"That Darn Cat" (1965)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

You don't have to be a cat lover to enjoy Disney's "That Darn Cat."

A woman is kidnapped. While in captivity, she manages to send a message out with a wandering cat named "D.C." The cat's owner calls the FBI. The FBI tries to follow the cat. Jealous boyfriends and nosy neighbors also get into the act.

"D.C." is a wily, adventurous Siamese tomcat, who gets put under surveillance, but manages to elude everyone. Eventually a bugging device is implanted in D.C.'s collar as the cat leads them into a comical chase at a drive-in movie and several backyards.

Bosley Crowther in The New York TImes wrote: "The feline that plays the informant, as the FBI puts it, is superb. Clark Gable at the peak of his performing never played a tom cat more winningly. This elegant, blue-eyed creature is a paragon of suavity and grace," and concluded, "...it's an entertaining picture. Even a king might profitably look at That Darn Cat."

The film stars Hayley Mills and Dean Jones and was based on the book "Undercover Cat" by Gordon and Mildred Gordon. The title song was written by the Sherman Brothers and sung by Bobby Darin.

Each of the Seal Point Siamese cats who collectively play the role of D.C. are so-called "traditional" or "old style" Siamese, as opposed to the more dainty, long and tubular Modern Siamese show cats.

This is a clean, fun diversion that the whole family can watch. Great fun and arguably the most underrated Disney comedy ever. Good for all ages--especially for cat lovers.

"Atlantic City" (1980)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

"Atlantic City" brings together legendary director Luis Malle (Pretty Baby), and elderly Burt Lancaster, in one of his most over-looked performances, a young Susan Sarandon, who no doubt caused a spike in lemon sales and a supporting cast that makes you feel like no other actor could have done as fine a job.

The film is a slice of life about a small time criminal (Lancaster), who through a series of mishaps, lands in the middle of a world he knows nothing about. Along with Sarandon, an aspiring black jack dealer, Lancaster gets involved with big time gangsters and drug dealers.

The stellar supporting cast led by Hollis McLaren, Kate Reid and Robert Goulet, in one of the funniest odd cameos you will ever encounter, helps take us through a roller coaster ride of intense drama and intelligent humor.

An Empire of their Own: How the Jews invented Hollywood

By: Vickie J. Rubinson
Book Review

This book begins as Hollywood itself did, with something of a paradox. The paradox is that the American film industry was founded and for more than 30 years operated by Eastern European Jews who themselves seemed to be anything but the quintessence of America. The much vaunted "studio system" which provided a prodigious supply of films during the movies' heyday, was supervised by a second generation of Jews, many of whom regarded themselves as marginal men trying to punch into the American mainstream.

The storefront theaters of the late teens were transformed into the movie palaces of the twenties by Jewish exhibitors. And when sound movies commandeered the industry, Hollywood was invaded by a battalion of Jewish writers, mostly from the East. The most powerful talent agencies were run by the Jews. Jewish lawyers transacted most of the industry's business and Jewish doctors ministered to the industry's sick. Above all, Jews produced the movies. "Of 85 names engaged in production," a 1936 study noted, "53 are Jews. And the Jewish advantage holds in prestige as well as numbers." All of which led F. Scott Fitzgerald to characterize Hollywood as "a Jewish holiday, a gentiles tragedy."

The real tragedy however was certainly the Jews'. Their dominance became a target for wave after wave of vicious anti-Semites from fire and brimstone evangelicals in the teens and early 20's who demanded the movies' liberation from "the hands of the devil and 500 un-Christian Jews" to Red-baiters in the forties for whom Judaism was really a variety of communism and the movies their chief form of propaganda.

Above all things, the Jews wanted to be regarded as Americans, not Jews, they wanted to reinvent themselves here as new men.

The Hollywood Jews at least the first generation that built the industry were a remarkable homogeneous group with remarkably similar childhood experiences. Carle Laemmle was born in a small village in southwestern Germany. Adolph Zukor was born in a small Hungarian village and William Fox was another Hungarian. Louis B. Mayer was from Russia and Benjamin Warner was from Poland.

