Friday, September 17, 2021
The Psycho Remake: Why This Film Should Have Never Been Made & Why I Despise This Film
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Psycho: An Analyzation of the Film and Why It's My Favorite Horror Movie
Colorization of Black-and-White Films (and TV) and Why It's Morally & Artistically Wrong
"The coloring of black-and-white films is wrong. It's morally and artistically wrong"
-James Stewart
James Stewart said it best, colorizing black-and-white movies and TV shows is wrong and this is why...
Color in film has been around since the 1910s, though it was very much still in its infancy back then. Color films didn't become popular until the 1960s, so that means decades worth of black-and-white films exist. Classic films like Dracula, Frankenstein, Casablanca, all the Three Stooges shorts and, of course, Citizen Kane. Colorization didn't become popular until the 1980s as there was a boom of films being released that were originally in black-and-white, but now have been colorized. It's a Wonderful Life was an unfortunate victim to this, and ever since any DVD/BD release of the film has had both the black-and-white film as well as the bastardized colorized version.
Miracle on 34th Street
Television was not safe from this travesty either. Shows such as: Bewitched (the first 2 seasons were filmed in black-and-white), Gilligan's Island (the first season was filmed in black-and-white), I Dream of Jeannie (the first season was filmed in black-and-white) and then random episodes from both The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy, both shows were filmed entirely in black-and-white. During the 1990s some episodes from these series were released on VHS. But, the worst was in the early 2000s when companies such as Sony, began releasing complete season sets of their back catalog. Both Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie had their first (and second, in the case of Bewitched) season released on DVD in both black-and-white and the shitty colorized version. Years later, I Dream of Jeannie (and possibly Bewitched) were released in complete series sets with their first season being colorized, the black-and-white season(s) was only available in separate season sets.
So, why is this all bad? People like color films better than black-and-white films, right? Sadly, the general US population would probably watch a colorized version of a film (or TV show) over a black-and-white film (or TV show). I am a firm believer that films and TV shows should be seen the way they were originally released or premiered on TV. Colorizing a film is the same as creating a pan-and-scan version of a film. If you are not familiar, pan-and-scan was a way of taking widescreen films and changing them so they would fit into the square box of your TV. Obviously, this was most popular in the 1980s and 1990s. This was the common thing for movies on VHS, but pan-and-scan means that they are taking the widescreen image and zooming into the middle until the dimensions are that of a TV screen. Meaning, that all the film on the sides was being cut off so you couldn't see it on your TV. Well, what if something is happening on those parts of the film not visible? Well, they created an artificial pan, so if something important was happening on those parts of the film that were not visible, they would put this artificial pan of the camera to that part of the film and then it would come back when the important part. Thankfully, this stupid process (which was just to appease the general population who couldn't understand what widescreen meant) died out in the 2000s. Anyway, back on topic: so just like pan-and-scan destroyed a film when released for home release, colorizing the film is just as bad. These are fake colors, everything you see on the screen is fake. Does it make the film look better being in color? No, not at all, there is just an artificial feeling to the entire film (or TV show) when it is colorized. Why would anyone want to watch a film that is filled with irritating crap that wasn't there before (Star Wars, I'm looking at you)?
I'm sure the filmmakers weren't too pleased with this boom in the 1980s, obviously, taking from the James Stewart quote above. Basically, what colorizing does is it places these fake colors on top of the real film, to make people who can't comprehend black-and-white happy. When I watch a film (or TV show) I want to see it the way it was released. Period. I'm not interesting in watching a fake colorized version, when I can watch the original version.
Sadly, today, it seems some things will only be colorized, at least on TV anyway. Every year CBS broadcasts the I Love Lucy Christmas episode, in color. It's sad that these generations are not able to watch this episode in its original black-and-white glory unless they pay to buy the series on DVD. The one thing positive I do have to say about colorizing films is that, normally, when released on DVD, the black-and-white versions are at least available to purchase instead of the colorized garbage.
In the end, it really depends on what you want to watch. I urge people to watch the original black-and-white versions, but if you want to watch the colorized version, that's up to you.
Friday, September 10, 2021
How Grease Was, and Still Is, Problematic
Sunday, June 13, 2021
He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword (1985)
"I've got that flying horsey in my sight"
He-Man & the Masters of the Universe was a massive hit toy line and a massive hit animated TV series. He-Man ruled the airwaves in the 80s and it would only make sense to not only make a feature length theatrical film but also a new spin-off series with a new character!
The film follows Price Adam/He-Man as he embarks on the search for his twin sister. Turns out that a new villain by the name of Hordak had kidnapped He-Man's twin sister shortly after birth and taken here to another dimension on a planet called Etherea. No one knows what happened to the little girl, Adora. But, with this information and with a magical sword, He-Man is on his way to find Princess Adora.
