6 Trailers to Carry Us To March


PCAS

Hi, everyone.  It’s time for another edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers!

1) Youth Aflame (1944)

I love  out-of-control youth films.  It’s one of the oldest genres of exploitation, as can be seen by watching this trailer from 1944.

2) Gambling With Souls (1936)

However, even before youth was aflame, youth was gambling with souls.

3) The Strip-Tease Murder Case (1950)

This trailer has to be included for the title alone.

4) Dark Star (1974)

This was the feature film debut of  director John Carpenter.

5) Tentacles (1977)

Nature goes wild!

6) Escape From New York (1981)

Finally, I had to feature this trailer at least once.  You’re welcome, Arleigh.

What do you think, Trailer Kitty?

annoyed-tabby-cat

6 Trailers for A Week in February


It’s time for another edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers!

1) All The Colors of the Dark (1972)

2) Evils of the Night (1985)

3) Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror (1973)

4) Invasion of the Blood Farmers (1972)

5) Trapped (1982)

6) The Bullet Machine (1969)

What do you think, Trailer Kitty?

Bored Trailer Kitty

6 Trailers For Valentine’s Day


Happy Early Valentine’s Day!  For this week’s edition of Lisa Marie’s Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers, I sent the trailer kitties out with specific orders to find six trailers about love, sex, and romance!

Let’s see if they succeeded.

1) In Love (1983)

2) Maid In Sweden (1971)

3) The Fountain of Love (1966)

4) The Teacher (1974)

5) The Erotic Adventures of Pinocchio (1971)

6) Teenage Mother (1967)

What do you think, Trailer Kitties?

cat-heart

Awwwwwwwwww!

Here Are The WGA Winners!


Hey, Oscar watchers!  The WGA Awards were handed out earlier tonight and the Oscar race has gotten even murkier!  The fact that Her won for best original screenplay isn’t all the unexpected, though a lot of observers had predicted American Hustle would win.  However, the victory of Captain Phillips over The Wolf of Wall Street and Before Midnight was definitely an upset.

(Take note that the acclaimed and Oscar-nominated screenplay for 12 Years A Slave was not eligible for a WGA nomination.)

Below are the winners in the film category.  If you want to see the TV winners, click here.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“American Hustle,” Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell

“Blue Jasmine,” Woody Allen

“Dallas Buyers Club,” Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack

X – “Her,” Spike Jonze

“Nebraska,” Bob Nelson

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“August: Osage County,” screenplay by Tracy Letts based on his play
“Before Midnight,” by Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke; based on characters created by Richard Linklater & Kim Krizan
X – “Captain Phillips,” by Billy Ray; based on the book “A Captain’s Duty” by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty
“Lone Survivor,”  by Peter Berg; based on the book by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson
“The Wolf of Wall Street,” by Terence Winter; based on the book by Jordan Belfort

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

“Dirty Wars,” Jeremy Scahill & David Riker
“Herblock – The Black & The White,” Sara Lukinson & Michael Stevens
“No Place on Earth,” Janet Tobias & Paul Laikin
X – “Stories We Tell,” Sarah Polley
“We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks,” Alex Gibney

Lisa Marie Reviews The Oscar Nominees: Battleground (dir by William Wellman)


I love February.

Why?  Well, first off, we all know that February is the most romantic month of the year.  February is Valentine’s Day, romantic movies, flowers, lingerie, and chocolate.  February is also the month when, in a lead up to the Oscars, TCM devotes a good deal of its programming to showing Oscar nominees of the past.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, one of my dreams is to watch and review every single film that has ever been nominated for best picture. Now, realistically, I’ll never be able to accomplish this goal because the 1929 Best Picture nominee The Patriot is currently a lost film.  But, even if it does mean that I’ll only be able to see 510 out of the 511 nominated films, it’s still a dream that I’m pursuing and, with the help of TCM and the month of February, it’s a dream that’ll come true.

Take, for instance, Battleground.  This 1949 Best Picture nominee (it lost All The King’s Men) recently aired on TCM.  I’m not exactly a fan of war films but, since it was a best picture nominee, I still made sure to DVR and watch it.

Set during the final days of World War II, Battleground follows one platoon of soldiers as they fight and attempt to survive the Battle of the Bulge.  The platoon is made up of the type of characters that we usually expect to find in a WWII film but, fortunately, they’re played by an ensemble of likable actors who all bring their familiar characters to life.  There’s Jim Layton (Marshall Thompson), the newest member of the platoon who nobody wants to run the risk of getting close to.  There’s Holley (Van Johnson), the cheerful soldier who is unexpectedly thrust into a position of leadership that he might not be right for.  Roderiques (Ricardo Montalban) is from Los Angeles and is amazed by the sight of snow.  “Pops” Stazak (George Murphy) is the type of older soldier who you would totally expect to be nicknamed “Pops.”  Bettis (Richard Jaeckel) is scared of combat.  Kippton (Douglas Fowley) spends nearly the entire film looking for his lost teeth.  And finally, of course, there’s the hard-boiled but warm-hearted Sgt. Kinnie (James Whitmore).

