SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Tagged Articles at Cinematical

What's this? You've waited until the very last second to get your holiday shopping done? No worries! Welcome to our ultra last-minute shopping guide, aimed at keeping you in the good graces of everyone on your lists this year. A quick trip to a nearby retailer, or a few clicks and some online shopping, and you should be right as rain. Or, alternatively, if you're stacking up the holiday loot and collecting a lot of gift cards and cash, you can happily spend them on the items in this list.

While this list tends to be fairly Blu-ray heavy, the standard definition of many movies and shows on this list will do you just fine if you haven't yet joined the ranks of the highly defined. Read on for our list of last minute ideas, broken down for you in seven handy categories.

For the Comedy Junkie

Everyone spent the summer talking about the sleeper comic hit The Hangover, and the Blu-ray that just came out delivers those laughs all over again. It has video commentary from director Todd Philips, and cast members Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, and Bradley Cooper, 100 more photos from the missing camera, a gag reel and more, but where it really delivers is the script and the acting. I have to wonder what this film would have been like without Galifianakis in it, and the only answer I can come up with is "direct to video bin." The guy is comedy gold, as can be seen in his "Between Two Ferns" talk show.




However, another set that's flown in under the radar is the incredible awesome Monty Python megadocumentary, Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut). It's six hours long, covers each member of the Python troupe from childhood and through the Python days, features new interviews with dozens of comedians on the influence of Monty Python, and of course interviews with all of the members (except Graham Chapman, obviously). As Terry Jones so eloquently put it, "This is the documentary I always hoped that would be made -- something so complete and so faithful to the truth that I don't need to watch it." Highly recommended.

Now that Black Friday has come and gone and folks have to start making sane if vaguely desperate decisions what to get their friends and loved ones for the holidays, it seemed appropriate that Cinematical put together a list of a few items that might help cross a few names off your list. Scouring the last few months for suggestions, as well as carefully checking the slate of releases in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day, we came up with ten suggestions that will make the space under your tree seem a little less empty, and should hopefully help their recipients' lives feel a little more full - of entertainment, at the very least.

In alphabetical order:

Advertising company The Foundry is in hot water with Disney over a risque booze ad using Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that shows the princess in bed with her little friends as the obviously nude and rumple-haired "Ho White" blows an after-sex smoke ring. According to the British publication Telegraph, "the loveable dwarfs Sleepy, Happy and Doc are rebranded Filthy, Smarmy and Randy - supposedly to represent different types of drinkers." (I'm wondering why Grumpy is still grumpy, but perhaps it's because he's off at the other end of the bed? I digress.)

Disney was rather displeased with this ad for Australia's Jamieson's Raspberry Ale, which uses an "anything but sweet" tagline. (The official website is down.) The agency claims that it's had "a little bit of contact" with Snow White license-holder Disney, but I have a feeling it's been more than a little. I mean, Disney releases those classic DVDs every, what, five years and then closes the vaults once again?

Generally North American advertisements are more prudish when it comes to sex, so while the general US consumer (like, say, me) might find this ad stupid and sexist, it seems the greater concern is the copyright issue. However, It's highly unlikely that Disney would have licensed the image of Snow White to be used for this ad campaign, anyway.

However, slutty Snow White costumes for Halloween? I guess Disney licensed those! (Ahem, see below ...)

If Hollywood's vast abundance of remakes, spin-offs and sequels weren't enough to kill your appetite for spending money on "new" entertainment, it seems like almost every one of these releases finds its way onto home video in multiple forms. Sometimes the studios issue different iterations of a film all at the same time, in a thankful moment of honesty that at least allows consumers the option which version they want. More often, though, the studios will re-release, expand and double-dip their top earners time and time again in order to wring out a few more dollars from the less dull entries in their back catalog. And especially now, during the still-early days of Blu-ray, there's even more new and different editions being released in stores, some of which are honest-to-Jah improvements on the presentation and packaging, while others are merely the next generation of mediocrity.

As such, welcome to the second installment of "Making The (Up) Grade," a comparison of some of the more high-profile (or maybe just personally-preferred) blu-ray releases with their previous home-video iterations. This week, we're taking a look at Snow White, which Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is releasing in a three-disc Diamond Edition.

