God, I love the Internet.
Showing posts with label Videos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Videos. Show all posts
Mike Durrett: CONFIDENTIAL
Joe Biden: Truth Teller
God, I love the Internet.
Filed in
Celebrities,
Videos
Mike Durrett: CONFIDENTIAL
Reeling: Disneynature's 'Chimpanzee' (2012)
Disneynature's "Chimpanzee" is a remarkable documentary, three years in the making with many more spent in preparation. This motion picture is an alternately sad and heartwarming true-life adventure captured by superlative cinematographers slogging through an African rain forest to observe their subjects. It already claims an Oscar.
"Chimpanzee" (2012) Movie Trailer via YouTube
The tale is suitable for most ages (which, after much bawling and promises to tidy my room, includes me).
Any extreme violence is left off-screen, but next time I'll be watching with my plush Thumper doll nearby. Somehow his presence feels appropriate.
"Chimpanzee" begs to be seen in high definition. You'll miss out if you do not. A Cheetah suit is not required, but appreciated.
I have fresh empathy for our distant chimpanzee relatives and thank them for the cool new table manners.
The tale is suitable for most ages (which, after much bawling and promises to tidy my room, includes me).
Any extreme violence is left off-screen, but next time I'll be watching with my plush Thumper doll nearby. Somehow his presence feels appropriate.
"Chimpanzee" begs to be seen in high definition. You'll miss out if you do not. A Cheetah suit is not required, but appreciated.
I have fresh empathy for our distant chimpanzee relatives and thank them for the cool new table manners.
Filed in
Advertising,
Animals and Pets,
Movies,
Nature,
Videos
Mike Durrett: CONFIDENTIAL
Reeling: "Comes a Horseman" (1978)
We enjoyed "Comes a Horseman," a World War II era western I chose to revisit after 30+ years and share with The Sweetie®.
This is the tale of a ruthless cattle rancher / oil-baron-in-waiting (Jason Robards), matching wits and determination against underdog cowpokes (Jane Fonda, James Caan).
The film is entertaining, engrossing, and inadvertently puzzling. Our minds are engulfed in the mystery surrounding the numerous similarities of this screenplay to the television series "Dallas," which debuted in 1978, too. Neither production appears to be officially related to the other in strict plotting or behind-the-cameras lineage or source material, but one can't miss the coincidences, among them:
What are the chances of that happening?
This is the tale of a ruthless cattle rancher / oil-baron-in-waiting (Jason Robards), matching wits and determination against underdog cowpokes (Jane Fonda, James Caan).
The film is entertaining, engrossing, and inadvertently puzzling. Our minds are engulfed in the mystery surrounding the numerous similarities of this screenplay to the television series "Dallas," which debuted in 1978, too. Neither production appears to be officially related to the other in strict plotting or behind-the-cameras lineage or source material, but one can't miss the coincidences, among them:
- Robards' villain is named Jacob Ewing, phonetically close to Dallas patriarch Jock Ewing. Introducing Robards alternately as J.W. Ewing, as he is, can't help but suggest Jock's given name, John Ross Ewing, Sr. or J.R. Ewing.
- Fonda's character is Ella, Ewing's desirable land owner prize. The "Dallas'" counterpart is Ellie, Ewing's desirable land owner prize.
- Crusty Relatives: "Comes a Horseman" has beloved "Dodger." TV has beloved "Digger."
- Actor Jim Davis, Jacob Ewing's evil henchman, was subsequently cast as Jock Ewing -- whom, I might add, looks EXACTLY the same!
What are the chances of that happening?
Filed in
Advertising,
Movies,
TV,
Videos,
Weird
Mike Durrett: CONFIDENTIAL
'My Dad's an Alien'
Here's my favorite film of late, clocking in at 30 seconds.
Noooo, there won't be an Intermission.
Just hold it, will ya?
Sheesh.
"Audi: My Dad's an Alien" Commercial via YouTube
Noooo, there won't be an Intermission.
Just hold it, will ya?
Sheesh.
Filed in
Advertising,
Videos
Mike Durrett: CONFIDENTIAL
Some Like It Spot
The new GEICO commercial is nearly a home movie for us, having traveled five times to this exact setting in Arizona-Utah's Monument Valley, our favorite American destination.