The most striking similarity among the Hollywood Jews, however, wasn't their Eastern European origins. What united them in deep spiritual kinship was their utter and absolute rejection of their pasts and their equally absolute devotion to their new country.

Yet ironically, American values came to be defined largely by the movies the Jews made. Ultimately, by creating their idealized America on the screen, the Jews reinvented the country in the image of their fiction. How they did so, why they did so and what they gained and lost by doing so is the story of this well-written book.

"Young Frankenstein" (1974)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

If you were to argue that Mel Brooks's "Young Frankenstein" ranks among the top-ten funniest movies of all time, nobody could reasonable dispute the claim. Spoofing classic horror in the way that Brooks's previous film "Blazing Saddles" sent up classic Westerns, the movie is both a loving tribute and a raucous irreverent parody of the classic horror films "Frankenstein" (1931) and "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935).

Assisting Dr. Fredrick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder looking a lot like Albert Einstein), is the hapless bug-eyes hunchback Igor (the great Marty Feldman), and the buxom but none-too-bright Inga (Terri Garr) and when Frankenstein succeeds in creating his monster (Peter Boyle), the stage is set for an outrageous revision of the Frankenstein legend.

Brooks guides his brilliant cast (also including Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn and Gene Hackman in a classic cameo role), through scene after scene of inspired hilarity.

"Young Frankenstein" is a charmed film, nothing less than a comedy classic, representing the finest work from everyone involved.

The Dangerous Otto Katz: The many lives of a Soviet spy

By: Vickie J. Rubinson
Book Review

The FBI's file on the Soviet agent Otto Katz (1895-1952) called him "an extremely dangerous man." The British secret service wondered if he was the "director of all Communist policy" in the West. These labels don't even begin to tell the story.

For the first half of the 20th century, Katz's fingerprints can be found on one world-changing event after another. But who was Oscar Katz? In a captivating detective story, Jonathan Miles goes in search of this debonair, double-dealing man with an unquestionable taste for the finer things in life.

To Marlene Dietrich, Katz was an early lover and he claimed to have discovered her as an actress. To others, Katz was a Moscow-trained anti-Fascist, who in the early 1930s, was among the first to alert the world to the Nazi threat.

An important player in the Soviet infiltration of England, during the period when the infamous Cambridge spies were being recruited, Katz went on to Hollywood, where he was a playboy socialite. He became the political mentor to director Fritz Lang and a star among stars. Katz charmed the movers and shakers of the movie capital into contributing generously to the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League--a Stalinist front organization that he created.

The black and white film "Watch on the Rhine" was based on Katz's amazing experiences. This story is more than a biography--we experience this tumultuous period through Katz's devious manipulations. Using recently released FBI, M15 and Czech files, Miles uncovers the shadowy side of a critical period in world history.

"Beautiful, The Life of Hedy Lamarr"

By: Vickie J. Rubinson
Book Review

As a teenage actress in 1920s Vienna Austria, performing on the stage and in film in light comedies and musicals, Hedy Kiesler, with her exotic beauty, was heralded across Europe by her mentor, theater director Max Reinhardt. However, it was her nude scene and surprising dramatic ability, in Ecstasy that made her a star. Ecstacy's notoriety followed her for the rest of her life.

She married one of Austria's most successful and wealthy munitions barons, giving up her career for what seemed at first a fairy-tale existence. Instead, as war clouds loomed in the mid 1930s, Hedy discovered she was trapped in a loveless marriage to a controlling, ruthless man who befriended Mussolini, sold armaments to Hitler, yet hid his own Jewish heritage to become an "honorary Aryan."

She fled her husband and escaped to Hollywood where MGM changed her name to Hedy Lamarr and she became on of film's most glamorous stars. She worked with such renowned directors as King Vidor and Cecil B. DeMille and appeared opposite such respected actors as Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Jimmy Stewart. But as her career waned, her personal problems and legal wranglings cast lingering shadows over her former image.

It wasn't until decades later that the world was stunned to learn of her unexpected role as the inventor of a technology that has become an essential part of everything from military weaponry to cell phones--proof that Hedy Lamarr was far more than merely Delilah to Victor Mature's Samson.

