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It was sadly announced today that "Rowdy" Roddy Piper died from cardiac arrest Thursday night. He was 61 years old.
Piper was one of the biggest stars during a peak era of American pro wrestling and certainly one of the absolute best on the mic. He broke into the wrestling business by paying his dues all around America until finally developing his natural talent as a heel in the NWA territories. He generated white hot heat with the Mexican crowds in California by routinely playing "La Cucaracha" on his bagpipes, an early precursor to the race-baiting that would eventually (though regrettably in retrospect) make him a worldwide star. He later moved to the Southern region, battling his friend-for-life Ric Flair for the U.S. championship and partaking in one of the most brutal matches of the 80s, the dog-collar match against Greg "The Hammer" Valentine at the very first Starrcade. He then moved up north to the WWF.
He first made his mark on a national stage by being given a talk show called Piper's Pit. Though granted a crude set and be forced to feature everyone from the top stars to the local jobber, Piper's exceptional verbal skills and fiery flair made the segment utterly legendary. Here, he would deliver some of the most famous off-the-cuffs remarks in wrestling history. Examples include, "Just when they think they have the answers, I change the questions!" and "You don't throw rocks at a man with a machine gun!". The most renowned edition came when he interviewed Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. After crudely insulting Snuka by giving him tropical fruit to make him feel "home", Piper cracked a real coconut over Snuka's head, causing him to smash over the facades.
Piper then moved on to a far, far bigger target: Hulk Hogan. This feud became national news when pop superstar Cyndi Lauper got involved in the wild proceedings of the WWF and help get the one-on-one showdown, dubbed "The War To End The Score", to be broadcasted on MTV. His ire and controversial mouth grew bigger when Hogan was joined by TV star Mr. T. In the build-up to the very first Wrestlemania, where Hogan and Mr. T would face Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff in the main event, Piper unleashed some of the most heinous yet darkly humorous remarks towards Mr. T and his skin color. Just to remind you, though this was all despicable then and now, Piper's skill at race-baiting helped make the federation and generate vast interest and a paying audience to see the heroes win over the racist asshole and his buddies. Plus, crowds were so uncouth and easily provoked that a group of people infamously held up a bed sheet that read "Piper Has AIDS". The blood feud between Piper and Mr. T, however, would become very real when the former "shot" on the latter in the money match largely to protect both of them from harm and become even more heated a year later when the two battled in a badly drawn-out worked boxing match.
By the time Wrestlemania III rode around, where he helped build up the Hogan-Andre The Giant title match while building his own match against Adrian Adonis, Piper chose to retire from the sport in order to work in Hollywood. He quickly made his mark with his lead performance as John Nada in John Carpenter's They Live. The sci-fi/horror/action/comedy film was one of the most biting satires of the 80's, severely mocking the Reagan era and the gross commercialism that was running rampant. Piper would make movie history with his role, first by improvising the immortal badass line, "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I'm all outta bubblegum" and then fighting Keith David in a brilliantly staged back-alley brawl. His career in Hollywood wouldn't be for long largely due to the stigma of pro wrestling and him being a non-thespian but he continued to work in B-movies until the present. Other notably acting gigs include the bizarre post-apocalyptic cult film Hell Comes To Frogtown, the failed TV pilot Tag Team where he and Jesse "The Body" Ventura are cops, and as himself in the video game Saints Row IV.
When he came back to wrestling at Wrestlemania V to interview talk-show host Morton Downey Jr., his luster began to quickly falter. He was still being heavily cheered by the fans but his wrestling skills were becoming a bit lazy and he started to act more like an obnoxious goofball than a demented undermining genius. The biggest lowlight of this time was when he decided to paint half of his body charcoal black in the lead-up to his match against Bad News Brown at Wrestlemania VI. Orchestrated in order to get Brown motivated for the battle, the puzzling and somewhat racist display hampered the popularity of Piper. It did lead to a great story though: The boys in the back ribbed him by changing out his body paint, causing Piper to walk around with it still on in public post-event until finally retreating to his house in order to sweat it all out for several weeks.
