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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Ask FlickChick Family friendly fright flicks and more whats that movie questions answeredSend your movie questions to FlickChick Question I have a question about a horror movie I saw during the early 1990s that I think was geared to kids or family audiences A family moves into a haunted house and I think they find some magic spell book At the end they vacuum up a boogeyman Ive been trying to track it down and keep coming across Saturday the 14th but I dont think thats it and cant get a copy movie to check Thanks for helping me out -- Evan FlickChick Im pretty sure youre looking for Mr Boogedy a Disney Channel movie first broadcast in 1986 Novelty-shop entrepreneur Carlton Davis transplants his wife and three kids Married With Childrens David Faustino Benji Gregory and original Buffy Kristy Swanson to a small New England town -- portentously named Lucifer Falls -- where hell be running the only Gag City franchise for hundreds of miles and can affo
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DVD Tuesday Theres dumb theres dumber and then theres Idiocracy Mike Judge has seen the future and it really doesnt workI mentioned Idiocracy in an earlier column but now I think its time to give it its due Mike Judges dystopian-future comedy is flawed but I find myself quoting it all the time Worried that its a waste to let Americas best soldiers idle when theres no war for them to wage the military initiates a top-secret program to put them on ice literally until theyre needed Naturally the top brass isnt about to try out an experimental technology on the cream of the fighting crop so they choose low-level GI Joe Luke Wilson and smart-mouthed hooker Rita Maya Rudolph as guinea pigs The plan is to freeze them for a year but things happen regimes change and next thing you know no-one who knew about the hush-hush experiment is around to keep tabs on it500 years later Rita and Joe wake up in an America in which everyone with the brain
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Ask FlickChick Oscar chances for Sarah Jessica Parker whats that movie and moreQuestion I think Sarah Jessica Parker will be nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for Sex and the City but my dad doesnt think so What do you think -- Lisa MFlickChick Im with your dad I dont expect to see much Oscar love generally for Sex and the City I think its perceived as a very TV project which rarely translates into support from the feature-film community and I cant say Ive heard anyone talking about how wowed they were by any of the films performances I think that by the time the nominating process begins the movie will be forgotten by everyone except the fans for whom it was madeSend your movie questions to FlickChickQuestion How did actor David Dukes who played Dr Miller in Rose Red die Was he scared and had a heart attack or what ScotFlickChick Veteran actor David Dukes did die of a heart attack but while playing tennis on one of his days off from sh
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