu Panda" was a fantastic surprise, and "Bolt" was a lot better than I expected. These three films earned their nominations, but I was very disappointed to see this year's first great animated feature, "Horton Hears a Who," ignored. I said at the time it was released that I felt it may be the best non-Pixar computer animated feature to date. It's certainly the best film adaptation of Dr. Seuss' work so far. Unfortunately, the number of animated feature nominees is based on the number of eligible films released during the year. On rare occasion, it's only happened once, five films get nominated. But this year there were just three, so Horton got snubbed.

- The Best Picture and Best Director Categories Match!

One of the interesting phenomena of the Oscars is that usually the Best Director nominees are off by one when compared with the Best Picture nominees. This usually leads to people making snide remarks like "Well, I guess 'Driving Miss Daisy' must have directed itself." But for once, the directors of the five best picture nominees were all nominated for Best Director.

Well, the awards are presented Feb 22. Just like last year, I think I will try to live blog the event. Have fun trying to pick the winners.

Movie Montage

One of the best parts of the annual Oscar broadcast is the movie montages. I know, I'm a sap, but those silly montages remind of why I love movies so much. In exploring YouTube this evening I ran across a person who has done a bunch of his own montages to salute the work of various filmmakers. Among those "barringer82" has created are tributes to Stanley Kubrick, Tim Burton, David Lynch, and Quentin Tarantino. The guy is quite talented, so enjoy this one that highlights the work of the Coen Brothers.

Movie Commercials to be allowed during Oscar Broadcast

I'm not a football fan, I watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. Now, the Academy Awards, that I take a great deal of interest in. But here's the thing, for ages the academy has not allowed any commercials for movies to air during the Oscar telecast. A stupid move in my opinion. All these years where they've been complaining that movie ticket sales keep going down, and on the night where you have the biggest world-wide audience of movie fans all watching the same thing on TV you don't show any movie commercials!?! Well, finally the ban has been lifted, though with some restrictions...such as no ads for prequels or sequels of any movie up for an award. So don't expect to see an ad for "Harold and Kumar Save Christmas" during this year's show.

Check out more about how the academy suddenly grew a brain here.

Note: I made up that movie title but if some Hollywood genius pitches that to a studio, I do expect a check.

The National Association of W Haters

I just watched the movie "Vantage Point" tonight. No, I don't have a biblical application this time around. The movie was alright. Clearly it was trying to be a 90 minute version of "24." It's about a terrorist plot that involves an assassination attempt on the President, as seen from several different points of view. The President is played by William Hurt, and he's not playing George W. Bush. So I found it really weird that at the beginning of the film we see a group of protesters, one of which is holding a sign featuring a letter W in a circle with a slash across it. Now if the President in this movie has middle name that begins with W it's certainly not made known to the audience. So what does the letter W have to do with anything here?

This could be viewed as a goof, but I'm not so sure. It seems like it may be another example of the filmmakers injecting their own political views into the background of the film. It's not uncommon. Richard Donner, who is a fine director, does it all the time. His police stations wallpapered with anti-NRA posters in the Lethal Weapon films is especially notable.

You know, on "Sesame Street," way back when I was a kid, there was a segment that featured Bert as the leader of a club called The National Association of W Lovers. Perhaps this person in the movie is really from a rival group.

Mothra Song

Remember the other day I said how I love Asian cinema? Well I couldn't resist sharing the theme song of one of my favorite Asian cinema stars...Mothra (or Mosura as he's known in his native land). You gotta love Mothra, he's got his own groupies!

Guilty Pleasure 4: Big Trouble in Little China

In 1986 the world just wasn't quite ready for Jack Burton. "Big Trouble in Little China" didn't exactly set records at the box office during it's theatrical run, so like many people, I didn't see the film until it became a regular part of the cable TV rotation a year later. Even then it just seemed like a weird action movie. But as the years have moved on, it is clear that this action / adventure kung-fu ghost story monster movie was ahead of it's time.


Director John Carpenter was most associated with horror movies, having directed films like "Christine," "The Fog," "The Thing," and the film that redefined horror for a generation "Halloween." So Big Trouble was a bit of a departure for him. Ultimately, the film is a comedy, but that was lost on most audiences in 86.

The story centers on Jack Burton, a tough-talking truck driver played by Kurt Russell. On a visit to San Francisco's Chinatown, Burton gets caught up in a strange battle between the forces of good and evil when the fiance of his friend Wang is kidnapped by the immortal LoPan and his three henchmen, the Storms. Along the way they encounter kung-fu battles, sorcerers and monsters.

