Roger Ebert, RIP

I was very saddened to read the news yesterday afternoon that film critic (and so much more) Roger Ebert passed away at the age of 70. Only two days ago he posted about his webpage getting revamped and taking off some time for "reviewing only the movies I want to review," for reasons of declining health.

Mr. Ebert was my favorite film critic. Although I didn't always agree with his opinions -- particularly on some genre films -- our tastes matched up more often than not. I have very fond memories of watching "Sneak Previews" on PBS, then later "At the Movies" and "Siskel & Ebert". In the opening credits, a poster for Godzilla 1985 was clearly visible behind his desk as he typed.

Beyond his work as a critic, what I liked most about him was that he obviously loved movies. He was passionate about them, and made you want to share his enthusiasm. He was a scholar of film history, working to preserve Hollywood's history and point out the shoulders of the giants on which today's films stand. His commentaries on Citizen Kane and Dark City are legendary.

Save us the aisle seats behind you and Gene, Roger. We'll see you at the movies.

This last clip is NSFW (language):

Matango and Chicago Shock Theater

If you're a classic film fan, you should regularly check in on Turner Classic Movies' blog Movie Morlocks. I haven't looked at it for a couple of months, and it seems that I've missed out on some good articles. There are two notable posts I want to highlight.

Film historian David Kalat gives his take on Toho's Lovecraftian horror flick Matango (aka Attack of the Mushroom People). This has always been one of my favorites but I learned something new from his analysis of the final scene (spoilers ahoy if you read the post). I think I failed my Sanity check... not from the movie stills but from the photo of the Bullmark Matango tricycle toy.

Cult movie fans in the Chicago area need to know about the Shock Theater series of double-features running the first Friday of each month in Wicker Park. Two classic horror and sci-fi movies projected from real 16mm film prints for $5? Sounds like a great time!

Elisabeth Sladen, RIP

We learned today (thanks to Norbert) that Elisabeth Sladen, who portrayed Sarah Jane Smith on Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Chronicles, passed away at the age of 63.

There have been a number of obituaries and tributes posted, all of which do more justice than I could. You will find that the thread running though all of them is her graciousness, talent, humor and class, and the genuine affection for her from the fans and those who worked with her.

** Update: these three are some of the more touching tributes on the web **
Newsarama: Elisabeth "Sarah Jane" Sladen, Queen of Companions, RIP

Kasterborous: Elisabeth Sladen

Kasterborous: Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith
**
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13137674

http://blogtorwho.blogspot.com/2011/04/elisabeth-sladen-1948-2011.html

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/04/dwn190411204508-elisabeth-sladen-1948.html

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/04/dwn190411134512-elisabeth-sladen.html

http://www.kasterborous.com/2011/04/elisabeth-sladen-rip-1948-2011/ (includes video tributes)

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ElisabethSladen

Many Who fans talk about "their" Doctor--the actor they grew up watching. I remember watching Doctor Who on WTTW-11, the PBS station in Chicago. I saw some of the later Jon Pertwee episodes, most of the Tom Baker episodes and Peter Davidson shows, and a handful of the Sylvester McCoy shows. Tom Baker's first episode, "Robot", might have been my first. My favorites were Pertwee and Baker, and Baker was always "my" Doctor. Sarah Jane was almost everyone's favorite Companion.

Elisabeth Sladen and Third Doctor Jon Pertwee

Elisabeth Sladen and Fourth Doctor Tom Baker

History

Just in time for Lincoln's bicentennial, shortly after Inauguration Day.

Lights out for energy efficiency -- Earth Hour tonight

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

See the offical Earth Hour page and Google's Earth Hour page.

Why not a Queen rock opera/musical?

Earlier this week, I heard two Queen songs on the radio in the same day, then the next day I saw two commercials in a row that used Queen music. The idea popped into my head:

"Why hasn't there been a musical -- or "rock opera" -- using Queen's music?"

Their music was huge in scope, and Freddie Mercury was a big fan of opera, anyway. It's a natural. If they could make a musical out of Abba songs (which was good, by the way), or Billy Joel (blah...), then where's the love for Queen?

