#30DayFilmChallenge - Day 7: MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012)

December 7, 2020 - October 20, 2021

Day 7: "A film you will never get tired of."

Jeez. This is tough.

I'm going to pick director and co-writer Wes Anderson's MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012).

There were so many candidates to consider:

GHOSTBUSTERS,

RED,

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD,

CITIZEN KANE,

KILL BILL, VOL. 1 (well, and VOL. 2, too)

JAWS,

THE GODFATHER,

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK,

MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN,

WHAT'S UP, DOC?,

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, etc., etc.

GHOSTBUSTERS is a nod to when I worked in a video store(s). I used to work at Rosa's Home Appliances when they created a video rental store for their customers to promote selling VCRs. I also worked at Blockbuster and finally at Record Theatre. Ah, memories! Anyway, we used to play GHOSTBUSTERS over and over on the TV as well as THE SURE THING and a few others. Later, RED and SCOTT PILGRIM were compulsive watches for me at home when we had cable. Every time I happened to catch any of these films on the TV, I'd stay and watch them until the end, if I could. And, actually, MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN, too. Go, director Frank Capra and Turner Classic Movies!

But, MOONRISE KINGDOM was unique for me. I remember being very obsessive about it after I first saw it and when it was available on DVD, I bought it right away and I JUST KEPT WATCHING IT. I don't know why. There was just something about it, all of it. I just love that movie, man!

Thursday, March 25, 2021

So, one of the things I'm trying to do is simply finish this 30 Day Film Challenge which I originally started on Facebook last year. And no, I didn't finish it on Facebook either, but, this being my film blog, it seems appropriate to continue posting this here.

Anyway, I feel like I should elaborate a little more, either on MOONRISE KINGDOM itself or regarding those films I never get tried of, or both. So, I will, dammit!

Prior to first watching MOONRISE KINGDOM, I believe I had seen two other Wes Anderson films, RUSHMORE (1998) and THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001). I liked them both very much, but I think it was with MOONRISE I articulated to myself that I was a definite Wes Anderson fan. I made a point of seeing his follow-up film, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014).

I like Anderson's world building, usually an accumulation of details (and props!). I think that's what ultimately appeals to me about a Wes Anderson film: he creates these very specific worlds in his movies, which initially seem to be a reference or homage to very specific genres, time periods, cultures, nostalgia, whatever (for instance, THE LIFE AQUATIC OF STEVE ZISSOU seems more or less Anderson's tribute to Jacques Cousteau and/or at least inspired by him and his adventures. But Anderson takes very specific and careful, precise pains to create this world not only down to its specific references and particulars but to also to his subjective vision of it. I think that last aspect of it, the creation of his own world in each of his films is what's so compelling about his films for me. They're not just homages, they've become unique Wes Anderson worlds and films. That complete fictional world building is an ambition of mine to achieve within my own films and comics, etc.

Wednesday, October 20

Well, this post took forever to get finished, didn't it? I really am VERY lame at being a consistent blogger. Ah, well! At least I'm consistently inconsistent in the way I maintain ALL my ventures: blogging, filmmaking, creating art and comics, etc.

Anyway, let's see if I can put a bigger dent into this damn "30 Day" Film Challenge, shall we?

Onward!

#30DayFilmChallenge2020

#30DayFilmChallenge - Day 6: MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1998)

Wednesday, December 2, 5:18 pm

Day 6: "Your favorite animated film."

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988). The first Hayao Miyazaki (and Studio Ghibli) film I ever saw. I thought it was simply charming and wonderful. I saw it on VHS and I think I checked it out because of a positive pull quote on the cover, but I forget what it said or by who. Maybe Roger Ebert? Occasionally those pull quotes work. Quotes from Stephen King got me to read Thomas Harris' RED DRAGON and watch THE EVIL DEAD, but I digress...

Runner-up animated films, in no particular order: SPIRITED AWAY, AKIRA, Disney's PINOCCHIO. I saw the claymation (well, plasticene-mation) WALLACE AND GROMMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT and enjoyed it, but I have to say, I think the WALLACE AND GROMMIT shorts are nearly perfect, especially the first three I saw: THE WRONG TROUSERS, A CLOSE SHAVE, and A GRAND DAY OUT.

QUICK UPDATE: OMG! I completely forgot AN AMERICAN TAIL in my list of runner-up candidates!

