Little Fockers

Ben Stiller has spent a lot of time playing Greg Focker over the last 10 years. Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers and now Little Fockers. I love these movies - they're no brainers. And the latest installment did not disappoint.

What makes these films so good is the recurring characters are played by the same actors. We met Ben, Teri Polo, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner and Owen Wilson in film number one. They were all back for the second movie aswell as Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman. And now the whole gang has reunited for the third outing. Along with Jessica Alba, Laura Dern and Harvey Keitel.

Ben Stiller is laugh out loud funny, but Robert De Niro is outstanding. And the references to his role in The Godfather are a nice touch. Even the infamous Godfather music makes a cameo.

The story may be far fetched...but after a handful of movies it's like catching up with old friends. The Byrnes and the Fockers. And we may all meet again given the nice set up in the final scene!

Reese Report

Reese Witherspoon is back on the radar. 

First it was a star on the Walk of Fame. Now her engagement to Jim Toth is making headlines. It will be marriage number two for the Oscar winner. Toth is a Hollywood agent.

Monica's Marriage Over

Mr and Mrs David Arquette have called it quits

'We remain best friends and responsible parents to our daughter and we still love each other deeply' said the statement.

Courteney Cox and David met in 1996 while filming Scream. They married in 1999.

Freeman's big honour

Morgan Freeman is an American treasure - that's what the AFI says -so they're going to give him the Life Achievement Award next year.

Not only is he a brilliant actor but what about that voice? I could listen to him recite the phone book!

March of the Penguins, Invictus, Driving Miss Daisy and Bruce Almighty are much loved Freeman movies in my collection.

Bye Bye Josephine

Bernard Schwartz was better known as Tony Curtis. And for lots of moviegoers he's best known as Josephine from 1959's Some Like It Hot.

Curtis, Monroe and Lemmon 

Curtis  - who was married six times - has died in Las Vegas. He was 85.

James Dean 30.09.1955

James Byron Dean is kinda the original teen idol. He lived fast - and died young. On this day in 1955 he was killed in a car crash in California. He was 24. I discovered Rebel Without A Cause at high school. It remains my favourite of Dean's few films.

James Dean at the Griffith Observatory

 

 

It might be 55 years since he died - but his face is still plastered across posters, t-shirts, mugs, postcards and fridge magnets etc ...And every generation seems to re-discover him. .

So he may be long gone - but not forgotten.

Gloria Stuart

Gloria Stuart may have only made one significant appearance on screen in an 80 year career - but it was enough to make her passing headline news around the world . She played the elderly Rose in James Cameron's Titanic in 1997. But her career goes back - way back - to the 1930's...

Gloria Stuart in The Invisible Man

 Stuart quit the movies in 1946 and virtually disappeared off the map .

The Gloria we remember

 Then along came Titanic - she became a household name, Oscar nominee and got a star on Hollywood   Boulevard.

RIP Gloria Stuart 04.07.1910 - 26.09.2010

Man on Wire

Finally caught up with the doco from a couple of years back Man on Wire. It's the story of Frenchman Philippe Petit who walked a wire between the twin towers in 1974.

An amazing story - but kind of sad because the WTC is no longer there. In a way, that makes his feat all the more remarkable.

Movie Memorabilia

I am a movie merchandiser's dream.

What will you find in my spare room?  A plush Falkor from the Neverending Story, Wizard of Oz figurines, Sex and the City 2 cocktail shaker, Woody and Buzz from Toy Story, Mumble from Happy Feet, an Alice in Wonderland glass, Desperately Seeking Susan poster etc...etc...

C3PO takes a ride on Falkor the luck dragon

I can pinpoint when this started. My parents bought me some ET writing paper and a plush toy. My obsession probably grew with various fast food related movie tie-ins over the years ...

Of my faves is a replica Back to The Future Delorean from Universal Studios in Hollywood. Complete with flux capacitor. It's around 15cm long and only cost $15 (see below)

My Delorean and Victor from The Corpse Bride

My other treasured items include - an R2D2 beanbag from Star Wars, Delinquents cup, Jurassic Park dinosaurs and Madonna lobby cards.

The Chocolate Factory debate

When I was in primary school I saw Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and absolutely loved it. I wanted a golden ticket. I wanted an everlasting gobstopper. I wanted an Oompa Loompa (gee I'm starting to sound like Veruca Salt)! The movie was utter magic. And it still is...

I must have seen it 50 times. My well worn VHS copy was replaced by the DVD a couple of years back - and I've seen it for sale on Blu ray so it's only a matter of time before I upgrade again... Even another repeat on TV is hard to pass up. Gene Wilder just draws you in...

So when I heard a remake was on the cards I was gobstopper-smacked! Why? Sure it was made in 1971 - but the story is timeless. It doesn't matter if Charlie Bucket is wearing flares. But then I heard Tim Burton was behind the update and I got excited. I'm a huge Burton fan and I thought if there's a director who can make the Chocolate Factory even more magical - it's him.

So in 2005 the all new Charlie & The Chocolate Factory was released starring Johnny Depp. I was skeptical about him filling Wonka's shoes. But it seemed a logical choice - Depp is a longtime Burton collaborator who specialises in oddball characters. I was also happy about Freddie Highmore playing Charlie. That is - until I saw it!!!

I can't quite put my finger on where the latter falls down. It just does. There's no wow factor. The factory is cold, spartan and uninviting. The Oompa Loompas are a tad evil at times. And Wonka is just creepy.

The 2005 movie is closer to the Roald Dahl book than the original - but it doesn't work for me. And the  majority of my friends agree...

Who can take a sunrise
Sprinkle it in dew
Cover it in chocolate
and a miracle or two?