"GEICO: The Roadrunner and the Coyote: The Gecko's Journey" via YouTube
We didn't meet these big time celebrities along the way, sadly, but the video may explain my desert headaches.
Meep.
Meep.
Filed in
Advertising,
Cartoons,
Celebrities,
Travel,
Videos
Mike Durrett: CONFIDENTIAL
Happy Birthday, Ozoners!
Seventy-nine years ago tonight, the world's first drive-in theatre or ozoner, as we in the motion picture exhibition business call them in-between making fun of the idiots paying our ridiculous snack prices, opened.
Wikipedia tells how moon movies flicked forth:
And thanks to same Mr. Hollingshead, Jr., lifelong funding efforts for my global countryside chain of pogo stick-in theatres have come to, basically, nil.
More: Mike's Video: "Scenes From a Drive-in Movie"
Wikipedia tells how moon movies flicked forth:
Richard Milton Hollingshead, Jr. (February 25, 1900 - May 13, 1975) was the inventor of the drive-in theater.
In the early 1930s, he was working as a sales manager in his father's auto parts company, Whiz Auto Products. According to one story, his mother was a large woman who was uncomfortable sitting in a regular movie theater.[1] So he began experimenting at his home in Camden, New Jersey, using his car, a 1928 Kodak movie projector, and two sheets nailed between two trees for a screen. Eventually, he came up with a ramp in each parking space, so that patrons could elevate the front of their cars to see the screen without being blocked by other vehicles.[2] He applied for a patent on August 6, 1932[2] and was granted number 1,909,537 on May 16, 1933.
With three investors, his cousin John Smith, Edward Ellies, and Oliver Willets, he formed a company called Park-It Theatres, Inc.[2] Their 400-acre (1.6 km2) "Automobile Movie Theatre"[3] opened on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden on June 6, 1933. RCA Victor provided three six foot (1.8 m) by six foot speakers to go with the 40 foot (12 m) by 50 foot (15 m) screen. The first movie shown was "Wives Beware," starring Adolphe Menjou. The charge was $0.25 per person and $0.25 per automobile, with a maximum cost of $1. Hollingshead sold the theatre in 1935 and opened another one.
Park-It Theatres licensed the concept to Loews Drive-In Theatres, Inc., but had trouble collecting royalties in 1937. Eventually, after Loews was taken to court, Hollingshead's patent was ruled invalid in 1950.
And thanks to same Mr. Hollingshead, Jr., lifelong funding efforts for my global countryside chain of pogo stick-in theatres have come to, basically, nil.
More: Mike's Video: "Scenes From a Drive-in Movie"
Mike Durrett: CONFIDENTIAL
Hubie and Bertie's Mouse Chronicles
The boys' seven classic 1943-51 animated episodes, based on the sacred books of "The Mew Testament," my cat Morty tells me, are coming to Blu-ray home video later this summer.
I've pre-ordered "Looney Tunes: Mouse Chronicles" because Hubie and Bertie are terrific and overdue for a renaissance. I want to do my part to help and subliminally cue the wife to serve cheese.
Here's a shining example of director Chuck Jones' rambunctious rodents hard at work in "Mouse Wreckers" (1948).
"Mouse Wreckers" via YouTube
Hubie and Bertie's Warner Bros. colleague and fellow mouse, Sniffles, is also seen in this two-disc set. All nine of his cartoons offer something to sniff at.
Filed in
Animals and Pets,
Cartoons,
Celebrities,
Videos
Mike Durrett: CONFIDENTIAL
Bass, Herrmann, Hitchcock, and Me
I loves me some superior movie main title sequences. I've written before of my devotion to the design artistry of Saul Bass ("It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," "Walk on the Wild Side," "Around the World in Eighty Days"). He changed how movies handled the obligatory credits during the 1950s and '60s by making his celluloid minutes not only handsome lists of names, but also an integral part of the thematic tones of the whole production. His influence continues to shape the films we see in theatres today.
At the creative and popularity heights of Alfred Hitchcock, Bass came on board to front three of the suspense director's most revered motion pictures: "Vertigo" (1958), "North by Northwest" (1959), and "Psycho" (1960). Those men had the good fortune to be musically orchestrated by film composer Bernard Herrmann ("Citizen Kane," "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "The Man Who Knew Too Much"), yielding the three masterful sequences below.