We now reach a time when it becomes personal. In 1992, Piper finally won his very first title in the WWF, defeating The Mountie for the Intercontinental Championship at the Royal Rumble. The noteworthy celebration, in my hometown no less, would be short lived as he was set to face off against Bret "Hitman" Hart at Wrestlemania VIII and drop the title to him. The feud was simple: Piper knew and loved the Hart family in real-life and treated Bret like a wet-behind-the-ears young boy; Bret got on his nerves by saying he's the better wrestler and the one who could out think him. I watched them fight it out on PPV way back when and even at that time, I knew I just saw one of my absolute favorite matches of all time. Though Bret was great in the ring, the show was all on Piper and he delivered with flying colors. He carried the story of the match, constantly trying to avoid regressing into his former persona and win the match through chicanery and heel tactics. The match beautifully ended with Bret getting the better of Piper, reversing his signature sleeper hold into a pinfall. Piper gave Bret a clean pin (the first in a very long time) and passed the torch to the future of the WWF.
Piper would make sporadic appearances in the WWF from then on, often being the referee to some less-than-stellar matches. He became the on-air commissioner of the WWF in 1996 and took part in the horrific O.J. Simpson-inspired, hate-crime-played-straight "Hollywood Backlot Brawl" against Goldust at Wrestlemania XII. By the end of the year, he joined rival promotion WCW to do battle against long-time rival Hogan, now going as the nWo mastermind "Hollywood" Hogan. Though Piper was now running on fumes in the ring thanks to a hip replacement, he did draw big numbers for WCW and could still work a microphone. He popped back into the new-christened WWE as part of the Hogan-McMahon feud in 2003 but would later be fired when he did an interview with Bryan Gumbel for HBO's Real Sports. The hatchet was buried again two years later when Piper was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He would do the occasion appearance or match from then on.
Piper was one of the best talkers in the business, able to work up a crowd into a near-riot. He was also one of the slim few to lead a major motion picture and help make it become one of the most popular cult films in cinematic history. He could wow you, piss you off, and ultimately make you laugh.
He will sorely be missed.
Want to find out what movies are heading to Netflix Streaming? I got your back.
Upcoming Netflix Streaming Titles
7/31 - Wet Hot American Summer: First Day At Camp (Netflix Original Series)
8/1 - Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein, Bride and Prejudice, Casting By, Dear Frankie, Electric Slide, Enemy At The Gates, The Hurt Locker, Meet The Browns, November Rule, Outcast, Sorority Row, Starship Troopers, Top Secret!, War, Wing Commander
8/3 - Chronic-Con Episode 420: A New Dope*
8/4 - Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead
8/5 - Yellowbird*
8/6 - Kill Me Three Times, The Look Of Love, Welcome To Me
8/11 - Two Days, One Night
8/12 - For A Good Time, Call…; Leap Year, The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death
8/14 - DinoTrux (Netflix Original Series), Ship of Theseus*
8/15 - Alex Of Venice*
8/16 - Being Flynn, Pariah, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
8/17 - Lord Of War
8/19 - Jerk Theory
8/20 - 30 For 30: Angry Sky*, As Cool As I Am
8/21 - Grantham & Rose*, Transcend*
8/27 - Byzantium, White God*
8/28 - Inspector Gadget (Netflix Original Series, Season 2), Narcos (Netflix Original Series)
8/29 - Ride (2015)*
8/30 - Muffin Top: A Love Story*
9/10 - Keith Richards: Under The Influence, Longmire (Season 4)
10/16 - Beasts Of No Nation
11/6 - Master Of None (Netflix Original Series)
12/11 - The Ridiculous Six
What to Watch This Week
Today is your very last day to watch anything set to expire come morning; those of you who are big Troma fans will need to program a marathon. If you are fan of alternative humor and need more Paul Rudd, Netflix finally gives us Wet Hot American Summer: First Day At Camp, a new series based on the cult David Wain film that continues the filthy and dumb adventures of a group of camp counselors. Tomorrow brings forth another sea of new and returning titles. Of this large pile, you can't go wrong with Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker.
New Streaming Titles I Previously Forgot to Mention
Nothing!
I'll see you again next Friday.
Well, I called it in my last article: If I ended up continuing my sloth-like behavior toward writing up Trailer Reviews in July, this monthly roundup format may become a permanent fixture. A treasure trove of noteworthy trailers hit the scene in the past 30 days, many of which are big-time Oscar hopefuls. So let's go all out snarky on them, shall we?
Creed
Official Trailer
Watch It Here
Person of Interest: Michael B. Jordan as El Hijo de Creed, Tessa Thompson as his singer girlfriend, Phylicia Rashad as his mother, Wood Harris as a boxing coach, and Sly Stallone as Rocky Balboa.
