More Monkey Business

Got curious a few minutes ago, and that's always dangerous. So, I ventured off the path of finding monkey movies and decided I'd take a stroll through what sort of monkey business is playing on the tube. Here goes:

Looks like BBC America is monkeying around with some monkey and ape shows. First up, we have a show called All About Apes coming on BBCAM 8 AM to 9 AM on 2/3/13. And, it is, aptly enough, all about apes. Looks like a documentary on the ape family. Wonder if I'll recognize anyone?

Next we have Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), which I haven't seen yet, coming up this Saturday on one of the HBO channels from 2:10 to 4 PM. The apes take revenge for all the testing we've done on them. Not to mention all those years spent with organ grinders.

Then, we have the companion piece to All About Apes on BBCAM from 9 to 10 AM, also on 2/3/13.

Hmm, this sounds.... odd. Dana Carvey has a show called Dana Carvey: Squatting Monkeys (?) this Saturday, from 12 to 1 PM, on another of the HBO channels. With a title like that...

But, the title I like the best is My Child is a Monkey (Hey, I resemble that remark!), on the WILD channel, 2/15/13, from 5 to 6 PM, all about people who adopt monkeys as pets, treating them as though they were children, and calling them "monkids". Now, that's just plain weird. It's not like they're cats. I mean, monkeys can dress themselves. But, now, our cats, we spend a lot of time shopping for their little clothes, and getting their gourmet foods, and.... uh, well, uh... never mind.

Well, enough monkey business for now. I'll get back on track soon and down to the serious business of monkey movies again. You know, important stuff.

 

And, remember, folks, leave your comments on my blog about your favorite monkey movies.

'til next time... Adios.

Monkeys and Other People

Everyone loves monkeys, right? And, what better than monkey movies? Problem is, I can’t find a really good list. So, I’m starting it right here. It’s gonna take some time to compile, but, don’t worry, I’ll alternate by writing non-monkey posts, too. So, here we go.

And, I'm gonna ask for your help. Anyone reading my blog, if you have a monkey movie you love, want to see, or plan on making, post a comment, please. At some point, down the road, I'll have everyone vote on their favorites.

One qualification, though. I want funny monkeys, or action-packed monkeys, or scary monkeys. And, all fiction, please. I don't want any where I'm gonna get all depressed. I love monkeys and I want this to be a fun post. Let's keep it light.

King Kong (1933) – Yep, let’s pull out the big guns first by featuring a big monkey. I still love this one and it's perhaps my favorite. The story is pure "beauty-and-the-beast", and Kong is as cool as they get.

Planet of the Apes (1968). The original, of course, with Charlton “Get your hands off me…” Heston. My second favorite. No comparison to the other one, which is:

Planet of the Apes (2001). I thought Mark Wahlberg could've done better, though I really liked Tim Roth. Wasn't Mark's fault. I didn't think much of the script in this one.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Not really a monkey film as the apes in their pre-evolving state were only featured for a short time. But, they were great costumes, and the actors in the costumes truly moved apelike. Yeah, I'm cheating here, but ya gotta love the monkeys here. It's when they start evolving, learning how to use tools, and knock each other over the head, that the trouble starts.

Okay, everyone else's turn now.  Let's get your monkey comments in.

'til next time... Adios.

Star Wars Numero Seven

I saw where J. J. Abrams, one of the recent wunderkinds, will sit in the captain’s chair for the next Star Wars movie. According to the film news mill, since Disney bought Lucasfilm, the next three films in the saga will finally emerge. The long lost dream from back in ’77 of a 9-part series. These next three will supposedly take off some time (haven’t heard yet how many years) after Return of the Jedi. From what I’ve heard, we’ll see Luke as a Jedi master, Leia, too, perhaps, and Han and Leia with little Jedi juniors running around.

I do have some questions, though. Abrams’ successes mostly concern him as a producer. He’s had some success as a director, especially with Super 8 (2011) and Star Trek (2009). Much as I loved the new Star Trek, he could’ve tightened it up (at least he didn't call it Star Trek: The Second Motion Picture). Loved the new batch of actors, great action sequences, the storyline, well, I always have trouble when we get the whole time loop thing in there. Spock Old and Spock Young, both existing at the same time? Wouldn’t that do something bad to the space-time continuum? Ah, well, it was still a really good film. And, I hope J. J. can pull off Star Wars part Seven. Good thing is, maybe he can keep check on Mr. Lucas and keep him from creating the mess he made with Star Wars One, Two, and Three.

I'm hopeful, though. Abrams had a truly tough job with firing back up the Star Trek franchise, which had been dying on the vine for a long while. What I hope is that he brings back to Star Wars a simple, powerful story, like in the original Star Wars, throwing in some of the darkness of Empire and Return. So, let's see what he does. First things first, though. Don't just call it Star Wars: Episode VII.

