The Wheezer Society

The Coroner Is Really Most Sincerely Dead

Meinhardt Raabe, the oldest surviving Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz, has died at the age of 94. Mr. Raabe played the Coroner who pronounced the Wicked Witch of the East deceased — I believe the official Cause of Death was that a house fell on her — and he "sang" the four lines that began, "As Coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined her. And she's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead." Now Mr Raabe is, too.
Raabe also toured the country for 30 years in the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile, promoting hot dogs as "Little Oscar, the World's Smallest Chef".

Phantom of the Paradise

I've been digitizing old 33-1/3 RPM albums the past few weeks. One I ran across that surprised me was the original soundtrack from Brian DePalma's Phantom of the Paradise. DePalma directed (and wrote) this movie right after "Sisters" with Margot Kidder and a one movie prior to "Carrie" with Sissy Spacek. De Palma also wrote the screenplay. I'll leave an analysis of the film to more able film critics (like Wheezer Jay Amicarella) but in listening the the soundtrack once again after 30 years, I thought it was pretty entertaining.

"Marty" Best Lines From Favorite Movies

Marty: "You don't like her. My mother don't like her. She's a dog. And I'm a fat, ugly man. Well, all I know is I had a good time last night. I'm gonna have a good time tonight. If we have enough good times together, I'm gonna get down on my knees. I'm gonna beg that girl to marry me. If we make a party on New Year's, I got a date for that party. You don't like her? That's too bad."
1955 was a good year.  Most of my classmates were born, and "Marty,"  the 'kitchen-sink drama' about a lonely butcher won Best Picture at the Oscars. 
We lost Betsy Blair, the wonderful actress who played 'the dog', this past year, along with Jennifer Jones and Jean Simmons.  I don't think the actresses have taken a hit like that in one year, ever. 
I fell in love with Betsy Blair when I first saw "Marty" as a teenager.  When she meets Ernest Borgnine she is transformed from plain Jane to a radiant beauty.  And it wasn't accomplished by CGI, it was done through the force of her talent.  Betsy Blair was truly luminescent.    jay amicarella

The Dude Abides

Jeff Bridges wins his Oscar® for Best Actor in Crazy Heart. A very long way from his Oscar nominated role in The Last Picture Show in 1971.

Gilligan's Island - The Movie - Who Would You Cast(away)?

It's being reported that the seven castaways of "Gilligan's Island" have been relocated to the lot at Warner Bros. and Atlas Entertainment. The idea to give a modern twist to the well-known premise and characters, with the screenplay being written by Brad Copeland (Wild Hogs, Arrested Development, My Name Is Earl).

So, who would you cast as the famous seven? Gilligan, The Skipper, The Millionaire and his Wife, The Movie Star, The Professor and Mary Ann?

"Fever Pitch" Best Lines From Favorite Movies

Instructor: "All right, people, let's shut yer pie-holes and speed it back up! C'mon!"
Sarah: "Die, you Nazi Spin Bitch!"

In the 2005 comedy about a fan's obsession with the Boston Red Sox, Marissa Jaret Winokur makes sure the guys don't get all the good lines. Oh, and that's delicious Ione Skye next to her, remember John Cusack's "Say Anything"? 

"Bottle Shock" Best Lines From Favorite Movies

Steven Spurrier: 'Wine is sunlight, held together by water.' "The poetic wisdom of the Italian physicist, philosopher, and stargazer, Galileo Galilei. It all begins with the soil, the vine, the grape. The smell of the vineyard - like inhaling birth. And it wakens some ancestral sun. Primordial. Anyway, some deeply imprinted, probably subconscious place. "

In one of the more overlooked films of the recent past, one of our favorite actors, Alan Rickman, waxes pretentious on the glories of the grape, and proves that just because you're an ass, doesn't mean you're not right.

Weird Films, Library of Congress plus Alphonse and Gaston

The Library of Congress has a YouTub account, where they have been posting various lectures and concerts, and early recordings and films ranging from Edison to now. I found some old films of vaudeville acts that are, well... really weird. Here's a link to an Edison film from 1903 entitled "Alphonse and Gaston". The characters being portrayed were actually from the comic strip, Alphonse and Gaston by Fredrick Opper for William Randolph Hearst's newspaper empire. The premise of the comic strip was that both Alphonse and Gaston were extremely polite, constantly bowing and deferring to each other. Neither could ever do anything or go anywhere because each insisted on letting the other precede him. Opper in later years did the Happy Hooligan comic strip also for Hearst.

"Gran Torino" Best Lines From Favorite Movies

Sue Lor: The Lutherans brought us over.
Walt Kowalski: Everybody blames the Lutherans.
Sue: See, we have a crapload of food here.
Walt: Just stay away from my dog.
Sue:  No worries, we only eat cats.
The Lutherans get it again (See Catch Me If You Can below) in one of my favorite films of 2008.  Stay tuned to this spot to see the poor Lutherans get it still again in a couple of days.  Jay Amicarella

"Shall We Dance" Best Lines From Favorite Movies

Paulina: The rumba is the vertical expression of a horizontal wish. You have to hold her, like the skin on her thigh is your reason for living. Let her go, like your heart's being ripped from your chest. Throw her back, like you're going to have your way with her right here on the dance floor. And then finish, like she's ruined you for life.
Bobbie: [looking up from the floor] Yeah, why can't you do it like that?
Jennifer Lopez has her way with Lisa Ann Walter as she instructs Richard Gere in the art of the Rhumba, in Shall We Dance, the 2004 re-make of the Japanese hit of the same title.