Scene Pop: The past and the present.
Effective?: Oh yeah!
Check it Out?: Definite yes. This trailer is pretty amazing, giving us just enough of a nibble of what's to come while treating us to some fan service (Rocky, the re-emergence of the USA shorts). I would have loved it if the makers made a switch and have him as a MMA fighter instead but c'est la vie. This role really could finally, finally be the true breakout, star-making role for Jordan.
Steve Jobs
Official Trailer
Watch It Here
Person of Interest: Michael Fassbender as the titular character, Kate Winslet as Job's possible secretary Joanna Hoffman (that's bull!), Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, and Jeff Daniels as John Sculley.
Scene Pop: Really no scene to pick out because the attention is all on Aaron Sorkin's script.
Effective?: I would go with yes. It shows off the tech advancements Jobs helped engineer and his dark genius personality while also throwing in the melodrama of his personal life in order to attract further viewers.
Check it Out?: Probably a matinee unless the early reviews are absolutely glowing. The performances, particularly Fassbinder, will be noticed come award season and Sorkin brings his usual bite but it remains to be seen if the troubled production was salvageable.
Goosebumps
Official Trailer
Watch It Here
Person of Interest: Jack Black as the Garth Marenghi-looking R.L. Stine, Dylan Minnette as generic white teen hero, Odeya Rush as Stine's daughter, Ryan Lee as some extremely annoying kid, and Amy Ryan as the talented actress cashing an easy paycheck.
Scene Pop: It's Slappy the Dummy!
Effective?: As a film targeted towards kids and trying to reel in the huge nostalgia for the lengthy book series, yes.
Check it Out?: I guess so. A lot of internet old-timers who grew up with the books and the cheesy TV series have been decrying it left and right. I however break away from this pack and think it could be goofy entertainment, especially for those seeking something along the lines of Hocus Pocus. I still hate Ryan Lee though.
Sisters
Official Trailer
Watch It Here
Person of Interest: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are sisters! And they invited Ike Barinholtz and John Cena and to their house party! But not Maya Rudolph.
Scene Pop: I don't really have one.
Effective?: I sadly have to say yes.
Check it Out?: No. I didn't find anything funny beyond Rudolph's wrestling championship and I'm not even a fan of a female-led version of Project X.
Joy
Official Trailer
Watch It Here
Person of Interest: Jennifer Lawrence as Joy, Robert De Niro as her father, and Bradley Cooper as some guy.
Scene Pop: Any of the surreal moments. Take your pick.
Effective?: More towards no. The holiday-like cover of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" matches the melodrama, establishes a good beat for the trailer editor, and perfectly fits the film's target date of Christmas but I really have no idea what the story truly is or really care for it.
Check it Out?: Indecisive for now. It may be a breathtaking movie or a turgid mess of talent.
The Revenant
Teaser Trailer
Watch It Here
Person of Interest: Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy as two woodsmen stuck in the harsh wilderness.
Scene Pop: The possible one-take battle scenes.
Effective?: I would say yes. The drum-breathing tempo is exhilarating and the dark violence works with the peculiar surreal imagery.
Check it Out?: It's from Alejandro González Iñárritu. He gave us Birdman. Coupled this info with the on-going news stories of how the production is still being filmed and suffering from many problems (shocker) and you have yourself either a bonafide fiasco or a worthy film.
The Good Dinosaur
Official Trailer
Watch It Here
Person of Interest: Raymond Ochoa as the boyish titular dino and Jack Bright as his human friend.
Scene Pop: The firefly scene.
Effective?: Yes, even though the editor forcibly shoved a fist-full of emotion up my ass to make me care for this product.
Check it Out?: If you have a kid, yes. For everyone else, your mileage may vary. The cartoonish look of the characters doesn't really gel with the high-end realistic backgrounds for me and again, I need a plot or conflict to truly suck me in.
Spectre
Official Trailer
Watch It Here
Person of Interest: Daniel Craig as James Bond, Léa Seydoux as the new love interest, Christoph Waltz as Blofeld mk. 2, Dave Bautista as his henchman, and Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris, and Ben Whishaw in their new usual roles.
Scene Pop: "It was me, James. The author of all your pain."
Effective?: Yes, though it is an averagely edited action trailer.
Check it Out?: Definitely. It will be the last Bond film in quite a while now so you might want to see in theaters while you have the chance.
