12 mini-reviews for the short attention span, taken from the dark corners of stevenl's video vault:

Don't Misbehave Indian Brave / directed by Eddie Bernds, Eddie Rehberg, Sam Cornell, Dave Detiege (1965/66, DVD). Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe DeRita. A series of lame cartoons with the Three Stooges voicing their own animated selves had a short-lived career. The aging Stooges themselves appeared on film to introduce and conclude the cartoons, woefully with little violence or sound effects. This particular episode can only be called just. plain. bad. as the cartoon Stooges play the roles of Native Americans attempting to stop a wagon train. Offensive and shoddy.

Something to Sing About / directed by Victor Schertzinger (1937, DVD). James Cagney, Evelyn Daw, Wlliam Frawley, Mona Barrie, Gene Lockhart, Philip Ahn, Dwight Frye. Hollywood looks at itself with a sardonic eye and reveals the personal cost of celebrity status in an entertaining and irreverent manner. Cagney, that spring-coiled banty fighter, is the main star in this musical comedy. I really enjoyed the way he moved throughout this picture. He had a style I'd call "punch-in-the-nose ballet." No other cinematic tough guy possessed the versatility of this amazing actor. Great 1930s patter (Cagney to female lead vocalist Daw when offering champagne: "C'mon canary, get your nose wet.") and conventions in film storytelling. Frawley was always old even when he was young. Dwight Frye (most famous as Renfield in Dracula) is a hoot as the studio make-up artist. But of all the supporting actors, Korean-American Philip Ahn (1905-1978) steals the show as the Japanese houseboy who breaks the stereotype when convenient and makes fun of racist perceptions-- decades ahead of his time. It really is something to sing about. The story also includes catboxing. Yes, you heard right. Catboxing. Evelyn Daw had a wonderful singing voice, but her talent was misdirected here. She really belonged in a more formal and classic venue, her role called for someone with a more pop culture touch. Even so, this is one of the better Cagney films of the 1930s and a lot of fun to watch. Unfortunately it tanked at the box office and eventually broke Grand National Pictures, which was a shame. Defintely worth a look by Century 21 viewers both for entertainment and academic pleasures.

Little Miss Sunshine / directed by Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris (2006, DVD). Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Beth Grant. It is impossible for me to watch this film without laughing out loud and then find myself crying. Screw Disney, when it comes to the best family film of all time, this one wins the prize. An extended family travels from Albuquerque, NM to Redondo Beach, CA in a failing VW van in order to deliver their youngest member as a contestant in the Little Miss Sunshine talent competition. Along the way they learn a few unpleasant truths and the patriarch dies. The casting here was 100% perfect. The script is tight and funny. The seam between comedy and tragedy is flawless. But maybe my view is colored by the fact my Dad died at the same time this film was released and I found a special connection with Kinnear's character. As far as child actors go, Breslin is terrific as the little unspoiled girl and innocent on who everyone else pins their hopes. Actually I took my daughter to a preliminary meeting for our local festival "princess/queen" role many years ago, and found the whole thing to be incredibly creepy. For better or worse, I decided to end our involvement on the spot. Looking back I wonder if I made a mistake. Such are the guilt trips of parenthood-- a topic covered in this film with great humor and sensitivity. The character to follow in this story is Kinnear, as he goes through the greatest and most positive transformation. Arkin has supplied me with a template for how I intend to conduct myself in my senior years, especially if I become a grandfather. I like to think I would've supported my daughter the same way Kinnear did. A beautiful film, especially for daughter dads, and on my list of top ten movies of all time.

"The Naked Ant" (Monty Python's Flying Circus ; v. 6, episode 12) / directed by Ian MacNaughton (1970, VHS). Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Connie Booth. Suicides jumping off a tall building, "Spectrum" looks at what is going on, A small boarding house in Minehead Somerset, Mr. Hilter and his friends, Reporting a burglary, Upper Class Twit of the Year, Ken Shabby wants to get married, Wood Party, Talking heads on politics, 16 ton weight. Cleese's impression of Hitler ("Hilter") making a speech is a highlight, along with the Upper Class Twit of the Year competition.

