Stubs - The Little Shop of Horrors

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) Starring: Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles. Directed by Roger Corman. Screenplay by Charles B. Griffith. Produced by Roger Corman. Run time: 70 minutes. Black and White. USA. Horror, Comedy.

Roger Corman was known for a lot of things as an independent film producer. Not only did he make countless feature films  including  X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963), The Wild Angels (1966), The Trip (1967) and House of Usher (1960). He also handled the distribution in the US for such directors as Federico Fellini (Italy), Ingmar Bergman (Sweden), François Truffaut (France) and Akira Kurosawa (Japan). He mentored such directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, John Sayles, and James Cameron. He also helped to launch the careers of actors like Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, and William Shatner.

But the one title that comes up every time his name is mentioned is The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), a self-described comedy/horror film.

Corman shot the film quickly in order to beat changing industry rules that would have prevented producers from "buying out" an actor's performance in perpetuity. On January 1, 1960, new rules were to go into effect requiring producers to pay all actors residuals for all future releases of their work. This meant that Corman's B-movie business model would be permanently changed and he would not be able to produce low-budget films in the same way. Before these rules went into effect, Corman decided to shoot one last film and scheduled it for the last week in December 1959.

Originally, the film was conceived with a private detective.  Jackie Joseph later recalled "at first they told me it was a detective movie; then, while I was flying back [to make the movie], I think they wrote a whole new movie, more in the horror genre. I think over a weekend they rewrote it."

The film was made on a budget of $28,000 and the interiors were shot in two days on sets left over from A Bucket of Blood (1959), another Corman production. The exteriors shot at Southern Pacific Transportation Company yard cost the production two bottles of scotch. A total of $1,100 on fifteen minutes' worth of exteriors.

Corman had initial trouble finding distribution for the film, as some distributors, including American International Pictures (AIP), felt that the film would be interpreted as anti-Semitic, citing the characters of Gravis Mushnik and Siddie Shiva. The film was finally released on September 14, 1960, by its production company, The Filmgroup, nine months after it had been completed.

The film opens with the voice-over narration of Det. Sgt. Joe Fink (Wally Campo) describing how “the most terrifying period” in the history of his “beat” began at Mushnik’s shop. Fink speaks in a style parodying the character “Sgt. Joe Friday” of the television series and film Dragnet  Fink’s voice is heard occasionally in narration at other points in the film.

Penny-pinching Gravis Mushnik (Mel Welles} owns a florist shop on Los Angeles’ skid row. He has two employees the sweet and very simple Audry Fulquard (Jackie Joseph) and the even simpler Seymour Krelboin (Jonathan Haze).

While Gravis Mushnik (Mel Welles}and Audry Fulquard (Jackie Joseph) watch,
 Burson Fouch (Dick Miller) chows down on the carnations he just bought. 

One of the few repeat customers is Mrs. Siddie Shiva ( Leola Wendorff ) who seems to have a never-ending string of dead relatives that she comes to buy flowers for their funerals. A new customer is a man named Burson Fouch (Dick Miller), who shows up one day to buy carnations. When asked if he wants them wrapped, he insists that he’ll eat them there, which he proceeds to do.

Seymour manages to foul up a simple order from Dr. Farb, a nearby dentist and Mushnik fires him over. But sweet Audry wants Seymour to get a second chance. Seymour talks about a special plant he’s growing at home, cross-bred from a buttercup and a Venus flytrap, that he wants to show Mushnik. Based on Fouch’s comments that a novelty plant might bring in customers, Mushnik offers to give him a second chance.

Seymour rushes home where his mother, Winifred Krelborn (Myrtle Vail) is a  hypochondriac and is bed-ridden.

Seymour Krelboin (Jonathan Haze) only holds onto his job by bringing "Audry, Jr." into the shop.

Hurrying back with the plant, Mushnik is unimpressed, as the plant looks sickly. But Seymour calls the plant “Audry Jr.” and Audry is delighted by that.  Mushnik gives Seymour a week to revive the plant or out the both of them will go.   

