Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Cinema Cycle - Pippin - A Musical Comedy



CINEMA CYCLE
(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)


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DATE: 4/29/2014




FORMAT: LaserDisc


SYNOPSIS: A young prince struggles to find meaning in his life through a series of musical numbers while being manipulated by a chorus and muse.


CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Determining what is truly worth pursuing in life as opposed to striving for the expectations of others.  Contentment is more important than making a grandiose statement in life.


PROS AND CONS: First of all, this is a Broadway Musical that was filmed during a live performance in Ontario, Canada.  The story follows the semi-historical life of Pippin, who was the only son of King Charlemagne of France.  The work is billed as a musical comedy, although it would best be considered an adult musical comedy.  The original play was performed on Broadway and choreographed by Bob Fosse of Cabaret and All That Jazz fame.  If you know Fosse’s work, you know that there are a lot of sexual undertones in this work.


The star of the musical is Ben Vereen, who, as the Muse,  walks us through the life of Pippin and manipulates him along the way.  He is Fosse’s obvious foil and shows his stage acting chops to good effect in this work.


While this is an engaging musical and fun to watch, the music is not that memorable.  The scenes where Vereen and Chita Rivera shine are entertaining, but other than them, the acting is somewhat average. The production value is good, using a lot of camera angles and direction to put the viewer on stage with the actors.  A good example of how a well done stage play should work.


TIME RIDDEN: 1 hour 53 minutes


DISTANCE RIDDEN: 26.3 miles


TOTAL MILES LOGGED: 94 Miles


To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.


This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Cinema Cycle - Journey To The Center Of The Earth



CINEMA CYCLE
(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)


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DATE: 04/23/2014




FORMAT: LaserDisc


SYNOPSIS: A noted Scottish Scientist and his pupil race against colleagues to the center of the earth after finding a hidden artifact that suggests that someone has been there before.


CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: High adventure and the mystery of the unknown.  The world has hidden treasures if you go out and explore it.  Love blossoms when a strong willed man and woman spend a lot of time together under stressful conditions.


PROS AND CONS: While not a great film, this has some redeeming qualities that make it worth watching.  Most notably some of the production design and the soundtrack by Bernard Herrmann.  The story based on a Jules Verne novel is laughable by today’s standards and it is evident that this was meant to be a big Saturday Matinee film for family viewing.  


There are a few cons in this work.  Most notably the inclusion of Pat Boone as one of the leading stars, who shares top billing with noted actor James Mason.  Evidently Mr. Boone was put in place to bring the younger generation into the theater back in the late 1950s.  The special effects in the film are awful.  Especially the large lizards filmed to be prehistoric monsters and the final scene where the survivors float to the surface on a rushing pool of lava are pretty ridiculous.  Arlene Dahl’s “O” face as they rush to the surface is hilarious at the end of the journey.  Then there is Hans (Peter Ronson) and his pet duck Gertrude along for the whole journey, which is just sort of odd.  


Some interesting notes on the film; if you want to know where George Lucas got the idea of Indiana Jones being chased by the rolling boulder, it may well have been from this film.  Also of interest at the end of the LaserDisc were the alternate scenes that were shown in the European release.  When James Mason’s character is serenaded by his Scottish college colleagues they sing in Gaelic and not English.  Pat Boone’s one musical number in the US version is edited out of the European version.  It appears that Pat wasn't the heart throb in England that he was in the States.


TIME RIDDEN: 2 hours 16 minutes


DISTANCE RIDDEN: 17.8 miles


TOTAL MILES LOGGED:  62 miles


To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.


This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection which is located on the LaserDisc Database

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Cinema Cycle - While You Were Sleeping



CINEMA CYCLE
(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)


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DATE: 04/18/2014




FORMAT: LaserDisc


SYNOPSIS: A lonely young woman in Chicago has her fantasy of marrying the ideal man come to life.  She saves the man’s life but he falls into a coma for two weeks.  During that time, the man’s family believes that she is his fiance and accepts her into their family.  


CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Dreams can come true, and sometimes they are not what you expected.  Follow your heart and not your expectations.


