I really, really want there to be a scene in Sherlock Holmes where, while chasing the baddie around Victorian London, Holmes and Watson stop by a 7-11 for taquitos.
Archive for the ‘Movies’ Category
What the…?
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009A Tribute to Edward Woodward
Monday, November 16th, 2009Edward Woodward died. He’s my favorite Ghost of Christmas Present ever, and starred in one of my favorite films, The Wicker Man. (Er, the original, and it pains me that I have to say that.) In honor of Robert McCall, Breaker Morant, Tom Weaver, and Sgt. Howie, here’s some songs from The Wicker Man.
“Corn Rigs”
“The Landlord’s Daughter”
“Gently Johnny”
“Willow’s Song”
Also, here’s a link to Doves’ brilliant version of “Willow’s Song.”
Eurovision Final Recap
Monday, May 18th, 2009Let’s compare what I predicted and what actually happened:
Me:
Last: France |
Europe:
Last: Finland |
I put the predictions I got correct in bold, and I italicized correct calls in the top 10.
Obviously, I overvalued Finland and undervalued France. As it turns out, Finland was the jury pick in the first semi, leapfrogging over FYR Macedonia and Montenegro to get to the final.
Asides: As unbelievable as it sounds to me, Croatia actually was the jury pick in the second semi, knocking out Serbia and jumping over Ireland and Poland. Also, the Czech Republic finished with nil point. Ouch. Even Belgium got une point. Tragically, Latvia got seven points in its semi. Oof.
Anyway, as it turns out, Patricia Kaas has a pretty big following, which carried France to eighth place. Had I done research…
I don’t think I was the only one who was shocked that Greece did not finish second. I’d say that performing eighth might have hurt Sakis’ chances, except that Jóhanna went seventh, and Iceland finished second. I also neglected to put Bosnia and Herzegovina in the top 10, which was a foolish mistake on my part.
Oh happy day
Friday, April 24th, 2009Ex-Defamer folks have revived Movieline. More importantly, they’ve revived “Bad Movies We Love,” the ongoing ode to the funniest, campiest movies ever made. (The link is to their first review, for the new movie The Informers, and hopefully, they’ll have a separate archive for all their reviews eventually. )
It’s no exaggeration that the “Bad Movies We Love” had a huge influence on my appreciation for pop culture. I read the (sadly out-of-print) companion book back-to-back with Not Since Carrie right after college, and suddenly, I understood Valley of the Dolls, Legs Diamond, and Eurovision.
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Thursday, December 11th, 2008Pop Culture Conversations: Stasi Nudie Films
Sunday, March 30th, 2008Chris: Did you hear the story about East Germany’s porn?
Jen: East German porn? Who collects that, Eliot Spitzer?
Schlechter Filmbericht: Showgirls
Friday, February 29th, 2008And now a new, non-Eurovision feature at Lemur Love: Schlechter Filmbericht. Schlechter Filmbericht is German for Bad Film Report. Why German? As John Blutarsky would say, “Why not?”
Every now and then, we’re going to print the best parts of the best reviews of the worst movies that we love the most. We will of course start with Showgirls, which was manna from the heavens for those of us who had worn through several copies of Valley of the Dolls (which we’ll get to, incidentally).
We went to New York a couple of years ago to a movie theater in Chelsea to see the interactive (read: Rocky Horror-style) version of Showgirls. It was fun, although the script they gave us to play along with was kinda lame. We instead tried to shout out lines that went along with the dialog in the film, like in Rocky Horror. For example:
Jen: “Gina, did you regret doing this film?”
Gina Gershon: “Yeah, darling, I think I did.”
This seemed to amuse the people in our general vicinity. Of course, we still have the goodie bags they handed out.
That’s enough ado, so without further ado, here are our favorite reviews of Showgirls.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
“Young Nomi wants to be a Vegas show girl. She wants to come out of a volcano with no shirt on. She wants to wear glitter in her eyeshadow. And she doesn’t care how. ‘Showgirls,’ the NC-17-rated, Paul Verhoeven-directed film about the seamy Las Vegas underworld, is about the blind ambition of an utter numbskull.”
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
“The plot now develops into basic Jacqueline Susann backstage sleaze, which has a certain informational value. After Nomi is hired at the Stardust, we learn about the hazards of Vegas dancing, including monkey-doo on the stage, and the unexpected uses of ice cubes.”
Rita Kempley, Washington Post
“Trollops and floozies and sluts, oh my.”
Joe Bob Briggs, San Francisco Chronicle
“What movie is so sleazy that, after you see it, you have to go to a Times Square live-sex show to feel better about mankind? And what movie spent $40 million to produce live, bare-breast, Las Vegas follies shows that are actually cheesier and cheaper-looking than the real thing?”
Barbara Shulgasser, San Francisco Examiner
“Nomi, the 23-year-old with a past, has hitchhiked from somewhere back east to perform in a show where a dancer doesn’t wear much more than a light coating of powder and a big, fake smile. No one is twisting Nomi’s arm. No one is holding her grandmother hostage. She wants to do this. Is there anyone whose aspirations could inspire less sympathy?“
Verdammt, wir leben noch!
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008Falco: Verdammt, wir leben noch! is a biopic about… well… Falco. It quite possibly could be the greatest movie ever made, next to A Christmas Story.
Read a little more about it in The Onion and in Stereogum.
Pop Culture Conversations: The Windmills of Your Mind
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007A conversation while listening to “The Windmills of Your Mind,” the hit song from The Thomas Crown Affair, from Jack Jones Sings Michel Legrand…
Jen: What does this song have to do with The Thomas Crown Affair?
Chris: What does this song have to do with anything?
Jen: This is true.
Chris: That’s the problem with French composers, though. You tell them what your movie’s about and they do they opposite. “Michel, we’ve got this movie…”
Jen: “Stop right there!”