The plant opens up at sunset, as it does every night, and Seymour accidentally pricks his finger on another thorny plant. When his blood falls into the open plant it reacts positively. Seymour realizes that Audry Jr. wants blood, so he pricks his fingers to feed it and Audry Jr. begins to grow.

Seymour has already discovered that the usual kinds of plant food do not nourish his strange hybrid and that every night at sunset the plant’s leaves open. When Seymour accidentally pricks his finger on another thorny plant, Audry, Jr. opens wider, eventually causing Seymour to discover that the plant craves blood. After that, each night Seymour nurses his creation with blood from his fingers, and although he feels increasingly listless, Audry, Jr. begins to grow.

The popularity of Audry Jr., brings in other business opportunities.

Audry, Jr. drives business to the flower shop and revenues increase Mushnik gives Seymour a raise and starts to call him “son.”  Two teenaged girls, drawn to the shop to see Audry Jr, have $2000 to spend on decorations for a Rose Parade float and their committee for permission to buy the flowers from Mushnik’s shop. As Mushnik dreams about building a greenhouse for Seymour to breed plants and owning a shop in Beverly Hills, Audry, Jr. wilts.

Seymour stays again that night with Audry, Jr. (Charles B. Griffith) which has begun to talk. The plant demands that Seymour  “Feed me!”  Knowing that he can’t keep giving it his blood, Seymour goes for a walk to think things through. Down by the railroad tracks, he carelessly throws a rock at a seemingly abandoned liquor to vent his frustration and inadvertently knocks out a man who reaches for it. The man is knocked out and falls onto the track and is run over by a train.

Seymour feeds Audry Jr., the body part of a man he accidentally killed.

Seymour puts the body parts in a bag and tries to throw them away but every time he does, someone is around. Desperate, he takes the parts back to the shop and ends up feeding them to Audry, Jr.

Meanwhile, at a restaurant, Mushnik is dining with Audry, and discovers he has no money with him. The waitress (Dodie Drake) makes Mushnik go get his wallet and keeps Audry there to insure he’ll come back. When he returns to the shop to get money out of the register, he happens to observe Seymour feeding the plant the man’s body parts. Stunned, he returns to the restaurant and asks for every kind of liquor.

Per Fink’s narration, if Mushnik had gone to the police like he had planned the next morning, the events would not have transpired but he didn’t and they do. His plans go out the window when he sees a long line of people waiting to spend money at his shop. When Seymour arrives, later that morning, suffering a toothache, Mushnik confronts him about the plant’s “food.” Seymour claims that, based on information he read about the plants he cross-bred, Audry, Jr. should require no more feedings.

Placated, Mushnik sends Seymour to Dr. Farb for his toothache, but at the office, Seymour hears another patient (Charles B. Griffith) suffering and realizes the dentist is sadistic. He tries to flee, but Farb prevents him from leaving and tries to remove several of his teeth. Grabbing a sharp tool, Seymour fights back and accidentally stabs and kills Farb.

Wilbur Force (Jack Nicholson) leaves happy despite missing teeth.

Just then, masochist Wilbur Force (Jack Nicholson) arrives at the dental office and Seymour, not wanting to be caught, pretends to be the dentist. Force  insists that Seymour treat his “three or four abscesses, nine or ten cavities” and other dental problems, but doesn’t want any anesthetic. Seymour gallantly does his best and Wilbur later leaves happily with several teeth noticeably missing.

Seymour brings Dr. Farb's body to Audry Jr., and fii

Seymour is disturbed that he has now murdered twice, but nevertheless feeds Farb to Audry, Jr., which, despite never being transplanted. Continues to grow.

Meanwhile, at the police homicide division, Detective Joe Fink and his partner, Det Frank Stoolie ( Jack Warford) discuss the disappearances of Dr. Farb and the man at the railroad tracks. They go to the florist and question Mushnik and Seymour, who acts suspiciously nervous, but they conclude that he knows nothing.