"Pete. Pt. 1" (Red Dwarf) / directed by Ed Bye (1999, VHS off-air). Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Robert Llewellyn, Chloë Annett, Norman Lovett, Graham McTavish, Mac McDonald, Shend. Disjointed and patchedworked, but it does include McTavish calling himself "Nicey" Ackerman, and ends with a fun dinosaur scene. Compared to earlier episodes the soundtrack has been significantly changed for the better and the special effects have grown more sophisticated.

Truly, Madly, Deeply / directed by Anthony Minghella (1990, VHS). Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Bill Paterson, Christopher Rozycki, Deborah Findlay. In a grief that borders on madness, a woman pines for her dead lover only to find he has returned in an all too human state. In this story about letting go, we are never quite sure if he is really there, a tulpa of torment, or completely in her head. Slow moving but sophisticated, the movie has nice visual composition and the use of the cello both in the soundtrack and as a prop was the perfect choice for the sound of the story. Stevenson's acting is very natural and believable. Granted, Rickman is supposed to be dead, but that is no excuse for mumbling his words so badly that his lines simply get buried (har-de-har-har). The group of dear departed guys he invites over to endlessly watch old classic movies on VHS in the living room was my favorite part. Someone made the right decisions in shabby costuming and in casting wonderful faces for this crew. Their deceased state is very subtle. I saw this work back in the 1990s and liked it better then than now. Of course, this time I watched it on a screener copy, a video provided to reviewers. Every five minutes the words "Demo Tape Only. Sale or Rental Prohibited" ... etc. etc. would scroll across the bottom of the frame. That has a way of distracting the viewer, so I'll make allowances.

"Dead to the World" (American Gothic) / directed by James A. Contner (1995, DVD). Gary Cole, Paige Turco, Jake Weber, Brenda Bakke, Lucas Black, Sarah Paulson, Nick Searcy. Another episode top-heavy and jam packed with ethical themes covering friendship, parenthood, good and evil, and the presumption of free will. Are we running from Satan or the from the Evil within ourselves? I did enjoy little Caleb refusing to shoot an arrow through a crow because, "I don't kill nothin' I don't eat," but then feels ill after being duped by ego into doing just that. The evolving character of the Deputy (Nick Searcy) as he begins to rebel against the Devil's authority makes him one of the most interesting characters in the series and the actor I find myself following the closest on my second try at this soap opera.

Blazing Saddles / directed by Mel Brooks (1974, VHS). Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, Mel Brooks, Alex Karras, Burton Gilliam, David Huddleston, Liam Dunn, John Hillerman, Dom DeLuise, Count Basie, Anne Bancroft (uncredited), Richard Farnsworth (uncredited), Ben Frommer (uncredited). Using Western movie conventions as his vehicle, Mel Brooks put together a work that can be viewed as either one of the most tasteless and offensive lowbrow films of the mid-1970s, or a risky and provocative comedy willing to tackle the racial tension of the era. Actually, it is a lot of both. I saw this when it was first released and the Olympia audience was alternately squirming uncomfortably in their seats or laughing their asses off. Without question, the belch and fart scene was the show stopper at the time. No one had ever dared to portray those natural functions in a major motion picture before Mel. One has the impression a lot of the jokes were crammed in the story just to get them out of the way and to keep the audience distracted from the fact there was no real story. But Brooks knew what he was doing-- in sorting out the film, viewers spend years recounting scenes and reciting lines like "Mongo only pawn in game of life," or, "Oh Lord, do we have the strength to carry on this mighty task in one night, or are we just jerking off?" And my favorite, when the Waco Kid (Wilder) is consoling the African American Sheriff (Little): "What did you expect? Welcome Sonny? Make yourself at home? Marry my daughter? You gotta remember these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the New West. You know-- morons." Three and half decades later, this movie still has the power to offend and to make us laugh.

