Movies for the Moron

Best commercial from the Kodak America series

2011-10-10T13:14:00.004-04:00

Back in the 1980's, the Kodak Film Company made a series of 30-second and 1-minute commercials entitled America, with taglines such as Kodak Film, because memories fade, and Kodak Film, because time goes by. All were heartwarming, some were amusing, and all were reminiscent of a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, but compressed to 30 or 60 seconds. The longer ones were shown only a few times during their run, and they seemed to go on forever because viewers are accustomed to 15 and 30-second ads. Some were only 30 seconds in the first place and were seen often. This one here below is a 30-second spot featuring a young man on a motorcycle traveling through Wyoming. It's my most favorite one. All the other America commercials can be searched out on YouTube.

http://youtu.be/cplAJ20y7ks

-----------------------------For a complete list of movies included in Movies for the Moron and information about my other books, click here.

CARGO The best sci-fi movie I've seen recently!

2011-02-18T16:42:00.003-05:00

I have just finished watching what I think to be one of the best science-fiction movies I've seen in a very long time. And SURPRISE it's from Switzerland.

Here's the website for it, there's a trailer http://www.cargoderfilm.ch/. If you can't find it at the video store or online anywhere, you can buy it here Cargo (2009).

From the very first few minutes of the movie you know you're in store for state-of-the-art special effects, and none of those cheesy effects that look like a cartoon. And none of the big BLAST fireball explosions either. This is a a true science-fiction movie, not a shoot-'em-up popcorn flick.

Imagine most of Earth's population living in gigantic and very old space stations orbiting Earth because the planet has finally become very near to being totally uninhabitable. The solution? Go to planet Rhea, where terraforming has made it habitable. But it's very expensive to travel there and not everyone can go. The movie's heroine, Dr. Portmann, has a sister who did make it there, many years ago, by winning a lottery and getting a Visa to travel. Now Dr. Portmann has signed up to be crew doctor on a cargo ship, an 8-year stint, bringing supplies and building materials to a distant space station. Four years there, four years back. But she'll earn enough money to pay for a trip to Rhea and rejoin her sister and family.

The cargo ship is old, cranky and huge. Similar to the old and worn Nostromo in Alien (1979). Add a bit of mystery and a few thrills, all surrounded by some of the best special effects and sets you'll ever see, and you have the makings of a wonderful science-fiction movie.

Don't let the sub-titles scare you, there isn't that much dialogue. Just watch it. Enjoy true sci-fi for a change.

-----------------------------For a complete list of movies included in Movies for the Moron and information about my other books, click here.

Trailers and videos, outtakes, best-of's, etc.

2009-03-22T19:23:00.003-04:00

I've received some comments such as, "I want to see the trailer before I take your word for it and rent or buy the movie."

OK fine, I can see that. But..... if you bought my book, you'll also remember my saying that not all movies are top-notch box-office smash hits, but rather very good examples of a particular genre of movie you should be aware of, as in the case of a biographical movie where the one I recommended was Leonardo DiCaprio's Total Eclipse (1995), which was far from being a box-office hit but a very good, very well-made, and very accurate biographical film.

However, to satisfy my readers who want trailers and video info about the movies recommended in my book, I'll begin posting them here with some kind of regularity.

We'll start off with A Shot in the Dark (1964); Color; 1 hour 41 minutes; directed by Blake Edwards; starring Peter Sellers, Elke Sommer, Herbert Lom; screenplay by Blake Edwards and William Peter Blatty.

Remember to read the information in my book before coming here. Or not. Either way, make sure you get this movie to see how all those Pink Panther movies got started.

Here's the original trailer.

And here is a compilation video of funny bits, pretty much all from A Shot in the Dark, but there are a few bits from some of the other Pink Panther movies.

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For a complete list of movies included in Movies for the Moron and information about my other books, click here.

A comedy for everyone who wanted another

2009-03-15T13:16:00.003-04:00

Often commented about regarding Movies for the Moron - 50 Movies to own, watch, and learn about so people don't think you're a movie moron is the paucity of movies in the Comedy category. In fact, there's only one, A Shot in the Dark. That's the only one needed.