Seymour takes Audry home to meet his mother, Winifred Krelborn (Myrtle Vail).

Audry, Jr., which has grown several feet tall, is beginning to bud, as is the relationship between Seymour and Audry, whom Seymour invites on a date. When a representative of the Society of Silent Flower Observers of Southern California, Mrs. Hortense Feuchtwanger (Lynn Storey)  comes to the shop to check out the plant, she announces that Seymour will soon receive a trophy from them and that she will return when the plant’s buds open the next night.

Unwilling to risk that the plant will eat more people, Mushnik decides to stay at the shop all night to watch it. When Audry, Jr. begins to call out for food, Mushnik refuses to feed it.

Meanwhile, because he has no money, Seymour takes Audry home for dinner which his mother, Winifred, prepares. The food is more medicinal than anything else; the first course is a  cod liver soup garnished with sulfur powder. This is followed by chow mein flavored with Chinese herbs and Epsom salts. During dinner, Winifred, tries to discourage Seymour and Audry from marrying until he buys her the iron lung he has promised her.

Back at the shop, an armed burglar, Kloy Haddock (Charles B. Griffith) breaks in and Mushnik hides in the refrigerator case. He is, however, quickly found by the burglar and he offers the contents of his cash register. But the burglar is not satisfied and with a gun to Mushnik’s head demands more money. Seeing a way out of this predicament, Mushnik directs him to look inside the open plant, and when the burglar climbs in, he is eaten.

The next day, Mushnik tells Seymour that they must destroy the plant after he receives the trophy and orders him to stand guard that night.

Because Seymour must work at the shop that night, Audry suggests that they have a picnic there, and makes them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which Seymour claims never to have had before. Audry, Jr. interrupts the picnic by yelling, “Feed me!” Unaware that the plant can talk, Audry assumes Seymour is being rude and leaves in tears. Seymour chases after her, trying to explain, but she will not listen to him.

 Prostitute (Merri Welles) won't take "no" for an answer from Seymour.

Angry, Seymour returns to Audry, Jr., and vows never to feed it again, but the plant hypnotizes Seymour to go out in search of “food.” In a trance, Seymour walks through the streets, past beckoning prostitutes, looking for food for the “master.” When a prostitute (Merri Welles) practically hunts down Seymour, he thinks she is “volunteering,” knocks her on the head with a rock and carries her to the shop.

Audry Jr.'s blossoms are images of its victems.

Still lacking clues about the mysterious disappearances of the two men, Fink and Stoolie attend the special sunset celebration at the shop during which Seymour is to be presented with the trophy from the Society of Silent Flower Observers of Southern California. Audrey, Jr.’s buds are expected to open. As the attendees look on, four buds open. Inside each flower is the face of one of the plant’s meals: the man at the railroad tracks, Farb, the burglar and the prostitute.

Seymour escapes capture by hiding in a commode.

Seymour panics and runs through the streets, and police lose his trail later when he takes refuge in a yard filled with sinks and commodes. Mushnik encourages Fink and Stoolie to give up the search, which they do.

Seymour decides to kill Audry Jr.

Seymour eventually makes his way back to Mushnik’s shop, where Audry, Jr. is yelling for food. Ignoring the plant’s demands, Seymour blames it for ruining his life. He takes a knife and climbs into the plant, intending to cut it up but he is swallowed.

Later, when Audry, Winifred, Mushnik and the police return to the shop after searching for Seymour, another bud on Audry, Jr. opens, revealing the face of Seymour, who moans “I didn’t mean it!”

The film apparently received positive reviews and has an approval rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, I must disagree with that rating. When we recently watched the film, I found little or nothing enjoyable about it.

As a horror film, The Little Shop of Horrors is not scary. There are no jump scares and the horror is really played for the absurd. The attempts at comedy fall flat as the humor, whatever there may have been, has not aged well.