Monday, December 7, 10:04 am

It's been awhile since I've seen MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO. I should re-visit it (the default movie-watching goal of my life). Although, I'm not sure if I'd be able to actually watch the version I originally saw. I saw an English-dubbed version, but I think they've re-dubbed it since.

Oh! Well, according to this Wikipedia page, Troma Films actually had something to do with original English language dubbing! Weird! Anyway, from what I gather from the article, I guess they had the rights to that version for only 10 years (1993-2003), and after that Disney wound up doing another English dub, this time with more famous actors. So, if I watch it again, the disney version will probably be the version I'll have access to. Although, maybe I'll watch the original Japanese language version, instead. Ugh! I'm digressing again, sorry!

Sunday, March 21, 2021, 10:50 pm

Okay, so a major update.

Even though I last added to this post in December, I think in November of 2020, I watched a documentary on Netflix about the Aardman studios, A GRAND NIGHT IN: THE STORY OF AARDMAN. It happened to be on Netflix and out of curiosity I checked it out. And boy, I really was charmed by this documentary!

In particular, it re-ignited my enthusiasm for things animator Nick Park and his Wallace & Grommit films. When I first started this post, I mostly remembered the W&G shorts, especially THE WRONG TROUSERS, my first exposure to the duo. But after seeing all three shorts, I highly recommend them all (as I mentioned above). As I also mentioned, I saw the feature film, CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT, but I had forgotten most of it. Anyway, seeing Aardman doc, and especially seeing Nick Park in person and talking about his famous creations made me want to check out all things Wallace & Grommit again, especially when I discovered there was a FOURTH short that was made!

I watched all three shorts again in order: A GRAND DAY OUT, THE WRONG TROUSERS, and A CLOSE SHAVE, and then, CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT. It was really wonderful getting re-acquainted with these films and really falling in love with them all over again. If you plan on watching the doc, just be aware that there are some spoilers for all the films mentioned from Aardman studios, just in case you're a purist. But I found it very enjoyable hearing some of the behind-the-scenes stuff about all the films, and especially Park's first film, A GRAND DAY OUT, that turned out to be much more ambitious than he expected, although it's larger scope made him come in contact with Aardman studios and they helped him finished the film. But, I was especially glad to have re-watched CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT. It was really quite delightful! I also had a great respect for Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes' voice work. But, Bonham-Carter especially, who somehow made her ridiculous looking character with her Cheeto-hairstyle quite engaging and lovely (NOTE: all the human characters in these films are ridiculous looking). I can't believe I had forgotten so much of the film, so I'm glad I re-watched it. In fact, I watched it twice. I convinced my wife to re-watch it again as well (we both saw it when it first came out).

Finally, I saw the fourth Wallace & Grommit short for the first time, A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH, and it was really wonderful. I think of the five W&G films, THE WRONG TROUSERS is my favorite, followed by CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT and A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH tied for second. Oh, I'm really glad i saw that doc, because it really revived my love and admiration for the creativity and humor that's injected in all of these films. I have to sit down and re-watch CHICKEN RUN, too. I've forgotten most of that feature and seeing clips from it made me long to see it again as well. The Aardman doc also got me to impulsively watch their feature THE PIRATES! IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS! (aka THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS!)(2012) which they showed a lot of clips from and with interviews with Hugh Grant and David Tennant who did voice work in it. I found it extremely entertaining and gleefully absurd, and I watched it a second time within a week. Really great, fun stuff.

The documentary on Aardman studios is a lot of fun and informative. Towards the end it feels a little self-congratulatory, but for the most part, it's a great introduction to a lot of wonderfully animated work they've done and I like seeing the creative people behind the scenes, especially Nick Park and Peter Lord (director of THE PIRATES! and more importantly, who co-founded Aardman Studios with David Sproxton).

Having said all that, I'm still leaving MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO as my favorite animated film. But I definitely have to re-watch that one, too. I should also really check out the Pixar films, those I've seen long ago (like TOY STORY and its first sequel) and those I've missed (like MONSTERS, INC., the other TOY STORY sequels, UP, WALL-E... there's a lot) and then re-watch those Miyazaki films I've watched already (besides TOTORO, there's also SPIRITED AWAY and PRINCESS MONONOKE) and those I've missed. And there are also other feature length anime out there, like GHOST IN THE MACHINE, which I started checking out and 15 minutes in I realized I was watching a "slightly updated version" of the original, so I stopped and decided to watch the original but I didn't get to it, yet, but what I saw was pretty damn cool and impressive.

