Popcorn 'N Roses

Subject:CINEMA #118 - "Into The Sunn....Classic Pictures!"

TC and Kim take on the schlocky, take-themselves-too-seriously films of the studio which brought you "The Life And Times Of Grizzly Adams" and "Hangar 18" and more!

Plus, this week's HUGE E-mail segment, the latest news on the Callback, a great Bonehead Of the Week, coverage of the opener in 2008's edition of the AST Dew Action Sports Tour, and a look at this year's AFI list, the Ten Top Ten!

Next Week - it's the list that a ton of movie fandom sites around the world have been keeping an eye on, because our track record has been pretty damn good, and we're out to do it again...it's the third annual edition of "To Rise And Fall In L.A.", as PNR names it's Top 20 Rising Stars for 2008!  DON'TCHA DARE MISS IT!!!

OTHER NOTES:

I searched and searched but could not find clips of the 70s TV commercials for the games mentioned in segment three, "The Sinking Of The Titanic" and "The Bermuda Triangle". However, I DID find links to information on both games, courtesy of BoardGameGeek and the excellent site over there!

The Bermuda Triangle
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/2296

The Sinking Of The Titanic
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/2249

I was mostly correct in thinking they were both Milton-Bradley games. MB distributed "Titanic" after Ideal was bought out by MB in the late 70s. Neither game is still on the market (duh!) and they fetch average prices on EBay - "Bermuda Triangle" runs anywhere from $15-$30 depending on the condition, while "Sinking Of The Titanic" nets considerably more, running $25 to $100 depending on the seller. Wow!

If anyone can find clips of the commericals from these games, let me know, and i'll post them later!

Next week, as I said above, it's the third annual "To Rise And Fall In L.A." Rising Stars list, all new for 2008! DONT'CHA DARE MISS IT!

Subject:CINEMA #115 - "S:C's Second Anniversary - The Top 20 Best/Worst Films!"

On our second anniversary, TC and Kim each countdown their top 20 "Best/Worst Films". For a full explanation of what THAT entails, you'll have to listen to the show...

Plus, the Callback, this week's E-Mail, and some odds and ends about the Yahoo Animated List and AFI's upcoming Ten Top Tens...

Join us next week for a special 2-part S:C devoted to independent films, with tons of special guests and some great surprises!

See you then!

Subject:CINEMA #105 - "A Hard Days Night - Beatles Movies!"

Kim and TC take a look at the movies of the Fab Four! Included in our look, all five movies starring The Beatles - A Hard Days Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be!

Plus Cheese and Whine returns with Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and a RetroRewind from September 2007 about Julie Taymor's Beatles-based Across The Universe!

And of course all the usual claptrap, including a short edition of the Callback, coverage of two weeks' worth of Dancing With The Stars, this week's Bonehead, and a review of SpineTingler:The William Castle Story!

THIS WEEK'S NOTES:

We ran a bit long, so E-mail will return on our special Thursday catch-up show this week!

Thank you for your patience while Kim has been recovering from a nasty bout with the stomach flu, which then morphed into a nasty cold which left her with no voice and a bad cough for four days - I also had some trouble this week after apparently getting bitten by a spider, which left my left arm in agony for three days...

Hopefully things will get back to normal as the next week goes on...

See you this Thursday with Prehistoric Paradigm!

Subject:CINEMA #79 - "Masters Of The Macabre: William Castle"

Continuing our Halloween-themed "Masters Of The Macabre" series, TC and Kim profile the King Of The Gimmick Movie, William Castle.

THE SHOW: A look at the career and films of William Castle. Plus, a review of the critically acclaimed new film Black Irish, commentary on the new STAR TREK cast, our Bonehead Of The Week which relates to that commentary, the latest release from the Film Crew, and the last edition (for now) of Attack of the B-Movies!

Join us each week, and don't forget to check Wednesday, October 31 - that's Halloween, natch! - for our final Masters Of The Macabre installment focusing on the one, the only, the master of horror himself, Vincent Price!

National Amusements brings back "Attack Of The B-Movies" for another go-round

National Amusements is launching another series of Attack Of The B-Movies this Thursday, September 20th.

