TheBluesBrothers Tagged Articles at Cinematical

If you are somebody who is a little 'cinematically inclined', then I'm sure one of the questions you ask any new friend or foe is "So, what are some of your favorite movies?" Now I'm going to be honest here and tell you that if I'm trying to impress someone new, I might leave out a few of the less than 'high-minded' selections in favor of earning a little cool quotient by name dropping something underground or foreign. But, we've all got our dirty little secrets, and over at The Guardian Film Blog, Ryan Gilbey has taken the first step by admitting his top five embarrassing film obsessions.

Coming in at number one for Gilbey was John Landis' The Blues Brothers. As it turns out, Gilbey's love for the blues comedy faded as soon as he passed puberty and now his beloved film is "flat and joyless". But some of his other choices might surprise you, like Conan The Barbarian (which earned him plenty of commenter heat), and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (you can read the full list over at The Guardian). A little while back, Elisabeth bravely admitted that she was the owner of a DVD copy of Baz Luhrmann's romantic epic Australia (and what a relief it was to discover I wasn't the only one who fell prey to the infamous 'bucket scene') But, as shameful as that purchase might be, I think I might have it beat. Because, for my top five embarrassing favorites, unlike Gilbey, I'm not blaming them on my youth or nostalgia. Nope, my love of these five movies is just downright mortifying, so let's begin, shall we?

After the jump; My most humiliating movie favorites...

This might sound strange to some of our readers, but they made movies all the way back in 1980. For example, one of them was called Popeye. Another was called Oh, God! Book II. But, more importantly, a third one was called The Blues Brothers. The very first (very best) "Saturday Night Live spinoff movie," The Blues Brothers was born unto the world on June 16th, 1980, in the city it virtually destroyed: Chicago, Illinois.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I was a kid I had a big handful of "Oh YES, I'm definitely begging to stay up late to see THAT one again!" movies. King Kong and The Wizard of Oz, obviously, but also weird stuff like 9 to 5, Silver Streak, The Fog, 1941, and (um) Popeye. But The Blues Brothers was probably #1 on the list, because it was dryly funny, it had a ton of great musical numbers, and it had more car crashes than an entire season of The Dukes of Hazzard. To me, this was cinematic perfection. (Plus the flick is kind of a "soft R," which means I didn't lose all that much when I saw it on television.)

But really, who doesn't love this movie? The only tough part for me was paring it down to one damn scene. Do I pick the rousing closing credits rendition of Jailhouse Rock? Perhaps the maniacal car chase through a MALL? But that James Brown church number is awesome ... ugh, and so is that great multi-dance sequence outside the diner in which Aretha belts out Think? Oh, but I love love love the elaborately over-the-top car wrecks, as if John Landis is staging a cool stunt while satirizing cool stunts at the same time! And Cab Calloway's number! Ugh, it's all so awesome.

So I'll just leave you with this simple sequence, one that epitomizes the humor, the style, and the soul of this classic comedy. Enjoy.

This week's Sex and the City movie is hardly the first cinematic continuation of a TV show, but there really haven't been that many. Usually when we think of film adaptations of TV series, we're thinking of remakes. But there are a few movies that pick up where their respective show ends, whether as a resuming story, a prequel or something totally random and barely connected.

And of course, we keep hearing about other possible series-to-film resumptions: Lost, 24 and Arrested Development movies have all been discussed, and they may indeed happen. So, while there isn't a long list of predecessors to model their transitions on, I've compiled seven titles that did it right in some way or another. Hopefully, for the sake of the fans of Carrie and co., Sex and the City will be enough of a success to make number eight.


Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

People may enjoy the second installment best, but this is the one that started the film franchise, officially reigniting a series that had been canceled ten years prior. Though the original show had its share of fans, enough to eventually get this film produced, it wasn't initially considered a success. And interestingly enough, neither was the movie thought of as a complete hit, despite its $80 million gross and the fact that it spawned another ten film installments (and additional series).

In the event that an Arrested Development movie gets made, it could be seen as similar to Star Trek, since the TV show was initially a failure yet it has gained a larger following since its cancellation, enough to call for production of a feature follow-up. However, there's also a good chance that it will also be a failure on the big screen, like was Serenity, the cinematic continuation of the TV series Firefly.
tion more than simply an adaptation.

Those of you anxious to see Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac singing and dancing (without the aid of performance doubles) will be happy to know that Soul Men has not been affected by the strike. According to Variety, the musical road trip comedy is set to begin production January 21 with Undercover Brother director Malcolm D. Lee at the helm. Not to be confused with that beloved 1986 classic Soul Man starring C. Thomas Howell and Rae Dawn Chong, Soul MEN sounds more like a loose mix of The Blues Brothers and It Happened One Night (which one is Claudette Colbert, I wonder?). Written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone (Man of the House), the movie will follow two estranged backup singers who are reunited after 20 years to pay homage to their recently deceased band leader.

It's pretty cool right now to get traditionally non-singing actors to perform their own vocals in musicals. Of course, it's a bit more exciting to think about Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd than Jackson and Mac in Soul Men. Chances are, the most interesting thing about this movie will be the few moments we get to actually see the duo performing, while the rest of the road trip banter will be uninspired and tedious. Maybe it's just easy to be skeptical because of Jackson's last antagonistic team up, with Eugene Levy, or Mac's team up with any one (rather than any eleven, or twelve, or thirteen). Considering not even the Coen Brothers with George Clooney were able to salvage a movie scripted by Ramsey and stone, there simply can't be much hope for Lee, Jackson and Mac.

His main legacy is his music, sure, and few will be remembering him today for his contributions to cinema, but James Brown was a big part of the movies. And he will continue to be a big part of the movies for years to come despite his death from pneumonia early Christmas morning.

Aside from the two blaxploitation films he scored (Black Caesar and Slaughter's Big Rip-Off), there are over 100 movies that Brown's music has been heard in. Many of the songs used for these soundtracks seem in retrospect to have been created solely for the benefit of being licensed to Hollywood. How many movies can you think of that featured "I Got You (I Feel Good)" or "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"? I think one of the first CDs I ever owned as a kid was the soundtrack to Rocky IV, which featured "Living in America", so Brown's film legacy is something that I'm always conscious of.

The "Godfather of Soul" didn't only lend a song to Rocky IV, he even appeared in the movie, as himself. He also showed up in Doctor Detroit, The Tuxedo, The Hire: Beat the Devil (one of those BMW shorts/ads), Undercover Brother, Holy Man and Ski Party. And that isn't even including documentaries. As far as getting to play roles that aren't technically himself, there is of course his character Reverend Cleophus James in The Blues Brothers, which he reprised for Blues Brothers 2000.

A new documentary called Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown, which is about James Brown and his fourth wife, singer Tommy Rae Brown, is currently in post-production and set for release next year.