Ask FlickChick Is The Dark Knight a cursed production Plus the celebrity name game name that movie and more movie questions answeredSend your movie questions to FlickChickQuestion Do you believe that some movies are cursed I know it sounds ridiculous but theres been some talk about a curse of The Dark Knight and it seems as though a lot of bad things have happened to people who were involved starting with Heath Ledger -- KaraFlickChick In a word no In a few more words I think the twin curses of recklessness and cutting corners to save money have caused more grief than any malevolent supernatural forces In the case of The Dark Knight a visual effects technician named Conway Wickliffe died during a test run of a car stunt on September 25 2007 before principal shooting started By all accounts that was simply a very unfortunate accident -- Wycliffe was on a camera truck which ran into a tree -- he wasnt even in the stunt car which was unmanned Heath Ledger died
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Ask FlickChick Why did Murder Inc need two directors how does a movie like OSS 117 wind up with different subtitles on different prints and more movie questions answeredSend your movie questions to FlickChickQuestion This morning I finally saw the 1960 true-life crime drama Murder Inc and found it to be quite compelling My question is why did the film have two directors Burt Balaban and Stuart Rosenberg Was there some behind-the-scenes drama you can share with us I read every column and miss it terribly when it doesnt appear Best wishes --JayFlickChick There is a story though its less juicy drama than a tale of bad timing Stuart Rosenberg whos best know for directing Cool Hand Luke1967 with Paul Newman began his career in television His credits included episodes of the New York-based crime dramas Decoy and Naked City which Im sure is why he was offered Murder Inc as his feature directing debut But Rosenberg left during production in support of back
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DVD Tuesday Drag queens hit the road in the surprising Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the DesertTrue confession Until last weekend I only knew The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert from the musical Drew Carey Show episode in which Drew and arch-rival Mimi stage competing dance-offs pitting Rocky Horror Picture Show lovers against Priscilla fans My lossMy excuse I assumed it was a middle-of-the-road drag show like VictorVictoria or La Cages aux Folles and I was wrong The plot is ahem straightforwaword Sydney-based Tick Hugo Weaving -- yes Agent Smith of The Matrix trilogy who does a caberet act under the name Mitzi gets a gig at an upscale casino in Alice Springs He recruits dishy relentlessly provocative Adam Guy Pearce of LA Confidential and The Time Machine who performs as Felicia and his old friend Bernadette Terence Stamp a middle-aged transsexual who just lost her much-younger boyfriend to a freak accident Adam buys an ancient
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Ask FlickChick How did they finish The Dark Knight what did Mad Max drive and more movie questions answeredSend your movie questions to FlickChickQuestion I really miss the podcast -- cheer me up by answering this question please How did they finish The Dark Knight I thought Heath Ledger died in the middle of filming Thanks ShannonFlickChick Thanks for missing the podcast I miss doing itUnlike 1994s The Crow which was in the middle of principle photography when star Brandon Lee died in an on-set accident The Dark Knight was in post production at the time of Heath Ledgers sad and premature death So the filmmakers had all the footage they needed of Ledgers performance as the Joker in fact the actor already well into shooting his next project Terry Gilliams dark fantasy The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus Ledger was playing the role of Tony a performer in a travelling show whose proprietor Christopher Plummer sold his daughters soul to the dev
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DVD Tuesday Looking for more smart emotionally resonant animation like Wall-E Try Hayao Miyazakis stunning Spirited AwayAs Ive said in past columns Im not a huge fan of mainstream American animated features overall theyre too frenetic and five-second-attention-span oriented for my taste But Pixars Wall-E is a reminder of how richly imagined animated films can be -- and that makes me think of Hayao Miyazakis Oscar-winning Spirited Away 2001 a fable about family and friendship whose marvelous sights from flying dragons to traditional Japanese radish spirits should keep the most restless child enthralled And at the same time its emotional truths are sophisticated enough to engage adults -- its a real film for the whole family as opposed to a juvenile romp studded with in-jokes and pop-culture references designed to keep grown ups awake Spoiled little Chihiro doesnt want to move to a new town and dedicates herself to making the drive there a misery for her
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