So, there's probably going to be at least one more to update to this post...

#30DayFilmChallenge

FLESH & BLOOD: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON (2019)

Wednesday, December 31, 12:01 am

Late last night I suddenly and impulsively watched FLESH & BLOOD: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON on Amazon Prime.

I thought it was GREAT.

To be honest, I was not a fan of exploitation/genre filmmaker Al Adamson's work to begin with, so that fact made me only vaguely aware of his actual filmography. As I watched the documentary, I realized and slowly remembered, that a film called DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN (1971) was by him. I think it might have been stills from that film of the Frankenstein monster that informed my disinterest in Adamson's work. I was not impressed with the make-up. That terrible makeup gave me a sense of how cheaply made these films were. Usually for me that isn't a turn-off but a turn-on, but my artistic tastes are capricious.

Anyway, backing up a little, the documentary focuses on Adamson's film career and also his shocking death: his body was discovered buried in the floor of his house after he had gone missing. That's how the doc starts, so that's not a spoiler. But then we go through Adamson's life and eventually learn the details of his death.

I love this film. NOW I want to see these awful movies, hahaha!

It's delightful listening to his friends, past cast and crew members tell stories of the man and working with him.

All the stories and clips are pretty terrific, but I especially loved the anecdotes from DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN (and working with actor J. Carrol Naish). Also, Sam Sherman, Robert Dix, Russ Tamblyn offer great stories, but I was especially delighted to see Fred Olen Ray offering great commentary as well. Another favorite aspect I've now discovered of Adamson's films is how they re-titled them and re-released them to blatantly capitalize on current fads and trends. For instance, BLAZING STEWARDESSES was a mildly T&A film that had primarily western genre trappings to take advantage of BLAZING SADDLES' popularity. BLAZING STEWARDESSES would later be re-released under three other titles: TEXAS LAYOVER, CATHOUSE COWGIRLS (to capitalize on the popularity of THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS), and THE GREAT TRUCK ROBBERY (with some additional footage of a truck robbery, because CONVOY and other trucker movies were then popular).

There's a section on a UFO documentary that Adamson shot, BEYOND THIS EARTH, and as they discuss this film, there's a strange mood change from Sam Sherman and friend/actress Stevee Ashlock (who played a woman abducted by aliens). There seems to be a sinister secret attached to the making of this film, a sort of conspiracy vibe about UFOs, which is both unexpectedly weird, serious and fascinating since the vibe comes from both Sherman and Ashlock in separate interviews Adamson was devoutly a non-believer of UFOs going into making his film, but this weird meeting Ashlock talks about during filming seemed to change his mind. Really weird.

The stories about his one children's film (!), CARNIVAL MAGIC, are pretty good, too!

The final section on Adamson's murder is also well done and his housekeeper's comments during this section are simple and straight forward but ultimately compelling.

An excellent documentary from director David Gregory and Severin productions. Meanwhile, check out Al Adamson's filmography at your own risk!: PSYCHO A-GO-GO! (later reworked and re-titled as THE FIEND WITH THE ELECTRONIC BRAIN and then majorly overhauled and again re-titled as BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR); BLOOD OF DRACULA'S CASTLE; FIVE BLOODY GRAVES; SATAN'S SADISTS; HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS aka VAMPIRE MEN OF THE LOST PLANET; ANGELS' WILD WOMEN aka SCREAMING ANGELS; DYNAMITE BROTHERS aka STUD BROWN; DEATH DIMENSION aka DEATH DIMENSIONS aka FREEZE BOMB aka ICY DEATH aka THE KILL FACTOR aka BLACK ELMINIATOR; and many more.

#30DayFilmChallenge - Day 5: ED WOOD (1994)

Day 5: "A film where a character has a job you want."

Okay, I'm going with ED WOOD (1994, directed by Tim Burton, screenplay by Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander) and the title character (played by Johnny Depp) has the job of screenwriter/film director. There are probably other films with characters that have that job that I could have chosen, but I feel that Ed Wood in ED WOOD seems most appropriate. Wood's filmmaking efforts are arguably sincere but leavened with some limiting circumstances (like a lack of sufficient funds) and Wood's own dubious creative choices and tastes. The difference between Wood and myself is that he actually finished some projects.

