Author Archives: Jim Rutherford
Cinema Misfits Podcast, Episode 47: Tintin, Contraband, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and The Academy Award Nominations
The Adventures of Tintin. Andy Serkis not only brought Gollum to life on the movie screen, but also King Kong and Caesar the super-intelligent ape. What seems to be beyond Mr. Serkis and an army of CGI technicians is a believable human being.
Contraband. Forget about drugs and counterfeit money. Can we start smuggling good screenplays into the country?
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. As Da Man points out, a better title might be The Man Who Hired the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to… well, have a good time at this movie.
The Academy Award Nominations. ‘Nuff said. But don’t worry, everyone will just keep right on talking about them–even the Misfits.
Filed under Podcast
Cinema Misfits Podcast, Episode 45: My Week With Marilyn, Puss In Boots, J. Edgar, and Hugo.
My Week with Marilyn. Forget about one week, judging by this movie, two hours would be too long.
Puss in Boots. This prequel to Shrek definitely lays an egg–but is it a golden egg or a goose egg?
J. Edgar. Armed with his latest Oscar bait, Eastwood goes fishing for Academy Awards. But will this be “the one that got away”?
Hugo. You go, I go, we all go for Hugo–that is, if you’re a Misfit. Continue reading
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Cinema Misfits Podcast, Episode 44: Immortals, Tower Heist, The Three Musketeers, and The Descendants
Immortals. A grim, ugly version of Greek mythology that’s filled with castrations, disfigured women, and Mickey Rourke sucking on chicken bones. Who’d want to live forever in this world?
Tower Heist. A bunch of likable guys in a pretty unlikely caper.
The Three Musketeers. It’s got a sort of Jules Verne, steampunk vibe. What it hasn’t got, is much to do with the Alexandre Dumas novel.
The Descendants. Combine skilled acting, excellent direction, an impressive screenplay, plus gorgeous cinematography and what do you get? The Misfits have an answer for you. Continue reading
Filed under Podcast
Cinema Misfits Podcast, Episode 43: The Thing, In Time, Real Steel, and Martha Marcy May Marlene
The Thing. Some things are better left in Antarctica buried in the ice.
In Time. After wasting two hours watching this film, The Time Bandits might seem like a better title.
Real Steel. The robot action is great! Unfortunately, the human action is pretty mechanical and unconvincing.
Martha Marcy May Marlene. This year’s Winter’s Bone? Or just another indie flick with a dark, depressing story? Continue reading
Filed under Podcast
Fred Koenekamp Bonus Interview
Fred Koenekamp won the best cinematography Academy Award for his work on The Towering Inferno and received the lifetime achievement award from the ASC. Continue reading
Filed under Podcast companion piece
Jim Morton Bonus Audio Interview
Jim Morton talks about Trashola, Incredibly Strange Films, and The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-up Zombies Continue reading
Filed under Cult, Podcast companion piece
Films Better Left Remembered: Gorath
Gorath (1962) Spaceship JX-1 (the first manned flight to Saturn) is ordered to change course and intercept Gorath, a rouge star barreling through the galaxy, heading straight for a planet-shattering collision with the earth. Outfitted in white coveralls and helmets, the crew of JX-1 look more like contestants in a go-cart race than astronauts, but in Gorath’s future of the “80s,” these are the men with the right stuff. Continue reading
Filed under Cult, Japanese Monster Movie, Movie Reviews
Lonesome (1928)
Lonesome (1928) is part silent, part talkie, and all movie, in that the restless, inquisitive camera of director Pal Fejos is almost always in motion. Bold in its naked simplicity, uncompromising in its determination to reveal story and character through detail and incident, the movie (despite three brief sound sequences shoehorned in at the last minute) is one of the final examples of what silent film was capable of achieving. Continue reading
Filed under Silent film
Tom Stempel: Islander Guest and More (audio interview)
If you’re lucky, you can look back, and there are a handful of teachers who made a real difference in your life, who opened doors, surprised, and took some daunting subject and made it exciting and accessible. An even smaller handful of teachers are terrific, decent people, who are able to maintain their own excitement for a particular subject (in this case, film) and continue to excite others about it.
Tom is definitely one of these all too rare individuals. Continue reading
Filed under The Islander
Santo vs the Vampire Women (an audio review)
For your listening pleasure, an audio review of Santo vs the Vampire Women. We’ve dug deep into our audio vault and turned up this long-lost gem. Listen as Lou, Steve, and Jim, once more take on the Silver Avenger. Vampire Women holds a special place in the Santo canon (it’s the first film many Santo fans ever saw), but you might be surprised at the score given to it by the three-man tag team of misfit reviewers. Continue reading
Jim Rutherford
Nancy Louise Rutherford
Lou Aguilar
The Misfits
