LeonardMaltin Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Discuss: "The Best Movie I've Ever Seen in 3-D!"
Filed under: New Releases », Movie Marketing »
I've seen a lot of film critics take swipes at Leonard Maltin for the mini-capsule reviews that are found in his annual reference book. But that's pretty stupid, considering that Mr. Maltin has a team of editors who write those, plus the book is not about deep and insightful film criticism. It's a reference guide for people who want quick info, and it's a damn good one, too. Beyond that, it'd be pretty hard to quantify the excellent work Maltin has done as a film analyst over the years.So I say all that so that you don't think I'm being rude here: Maltin's quote regaring Coraline is "The Best Movie I've Ever Seen in 3-D!," which is the sort of blurb that publicists would kill for. But under a little more scrutiny ... what is Maltin actually saying? That this film is better than Amityville 3, Comin' at Ya!, Friday the 13th Part 3, Jaws 3, The Man Who Wasn't There, Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, My Bloody Valentine, Parasite, Scar, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Spy Kids 3, Starchaser: The Legend of Orin, and Treasure of the Four Crowns ... and I'm not even including all the schlock from the mid'-'50s!
House of Wax (1953) and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) are the closest I could come to quality, but I guess "The Best Movie I've Ever Seen in 3-D since 1954!" is a bit too wordy for the Coraline posters. Maltin is probably including stuff like Beowulf and The Polar Express, but to me it's not a 3-D movie unless it was made specifically (if not solely) for 3-D exhibition. But feel free to argue that point or remind me of some 3-D flicks I forgot to mention. That's what the comments section is for.
Lastly, I still haven't seen Coraline. I know, I suck.
RvB's After Images: Herman, Katnip and Other Gloomy Tunes
Filed under: Animation », Classics », After Image »
Recently down for a week to pick up some kultcha in the "hateful megalopolis," as R. Crumb described Los Angeles, I caught a recurring cabaret night of bad cartoons titled Cartoon Dump! hosted by Jerry Beck, an internationally known authority on animation. Frank Conniff, best known as TV's Frank from Mystery Science Theater 3000, was on hand in costume as "Moodsy," a clinically depressed owl. The slim comedienne Erica Doering played Compost Brite! the cute, lisping dumpster-diving elf who had retrieved from the garbage a bunch of stinky cartoons that the world might be well without. Beck and Company dug up some real lulus. Hard to top was the opening from the 1950s, Paddy the Pelican.
You knew you were in for it right from the cackling theme song, seemingly a version of "The Irish Washerwoman" performed by a demented Canadian goose in duet with an electric organ. The graphics and apparently improvised dialog was like something a brain damaged-child might have come up with if you handed him a microphone and a crayon. You owe it to yourself to leave a few bars of that "Paddy" soundtrack on a friend's cellphone. They'll be looking over their shoulders for months afterwards to see if there's someone stalking them.
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