She demonstrated a creativity and an intelligence she had always possessed.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

This TV classic features the Peanuts characters in the story of Charlie Brown's problematic efforts to mount a school Christmas pageant. Everybody's on board: Lucy, Snoopy, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, but the biggest impression is surely on Linus, who stops the show with his recitation from the gospels of the story of Christ's birth.

Repelled by the commercialism he sees around him, Charlie Brown tries to find the true meaning of Christmas. Of course Snoopy and his sidekick Woodstock add to the fun.

Perhaps the most endearing of all Charlie Brown specials, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was made in a time when commercialism was running rampant all over the country. Stores advertising to shoppers what they ought to buy long before Thanksgiving had come and gone. Unfortunately, we still see this blatant commercialism today, which makes this short film so very poignant and all the more special.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" is 25 minutes long and first aired on TV on December 9, 1965.

"Untold Scandal" (Korea 2003)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Based on the classic French novel "Dangerous Liasons," this film is set in aristocratic 18th-century Korea at the end of the Chosun Dynasty. The irresistible temptress Lady Cho asks her cad of a younger cousin, Jo-wan, to deflower the innocent young Soh-ok, who is to become her husband's concubine.

But his attentions soon shift to the graceful and aloof Lady Sook, who lives according to her convictions as a Catholic. Jo-won becomes obsessed with seducing this chaste woman who has remained celibate for 9 years since her husband's death. However, conquering the most virtous woman in the land proves to be more difficult than Chosen's notorious playboy expects.

"Untold Scandal" is an excellent film, a fascinating and complex costume drama that offers a beguiling glimpse into the practices and restrictions of a very different society. The film also has a sly, subtle sense of humor, and there are many amusing moments amongst the devious plotting and bitter couplings.

If you've seen "Dangerous Liasons" you will like this Korean version of the story. It is also very refreshing to watch the old-fashioned but effective tricks men used 200 years ago to chase women. It accurately reflects the elegance of the aristocrats with the simple humbleness and reservation unique to the Asian culture.

The actors, especially Lee Mi-suk and Bae Young Joon give believable and deliciously wicked performances. Not to mention the scenery, full of rich vibrant colors that will take your breath away.

"Black Sunday" (1977)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

An Israeli anti-terrorist agent (Robert Shaw) must stop a disgruntled Vietnam vet (Bruce Dern), cooperating in a plot to commit a terrorist plot at the Super Bowl.

Black Sunday is a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat and was directed by John Frankenheimer and was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture in 1978. The inspiration of the story came from the Munich massacre, a Black September attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

The film was a commercial hit when it was released in 1977. A significant portion of the filming was done during the actual Super Bowl X at the Orange Bowl in Miami Florida.

Black Sunday starts in Beirut where members of Black September, the Arab terrorist group, are plotting to dramatize the Palestinian liberation cause by hitting Americans "where it hurts, where they feel most safe."

Their plan is to kidnap a friendly Goodyear blimp, load it with high explosives and send it put-putting over the Miami Super Bowl to assassinate the United State President and 79,999 other football fans. The question is not whether they will succeed as much as how they will fail and at what last split-second.

The action sequence, including the climatic attack on the Super Bowl (where we recognize a President who looks very much like Jimmy Carter) was well staged.

"The Night Porter" (1974)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Thirteen years after WWII, a concentration camp survivor (Charlotte Rampling), and her tormentor, (Dirk Bogarde), currently the night porter at a Vienna hotel, meet again and fall back into their sadomasochistic relationship, although Max's former SS comrades have something different in mind for them. The story unfolds like a gruesome dance of death.

The Night Porter evokes the memory of the Holocaust and a shady 1950s Vienna plagued by post-WWII guilt. The film has little to do with the hotel industry and much to do with a hideous relationship between two tortured souls.

The night porter at this particular hotel, Max Aldorfer, was once an SS officer assigned to a concentration camp where he tortured and killed inmates. Post war investigations into war atrocities has Max and his fellow Nazi henchmen on edge; they meet often to discuss their efforts to suppress evidence and other ways to cover their tracks.