'til next time... Adios.

Waaa! Ricky!

Where have all the funny ladies gone? There's a great series on KET called Pioneers of Television that reaches back to the earliest days, even before I was around, and shows the origins of sitcoms, the soaps, kids' shows, and cop shows, just to name a few. The one we watched the other night was titled "Funny Ladies".

They listed most all my favorites, although they left out some. But, for an hour-long show, I think they did a good job of including some of the powerhouses -- Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller, Carol Burnett, Moms Mabley (anyone remember her? You pretty much have to be a Boomer to remember Moms.), Betty White, Mary Tyler Moore, and Joan Rivers. Some of them, especially Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers, really pushed the envelope, going where no female comic had gone before.

What was interesting was hearing how they got started. Some started off in completely different entertainment career choices than what they ended up in. Carol Burnett started off trying to sing on Broadway; Mary Tyler Moore was a dancer prior to The Dick Van Dyke Show, and had never done comedy. Joan Rivers did more dramatic work in the beginning. Others, like Lucille Ball, started off with a long history of physical comedy, honing her craft with everyone from the Marx Brothers to The Three Stooges.

Check out local times and listings for upcoming Pioneers of Television episodes at:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/pioneers-of-television/

 

'til next time... Adios.

What a Disaster

I'm currently reading a thorough book on disaster films titled, appropriately, "Disaster Movies" by Glenn Kay and Michael Rose. The disaster movie category is yet another genre, or perhaps, sub-genre, of films, the big genre being 'action/adventure'. And, I'm gonna run with scissors here and produce a sub-sub-genre called 'schlocky-fun disaster movies'.

Here's why. Serious disaster films, which do exist (think A Night to Remember (1958), the REAL movie about the Titanic, an excellent film), stand apart from the fun disaster flicks. And, like many truly great movies, defy genre. Slapping a movie in a specific genre sometimes sets it up as a certain type, almost a cliche, occasionally an unintentional spoof of itself. So, my schlocky-fun disaster movies, of which there are a bazillion (Meteor (1979), The Towering Inferno (1974), 2012 (2009)), fit neatly in their boxes, but can't be taken seriously.

At any rate, the book is a good read, and I'm learning the titles of several potentially-hysterical disastrous films that I'll need to watch and throw on my blog.

'til next time... Adios.

The Director Who Blew Himself Up

I see so many movies where I can predict what comes next. Oh, he did that, so she’ll do that, and then they shoot this guy, etc. Not so with Quentin Tarantino’s latest genre-buster, Django Unchained (2012). Here, anything can happen. With the ideal combo of great writing, acting, directing, and cinematography, literally, I could not tell you what would happen next. And, that’s one of the reasons this movie is so great and so much fun.

This is a revenge movie. I’m finally getting the idea that Quentin does pretty much all revenge. At least the few movies I’ve seen of his. Admittedly, I’ve only seen a handful, and those most recent, including the Kill Bill duology (2003 and 2004), Inglourious Basterds (2009), and now Django Unchained. I saw Pulp Fiction (1994) when it first came out and didn’t care for it, so I probably need to take another look at it, especially now that I “get” Tarantino. Maybe I still won’t like it, I don’t know, but I need to give it another watch.

We start off somewhere in Texas, head up to Tennessee, then finally down to Mississippi, where we spend most of the movie. So, since this takes place in the South, is it a Southern?

Blaxploitation? Sure. Spaghetti Western. Check. But, this film is genreless. Basically, though, it starts off showing a group of slaves chained together, led on a brutal march by two slave traders. And, along comes this “dentist” driving a horse-drawn cart with a gigantic tooth on the top.

Okay, I've run out of time for tonight and I have a lot more to say about this film.  More tomorrow.

'til next time... Adios.

An Evening of Art

What a fantastic night this past Friday, January 18th, at the Weber Gallery, a part of Louisville's Council on Developmental Disabilities. From 5:30 to 9 that night, the gallery hosted a reception for a new art exhibit, Women Work. My wife, Wendy Currier (Wendy Currier is also Wendy Zumwalt), displayed 8 of her pen and ink drawings, along with several other women artists.

A wonderfully diverse selection of work demonstrating women, strong women, in various roles. The subject matter was as diverse as the media -- sculpture, mixed media, pottery, photography, oils and acrylics, all showing women in powerful roles and occupations. The reception was well-attended, with plenty of good food and drinks for all.

The exhibit will stay up until March 22nd. For more information, contact Carol Mueller at the Weber Gallery at 502-584-1239.

Check out their web site, too:

http://www.councilondd.org/?page_id=379

'til next time... Adios.