There are 87 posts filed in The Vault (this is page 7 of 13).
When you Google: “When did sequels become popular?” one of the first results you find is the Friday the 13th (franchise) Wikipedia page. Though I wouldn’t go as far as saying Friday the 13th was solely responsible for the birth of what I call “The Never-ending Franchise” it definitely played an important part.
Happy Friday the 13th! In honor of this superstitious holiday, I have taken it upon myself to watch the Friday the 13th series. That’s right. For the next 13 weeks, I will be reviewing a Friday the 13th film every Friday. Why? Because It’s a franchise I’ve never given the time of day and what better time to start then on Friday the 13th? So strap in, it’s gonna be a long ride… to Hell!
Can you smell it? The aroma of beer foam, hot wings and sweaty American pride? Yes, football season is back, and what better way to bring in the season then with my take on one of the best football stories ever told. Not only because it shows the bonding power of sports, but because it’s true…. all of it.
Thank god it’s Friday! Um, er, I mean Tuesday. Sorry, with Labor Day Weekend I was away from the site for a bit, though I did start working on a post last Thursday. Seems like a shame to let it go to waste, so here it is.
It’s rare that an actor can be so beloved for multiple roles. Some people will remember Gene Wilder as cynical chocolatier Willy Wonka, others—such as myself—as Mel Brook’s most treasured madcap pawn. Yet Gene had a third on-screen life as one half of cinema’s most underrated comedy team. I’m not sure who decided to pair the sweet Gene Wilder with Richard Pryor, one of the edgiest comics who will ever walk this Earth, but it worked, particularly in Arthur Hiller’s 1976 classic Silver Streak.
R.I.P VHS
If you haven’t heard this month, Funai Electric, the last major manufacturer of VCR’s will close its production lines forever. This isn’t much of a surprise considering the last major film released on VHS came out eleven years ago—it was A History of Violence, btw. To most people, this won’t mean much. DVDs and Blu-Rays look and sound better. They also have special features, don’t need rewinding, and don’t require you to ride your finger on that goddamn tracking dial every five minutes. It makes me shudder just thinking about it.
If you think it’s perverse that Seth Rogen and Co. have made what is essentially Toy Story with F-Bombs, consider the fact Ralph Bakshi made an animated film far more perverse and profane over forty years ago. I’m talking about Fritz the Cat, the first ever X-rated animated film and one of the first (if not the first) animated film made for adults. Based on the comic strip by Robert Crumb, Fritz is a feisty feline in search of sex in the big city at the height of counterculture. Fritz is so crass and devious, he makes Bugs Bunny look like Mother Theresa. It’s crazy to think anyone would consider the character for a feature length film and yet it happened.
P.S. It was hard to find pics for this post that did not feature nude animals, so I apologize for the lack of quality images.
In honor (or dishonor) of Suicide Squad, I decided to watch an earlier DC attempt at an anti-hero spinoff with 2004’s Catwoman. Directed by an up and coming filmmaker known only as “Pitof” and starring Halle Berry hot off an Oscar win, Catwoman is one of the weirdest superhero movies ever made.
