Ocean's 11 (1960).

The Scoop:
It's Vegas, baby! The Rat Pack was groovy, and this film presents them at their height.

All the usual suspects are here (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Angie Dickinson, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford) as well as a few other familiar ones (Cesar Romero, Norman Fell, Henry Silva, Akim Tamiroff), in this tale of Danny Ocean (Sinatra at his coolest) who brings together his old army buddies to pull off a daring heist -- robbing the five major Las Vegas casinos simultaneously at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. Director Lewis Milestone keeps the pace lively and fun, and the camaraderie between the Rat Packers is palpable on screen. Even though it clocks in at more than two hours, it flies by when you feel like you're in the company of old friends.

If you're a fan of old school Vegas or vintage midcentury modernism, this film has everything you need. Sure, Steven Soderbergh's 2001 remake might have had some good action and the presence of Clooney, Pitt, Damon, et al., but it still can't touch the original for great music, plenty of swingin' attitude and vintage Vegas atmosphere.

Best Line:
"I'm so drunk, I don't think I could lie down without holding on!" (This is a punchline to an old Dean Martin routine, which was borrowed by Shirley MacLaine when she ad-libbed her cameo appearance.)

Side Note:
Because all the stars were such good pals, they ad-libbed big chunks of the dialogue, with a lot of the material coming from in jokes and private references.

Companion Viewing:
"Swingers" (1996) and "Ocean's 11" (2001).

Links:
IMDb.
Fan page with sound bites.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


Sammy Davis Jr. sings "Ee-O 11":

Mister Rock and Roll (1957).

The Scoop:
Plot? Who needs plot?

This celebrity vehicle for pioneering rock 'n' roll deejay Alan Freed keeps only the barest essentials of a plot in what is essentially a film version of his radio show. Freed, playing himself, announces each song, then the performers lip sync their way through their numbers. And what a lineup it is - Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, LaVern Baker, Shaye Cogan and, for some reason, Lionel Hampton.

There are also a couple of inconsequential scenes of a magazine writer who gets herself involved with a clean cut rock singer, but you can safely skip those. It's all about the music.

Freed seriously tones down the raucousness of early rock music, but the film does get points for showcasing both black and white acts, a rarity in the old days. "Mister Rock and Roll" isn't the best of the early rock movies, but there are some essential performances.

Best Line:
"If I'm guilty of anything, I'm guilty of being present at the birth of rock 'n' roll!"

Side Note:
Directed by Charles S. Dubin, best known for his long career in telvision, having directed episodes of "Murder, She Wrote," "Matlock" and "The Father Dowling Mysteries."

Companion Viewing:
"Go, Johnny, Go!" (1958).

Links:
IMDb.
An introduction to Alan Freed on RareSoul.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


The whole film (part 1):

Coyote Ugly (2000).

The Scoop:
Naïve small town girl moves to the big city looking for fame, only to come face-to-face with the harsh realities of trying to make it in the big time. But thanks to a new love and some quirky friends she meets along the way, she finds her niche in an unexpected place and finally succeeds in living her dreams.

Yeah, we've all heard this tired tale -- quite literally -- a thousand times before, but for some reason Jerry Bruckheimer thought we needed to hear it again in "Coyote Ugly."

Bruckheimer produced this twaddle from writer Gina Wendkos ("The Princess Diaries") and director David McNally ("Kangaroo Jack") about aspiring songwriter Violet (Piper Perabo) who moves to New York City to make it big in the music industry. After getting doors slammed in her face all over town, she has a too-cute meeting with Australian hunk Kevin (Adam Garcia) and finds work with gruff Coyote Ugly bar owner Lil (Maria Bello). The bar's big attraction is the hot women (Bridget Moynahan, Izabella Miko, Tyra Banks) dancing it up on top of the bar and giving the male customers plenty of attitude. Of course, all this helps Violet get over her stage fright and live her dreams -- which apparently just consists of selling one mediocre song to LeAnn Rimes.

There are only two reasons to watch this movie (unless you're a bad movie aficionado, in which case you'll find hundreds of reasons). The first is the jiggling women on the bar top (if you're into that sort of thing). The bar sequences, for all their predictability, are actually staged pretty well and inject the only sort of life or energy the film has. As soon as the narrative steps outside the bar, the whole movie just deflates like a balloon on the morning after the party.

The second reason is the performance of John Goodman as Violet's over-protective father. Like every other character, Bill is a one-dimensional caricature, but in Goodman's hands he transcends the source material and becomes closer to a fully-realized person than the audience has any right to expect. Goodman polishes this turd like the solid professional he is.

