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Monthly Archives: October 2018

November Review: A Night at the Opera (1935)

31 Wednesday Oct 2018

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 1930's, Comedy, Movie Reviews, Musicals, Romance

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

1930's, Allan Jones, America, Anvil Chorus, black and white, black and white movie, Chico, Chico Marx, classic comedy, Comedy, comedy review, Cosi Cosa, golden age of Hollywood, Great Depression, Groucho, Groucho Marx, Gummo, Gummo Marx, Harpo, Harpo Marx, Hollywood, Hollywood musical, Il Trovatore, immigrants, italy, Kitty Carlisle, Margaret Dumont, Marx, Marx Brothers, movie review, musical, musical review, Night at the Opera, opera, opera star, Paggliachi, romantic cliche, romantic comedy, sanity clause, two hard boiled eggs, Zeppo, Zeppo Marx

night-at-the-opera-movie-poster-marx-brothers-review

“And now, on with the opera – Let joy be unconfined! Let there be dancing in the streets, drinking in the saloons, and necking in the parlor! Play, don.”
– Otis B. Driftwood, aka Groucho Marx opening a new opera season

Hi there, I hope everyone’s had a Happy Halloween, and I’d like to welcome back any and all newcomers who discovered this blog through Prydain On Film, which highlighted my two-part review of The Black Cauldron on their blog the same day I posted it. I’m happy to have you here.

Stick around, check out the other movie reviews I’ve done.

Be sure to read my retrospective on Gravity Falls too.

Please don’t leave.

Anyway, I’m especially excited – and more than a little daunted – for this month’s review, as I finally get to talk about some of my favorite comedians of all time, The Marx Brothers.

the-marx-brothers-top-zeppo-marx-groucho-marx-bottom-chico-marx-harpo-marx-early-1930s_a-G-5102884-8363144

Julius, Leonard, Herbert and Adolph Arthur – aka Groucho, Chico, Zeppo and Harpo – were sons of Jewish immigrants who discovered they had quite the knack for making people laugh as well as making music. Since their parents were already in the entertainment business, they had almost no trouble making a name for themselves. Groucho grew infamous for his quick biting wit, Chico for his fast-talking, womanizing and heavy faux-Italian accent, and Harpo for his childlike mischief and mute pantomiming (when not communicating through whistles and horn honks). Zeppo could be just as hilarious as his siblings onstage – for some performances he even stood in for Groucho and nobody could tell the difference – though he was often relegated to playing the straight man to his brothers’ antics. While already a hit on the vaudeville circuit and Broadway, the brothers made the leap from stage to screen with the advent of talkies and their fame quintupled overnight.

The Marxes’ unique brand of humor continues to influence comedians to this day; you can see them (especially Groucho) in the likes of Alan Alda, Lucille Ball, Judd Apatow, Bugs Bunny, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and the cast of Animaniacs. If you were to watch their films – their early ones in particular – you could say the threadbare plots were only there for them to hang jokes on. Cliché stories surrounding college football, high-class parties and traditional Hollywood romances were not safe from the brothers’ brand of anarchic humor; they poked holes in conventions of society and film, often breaking the fourth wall with the force of a sledgehammer to remind the audience how much of a farce even the most serious of scenarios really are. Their “us vs. them” antics helped America laugh through the Great Depression and World War 2, however not all of them were complete successes in their day.

After their ahead of its time war satire Duck Soup nearly bankrupted Paramount, the Brothers were cut loose from the studio and set adrift in Hollywood. Luckily they had an ardent admirer in Irving Thalberg, big shot producer at MGM, who quickly signed them on. Fortunate as this was, it didn’t come without a few changes to the Marxes which to this day angers certain die-hard fans:

First, Zeppo followed in forgotten Marx brother Gummo’s footsteps by quitting acting and reinventing himself as a successful agent, thus whittling the comic quartet down to a trio.

Second, their method of taking shots at anyone in their path was altered to karmic trickery; mess with them or their friends and only then do the gloves come off.

Third, in an effort to appeal to more women, a romance subplot would be added to their films wherein the brothers would help whatever couple was the focus hook up and achieve their dreams.

But does this warm touch and loss of one sibling mean the famous brothers have lost their edge? Will the inclusion of the opera, which was perceived as highbrow art for the upper class back then as much as it is today, serve as an excellent backdrop for the Marxes’ shenanigans or is it merely a musical distraction? And more importantly, can I actually make with the funny in this review as good as the Marxes did in their own film? Let’s find out.

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Movie Babble: 10 Spooky Classics for the Family

30 Tuesday Oct 2018

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in Movie Babble, Movie Reviews

≈ 1 Comment

Halloween is nearly upon us, and if you’re looking to watch something creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky that everyone can enjoy, here’s a good list I conjured up for Movie Babble! Enjoy!

