movies – News on Shuffle

In Memoriam: Thank You Tim Curry

I do not make a habit of gracing this page with my presence every time another celebrity has crossed the rainbow bridge, and in fact we just lost one of the brightest lights, Dolly Parton, just one day ago, but I could not let Tim Curry pass from this world to the next adventure without saying a few words. The man had an incredible career. There are 244 credits on imdb that I skimmed this morning after reading the news. Here are just 10 that caught my eye. I’m not going to say these are the best (best is subjective anyway) but they are all standout roles in some way.

Star Wars: Clone Wars – Palpatine

In “today I learned” – while Ian Abercrombie started off voicing Palpatine for the series, Tim Curry voiced him in seasons 5 & 6. It’s been so long since I watched the show I truly don’t remember if I clocked the change in actors between seasons, but I sure did a double take when seeing that entry in his list of credits today. In general he has a wild list of voice credits for a variety of shows. He truly was a wide-ranging talent. Side note: I don’t want to turn this into a Star Wars debate, but this show and Rebels did not get enough love. People assume “animated” means “for kids” and it simply isn’t true. Go give this show a chance and see if you notice when Mr Curry takes over as one of the universe’s biggest baddies.

Dragon Age Origins – Arl Howe

If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know I have a huge amount of love for Dragon Age as a series. I started with DA2 and was immediately hooked. Imagine how excited I was when I went back to DAO and heard Tim Curry’s voice, even if it was coming from a baddie. My canon run I played a Cousland, so there’s an extra level of “I do not like this man” with that backstory. But it’s still fun to hear his voice in one of my favorite video games.

Spamalot – King Arthur

Taking it to the theater for a moment, he was King Arthur in Monty Python’s Spamalot. Unfortunately he was not in the cast I got to see, but I can only imagine how good he was in the role. Absolutely perfect casting, 10/10, no notes. Just knowing how good he was in a different music we will talk about later, I can only picture how good he was in this as well. If you get a chance to see any version of Spamalot, I do recommend it. There are few things my mom and I can agree on, but we both had a blast seeing this together.

Charlie’s Angels – Roger Corwin

Sometimes you watch a movie a million times when you’re younger and then you forget about it until you’re scrolling through a list and go “oh yeah that was a thing”… This movie was in heavy rotation for me back in the day. I also used to listen to the soundtrack a ton. Thinking about it, this might even technically be the first thing I saw Tim Curry in. Yes, before Muppet Treasure Island. I KNOW RIGHT. I was a late bloomer when it came to all things Muppets. Having said that, it wasn’t that weird to me he was in this but to other people I’m sure it was a big question mark. But I mean, so was Legend, and that has a special place in people’s hearts and minds too. I have to admit I haven’t actually seen it, but I’ve seen it make a ton of posts today as we all remember our favorite movies of his. We haven’t gotten to my two biggest yet because I’m saving the best for last. (Actually this is chronological and it just so happens my two favorites are also the oldest). Moving on…

Muppet Treasure Island – Long John Silver

I made the note about doing this chronological so you wouldn’t stone me for putting this in the middle of my list. Obviously this movie is iconic. My partner and I always watch a movie associated with a person’s work when they die, and this made the short list for when we knew Tim Curry would inevitably go. It’s also one of my favorite Muppet movies. (I think my actual favorite is Muppet Christmas Carol but it’s so hard to choose).

Stephen King’s IT – Pennywise

Let me start by saying I am a huge horror fan. There aren’t many things that get me genuinely terrified, but there isn’t a version of IT that hasn’t had me hiding under the covers. I’m not even scared of clowns! There’s just something about Stephen King’s story that gets me every time, and Curry did a fantastic job as the star scary. After you’ve given this classic another spin, I highly recommend the newer movies and the HBO series Welcome to Derry. Andy Muschietti is doing some good work building out the world. The second season of the show comes out sometime next year. Maybe this year for Halloween you give yourself a little marathon to get ready?

The Hunt for Red October – Dr Petrov

Not much to say about this one other than this cast was stacked and I forgot how many stars were in it until I reminded myself for this article. Go let Sean Connery, Tim Curry, and James Early Jones melt your eardrums (in a good way).

The Worst Witch – The Grand Wizard

I’ve only ever seen this classic once because my partner told me I absolutely had to, and to be fair he was right. This was a gem that was missing in my movie rolodex until he fixed it for me. Just looking at the still I pulled for this piece fills me with joy. I think October is just going to be full of Tim Curry movies at the rate I’m going. He sure did have some magical gems in his collection.