The Night Before
Official Red-Band Trailer
Watch It Here
Person of Interest: Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Anthony Mackie as three best buddies. Plus, you Lizzy Caplan, Mindy Kaling, Jillian Bell, and a cameoing Miley Cyrus.
Scene Pop: Got to go with the Kayne West take on Big; I love me some "Runaway."
Effective?: Yes. It tells you the simple plot, show off a few set-pieces, and has plenty of drug humor and pop songs to entice you.
Check it Out?: If you're in for some counter-programming for the holiday season, it looks to be a worthy ticket.
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Official Red-Band Trailer
Watch It Here
Person of Interest: James Badge Dale, John Krasinski, and Max Martini are three of the six military specialists to help save Americans in 2012 Benghazi.
Scene Pop: "From Director Michael Bay"
Effective?: Has some generic trailer tropes but the jingoistic, Call of Duty vibe makes it engaging.
Check it Out?: On the fence at the moment. Bay is a wild-card director and he doesn't work well with historical violence (Remember Pearl Harbor?). Its mixture of Black Hawk Down and the later works of Bigelow make it appetizing but I can't quite tell yet if it will be another "America, Fuck Yeah!" film.
The 33
Official Trailer
Watch It Here
Person of Interest: Antonio Banderas as the head of the trapped miners, Lou Diamond Phillips as a concerned foreman, Rodrigo Santoro as generic Latin hero, and Cote de Pablo as somebody's wife.
Scene Pop: Nothing.
Effective?: No, no, no. This trailer is too laughable to take serious. I mean come on, the usage of "Say Something"?
Check it Out?: No. General audiences may be fooled into seeing but I can not right now. A 2015 script where a miner has a baby on the way and another is two weeks from retirement? Over-emotive dialogue that should have been cut out of the first draft? How can you expect this to be good?
Other trailers to consider: Brooklyn has Saoirse Ronan torn between her new home in NYC with an Italian boyfriend and her previous life in Ireland; Mississippi Grind has Ben Mendelsohn and Ryan Reynolds travel from casino to casino to win big; and Spotlight looks to be a really good newspaper drama yet despite the juicy topic of the Boston Catholic sex abuse scandal and the usage of a slow cover of XTC's "Dear God", it does come from rapidly fading writer-director Tom McCarthy.
Created since the dawn of time, the Minions have always been looking for a "big boss" that they can serve under and remain perfectly alive for a long while. Three of these chaps (brainy Kevin, daft Stuart, and childish Bob) venture forth from their clan's self-exile to seek out a new evil leader. They eventually come across the new hotness of the villain world: the devilish Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock). I have not been a huge fan of the DESPICABLE ME franchise in general but I do thoroughly enjoy the goofy antics of the little yellow devils, random babbling musical sequences aside. So it comes to no surprise that MINIONS ends up being the best film of the franchise so far. Though the first half of the film has been ruinously spoiled by Universal and Illumination's massive marketing campaign, including the slightly overhyped "Minions in Time" prologue, there are some new scenes that are just fantastic including one humorous moment that in a way throws mud straight at Disney. As for the remaining half, it is full of great gags, delightful dialogue, and (sadly) some more singing. The film of course has to conclude itself by quickly tying into the other films and explaining how Gru came into the sight of the short underlings but not before a climatic final battle that had me grinning from ear to ear. As for the acting, though Bullock proved her inclusion thanks to her fun and feisty supporting performance, the rest of the celebrities given voiceover roles are utterly wasted and honestly have no reason to be attached to the project. Though I am once again dismayed at the unessential talent behind the mic, MINIONS is still a fine animated film to partake and laugh along with.
FINAL REVIEW: 3 / 5
Want to find out what movies are heading to Netflix Streaming? I got your back.
Upcoming Netflix Streaming Titles
7/17 - The Human Experiment*, Tig
7/18 - Java Heat*
7/23 - Teacher of the Year*, Zero Motivation
7/24 - Hercules (2014)
7/25 - The Guest
7/28 - Comet
7/30 - Almost Mercy*, The Wrecking Crew
7/31 - Wet Hot American Summer: First Day At Camp (Netflix Original Series)
8/1 - Outcast
8/11 - Two Days, One Night
8/12 - The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death
8/28 - Narcos (Netflix Original Series)
10/16 - Beasts Of No Nation
12/11 - The Ridiculous Six
What to Watch This Week
Got to go with Tig, as it is the only noteworthy film this week. The Netflix-produced documentary looks at the stand-up comedian Tig Notaro and how she achieved instant superstar status with a live show that touched candidly on her recent diagnosis of breast cancer.