The original series, which ran in August in five of National Amusement's flagship Showcase Cinemas locations in MA and RI, proved to be so successful that the series is being expanded to 20 theaters in 8 states. Just goes to show you that some people (like us!) are gluttons for punishment when it comes to bad 50s movies...

The shows run on Thursday evenings and generally start at 7 PM. At just $5 per person for two movies, it's a real fun bargain.

The original five theaters - Showcase Cinemas locations in Revere, Randolph, Lowell, and West Springfield MA and Warwick RI - will be showing the second series of six movies:

Gorgo / Teenagers from Outer Space
Date: 9/20/2007

Giant from the Unknown / She Demons
Date: 9/27/2007

They Came From Beyond Space / Killers from Space
Date: 10/4/2007

Ring of Terror / Indestructible Man
Date: 10/11/2007

The Killer Shrews / Dementia 13
Date: 10/18/2007

The Little Shop of Horrors / Tormented
Date: 10/25/2007

If you're in one of the 15 new locations, you will be treated to the first series of movies that wowed the original five theaters:

The Wasp Woman/ Monster from Green Hell
Date: 9/20/2007

The Giant Gila Monster / Gammera the Invincible
Date: 9/27/2007

The Brain That Wouldn't Die / Screaming Skull
Date: 10/4/2007

Attack of the Giant Leeches / Monster from a Prehistoric Planet
Date: 10/11/2007

The Terror / House on Haunted Hill
Date: 10/18/2007

The Last Man on Earth / Devil Girl From Mars
Date: 10/25/2007

You can click on the "Attack of The B Movies" button on the right sidebar to find a list of theaters and which series your area might be showing. And hopefully, the series will continue to grow and expand with each new group of movies!

And as last time, we'll have complete coverage of the series each week on Subject:CINEMA! If you're in the Revere MA area, be sure to look us up - at least one of us (and possibly both) will have a "Subject:CINEMA" tee shirt on for sure, so we'll be easy to find in the crowd, and we usually sit down towards the lower part of the upper level. So be sure to look for us!

We'll see you in B-Movie land this Thursday! And watch for our weekly Trailer Trove feature, where we'll bring you some trailers from the series each week for the next six weeks!

Boston Popcorn: Showcase offering up an Attack Of the B's in new summer series

Last night, Kim and I willingly got attacked by killer B's. B-Movies, that is.

Showcase Cinemas in Revere (and in several other locales in the Boston area, and possibly throughout the country) has turned over one of it's smaller theaters to a new program running every Wednesday night for the next 6 weeks. "Attack Of The B Movies" is a great program where the cinema is running a double feature of bad B movies.

Last night, they kicked off the series with "The Wasp Woman" and "Monster From Green Hell".  I had not seen either of these movies before, but Kim had seen "Wasp Woman" before and she was right - it was as bad as any movie Roger Corman directed and produced before or after it (and Corman even appears briefly as a doctor in the film).

The second flick, "Monster From Green Hell" was one neither of us had heard of before, but we were prepared for all kinds of Dallas jokes, since Jim "Jock Ewing" Davis" was the star. This one concerned a colony of giant wasps (see a pattern forming here?) who landed in the african outback after spending 44 days in space as part of an experiment run by Davis and his co-workers.

We had to come straight from work, and we were worried that the theater would be full before we got there, because who doesn't love bad b-movies?

When we entered the theater, there were...four other people there. We were surprised by the low number (but then again  not really), and as a few more patrons and b-movie lovers trickled in, we began chatting with them about the movies and the idea. One lady who was there with three kids (the aforementioned four people who were there before us) who looked just shy of teens to mid-pre-teens, was worried they'd be too scary for her kids. We assured her there was nothing to be worried about, and when they left during intermission for a while, they were laughing. By the end of the evening there were between 12 and 20 in attendance. And everyone there had exactly the kind of goofy, silly fun we all expected...