The acting, which Variety called “…pleasantly preposterous” is in fact rather flat and uneven. The best actor is Jackie Joseph, who played Audry and I wouldn’t say she was great in the role, only that she was better than those around her. Joseph is perhaps better known for her work on television, appearing on sitcoms like The Doris Day Show and The Bob Newhart Show amongst others.

While future star Jack Nicholson appears in the movie, his part in the film comes off as filler as it has really nothing to do with the plot. If you find masochists funny, then you will really like the part. I must admit I didn’t.

The camera work suffers from how it was shot.  Interiors were shot with three cameras in wide, lingering master shots in single takes. Welles states that Corman "had two camera crews on the set—that's why the picture, from a cinematic standpoint, is really not very well done. The two camera crews were pointed in opposite directions so that we got both angles, and then other shots were 'picked up' to use in between, to make it flow. It was a pretty fixed set and it was done sort of like a sitcom is done today, so it wasn't very difficult."

The Joe Friday parody doesn’t really go anywhere, either. Not that Dragnet isn’t parodiable but this doesn’t really hit the mark either.

The special effects are cheaply made, in line with the film’s budget and they’re more sad than clever. A low budget, which is the world in which Corman lived most of his career, can bring out the best in the filmmaker’s creativity. As an example, German Expressionism was born from low budgets and that affected the look of those films with shadows, as an example, being painted into the sets. But then there is cheap is cheap and that’s what we have here.

While, I can see how this might be considered a cult film, that doesn’t make it good. This is one of those films that I’ve looked forward to seeing, based on word-of-mouth but having seen it, I cannot honestly recommend it.

Resident Evil 5 (PS4)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Resident Evil, Resident Evil 3 (2020), Resident Evil Code: Veronica X, Resident Evil 4 (2005) and Resident Evil 5

The same year that Capcom released the original Resident Evil 4 (2005) (RE4), they already got to work on the next main game, Resident Evil 5 (RE5), with the goal to take advantage of the capabilities of seventh-generation consoles. Development of RE5 involved multiple scenario rewrites and changes in direction, which included scrapping ideas like having enemies attacking from the shadows or having the camera reflect the player character adjusting their eyes to darkness (not unlike Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater), the main constants were setting the game in Africa during the day, both to explore the origins of the Progenitor Virus and take advantage of the then-upcoming seventh console generation, and using RE4 as a foundation for gameplay due to its popularity. Although RE5 wouldn’t release completely without incident in 2009, it still garnered generally positive reception, though critics and fans noted a shift away from survival horror and more towards action. The following year, Capcom would also release an updated Gold Edition, which included additional content not found in the original release, as well as Move support for the PS3 version; PS3 copies of Gold Edition had all of the content on the disc while 360 copies still required a separate download of the new content (owners of the original version could also purchase the Gold Edition content separately).

As with RE4, I actually had a little bit of experience with RE5, specifically the PS3 Gold Edition, before I really got invested in the series with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. However, I didn’t actually get very far, not even past Chapter 1-1, as I found the controls too awkward and didn’t have the patience for it at the time. Naturally, my deep dive brought me back to RE5, this time through the PS4 rerelease, and while I enjoyed it much more this time around, I can also see why reception remains mixed.

Resident Evil Month (Part 2)

For those who were here for Resident Evil Month last year, welcome back. This year, as promised, I have prepared reviews of the rest of the mainline Resident Evil games (as defined by the wiki). These took a while for me to get through due to my still healing "Gamer's Thumb" condition (as outlined in last year's post), other commitments, like a lengthy review of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and the sheer length of looking at certain titles and all of their content. This time, you can expect to see reviews of the following:

Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil: Revelations, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil: Revelations 2, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village. If all goes according to plan, I may even have a bonus horror game review sometime during the month.

As with last year, I hope you enjoy the rest of this special look at Resident Evil, a franchise I have grown to love. If there's anything else from the series you'd like me to cover in the future, be they games or films, feel free to leave a comment below.

