WERNER HERZOG TRASHES ‘LAWRENCE OF ARABIA’

Whuh?

German director Werner Herzog (Aguirre, the Wrath of God; Nosferatu; Cave of Forgotten Dreams) has disparaged Lawrence of Arabia as “not really that good anymore.” Herzog criticized the screenplay by Robert Bolt for depicting the Arab world as “very stupid.” He added: “Lawrence of Arabia doesn’t portray the Arab world in a good way.” … Herzog said that for a forthcoming film he himself is educating himself about the Arab world — “about the region, about Islam, about [the] Bedouin … about the dignity of the Arabian world. This is something which you cannot learn from Lawrence of Arabia. It does not show what is true of today.”

Good grief, the protagonist in “Lawrence of Arabia,” who just so happens to be Lawrence of Arabia, practically becomes an Arab in the film and demands the British treat Arabs as equals. Furthermore, Omar Sharif’s Arab character is portrayed as educated and sophisticated, and over and over again we’re shown the bravery and honor of the various Arab tribes.

Is it David Lean’s fault history recorded the truth about all the tribal squabbles and feuds that doom the third act?

Well, let’s see if Herzog has the sand to “show what is true today”– the good, the terrorism, and the Sharia.

Don’t get me wrong, I very much admire Herzog. But this is just dumb.

BARBARA WALTERS ANNOUNCES 2011 MOST FASCINATING PERSON. IT’S…

I simply can’t imagine going through life caring about what someone as dumb and bubbled as Barbara Walters thinks.

WALT DISNEY, THE MAVERICK: A GUEST ESSAY BY JON FAVREAU

This, to me, is my favorite chapter of Walt’s life. The truly inspiring one.  The anointed king and namesake of Walt Disney Studios quietly slipped out the back door. He cashed in and took a handful of talented artists and, with Roy’s blessing, started over. He dreamed of a place. A place where families could come together and experience something unique yet familiar. A place to share an experience that offered comfort in a changing and scary world that seemed dead set on thumbing its nose at tradition and shredding families apart. A place where cutting edge technology and animatronics could create an immersive virtual reality of an idealized past and future, relying on each family to provide the present.

‘CHIPWRECKED’ REVIEW: BEWARE SARAH PALIN JOKES

In what can only be a bid to appeal to adults and to make amends for the idiocy of the entire outing, Chipwrecked is also packed with slightly out-of-date references – jokes about Sarah Palin, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, the double rainbow guy, The Most Interesting Man in the World, and many more populate the film. These jokes are not funny. Yet, these attempts at adult-friendly chuckles are not alone, as Chipwrecked is clearly designed mainly to appeal to children. Oftentimes, when a studio screens a kid-aimed film for critics, they set the screening at a family-friendly time and allow the press to bring their children. It’s a nice touch by the bigwigs, but it allows grumbly old critics some key insights – mainly, are kids laughing at this? Kids laughed at Chipwrecked, but they didn’t seem taken in by it, delighted by the film, or even especially consumed by it.

‘RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK’ OPENING SCENE FANTASTICALLY RECREATED IN STOP MOTION

This is awesome.

BRUCE CAMPBELL CHATS WITH FANS LIVE DURING TONIGHT’S SEASON FINALE OF ‘BURN NOTICE’

How cool is this?

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LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING

For some reason — probably the $3 cost of the DVD — I thought that after 23 years “Bright Lights, Big City” (1988) might play better, if only for nostalgic eighties purposes. Unfortunately, the movie remains so bad I can hardly believe the same director, the late James Bridges, directed “The China Syndrome.”

The story is dull, the performances — especially Michael J. Fox and Kiefer Sutherland — are one-note, and the production design and cinematography are even worse.  The sets look like, well, sets and the “crowd scenes” feel so staged you can practically see production assistants moving people in and out of shots.

The biggest problem, though, is the miscasting of Fox. While he’s a very talented comic actor, self-loathing is so far off his acting radar that you never believe for a moment his character is spiraling into some self-destructive black hole of debauchery.

The film’s biggest failure is that you never get any sense that the time and place of go-go Manhattan during the eighties has been captured. You’d have to work pretty hard to get that wrong.

