A tribute from RZA

It's been difficult to avoid ongoing news both about Paul Walker's death and the outpouring of sadness that continues.  I've avoided talking about it for a longer piece this Sunday, but I couldn't ignore this sweet tribute song written by RZA and performed by Will Wells.  It's rough, but very touching.  Give it a listen.

Tomorrow I'll be reviewing Drinking Buddies.

Travel costs a la Candy

Other than the excuse to load up on pumpkin and fruit-of-the-moment pie,  I'm not big on Thanksgiving.  But it does give me the excuse to watch Planes, Tranes and Automobiles - the finest work of the careers of John Candy, Steve Martin, and John Hughes.  When that big ol' lug of Candy is warmly welcomed in from the cold at the end it is nearly impossible for me to keep a dry eye.  It's also as unlikely that I won't bust out laughing once every minute or two.

So, in a fine bit of trivia, you can see just how much their trip would cost at today's prices.  It's a fun little read because the only thing that's dated about the film are the use of payphones and the costs of some of the transportation.  While I imagine the rental car company might fight a bit more on the melted slab returned to them, it's interesting to see just how much the story is made possible because both Martin and Candy's characters are people of relative means.

Tomorrow I'll have a review of The Smurfs 2 up, a film that almost brings to life a prediction I made in my review of the first.

The many flavors of von Trier

Light news today, but the one interesting piece caught my attention.

I've gone on at length about Lars von Trier's latest Nymphomaniac, and after seeing this very NSFW clip released a few weeks back, my interest in the film remains high.  Now the curious news comes from producers of the film, who have wrangled control of the final cut from a reportedly upset, but non-contesting, von Trier.  In what may be the most understandable cut of 2014, the producers will be snipping the film from its whopping 5 1/2 hour initial cut to something they feel will be a bit more commercially viable.

This is fascinating because von Trier films don't usually receive this kind of snipping.  From Breaking the Waves to Melancholia, his period of international intrigue and relative success has granted in a degree of anonymity when it comes to escaping the cautious gaze of his founders.  But edits like this aren't necessarily bad - the theatrical edit of Ingmar Bergman's Scenes From A Marriage is claustrophobic and intense in a way that the anxieties of the television version gestate slowly over each installment.  Given that there was some talk of turning Nymphomaniac into a television show, this may not be a bad way to release the product.

Tomorrow, I'll be reviewing Dreamworks' latest Turbo.

Anthony Hopkins in…Rocky VI

Welcome back to the daily news grind!

In a find that made the return to these posts very fun, here's a brief series of bloopers uncovered from the Silence of the Lambs shoot.  My favorite moment is obvious, and makes me wonder how many instances of Anthony Hopkins having fun are going sadly unwatched.

Your Dream Date Udo Kier.

It's no secret that I've been looking forward to Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac, but now my anticipation has climaxed.  Above is one of many posters showing the cast in the moment of their little death.  Other contenders for the best - Stellan Skarsgaard's angrily defiant orgasm, and Uma Thurman's far-away stare.  Check out the rest here.