This is an absolutely wonderful idea, but Showcase could have done a better job of publicizing it. A few quick tips, if I might:

1) Hire a host. Spend a few bucks by hiring a local film fan in each local market to provide some hosted entertainment before the first movie and during intermission.  (um, Kim and I are free....heh heh heh...)

2) Speaking of intermission, have one - We were rather hoping they'd take a cue from the recent film Grindhouse and schedule some classic b-movie trailers between the films. Instead, we got a blue screen with "Sony DVD Player" on it for almost 45 minutes...because they completely forgot to start the second movie...until someone reminded them...several times...

3) Offer passes for the entire series - it's much easier to pop for a pass than to remember to buy tickets every week.

4) Offer some inexpensive specialty merchandise - tee shirts or buttons that said "I Survived The Attack Of The B's" with the Showcase logo or something like that would be cool and add to the whole community experience.

All in all,  if you're a B movie fan, you should check out the Attack of The B's series at your local Showcase Cinema this summer. Here's the remaining schedule for the Revere shows (and they're the same at the other Showcase locations):

Attack of the B Movies is playing at Showcase Cinemas Lowell, Randolph, Revere, West Springfield and Warwick. Check your local listings for other areas around the country.

July 25
Giant Gila Monster - 1959 and Gamera, The Invincible - 1966

August 1
Brain That Wouldn't Die - 1963 and Screaming Skull - 1958 

August 8
Attack Of The Giant Leeches - 1959 and Monster From A Prehistoric Planet - 1960 

August 15
The Terror - 1963 (Jack Nicholson/Boris Karloff) and House On Haunted Hill - 1959

August 22
Last Man On Earth - 1964 and Devil Girl From Mars - 1954

So if you live in the Revere MA area, and would like to say "hi', we'll be attending every week EXCEPT the July 25 double feature (we have tickets to see Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from Once in concert at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge that evening) and we love to meet PNR and Subject:CINEMA fans! Just look for the couple in the "Subject:CINEMA" tee shirts...we usually sit on the aisle near the main floor...

And "B" sure to tell your Boston-based friends about "Attack Of The B Movies" because we want to see that theater filled to capacity by the final week!  We hope to see you all there!

On The Web: http://www.nationalamusements.com/programs/specialprograms.asp?page=10

Subject:CINEMA #61 - I'm Just Wild About Harry (Potter, That Is!)

On our Wednesday special for July, Kim and TC discuss the Harry Potter phenomenon and the four movies prior to today's release of the fifth movie in the series, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix.

THE SHOW:

Segment 1 - The Harry Potter phenomenon; how it happened, and why the books and movies have been so overwhelmingly successful

Segment 2 - Harry Potter And The Sorcerers (Philosophers) Stone

Segment 3 - Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets

Segment 4 - Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

Segment 5 - Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire

THIS WEEK'S NOTES:

I'm really glad we recorded this on Sunday night - my voice went completely on Monday night, and in fact, I missed work and spent most of the day Tuesday in bed sick. I only got out of bed to edit the show so I could get it loaded and available on time.

We freely admit to being Harry Potter plebs - we have not read the books by choice, so our perspective is completely from a film point of view. We hope all the Potterheads out there don't want to burn us in effigy after they hear this show...

Saturday: Son Of Scenes that Sizzle!  Be There!  Aloha!

Subject:CINEMA #56 - Born To Be Wild! Celebrating The Biker Movie

This week, Kim and  TC go Hog Wild!  We take a look at the Biker Movie - from "The Wild One" to "Ghost Rider" and everything - bad and good - in between!

THE SHOW (Times may be off slightly due to Podshow insertions):

Segment 1 () - How the biker movie came about and why it took off; The Wild One; The Wild Angels

Segment 2 () - Easy Rider; Ross Hagen movies - The Hellcats, The Sidehackers (Aka Five The Hard Way); downer endings

Segment 3 () - Kim's motorcycle daydreams; Bikers who aren't so bad - Pee Wee's Big Adventure, My Fellow Americans; Ghost Rider and Wild Hogs; Akira; techno music and bikers

Segment 4 () - Callback - about next's week's anniversary show; E-Mail; Bonehead Of The Week; Regal Cinemas new reporting device; Teen Titans movie

Segment 5 () - Movie Review - Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End

THIS WEEK'S NOTES:

There's not too many notes this week - as I said yesterday, it's been a very hectic week. Hopefully it won't be as bad this week.