Clue – Wadsworth

Here is where I get sentimental with you, because Clue might be one of two movies in his filmography that mean the most to me. I’m sure all of us have some piece of media we fall back on when we’re having a bad brain day (or just a bad day in general). For me I rotate between two movies – Down Periscope starring Kelsey Grammer and Clue. When I said before that there was a short list of movies I thought about watching when this day came, I was really torn if I should put Clue on that list because I wasn’t sure if it would make me feel better or just make me associate his death with my happy movie. Watching this movie is like the mental equivalent of wrapping myself in a blanket and grabbing my favorite plushie. It’s full of silliness from beginning to end, has one of my most referenced scenes ever (flames, on the side of my face), and also has a fantastic cast. If you somehow missed this one because you thought a movie about a board game was a silly idea, well yes, but a glorious one too! Don’t sleep on this comedic gem that has gotten me through many rough nights.

Rocky Horror Picture Show – Dr Frank-N-Furter

I’m rounding out this lengthy tribute with another favorite of mine – Rocky Horror. I once did a top 5 most iconic queer films list as promo for a Pride show I was running and put Rocky Horror as my #1 pick. It was a tough call between that and “But I’m A Cheerleader” but I just cannot think of any movie that means more to every gay I know than this one does. This movie is queer culture, quite frankly. It’s the reason that between this and Dolly Parton you should really check on your gay friends. We’re simply not thriving right now, sweetie. Please bring us an iced coffee and a box of chocolates to drown our sorrows in.

Thank you for going down this long trip through time with me as we glanced at just a fraction of what this legend did over the span of his career. I hope you pick whatever your favorite movie of his was, let me know what it is in the comments, make a comfort snack, and take care of yourselves.

Oscars in the Time of COVID

I was going to make this week’s post about the Dragon Age series and why I love it, but then I remembered the Oscars were this weekend and I do love my movies. I admittedly wasn’t as familiar with this year’s listings, but I almost never miss this awards show and was curious to see what would win after a year of surviving a pandemic and the wave of protests we saw as people yelled louder than ever “Black Lives Matter”. I’m happy to see more diversity in both the nominees and winners this year. I’m sorry it took us demanding change, but isn’t that always how these things go? There’s definitely still work to do, however. (Best Actor and Actress both went to old white people when IMO others deserved it more, but admittedly I also am judging based on snippets seen and not whole pieces of work). I will take my wins where I can get them, and focus on what I liked about the show.

In terms of the actual ceremony, it was quite different this year. I’m not sure I like not having a host, but I did like the setup of having people seated at tables instead of a more traditional theater. It made it feel less stuffy to me.

In terms of the winners that stuck out to me: I did not know much about Sound of Metal until today but a friend mentioned it was one of their favorites for the year and it beat Soul for Sound and also won Best Film Editing so I am now intrigued and need to see it. The winner for Best Short I also had never heard of, but it’s on Netflix as part of their “Black Lives Matter” collection. I was moved by the speech focusing on the problem we continue to have with policing in America, and am glad Netflix helped uplift their voice.

Time has no meaning for me anymore, so I forgot Tenet was part of this year’s slate of movies. I would have seen it in theaters, but at the time I didn’t have one open except a drive-in far enough away to not be worth it. It will be available on HBO Max in May and I’m looking forward to finally getting to see it.

I loved the speech from the Best Supporting Actress winner, Youn Yuh-jung. She was funny and charming and genuinely surprised. “How can I beat Glenn Close?” I want to be friends with this woman, please and thank you.

Jon Baptiste gave a great speech too. I love watching him on The Late Show, I love his music, and I just generally love him as a person (at least as much as you can love someone you’ve never met). We have been in the same room though, as I attended an event he did at Carnegie Hall. I’m happy to see him get the win along with the rest of his team for Best Original Score in Soul.

Speaking of music, the break we got with Questlove playing songs and quizzing people on if they were nominated or won awards was FANTASTIC and I especially loved Glenn Close playing along and having fun with it. Stuff like that is what makes the Oscars more than an awards show. We also got a look at Questlove’s upcoming film Summer of Soul, which I will definitely be checking out.