Lucia, initially expresses horror at seeing her former lover/tormentor in the flesh after all these years, but then something grim and repellant happens. The sick spark that united victim and oppressor all those years ago blossoms anew.

If for no other reason you should watch The Night Porter just to see these two actor turn in an amazing performance. The Night Porter is a one of a kind film.

"Where's Poppa?" (1970)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

"Where's Poppa" is a black comedy film based on the novel by Robert Klane and starring George Segal, Ron Leibman and famous character actress Ruth Gordon. It is directed by Carl Reiner with son Rob Reiner featured in an early performance.

When New York attorney gordon Hocheiser meets Louise Callan, the girl of his dreams, he schemes to eliminate his aging, senile mother, even though he promised his late father that he'd always take care of her. He fears that his batty mom's eccentricities will shortly lead to Louise's departure.

George Segal and Ruth Gordon give the funniest performances of their careers in this outrageous comedy that stomps gleefully on the idea of devotion to Mom above all. Featuring some of the boldest gags ever to hit the screen, Where's Poppa is a riotously funny film.

George Segal is wonderful as Gordon the attorney stuck with his aging addled Mama. Ron Leibman is aptly befuddled as the nerdish brother Sidney, but it's Ruth Gordon who's watchable here. She is fearless in her hilarious (and yes touching) portrayal of mama. You never know if it's all an act to keep her son Gordon hamstringed, or if she's really senile, or by today's standards, in the onset of Alzheimers.

A must if you're a Segal and Gordon fan and a rare treasure of way off-beat black comedy.

"Marathon Man" (1977)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

This is one of the best thrillers ever made. One of the greatest suspense dramas of the 1970's, "Marathon Man" is a somewhat violent but often stylish and sinister intrigue thriller that remains a high watermark of it's genre.

A graduate history student is unwittingly caught in the middle of an international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, an exile Nazi war criminal and a rogue government agent.

John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy), directed this gripping thriller that centers on graduate student Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman plays a sullen and cowardly loner haunted by the suicide of his father, a suspected communist. He is drawn into a murky web of international intrigue when his brother, CIA agent Doc Levy, played by Roy Scheider, (Jaws, The French Connection), is murdered by a former Nazi (Laurence Olivier) who has come to the U.S. to reclaim a valuable stash of diamonds.

Featuring a classic torture sequence (you'll never want to go to the dentist again), and a terrific case that includes William Devane and Marthe Keller, this film written by William Goldman (All the President's Men), stands as a great entertainment and as one of the seminal films of the 1970's.

"Cabaret" (1972)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

"Cabaret" is a musical film directed by Bob Fosse and starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York and Joel Grey. The film is set in Berlin during the Weimar Republic in 1931, under the ominous presence of the growing National Socialist Party.

A female girlie club entertainer in Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them. Winner of eight Academy Awards, Cabaret would also have taken a Best Picture if it hadn't been competing against "The Godfather" as the most acclaimed film of 1972.

Minnelli commands the screen as nightclub entertainer Sally Bowles, who radiantly goes on with the show as the Nazis rise to power, holding her many male admirers at a distance that keeps her from having to bother with genuinely developing emotions. Joel Grey is the master of ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub who will guarantee a great show night after night as a way of staving off the inevitable effects of war and dictatorship.

The film is based on "The Berlin Stories" by Christopher Isherwood, who lived in the city in the early 1930's. He had seen both the decadence and the dangerous hunger for a kind of national "purification" among many "moral" middle class Germans.

Cabaret caught lightning (and won several Oscars) for Minnelli, Grey and director Bob Fosse, who shaped a triumph of style and substance. Come to this Cabaret, old chum. You'll never want to leave.

"The Boys from Brazil" (1978)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

"The Boys from Brazil" is a British/American science fiction thriller starring Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier with James Mason and cameos by Uta Hagen and Steve Gutenberg.

George C. Scott was originally set to play Dr. Mengele but he dropped out before principal photography began and was replaced by Gregory Peck. The film was shot on location in Austria, England, Paraguay and Lancaster Penn.