The Wild Robot

Amongst a number of major shifts within the animation industry at large, one was that DreamWorks Animation would no longer animate their films in-house beyond 2024, the last of which would be The Wild Robot, and afterwards pivot to outsourcing to other studios. The first trailer for The Wild Robot left a good enough impression on me that I read the original book by Peter Brown out of curiosity, with further trailers and learning of Chris Sanders’ (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon) involvement only making me feel more confident in its quality. This would lead to me seeing the film in 3D on opening day, after which I was grateful this was the studios’ last in-house feature production and not Kung Fu Panda 4.

The WereCleaner

While the art style of a game can be enough to pique my curiosity, it can help for it to have a premise and gameplay that can really grab my interest enough to play it. The WereCleaner is a game that filled all three for me, which I found for free while looking through my Steam Recommended. This would also not be the first time I had downloaded a game made by student developers, as I found out later that this game had been published through the USC Games program. Upon playing the game, it not only met my expectations for a fun time, I was also surprised by the amount of replay value for such a small game.

Stubs - We're in the Money

 

We’re in the Money (1935) starring Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, Hugh Herbert, Ross Alexander. Directed by Ray Enright Screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert, Brown Holmes Producer Not Credited. Run time 61 minutes. USA Black and White. Comedy.

Warner Bros. had two young blonde comedic stars that they decided to pair together in a series of comedies. Together, Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell, billed as the blonde bombshell comedy duo, appeared in five films, including Havana Widows (1933), Kansas City Princess (1934), Traveling Saleslady (1935), Miss Pacific Fleet (1935) and We’re in the Money (1935). If the last one sounds familiar, it is named after the song "We're in the Money," music and lyrics by Al Dubin and Harry Warren, which first appeared in The Golddiggers of 1933.

The film was shot in a little over a month, between May 8 to June 12, 1935, the film was released on August 17, 1935.

Transformers One

The success of Bumblebee seems to have breathed new life into the Transformers films, resulting in the sequel Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and the prequel film Transformers One (TF One), which marks the franchise’s return to theatrical feature animation since 1986. Despite a more tempered reaction to the initial trailer, thanks in part to the mild confusion over the overall timeline post-Bumblebee caused by executive flip-flopping, I remained cautiously optimistic for TF One, enough to pick up an Optimus Prime popcorn bucket from a local Cinemark as well as jump at the chance to purchase tickets for an early TF One Fan Event for the Wednesday of release at a local AMC. Within that time, though I had heard positive word of mouth from previous early screenings, I also went so far as to hold off on buying any actual toys until I had seen the movie for myself to form my own opinion, regardless of availability. Upon finally getting the chance to see it, I genuinely found it to be the best piece of Transformers media I had seen (aside from the current Skybound comic) since Bumblebee.

A Celebration of 1600 Reviews

If it weren't for a miscalculation, this header
image would be Resident Evil 4 (2005).

Below is a list of links to every review from 1201-1300, broken up every 25 links for easy navigation. Each review will also be color-coded as such: Movie, Video Game.

1-300. A Celebration of 300 Reviews

301-400. A Celebration of 400 Reviews

401-500. A Celebration of 500 Reviews

501-600. A Celebration of 600 Reviews

601-700. A Celebration of 700 Reviews

701-800. A Celebration of 800 Reviews

801-900. A Celebration of 900 Reviews

901-1000. A Celebration of 1000 Reviews

1001-1100. A Celebration of 1100 Reviews

1101-1200. A Celebration of 1200 Reviews

1201-1300. A Celebration of 1300 Reviews

1301-1400. A Celebration of 1400 Reviews

1401-1500. A Celebration of 1500 Reviews

 

 

