You may only think you know the story behind "Keep Calm and Carry On"

I simply assumed this poster was widely displayed as feel-good, stiff-upper-lip propaganda throughout England during World War II. I was wrong. And the truth actually is a bit more fascinating.

Burton & Taylor -- Together again

Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor? Well, why not? They can't fare much worse with critics than Grant Bowler and Lindsay Lohan did. Besides, it looks like Burton & Taylor scriptwriter William Ivory (Made in Dagenham) chose an especially apt and interesting period in the lives of his iconic characters: Their co-starring stint in a revival of Private Lives, Noel Coward's classic stage comedy (one of my personal faves) about a couple who find that they can't live with each other -- but can't live without each other, either. How... ironic.

BTW: Burton & Taylor is scheduled to air as a TV-movie on BBC Four later this year, but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets some sort of theatrical release in the U.S. Maybe -- just maybe -- it will be ready for screening in September at the Toronto Film Festival?

Truffaut Lives!

I've had this poster mounted in a place of honor -- directly above the writing desk in my home office -- for years and years. Today, while experimenting with the camera on my new cellphone, I snapped this shot -- and, as you can see, the flash appears precisely where it should, even though I didn't intend it to. Indeed, I seriously doubt that I could replicate this effect if I tried. Maybe Truffaut is trying to tell me something?

Independence Day musings

@JoeLeydon you bet, Joe
— Peter Henry Fonda (@iamfonda) July 5, 2013

Sharknado -- The trailer

First, there was the poster! And now... the teaser trailer! Can the action figures be far behind?

John Wayne: "The hell I won't!"

It was a simpler time, a more innocent time. The grass was greener, the skies were bluer, friendships were truer. And my kid brother and I would find it so freakin' laugh-out-loud funny to hear John Wayne snarl "The hell I won't!" in McLintock! at the old Nola Theatre in our Ninth Ward neighborhood that we would be able to crack each other up for years afterward just by repeating the line. Those were the days, my friend...

Bushwhacking The Lone Ranger

The first reviews for The Lone Ranger -- from Variety, The Wrap, Screen Daily and The Hollywood Reporter -- have been posted online. They are not kind.

Remembering James Gandolfini in The Mexican

The passing of time and lives often can change attitudes about certain films and the performances they showcase. In the wake of James Gandolfini's recent death, some critics and bloggers have written eloquently and/or appreciatively about the Sopranos star's scene-stealing supporting turn as a brutally efficient but unexpectedly sensitive hit man in The Mexican, Gore Verbinski's 2001 dark comedy top-lining Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. And yet, even now, the movie itself continues to be widely regarded as something of a misfire, a rattletrap star vehicle built for two that offered too few laughs.

So I feel compelled to once again file a minority report: The Mexican, as I noted in my original 2001 review, is "an arrestingly offbeat shaggy-dog story that somehow remains fleet, fresh and funny even during its most dizzying mood swings between droll whimsy and sudden violence... Working from a witty and free-wheeling screenplay by J.H. Wyman, director Gore Verbinski... does a fine job of fusing the movie’s disparate elements – everything from frenetic slapstick to affecting tragedy, from blazing gunplay to sepia-toned, silent-movie flashbacks – into a consistently engaging and uniquely satisfying whole."

And yes: It's more fun than Verbinski's upcoming The Lone Ranger (despite the latter's own homage to silent-movie comedy conventions).

For the benefit of those who tuned in late: Pitt plays Jeff, a low-level courier for L.A. mobsters who is sent south of the border to retrieve an invaluable (and possibly cursed) antique pistol known as -- yes, you guessed it! -- The Mexican. His mission delays the long-planned Las Vegas holiday he intended to enjoy with Samantha (Roberts), his live-in girlfriend, who's so infuriated that she sets out for Nevada by herself. Along the way, however, she makes the acquaintance of Leroy (Gandolfini), who forces himself upon her as a traveling companion.

Again quoting my 2001 review:

Leroy says he plans to hold [Samantha] as a hostage, just in case Jeff gets any funny ideas about delivering The Mexican to the L.A. mobsters. Samantha is incredulous – she doubts Jeff would ever have any ideas, funny or otherwise – but, like her errant boyfriend, she’s in no position to argue.

One thing leads to another, on parallel tracks, on either side of the border.  In Mexico, Jeff bumbles his way from one sticky situation to the next, evidencing survival skills that give a whole new meaning to the term “dumb luck.” (Another character marvels: “By the grace of God, you have managed to Forrest Gump your way through things!”) In Las Vegas, Leroy is an unexpectedly sympathetic listener while Samantha prattles endlessly about her rocky relationship with Jeff.  Indeed, the funniest scenes in The Mexican illustrate that, deep down, Leroy is a deeply sensitive fellow with his own set of relationship “issues.” When he isn’t shooting people, or handcuffing hostages to hotel-room beds, he’s a real sweetheart.