Monica's e-mail this week mentioned the Star Wars gangsta rap...well, here it is:

Interesting stuff, if you're into that kind of stuff...thanks for the link, Monica

As always, you can e-mail us with comments and such at subjectcinema@popcornnroses.com.

NEXT WEEK - Subject:CINEMA turns ONE!  Kim and TC present "The Pantheon Top 20!"  Our top 20 movies of all time!  And be sure to send your lists in by Wednesday at Noon this week so we can include them on the show!!!

Subject:CINEMA #55 - 30 Years Ago...In A Galaxy Far Far Away... - Celebrating STAR WARS' 30th Anniversary

This week, Kim and TC celebrate the magic of STAR WARS on its 30th anniversary weekend!

THE SHOW (times may be off due to Podshow insertions):

Segment 1 (1:30) - Star Wars - the ORIGINAL movie

Segment 2 (21:03) - The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi

Setment 3 (37:42) - The Second Trilogy - The Phantom Menace, Attack Of The Clones, and Revenge Of The Sith

Segment 4 (57:45) - The Callback - site news, new petition campaign, other upcoming events, E-Mail Star Wars Memories, and this week's infamous Bonehead Of The Week

Segment 5 (1:20:15) - Everything Else - The Ewok Adventure, Ewoks:The Battle For Endor, Ewoks/Droids, Clone Wars, merchandising, the Star Wars Holiday Special, the original music, the Star Wars adaptations by Meco Monardo, and more

THIS WEEKS' NOTES:

Here's the 411 on the six box office movies:

STAR WARS (Episode 4: A New Hope)
Released May 25, 1977
US Gross $460 Million    WorldWide Gross $797 Million

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Released May 21, 1980
US Gross $290 Million    Worldwide Gross $534 Million

RETURN OF THE JEDI
Released May 25, 1983
US Gross $309 Million    Worldwide Gross $573 Million

THE PHANTOM MENACE
Released May 19, 1999
US Gross $431 Million    Worldwide Gross $922 Million

ATTACK OF THE CLONES
Released May 16, 2002
US Gross $310 Million    Worldwide Gross $648 Million

REVENGE OF THE SITH
Released May 17, 2005 (Thursday)
US Gross $380 Million    Worldwide Gross $848 Million

Charles Ross' "One Man Star Wars" show can be seen at http://onemanstarwars.com

NEXT WEEK: Born To Be Wild...Celebrating the Biker Movie!

A plea to director Godfrey Reggio - Please Bring "Koyaanisqatsi" to IMAX!

After attending this past weekend's IMAX movie for the PNR Summer Tour (see review from Monday), I started thinking about other films that would lend themselves to the IMAX format.

One movie in particular stands out to me as the perfect candidate for the IMAX treatment. It has long been one of my all-time favorite films, and its visual style was way ahead of its time.

And now, as the 25th anniversary of the film's release is looming in 2008, I think it's time to take the next logical step into IMAX. I've been saying so for YEARS and now is the perfect time for it.

The film is Godfrey Reggio's incredible 1983 visual masterpiece, Koyaanisqatsi (see Popcorn's Pix here). Backed with it's mesmering Philip Glass score, this movie is just SCREAMING to be brought to the IMAX or IMAX 3-D format.

For those of you unfamiliar with Reggio's work, Koyaanisqatsi (the title is Hopi indian for "life out of balance") is a visual and aural masterpiece about our world and how man's search for progress has affected it. In many ways, it was "An Inconvienient Truth" 24 years BEFORE that movie came out and without the presence of former Vice President Al Gore.

I have watched the movie dozens of times since it came out on DVD, and remain a strong proponent of it. I have talked it up on Subject:CINEMA several times, and there is little doubt it will be among my Top 20 Films of ALL TIME when that list is announced in June on the first anniversary edition of Subject:CINEMA.