Mank got a lot of buzz this year, enough that I finally looked it up to see what it was about. Between the description and starring Gary Oldman (how did I miss this film, I usually watch everything he is in) I need to add this to my Netflix queue. It won for Best Production Design and Cinematography and was nominated for Sound, Supporting Actress, Director, Costume Design, Makeup, Original Score (that one Trent Reznor lost to himself, which is fun), Best Actor, and Best Picture.

I expected Sound of Metal to win Best Picture but it went to Nomadland. I was also surprised they did that award before Best Actor and Actress. I originally assumed it was to have Chadwick Boseman’s posthumous win be the ending note, but instead we got…. Anthony Hopkins? Don’t get me wrong, I love him but I don’t get choosing to end it on a lack of an acceptance speech. I also would have given it to Riz Ahmed for Sound of Metal if not Boseman. I was 100% sure he was going to get it and was left kinda stunned and disappointed. Overall I enjoyed it but the ending was underwhelming.

As I watched the Oscars I wondered if I had been hiding under a rock this past year. So many nominees had stars or directors I usually follow very closely. I’m glad I watched the awards and got a whole list of movies to watch in the coming weeks. All but one of them is either currently streaming or will be soon. Here’s what I will be checking out (and possibly writing about) in the coming weeks:

Da 5 Bloods

Two Distant Strangers

Sound of Metal

Onward

Soul

Tenet

Mank

Judas and the Black Messiah

Trial of the Chicago Seven

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Of those, Da 5 Bloods, Soul, Onward, and Tenet were already on my radar. Others would have been if I had been paying closer attention. I’m looking forward to seeing what the Academy deemed the best of the best, even if this was a light year for film. Apparently it wasn’t as light as I originally thought.

What films did you love this year? Let me know in the comments below.

The Movie Industry’s Glorious Return: or How Will Marvel Sustain Their New Schedule?

I’ve been thinking about how different industries are going to be able to shift with the times as the country slowly reopens, and one of my top concerns is movie theaters and shifting release schedules. Some movies can and have been given online releases, but others have to be seen for the first time on the big screen. Not only does it contribute to our enjoyment of the films, it also keeps movie theaters going. If it weren’t for Endgame, independent films wouldn’t have a chance. They don’t make enough to keep a movie theater open, but they can take a chance on one for a few weeks while Endgame rakes in the billions. Marvel always schedules their movies in phases, and phase 4 would have been starting up right around now if we were living in normal times. They recently released their new schedule (which is obviously subject to change), and I have some thoughts. First, let’s look at the new dates. (This will include some Sony movies since the Spider-verse or whatever we’re calling it loosely ties in to everything)

Black Widow: Nov 6, 2020

Eternals: Feb 21, 2021

Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings: March 7, 2021

Morbius: March 19, 2021

Venom 2: June 25, 2021

Spider-Man 3: Nov 5, 2021

Thor Love and Thunder: Feb 11, 2022

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: March 25, 2022

Black Panther 2: May 6, 2022

Captain Marvel 2: July 8, 2022

Spider Man Into the Spider-Verse Sequel: October 7, 2022

There’s also Ant-Man 3, Blade, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and an untitled movie that was scheduled for the new Spider-Verse date. Plus we assume that they had plans to eventually bring the X-Men and Fantastic Four into the universe (probably in 2023) and assumedly there will be a Deadpool 3. That’s a lot of movies to look forward to in the next 2-3 years.

If you look closely at the above release dates, they’re all pretty damn close together. There’s two movies in March of next year alone and the rest are anywhere between 3-5 months apart. Some of them are even less than that! Plus Marvel plans on tying in the Disney Plus shows and probably will have a different one out pretty regularly over the course of the next year or two. We’re gonna be eating, sleeping, and breathing comic adaptations for the next couple years!

All this sounds exciting, but I’m also worried that people don’t have the money to afford going to the movies more than a couple times a year. Or maybe it’s not a money issue, but where do we find the time to watch the Disney shows in time for the next movie? I hope all this content is the thing that keeps movie theaters from closing after having to probably shut down most if not all of the summer, but people are going to still be recovering from an economy that hasn’t just slowed, it’s come screeching to a halt. If anyone can survive and make this crazy schedule work, I believe it’s Marvel. I just hope their gamble pays off.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Do you plan to watch all these movies in theaters? Which ones will you prioritize? Shout it in the comments, and let’s keep the conversation going both here and on Twitter. (@News_on_Shuffle)

The Interview: A review and commentary on digital media

I’m sure we all remember the big news surrounding “The Interview” and how it got pulled from theaters because of a terrorist threat. The movie was eventually given a digital release and is now currently available on Netflix Instant. I originally had no desire to see the movie. I was mildly curious but didn’t care enough to go to the theater or rent the DVD when it came out. Having instant access to it, however, I decided to give it a try. Worse case scenario the movie sucks and I turn it off if I get bored.