Jack Burton is the ultimate non-hero. Though the lead in the movie, he is clueless to absolutely everything that is going on around him. He thinks he's John Wayne, but he reminds me more of Link Hogthrob, hapless captain from "The Muppet Show" sketch "Pigs in Space."

The story gets more ridiculous with every passing minute. Less than 15 minutes in we have kung-fu fighting street gangs and are well on our way to encountering 7-foot tall ghosts, a guy who shoots blue lightning from his hands, giant underground bugs, and a drooling hairy monster. By the film's climax we've progressed to a floating head with 20 eyes. In a way, Jack represents the audience when he reacts to this strange creature with, "My God no...please...what is that...don't tell me." Yet, everyone around Jack completely buys in to everything that's going on.

"Big Trouble in Little China" has to be one of the most bizarre mainstream movies of the 80's. A mix of action, comedy and hocus pocus that, as long as you don't take it too seriously, is more fun than a six demon bag.

Guilty Pleasure 2: Supergirl

In 1978, director Richard Donner unleashed on the world what I believe is his finest moment as a filmmaker, "Superman." 30 years later it is still possibly the greatest comic book movie ever made. "Superman II" arrived in 1980, and despite behind the scenes turmoil, including being partially directed by Donner and partially directed by Richard Lester, the end result was still a great follow-up. By 1983, however, the series was pretty much box office kryptonite after the disastrous "Superman III." But producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind had one more trick up their sleeve, a spin off film...1984's "Supergirl."

It seems that Kal-El wasn't the only survivor of the planet Krypton. In fact, quite a few Krptonians, including Superman's cousin Kara, are livin' la vida loca in Argo City, which exists in "Inner Space." What keeps the lights running in this place is a glowing croquet ball called the Omegahedron. When it goes missing, it's up to Kara to get it back. She follows it to Earth where it's snatched up by a wanna-be sorceress, Selina. When Kara isn't flying around looking for the thing, she's disguised as a mild-mannered student named Linda Lee (continuing the tradition of double L names in Superman) at an all-girls school in a small Illinois town where they apparently love Howard Jones music and eating at Popeye's Fried Chicken.

Helen Slater makes her movie debut as the title character, and she makes a good Supergirl. She was nominated for a Saturn award for her performance, but for all we know that could've been based primarily on the fact that she looked cute in a short red skirt and go-go boots. Seriously, her performance is good, but it's the veteran actors who ham it up. Faye Dunaway, Peter O'Toole, Mia Farrow...sure they don't have much to work with, but come on folks!

I've always had a problem with the sort of sci-fi / fantasy plot device they use here...there's some sort of magical object that spins and glows and we're all doomed if the good guys don't get it back. This is actually the same plot device they used last year for "Transformers." I suppose that film is not that different from "Supergirl." There you had a film that had a dumb story but was enjoyable because...well...who doesn't like giant robots fighting? "Supergirl" has the same basic dumb story, get the magic glowing thing, but is likable because...well...who doesn't like pretty blond superheroes, right?

There is a rumor floating around that Hollywood may have it's eye on making a new Supergirl film, but this one will always have a place in the "so bad it's good" file.

Guilty Pleasure 1: Flash Gordon

In 1980 it wasn't uncommon that I would spend a weekend at my grandparents' house along with two of my cousins who were close in age. My grandpa would often take the three of us to a movie during the weekend. We first saw "The Empire Strikes Back" on one of these weekends. Later that same year I looked forward to one of those weekends anticipating seeing "Flash Gordon." I got sick that weekend and ended up staying at home and being extremely jealous of my cousins who got to see the movie. It was many many years later that I finally got to see what would become a great cult classic of the 80's.

Of course, Flash is a character that dates back to the 1930's, but this version was pretty much a response to the success of "Star Wars," However, the two films couldn't be more different. Lucas' universe was lived in, it was worn. You won't find a speck of rust here, though. The general feel of Flash is actually much closer to "Barbarella" than "Star Wars."

The look of many of the ships and costumes are right out of the original Flash Gordon comics and serial films of the 30's. Other elements of the design seem like you're walking into a Yes album cover.

The acting is uneven to say the least. Flash is played by Sam Jones, who rumor has it was cast in the role because producer Dino De Laurentis' mother spotted him on an episode of "The Dating Game." Not exactly a promising start. Despite having an unknown in the lead, the film does boast some impressive supporting players including Topol as Dr. Zarkov, future James Bond Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin, and Max Von Sydow perfectly cast as Ming the Merciless.