Aging Nazi hunger Ezra Liberman (Laurence Olivier), must discover and thwart a plan by surviving Nazi death camp doctor Josepf Mengele (Gregory Peck), to resurrect Adolf Hitler through cloning. Mengele is still hiding in South America.

To make sure a new powerful Fourth Reich is launched, he summons a group of former SS officers in hiding along with several young new nazis. The purpose: to kill 94 men in Europe, Canada and the United States. Mengele's intention is to recreate the conditions that will bring about a new Hitler into the world many times over into the future.

The film fits neatly in the paranoid thriller vein popularized by films like the Manchurian Candidate (1962) and the Parallax View (1974). Sir Laurence Olivier's Nazi hunter Ezra Liberman was modeled on real life Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal.

The Boys from Brazil remains a thrilling sci-fi/paranoia yarn with surprising twists and a 'ripped' from the headlines topicality.

Ronnie Chasen, Hollywood publicist shot dead

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

A real-life murder mystery is stumping police in Beverly Hills. Longtime Hollywood publicist Ronnie Chasen, 64, was found in her Mercedes with 5 gunshot wounds early yesterday morning. She died shortly afterward. Chasen was apparently driving when she was shot and her car crashed into a light pole on Sunset Blvd, following the attack, police said. Earlier that night, Chasen attended the premiere and after-party for the movie "Burlesque."

The murder has sent shockwaves through Hollywood and detectives say they haven't yet been able to find any hint of a motive. Chasen, who specialized in Oscar campaigns, worked on promoting move than 100 movies during her long career, including "On Golden Pond," "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Wall Street--Money Never Sleeps."

I worked for Ms. Chasen in the early 80's at "Rogers and Cowan Public Relations" and she was one of the top publicists there and represented some of the top talent in town, including singer Janet Jackson, producer Richard Zanuck and George Burns who starred in "The Sunshine Boys," one of my favorite movies. Ronnie knew all of Hollywood's old royalty, most of whom she represented at one time or another.

Her client list included stars, composers and directors like A-list producers Richard Zanuck, Irwin Winkler, Bud Yorkin and Arnold Kopelson. They were clients for decades because they became her close personal friends.

"A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" (1973)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with my family is an annual tradition. This video takes me back to being a kid and being able to stay up and watch the specials that came on TV for the holidays. This is just a great simple cartoon for kids and parents alike. You will never be disappointed with any Charlie Brown cartoon.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving won an Emmy in 1973. This time Peppermint Patty invites herself and her friends to Chuck's house for Thanksgiving while Charlie Brown is expected at his grandmother's that same day. With Linus and Snoopy's help, they make an impromptu supper for their last-minute guests (including popcorn and burnt toast). Of course the outspoken Peppermint Patty complains: "Where's the pumpkin pie, Chuck?"

And as much as Charlie Brown would rather forget the whole thing, he just can't help but try for fear of being labeled a failure. Ultimately it's up to Snoopy and Woodstock to save Charlie from certain embarrassment and it falls to Linus to impart to all assembled the true meaning of Thanksgiving. This very special cartoon features the usual sweet unassuming humor that only the Peanuts can provide, along with the melodic Vince Guaraldi score and is one of those childhood classics meant to be enjoyed again and again.

While it's not as iconic as some of the other Peanuts specials, it's a good story that really grasps the characters very well. This DVD also features "The Mayflower Voyages," one of several specials that cast the Peanuts characters as participants in American history. It's a good educational tool for the kids, mixing in some of the harsher facts of life at Plymouth Rock with the softer, happier mood of the Peanuts gang. Together, these two cartoons are well worth the DVD.

"Soylent Green" (1973)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Soylent Green is for the dedicated science fiction fan. The year is 2022. Overcrowding, pollution and resource depletion have reduced society's leaders to finding food for the teeming masses. The answer is Soylent Green--an artificial nourishment whose actual ingredients are not known to the public. Thorn (Charlton Heston), is the tough, homicide detective who stumbles onto the secret so terrifying no one would dare believe him.

