11 Great Parodies of Ingmar Bergman

When you have a career that spans seven decades, and you’re talented enough to forge some of the best work in your field, it’s inevitable that people will stand up and take notice. Such is the case with Ingmar Bergman, whose films are almost synonymous with art house cinema. Thankfully for us, that means that Bergman’s work has been parodied time and time again. Here are eleven great parodies of Ingmar Bergman’s films.

Simon Says: The 9 Best Cinematic Uses of Paul Simon Songs

Paul Simon is a musical icon, the kind of artist whose career has garnered fame, critical acclaim, and numerous awards. His appeal is not limited to music fans. Simon’s music also holds a special place in the heart of cinephiles. Simon’s music, performed solo or with Art Garfunkel, possesses just the right blend of introspection, cryptic meaning, and melodic charm that it fits perfectly every time it’s used in a film. Here are the nine best examples.

Tale of the Tape: The 80s Robot vs. The Wafflebot

Last November was a legendary month for cinematic servant robots. It was the halcyon days of movie robots serving things to people. The release of The Muppets introduced us all to the 80s Robot, Kermit’s robot butler who always had a nice, cool, 20-year old Tab or New Coke on hand for guests. November also gave us A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas, which possessed its own special robot- the Wafflebot. Now that the smoke has cleared and it’s a year later, we can start to objectively dissect the question that has plagued us ever since- which robot was better? Here’s a tale of the tape that compares the two. It’s all scientific and stuff.

The 10 Most Memorable Movie Refrigerators

A dear friend of mine passed away the other day. This friend was there for me every step of the way. In my toughest times, my friend was always right there with a cold beer. When I wanted to grab a bite to eat, my friend knew just the right meal. And no matter how hot-tempered I was, my friend always stayed cool. That’s because my friend was a refrigerator, and it finally crapped out on me the other day. In honor of my once trusty, but now dead, fridge, I created this list of the 10 most memorable movie refrigerators.

The 8 Best Parodies of Gone With the Wind

Thanks to the Warner Brothers Blu-ray Elite program, I recently received a free copy of Gone With the Wind (1939). The holiday weekend afforded me a chance to re-visit the sweeping epic. I’ll have a review up soon enough, but for now, I’d like to discuss the copious amount of times the film has been parodied. As I re-watched it, I couldn’t help but think of many, many times it’s been spoofed through the years. Here are my eight favorites.

On DVD/Blu-Ray Today: The Muppets

I just wanted to drop a quick note to explain the new look of the site. The Muppets hits DVD and Blu-Ray today. And thus, for one day only, I’ve shifted the background to a felt green and updated the header. As for The Muppets, go buy it. If it doesn’t make your day better, then nothing will. If you don’t believe me:

The Second Annual TDYLFie Awards

It's a major award!

The end of the year is just around the corner, which means it’s time for a bunch of lazy journalists to do their year-end best and worst lists of 2011. But why should they have all the fun? I’m lazy too. And I already established an award for this last year–the TDYLFie. I’m going to capitalize on that laziness for an easy article. But first, let’s establish some scope. I don’t see nearly enough new releases to make any sort of reasonable “Best/Worst of 2011” list. Thus, this list will be comprised of movies that I’ve seen in 2011, which will run the gamut from era to era, genre to genre, and on and on. In reality, this is more of a list about my own experience watching movies in 2011 than it is about anything that was released in 2011. Moreover–and this is a serious problem that I plan on rectifying in 2012–I don’t have a thorough means of keeping track of what I’ve seen. I can see what I’ve received and rated from Netflix and Facets in 2011, and the rest of this is based on memory of what I’ve actually seen. There’s a very real chance that I’ll miss something. Whadayagonnado? Without further delay, here is the awards program for the 2nd Annual TDYLFies.

Review: The Muppets

As of this writing, it’s been four hours since I left the theater after seeing The Muppets. And there is not an ounce of hyperbole when I say that I am still smiling and humming their famous tune, Manamana. In the updated muppet universe, the muppet theatre has fallen into disrepair. A wealthy oil tycoon, Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), has plans to buy the theatre, destroy it, and drill for oil. Muppet superfan Walter, touring the studio with his brother Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams), stumbles upon the nefarious plot. The trio must then round up the old Muppet gang to raise enough money to save the theatre.

Mark Sandman Covers The Muppets

When I was a little kid, I embraced the Muppets. They were my world. I even had a stuffed Kermit that I dragged with me everywhere I went. Even now, I’ll find myself watching old clips from the show and the grin on my face could light up the galaxy. As you can imagine, I’m getting very anxious for the new movie coming out.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

Recently, I’ve been labeled the Monarch of Muppet by my friend Marty. “Nobody likes the Muppets as much as you do”, he says. And I really don’t deny it. I’ve already mentioned that when I was a kid, I wanted to be Kermit when I grew up (which is part of why I love Hot Fuzz so much- Nicholas Angel/Simon Pegg confesses to the same thing). All of this Muppet talk has served as my madeleine, prompting my very own Remembrance of Things Past. I’m sure Freud would have a field day with this. Here are some of my earliest TV and movie memories.