Shot in black and white, Depp is quite wonderful as Ed Wood, boyish in his energy and enthusiasm, and determinedly positive in the face of difficulty. Martin Landau is terrific as Bela Lugosi (winning an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor) and the ensemble cast is also excellent. For me, the appeal of director Ed Wood, in this film and in real-life, is his insistence to make art despite circumstance and possibly even talent or skill. Arguably, I might have more directing skill than Wood (emphasis on arguably), but I lack his tenacity to follow through on projects, a quality I seriously need to develop and/or tap into.

Other possible films featuring the same job, this time on vivid display in two documentaries, AMERICAN MOVIE and HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE.

AMERICAN MOVIE (1999) focuses on independent filmmaker Mark Borchardt (as well as his friend, Mike Schank) and his efforts to make his B&W horror film, COVEN (which Borchardt's determined to pronounce as "COH-ven"). At first glance, the film seems like a study of a not quite capable filmmaker trying to make a film. You hear some of his plans and ambitions and the way he describes his film and the scenes he intends to include, and well, his description sounds like wishful thinking and the audience feels already the execution will be far less than he imagines. As an example, we see him directing a scene in the woods. Borchardt's manning his own camera, and as he lies on the ground and has set up his shot, he tries to direct his handful of actors. He gives them a specific direction regarding blocking - a fine tuning of where they already are standing - and, if I remember correctly, no one moves at all in response. And, after a beat, he shoots the scene. I remember watching this film and my wife walked in and started watching it as well and then she said she had to leave the room, "This reminds me of you..."

Ummm...

HEARTS OF DARKNESS (1991) is the brilliant documentary of APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola as the subject of his troubled film and his efforts to get through the agonizing process of shooting, which was faced with many setbacks and delays, cost overruns and his near bankruptcy. What makes me embrace this film is the portrait of an artist trying to achieve something on an ambitiously grand scale, not only in physical scope but artistically. In one scene, he compares the original concept of APOCALYPSE NOW to an Irwin Allen film. Film producer Allen was known for his disaster films, like THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and THE TOWERING INFERNO. Coppola's comparison is based on his idea that initially APOCALYPSE NOW was simply full of spectacular, crowd-pleasing scenes and exciting, thrilling (but arguably superficial) moments. BUT, now that he was in the middle of the production, he realized he was wasting an opportunity to properly consider the subject matter, the Vietnam war, and so he was re-writing and trying to figure out how to improve things as he went along. And he feared his efforts were going to be horrendous. In reality, Coppola ultimately made another cinema classic, but his process was typically difficult and perhaps, even self-destructive.

In all three of these films, I'm fascinated by the artist and his dreams and then the difficult reality of trying to achieve those dreams: lack of money, lack of assistance, lack of inspiration, the limits of one's own talent and persistence through hardship, the general difficulties of trying to shape an idea into reality.

"Alright, let's shoot this fucker!" - Bela Lugosi (as played by Martin Landau) in ED WOOD.

#30DayFilmChallenge

#30DayFilmChallenge - Day 4: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)

DAY 4: "A film with a number in the title."

I had a tough time trying to pick a title for today, but the winner is… 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968).

Some runners up:

16 BLOCKS, the Bruce Willis/Mos Def film that I happened to catch on cable a few years ago, got hooked enough to stick with it, and ultimately found it surprisingly affecting, which I’m chalking up to my strong sentimental streak;

SUPER 8, which I found enjoyable throughout, although the actual main storyline I found forgettable. This film has one of my favorite sequences, when the kids, amateur filmmakers, are shooting a scene for a Super 8 film at the train station and the boys suddenly realize the girl they cast in the film (for perhaps other reasons) can really act, but then suddenly the train comes and crashes and we’re back to the main story (whatever)…;

1941, Steven Spielberg’s first flop, an expensive and critical flop which he made up for in spades with RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, but I still like this extremely loud and unsubtle comedy;

1900, a Bernardo Bertolucci film that I saw years ago in a theater (in Pittsburgh?). I remember finding it vividly directed, but I’ve forgotten lots of it, too… I’ll need to revisit it;

THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION, because, well, what a great title, and a wonderfully goofy movie… Jeff Goldblum and his furry, white cowboy chaps! And I still occasionally say, “I don’t give a flying handshake..!”;

And another film that I’ll actually use later in this challenge…

But back to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (directed by Stanley Kubrick, screenplay by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke (based on Clarke's novel).