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My First Movie Babble Articles

28 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in Movie Babble, Movie Reviews

≈ 5 Comments

Some of you asked if I could post links to my Movie Babble contributions here when they appear. Wish granted! Click HERE to read the first part of my ranking of Disney’s live-action remakes. Warning: controversial opinions ahead! I’d love to expand on my thoughts on these movies, though I think you know the best way how by now.

See you November 1st for the next film review!

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October Review: The Black Cauldron (1985) PART 2

08 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 1980's, Action-Adventure, Disney, Fantasy, Halloween, Horror, Movie Reviews

≈ 8 Comments

Go HERE to read the first part of this review, which sheds some light on this film’s production. Or go watch Waking Sleeping Beauty. Both are definitely worth your time.

black cauldron poster

Now we come to the meat of this review, a look a the main feature itself. Thanks to the Nine Old Men, the New Old Men, Jeffrey Katzenberg and a slew of riotous circumstances, one foot of The Black Cauldron is entrenched in all the fairy tale trappings Disney is known for, while the other tries to blend in with the fantasy epics that populated the cinema landscape at the time. It doesn’t know if it wants to be Sleeping Beauty or The Dark Crystal, and that tug of war between the opposing light and dark sides of the genre is difficult to ignore. But does the movie suffer for it, or does it provide some unique twists from its canon counterparts? Let’s find out.

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November Movie Review Voting and Patreon Updates!

02 Tuesday Oct 2018

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in Movie Reviews

≈ 9 Comments

October’s review may be halfway done, but it’s time to vote for what I’m reviewing in the month of November! Let’s catch up on an old-fashioned musical romp, shall we?

• The Court Jester

• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

• March of the Wooden Soldiers

• The Pirate

• A Night at the Opera

Leave your vote either in the comments or by emailing me at upontheshelfshow@gmail.com. You can only vote once, but if you’re a supporter on my Patreon you’re allowed multiple votes among other perks. Any amount would be appreciated.

Speaking of Patreon, I’ve recently altered my monetary tier amounts (and added a new one!) so now it will be considerably easier for those who wish to support me. I encourage you to check it out.

Plus, if I reach the goal of making $100 per month, I can go back to doing weekly television series reviews! As of writing this I’m exactly halfway there!

Thanks for reading, and happy voting!

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October Review: The Black Cauldron (1985) PART 1

01 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 1980's, Action-Adventure, Disney, Fantasy, Horror, Movie Reviews

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

1980's, 80's fantasy, 80’s Disney, action, Action-Adventure, adventure, animated, animated feature, animated movie, animated movie review, animation, animators, battle, Black Cauldron, cauldron, cauldron born, Chronicles of Prydain, computer animation, Creeper, dark age, dark ages, Disney, disney animated, disney animated feature, disney animated movie, disney animation, disney review, Doli, editing, Eisner, Fantasy, Fflewder Flam, Frank Wells, greedy businessman, Gurgi, hero, Hollywood, Horned King, jeffrey katzenberg, Katzenberg, Lloyd Alexander, magic, making of, Michael Eisner, movie review, nine old men, original, Princess Eilonwy, prydain, quest, Romance, screen adaptation, Taran, The Black Cauldron, Waking Sleeping Beauty, witches

black cauldron poster

Of all the animated Disney films out there, few have had a history as troubled or as fascinating as The Black Cauldron. Shaped less by the average process of transforming a novel to film and more by the decade, regime, mindset towards animation and internal struggle of power of the studio that made it, The Black Cauldron is considered the black sheep of the canon; those who worked on it have few fond memories of the experience, and the result of all that blood, sweat, tears, and voodoo curses hurled in Jeffrey Katzenberg’s direction is an odd creature Disney is content to let wallow in relative obscurity. To this day it’s looked down upon by all but a few loyal fans who’ve elevated it to semi-cult status. The story of how and why this is is worth a documentary of its own.

As for my thoughts on the film itself…well…

img_0261

“It’s complicated.”

I honestly can’t talk about my feelings towards The Black Cauldron without putting it into some context first. And there’s a LOT of context that needs to be explained. Hence why I’ve decided to split this review into two parts. This first half will go over the history of the movie and behind the scenes shenanigans, while Part 2, which is the review I know you’ve been anticipating, will be released next week. So if you want to avoid an engaging history lesson that discusses the climate in which The Black Cauldron was created in depth and go right to the film itself, I suggest you return at a later date. Or go watch Waking Sleeping Beauty. It’s a fascinating, personal look into the struggle that shaped Disney’s Renaissance era and they devote a good chunk of the beginning into what went down during the making of The Black Cauldron.

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