That's a good point, and on that note: since Intermission and DiF share the same About page, the About Page should probably start with a brief description of both.  i.e. DiF: you sync your copy of a movie etc etc.  Intermission, same crew but 30 min long and not movie-specific.

Unless Intermission will someday get its own About link, the same way (I'm guessing?) the iTunes and Rss links will toggle appropriately once Intermission is fully out of beta.

I said the same thing, but was outvoted.  So now I have to watch that movie again.

But the issue was, they did the shoot late at night, and downplayed the danger to the parents because what they were doing was illegal.   Having actual minors involved with a helicopter and pyro effects was a violation of a half-ton of really good laws, and the prosecution's case was that Landis (and co. - there were three co-defendants) deliberately and intentionally circumvented those laws. 

Witnesses testified that they had informed Landis the scene must be done with stunt doubles or dummies, but that Landis wanted the real kids and Vic Morrow there, to make the scene look all awesome and stuff.  There were also stories of other, earlier safety violations that just happened to not end in death.  I wasn't there, so I don't know the truth of it... but I have been on sets where corners were cut jussst a little because, hey, what could happen?  Never on that scale, though.

So if they'd done the scene legally and stunt performers had been killed, that would have been a tragedy.    Or if there had been some terrible mishap on set that killed three actors, again - tragic.  But these things can happen.   It was the apparent premeditated breaking of numerous rules in order to PUT a name actor and two children in harm's way that made it a criminal trial.

As I recall, Dorsey Wingo (the helicopter pilot and one of the co-defendants) almost requested a separate trial - because Landis and the other two (the production manager and pyro guy)were sorta leaning toward blaming it all on him for missing his mark and getting caught in the pyro blast.  But the takes clearly included Landis' voice yelling "Lower, lower!" so that argument probably didn't stand much of a chance.  And for Wingo,  "I knew it was dangerous but the director told me to do it" isn't a great defense either.

At the time, I was shocked that Landis and co. didn't go to prison .  Not that I wanted them to do time, I just assumed it was inevitable.  The trial was a very big deal for a very long time, and it looked like they were gonna be the scapegoats for getting caught doing something that everybody in the industry had done at one time or other.

Cocaine, hell of a drug.

You're supposed to feel guilty, but dirty is close enough.

Just a point of clarification:  there are sharks pretty much everywhere there's salt water.  They just don't bother much with people, you have to go looking for them.   But the shark in Jaws is a rogue - it's a Great White, which is unusual for that area.  And it specifically targets humans, which is unusual for sharks in general.

So Quint's like the local dogcatcher who gets called in because suddenly there's a werewolf loose in the... holy crap, I just got a great idea for a movie.  *runs away*

I'm sure you meant to say http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Goes_There%3F

And although The Thing From Another World may look like just another run-of-the-mill '50s monster flick NOW, it wasn't - for its time it was one of the best of the genre, which is why it's still remembered.   But the fact that it looks shoddy to modern eyes is exactly the argument for the Carpenter remake, which is also now a classic.   

As to whether the latest remake was worth doing, well... doesn't seem like it, but I haven't seen it yet.

This one time, I was in a fire with both hands up an actress's dress... nah, I should wait until we do that movie.

I would erase the first "________ Movie", whichever it was.  (Scary, I think?).  If that would prevent the existence of the umpteen others that followed, then Western civilization would actually be improved. 

Sure, plenty of braindead, utterly useless movies have been made by major studios, but the "_____ Movie" series lowered that bar farther than previously seemed possible.

Tom Selleck was the candidate to play Indy.  Henry Selick directed Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline.

But the image of Henry Selick as Indy will now be stuck in my head for quite a while.  Cognitive dissonance indeed.

I was not involved in that project, however I was a witness to the exact moment of its creation.

We were in the midst of post on Moby, and one of the Asylum honchos was in the editing room waiting to look at the cut.  He was thumbing through Variety, and I distinctly remember him saying "Huh, they're remaking Three Musketeers.  We definitely should do that one."   

The Asylum:  It Works Just Like You Think It Does

A program note:  Anything I may say in the Sucker Punch commentary will be redundant compared to the above. 

Well played, sir.

You realize that your argument is exactly why Fox chose to not air the real Firefly pilot, and started with The Train Job instead, right?   

But here's the thing.  TeagueFox was right, because they're a commercial network.   They need the ratings to sell the advertising to pay for the show.   What Teague wants from a show is exactly what network tv executives demand - hit the ground running and grab the audience by the balls in the first ten minutes.  Get people watching and keep them watching or we won't even bother to air all the episodes.   

All network showrunners work for Teague, literally and figuratively.    And when they write about it on their blogs we all say "damn, that's messed up, no wonder there's nothing good on".  But that's the game.

But bear in mind that not all tv shows are created equal.   Game of Thrones and The Wire, to name two slow-starters, aren't network shows.   They're pay-cable shows.   It's nice if they get good ratings, sure.  But HBO got your money at the first of the month when you paid your cable bill, they don't live and die by ratings and ad sales.     Whether it's the movies or the late night titty shows or the original series, as long as you're getting enough monthly jollies to keep paying your HBO bill, everybody at HBO keeps their jobs.   

Which is why pay-cable stations are where you tend to find shows that build more slowly and elaborately.   HBO shows don't get canceled, they're gonna air the whole thing.  They might not renew it if it's a real dog, but they don't yank a show off the air just because the pilot didn't pull in a big number.    Also unlike a network, they're also gonna air the pilot ten times in the first week, and give the audience an even better chance to find it and get on board.

Right now I'm going through this very thing with Boardwalk Empire (another HBO one), which I'm catching up with when I can.   The pilot was great, but the next several episodes were a little disappointing.   Still good, but slow and seemingly uneventful.   And then in Episode Five it all kinda gelled and I was pulled in again.   I had the same experience with Rome, come to think of it, another HBO show that would never get greenlit by  a commercial network.

Hell, HBO just renewed Treme even though it still hasn't caught on with audiences after two seasons.   Why?  Who knows, but it's partly just because they can afford to.   I watched the first episode of Treme.  Didn't care for it, haven't gone back.   Ditto for True Blood, which is a huge hit.  I don't get it, but I don't have to.  And I suppose one of these days I'm gonna have to give Deadwood a try.  But for now, gimme more Thrones and Boardwalk and we'll still be pals, HBO.   

I just had a lengthy meeting yesterday about pitching shows to various networks, and why they're different, so this stuff is fresh in my mind.   Let's at least be glad there IS a place where storytellers can tell their not-for-everyone stories.     Carnivale and Earth to the Moon and Band of Brothers would never have gotten made at a network either.   Or as Danny said on Studio 60:  "Nations should be on HBO, not a network.  Because it's good."

Anyway, just sayin that if a show starts with the HBO logo, be semi-prepared for a slow-starter.  That's one of the reasons people take certain projects to HBO.