The pollution that envelops the city causes the temperature and humidity to become oppressive consuming all its citizens except the rich who live in concrete fortresses enjoying the last vestages of the late 20th century, fresh meat, salad, strawberries, cigarettes, Scotch and as Sol beams in irony, an apple that brings him to a tearful realization that this is the end of an era.

It is important to note that this film brings Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson together once again post the Ten Commandments. Charlton Heston chews the scenery and Edward G. Robinson is equally great as Heston's mentor.

I loved this movie in the 70's and still love it today. Even though "Soylent Green" was made in 1973, it's a rare movie that has aged well and holds up it's integrity even today in 2010. Those fans like me will want to pick up the DVD to add to your collection. Defintely worth a purchase!

"The Great Gatsby" (1974)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

For Robert Redford fans and lovers of the roaring 20's, this film is a real gem.

Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the noveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's social circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.

Robert Redford is an interesting casting choice as Gatsby, the millionaire isolated in his mansion, still dreaming of the woman he lost. And Sam Waterston is perfect as the narrator, Nick, who brings the dream girl Daisy Buchanan back to Gatsby. Downright funny and scary is actress Karen Black, the mistress of Mr. Buchanan with her eyes crossing and spitting with every close-up.

Visually stunning, capturing all the hollow gold of the glitzy era the books so devastatingly indicts and the performances by nearly all the players are superb. Fitzgerald's point was that the Roaring Twenties were shallow, represented by the "rotten crowd" of "careless people." (Quoted from the book).

Now the much anticipated screen re-adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" may have found it's Daisy. According to an exclusive by Vulture, actress Carey Mulligan is the front-runner to play Daisy in the Baz Luhrman-directed film.

The British star, who you might know from her Oscar-nominated turn in "An Education" is said to have done testing for the role in New York last week.

Prior to Mulligan's name being put on the top of the list, Scarlett Johannson was said to be the front-runner, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby.

'Megamind' tops box office for second week

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Animated comedy 'Megamind' topped film charts for the second week Sunday, claiming No. 1 at North American box offices with $30 million and beating new releases, including action flick "Unstoppable."

In second place over the weekend was runaway train movie "Unstoppable," starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. It pulled in $23.5 million and was the top-grossing new release, pleasing its distributor 20th Century Fox.

The fast-paced thriller generally earned good reviews from both critics and positive response from fans, FOX said, which is rare in theater these days.

Warner Brothers comedy "Due Date" dropped one position to the No. 3 slot on box office charts with $15.5 million.

Sci-fi thriller "Skyline" was No. 4 with $11.7 million, while romantic comedy "Morning Glory" rounded out the top 5 with $9.6 million, a disappointing opening with major stars like Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton working alongside Rachel McAdams.

Director Tyler Perry's "For Colored Girls" fell to the No. 6 spot with a 65% drop in ticket sales to a total $6.8 million.

"The Sunshine Boys" (1975)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

For most lovers of comedy, this film is a "must see."

A vaudeville duo agree to reunite for a TV special but it turns out they can't stand each other. "The Sunshine Boys" is based on the play by the same name. The cast included real-life experienced vaudevillian actor George Burns as Lewis, and Walter Matthau as Clark and Richard Benjamin and F. Murray Abraham in supporting roles.

Woody Allen originally was asked to direct but he was more interested in playing the role of Lewis and declined the offer. Initially Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were proposed for the leads, but the director Neil Simon was opposed to the idea, as he felt the roles required Jewish comedians.

The movie is both funny and poignant thanks to the inspired casting of Walter Matthau and George Burns (who kicked off something of a career comeback with this Oscar-winning role). Richard Benjamin is also good as Matthau's nephew who brings the two comics back together.

The film was based in fact on a pair of real vaudevillians who barely spoke to each other offstage.

George Burns was called out of near-retirement to replace Jack Benny (when Benny died) in this role and it created a new career for this marvelous old trooper.

If you want to see comedy performed with exquisite timing, watch two masters at work here.