1501. Devil May Cry (Second Look)

1502. Haunting Ground

1503. Resident Evil 4 (2023) (PS5)

1504. Willy's Wonderland

1505. Resident Evil 4 - Separate Ways (DLC)

1506. Five Nights at Freddy's (Film)

1507. The Killer is Loose

1508. Robin Hood (1973)

1509. Tomorrow is Another Day

1510. Rohan at the Louvre

1511. TY the Tasmanian Tiger 4: Bush Rescue Returns

1512. The Land Before Time

1513. Three Strangers

1514. Good Burger

1515. Good Burger 2

1516. Elf

1517. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)

1518. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2011)

1519. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012)

1520. A Charlie Brown Christmas

1521. Fitzwilly

1522. Tron 2.0: Killer App (Xbox)

1523. Lady on a Train

1524. The Sword in the Stone

1525. God of War: Ragnarök - Valhalla (DLC)

 

1526. Wonka

1527. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

1528. Illicit

1529. The Last Kids on Earth - Book One (Film)

1530. The Last Kids on Earth and the Staff of Doom (PS4)

1531. Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia

1532. Silent Hill: The Short Message

1533. The Holdovers

1534. Transformers: EarthSpark - Expedition

1535. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

1536. PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie

1537. Leap Year (1924)

1538. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

1539. God of War (2005) (Second Look)

1540. God of War II (Second Look)

1541. God of War: Betrayal (Second Look)

1542. The Last Command

1543. God of War: Chains of Olympus (Second Look)

1544. God of War III Remastered (Second Look)

1545. Pompo the Cinephile

1546. God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Second Look)

1547. God of War (WildStorm/DC Comic) (Second Look)

1548. Kung Fu Panda 4

1549. God of War: Ascension (Second Look)

1550. God of War (Dark Horse Comic)

 

1551. God of War: Fallen God (Comic)

1552. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

1553. Doug Huggem

1554. Fast and Furious (1939)

1555. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!

1556. Migration (2023)

1557. American Fiction

1558. Spy x Family Code: White

1559. Nanny McPhee

1560. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle (Second Look)

1561. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R (PS5)

1562. The Compleat Al

1563. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

1564. Smart Woman

1565. Let It Be (Second Look)

1566. The Sin of Nora Moran

1567. The Secret Six

1568. Speedway

1569. The Guardsman

1570. Pushover

1571. Little Kitty, Big City (Switch)

1572. Robot Dreams

1573. Inside Out 2

1574. Blondie!

1575. American Graffiti

 

1576. X-Men

1577. X2

1578. X-Men: The Last Stand

1579. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

1580. X-Men: First Class

1581. The Wolverine

1582. X-Men: Days of Future Past

1583. Deadpool (Second Look)

1584. X-Men: Apocalypse

1585. Logan (Second Opinion)

1586. Deadpool 2 (Second Look)

1587. Dark Phoenix

1588. The New Mutants

1589. Deadpool (Game) (PS4) (Second Look)

1590. Deadpool & Wolverine

1591. My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission

1592. Descendants: The Rise of Red

1593. You've Got Mail

1594. What! No Beer?

1595. High School Confidential!

1596. Chaplin

1597. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

1598. 20 Small Mazes

1599. The First Auto

1600. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

 

Movies: 73 (1,025 Total)
Video Games: 27 (519 Total)
Comic Books: 0 (28 Total)
DLC: 0 (26 Total)

Book: 0 (1 Total)

Stage: 0 (1 Total)

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Note: This review contains spoilers for Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII Remake

Ever since the success of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the idea of remaking the original Final Fantasy VII (FF7) with the movie’s visuals had floated around at Square Enix. Fifteen years later, this idea manifested with Final Fantasy VII Remake (Remake), the first in a trilogy of games that would bring FF7 into the modern day. While the game received a mixed reception from fans, mainly due to its story changes, it nevertheless proved successful enough that Square Enix would release the second part of this project, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Rebirth) in February 2024 on the PS5, skipping the PS4 for the first time.