Gandolfini is splendidly funny as Leory, a sad-eyed lug who just happens to be ruthlessly lethal in his unforgiving professionalism. He’s sneaky and subtle in his scene stealing, but at his very best during an interlude in a roadside diner where he and Roberts give and take as equals. Pay close attention, by the way, and you’ll catch his wink-wink, nudge-nudge allusion to the anxiety-ridden mobster he portrays in HBO’s The Sopranos.

I have Jeff Wells, of all people, to thank for making me aware of this charming YouTube clip. Enjoy.

But seriously, parents: Is Ray Harryhausen the Boogeyman?

When I told a friend in Nashville that she ought to take her granddaughter to see the double bill of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Jason and the Argonauts next week at The Belcourt, she was... well, dubious. After all, she pointed out, the little girl isn't even old enough to attend grade school yet. To be more precise: She's three years old.

So I emailed links to trailers for the films, in the hope of convincing her that both movies were relatively harmless, and certainly no scarier and/or more violent than most of what passes for kid-centric TV programming today. Well, that turned out to be a deal-breaker: My friend said even the trailers likely would be enough to give her granddaughter nightmares.

Wow.

Well, as I have said before: While I was growing up, even cheesy sci-fi flicks could give me the willies. But adventure movies featuring Ray Harryhausen special effects? WTF? I gobbled these up like fresh popcorn at the old Nola Theatre back when I was a kid. Could watching sword-fighting skeletons really be that traumatic an experience for a contemporary youngster?

Parents and grandparents, take a gander at these trailers and tell me: Would you hesitate to take your young'uns to this double feature? Did I do my own son irreparable harm by showing him nifty stuff like this on VHS back in the day?

Update: Ten minutes after posting this, I put the second question to my now-26-year-old son. His reply: "Well, not irreparable..." So maybe my Nashville buddy knows best after all.

Escape Plan: "You hit like a vegetarian!"

OK, I'm sold. Put me down for at least one ticket to Escape Plan. I mean, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel and Vincent D'Onofrio? And it was shot in my hometown of New Orleans? Damn, I am so there on opening day.

First, Nine Inch Nails. Then, Johnny Cash. And now... 2Cellos

Maybe it's because I've listed Johnny Cash and Ludwig Van Beethoven as faves on Pandora. Whatever the reason, I had Pandora all cranked up on my new Samsung tablet while I was taking a shower this morning, and heard this. And was suddenly, breathlessly transfixed.

As soon as it ended, I immediately got out of the shower and started Googling to find out more about -- and hear more by -- these guys. Eventually -- after drying myself off, of course -- I ordered two CDs from Amazon. Yeah, that's right: CDs. In some regards, technology-wise, I'm still old school.

And while I'm greatly impressed by 2Cellos -- this is, to me, the definitive "Hurt," rendered in a classic music video I recently watched again during my first visit to the new Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville. As Bono notes in this "Making Of" mini-documentary: "Trent Reznor was born to write that song. But Johnny Cash was born to sing it. And Mark Romanek was born to film it."



Still, I think all those folks would agree with me that what 2Cellos have done with "Hurt" is pretty damn impressive on its own terms. And I bet Bono approves of what they do with U2's "With Or Without You."

Blow-Up and The Yardbirds

A dear friend saw Blow-Up for the first time tonight. Wonder if she felt as jazzed as I did when, at around age 14, I saw this in New Orleans at the Orpheum Theatre.

Radio Active: White House Down

I will be talking about Die Hard in the White House... er, I mean, White House Down with fellow Houston Film Critics Society member Dustin Chase at 12 noon CT Saturday on Livin' Large. You can listen to a live downstream of the show at the News 92 Houston website.

Rabbits and Pythons, living together!

Back when I first viewed Monty Python and the Holy Grail decades ago, I thought that killer rabbit looked awfully familiar. Now I see that someone finally has traced its bloodline (so to speak) in this Night of the Lepus trailer mash-up. (Hat-tip to Jeff Leroy.)

Silent General inspires Lone Ranger?

If you've never seen Buster Keaton's The General -- or even if you have, but not recently -- you might want to take a close look at the classic 1927 silent comedy before you see Gore Verbinski's reboot of The Lone Ranger. Because, trust me, it's pretty dang obvious that both Verbinski and lead players Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer spent a long time scrutinizing Keaton's masterwork before they started filming their seriocomic western epic -- which climaxes with an extended and elaborate chase sequence that plays like a wink-wink homage to the full-throttle locomotion of Keaton's enduringly influential flick.

True, Keaton never rode a fiery white horse through the passenger car of a speeding train, as Armie Hammer does in Verbinski's movie. But, on the hand, Keaton never relied on CGI. And he did do all of his own stunts.

By the way: Looks like Depp also learned a lot simply by studying the graceful acrobatics and incredulous double takes of The Great Stone Face. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if Depp soon signs on for a Buster Keaton biopic. With all due respect to the late, great Donald O'Connor, I strongly suspect Depp would be a better fit in the lead role.