In some ways, Battleground is a very conventional film and it’s easy to wonder how it ended up getting nominated for best film of the year.  (Among the eligible films that were not nominated: The Bicycle Thief, Champion, The Fountainhead,  On The Town, Sands of Iwo Jima, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, They Live By Night, and White Heat.)  However, the film’s nomination makes a bit more sense when you consider that it was released just four years after the end of World War II.  It was a film that appealed both to the veterans who were able to relate to the film’s story and to the patriotic spirit of a country that had just defeated the greatest evil of the 20th Century.

Battleground did not exactly make me a fan of war movies but it’s still a well-made and effective film. As opposed to a lot of other war films, Battleground never makes war look like fun.  For the most part, the emphasis is less on strategy and combat and more on the soldiers who are simply trying to survive from day-to-day.  The end result is a film that serves as a moving tribute to the soldiers who fought in World War II.

6 Trailers With Which To End January


It’s time for another edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers!

1) The Giant Claw (1956)

2) Reptilicus (1962)

3) Sex Kittens Go To College (1960)

4) Kronos (1957)

5) Project Moonbase (1953)

6) Conquest of Space (1954)

What do you think, Trailer Kitty?

"Meh!"

“Meh!”

Here are the DGA winners!


The Director’s Guild Awards were given out today and Alfonso Cuaron was named best director for Gravity.  For those of you looking for some guidance while trying to predict the closest Oscar race in history, Gravity has now won honors from the DGA and the PGA, American Hustle took top honors at the SAG Awards, and 12 Years A Slave was honored by the PGA (where it tied for best picture with Gravity).

So does Gravity have the momentum now?  Perhaps.  However, Cuaron’s victory isn’t exactly a surprise.  In fact, since before the Oscar nominations were first announced two weeks ago, a lot of Oscar watchers have been predicting that Gravity would win best director while 12 Years A Slave or American Hustle took best picture.

Or perhaps, even more intriguingly, perhaps American Hustle, Gravity, and 12 Years A Slave could end up splitting the vote and allow one of the other 6 nominees to somehow win a totally unexpected victory.*

Anything’s possible but, for now, here are the DGA winners:

FILM AWARDS

FEATURE FILM 
X — Alfonso Cuarón – “Gravity”
Paul Greengrass – “Captain Phillips”
Steve McQueen – “12 Years a Slave”
David O. Russell – “American Hustle”
Martin Scorsese – “The Wolf of Wall Street”

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Zachary Heinzerling – “Cutie and the Boxer”
X — Jehane Noujaim – “The Square”
Joshua Oppenheimer – “The Act of Killing”
Sarah Polley -–”Stories We Tell”
Lucy Walker – “The Crash Reel”

TELEVISION AWARDS 

DRAMA SERIES
Bryan Cranston – “Breaking Bad” (“Blood Money”)
David Fincher – “House of Cards” (“Chapter 1”)
X — Vince Gilligan – “Breaking Bad” (“Felina”)
Lesli Linka Glatter – “Homeland” (“The Star”)
David Nutter – “Game of Thrones” (“The Rains of Castamere”)

COMEDY SERIES

Mark Cendrowski – “The Big Bang Theory” (“The Hofstadter Insufficiency”)
Bryan Cranston – “Modern Family” (“The Old Man & the Tree”)
Gail Mancuso – “Modern Family” (“My Hero”)
X — Beth McCarthy-Miller – “30 Rock” (“Hogcock!/Last Lunch”)
Anthony Rich – “The Big Bang Theory” (“The Love Spell Potential”)

MOVIE/MINISERIES
Stephen Frears – “Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight”
David Mamet – “Phil Spector”
Beth McCarthy-Miller and Rob Ashford – “The Sound of Music”
Nelson McCormick – “Killing Kennedy”
X — Steven Soderbergh – “Behind the Candelabra”

VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – SERIES
Dave Diomedi – “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” (#799)
Andy Fisher – “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (#13-1810)
Jim Hoskinson – “The Colbert Report” (#10004)
X — Don Roy King – “Saturday Night Live” (“Host: Justin Timberlake”)
Chuck O’Neil – “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (#19018)

VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – SPECIALS
Louis CK – “Louis CK: Oh My God”
Joel Gallen – “2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony”
Louis J. Horvitz – “55th Annual Grammy Awards”
Don Mischer – “85th Annual Academy Awards”
X — Glenn Weiss – “67th Annual Tony Awards”