The first part of the "Qatsi" trilogy of movies, it is the strongest and best of the three, and just the opening 15 minutes alone would make an IMAX experience unlike any other.  Think of what it would be like to see those images of the desert and sky on the humongous IMAX screen. Kim often describes this part of the movie as "What it must feel like to be flying on Superman's shoulders", and she's absolutely right.

Think of being immersed in IMAX 3-D during the time lapse flights through skyscrapers, or during the mind-blowing time-lapse traffic sequence - it would feel like the most incredible motion odyssey movie ride in history.

For those of you who have never seen the movie, it might be hard to understand, but in many ways, Koyaanisqatsi is almost a religious experience. And to me, the chance to see it larger than ever before postively makes me drool.

So I have decided to take matters into my own hands, so to speak.

I have launched the Bring "Koyaanisqatsi" to IMAX petititon over at petitiononline.com. I will be bringing this petition up to as many people as I possibly can, and hopefully the esteemed Mr Reggio will take us to heart and allow his masterpiece to be prepped for an IMAX run during it's 25th anniversary year.

It will only take you a moment or so to sign the petition and add your voice to the hopefully millions of voices that will join us in asking for one of the greatest movie experiences of all time to be brought to the most visually rich and incredible movie screens of all time in celebration of its' 25th anniversary.

You can visit the petition by clicking here - and please spread the word to your friends as well.

It is my hope that within the next 18 months or so, I can sit down in our local IMAX theater (possibly donning 3-D glasses) and enjoy the breathtaking splendor that is Koyaanisqatsi like i've never seen it before. So please - sign the petition!

YOu will NEVER regret doing so.

Subject:CINEMA #48 - Wrestling With Acting Skills - Pro Wrestling In The Movies!

This week we're covering the world of professional wrestling and how it has had an impact on the big screen. The show ran a little longer than we anticipated - even editing it down, it still comes in at a whopping 1:45! But if you're a wrestling fan, like us, you will love it, and we hope even those S:C Fans who aren't into wrestling will appreciate our look at wrestling in popular culture!

THE SHOW (times may be off slightly due to Podshow insertions):

Segment 1 (1:44)- Pro wrestling in general; how we got into wrestling; why wrestlers sometimes have an easier transition into acting than stars of other sports

Segment 2 (19:38) - Wrestlers who have been actors on film or TV - Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Kevin Nash, Roddy Piper, Jesse Ventura; brief mention of Rollerjam

Segment 3 (35:35) - Wrestling and Kids TV; Shannon "SnowPea" Moore; More acting wrestlers - The Rock, Sean Waltman, Jerry Lynn, Christopher Daniels, Terry Funk, Shawn Michaels, Joanie "Chyna" Laurer; Movies about wrestling - No Holds Barred, Over The Top (well, not really), Ready To Rumble, Beyond The Mat; The career of El Santo; more recent efforts from John Cena and Kane; George "The Animal" Steele

Segment 4 (55:40) - Marquee Mix revamp; Swag Shop; Podlinez; Bloglet; Yahoo Groups; Dancing With The Stars; Sanjaya; E-Mail; Trivia Challenge; Bonehead Of The Week (listen up, TNA!)

Segment 5 (1:18:16) - THE LIST - those wrestlers in today's shows that we think could have a shot at film stardom in the not-too-distant future, if they play their cards right...

THIS WEEKS NOTES:

Obviously there are a LOT of wrestlers who have acted that we didn't get a chance to mention on the show, and we certainly mean them no slight....

Also, thanks to all the wrestling fans who might have dropped by this week because of the subject matter; we hope you stick around a long time!

The length of the show this week was incredible, and shows how much we like wrestling as a form of entertainment, and that it often provokes debate between the two of us. It may be a while to commit to, but listen in segments and you'll get through the whole thing!

NEXT WEEK:

Wednesday - Art House Confidential

Saturday - Summer Blockbuster Preview

Subject:CINEMA #47 - "HAIII-YAAAA! Celebrating the Martial Arts Movie!"

We ran a little long, but our passion runs high....

This week, chopsocky...no, MARTIAL ARTS FILMS!