"High Anxiety" (1977)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

An affectionate homage more than a spoof of Alfred Hitchcock thrillers, Mel Brooks' hilarious movie is one of the funniest modern comedies around. Brooks plays a psychiatrist with a severe fear of heights who moves to the Bay Area to take over a psychiatric hospital after it's former head mysteriously disappears.

He must contend with the resident psychiatrist (Harvey Korman), and the twisted resident nurse (Cloris Leachman), as they plot against him, eventually framing him for murder. While on the run, Brooks teams up with the alluring daughter (Madeline Kahn), of the missing doctor to solve the mystery and confront his own fears.

Containing some classic sequences and co-written by Barry Levinson, who appears briefly as a too-touchy bellhop in a Psycho-shower-scene takeoff, "High Anxiety" is a thoroughly enjoyable romp from one of the masters of comedy today.

This is Brooks' first film as a producer and first "speaking" lead role (his first lead role was in Silent Movie). The movie was dedicated to Hitchcock who sent Brooks a bottle of wine to show is appreciation.

Here's a list of some of the films spoofed or parodied in the movie:
1. Spellbound--Hitchcock's film about an insane asylum, the basic source of the plot. The joke in which the main characters find Professor Lilloman apparently dead in a chair, only to have him awake is a take on a similar situation in Spellbound.

2. Vertigo--Same San Francisco Bay setting at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, same bell tower location and similar movie poster graphics.

3. The Birds--also partially set in San Francisco, the jungle-gym scene is parodied. Spinach dip was flung at Mel Brooks as the pigeons could not be made to defecate on command.

4. The 39 Steps--When Victoria comes in the hotel room she asks to move from the door and window and close the drapes; she then kisses him when someone comes in, similar to the train situation.

5. Notorious
6. Dial "M" for Murder
7. Frenzy

The film's plot device of a wrongly accused man was one that Hitchcock used throughout his career, in such films as "The 39 Steps," "To Catch a Thief," and "Spellbound."

"Bananas" (1971)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

"Bananas" is another classic Woody Allen film, which was written and directed by Allen and starring himself and Louise Lasser. Parts of the plot were based on the book "Don Quixote, USA." It was filmed on location in New York City, Lima (Peru), and various locations in Puerto Rico.

Fielding Mellish (Woody Allen), is a neurotic blue collar man who tries to impress social activist Nancy (Louise Lasser). Trying to get in touch with the San Marcos revolution, he visits, attempting to how his concern for the native people. However, nearly killed by the local caudillo, only to be saved by the revolutionaries, he is then indebted to help them.

Mellish clumsily learns how to be a revolutionary, and then in an effort to feed the troops goes to a restaurant and in typical New Yorker fashion asks for thousands of deli sandwiches (including one special order), plus wheelbarrows of coleslaw on the side and 700 7-Ups.

When the revolution is successful, the Castro-style leaders goes mad (declaring at one point that all underwear be worn on the outside), forcing the rebels to place Mellish as their President. When traveling back to the U.S. to obtain financial aid, he reunites with his activist ex-girlfriend and is exposed.

In a classic courtroom scene, Mellish tries to defend himself from a series of incriminating witnesses (including an actress portraying J. Edgar Hoover allegedly disguised as a black woman). He is eventually sentenced to prison, but his sentence is suspended on the condition that he doesn't move into the judge's neighborhood. Nancy then agrees to marry him. The between-the-covers consummation of their marriage--an event that was over much more quickly than Nancy had anticipated--was announced "play by play" by Howard Cosell.

An announcement before the closing credits: "Special news bulletin...the astronauts have landed safely on the Moon and have erected the first all Protestant cafeteria."

According to an interview in the notes of the film's DVD release, Allen said that there is absolutely no blood in the film (even during the executions), because he wanted to keep the light comedic tone of the film intact.

The title is a pun, "bananas" being slang for "crazy," as well as being a reference to the phrase "banana republic" describing the film's setting.

Will Ferrell's 'Megamind' makes mega debut

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Will Ferrell's plot to take over the weekend box office has succeeded.

Ferrell's animated super-villian comedy "Megamind" debuted as the No. 1 movie with $47.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Along with the voices of Brad Pitt, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill, the Dreamwork's Animation release has Ferrell's title character hatching a scheme to fill the void in his life after he finally defeats his superhero nemesis.

