Mmmmm...chocolate. Chocolate mixed with shame might be a different story, though. Here's the link to Cinema Shame for those of you who would like to know why this post is called a Shamedown. Previous Shamedowns can be found here. The idea of a cook's mood going into their food is certainly nothing new. It's a classic move … Continue reading Shamedown #8: Like Water For Chocolate
Origins: Mission Impossible
Another reboot. Oh, Hollywood, how you do toy with us. No, really, you do. Stop it. Well, to be fair, Mission Impossible: Fallout isn't a reboot, but the latest in the long-running M:I film series. Which is an adaptation of the TV show. Which had its first run from 1967 until 1973, and which was then resuscitated from 1988 … Continue reading Origins: Mission Impossible
It’s Bobsled Time
Everyone enjoying the dog days of summer? Who doesn't love a good underdog story? In 1993 we got treated to one of the best in my opinion, Cool Runnings. Inspired by the real-life first Jamaican bobsled team, it's an enjoyable film about finding unlikely niches. Derice Bannock (Leon) is a teacher and track runner. He wants to … Continue reading It’s Bobsled Time
Becoming Human
Hello, Snake... One of the great things about blogathons is that they can really get a person out of the familiar, and for me, most of Kurt Russell's films are definitely not familiar. Sure, I've heard of him. He's been with Goldie Hawn forever. I saw Stargate. I also saw him play Han Solo in the audition … Continue reading Becoming Human
The Successful Failure
Greetings, Earthlings... Forty-eight years ago as of April eleventh, Apollo 13 blasted off for the moon's Fra Mauro highlands. The public was ho-hum about it, until things started going wrong. Captain Jim Lovell, Apollo 13's commander, wrote a book about his experiences, formerly titled Lost Moon, and Ron Howard used that as his source material for … Continue reading The Successful Failure
Carrying the Banner
In the nineteen-eighties and nineties, there were very few musicals being produced, at least not live action ones. Some people said that it was because Hollywood had forgotten how to make that type of film. There were movies that featured dancing, or maybe a song or two, but as far as films with plot-driven soundtracks, … Continue reading Carrying the Banner
NOW: Dear Friend 2.0
We've seen the "Then," and now for the "Now"... By far, one of my favorite current-day screenwriters is the late Nora Ephron. She came by writing naturally, seeing as her parents both authored plays, books, screenplays, and the like. Before her death in 2012, she crafted films with deft and memorable dialogue, often collaborating with … Continue reading NOW: Dear Friend 2.0
Once Upon A Time
Cinderella, like Treasure Island, has been done over and over and over again. Only instead of the adaptations all drawing on a single original source, every culture has its own version, the earliest-known being found in ancient Greece. Some versions have one royal ball, some have three, some have a fairy godmother and one has a … Continue reading Once Upon A Time
X Marks the Spot
Swish, swish, swish... 🙂 There have been adaptations a-plenty of Robert Louis Stevenson's most famous work, Treasure Island. The entertainment world has produced over fifty for film and TV, over twenty-four major stage productions, six radio versions, five computer games, five musical scores, three audio books and two retellings. And a partridge in a pear … Continue reading X Marks the Spot
Taking Up Room 