Keep in mind, this book was meant to introduce the movie moron to the movies he should be watching, and not be a list of all the movies in a particular category. Mind you, I did recommend watching Peter Sellers' other Inspector Clousseau movies in the The Pink Panther Film Collection.

So here's another one you should watch and enjoy, Death at a Funeral, from Frank Oz.

At first blush, you'd think you were watching a Robert Altman movie because of all the characters. Some reviewers have indicated this movie was Oz's homage to Altman. As I said in my book, Altman had a knack of managing large casts with ease without making the movie cluttered or confusing. Death at a Funeral doesn't have that large a cast, but more than most, and certainly more than what the average movie moron can keep track of. Just as in more sophisticated comedies, that is, without lots of slapstick pie-in-the-face sight gags, you must pay attention to the movie and actually listen to the dialogue, aspects which seem to be missing in most movie morons. This movie may not be as sophisticated as they come, but sophisticated enough enough to deter a movie moron. And that's why he should watch it.

More than an homage, Death at a Funeral could almost be termed the logical bookend to Altman's wonderful A Wedding. That movie is on the recommended list in my book, in case you were wondering. In fact, one could wonder how Altman would have handled Nettie Sloan's (wonderfully played by Lillian Gish) funeral had he made a sequel. Something like Death at a Funeral perhaps?

Death at a Funeral takes us through the funeral of Daniel's beloved father, beginning with the delivery of the wrong corpse, and ending with old Uncle Alfie up on the roof. What happens in-between -- the not-quite-dead dead body (no, not Daniel's father), the mysterious dwarf, mis-labelled drugs and everyone who took them, blackmail that almost worked, family secrets better left secret, drama on the roof (no, not Uncle Alfie), a little bit of British bathroom humor, and a hypochondriac thrown in for good measure -- will make the 90 minutes fly by, leaving you wanting more. Provided, of course, you haven't choked to death from all the laughing you did.

Fans of the British TV show My Family will recognize Kris Marshall, who played the unemployed idiot son with a certain panache that endeared him to so much of the audience that the show's ratings dropped more than a little when he left the show. The role he has in Death at a Funeral is almost like the next step for him after the TV series, as in, what he did when he grew up. In this case, he went to pharmacy school and made bad drugs. Which several people took by mistake.

So there, this should satisfy everyone who wanted another comedy to watch. I enjoyed it. As they say, I laughed 'til I cried. You will too. Believe me!

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For a complete list of movies included in Movies for the Moron and information about my other books, click here.

Welcome!

2009-03-11T17:20:00.005-04:00

After many email requests about other movies to watch and learn about to enhance those in my book, Movies for the Moron, some wondering if a second book is in the works, some asking for more recommendations in a specific genre, some asking for more information on a certain entry in the book, I decided to create this blog to allow me to reach my readers and respond to those requests in a timely manner.

In other words, this is faster than writing another book.

Entries that will follow will not only add more details, more commentary, and further insight to those movies in the book, but the entries will also have film suggestions to complement those movies and genres.

I'll also try to give commentary on movies I've recently seen so you can be aware of what you should and should not be renting or buying. There isn't anything worse than spending money on a movie only to discover, 15 minutes or less into it, that it's a rotten movie and you've wasted your money and ruined your evening. And all those people who told you it was a "really good movie" only did so because they already wasted money on it and don't want anyone else to know what a stupid thing they did.

You can rest assured any movies suggested here on this blog will be worth it.

If anyone has any questions or suggestions, about movies or the book or this blog, this is the place to post them. Or just email me. Either way's ok with me.

To all those who wondered if my book really was in that episode of NCIS on CBS last year, yes it was. A lot of viewers thought the book was just a prop, but no, it's a real book. The book you bought.

Once again, welcome to the Movies for the Moron blog, and thanks for reading.

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For a complete list of movies included in Movies for the Moron and information about my other books, click here.