New Streaming Titles I Previously Forgot to Mention
Nothing, unless you are totally ecstatic that popular Mexican telenovela Rebelde is now on the platform.
I'll see you again next Friday.
BALLET 422 is all about straightforward storytelling, from its quizzical title (the featured production is the 422nd original work for the New York City Ballet) to director Jody Lee Lipes' "fly on the wall" approach to recording the events transpiring all around the David H. Koch Theater. Those expecting to see major drama and/or creative turmoil will be walking away very disappointed; the documentary does an efficient job showing the entire process of a new ballet production, all envisioned and directed by a 25-year-old who has some brilliance in choreography but is still stuck in the bottom-rung of the company's full-time dance squads. This paradox leads to the film's most striking moment, which shows the NYCB's grueling schedule of operation and the unfortunate reality of the ballet industry. Though the film is a breezy ordeal, clocking in at a tight 75 minutes, and the clean presentation is ideal, it really could have added some more meat to its bones. After the exciting early moments of seeing the work-in-progress dances coming to fruition in the practice room, the film loses focus on its main attraction in order to get to the bigger picture. This gets especially annoying once it reaches its climax and the viewer is unable to see the final production as a whole, only a few highlights and more audience reaction shots. The doc also could have moved beyond its central subject and given a further look at the three elite-level leads and their own lives, doubly so for the Anna Kendrick-looking star dancer, who seems to be the only one perky enough to bring life to the work. Despite some reservations, BALLET 422 is an interesting exploration of a legendary NYC institution and a great service to the art of dance.
FINAL REVIEW: 3 / 5
Though the majority of America were preoccupied with the responsibility of placating their mischievous twerps with the release of Minions, all of the media attention was more focused on what was going down in San Diego. The San Diego Comic-Con reared its ugly head around, once again being used as the major platform of many big upcoming movies and television shows, all the while pretty much leaving the comic book industry to fade into the background.
In my previous two Comic-Con write-ups, I summarized the same thesis: DC Comics was in the main event but I feel a big bad storm is heading this way. The beleaguered company managed to pull off a hat trick with their annual presence in Hall H, as they once again conquered the media blitz with their questionable future films. However, I do think third time's the charm because there was something that they presented that had me more giddy than ever before.
The very first official trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice premiered in front of a rapturous crowd of nerds and easy marks. I was personally not moved at all by it, save for the brief scenes of Wonder Woman in action because duh, we finally get to Wonder Woman on the big screen and Gal Gadot looks alright so far. The brief snippets of its content look to be more of the same from director Zach Snyder and writer David Goyer: the return of SuperJesus, a lot of gloomy doom, and double-downing of 9/11 imagery. As for Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor: I am not impressed, especially with the lame delivery of, "The redcapes are coming! The redcapes are coming!", which sounds incredibly stupid to say out loud and is handled poorly by the more-than-capable Eisenberg. And what was with Wayne's angry fan mail? Was that supposed to be a joke or not? Though all were raving about the final note where Batman stands up in front of Batman, I was still yawning away. I'm still going to see it in theaters and give it a fair chance but this early taste is very bitter indeed.
On the other hand, I was smiling from ear to ear when David Ayer and the degenerate cast of Suicide Squad popped up out of nowhere and gave a first teaser to the crowd of the film-in-progress. Apparently, this was supposed to be a hush-hush event but some spoiled-sports were very nice to let it leak online. After threatening any and all media sites to refrain from linking to the early footage, the heads at DC and Warner Bros. eventually realized that they were idiotic enough to think that this wouldn't be made public in this day and age, so they wisely uploaded the teaser just a few hours ago. Now, as for the footage itself, let's get something off my chest: I am really, really sick of Batman being the only thing DC has to offer, I'm even more sick and tired of the proliferation of The Joker, and early test cases of the Squad (namely Batman: Assault on Arkham and the infamous group shot) had me fearing for this product. That being said, this is pure dynamite and I really hope it goes for a hard R rating. Plus, Margot Robbie continues to be amazing and yes, Jared Leto's Joker has an uniquely distinct edge.