Watch, listen, and enjoy -- then, read a true anecdote which happened to me earlier this day.
Saul Bass Title Sequences for Alfred Hitchcock via Vimeo.
While playing this main titles video on my computer, I heard a fly buzzing in the bathroom. It was befuddled by the window glass. The "North by Northwest" theme neared conclusion when I stepped onto the commode seat to help the panicked insect escape. I raised the pane and removed the screen, as the "Psycho" score pulsated through the room. Providing guidance, I maneuvered the trapped creature through the new opening and out into the external fresh air.
At that moment, something crossed my mind. I recalled a bit of film dialogue from "Psycho" matron Mrs. Bates:
At the creative and popularity heights of Alfred Hitchcock, Bass came on board to front three of the suspense director's most revered motion pictures: "Vertigo" (1958), "North by Northwest" (1959), and "Psycho" (1960). Those men had the good fortune to be musically orchestrated by film composer Bernard Herrmann ("Citizen Kane," "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "The Man Who Knew Too Much"), yielding the three masterful sequences below.
Watch, listen, and enjoy -- then, read a true anecdote which happened to me earlier this day.
While playing this main titles video on my computer, I heard a fly buzzing in the bathroom. It was befuddled by the window glass. The "North by Northwest" theme neared conclusion when I stepped onto the commode seat to help the panicked insect escape. I raised the pane and removed the screen, as the "Psycho" score pulsated through the room. Providing guidance, I maneuvered the trapped creature through the new opening and out into the external fresh air.
At that moment, something crossed my mind. I recalled a bit of film dialogue from "Psycho" matron Mrs. Bates:
They're probably watching me. Well, let them. Let them see what kind of a person I am. I'm not even going to swat that fly. I hope they are watching... They'll see. They'll see and they'll know, and they'll say, "Why, she wouldn't even harm a fly..."
Mike Durrett: CONFIDENTIAL
Halloween Cartoon Carnival
Mike Durrett: CONFIDENTIAL
There Will Be Butterfingers
The perfect Halloween: "Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis get "Scared Stiff" (1953). That's my night -- plus, the obligatory stomach pump. Nurses in nurses costumes. Maybe a Certs.
I'll be dressing up as the remote control. I hope I don't lose me in the sofa.
It's the wife's favorite costume. She mutes me.
Filed in
Advertising,
Halloween,
Movies,
Videos
Mike Durrett: CONFIDENTIAL
Okeydokey, 'Oklahoma!'
I love "Oklahoma!" Of the numerous bright moments in the movie and stage play, this is my favorite:
"Oklahoma!": "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top (Reprise)" (1955) via YouTube
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's transformative 1943 Broadway musical world-premiered its motion picture incarnation at the Rivoli in New York on Oct. 11, 1955.
I, however, had to wait until the 1963 re-release to see the film. I hate to enter in the middle. It took awhile to first catch up with "Alabama!" through "Ohio!"
All were surprisingly bald on show tunes.
And, to be honest, Rodgers and Hammerstein's "American Samoa!" stunk.
I had thought, erroneously, there would be roasted marshmallows and chocolate succulences between parallel graham crackers.
"Oklahoma!" made up for everything. The title song is one of my earliest memories, from around age 3. I'd hear it on television and the radio. Long before I knew what "stirring" meant, I was stirred.
"Oklahoma!": "Oklahoma!" (1955) via YouTube
And I keep coming back for s'more.
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's transformative 1943 Broadway musical world-premiered its motion picture incarnation at the Rivoli in New York on Oct. 11, 1955.
I, however, had to wait until the 1963 re-release to see the film. I hate to enter in the middle. It took awhile to first catch up with "Alabama!" through "Ohio!"
All were surprisingly bald on show tunes.
And, to be honest, Rodgers and Hammerstein's "American Samoa!" stunk.
I had thought, erroneously, there would be roasted marshmallows and chocolate succulences between parallel graham crackers.
"Oklahoma!" made up for everything. The title song is one of my earliest memories, from around age 3. I'd hear it on television and the radio. Long before I knew what "stirring" meant, I was stirred.
And I keep coming back for s'more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
