Mr. Hulot's Holiday: Mr. Bean's Predecessor

Released in 1953.

Mr. Hulot's Holiday (originally Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot) directed by Jacques Tati is a lighthearted gimmicky French film about the quirky Mr. Hulot. Without a plot, the film might seem somewhat dry to some. But for others – like Director Terry Jones of Monty Python & The Holy Grail – it's a classic comedy. For Rowan Atkinson, Mr. Hulot's character served as inspiration for his Mr. Bean alter-ego in his 2007 English remake: Mr. Bean's Holiday.

During a DVD exclusive introduction, Jones exclaims that Tati’s film was one of the first to bring together comedy and beauty. He cites three reasons to support his opinion. 

Firstly, Jones praises the film’s black & white cinematography and composition saying that “the atmospheric postcards allow us to soak up the atmosphere of this beautiful vacation.” Shot on the coast South of France at a beach resort, Tati has crafted an ideal vacation spot in a fashion befitting Norman Rockwell.

Secondly, he says, that Taiti’s mastery over comedic elements allows him to create hilarious visual puns. Jones says that, in comedy, the main idea is to join two separate ideas into one to get a laugh. 

Thirdly, Jones believes that Taiti is attempting to look towards the future with his use of jazz music and belief in the youth. He says that his third point is “something that doesn’t happen in his later films.”

Skyfall: Homage to the Bond classics

This weekend I saw the latest addition to the Bond legacy, Skyfall.  This film was able to appeal to the current generation's "action movie go-er" while still paying homage to the classic Bond spy movies.  Regardless of the movies attempt to have a more realistic plot/take than some of the old Bond movies the director took special care to not over step his bounds and preserving many aspects of the older films.

First off James Bond/ Agent 007 kept his name as did "Mom" and eventually Agent Moneypenny, along with several other characters. The preservation of names, regardless of how silly they seem now, directly points out the commitment to maintaining the tradition of "Bond."

Throughout the movie old plot points from previous Bond films were brought up such as exploding pens and ejector seats.  These moments of brief dialogue were directly for those who knew the old movies and allows the audience into the mind of the writer/director of the film saying, "No this is not a remake of the old Bond movies but instead another chapter in the legacy." Such comments pass right over the heads of people who don't know the movies, but add another dimension to those who have been following Bond from the beginning.

The film even went as far as to reintroduce the spy car the original James Bond used in the past films.
Recognition of the creators of Skyfall to address the fact that the film industry has changed and that the plots of action films today differ from those in the past allow them to change the story/character accordingly to still preserve Bond as an admirable, suave, and all around "cool"character.  The idea of an exploding pen would be better suited for a comedy than a serious action film is the perfect example of this.  However the fact that Skyfall incorporated and worked so hard to bring back elements of the old movies in the best way they could added an entirely new dimension to the film.  In my opinion the new Skyfall movie did the Bond series justice and through its homages to the classics of the past appeased many fans who may have been apprehensive about re-igniting the Bond legacy and tradition.

A few weeks ago I posted about my favorite movies the Evil dead movies starring bruce campbell. well I stumbled upon information there was a remake on the way so I had to find a clip which I did.

                                             



it looks like the movie has taken a very serious turn and will no longer be the comically over the top film I have come to love. but I want to keep an open mind. maybe this trailer is just doing a really good job of making it look like it is a serious movie but it is so serious it is comical.

ill watch this movie the second I can more or less hoping for a Bruce Campbell cameo if he has a cameo in it and the rest of the movie is a disappointment I will still consider my time spent well.