But other than that, it's a wash. You might enjoy some of it along the way, but you'll hate yourself in the morning.

Best Bit:
Ellen Cleghorne's cameo as the music company receptionist.

Side Note:
The real life Coyote Ugly bar was opened in New York in 1993 by Liliana Lovell, who was the basis of Bello's character in the movie. After the success of the film, Lovell franchised the operation. At its height, the chain boasted 19 bars across the United States. Fifteen are still in operation today, but that includes three in Europe.

Companion Viewing:
"Flashdance" (1983).

Links:
IMDb.
Cinema de Merde.
Movie Mistakes (warning: this is a long one).
The chain's official site.
The Urban Dictionary definition.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


Just the bar dancing scenes:

Meatballs (1979).

The Scoop:
Maybe it’s because I was raised on them, but the juvenile comedies of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s are a lot more entertaining than those that came before or after. The masters of the genre were Ivan Reitman, John Landis, Harold Ramis and the alums of the original “Saturday Night Live” cast. You can see their best work in “Animal House,” “Caddyshack” or “The Jerk” but, sadly, not in “Meatballs.”

Directed by Reitman (and written by Ramis, Len Blum, Dan Goldberg and Janis Allen), “Meatballs” is the episodic, disjointed story of a summer among the misfits at Camp North Star. Bill Murray stars as activities director Tripper alongside a bunch of folks you’ve probably never heard of. Murray sleepwalks through this, his first film role, but as he’s proved repeatedly in his 30+ year career, he can still do that and be entertaining. The rest of the film is fun too, although pretty insubstantial; there’s no plot to speak of and many of the jokes fall flat. Despite some nice moments between Tripper and Rudy (Chris Makepeace), “Meatballs” really isn’t essential viewing.

Best Bit:
Tripper explains the perks of rival Camp Mohawk.

Side Note:
This was filmed at Camp White Pine in Haliburton, Ontario, during summer camp season. The real life campers were used as extras in several scenes.

Companion Viewing:
"Stripes" (1979) and "Caddyshack" (1980).

Links:
IMDb.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


It just doesn't matter!

Desuko Movie Spot's 3rd Anniversary.

Tomorrow marks the big third anniversary of this blog, so it's time for that annual tradition of making an index of all of the year's posts. (The first part of the index can be found here.) This is also a handy time to announce our brief holiday hiatus. Thanks for all your support and readership in the past year, and we'll see you again in the first week of January!

200 Motels (1971).

April Fool's Day (1986).

Bettie Page: Dark Angel (2004).
The Black Room (1935).
Bluetopia: The L.A. Dodgers Movie (2009).
Bug Buster (1998).

Can't Stop the Music (1980).
Celebration at Big Sur (1971).
Charade (1963).
The Chase (1994).
Cobra Woman (1944).
The Concorde: Airport '79 (1979).

Deep Impact (1998).
Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Larry "Wild Man" Fischer (2004).
Dragnet (1954).
Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966).

Earth vs. the Spider (1958).
Equinox (1970).

Festival Express (1970).

Gamera (1965).
Gamera vs. Barugon (a.k.a., War of the Monsters) (1966).
Gamera vs. Gaos (1967).
Gamera vs. Viras (a.k.a., Destroy All Planets) (1968).
Gamera vs. Guiron (a.k.a., Attack of the Monsters) (1969).
Gamera vs. Monster X (a.k.a., War of the Monsters) (1970).
Gamera vs. Zigra (1971).
The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1918).
The Gorilla (1939).
The Green Slime (1968).
Gymkata (1985).

The Happening (1967).
Hercules and the Captive Women (1961).
The Hidden Fortress (1958).
Homicidal (1961).
How the West Was Won (1962).

I Married a Witch (1942).
In the Bleak Midwinter (a.k.a., A Midwinter's Tale) (1995).
It (1927).
I Walked With a Zombie (1943).
I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957).

Jail Bait (1954).
Jawbreaker (1999).

Kill the Umpire (1950).
Kingdom of the Spiders (1977).

Let the Devil Wear Black (1999).
Listening to You: The Who at the Isle of Wight (1970).
Love's Labour's Lost (2000).

Manhatta (1921).
Martin (1977).
Mighty Joe Young (1949).
Mission to Mars (2000).
The Mole People (1956).
Monsters vs. Aliens (2009).

Night of the Lepus (1972).
The Notorious Bettie Page (2005).

Pandora's Box (1929).
Purple Rain (1984).
Puttin' On the Ritz (1930).

Ratatouille (2007).
Red Zone Cuba (a.k.a., Night Train to Mundo Fine) (1966).
Rock Around the Clock (1956).