Approaching the Apocalypse (The Century: America's Time; v. 5) / directed by Roger Goodman (1999, VHS). Peter Jennings (narration), Buzz Aldrin, John Glenn, Stephen Ambrose, Pat Buchanan, Dennis Hopper, Charles Champlin, Tom Wicker, Oliver Stone, John Updike, Leonard Garment. The 1969 Moon landing, Silent Majority, Spiro Agnew, Easy Rider, secret war in Cambodia, Kent State, hardhat riot backlash, Attica Prison riot, Vietnam gets worse, Nixon visits China and the USSR, Hanoi Hilton, Watergate, Agnew resigns, Nixon declares "I am not a crook" but later resigns, Vietnam falls to the Communists. One thousand years from now, if schoolchildren will know anything about our sliver of existence, it will be the fact that in 1969 humans walked around on the Moon for the first time. All that other stuff which looms large for us-- Nixon, Watergate, Vietnam-- will be found in the footnotes. Even so, there were some topics I was hoping to see covered in the 1969-1974 segment that were omitted: abortion, 18 year olds get the vote, Archie Bunker, Chappaquiddick, Clifford Irving's Howard Hughes hoax, My Lai Massacre trial, D.B. Cooper and the rise of skyjacking, gasoline shortage and fuel prices exceed a buck a gallon. It was something of a bummer era and this documentary captured that feeling.

Vietnam: Present Tense / [directed by?] Seth Rolbein (1988?, VHS off-air). In what he calls "Polaroid Television," Rolbein takes a tour of a more settled Vietnam. Not a returning veteran, and a self-confessed innocent, he reintroduces us to a country we had tried to forget for a dozen years or so. Sadly, the tape reached the end about four minutes into the documentary. And thus my review of this work is concluded.

From Jesus to Christ (Frontline) / directed by William Cran (1998, VHS off-air). Here's the premise: "That story, of a man called Jesus of Nazareth, a who became Jesus Christ, was originally told by his first followers. And then retold in accounts by later believers in the Gospels. So began the building of a religion. Now it is our turn, with the help of scholars and historians, theologians and archaeologists to return to that time and use our best efforts to understand that story of a man born in obscurity and whose name a faith was made." Sophisticated editing and direction, with a host of thoughtful talking heads and high production value visuals. And completely boring. Students of the Bible might find this interesting, but I found myself dozing and then using the fast forward button a lot. If I may inject a pointless story here just to pad this review, last week I was at a social function in Springfield, Oregon and a woman approached me and asked, "Is Dominic the AntiChrist?" I must've looked puzzled, which I indeed was, so she added, "You're a preacher, aren't you? You should know." Uh, ooooooooookay. I never did find out who Dominic is/was (much less the AntiChrist deal) or why she thought I was a preacher. Maybe it's some kind of Oregon thing.

Ed Wood / directed by Tim Burton (1994, VHS). Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, G.D. Spradlin, Vincent D'Onofrio, Bill Murray, Lisa Marie, George "The Animal" Steele, Conrad Brooks, Gregory Walcott, Korla Pandit. Overlooked by the public and ignored at the box office, this is my favorite Tim Burton film. Shot in glorious and appropriate black and white, this not entirely accurate biopic is based on Rudolph Grey's excellent book, Nightmare of Ecstasy: the Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. Burton was able to produce a film that could appeal to the uninitiated and seasoned Woodians alike. His portrayal of Wood and his fellow "Hollywood Bottomfish" (as Maila Nurmi "Vampira" used to call herself and the group) is humorous without being condescending, human without being sappy. Wood's sincerity and enthusiasm attracts us to his corner, even though we know from the outset he's doomed. Depp is hammy as usual, perhaps a bit too hammy. Landau won a very deserved Oscar for his brilliant rendition of Bela Lugosi. The decaying horror star always managed to bring some class to even the worst of movies, including Wood's. Landau was able to capture that presence. Bill Murray as Bunny Breckinridge is another fun supporting role. Real life Plan 9 From Outer Space actors Brooks and Walcott briefly appear. The soundtrack reminds us that although we can laugh at them, this is essentially a story about twilight people struggling to have a place in the world. We get to see Wood at his peak, but the subsequent years of runaway alcoholism and producing cheap porn movies and books were yet to come. We know this will be his fate as we see him in the 1950s, and I'm afraid he knew it too. But that didn't stop him from trying, which is part of the appeal of Wood and his work.