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SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINKTACULAR

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS IN COSTUME AS LINCOLN

TOM SIZEMORE WRITING MEMOIR ABOUT HIS STRUGGLES WITH DRUGS

MOST LAUGHABLE ATTEMPT TO EXPLOIT A BLOCKBUSTER FILM

THE 25 CRAZIEST ROGER CORMAN MOVIE POSTERS

THE 10 FREAKIEST COMMERCIALS OF 2011

NEW PROMO BANNERS FOR ‘THE AVENGERS‘

‘THE AVENGERS’ GETS A PREQUEL (COMIC)

LEONARD MALTIN’S TOP 5 CHRISTMAS MOVIES THAT AREN’T ABOUT CHRISTMAS

NICOLAS CAGE AND JANUARY JONES’S ‘SEEKING JUSTICE’ TO FINALLY (AND MERCIFULLY) GET RELEASED

‘THE CRITIC’ AND 24 OTHER UNDERRATED ANIMATED SHOWS

ALL KINDS OF ‘AMAZING SPIDER-MAN’ IMAGES

74 FILMS YOU CAN WATCH ON YOUTUBE RIGHT NOW

FIRST POSTER ARRIVES FOR SACHA BARON COHEN’S ‘THE DICTATOR’

A LOOK AT THE CAREER OF LANCE HENRIKSEN

PARAMOUNT PICTURES REACH THEIR 100TH ANNIVERSARY AND GET A NEW LOGO

10 SATIRICAL NOVELS ABOUT THE FUTURE

CLASSIC INSULTS FROM CLASSIC ACTORS

10 DOCUMENTARIES TAILOR-MADE FOR NERDS

‘CSI’ DELIVERS ITS LARGEST AUDIENCE SINCE PREMIERE

‘REBEL WITHOUT’ A CAUSE VS. ‘HUD‘

CHARLIE KAUFMAN TALKS SCREENWRITING: ‘IT ISN’T EASY BUT IT’S ESSENTIAL.’

TOP 10 STANLEY KUBRICK STARES

HBO TEASES NEW COMEDIES WITH ‘GIRLS’ & ‘VEEP’ TRAILERS

DEADLY DOMESTICITY: A LOOK AT THE GENRE OF ‘HOME NOIR’

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CLASSIC PICK FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16

TCM:

10:00 PM  EST: Christmas In Connecticut (1945) –  A homemaking specialist who can’t boil water is forced to provide a family holiday for a war hero. Dir: Peter Godfrey Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet. BW-102 mins, TV-G, CC,

The whole story is made possible because the protagonists want to display their patriotism and do something good for a war hero.

A reminder that Hollywood didn’t always suck.

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Please send comments, suggestions and tips to jnolte@breitbart.com or Twitter @NolteNC.

–SILLY HEADLINE: ”AUCTION OF BRUCE LEE ITEMS EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS”–

Of course it “exceeds expectations.” We’re talking about The Mighty Bruce Lee. If I had the money I’d buy everything in the world associated with Bruce Lee and put it all in a giant warehouse and live in it like a happy hoarder and if anyone tried to take it away from me or get me any kind of psychological help I would claw them with my razorblade hand.

–SOUNDTRACK SALES PLUMMET 40% OVER LAST FOUR YEARS–

Soundtracks are all about reliving the movie experience through music. For years, I purchased more soundtracks than any other kind of music. But over the past decade the thought hasn’t even crossed my mind — probably for a few reasons. First off, the music industry doesn’t have much of anything new to offer these days. Very few new artists break out with the kinds of songs that capture the imagination. If there are no new songs worth purchasing, that means that the only good songs on soundtracks are those we already own.  

Another reason to purchase a film’s soundtrack was for the actual score, but when’s the last time a movie score so moved you, you just had to own it? There was a time when scores from films such as “Dances with Wolves,” “Last of the Mohicans,” and “Legends of the Fall” were must-owns. You didn’t even have to fall in love with the film in order to fall in love with the score. You just don’t hear those kinds of scores anymore.

Finally, for the last decade, Hollywood hasn’t been making the kinds of films we want to relive again and again. This is part of the reason DVD sales have collapsed and probably why soundtrack sales have followed suit.

If you think about it, it’s something of a vicious cycle. If movie scores were better, movies would be better –which means DVD and soundtrack sales would improve. Hollywood’s answer: “Bring on “Green Lantern 2.”

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LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING

Red (2011): Entertaining but immediately forgettable. John Malkovich’s performance is the only thing to recommend. Someone should give that character his own movie.

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TODAY’S QUICK HITS

Christian Toto reviews something called “Another Earth“

“Rise of Apes” takes in $77M worldwide

Underappreciated gems produced by Steven Spielberg

It was difficult to imagine this sitting on some shelf in the prop department

If you want to know how Charlie Sheen’s “Men” character dies … click here

Awful: Anthony Quinn’s 48 year-old son, Francesco, dead of a heart attack at 48

Who should lead The Avengers? Captain America? Thor? Iron Man?

Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great and Powerful gets Bruce Campbell!

Wow. A normal Hollywood baby name

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CLASSIC PICK FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 9, 2011

TCM:

8:00 PM  EST: Scarface (1932) –  A murderous thug shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life. Dir: Howard Hawks Cast:  Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley. BW-94 mins, TV-PG, CC.

All these years later, The Mighty Paul Muni’s epic gangster tales holds its potent power thanks to a number of mature themes (including incest) that still resonate. You’ll be surprised at how closely Al Pacino’s remake stuck to its predecessor when it came to the basics of the story and character. But while the 80’s classic was famous for its over-the-top violence and language, the original is just as disturbing — but in ways that have nothing to do with chainsaws.

Today’s audiences like to think they’re more sophisticated because they can “handle” graphic sex and violence, when just the opposite is true. In the past, filmgoers didn’t need everything spelled out for them. They were able to pick up on themes and subtext using their own intelligence and life experience.

Funny how we define “sophisticated” these days, isn’t it?

–Please send tips/suggestions/requests to jnolte@breitbart.com

Thanks to ScottDS for some of today’s tips.

“Groovy.”

This masterpiece mix of horror and slapstick gave whole new meaning to the term “eye candy” and forever cemented co-writer/director Sam Raimi’s status as a unique talent on the rise. There are so many directorial flourishes in this low-budget sequel/remake of the even lower budgeted “Evil Dead” ($350k versus $3.5 million) that to list each one would mean listing most every beat of the story. Endlessly inventive in every possible way, like most of the films on this countdown, while giving it another look last night I wondered if it deserved a higher ranking.

The sole survivor of “Evil Dead,” Ashley “Ash” Williams (The Mighty Bruce Campbell), takes his girlfriend deep in the woods for a quiet, romantic weekend in a secluded cabin. Drawn to a reel to reel tape recorder, Ash hits PLAY and listens to the cabin’s absent owner, a professor, read a spell from the pages of the Book of the Dead. What this spell unleashes is a bona fide tour de force of shocks, gore, comedy, and all the qualities required to craft a timeless cult-classic – most especially Bruce Campbell’s mind-blowingly awesome central performance.

Most of the story’s action takes place in and around the single location of this rural cabin and how Raimi and his co-writer Scott Spiegel managed to keep the plot relentlessly churning with the benefit of only a few location cutaways (to four people who have no idea they’re about to join Ash’s fight with the evil dead) is a minor miracle. There are more story turns in the first ten minutes here than you see in the entirety of some feature films. If forced to register a complaint it would be only that Raimi never stops to give us a breather.

Not that I’m qualified (or interested), but if I were ever given the opportunity to teach a class in filmmaking, the centerpiece of the course would be “Evil Dead 2.” It’s a splendid example of how to write to a low budget. The tone Raimi sets make his cheap special effects work perfectly within the world he’s created and the sweat equity that went into the script sleight-of-hands the story’s lack of scope. Most of all, however, by studying the pace, rhythm and feel of the genius and inspiration that went into each and every scene, a budding filmmaker can start the process of understanding the potential of lighting, camera placement, sound design and, most importantly, putting it all together in the final editing process.  

The only flaw in this idea is that the film is so damned entertaining you’re always going to forget to study what you’re watching.

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What didn’t make the list: *ducks* Alien (1979)

Ridley Scott’s classic sci-fi chiller easily ranks in the top 25 films I’ve re-watched more than any other over the course of the last thirty years, but it’s also so far off my Halloween Radar (there is such a thing thanks to Ronco) that had the title not periodically popped up in the various comment streams of this series, I would’ve never considered it. Maybe the disqualifier is the sci-fi element. Maybe it’s the fact that the memory of the first time I ever saw it — on HBO during a sweltering summer day while sitting on the living room floor in front of a fan — is just too strong. And in my defense, the film was originally released in late May…

Terrific haunted house story, AWEsome underwear scene — give me some time to wrap my mind around it and let’s talk it over again next year.

At 10:10 into the episode, Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell) explains to Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan) that an individual who they are checking up on in Florida, “Owns a gun, but it is registered.” The only problem is that Florida, where the show is said to be occurring, and the vast majority of the rest of the US, doesn’t have gun registration. Indeed, only four states require the registration of handguns and one state requires the registration of all long guns (several other states require the registration of so-called “assault weapons.”