Love that this is a merger of sci-fi film and art film, arguably an experimental film as well. Years ago I had a book edited by Jerome Agel, THE MAKING OF KUBRICK’S 2001. Full of cool articles and topics related to the film, among them audience and cultural reactions. Included was an outline analyzing the film, breaking down scenes and considering the meanings, which was written by a female high school student. Kubrick actually read it (either she or a teacher of hers mailed it to him?) and he was impressed by her thoughts on the film. If I’m remembering correctly, the student had plans to do scientific research and one scientific question she considered was whether or not the soul can be located in one’s DNA, like an actual element, which was a fascinating idea. Anyway, at some point years ago, I misplaced the Agel book, but somewhat recently, I was delighted to discover another copy at a used bookstore.

One of my favorite film transitions of all time is the understandably famous one from 2001, from the prehistoric past of the DAWN OF MAN sequence to the futuristic year of 2001 with a bone as murder weapon (well, tool) thrown up into the air, “flying” in slow motion and then the sudden cut to the Pan Am space clipper heading to the moon, a clever combination of visual images and intellectual ideas.

I did see 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY in the theater once and I’m wondering if that was my first time watching it. It’s quite possible. It was at the Four Seasons in Niagara Falls and I remember my mom took me (us? I think one or two school friends came as well... Steve? Peter? NOTE: Steve and Pete and myself went to the movies fairly regular during high school, hence...). During the sequence when the astronaut, Bowman (played by Keir Dullea), is traveling through the atmosphere of Jupiter and it starts getting way psychedelic, even psycho-delic, my mom started grabbing my arm really hard, because the posterized aerial shots of the landscapes started getting to her and she was trying not to scream.

I know a guy who is a writer for the Washington Post (yes, I’m pseudo-name dropping without, uh, actually dropping a name) and he’s an eloquent cinephile, but he is NO fan of 2001. I think he described it once as equivalent to “looking at a rock.”

Too bad for him, but I think 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is great from beginning to end and I love how it strongly elevated and expanded the sci-fi film genre in terms of what other kinds of stories could be told in that genre beside pulpy escapism. A very inspirational work on several levels.

#30DayFilmChallenge

UNFINISHED BUSINESS (what else is new?): #30DayFilmChallenge - Day 2: "A film you like that starts with the first letter of your name." - THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974)

[NOTE:

Sunday, November 29, 10:09 am

I wrote this post three, maybe four months ago, and then decided I should write more, but never did. Gee, not following through on something? That's a surprise (insert irritated growl). And because the 30 Day Film Challenge is (arguably) chronological, not publishing this post has held me up in terms of posting more entries in the series, supposedly. I'm a predictable lame-head.

Anyway, with 2020 locked in to finally winding down and eventually moving on calendar-wise - I mean, we had Election Day, Thanksgiving and Black Friday - I'm hoping to wrap this series of posts up in the next month.]

A version of this post was originally posted on Facebook on May 27, 2020.

DAY 2: "A film you like that starts with the first letter of your name."
When I first posted this on Facebook, I wrote:

I was going to say TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN by Woody Allen, which I love, but I decided to go with THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974) because there was more nostalgia linked with it. 
I loved this movie and I remember seeing it at the Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda when it first came out. Although, I think we paid only a buck to get in, so it might've been when it was making the second run circuit, but still 1974.  I remember us walking out of the theater talking about the film, including the great David Shire score. Loved Walter Matthau in it, and thinking about him makes me want to check out these other Matthau crime dramas from the 70s I've heard about but never saw: THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN and CHARLEY VARRICK, both from 1973.

Wow. That was it?
So, I'm going to add to it (Yeah, what else is new?).

I remember TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE was very entertaining. Suspenseful, funny, and solid performances from the entire cost, especially Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, also Martin Balsam and I remember Jerry Stiller and his one line: "Even great men have to pee." The other cool thing I recall about PELHAM ONE TWO THREE is the New York character of the piece. It just has a certain attitude that adds to the entertainment.
On a side note, when I first started thinking back about PELHAM, I realized I was confusing the filmographies of Joseph Sargent with some of Joe Johnston's movies. Sargent passed away in 2014 and was Johnston's senior by 15 years.
Joe Johnston directed HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS, THE ROCKETEER, JUMANJI, JURASSIC PARK 3, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER and also, HIDALGO, which I don't think did too much at the box office, but I caught it on cable and found it very enjoyable.

