Tag Archives: edward l brown

Today in Brilliant Pairings: Rise of the Planet of the Apes + Project Nim

Over at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, tonight’s double feature is a particularly inspired pairing of simian cinema from 2011: the cautionary thriller Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the equally harrowing doc Project Nim . What lessons can be taken from this matching of monkey movies? Rise of the Planet of the Apes , dir. Rupert Wyatt Premise: A chimpanzee raised by humans grows up to lead a simian revolt against humanity. Major players: Caesar the chimpanzee, his scientist guardian, a greedy biotech suit, the evil kid from Harry Potter Oscar hopes: Special effects, Best Actor (wearing mo-cap dots) Lessons learned: Animal testing is bad… very bad. Also: an angry revolutionary chimpanzee is a dangerous chimpanzee. (And let’s not forget the eternal question: Why Cookie Rocket?) Project Nim , dir. James Marsh Premise: A chimpanzee raised by humans to study language learning and behavior grows up to be a sad, sad monkey. Major players: Nim Chimpsky the chimpanzee, a Columbia University psychologist, warring foster mothers, and many other misguided humans Oscar hopes: Best Documentary Lessons learned: It’s hard out here for a chimpanzee caught between worlds, left to stew in his own loneliness and rage and confusion. Also: an angry, messed up chimpanzee is a dangerous chimpanzee. Inspired stuff in the midst of awards season from the good folks at the New Beverly, where the ROTPOTA / Nim double feature plays tonight at 7pm for just $8. Check out their full monthly slate here .

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Today in Brilliant Pairings: Rise of the Planet of the Apes + Project Nim

Sword Maestro Bob Anderson Dies at 89; Watch Some of His Most Celebrated Screen Battles

The best-known Hollywood swordsman this side of Warren Beatty passed away on New Year’s Day: Bob Anderson, an Olympic fencer who once wounded Errol Flynn on set and whose subsequent swordfight choreography spanned 60 years and such franchises as Star Wars , The Lord of the Rings and the James Bond series, is dead at the age of 89. Wind up your day rewatching a few of his finest battles. Anderson actually borrowed the Darth Vader get-up from actor David Prowse for the climactic fights at the ends of both Empire Strikes Back (below) and Return of the Jedi : Elsewhere, one of Anderson’s devotees helpfully spliced together a medley of Anderson more swashbuckly pieces of work, led by The Princess Bride ‘s classic duel between Westley and Inigo Montoya: And finally, here’s Anderson explaining some of his technique and history, with back-up from Viggo Mortensen. R.I.P., good sir.

Crackhead Chipwrecked Flasher Gives New Meaning to Theatrical Exhibition

Let’s play a little game of Would You Rather, felony crime edition: Would you rather sit through all of Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked , or have a naked man flash your children from the first row of a movie theater? That’s the conundrum some parents were faced with last weekend in a Chicago area multiplex when one Edward L. Brown interrupted an afternoon showing of the latest Fox chipmunk sequel. Details inside! (And it only gets weirder!) According to the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark (via Jim Vejvoda at @StaxIGN ), 34-year-old Brown gave fellow patrons at the North Riverside Park Mall’s Classic Cinemas theater a shock on December 29: About a half hour into the 4 p.m. showing of the kiddie feature Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked , police say an entirely naked Edward L. Brown stood up from his seat in the front row, faced the crowd of 86 theater-goers, stretched out his hands and displayed his genitalia for all to see before sitting back down to enjoy the movie. (Note reporter Bob Uphues’s detail that the butt-naked Brown displayed himself “before sitting back down to enjoy the movie.” Nice touch.) Even better than Brown’s bizarre naked nonchalance? The explanation he gave police when they promptly arrested him onsite: According to the police report, Brown told officers that he had been let inside the movie theater for free by an unknown female who allegedly told him to have a seat in the front row of the theater, take off his clothes and wait for her, so they could have sex, smoke crack and do heroin. Classy! And really strange! Sounds like someone may have gotten punk’d. Just sayin’. Brown was charged with “three felony counts of sexual exploitation of children, aged 4, 6 and 6; one misdemeanor count of sexual exploitation of a minor aged 14; and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct;” the theater patrons, meanwhile, were given refunds and ticket vouchers to see the rest of Chipwrecked another time. And so I ask, which is worse: Being flashed by some weirdo sex-crazed drug user at the movies, or having to sit through Chipwrecked twice? And consider Brown himself. He may have landed in jail with multiple gross felony counts to his name, but at least he didn’t add insult to injury by paying to see Chipwrecked . And in fairness, those Chipmunks don’t wear pants, either. • Naked man interrupts ‘Chipmunks’ at North Riverside Mall theater [Riverside-Brookfield Landmark]

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Crackhead Chipwrecked Flasher Gives New Meaning to Theatrical Exhibition