REALITY
Matthew Bartley – “The Biggest Loser” (“1501”)
X — Neil P. DeGroot – “72 Hours” (“The Lost Coast”)
Paul Starkman – “Top Chef” (“Glacial Gourmand”)
J. Rupert Thompson – “The Hero” (“Teamwork”)
Bertram van Munster – “The Amazing Race” (“Beards in the Wind”)

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS
Stephen Herek – “Jinxed”
Jeffrey Hornaday – “Teen Beach Movie”
Jonathan Judge – “Swindle”
X — Amy Schatz – “An Apology to Elephants”
Adam Weissman – “A.N.T. Farm” (“influANTces”)

COMMERCIALS
Fredrik Bond
John X. Carey
Noam Murro
X — Martin de Thurah
Matthijs van Heijningen

—–

*However, the best film of the year remains the unnominated Upstream Color.

6 Monstrous Trailers


Hi!  It’s for another edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film trailers and I know that a lot of you are really going to love this week’s offerings!

The Trailer Kitties are apparently really excited about that remake of Godzilla that’s going to be released in May.  How do I know?  Well, just check out the trailers that they’ve gathered for us to watch.

1) Rodan (1956)

2) Gamera Vs. Viras (1968)

3)  Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (1971)

4) King Kong Vs. Godzilla (1962)

5) Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero (1965)

6) Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

What do you think, Trailer Kitty?

photo (1)

He’s entranced!

Here Are The PGA Winners and Guess What? It’s a Tie!


12 Years A Slave

Whenever there’s a tight and potentially unpredictable Oscar race like there is this year, we look to the guild awards for guidance.  Last night, the Producer’s Guild decided not to provide that guidance.  For the first time in the organization’s history, there was a tie for Best Picture as both 12 Years A Slave and Gravity took the top honor.  Even further complicating matters is that the Screen Actors Guild gave their award for best film (or “ensemble”) to this year’s other main contender — American Hustle.  

American Hustle

It seems obvious that one of those three films will be named Best Picture of the year in March but right now, your guess is as good as mine regarding which one will actually take the top prize.

Here are the PGA winners:

FILM AWARDS

BEST PICTURE (TIE)
“American Hustle”
“Blue Jasmine”
“Captain Phillips,”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
X — “Gravity
“Her”
“Nebraska”
“Saving Mr. Banks”
X — “12 Years a Slave
“The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Epic”
X –“Frozen
“Monsters University”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“A Place at the Table”
“Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story”
“Life According to Sam”
X — “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks”
“Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington”

TV AWARDS

BEST DRAMA SERIES
X — “Breaking Bad”
“Downton Abbey”
“Game of Thrones”
“Homeland”
“House of Cards”

BEST COMEDY SERIES
“Arrested Development”
“The Big Bang Theory”
X — “Modern Family”
“30 Rock”
“Veep”

BEST TV MOVIE/MINISERIES
“American Horror Story: Asylum”
X — “Behind the Candelabra
“Killing Kennedy”
“Phil Spector”
“Top of the Lake”

BEST LIVE ENTERTAINMENT/TALK SERIES
X — “The Colbert Report”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”
“Real Time with Bill Maher”
“Saturday Night Live”

BEST REALITY COMPETITION SERIES
“The Amazing Race”
“Dancing with the Stars”
“Project Runway”
“Top Chef”
X — “The Voice”

BEST NON-FICTION SERIES
“30 for 30”
X — “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”
“Duck Dynasty”
“Inside the Actors Studio”
“Shark Tank”

BEST CHILDREN’S SERIES
“Dora the Explorer”
“iCarly”
“Phineas and Ferb”
X — “Sesame Street”
“Spongebob Squarepants”

BEST SPORTS SERIES
“24/7”
“Hard Knocks”
“Monday Night Football”
“Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel”
X — “SportsCenter”

BEST DIGITAL SERIES
“Burning Love” (web series)
“Epic Rap Battles of History”
“The Lizzie Bennet Diaries”
“Video Game High School”
X — “Wired: What’s Inside”

Gravity

Here Are The SAG Award Winners!


new-images-from-the-hobbit-american-hustle-and-the-monuments-men-142354-a-1375953418-470-75

Best Film Ensemble: American Hustle

Best Film Actor: Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

Best Film Actress: Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine

Best Film Supporting Actor: Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

Best Film Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years A Slave

Best Film Stunt Team: Lone Survivor

Best TV Drama Ensemble: Breaking Bad

Best TV Drama Actor: Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad

Best TV Drama Actress: Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey

Best TV Comedy Ensemble: Modern Family

Best TV Comedy Actor: Ty Burrell in Modern Family

Best TV Comedy Actress: Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep

Best TV Movie/Mini Actor: Michael Douglas in Behind the Candelabra

Best TV Movie/Mini Actress: Helen Mirren in Phil Spector

Best TV Stunt Team: Game of Thrones

american-hustle-posters-sony