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Reviews
Crazy House (1930)
Were Michael Jackson's Thriller-era dance routines copied from Earl 'Snake Hips' Tucker?
Maybe I haven't seen enough performances by other dancers from over the decades to know otherwise, but after seeing Earl 'Snake Hips' Tucker do his routine in this comedy short (aired tonight, Friday 18-AUG-2006, 10:45 p.m. as a "One Reel Wonder" filler on the TCM Turner Classic Movies channel) I would swear that nearly all of Michael Jackson's moves first displayed during his "Thriller" days were copied from this early film.
I was astounded how amazingly similar the choreographed set of fluid moves were between what I recall seeing Michael doing for the first time years ago (and not the similar-but-jerky gyrations of the 50's Elvis/Chuck Berry-era days) and this "Snake Hips" guy I saw in tonight's short movie.
I only wish I knew the official descriptive names of each move like a dancer would so I could list them all.
So, was this old 2 minute segment the source of his inspiration and following world-wide fame? You be the judge if you are lucky enough to catch it sometime (I noticed it was not listed on the TCM schedule).
Hellboy (2004)
Batman? MIB? Raiders of the Lost Ark? Ghost Busters? How about a blend?
After a friend kept mentioning this movie for quite some time, my spouse and I finally viewed Hellboy and found it surprisingly entertaining.
Mind you, we were not expecting a great drama, but were worried that it might be too gory, too foul, too much a horror/shock-fest flick, etc.
But picture a cross between Batman (comic-book-styled "hero"/sidekick duo and sometimes-funny/sometimes-brooding/reflective dialog), Raiders of the Lost Ark (Nazi pursuit of powerful religious objects), Ghost Busters and Men in Black (Z-z-zap-'em back to where they came from!), and you'll have a fair idea of the tone of this movie.
So yes, due to the level of monster-shoot-em-up within (little blood but lots of slime), I'd adhere to the PG-13 rating and not let younger kids watch, but Hellboy turned out to be much more fun and cleaner (with a few "good lessons learned" thrown in) than we expected, possibly a good choice for a teen party!