But the casting highlight has to be Brian Blessed in a completely over-the-top performance as the leader of the Hawkmen, Prince Vultan. He's a bizarre cartoon character come to life as he bounds around in his winged diaper.

The icing on the cake is the musical contribution of Queen. With it's extensive use of synthesizers, pounding bass lines, and frequent repeats of "FLASH! Aaaaah," well, let's just say it's a far cry from John Williams.

"Flash Gordon" was not received well upon its initial release. The shadow of "Star Wars" is hard to get away from. But Flash needs to be viewed much like the "Batman" TV series of the 60's. The film seems to be intentionally campy with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humor. For example when Zarkov and Prince Barin are blindfolded and chained in a dungeon, Barin delivers the best line of the movie…"Tell me more about this Houdini fellow." Simply put, it's meant to be ridiculous.

I've Just Seen a...really weird movie

There's something about being able to go to my friends and say, "I've just seen the most bizarre movie..." that I've always loved. I remember when I first saw "Napoleon Dynamite," a few days later a friend of mine asked what movies I'd seen recently and I had to say, "Man, I just saw the most bizarre movie." He then went and rented it and came back a week later saying, "That movie was really bizarre." So allow me to give an official "man I just saw the most bizarre movie" for "Across the Universe."

I'd been intrigued by this movie since I first heard about the project. The premise is simple...string a story together using classic Beatles songs. The end result is part "Moulin Rouge" (which is a good thing) and part "Rent" (which is a bad thing). The problem is this has been tried before and the end result has been known to cause seizures in lab rats. It was 1978 and the movie was called "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," it is one of the worst movies ever made...and, of course, I highly recommend it. Picture this in your mind, but I accept no responsibility for any brain damage that may occur. Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees star as Sgt. Pepper's band. It seems that Mean Mr. Mustard has stolen some magical instruments from Heartland USA, so the boys go on journey to get them back. Along the way they encounter a bunch of strange characters all of whom seem to have a way with a Beatles song that will have you begging for William Shatner's version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." Celebrity cameos are everywhere, including Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Steve Martin, and Earth Wind & Fire.

"Across the Universe" does not suffer from the extreme level of camp that oozes from "Sgt. Pepper's," but it is interesting to note that both films use similar gimmicks. For example, most of the characters in both films have names that come from Beatles lyrics. Peppers has Billy Shears, The Hendersons, Mr. Kite, and Mean Mr. Mustard while "Across the Universe" features Jude, Lucy, Jojo, Sadie, and Prudence. It actually becomes somewhat distracting. The character of Prudence in "Across the Universe" seems to serve no purpose to the story other than as an excuse to include the song "Dear Prudence" midway through the film.

Both films also feature a variety of bizarre cameos. In "Across the Universe" we have Bono showing up as the leader of some sort of psychedelic field trip called Dr. Robert (another name from a Beatles song), multiple versions of Salma Hayek show up during a strange rendition of "Happiness is a Warm Gun," and Eddie Izzard plays ringmaster to a cast of strange puppets in a truly awful rendition of "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite." At least the puppets were cool.

The music this time around is much better, but the "story" twists around more than the guys at Cirque Du Soleil just to include over 30 Beatles songs. The visuals are certainly eye catching, but for every sequence that had me saying, "wow that's cool," there was another one that had me shaking my head thinking, "that's really dumb."

"Across the Universe" is not complete squeeze cheez like it's 1978 counterpart, but I'm not sure I can give it a thumbs up review either. Actually, I think both of these Beatles musicals I would rank as guilty pleasures. Most movie fans probably have several films that they just can't resist watching for the 27th time on TBS, despite the fact that they are a far cry from "Citizen Kane." Sgt. Peppers is certainly in that category for me, and I have a feeling that Across will be joining it.

This has me thinking I should do a series of blogs on some other movies I would call guilty pleasures. Stay tuned. How 'bout you? What movies are some of your guilty pleasures?

Oscar Live Blog

I enjoyed live blogging the Super Bowl commercials last week, even though I doubt anyone actually watched me blog it live. Anyhow, that was kind of an experiment to gear up for live blogging the Oscars coming up in a little more than a week. So tune in here on Feb 24 for the live Oscar night blog. You can follow along with me and see how I do on my predictions.