RT Obscura with Kim Newman
Further Reading: Inauguration Special with The Ugly American ( comment)
It's inauguration season in the United States, which always gives rise to editorial about how -- no matter who is in the White House -- the country keeps making the same foreign policy mistakes. Outside a few war films with explosions and martyred movie stars, this has never been a 'sexy' subject for Hollywood, though there has always been a trickle of ambitious, underperforming-at-the-box-office, political essay cinema. Here, we look back a generation to an era of diplomats in cutaway suits and neatly-trimmed moustaches, third-world mobs waving 'Yankee Go Home' placards and the beginnings of a battle for 'hearts and minds' that the West tends to lose because the whole concept of such a campaign sounds hideously patronising to the owners of said hearts and minds.
Further Reading: Seasonal Slaying - The 12 Horrors of Christmas (5 comments)
Thanks to Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol, the Yuletide season has long been associated with ghost stories -- often with hard-won uplift at the end, like Scrooge being reformed by pestering spectres or Jimmy Stewart terrified into affirming that It's a Wonderful Life after all. So, for those who still think Christmas fans should be buried at the crossroads with a sprig of holly through their hearts, here are Kim Newman's recommendations for a full holiday of horrors...
Further Reading: Remember the Song, Remember Town Without Pity? (1 comment)
Town Without Pity, a little-remembered 1961 courtroom drama with Kirk Douglas, inspired a much more familiar song of the same name. But what of the movie asks Kim Newman.
Total Recall
Total Recall: George Clooney's Best Movies (86 comments)
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. We hear it all the time, but George Clooney is living proof that perseverance pays off: Despite the inauspicious beginnings of a career that threatened to pigeonhole him as a Ted McGinley-style supporting player on fading sitcoms, he's risen to the ranks of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, and has appeared in some of the last decade's most critically and commercially successful films. This fall, Clooney surfaces in three major releases: Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, Jason Reitman's Up in the Air, and The Men Who Stare at Goats, opening this weekend. If that kind of star power doesn't deserve the Total Recall treatment, what does?
Total Recall: Our Favorite Rock 'n' Roll Movies (104 comments)
Rock music has been a big part of the movies since Blackboard Jungle made Bill Haley a legend in 1955, and although the marriage of the two mediums hasn't always been a happy one (see: Elvis Presley in Harum Scarum and Paul McCartney's Give My Regards to Broad Street -- or better yet, don't), it's also produced some cinematic classics. With Pirate Radio hitting theaters, we thought it would be a good time to share our staff's favorite rock 'n' roll movies -- flicks that will get your toes tapping and your hands strumming the old air guitar. Hey, RT users, what are your faves?
Total Recall: The Best-Reviewed Coen Brothers Films (110 comments)
For more than two decades now, Joel and Ethan Coen have been thrilling critics -- and, here and there, audiences -- with their distinctive blend of dark humor, colorful violence, and singular visual flair. Not all of the Coens' films have been critical darlings (alas, poor Ladykillers), but with lifetime Tomatometers above 80 percent, the brothers are easily two (or is that one?) of the most respected directors in the business. Their latest effort, A Serious Man, is another winner, currently riding high with 86 percent on the Tomatometer, and to celebrate, we've freshened up our previous look at their filmography, Total Recall style! After branching out into broad espionage comedy with Burn After Reading, the Coens went back to their roots for A Serious Man -- quite literally, in fact: It takes place in an ordinary Jewish home in the suburban Midwest of the late 1960s, leading many critics to proclaim Serious the brothers' most personal film to date.
Weekly Ketchup
Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear (15 comments)
This Week's Ketchup includes news about movies based upon Micronauts, Arabian Nights and The Berenstain Bears, as well as casting news for Sir Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Owen Wilson; and a new movie for the director of Slumdog Millionaire. FRESH DEVELOPMENTS #1 J.J. ABRAMS WANTS TO PLAY WITH YOUR OLD MICRONAUTS TOYS Hot off the success of his reimagining of Star Trek, J.J. Abrams is in negotiations to produce a movie based upon the popular 1970s-1980s Japanese toy franchise Micronauts, which was also a long-running Marvel Comics series. Micronauts was a series of interchangeable science fiction heroes, robots and vehicles (sort of imagine a cross between action figures and LEGO) that collectively told the story of alien warriors in the grip of an intergalactic war. The best part was that they have crashed on the strange world of Earth where they find themselves just the size of little toys. Among the most popular Micronauts figures were Biotron, Microtron, Acroyear and Baron Karza.
Weekly Ketchup: A Paranormal Sequel, Hopkins Joins Thor (35 comments)
This week's Ketchup includes news of sequels for Paranormal Activity, Mad Max, and Men in Black franchises, as well as casting news for Sir Anthony Hopkins, Matt Damon, Keira Knightley, Tom Cruise, and Adam Sandler.
Weekly Ketchup: Robert De Niro in Thor? (19 comments)
This Week's Ketchup includes casting rumors for Green Lantern and Thor, movie plans for two hit Broadway plays (Miss Saigon and Rock of Ages) and new roles for Angelina Jolie, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kirsten Dunst. On top of that, we've got the usual roundup of Rotten Ideas, which this week include a possibly not-quite-so-rotten Disney adaptation of a retro-futuristic themed novel, a sequel to the urban dance movie Stomp the Yard, a tweenier repurposing of Mel Gibson's What Women Want from the female perspective, and the most Rotten of all, a new movie entitled Monster Squad that not only has nothing to do with the 80s fan favorite, but is also brought to us by various people involved with Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigalo and Wild Hogs.
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