New York Film Fest Coverage Coming Soon!

In the next day or so, we'll be launching our coverage of the 46th Annual New York Film Festival.

The Fest kicks off this Friday with a screening of Wes Anderson's latest- The Darjeeling Limted. Anderson also shot a prequel short Hotel Chavlier, which will screen at the fest, but not with the film when it goes into regular release on October 5.

Have no fear. While you're waiting for our coverage to begin, you can check out the short over at iTunes for free.

Changes On The Horizon

Just a quick note to let you readers know that there will be some interesting changes in store, premiering this Tuesday, August 1. Stop back then to check them out!

AIRPLANE! vs ZERO HOUR!

One of my all time favorite movies is the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker disaster spoof Airplane!. If you by chance haven't seen the film, there's no real way to describe the film's offbeat, random, out-of-left field sense of humor. It's something you'll just have to experience for yourself.

I first saw the movie sometime in the early 1980s, at my friend's house on HBO. It was a comic revelation to us and for months afterwards we would set each other up with lines like "Surely you don't mean it," and getting the expected "Yes I do. And don't call me Shirley!" in response.

It wasn't until around the time I was in high school or college that I learned that the movie was actually patterened after a 1957 b-movie called Zero Hour!, scripted by none other than Alex Roots Hailey! Finding it on television proved impossible and it never got a release on VHS.

Last week though, Zero Hour! finally got a home video release as part of Warner Brothers "Cult Camp Classics" series. And the similarities between Zero Hour! and Airplane! are amazing! Where the original film reached for dramatic tension, Airplane! grabs laughs using the exact same lines. The Zucker-Abrams-Zucker team knew that the original was pure soapy melodrama, and they played it as straight as possible, knowing that's where the laughs were.

Don't take my word for it though. Check out these two scene-by-scene comparisons that recently showed up on YouTube.

SONG OF THE SOUTH- Finally?!

It's been a question that seems to have been on Disney fans' lips since the first DVD players rolled off the assembly lines and into retail outlets over 10 years ago- “When is Disney going to release Song Of The South on DVD?”

Well, it looks like they just might have an answer soon enough.

Over at the eponymous JimHillMedia.com, Jim Hill addresses just such a possibility in his weekly “Why For?” column. It seems that since John Lasseter has put a stop to all the direct-to-home video sequels that were being produced, the studio’s home video division is looking for product to replace their cancelled titles and Song Of The South is a guaranteed seller.

For those who don’t know, Jim Hill is perhaps the internet’s best resource for behind-the-scenes information on the House of Mouse. While Hill is definitely in the realm of speculation, his is probably the best educated guess available. It’s one I would certainly put some stock into.

You may recall this past April, we reported that during an appearance at the Philadelphia Film Festival, Walt Disney’s nephew Roy E. Disney had stated he was pushing for a release of the film on DVD.

All My Heroes Have Been Japanese Cowboys

The folks over at DoubleViking.com, a sort of on-line variation of magazines like Maxim, have published an article announcing something that I've known for the past 23 years-

Real Men Love The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!

To be sure, some of the reasons the writer gives are a bit tongue in cheek. But he is correct in stating "If you haven’t watched it, then you are seriously missing out on a cinematic gem."

I first saw Buckaroo Banzai during its incredibly short theatrical release in the fall of 1984. It was on my first date ever and though my love affair with Sheri P. went the way of most high school romances, my love affair with the movie has continued to this date. As a high school sophmore with no idea of what he wanted to do with his future, it was a revelation to see a character, as personified by Peter Weller, who didn't choose one path in life, but walked many- musician, scientist, surgeon, adventurer. Definitely a reassuring message to a kid stuck in the middle of taking all sorts of college and career apptitude tests and being told by guidence counsellors, teachers and the like that everything you do now is going to HAUNT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!

It was also one of the first movies that inspired me to pick up a pen and try my hand at writing. I wound up getting a couple of Buckaroo fan fiction short stories published, one of which netted me a letter from Peter Weller himself!

If you haven't checked out Buckaroo Banzai, drop it into your NetFlix/Blockbuster rental queue or head out to your local DVD rental establishment and pick it up. It's a film that, despite being firmly cemented in the mid-80s New Wave esthetic, holds up well today.

And remember, "No matter where you go... there you are."