At 16:20 Sam Axe says: “The cops are probably matching ballistics right now even without your gun.” Ugh? Now I concede there’s possibility that this comment might have been geared solely to freak out Tim (the suspected thief”, but given the previous conversation about guns being registered between Weston and Axe, I am not so sure. And there are never any knowing winks between the main characters to indicate that they are in on some joke they’re playing on the bad guy.

Now the only possibility is that two states (Maryland and New York) have spent millions of dollars registering the ballistic fingerprints of new handguns before they’re sold. The notion is that this data bank could then be used to catch criminals from bullets found at crime scenes. But this never solved any violent gun crimes for the simple reason that the friction from the barrel that produces markings on the bullets also causes the inside of the barrel to wear (read: “change”) and thus produces different markings on bullets over time. Also two barrels that come off the same assembly line will initially very likely produce essentially the same markings on a bullet (it would be like taking molds of all new tire treads with the notion of keeping them on file to help solve crimes where tire tracks are available).

Finally, at 35:30, Michael Weston has this conversation with the bad guy in the episode.

Michael Weston: [The gun] was stolen and the serial number has been filed off.

Damon (Jeff Parise): Which means that it is untraceable.

Michael Weston: Completely untraceable.

Again, I concede that it is possible Mr. Weston knew this statement was false, but that he made it anyway to freak out Damon. In this case, though, part of the statement is true and part of it is false. Why add in incorrect information if you have a strong explanation anyway and the false information might let the person you are trying to trick think you don’t know what you are doing? It is particularly troublesome in this show because the whole premise is that Mr. Weston has all the angles on potential problems thought through.

The false part of the statement involves the claim about serial numbers. Serial numbers can’t really be effectively filed off. The stamping of the number into the metal creates structural abnormalities in the metal below the stamped number that can be discerned by a forensics lab. The portion of the metal where the numbers were stamped is denser than the surrounding metal and that makes it possible to determine the original serial number.

Now the statement about the gun being stolen is a different matter because there is no one to trace the gun back to. That said, given the earlier statement in the show about gun registration, registration doesn’t work to solve crimes. In theory, if a gun is registered and it is left at the scene, it could theoretically be traced back to the owner. There are a couple of problems with that. 1) Crime guns are virtually never left at the scene of the crime. When they are left at the scene it is almost always because the criminal has been seriously wounded or killed, and thus you are going to catch the criminal anyway. 2) Even when the crime guns are left at the scene they turn out not to be registered to the criminal who left them at the scene.

Here’s a link to a piece that I wrote for the Canadian Newspaper “The National Post” a few years ago. Additional information is available in the forthcoming third edition of More Guns, Less Crime.

Don’t get me wrong, the show is still entertaining, but the frequent factual errors can become quite disconcerting. “Burn Notice” used to really stand out from other television shows for its insightfulness. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. One suspects that political correctness on gun issues might be the cause for the changes.

Madeline Weston: Should I call the police?

Sam Axe: No, that would make it way too easy for them. Cops take us to the station — they know where we are and they know that we are unarmed.

The segment reminded me of an even even more politically incorrect show: “The Rifleman.” The episode entitled “The Anvil Chorus” aired on December 17, 1962, and is summarized this way:

Blacksmith Nils Swenson (Joe Higgins) is asked to serve as temporary Marshall for the town. He asks all the citizens to check their guns at the Marshall’s office while they are in town. His intention is to make the town safer, but that is NOT the result. When three thugs arrive and begin to cause trouble, the unarmed citizens have no means to protect themselves. Lucas (Chuck Connors) is summoned to help rescue Mark (Johnny Crawford) and the Marshall.

As a friend of mine noted to me, “Of course, Lucas relies on his gun to secure Mark’s rescue.” The episode of “Burn Notice” might not seem as relevant to most people as the above episode of “The Rifleman” (after all, when you’re not dealing with spies, research shows that police are quite effective in deterring criminals), but it stills gets the point across. When guns are banned, instead of making things safe for the victims, you make things safe for the criminals. Instead of gun free zones deterring criminals, they actually serve as a magnet for them.

Is it really surprising that all the multiple victim public shootings in the United States where more than three people have been killed have all taken place where permitted concealed handguns are not allowed? Or that states that pass right-to-carry laws have a 60 percent drop in multiple victim public shootings and that to the extent these attacks still occur, they overwhelmingly take place in those few areas with the state where permitted concealed handguns are not allowed?