Director Joseph Sargent had a career in both TV movies and feature films, but most of his accolades came with his television work. He directed TRIBES (with Darren MacGavin and Jan-Michael Vincent) and AMBER WAVES (with Dennis Weaver, Kurt Russell, and Mare Winningham) and I remember them both, especially TRIBES. He won an Emmy for THE MARCUS-NELSON MURDERS which was the pilot for KOJAK starring Telly Savalas. Sargent also directed COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT, which I recall enjoying on TV decades ago, WHITE LIGHTNING with Burt Reynolds and NIGHTMARES, a horror anthology I've never seen. But, he's also infamous for directing JAWS 4: THE REVENGE, which I also haven't seen but I know it has a pretty universal reputation for being awful. From what I hear, the basic premise is the shark has a personal vendetta against the Brody family, or it comes across that way in the film. After directing JAWS 4, all the films he did were for television.
Whatever. THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE is excellent. I'll definitely have to revisit it. Maybe I'll make it part of a Walter Matthau marathon and check out some of the actor's other stuff. Ooh, perhaps I'll do a mix of things I haven't seen, like those two crime films I mentioned above, and maybe re-visit some of his comedies I saw years (and years) ago, like A NEW LEAF, or THE BAD NEWS BEARS. In fact, I was just thinking about BAD NEWS BEARS today because I just finished watching BUGSY MALONE for the first time and it made me think of other movies with child actors. Anyway, sitting through a Walter Matthau marathon shouldn't be a hard task, 'cause I do like him.

PS. Speaking of BUGSY MALONE (1976), I never saw it, and I haven't thought about it in years, but the recent death of director Alan Parker was the sad reminder.  So, motivated by his obituary and filmography, I checked BUGSY MALONE out on Amazon Prime. It was fun and fascinating watching this strange concept film - child actors playing normally adult roles and the genre is 40s era gangsters and musicals. And re: film marathons, watching BUGSY MALONE is hopefully the first in checking out a number of Parker's diverse resume, especially BIRDY, PINK FLOYD:THE WALL, MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, FAME and MISSISSIPPI BURNING. Anyway, I hope to post some thoughts on BUGSY, too. NOTE: Of course, don't hold your breath... although stranger things have happened.

#30DayFilmChallenge - Day 3: "A film that has more than five words in the title." - FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DATE FRIENDS (2014)

A version of this post was originally published on May 28, 2020 on my Facebook page.

DAY 3: "A film that has more than five words in the title."

I'm sort of making this up as I go along through this 30 day challenge, but I'm excited that I managed to name early on in the process a locally made film, FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DATE FRIENDS (2014), written and directed by Rhonda Parker. It happens to be one of my favorite features made in WNY, and as an added bonus, I became friends with Rhonda and her husband, Mark (who was the director of photography) after I saw their film at the Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival. Our friendship has been cemented since then by the fact that I not only created the poster/DVD cover designs to two subsequent feature films they made, MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE and A CHRISTMAS MONSTROSITY, but I did so well after the deadlines they gave me - ah, yes, the personal Kimmel touch! Yes, "Better late than never" is perhaps the worst professional freelance artist motto to have...

But getting back to FDLFDF (that's the movie title for short, not my tongue flapping in the breeze): it's delightful, has strong performances from the three leads (Adam S. Dixson, Erin Stamp, and especially Rhonda's cinematic alter-ego, Amelia Favata) and a solid ensemble cast supporting them. But, most importantly, the film is personal, wearing its John Hughes inspirations unabashedly on its sleeve, but not in a derivative way. Rhonda tells her story in her own way, citing Hughes' past films as part homage and part affectionate template to carve out her own storytelling path.
Okay, some of the jokes are corny, and a scene or two perhaps could have been shot more effectively (a sign of the low-budget strain on a tiny crew wearing multiple hats simultaneously). But Rhonda's empathy for the characters is genuine, and the ending is affectingly told, managing to be both sentimental, yet not saccharine, and cautiously optimistic.
The soundtrack also boasts an excellent collection of songs from the Lonely Ones, a band out of Rochester, NY.
Some day I hope to do a bonafide review of the film. Stay tuned.

Check out the trailer:

#30DayFilmChallenge2020, Day 3

Found on Google from twitter.com