In other DC movie news that absolutely have nothing to do with The Bat, Hal Jordan may return or be thankfully swapped out, as DC announced Green Lantern Corps.
And in more DC movie news that have to do with The Bat, it was announced by fan-favorite producer Bruce Timm that an animated adaptation of "The Killing Joke" will come out in 2016. Oh joy, another dark film from DC but this time we get to watch a woman be treated as a prop and viciously abused. Expect Alan Moore to come out from his cave and cry wolf next year. Also, Ben Affleck will team up with Geoff Johns to write the script for DC's first Batman film post-Nolan.
Marvel was a no show this year because they already announced in advance that they would forgo the weekend event and avoid the competition; why bother be thrown into a pissing contest over which slate of films look better when they have the clout and pomp demeanor to do their own event on their own stage? The company is more concerned on the expected American box office take for this weekend's Ant-Man>.
Not much really came from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. They showed some behind the scenes footage, they had the new cast come out and ended the panel with Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford standing out together.
A trailer for Warcraft, the video game adaptation by director Duncan Jones, premiered but no footage is up yet. Instead, online watchers had to take in the two new film posters released for it. Most sites have chosen to put up the Human variation but I choose the Orc one because that face is so damn goofy and lovable. The word from the trailer is that the film will bring in the original strategy elements of the game series into the plot (i.e. humans need more resources, badly) and that it will be as CGI-filled as the last Hobbit movie.
Eight minutes of The Hateful Eight was made public but again nothing will be posted online; I guess the Tarantino and Blizzard fans have more respect than the Batman community. Just like Warcraft, we have to be content with another new poster for the highly-anticipated western.
Other movie news: More previews of Crimson Peak; The first teaser poster for Krampus; and a panel for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 happened to little much fanfare on Twitter but a drop in the hat for other sites and those burned by Mockingjay Part 1.
Want to find out what movies are heading to Netflix Streaming? I got your back.
Upcoming Netflix Streaming Titles
7/10 - Chris Tucker Live, The Expendables 3
7/11 - These Final Hours
7/14 - Creep, Goodbye To All That, Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
7/15 - Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, Penguins of Madagascar*, The Physician*
7/16 - Changeling
7/17 - The Human Experiment*, Tig
7/18 - Java Heat*
7/23 - Teacher of the Year*, Zero Motivation
7/24 - Hercules (2014)
7/25 - The Guest
7/28 - Comet
7/30 - Almost Mercy*, The Wrecking Crew
7/31 - Wet Hot American Summer: First Day At Camp (Netflix Original Series)
8/1 - Outcast
8/11 - Two Days, One Night
8/28 - Narcos (Netflix Original Series)
10/16 - Beasts Of No Nation
12/11 - The Ridiculous Six
What to Watch This Week
Oh, this is a tough week. Though there are a few indies worthy at least a glance, they are all a little too cultish for general viewers; the last day of the apocalypse, another horror-themed mumblecore romp by the Brothers Duplass, and a loose remake of Ganja and Hess, anyone? From this pile of oddities, I'll go with Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau, a self-describing documentary about how an upcoming genre director was chewed up and spit out by Hollywood politics when trying to helm a big-budgeted would-be 90s blockbuster. And let's add in Penguins of Madagascar as well, if it does out as expected.
New Streaming Titles I Previously Forgot to Mention
Friedberg and Seltzer sadly return with this year's Superfast!; the documentary that explores the history of a popular Chinese flavor, The Search For General Tso; and be swooned by your 80's nostalgia and the music of America with The Last Unicorn (no word on if this is the updated remastering or a previous print).
I'll see you again next Friday.
Omar Sharif has died. He was 83 years old.
After working in the film business of his native land of Egypt for a decade, he would quickly become an international star after taking on the supporting role of Sharif Ali in David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia. Three years later, he would rejoin with Lean as the lead in his next epic, the romantic Soviet drama Dr. Zhivago. He would then play opposite to Barbra Streisand in and Funny Girl and Funny Lady. Later roles would see him bounce between westerns, action flicks, and the occasional comedy before then settling on for roles as an elderly Arab man.
Sharif was a curious rarity during his time of great fame: he was an actor of color that would headline big budget movies and often sweep a Caucasian woman off her feet. Making his female audiences' hearts a-flutter also helped his cause as one of the best stars of a bygone era.
He will be missed.