As someone who ended up loving most of Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and felt cautious optimism after playing Remake twice, I wasted no time hopping onboard with Rebirth so I could see where they would take the story (I even played the demo beforehand for the unique bonus of skipping the first segment in the full game). However, the time it took for me to reach the end point grew exponentially, both in calendar days and in-game time, due to juggling other games and biting off more than I could chew with the in-game content. Finally finishing the game months later left me curious how the third game would handle the rest of the original FF7’s story, though the new twists in Rebirth’s narrative and gameplay left me confused and a little worried about the project’s current trajectory.

Stubs - The First Auto

The First Auto (1927) starring Barney Oldfield, Patsy Ruth Miller, Charles Emmett Mack, Russell Simpson. Directed by Roy Del Ruth. Screenplay by Anthony Coldeway, Jack Jarmuth. Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. Run time: 75 minutes. Black and White. USA. Silent with sound, Drama.

Made at a time when Hollywood, specifically in this case, Warner Bros., was experimenting with synchronized sound, the beginning of the end of the silent era, the studio was making a film about the end of the horse as the main mode of transportation, The First Auto. The synchronized sound, captured on a disc synchronized with the film, included music, sound effects and a few spoken words.

20 Small Mazes

I’m not much of a PC player in comparison to console, so it’s not often I play a game based on Steam recommendations. Recently, while getting free items from a string of Fests, I decided to take a look and was recommended the indie puzzle game 20 Small Mazes, which looked interesting enough to try, especially since it was available for free. While short, the amount of creativity on display makes it a fun time while it lasts, even with the limited replay value.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - Is the Sequel as Good as the Original?

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe. Directed by Tim Burton, Screenplay by Alfred Gough. Miles Millar. Based on Characters by Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson. Produced by Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper, Tim Burton Run time: 104 minutes, Color, USA Comedy, Horror

Note: This review contains spoilers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Sequels seem to be taking longer and longer to get made. The original King Kong's sequel, Son of Kong, came out the same year, but the turnaround has only gotten longer since. Two years ago, Top Gun: Maverick came out 36 years after its predecessor, Top Gun, and this year, Beetlejuice follows suit with its sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. While Maverick was an improvement over the original, can the same be said for Beetlejuice x 2?

Stubs - Chaplin

Chaplin (1992) Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Dan Aykroyd, Geraldine Chaplin, Kevin Dunn, Anthony Hopkins, Milla Jovovich, Moira Kelly, Kevin Kline, Diane Lane, Penelope Ann Miller, Paul Rhys, John Thaw, Marisa Tomei, Nancy Travis, James Woods Directed by Richard Attenborough. Screenplay by William Boyd, Bryan Forbes, William Goldman Based on My Autobiography by Charles Chaplin, and Chaplin: His Life and Art by David Robinson. Produced by Richard Attenborough, and Mario Kassar. USA/United Kingdom Color Run time: 145 minutes. Biography

Oftentimes when you learn the truth about your heroes, they become very human. Such is the case with Charlie Chaplin, one of the most influential filmmakers to have ever lived. If you’re not familiar with him, then you should be. Besides his genius, Chaplin had a fascination with young women, read that very young women, that would eventually catch up with him and be the excuse the U.S. government would use to ban him, for two decades, from entering his adopted country.

Since Chaplin was so influential in films, his being the subject of a film seems to be a no-brainer. Director Richard Attenborough, following his success with Gandhi (1982), had announced his plans to direct a Charlie Chaplin biopic, as part of his $75 million, three-picture deal with Universal Pictures. A longtime fan of Chaplin’s, Attenborough recalled seeing The Gold Rush (1925) at the age of eleven and credited the silent film star with inspiring his early acting career. He had also become friendly with Chaplin and his family in the 1970s while vacationing near them in the south of France. With the blessings of Oona Chaplin, Charlie’s widow, Attenborough acquired the rights to Chaplin’s autobiography, My Autobiography, and footage from his films.