Year One (Unrated)
The marketing made it look like it was all about Jack Black and Michael Cera as primitive cavemen, when in reality it's very much a Biblical comedy. In either guise, it fails to fire on all cylinders, never igniting into a full-blown laugh romp. Still, Black and Cera display enough rambunctious charm to keep the proceedings moving along nicely. And maybe the unrated edition will restore some much-needed adult-oriented humor. Also on Blu-ray. Rent it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

Imagine That
As I wrote in my review, Eddie Murphy gives a very warm, very funny performance as a stressed-out financial executive trying to be a better parent to his seven-year-old daughter, but the film springs to life only at rare moments, which are surrounded by so much fatty tissue that you fear the movie will die of a heart attack before it huffs and puffs its way to the end credits. Also on Blu-ray. Skip it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

My Life in Ruins
No, no, Nia! The unexpected star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding has been struggling in vain to recreate that magical lightning strike, but not even a trip to Greece could interest audiences -- or critics. "It often feels flat and forced," wrote Jette Kernion, "and even the landscapes seemed blah." Also on Blu-ray. Skip it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

Also out: Trick 'r Treat, The Children, Ken Burns: National Parks - America's Best Idea.

It was only a matter of time... The first beloved Disney classic to hit the world of Blu-ray was Sleeping Beauty. Scott called it "Simply Aurorable." Blu-ray.com called it a "must-own" title. One would imagine that the next up would be another famous princess, but instead, Disney decided to revel in puppetry with Pinnochio. But it was only a matter of time before the tiaras came back.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that one of the other famous princesses is finally getting the crisp, Blu-ray treatment. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first animated classic from Walt, the first DVD to sell a huge million in one day, will hit Blu-ray shelves on October 6. That date will bring a special combo pack that includes a DVD, and then on November 24, a two-disc standard DVD will be released -- just in time for Christmas! Like Sleeping Beauty, this release will be full of features, many of which are new, and weren't on the first and only DVD release in 2001.

I never had any doubt that the world of Sleeping Beauty would look gorgeous on Blu-ray, but it will be interesting to see how the format handles super-old animation like what's included in Snow White. The DVD made it "pop," but what will Blu-ray make of those pesky dwarves?

And when will Cinderella mop herself Blu?

The thing that totally sucks about applying for a job is that you may face rejection -- and depending on which industry you're looking to work in, that rejection may come in the form of a letter. Some rejection letters then become more popular than others, especially if the person being rejected turned out to be a famous author (see this NPR piece about that) or ... a woman. See, back in 1938 it was awfully hard to find good work as a woman -- mainly because most (if not all) of the sought-after jobs were being given to men.

For example, a rejection letter (circa 1938) to a Miss Mary V. Ford from Walt Disney Productions was recently discovered, and considering how far we've come since then, it's kinda funny to read the blatant-but-awfully-nice-about-it sexism on display here. Especially hilarious is how they put a nice, sweet image of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs up top, but then underneath the signature is a picture of the wicked witch. What were you trying to say, Disney? It's important to note that the Walt Disney Co. has since changed their ways and currently both men and women (of all shapes and sizes) can certainly apply and be considered for any job they please.

Click below to read the letter in full.

"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." - Groucho Marx

That famous line is one of Groucho's best, but it is always attributed as being un-sourced. Did he actually say it? Was he in fact mis-quoted? Where did the line come from? I guess it doesn't matter. But if you're planning to dress up as Groucho for Halloween this year, you'll be wanting to memorize some of his lines, because doing an impersonation is necessary for certain costumes, such as that one. Last year I dressed up as Harpo instead of Groucho, because I'm terrible at remembering exact lines, always mis-quoting people and characters; for Harpo all I needed was to close my mouth and honk my horn.

Anyway, there's a new list over at The List Universe laying out the 15 most mis-quoted or mis-remembered lines in cinema, and I thought it would come in handy to any of you dressing up as movie characters this October 31. Going as Dracula? Don't say, "I want to suck your blood." Or as Tarzan? Don't incorrectly utter the words, "Me Tarzan, you Jane." Other famously mis-quoted lines come from Casablanca, Star Wars, Star Trek, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Frankenstein, Apollo 13, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, She Done Him Wrong, Blonde Crazy and White Heat (poor, mis-quoted Cagney!). Sure, a few of them are just barely off the mark, and I think the list is being a bit picky with the Forrest Gump quote, but nonetheless these are lines we think were spoken, yet they never were -- except the Sherlock Holmes one, it seems.

Of course, most of the films come from a time before we could re-watch movies over and over again on VHS or DVD. However, a few were released in the modern, repeat-viewable era. Either way, it is strange how all of these mis-quotes became so commonly attributed and how they exist so prominently within the popular consciousness -- enough that parodies tend to mis-parody the mis-quotes, such as one of my favorite lines from UHF, "Badgers? Badgers? We don't need no stinkin' badgers." I guess maybe it wouldn't be as funny if the movie had correctly imitated The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by instead using the longer, " "Badgers? We ain't got no badgers. We don't need no badgers. I don't have to show you any stinkin' badgers!"