For all you bloggers already handicapping the Oscar race: Don't forget about... Sharknado

The funny thing is, just the other day, I was thinking: "Gee, I wonder what John Heard has been up to lately." Unfortunately, this isn't the long-awaited prequel to Cutter's Way.

R.I.P.: Richard Matheson (1926-2013)

It feels like I’ve been seeing movies scripted by – and/or adapted from books or stories written by – Richard Matheson all my life. Maybe because, well, I have. But that isn’t the only reason I find it difficult to imagine a world without him. While I would like to offer my sincere condolences to his family and friends, I strongly suspect that his death this week at age 87 will do little or nothing to end the ongoing flood of films and TV dramas that others adapt from his works.

The Incredible Shrinking Man (script and novel) and his oft-filmed novel I Am Legend arguably are his best-known works, followed by his classic teleplays for The Twilight Zone (including “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” later recycled in Twilight Zone: The Movie) and Star Trek. But mention also must be made of his enduringly influential script for Steven Spielberg’s Duel, the lean and mean 1971 TV-movie (based on Matheson’s own story) that impacts you as simply and efficiently as a blunt instrument.

I’d also like to give shout-outs to his three Edgar Allen Poe adaptations for Roger Corman – one seriously spooky (The Pit and the Pendulum), another splendidly silly (The Raven -- somewhat deceptively sold in this trailer), the third a bit of both (Tales of Terror) – which I saw at an impressionable age, back when Castle of Frankenstein was my favorite magazine in the whole wide world. I continue to remember the movies, and the magazine, quite fondly. (In fact, I occasionally show the "Black Cat" segment from Tales of Terror to scriptwriting students as a good example of "loose" adaptation of literary source material.)
And while I can’t claim I’ve ever been a big fan, many incurable romantics still swear by the 1980 sci-fi/fantasy romance Somewhere in Time, the script for which Matheson adapted from his 1975 novel Bid Time Return. I’ll give the movie this much: Lead player Christopher Reeve was nowhere else ever more effective, or more affecting, as a non-super-powered protagonist.
Matheson also scripted an impressive 1973 TV version of Dracula – starring Jack Palance – with a slight but unmistakable touch of Sergio Leone to it. (In this version, Dracula periodically gazes at a portrait of a lost loved one in his chiming musical pocket watch – not unlike Lee Van Cleef in For a Few Dollars More.) Unfortunately, when it was set to premiere on Oct. 12, 1973, it had to be pre-empted (and later shifted to the following February) for then-President Richard Nixon’s introduction of Gerald Ford to replace the resigned-in-disgrace Spiro Agnew as Vice President.
Of course, this allowed me to joke for years afterward that I watched the telecast for a good ten minutes before realizing that Nixon wasn’t Dracula…

Lysistrata Jones is ready to Give It Up! for her close-up

Back in 2010, I reviewed for Variety the Dallas Theater Center world premiere of a richly amusing musical comedy based loosely -- very, very loosely -- on Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, the 2,000-year-old Greek play about women who boldly wage a peace campaign by withholding sex from their warrior husbands. (Western fans take note: The play previously inspired The Second Greatest Sex, a 1955 movie musical starring George Nader and, no joke, Mamie Van Doren.) The show -- then aptly titled Give It Up! -- struck me as a spirited delight, one that I described in my review as a "funny, frothy mix of pep, pop and wink-wink naughtiness." I also noted that it "could eventually make the move to Broadway and possibly a subsequent big-screen reiteration."

As it turned out, the show, subsequently re-titled Lysistrata Jones, eventually did make it to Broadway -- and even earned what's known in the trade as a "money review" from The New York Times. (The above photo, featuring Patti Murin -- a veteran of the original DTC premiere -- Josh Segarra and other cast members, is from the New York production.) Unfortunately, it lasted only for 34 previews and 30 regular performances on the Great White Way. (Even so, an original cast album -- featuring a contribution from Jennifer Holliday -- was recorded and released.) But never mind: According to my Variety colleague Justin Kroll, it looks like the second part of my prediction also is coming true, thanks to Houston-born filmmaker Andy Fickman.

Gosh, I haven't been that good at prognosticating since I predicted great things (eventually) for Office Space.

Joe Leydon: Model citizen or runaway juror?

Did my civic duty and showed up today -- but wasn't actually selected to serve on a jury. Probably just as well: I wouldn't have wanted to make legal history by being the first juror to demand capital punishment for a Class-C misdemeanor. (Yeah, I know: I'm not nearly as sympathetic when the defendant isn't a member of my spectacularly untidy family.) BTW: The Honorable Russ Ridgway actually remembered me from my days at The Houston Post, and expressed regret that the newspaper shut down in 1995 -- indicating that, in addition to being a singularly astute jurist, he is a man of impeccable taste. And he seemed genuinely amused when I suggested that someone in his position might be especially intrigued by The Bling Ring.

You're only as good as your last picture

Guess what movie the NBC publicists chose to "identify" Donald Sutherland on their website page for Crossing Lines? (Hint: It ain't M*A*S*H.)