While it’s nice to learn that so many other people love The Cannonball Run as much as I do, it’s very unfortunate that such a discovery comes only with the death of Dom DeLuise. The actor passed away peacefully last night at the age of 75, and today the Internet is heavy in mourning, as well as in discussion and celebration of underrated DeLuise classics.
For me, after the apparently “classic” Cannonball Run movies and my obvious rememberance of the actor’s appearances in The Muppet Movie and on The Muppet Show, I thought of Don Bluth’s animated features, many of which feature the voice of DeLuise. I recall being so excited upon the release of Bluth’s All Dogs Go to Heaven as a kid, mainly because it reunited DeLuise with his Cannonball costar Burt Reynolds. Plus, as much as it was always a delight seeing DeLuise’s jolly face onscreen, his voice alone always gave me a warm feeling. Even his “Pizza the Hut” from Spaceballs comes off as someone you’d like to hug, as messy as that might be.
Speaking of Spaceballs, many around the web are obviously writing fondly of DeLuise’s work in Mel Brooks‘ movies, and at least one person has acknowledged the late actor’s work in Fatso, directed by Mrs. Brooks, aka Anne Bancroft. That and other remembrances can be found after the jump.
Yet another gem from the Silent Movie’s stellar fall schedule that I somehow forgot to mention: The New Naturalists, with Saturdays in December devoted to a handful of works from “America’s new-fly-on-the-wall auteurs.” The Puffy Chair, Mutual Appreciation, Frownland and Old Joy and will be joined by Jennifer Shainin and Randy Walker’s Apart From That. All that, and not an M-word in sight.
I’m swooning this morning over a 16-page PDF, advertising the fall programming schedule for Los Angeles’ Silent Movie Theater, which has recently been remade as a full-service rep house. Growing up in Los Angeles, the old Silent Movie was a key constellation on the moviegoing map, along with the New Beverly, the Nuart, the Music Hall, that shitty discount Cineplex Odeon on Fairfax and Beverly, and the (recently-shuttered) Rialto in Pasadena. Now that I’ve been spoiled by New York theaters like Film Forum and the Pioneer, I understand that none of these places were all that adventurously programmed when I was frequenting them in the mid-to-late 90s, but within Los Angeles’ oppressive strip mall non-culture, there was something exciting about watching something like King Kong with live organ accompaniment at the Silent, or even just getting a car full of people to drive out to Pasadena to see a print of Ghostbusters that actually had scratches on it.
But with the new Silent Movie, Los Angeles finally has the rep house that it probably doesn’t deserve. The program for the remainder of 2007 is wildly exciting. I’ve listed some highlights after the jump; you can download the gorgeous PDF program here.
[Via Filmmaker Blog]
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We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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