For the title role, Attenborough apparently tested seven of the total thirty actors considered for the role, including Kevin Kline, Dustin Hoffman, Billy Crystal, and Robin Williams. He was looking for someone between the ages of thirty and thirty-five, who was small in stature, as he believed the body likeness was more important than the face.

Stubs - High School Confidential!

High School Confidential! (1958) Starring Russ Tamblyn, Jan Sterling, John Drew Barrymore, Mamie Van Doren, Diane Jergens, Jerry Lee Lewis. Directed by Jack Arnold. Screenplay by Lewis Meltzer, Robert Blees. Produced by Albert Zugsmith. Run time: 86 minutes. Black and White. USA. Drama

Following the death of Jerry Lee Lewis, "The Killer", on October 28th 2022, it was time to finally watch his appearance in High School Confidential!, an MGM film released while Lee was still a big rock and roll star.

Jerry Lee Lewis sings the title song.

Sadly, he is not the star of the film and only makes an appearance during the credits. Sitting in the Jerry Lee Lewis Music Truck, he is driven through the town singing the title song “High School Confidential” on the first day of school. I don’t know about you, but that never happened when I went to school.

Stubs - What! No Beer?

What! No Beer? aka What - No Beer? (1933) Starring Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Roscoe Ates, Phyllis Barry Directed by Edward Sedgwick. Screenplay by Carey Wilson. Produced (None listed: Irving Thalberg) Run time: 78 minutes. Black and White. Pre-Code, Comedy

Buster Keaton’s tenure at MGM, “the worst business decision of his life in his autobiography”, was relatively short lasting only five years. His last film for the studio, What! No Beer?, would also mark his last starring role in an American film. While his films at MGM are not generally regarded as his best, they were, for the most part, financial successes.

The studio first paired him with Jimmy Durante, a one-time nightclub comedian who had recently begun to appear in films. Durante’s rambunctiousness was a compliment to Keaton’s more iconic style. The two of them would appear in three films together, Speak Easily (1932), The Passionate Plumber (1932), and What! No Beer?

Stubs - You've Got Mail

You’ve Got Mail (1998) starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey. Directed by Nora Ephron. Screenplay by Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron. Based on the film screenplay The Shop Around the Corner by Samson Raphaelson. Produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Nora Ephron. Run time: 119 minutes. Color. USA. Romantic Comedy

Movie remakes can be like impersonation, the sincerest form of flattery and sometimes a story takes time to get it right, take The Maltese Falcon, which took three takes. But then there are the films that did work, like The Shop Around the Corner (1940), which don’t need to be remade but are. The first time was as a musical In the Good Old Summertime (1949) as a vehicle for Judy Garland. These were all based on the play Parfumerie by Miklós László, a romantic comedy taking place in a store around Christmas time.

The third take, driven by Nora Ephron, the writer/director behind such films as When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Michael (1996), and Julie & Julia (2009), came out in 1998 and re-teamed Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, who had already worked together on such films as Joe vs. The Volcano (1990) and Sleepless in Seattle. This film is often cited in lists of drive-by Christmas films, even though Christmas, unlike the play or the first film, really doesn’t have much to do with the story or the setting.

Descendants: The Rise of Red

From the perspective of someone who has never
watched Descendants.

In 2015, Disney launched what would be the long-running Descendants franchise, centered around a series of television films and books about descendants of various Disney characters, both hero and villain alike, attending Auradon Prep. While I had generally been aware of this franchise since around when it came out, I never really paid much attention to it since I was outside the target demographic by that point. However, as a fan of Alice in Wonderland and Disney’s 1951 animated adaptation, I did suddenly become interested when I found out that the 2021 animated special, The Royal Wedding, teased the introduction of the Wonderland setting to the Descendants universe. When this finally materialized as a fourth movie, Descendants: The Rise of Red, on Disney+, I decided to go in on the day it premiered with the perspective of a complete outsider to see how well it worked on its own merits. While it does manage to stand on its own to some extent, I found the execution of its ideas to be a bit lacking in places.