Scooby Doo: The Mystery Begins (2009).
Scorched (2002).
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978).
The Sidehackers (a.k.a., Five the Hard Way) (1969).
The Skydivers (1963).
Suburbia (1984).
Succubus: Hell Bent (2007).

The Tale of Despereaux (2008).
Terror Firmer (1999).
The Trial (1962).
The Trip (1967).

Uncle Sam (1996).
Up (2009).

Watchmen (2009).
The Wild Angels (1966).
The Wizard of Oz (1925).

Guest Blog: Vince's Quiz.

Hercules and the Captive Women (1961).

The Scoop:
Herc is up to his usual shenanigans in yet another Italian muscle epic, the third entry in the "Hercules" series that Joseph E. Levine brought to America. Unfortunately, Steve Reeves isn't around, so Hercules is played by Reg Park, who mostly sleepwalks through the role. Seriously, several important plot points rely on Hercules being asleep. And when he's awake, he mostly just throws things and looks confused.

The title is somewhat misleading, since there's only one captive woman and she doesn't figure too much into the plot. Instead, the story concerns Hercules trying to overthrow an evil queen (played by Fay Spain) who is ruling the hidden island of Atlantis. All the Atlanteans worship the god Uranus, leading to plenty of unintentional crude humor in the dialogue.

This one is actually somewhat fun, if you don't think about it too much.

Best Line:
"Uranus has abandoned us!"

Side Note:
This was the first of Park's five films. He did two more as Hercules, and one each as Maciste and Ursus, a couple of Italian Hercules-knock off characters.

Companion Viewing:
"Hercules" (1958).

Links:
IMDb.
Eccentirc Cinema.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


The full film:

Dragnet (1954).

The Scoop:
Man, I love me some "Dragnet."

After the success of his 1940s radio series and 1950s TV series, Jack Webb brought "Dragnet," his life's work, to the big screen in this enjoyable adaptation. The story, involving the investigation into a gangland murder, uses the luxury of its expanded budget and running time to offer much more detail about the nitty gritty of detective work and the legal process than the television series. But the hard-boiled, straight-as-an-arrow Boy Scout spirit makes the big screen leap intact, and it positively sizzles.

Ben Alexander reprises his role as Friday's partner Frank Smith, while Webb also directs from a script by Richard L. Breen.

This was the first of three "Dragnet" feature films. It was followed first by a color film in 1966 that paired Webb with Harry Morgan and served as the springboard for the late '60s TV series. And then came the 1987 entry starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks, which doesn't even deserve to be considered part of the canon.

With excellent direction, the film captures some of the same mix of earnestness and cheesiness of the series, without being quite as camp as some of the 1960s TV series. Of course, by then the generation gap sparked by the counterculture was enough to make Webb's brand of law and order seem downright outdated. But in this film, in its element, it's still exciting stuff.

Best Bit:
Friday explains the deductions on his paycheck.

Side Note:
This was the first feature film ever spun off from TV show.

Companion Viewing:
The '50s TV series.

Links:
IMDb.
Badge 714.

Take a Look:
Friday and Smith lay the smack down:


Sgt. Friday gets his $20 worth:

Deep Impact (1998).

The Scoop:
The less commercially successful of 1998's two killer asteroid movies, this is the more creatively successful (not that "Armageddon" provided much competition in that area), creating what could be termed a kinder, gentler disaster movie.

Téa Leoni is an ambitious television reporter on the trail of a government cover-up, only to discover that the fact being covered up is the existence of a giant comet on a collision course with Earth, which the government is trying to destroy without alarming the public. The story gets out, though, with all the usual results.

Director Mimi Leder and writers Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin shift the focus away from the pyrotechnics in favor of the human reactions to impending disaster (and a less-than-happy ending), creating a film that, though occasionally predictable, still manages to stand out among its genre. The cast is filled with solid actors, but the standouts include Robert Duvall as the gruff astronaut leading the comet destruction team; Morgan Freeman, lending his commanding presence to the role of the president; and Elijah Wood and Leelee Sobieski as the young amateur astronomer and his girlfriend who discover the asteroid.

Sure, "Deep Impact" is still a Big Dumb Blockbuster, but it is at least one with more heart than one would otherwise expect.

Best Line:
"Look on the bright side. We'll all get high schools named after us."

Side Note:
The scene of the president's address to the world originally included the line, "This is not armageddon." But that was cut out when the studio realized that the film would be in theaters around the same time as "Armageddon."

Companion Viewing:
"Armageddon" (1998).

Links:
IMDb.
Disaster Movie World.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


BOOM! The money shot. (Spoilers!):