Well, someone else already had my bright idea. Evidently there has been a musical produced and performed all over the world. It played in Vegas in 2006 and ran in Chicago in April-May of '07. I had no idea.

But I suppose I can pat myself on the back because they used my idea for "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the finale. What else?

Speaking of Queen, about ten years ago I heard that (soon-to-be-Dr.)Brian May was a big Warhammer 40,000 fan. He'd play with his kids. Same with Robin Williams, too -- he had an Eldar army at that time. Looks like he's switched to online gaming.

I Am Legend opens today

This is a movie I've been anticipating for a long, long time.

I'm a fan of Richard Matheson's original novel, the 1964 Vincent Price adaptation The Last Man on Earth, and the 1971 Charlton Heston re-adaptation The Omega Man. Each one has various bits that I enjoy, and each in their own way speak as much about their times as they do about the original story.

About 8 years ago I heard some buzz about another remake. Ridley Scott was rumored to be directing and the leading actor under consideration at the time was Arnold Schwarzenegger. A script, written by Mark Protosevich, was floating around on the Internet so I found a copy and gave it a read.

I was impressed by the script and the way the action was updated. I thought it would make a decent version of the story. My other conclusion was that Arnold wouldn't be right for it -- my choice would have been Kurt Russell.

Then a couple of years ago, the remake was being talked about again with Will Smith in the lead -- and it actually got produced! I see that Protosevich is still listed as a writer, but now Akiva Goldsman is sharing that title. My guess is that he was called in to do some polishing and update it with Will Smith in mind. I wonder how much of Protosevich's original is still left?

You can read Protosevich's original script for yourself and compare it to the movie. I also see now that there is a John Logan version out there too, but I haven't read it. Both Logan and Protosevich are from Chicago. Coincidence?

In a later post I'll discuss other post-apocalyptic and dystopian movies.

Bonus link: A page showing other posters for the I Am Legend ad campaign. They are shots of various world cities after the disaster. I haven't seen these anywhere else. Scary stuff but well done!

Bootleg Boom or Bust?

I went to the Chicago Comicon last Saturday (I just can’t call it "Wizard World Chicago"). There aren’t many comic book series that I collect regularly anymore, but I’ve been going to the show for nearly 15 years now. Mostly, I go for the pop culture stuff – movie items, TV, books, etc. There are two great T-shirt dealers that I always visit, and Chicago Comics sets up a great booth filled with interesting books and zines.

The most interesting part of the trip is seeing what the current state of "grey-market" video bootlegs is like. Last year was the last hurrah for VHS boots. This year, all the dealers were selling 95% of their "product" on DVD and had relegated bootleg and even factory pre-record VHS tapes to the $1 bins.

I’ve long thought that the DVD market would be very hurtful to the bootleg market. For such a young format, there have been a surprising number of quality releases of some really obscure material. Companies like Image, Synapse, VCI, Retromedia, Alpha Video and even MGM’s Midnite Movies line have released some long-booted gems in quality editions. It helps to know what has been announced and who has what movie rights. About 4 years ago I almost broke down and picked up a grey-market copy of Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, but I knew that an official DVD was in the works. With so much material coming out each and every week on the format, it’s just a matter of time before a particular title is released. Some things, like ‘60s Saturday Morning cartoons or the Star Wars Holiday Special, two bootlegger staples, might be too obscure to ever be released legally. But I’ve recently seen an announcement for the Time Tunnel and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV series on DVD, so the studios are really mining their archives for releases now. I’ve even seen a notice that Disney might release the controversial Song of the South, something I thought I’d never see from them.

The availability of foreign DVDs and region-free players is another factor that I see hurting the bootleggers. They might offer a copy of a foreign release for $15 or $20 but with a little searching you can buy a legal DVD online for just a little more. I find it really surprising that someone would put the effort into copying cheap Hong Kong DVDs for later sale.

On this trip, I discovered many new movies from Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Thailand that I will have to check out soon – Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Garuda, Explosive City, Shaolin Vs. Evil Dead, Kibakichi 1 and 2, Arahan, The Blade and the French action film Banlieue 13 (reviews here and here). I’ll keep an eye open for more movies at Gen Con next week.