To say my expectations were low would be an understatement. True, Seth Rogen is funny enough, but the premise of the movie seemed so incredibly stupid I didn’t want to waste my time with it. I mean, I like movies that are stupid in a funny way, but that is not how the trailers presented this one to me. Boy was I surprised…

“The Interview” turned out to be a surprisingly funny and thoroughly enjoyable comedy experience. Yeah it’s about two guys trying to kill the North Korean leader, but there’s so much more to it than that. The character development was stronger than I would’ve imagined, and the actual jokes were honest to god funny.

I laughed.

A lot.

At this stupid movie that I had very low hopes of grabbing my attention or amusing me. And maybe that’s the point. Maybe sometimes you need to let go of expectations and see what happens.

Now, if “The Interview” had been given a more traditional release it might have done okay in theaters, but I doubt it would’ve done great. Plaster it all over the Internet though, and now you have something. I know the terrorist threats attached to it definitely gave them some buzz, and there are even some who believe this was all planned for just such a purpose. Regardless of what you believe, I think movies like this in general would do better if they skipped the theater and just got released online. With how expensive movies have gotten, it’s no surprise that people have started saving the trip to the theater for the big blockbusters. I know the last time I went was probably the last Thor movie to come out, and I don’t remember the last time I went for anything other than an action movie. It’s not that i don’t like comedies. I just usually save them for home viewing. Maybe I’m in the minority on this one but I definitely enjoyed being able to watch “The Interview” while it was still relevant and not two years later when it finally made it to the top of my Netflix queue. If more movies did it like this then I would be one happy movie consumer. I might not want to pay $15 to see a movie in theaters, but I’ll pay half that to watch it instantly at home. The experience of theater-going has changed. Why not change with it?

Trilogy Syndrome

I know I’m behind the times, but I just watched Taken 2, saw they were planning a third one, and had a few thoughts about the movie industry. (I also had the secondary thought of how I hadn’t posted in a week and this would make a good filler piece… so enjoy the fluff).

My real thoughts on Taken were as follows:

1) It wasn’t as good as the first one, but also wasn’t as bad as people claimed. This tends to happen to me a lot with sequels. I almost never hate them as much as everyone else, with the exception of The Dark Knight Rises because fuck you for completely diverging from the comic book and making Bane such a joke. I get so irrationally angry about that movie that every time I see it on tv (which is a lot these days) I yell at my boyfriend to just keep moving and no one will get hurt.

2) My second thought about Taken 2 was that it felt like a good way to end the series. You had two better-than-average movies. Leave it at that…. But no, we can’t because we have to make everything into a trilogy these days. Now, usually what happens is the first movie is great, the second one is terrible, and the third one picks back up to be on par (or close to) what the first one brought us. There’s another possibility though, and I’ve seen it a lot more recently than before. Lately what I’m seeing is movies start off great, so execs decide they should turn this into a trilogy and make buckets of cash off it. The second movie will probably be almost as good as the first, but rarely ends up being the masterpiece the original was. The exception that immediately comes to mind is The Dark Knight, because not only were the story and action excellent, but Heath Ledger gave a better performance than anyone could have possibly imagined coming from a superhero movie. The third movie in a trilogy, however, is rarely memorable as anything other than a waste of time. I think Taken is going to follow this formula. The first one was great, and the second one was pretty good, but the third one will most likely end up taking a great concept and making it feel old and used up.

Who knows, maybe I’m wrong. I honestly wasn’t sure how they would make a sequel to Taken work, but I think they did a fair job. I just don’t see how they continue from here without boring us. Hopefully they say “challenge excepted” and it turns out to be a great film, instead of a waste of time.

Tucker & Dale vs Evil

The first time I heard of the movie “Tucker & Dale” it was because one of my favorite actors (Alan Tudyk) was in it. Tudyk was in Firefly and made a few guest appearances on Dollhouse, so if I see he is in something new I always want to check it out. After reading about the movie and watching the trailer, I fell in love with the whole idea.

