Cult Classic Theatre

This Week's Feature: There are several classic films available in public domain, so they can be viewed freely through sites like Google Video and the Internet Archive. The first classic I'll show is Todd Browning's controversial 1932 thriller Freaks, about circus sideshow performers who exact revenge. A cult classic, the actors were actually real sideshow performers.

Capra Meets Gilmore: Does Adam Sandler's latest 'click' or fizzle

When I saw the trailer for the Adam Sandler movie Click, I said Oh S**t, another horrible summer movie. Although it does have some stupid and raunchy gags, ie farts boobs etc.,it also has a corny but sweet message: Family Comes First. Sandler plays Michael Newman, an architect that barely has time for his family. He finds a universal remote, that is given to him by Morty (Christopher Walken.) At first he loves it but it develops a mind of its own and fast forwards until he is fat divorced, rich and even more neglectful. The film has touching if cliched scenes a la It's a Wonderful Life, and it is better than some of the hit comedies out there. (*cough* Nacho Libre.)
My Grade B-

My Favorite Actor: Jack Nicholson Sure he plays the same character a lot (the manic) but he has been in a lot of great roles. Throughout the 60's he starred in forgettable B Movie shlock. In 1969, his funny role in Easy Rider, the counterculture classic starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper won him great acclaim, and by the next year he starred in the classic Five Easy Pieces. Between 1970 and 1980, he appeared in such classics as Chinatown, The Last Detail, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining etc. Although he hasn't had a great film s memorable as those classics he has had some great performances, whether it's in romantic comedies like Something's Gotta Give, acting crazy in Adam Sandler's Anger Managment, playing the Joker in Tim Burton's classic 1989 take on Batman, or having one of his most restrained roles in About Schmidt, he is truly a great actor.

Who is the Greatest Living American Filmmaker? No, it is NOT Stephen Spielberg. No, not George Lucas, Star Wars geeks. It is a draw between Altman and Scorsese. I'll take Scorcese, although Altman comes pretty close. Although he is known for Gangster Flicks, ie Mean Streets , GoodFellas, Casino etc. as well as other De Niro Classics Cape Fear Taxi Driver King of Comedy and especially Raging Bull. However, he has attempted everything from musicals (New York, New York) , Concert Films (The Last Waltz) Black Comedy (After Hours) A Howard Hughes Biopic (The Aviator.) etc. Though some of his films were not very good, (*cough* New York New York), he has made enough great ones to qualify as a legend, and that he never won a Best Director Oscar and Steven Hackberg won two is just scary.

The Movies:It was one of America's biggest pastimes this side of Baseball. However, the movie theater is falling to the wayside. Who can blame the frustrated movie goers? Outrageous prices, long previews, annoying people inside the theater. For every Brokeback Mountain and Million Dollar Baby, there are hundreds of bad flicks, I mean a SEQUEL to Garfield and Deuce Bigalow. WTF?? There are still some good movies out there, and I'll cover those.( As well as some not so good ones.) I'll also cover some classics.So sit back, pop up some popcorn, bring out your dusty old VHS copy of On The Waterfront and enjoy.