Robert Downey Jr.'s road trip comedy, "Due Date," opened at a strong No. 2 with $33.5 million.

Tyler Perry's drama "For Colored Girls," whose ensemble cast features Janet Jackson and Whoopi Goldberg, premiered solidly in third-place with $20.1 million. The Lionsgate release is based on Ntozake Shange's play "For colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf."

While "Megamind" drew big family crowds on Saturday and Sunday, it also was the top draw on Friday, bringing in large numbers of adults without children said Anne Globe, head of marketing for Dreamworks Animation.

"Planes,Trains and Automobiles" (1987)

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

When I think of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" I smile. It is an absolutely wonderful holiday movie. Director and writer John Hughes takes the traveling nightmare genre to a whole new level. Everything that can go wrong, does. It's a comic routine that can be funny, but here it is a trip to hysterical.

Steve Martin is stuffy ad executive Neil "I can take anything" Page and John Candy is the bungling, but warm-hearted shower-ring salesman Del Griffith who comes along for the ride. We follow this mismatched pair half way across the states and back again as they encounter one crises after another. As the title says, our heros travel whatever way they can to get to Chicago--from plane to trains to cars.

One of the funniest scenes is when Del (John Candy) gets his coat caught behind the driver's seat, panics and sends the car on a tailspin causing him to go the wrong way down the Interstate. We see their car get caught between two semis. During the squeeze, Neil (Martin), looks and sees Del as the Devil, complete with pitchfork and horns. Even funnier is the driver in another lane trying to warn an oblivious Del that he is driving in the "WRONG DIRECTION!" Candy simply smiles and waves the "crazy" man aside.

John Candy gives the performance of his too short career. What makes Candy's performance so impressive is that while Del is an obnoxious, annoying slob, Candy shows that this is actually a very lonely, sweet, kind and caring man with a heart of gold.

The film was greeted with critical applause in 1987--a surprising revelation given that, at the time, Steve Martin and John Candy were both known as relatively low-brow comedians and John Hughes was considered a teen angst filmmaker. Their attempts at producing an "adult" comedy resulted in one of the most highly regarded films of the decade. The film also was a financial success earning over $150,000,000 on a mere $15,000,000 budget. This has proved to be one of John Candy's highest grossing films.

"King's Speech" to kick off 7th Dubai Film Festival

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Tom Hooper's Oscar front-runner "The King's Speech" will open the seventh Dubai International FIlm Festival on Dec. 12.

"DIFF has always sought to bring the best cinema of the world to Dubai and the greater Middle East, and "The King's Speech" certainly fits that bill," Festival Chairman Abdul Hamid Juma said in a statement.

"The film has scooped up the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival and earned rare standing ovations wherever it has been seen. We are excited to begin our programming on such a high note," Juma said.

Starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, the film is based on the true story of King George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth II, who reluctantly and unexpectedly becomes king following the death of his father and abdication by his brother Edward VII.

Plagued by a debilitating and lifelong speech impediment and considered unfit to be king of a country on the brink of war. George employs an eccentric speech therapist (Rush), to help him find his voice in order to lead Britain.

Juma added that "the world's leading studios and filmmakers are increasingly placing their trust in the professionalism, the business potential and the achievements of our Festival."

Fair Game

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

A fascinating glimpse into the dark corridors of political power, Fair Game is a riveting drama inspired by the experiences of real-life undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame, whose career is destroyed and her marriage strained to its limits when her covert status is exposed by a White House press leak.

As a covert officer in the CIA's Counter-Proliferation Division, Valerie leads an investigation into the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Valerie's husband, diplomat Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), is drawn into the investigation to substantiate an alleged sale of enriched uranium from Niger. But when the administration ignores his findings and uses the issue to support the call to war, Joe writes a New York Times editorial outlining his conclusions and ignites a firestorm of controversy.

Production took place in Washington D.C. and New York City. Fair Game has received generally positive reviews. Review website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 80% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 25 reviews.