Might as well end the A to Z with a killer! Sorry, I know that’s bad but what can I say? 🤪 Zodiac is about the serial killer from the 60s and 70s and how a cartoonist became obsessed with this killer and catching him...which never happened unfortunately. It’s based on a true story where the killer loves to torment by sending letters to this newspaper but the letters could not be deciphered. It gets deciphered by a retired couple who love puzzles and thus cat and mouse game ensues.
It’s a bit long and could have been shortened but it is enlivened by Robert Downey Jnr as a reporter. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the obsessed cartoonist. The lawyer, played by Brian Cox, is Melvin Belli who was famous for one of the worst Star Trek Episodes, “And The Children Shall Lead.” He played Gorgan an angel to the kids but was an evil entity actually. Well, he is a lawyer...
A rom-com starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, before she Effed up her face and now looks like some freaky clown, has the 2 of them falling in love. Oops there is more to it, he runs a big chain bookstore and she owns a children’s bookstore that her mom began. They dislike each other because his big store is killing her small store and she can’t abide these box stores that hire people with no knowledge of books. Of course, they are falling in love through email. Remember when email was the only way to correspond through the computer? Hey, I remember just writing regular mail to send via the postman. He finds out early on that she is the one he is falling for but keeps it quiet so we see the antics. It’s a remake of the Ernst Lubitsch comedy, The Shop Around The Corner, which stars my favourite, James Stewart and which I still have to see!
Meg Ryan was so done, by this point, making these romantic comedies and wanted to make more serious roles which she did but....well, she is not in too many movies now. Tom Hanks likes to collect old typewriters which is the same as his character in the film.
First there were the comic books, then an animated Cartoon which I enjoyed watching so it was inevitable that a live action film and this was a huge hit that produced many sequels. Good mutants fight the bad mutants who want to destroy the fearful regular humans.
A great cast led by Patrick Stewart, Ian McLellan with Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Romijn and Halle Berry as mutants who must try to convince humans that they are not dangerous but they also fight amongst each other. It’s fun and well done and many men, boys and even some women were in ga-ga land with Rebecca Romijn who played Mystic, a blue mutant who had only her body with a few scales covering what needed to be covered. One day, Rebecca brought tequila to the set and many partook of the dangerous drink but enjoyed every moment. When Rebecca did a scene with Hugh Jackman, she threw up blue barf all over him because the blue stuff that was used to cover her body soaked into her skin..yikes!
I want to apologize for not responding to your comments but once the A to Z is finished I will have more time...famous last words. So since we are at the last Thursday of the month, it is all about TV and this is about 1 season shows. I love Freaks and Geeks but I think it will be popular this week so I chose 3 others. Check out Wandering Through The Shelves to find out what the others have chosen. Here are my 3....
1. THE PRISONER-1967-1968
This is an excellent science fiction(?), cat and mouse, prison tv show starring Patrick McGoohan as #6. He was a secret agent who wanted to quit which resulted in him being sent to “the Village”, a quaint place where everything is given to the people who live there except their freedom. He can trust no one and is determined to attain his freedom despite the rogue...a big bouncy white ball that comes out of the sea and subdues anyone who tries to escape. He often matches wits with #2 a fellow inmate that changes people in most shows and has the information as to why #6 is in the village. A brilliantly written show and well acted that has gained a huge cult following with many people feeling it is Patrick McGoohan’s character from Secret Agent-another tv show he starred in and was quite successful. One quirk is that Patrick McGoohan had it written in his contract, and stopped any plots, involving a romantic interest.
2. ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR.-1993-1994
I love Bruce Campbell so, when this show came on, I had to watch and I loved it. It is a very quirky western with Sci-Fi elements placed in and just when it was getting interesting, they pulled the plug. Brisco is hired to apprehend a gang who happened to kill his famous dad. He is aided by a former rival and together they encounter strange people including some albino freak and an orb from another planet. It was a funny show, with tongue in cheek style and very fun. I would love to see this series again because it was, again, well written, nicely acted and the music was great.
3. FOREVER-2014-2015
There are some people who hated this show but I really liked it. It is about a coroner for the police dept. who helps solve cases since he has a vast knowledge of just about everything. The reason for this incredible knowledge is because he is over 200 years old and can’t die. Every time he is killed he ends up in the water naked and must get back to his place before he is found out...sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. You learn about his past with the only person knowing about his issue is his son who is now older than he is..well, you know what I mean. I found this show engaging without the heavy handed dark plots of so many shows. I enjoyed the other characters from his geeky helper in the lab to the vivacious lead cop whom he helps and her partner-a tough jock type but who I thought was quite funny. Despite people writing in to save this show, it was yanked.
I’d be surprised if someone has not seen this delightful film made during the best year ever for movies. It’s about a young girl with her dog running away from home because of a bitch who wants Dorothy’s dog destroyed. A tornado has her come home but she gets knocked out and has one psychedelic adventure in colour! The bitch is now a witch, there are munchkins, a talking scarecrow, a tin man and a scene stealing lion. Let’s not forget opium induced sleep, a yellow brick road, a green city, flying monkeys....talk about an LSD trip. It is a brilliant film filled with great songs and a great cast that made Judy Garland a star and is seen every year, it used to be around Easter time but now, I think they play it at Christmas.
All sorts of antics happened on the set from the munchkins running amok (a movie was made about them starring Chevy Chase), Margaret Hamilton suffering severe burns when she “disappears” as the witch, Buddy Ebson almost dying from the silver dust placed on him and being replaced by Jack Haley to Judy Garland being introduced to uppers and downers so she could continue working. Oh and that snow falling in the poppy field is asbestos.
Fun anecdote- Frank Morgan, who played the great Oz, was given a coat to wear for his character by the costume dept. An employee in this dept. found the coat in a second hand store. When Frank Morgan looked inside he noticed, on the lapel, hand written was Frank L. Baum, who happened to write the books....this was Baum's actual coat!
Yes, I know it is actually National Lampoon's Vacation but I wanted to talk about this film and we all just say the vacation movies anyways. This is the first of 4 with the last one (I don't mean the remake dreck) taking place in Vegas being the weakest, in my humble opinion. Good ole Clark Griswald wants to take his family on a vacation to Wally World which he does with a few mishaps along the way..dog, Cousin Eddie, Aunt Edna.
It is low brow humour and I love every minute of it! I find it hilarious with great comic timing by Chevy Chase, Randy "Nutso" Quaid and Imogene Coca as Aunt Edna. A great cameo by John Candy near the end of the film is perfect. By the way, most of the cast members got sick from riding the roller coasters since they had to do it many times...yuck.
A huge hit when it came out with Sean Connery winning an Oscar for his portrayal of an aging cop. It's the famous true battle between Treasury Agent, Eliot Ness trying to take down bad boy Al Capone during the 1920's prohibition(what a mistake) era. In typical Hollywood fashion, many inaccuracies, but Eliot Ness really did try to bring down Al Capone.
I watched this film many years later and thought it was ok but nothing spectacular and was just waiting for certain people to die because it just seemed typical. The big scene in the train station was heralded at the time and the director said he was influenced by the famous scene in Battleship Potemkin. I watched Police Squad first and laughed but I laughed even harder when i watched the scene in The Untouchables movie. I know...I'm a sick puppy.
