Ephmera 6/24/2008

Obama's and McCain's Short List for VP Leaked to Press.

---

Lord forgive me, but both of these made me chuckle:

---

And, finally, to a roaring indifference, AFI announced the "Top 10 Films in 10 Genres".

Of course the point of these is to sell movies and create quibbles on the internets, but I didn't notice this one sweeping the web. The AFI must feel a little ripped off.

Nonetheless, here are my few thoughts, such as they are:

In animation: Fantasia and Finding Nemo have no business being on the list. The Little Mermaid and The Incredibles should've been in those spots.

In westerns: Tombstone should have been on the list somewhere. McCabe & Mrs. Miller looks like the only one that could be moved. Fans of westerns don't really rave about that one. I've tried watching it a couple times when it came on a movie channel, but just couldn't get past 15 minutes of it. However, I know many folks, including myself, who spin up Tombstone on a regular basis. It's my personal fave of all time in westerns, followed by My Name is Nobody and the "Trinity" films.

While procuring the link to IMDB for Tombstone, I toured the trivia section and discovered this:

Kevin Jarre began as director, filming all of Charlton Heston's scenes. After he was fired, Kurt Russell rallied the cast and crew to continue shooting, for fear that the studio would shut the picture down instead of hiring a new director. Russell acted as director (unofficially) until the studio sent George P. Cosmatos to take over as the director. In an interview with True West magazine (Oct. 2006), star Kurt Russell admits that after original director Kevin Jarre was fired, he directed a majority of the picture. According to Russell, credited director George P. Cosmatos served merely to make things run smoothly.

Makes you wonder why Russell hasn't directed again.

In sci-fi: C'mon, Star Wars should be no. 1 before 2001 in the sci-fi category, for every conceivable reason: influence, success, storytelling, you name it.

I love the fact that Harold and Maude made the romantic comedies list. To this day, this is one of my favorite scenes of all time:

PRIEST
(very reasoned and slow)
Now, Harold, the Church has
nothing against the union of
the old and the young. Each
age has its own beauty. But a
marital union is concerned with
the conjugal rights. And the
procreation of children. I
would be remiss in my duties if
I did not tell you that the
idea of --
(he swallows)
- intercourse - the fact of
your young, firm --
(growing disturbed)
-- body commingling with the
withered flesh, sagging breasts,
and flabby buttocks - makes me --
(falls apart)
- want to vomit.

It would make the show more tedious than it already is, but they should give out micro-oscars for the best delivery of a line in a major motion picture. This guy would've had that year's.

And I'm proud to say I've seen all the flicks on the lists, except The Pride of the Yankees in "sports" (probably will never see it), and all of McCabe & Mrs. Miller as mentioned.