What much can be said of "The Secret of the Sword", it's not necessarily a film for cinemas as there is nothing special enough about the movie for it to warrant a theatrical release, other than the length of the film. The animation remains the same as the TV series. And the reasoning behind this is because the movie is the first 5 episodes of "She-Ra: Princess of Power" edited into a film. The film had to add some things and/or edit out other things in order to keep the flow of the story, so the episodes when aired are slightly different than what appears in the film.
As an overall movie, if you grew up watching He-Man or you're a fan of the TV series, then you will more than likely enjoy this film. If you don't like He-Man or haven never seen the TV series, chances are you probably won't like it. I don't think today's kids could relate the cheap animation and corny characters/storylines.
8 Mile (2002)
"You ever get to a point when you gotta stop living up here and start living down here?"
2002 must have been the year for singers starring in movies. Just like Britney Spears earlier in the year with "Crossroads", Eminem follows suit with his film debut, "8 Mile". However, unlike Britney Spears, Eminem puts in a stellar performance and this movie is actually really good.
"8 Mile" follows Jimmy 'B-Rabbit' Smith as he tries putting his life back together. B-Rabbit has to move back in with his mother and little sister and, at the same time, he is trying to get his rapping career off the ground with his attempt, and utter failure at local rap battles. Smith's friends are constantly fighting with the New World led by Papa Doc (Anthony Mackie). Smith's friend Future (Mekhi Phifer)sees Smith's talent and signs him up to battle other rappers again, against Smith's wishes. Smith eventually gets his life back together in order to battle in the final scene.
The reason that "8 Mile" is so good is that Eminem's acting is phenomenal. I believe his emotion and I believe he IS this character. I'm sure it helps that this film is semi-biographical, Eminem did grow up like this, he did have a dysfunctional mother and he did rap battles. The film isn't short on talent either including Academy Award winner Kim Basinger as his mother, Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, Anthony Mackie and Michael Shannon (playing his mother's boyfriend) and directed by Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson. And let's not forget that Eminem, himself, won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for this movie.
There is very little bad about this movie, if anything. I remember when this movie came out originally, I honestly thought Eminem was going to be an actor and surprisingly he did not. I'd love to see him star in another movie because he really is a good actor.
Crossroads (2002)
"All we have is now, and right now we have each other"
Crossroads came out in 2002, during Britney Spears's heyday. Younger people may not realize how big Britney Spears was in the early 2000s. It was natural for her to make her way into acting. Problem is, Britney Spears isn't a very good actress.
Directed by Tamra Davis, Crossroads is a very formulaic coming of age film. Lucy (Spears) is a new high school graduate who is under the rule of her father (Dan Aykroyd), all he wants her to do is ignore her social life and become a doctor. Meanwhile, Lucy has broken up with her friends during high school. Her friends consist of Kit (Zoe Saldana) who has become a self-centered model and Mimi (Taryn Manning) who has become pregnant trailer trash. Lucy, now has the reputation of being a goody two shoes. When Mimi brings the trio back together to dig up a time capsule they buried as children, she reveals she will be going across country to go to L.A. for a singing competition. The trio head out with Ben (Anson Mount) who is allegedly a murderer (we later find out it was rumor). And that's pretty much the entire movie.
This is a very bland and (as mentioned before) formulaic. There is nothing in this movie we haven't seen previously in other films. Britney Spears is a cardboard actress (at least in this movie). Taryn Manning plays trailer trash which is a stretch for her from playing previous trailer trash characters. Manning was clearly put on this earth to play trailer trash. Even Zoe Saldana, who is a good actress, is bad in this movie.
Also, this movie treats pregnancy as a disease. During a karaoke scene (which is only there to promote a single from Britney's 2001 album "Britney") Mimi attempts to sing, which she sucks at, you hear a random guy in the crowd yell out "SHE'S PREGNANT!" and then later on when Dan Aykroyd's character finds Lucy he says to here "This isn't like you, running way... with a PREGNANT GIRL!". I mean, come on! Pregnant women are still women, they can stand and sing, they can travel, it's not something taboo or crazy. Yes, she is a teenager, but she's 18, so what difference does it make?
Overall, this movie isn't very good. With the bland acting and the poor writing, this movie is just a promotional video for Britney Spears and her recent album at the time. That being said, this movie has a special place in my heart as I am a pretty hardcore Britney fan and I was definitely a hardcore fan in 2002. So, I enjoy this movie but I can see its major flaws and recognize this movie as bad.