THE SHOW: (TIMES MAY BE OFF DUE TO PODSHOW INSERTIONS)

Segment 1 (1:44) - defining "Chopsocky" and "Martial Arts" movies; Bad dubbing;  Bruce Lee; 70s Kung Fu takeover; the resurgence of Kung Fu and Wuxia movies

Segment 2 (18:34) - The STARS of Hong Kong Cinema - Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Gordon Liu, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi; Cheng Pei Pei, Tony Jaa, Chow Yun Fat, and many many more...

Segment 3 (40:11) Our favorite martial arts movies

Segment 4 (56:15) - Marquee Mix; Phone Numbers; Problems with Odeo, and introducing MyChingo as our new voice mail provider; Podlinez; The new swag shop; Upcoming shows; Summer Tour '07; EMail (a TON of it); Trivia Challenge; Bonehead of the Week; Dancing With The Stars and Sanjaya

Segment 5 (1:27:30) - TC and Kim's Martial Arts Movies Holy Grail selections - the five movies impossible to find in the US that we're DYING to see!

THIS WEEK'S NOTES:

I incorrectly id'ed Tony Leung as "Tony Liu" in segment one, which was a slip of the tongue, and I apologize for that goof..I corrected it in segment two or three...

Also, we've had to push our Wednesday show back a week. I forgot that we have schedule conflicts - I am working late and my mother is having cataract surgery - on Tuesday, leaving no editing time for this week. So look for "Art School Confidential" next Tuesday, April 25.

NEXT WEEK:

Saturday - WRESTLING WITH ACTING SKILLS

Grindhouse - What Happened?

Sooooo.....

You remember last week at this time, don't you? All the buzz was about a hot, avant-garde horror film with segments directed by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. "Grindhouse" paid homage to the old grade-z horror flicks of the 60s and 70s, complete with film fuzz, missing reels, bogus trailers, and more. Critics couldn't stop praising the bloody show when it came out on Friday, and all the prognosticators online were pinpointing the movie to be a huge blockbuster. It would be #1 for the weekend, and gross (depending on which oddsmakers you were listening to) between $22-26 million on it's opening weekend. It was THE movie to beat this past weekend.

Guess what happened?

It WASN'T the movie to beat. In fact, THREE films beat it at the box office, and it pulled in less than half of the bucks it was predicted to gross. Despite universal praise, the movie was simply NOT the be-all, end-all that the industry thought it was going to be.

Now, the question is "Why"?

Well, there are several reasons that are possible...

1 - The three-hour plus running time. "Grindhouse" is actually two movies - one by Tarantino, one by Rodriguez -  run back to back, with about 12 minutes of bogus trailers between the two films, making the running time clock in at the same level as a "Lord Of The Rings" installment. Could it be that audiences don't really want to spend that much time bathing in on-screen blood?

2 - It's spring, and there's no audience for gore now - well there IS, but most teenagers and college students don't like to waste their time. So this goes right back to reason #1.

3 - It's EASTER WEEKEND. Come on, folks!  Easter weekend is about family for a lot of people, and family films dominated the box office this weekend. Who in Hollywood thought it would be a good idea to open a film THIS gory, THIS bloody, THIS....well, horror-filled on the most religious holiday weekend of the year?

Had they waited just one week, I think they would have made their money as predicted, and possibly even more, spurred on by the incredibly favorable reviews...and they still MIGHT too...

Subject:CINEMA #42 - Dark As Night: Film Noir

We're back with our Wednesday edition for March, as we continue Mystery March with a look at Film Noir - classic Noir, neo-Noir, and what Kim has coined hyper-Noir.

THE SHOW (times may be approximate due to Podshow insertions):
Segment 1 (1:30)- Thank yous; What is Film Noir?; The Maltese Falcon
Segment 2 (19:30) - Double Indemnity; Sunset Boulevard; Columbo; Elevator To The Gallows; Hamlet as noir; Onibaba
Segment 3 (35:50) - Noir Parodies; Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid; The Naked Gun movies; Guy Noir (A Prairie Home Companion); WonderMan; My Favorite Brunette; Taxi Driver (!?!); Lady From Sockholm (and yes it IS spelled right...)
Segment 4 (51:01)- Hyper Noir; Lucky Number Slevin, Brick, Run Lola Run

THIS WEEK'S NOTES:

We inadvertently got a bit "risque" but I'm supposing that everyone who listens to the show can handle the world s**t without it being considered "explicit", as Kim used the term "bats**t" to describe something...