PROS AND CONS: A cute film about the ideal fantasy relationship.  A very good ensemble cast including Jack Warden and an older Glynis Johns.  Then there is Sandra Bullock as she just starts to break into her  role as America’s Sweetheart and the queen of the romantic comedies.  A great film is you want to get immersed into the world of urban Chicago.


The only con about this film, is that it screams ‘chick flick’.  While it is funny and engaging, there is little to appeal to the men in the audience with the exception of looking at Ms Bullock a lot.  All of the characters in the film are light-hearted, warm and funny, which really isn't true to real life.  There are no antagonists in the film, only odd circumstance, comical assumptions and miscommunications.


TIME RIDDEN: 102 Minutes (1 hour 42min)


DISTANCE RIDDEN: 21 miles


TOTAL MILES LOGGED: 40 miles


To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.


This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection which is located on the LaserDisc Database

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Cinema Cycle - The Cycling Experience



CINEMA CYCLE
(Cardio Workout And Watching Movies At The Same Time)





DATE: 04/14/2014


TITLE: The Cycling Experience: California


FORMAT: LaserDisc


SYNOPSIS: I am starting a project to systematically go through my entire video collection, while exercising on my recumbent exercise cycle.  While doing so I will review the film / media and track my progress both daily and cumulatively on various social media.  


CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: A long term project that has endless possibilities.  The possibility of finding out about some films and documentaries that you have never heard of before, along with the ability to be amazed at just how far I ride and workout (or not).  This first installment is a test to see how the whole system works.  The first video is actually a cycling video meant to be viewed while you are riding an exercise bike (what a concept!).  While interesting on the first viewing, it would probably get old after repeated viewings.


My progress as well as other related links to this project can be found at the bottom of the page.  It will be cross posted to various social media sites as well as my blog and my Strava exercise account.


PROS AND CONS: The cons, some of the films that I have are not that great.  I have over 1600 laserdics along with some documentary series on VHS.  They will be picked at random using a function on an excel spreadsheet that contains all of my media.  The quality of the film being reviewed is like throwing dice.  Or in the words of Forrest Gump, “you never know what you’re going to get”.


The pros are that I will be taking better care of myself and hopefully graduating to a really nice road going recumbent bike if I can convince myself to stick with it.  


TIME RIDDEN: 50:10


DISTANCE RIDDEN: 10 miles


TOTAL MILES LOGGED: 10 miles


This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection which is located on the LaserDisc Database

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. (not applicable for this entry)

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Essential Cinema - 1 (Test Repost)

ESSENTIAL CINEMA

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TITLE: FAIL-SAFE

ACTORS:
Dan O'Herlihy
Walter Matthau
Frank Overton
Ed Binns
Fritz Weaver
Henry Fonda
Larry Hagman



DIRECTOR
Sidney Lumet



SCREENPLAY
Walter Bernstein



CINEMATOGRAPHER
Gerald Hirschfeld A.S.C.



SYNOPSIS
A squadron of nuclear armed bombers is accidentally sent to destroy Moscow.  The film centers around the deliberations of the politicians and military officers as they attempt to control the crisis and its potential ramifications.



CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER
Hard to envision in this day and age, but this film played toward the paranoia fostered by the cold war and the military industrial complex in the United States during the early 1960s.  Taking the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) to its limit.  The film is dark and intense, with a minimum of special effects or military imagery.   The age old struggle of good and evil, right and wrong, redemption and the ego are in full force here.  The underlying message is one of technology getting away from its human controllers.



PROS AND CONS
The film is well done and an acting tour de force for some of the cast.  Henry Fonda, as the president, is a cross between Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan.  Larry Hagman (before I Dream of Jeannie and Dallas) shows that he was a capable actor as the presidential translator.  The Oscar here would have to go to Walter Matthau as the serious and calculating foreign policy professor who only sees opportunity in the incident and backs up his optimism with cool logic and projected death counts.

When it came out in the 60s, this film was considered subversive and anti-American for its portrayal of a military industrial system that had failed.  It spread fear through the population that a nuclear attack could be considered an accident.  As a backlash, Stanley Kubrick created the film "Dr. Strangelove" as a farcical black comedy with the same theme.  All in all, a fascinating glimpse into a world that the youth of today (those under 30) have little understanding of.  Back then, we were our own worst enemy and afraid of our own shadow.