Today was a very sad day for film lovers and people like myself who wish to do justice to film criticism and work in the field professionally. Beloved movie site The Dissolve was announced as shutting down effective immediately, just days shy of its two-year anniversary.
The website was a passion project from several Chicago-based film writers, who all decided to leave the lofty spaces of The A.V. Club, where nearly all got their first shot at online fame, in order to be the movie equivalent of Pitchfork, the music-phile giant that was actually helping in the production of this dream. These writers include co-founders Scott Tobias and Keith Phipps, Tasha Robinson, Nathan Rabin, and Genevieve Koski. Later contributors include Matt Singer, Rachel Handler, and Mike D'Angelo. The site was a great way to escape the unending noise of other movie sites, who regurgitate the same production photos of upcoming superhero movies and spun many clickbait articles with next to nothing to really report. It was an area for serious movie discussion and exploration, a place where indie filmmakers could have a better platform and a venue where you could have a very reasonable conversation about animation and women in film and/or working in the film industry.
Alas, most commenters and visitors started to see the writing on the wall when Rabin, who was the most popular writer on the site due to his unique voice and willingness to go into the muck of bad works, was suddenly let go without much explanation. On-lookers predicted wisely that it wasn't a true firing but a dispiriting cost-saving method in order to keep the site running. Yesterday, unfortunately, was the surest sign of the site's demise: An article on an upcoming North-South Korean film called Northern Limit Line was posted at 1:00 PM CST, and nothing followed after it. No The Newsies, nor a Read On came up. Commenters begin to panic but tried to keep the beating of the drum as they always did. Alas, it was to no avail.
While it may seem odd for someone to wax poetically and be on the verge of tearing up about something not made of flesh and blood, the site was a great gathering place for those who wish to read and discuss about movies in great detail and for hours on end in the comments section. I should know as a I was active nearly every day. I also made a name for myself in every edition of their Newflix column, where I posted my weekly updates/reminders of the upcoming streaming titles on Netflix, which I would later bring to this site. I had a lot of fun with the morning ritual of everybody talking about what they watched the previous day in the Cable Pick of the Day column, answering one commenter's movie trivia night questions every Wednesday, and ending every Friday with Random Top Ten, where we shuffle through our iTunes library and jot down the first ten songs that come up and our opinions on them.
I hope for the best for all of the writers and expect to see them again in writing on other sites. Though they now suffer from unemployment, their beautiful wordplay and expert knowledge on the art of film are too great to be squandered. So here's to The Dissolve and to the great group of community that it gave life to and help shelter. You will sorely be missed.
Want to find out what movies are heading to Netflix Streaming? I got your back.
Upcoming Netflix Streaming Titles
7/4 - Faults
7/7 - Alien Outpost, Dark Summer, Monster High: Scaris - City of Frights*, The Pact 2
7/9 - Monsters: The Dark Continent, Serena
7/10 - Chris Tucker Live
7/11 - These Final Hours
7/14 - Creep, Goodbye To All That, Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
7/15 - Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, Penguins of Madagascar*, The Physician*
7/16 - Changeling
7/17 - The Human Experiment*, Tig
7/18 - Java Heat*
7/23 - Teacher of the Year*
7/24 - Hercules (2014)
7/25 - The Guest
7/28 - Comet
7/30 - Almost Mercy*, The Wrecking Crew
7/31 - Wet Hot American Summer: First Day At Camp (Netflix Original Series)
8/1 - Outcast
8/11 - Two Days, One Night
8/28 - Narcos (Netflix Original Series)
What to Watch This Week
We are finally heading to 2015 territory, with movies released this year coming to the Netflix platform quicker and easier. From the small selection coming out this week, Faults is the one getting more attention from critics and headway on some people's "Best Of" lists. The indie has Leland Orser (The Guest) using his professional deprogramming techniques to save Mary Elizabeth Winstead from an evil cult. Your mileage may vary.
New Streaming Titles I Previously Forgot to Mention
The first five of the Rocky franchise; in time for the bad-looking reboot coming out this week comes the original 1984 classic The Terminator; groundbreaking buddy cop film 48 Hrs. returns to Netflix; so does the un-director's cut version of The Warriors; Bollywood meets boxing with Mary Kom; Celebrational soccer doc Next Goal Wins; good bad movie classic Road House; and try to wash out the bad taste of Cameron Crowe's Aloha with his last great film Almost Famous.
I'll see you again next Friday.