“Tucker & Dale” is a twist on every horror movie you’ve ever seen. Geoff Carter even called it America’s answer to “Shaun of the Dead” – which is an extremely well done spoof/homage to the genre. “Tucker & Dale” has been making the festival circuit and has some buzz from the international market, but America has not signed on yet. It would be a shame if it didn’t get picked up here, simply because there is obvious potential for a cult following here.

So, how do we make this happen? Spread the word! Whether it is posting the trailer online or just telling your friends about it. The more people who show interest in this, the better chance they have of finding someone who is interested. You can also follow “Tucker & Dale” on Facebook and Twitter.

Oscar Watch 2010

Last night’s Oscars really boiled down to who would win Best Picture: Avatar or the Hurt Locker. Both took a considerable number of awards throughout the night (6 total for Hurt Locker and 3 for Avatar) but at the end of the day the big prize went to The Hurt Locker. The reaction from everyone, especially the winners themselves, was extraordinary. The cheering was loud enough that you could probably have heard it in your house, even without the TV on. Congratulations to everyone involved in the movie for a great success. Other winners for the night included Up for Animated Feature Film and Music (Original Score), Star Trek for Make-Up, and Sandra Bullock for Best Actress in a Leading Role. A complete list of winners has been linked to above.

Movie Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! I thought I would celebrate with a list of my favorite Christmas movies and maybe share a memory or two attached to each one. Here it goes:

1) White Christmas – Ironically enough, I used to hate this movie as a kid. Now it is one of my favorites. I remember sitting in my grandparents house and being bored out of my mind as everyone payed more attention to me than the movie. Now I love everything about it and understand why they loved it so much. The music is great as is the story. A holiday classic that everyone should see at least once (and I defy you to only want to watch it once).

2) Next for me would probably be A Christmas Carol, specifically the 1951 version with Alastair Sim. To me this man was Scrooge. There was anther version with Patrick Stewart that I recently saw which is also good, but nothing beats my first experience with the character.

3) I’m going to lump all my favorite childhood ones together, simply because I always watched these as a group when I was younger. This includes A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Frosty the Snowman. I remember watching these with my Mom while eating Christmas cookies and drinking cocoa. I’m actually watching Rudolph now (minus the cookies and milk).

4) It’s A Wonderful Life is another one of those movies I hated as a kid but absolutely love as I make may way towards adulthood. Some of my favorite lines come from this movie, including the classic “Isn’t it wonderful, I’m going to jail.” This is one of those movies that can make you laugh one minute then cry the next. It really tests your emotions and pushes them to the limit. A classic that everyone should experience at least once (and once may be all you can handle until next year).

Some may think that Miracle on 34th Street should come next but, since I have only ever seen it once many moons ago, I can’t actually add it to my list. I have been meaning to visit this classic again (since I know it really is a classic) but have yet to get the chance. Maybe next year…

Hope you have a wonderful holiday season and are ready to welcome the new year in style. And as Tiny Tim would say, “God bless us, everyone.”

Christmas Releases

For those who celebrate, Merry Christmas Eve. For those who don’t, Happy Holidays. And for those who don’t celebrate anything remotely connected to religion, you’ll get a Happy New Year from me in a week. I think that about covers it. Now on to the good stuff.

Movie releases. There are a couple good ones coming out tomorrow, including one I’ve been waiting for since I found out about it this summer. That would be Sherlock Holmes. I know this isn’t going to be your typically Holmes tale, but I still look forward to what it potentially has to offer me.

Another movie I am excited about is The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. This was the movie Heath Ledger was working on before he died. The entire cast for this one looks great and the story seems intriguing so I look forward to seeing the finished product here. So far it is only supposed to have a limited release (festivals and LA/NYC), but if it does well to start and enough people show interest then we might be able to get it in more cities across the country.

The only other releases tomorrow are “It’s Complicated”, which hasn’t reached the hole I have been living in quite yet and “Nine”. The cast for “Complicated” looks good but I couldn’t tell you whether or not it is worth checking out just yet. “Nine” also has potential but I am on the fence as to whether or not I actually am going to see it. Might just wait for the DVD and Netflix that one.

Overall, Christmas looks like it’s going to be good to the movie industry this year. Holmes should do fairly well, seeing as how the character already has a decent fanbase. Hopefully Parnassus gets a Christmas miracle and sees great success as well.