In segment 3, Kim said something that triggered an inside joke on our part concerning eldest Hanson brother Ike; you'll get the reference if you've taken my heartfelt advice on a couple of earlier shows and checked out the Hanson documentary Strong Enough To Break ; if not, WHY THE HELL NOT?  Go to I-Tunes THIS VERY MINUTE and download the documentary...otherwise, you'll be in the dark as to why I did what I did, and why we thought it was funny...

This show produced enough bloopers to keep us supplied for several weeks, which I'm glad about because my supply was dwindling down...they'll start showing up with Saturday's show...heh heh heh...

About BUM RUSH THE CHARTS...this campaign is EXTREMELY important to me and to the podcasting world in general.  If you value the future of music podcasting, please take the time to click the link at the top of the right sidebar and check it out. We need EVERYONE to take part in this because it's so important to the future of the entire music and podcasting industries. Please take the time to check it out.

Also, we're still in need of more Podtrac surveys to be done. We haven't reached that golden 20 surveys yet, and they won't even begin to submit us to advertisers until we reach that number, so if you haven't done it yet, PLEASE take the time out to do so.

Take care and we'll see you on Saturday!!!

Subject:CINEMA #34 - Directors' Chair #2 - The Genius of Akira Kurosawa

This week, Kim and TC take a look at the man called The Greatest Filmmaker of the 20th Century, Akira Kurosawa.

The Show (times may be slightly later due to Podshow insertions)
Segment 1 (:30) A brief bio of Kurosawa; comparing the relationship between Kurosawa and actor Toshiro Mifune to that of Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski
Segment 2 (19:20) What might have been if Kurosawa had remained director of Tora! Tora! Tora!; looks at Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, Yojimbo
Segment 3 (40:20) Kurosawa's Shakespere takes - Throne Of Blood, The Bad Sleep Well, Ran
Segment 4 (53:55) Podtrac survey; the new site; E-mail; Trivia Challenge; a brand new feature, Bonehead Of The Week
Segment 5 (1:14:45) Kurosawa's work with Mifune; his influence on Western films; books about Kurosawa

THIS WEEK'S NOTES

Kim and I are NOT Kurosawa experts or fanatics; this is our attempt to give props to one of the great geniuses of the film industry. As usual, craziness ensues at times, and we hope you take it as it's meant - as our tribute to a directing legend.

If you haven't noticed, the site continues to get better and better, and we hope you'll utilize the contact pad below to write or voicemail us, to pass the word about the show to your friends, to visit the other sites we have for the show, and also to vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg.

The "Marquee Mix" special edition of our recent favorite movie hits show will NOT be heard tonight as we mentioned in the show - we've decided to push it back a couple more weeks and premiere it when the new Marquee Mix site premieres. Watch for more information!

BOOKS ABOUT KUROSAWA

Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema (Asia-Pacific.)

The Warriors' Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa

The Films of Akira Kurosawa, Third Edition, Expanded and Updated

The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune

BOOKS BY KUROSAWA

Something Like An Autobiography

RESEARCH MATERIALS

Wikipedia

IMDB

FEATURED FILMS ON THIS SHOW:

Seven Samurai

Ran

Throne of Blood

Yojimbo

The Bad Sleep Well

Rashomon

Other Kurosawa Classics

CLIP OF THE WEEK

Welcome to this new feature! Every week we'll be featuring a different film-oriented clip - be it scene, trailer, or interview!

TC's number one Rising Star of 2006, Michael Angarano, had his latest movie, "Snow Angels" make it's world premiere on Friday, January 19 at the Sundance Film Festival. In this clip, Michael talks a little about how he prepared for his role as "Arthur Parkinson". Video co