Willy Wonka circa 1971

Hitchcock Immortalised

Alfred Hitchcock is about to take up permanent residency in Walthamstow in the UK - well a life size statue of him will this weekend.

He's one of my all time fave directors. And not just because he had a leading lady called Melanie!!! The Birds, Psycho and Rear Window are must haves in any movie collection.

Sofia Corleone

Congrats to Sofia Coppola - winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for Somewhere. 

 

But to me she'll always be Mary Corleone!

Plan 9

Plan 9 From Outer Space has been dubbed the worst movie of all time. A black and white horror flick starring a recently deceased Bela Lugosi made for just $60,000 in the late 1950s. So when I sat down over the weekend to watch it for the first time my expectations were pretty low.

But I was pleasantly surprised. Sure the headstones wobble in the graveyard, the flying saucers have visible strings attached and continuity is patchy - but it's not that bad. It was directed by the infamous Edward D Wood Jnr. He made movies on the cheap, rarely did more than one take and didn't bother too much with the little details.

If you see Plan 9 From Outer Space going out cheap on DVD...or it's being screened on a cable channel late at night - do yourself a favour!

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie may be better known for her tribe of kids and famous boyfriend than making movies - but she has made some brilliant films. Salt is the latest in a long line of great Angelina pictures. There's a reason she's won an Oscar - she's a bloody good actress.

My Angelina top 5

1.Girl Interrupted

2.Changeling

3.A Mighty Heart

4.Gia

5.Lara Croft 2

Swayze Remembered

It'll be a year next week since we lost Patrick Swayze. 

His wife of 34 years, Lisa, has admitted she still texts him from time to time. True love never dies.

RIP Patrick.

King of the Box Office

Johnny Depp is the highest paid actor in Hollywood. In the last financial year he made $75 million. His role as the Mad Hatter in Alice In Wonderland and the ongoing Pirates franchise helping him along...

King of the Box Office is an impressive title. He follows in the footsteps of Tom Hanks, Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable.

Also making the top ten...

2. Ben Stiller, $53 million
3. Tom Hanks, $45 million
4. Adam Sandler, $40 million
5. Leonardo DiCaprio, $28 million
6. Daniel Radcliffe, $25 million
7. Robert Downey Jr., $22 million
8. Tom Cruise, $22 million
9. Brad Pitt, $20 miilion
10. George Clooney, $19 million

Despicable Me

I never liked animated movies - until Toy Story. All of a sudden technology made animation lifelike and watchable. Since then I've become partial to flicks like Shrek, Cars and Up. Which brings me to Despicable Me - out September 9 in Australia. It's brilliant.

Steve Carell voices Gru - a mad inventor/villain who actually has a heart of gold underneath his tough exterior. He's on a mission to steal the moon but he has a few obstacles to overcome...

It's a must see for all ages - because like so many animated movies it works on two levels.

And of course 3D makes the world onscreen that much more believable.

Reagan biopic

Ronald Reagan's life story is getting the big screen treatment. It'll cover his early days in Hollywood to the White House. There's just one problem...who's gonna play RR?

Some of the names being bandied about include James Franco, Matt Damon, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zac Efron.

Eastwood, Clint Eastwood

I love Clint Eastwood. I could talk about how fabulous he is all day...

But when I hear the words Clint Eastwood I think Dirty Harry - not James Bond. Clint's revealed he was approached about playing the role in the 70's. He turned it down. My first reaction was - what the? But when you stop and think about - he could have played 007. He has that Bond charisma and charm. He also turned down Superman. Smart move.

RIP Otho

The great Glenn Shadix has passed away. He died after a fall at his home in Alabama - he was 58. But he's immortalised in classics like Beetlejuice and Heathers.

Glenn played Otho in Beetlejuice. Delia's crazy hanger on who had lines like 'I know just as much about the supernatural as I do about interior design'.

And who can forget Father Ripper in Heathers. The word 'eskimo' springs to mind. He also appeared in Planet of the Apes, Demolition Man and was the voice of the Mayor of Halloween Town in the Nightmare Before Christmas.

RIP

Tim Burton Exhibition

One of my favourite directors is Tim Burton.  So I had to visit the Tim Burton Exhibition in Melbourne. It's brilliant - it features artwork, early films, props from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Mars Attacks, Planet of the Apes and Sleepy Hollow and costumes from Alice In Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and Batman.

 I've now been re-inspired to watch a stack of his films.....my Tim Burton Top 5

Go to DVDs

It's a wet 'n' windy day. Perfect weather to curl up in front of the tele and watch a couple of movies. Here's a few of my 'go to' dvds. Films I can watch time and time again (and quote copious amounts of dialogue from) and I never get tired of them...

Nicolas Cage in a Jerry Bruckheimer flick with lots of fast cars

Lucy and Desi and the honeymoon from hell

Time travel Michael J Fox style

Bette Davis in the 1950s classic...

and... the ultimate day off school...

Happy Birthday Charlie

Charlie Sheen is 45 today!

Before Charlie Sheen became Charlie Harper he made some awesome movies - and a couple not quite so awesome movies. Wall Street gets a tick.

But I'll pass on Men At Work, Major League 2 and The Rookie.

My favourite big screen appearance from Mr Carlos Irwin Estevez is his cameo in Ferris Bueller's Day Off . The guy at the Police Station - classic!

Bonnie Blue Butler

Actress Cammie King Conlon has passed away.

You may not know the name - but she played a role in two of the most successful and beloved films of all time.

At four years of age Conlon played Bonnie Blue Butler - daughter of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind.

She also voiced a character in Bambi.

Conlon died this week in California from lung cancer. She was 76.