Category Archives: April Movie Thon

APRIL MOVIE THON DAY 1: The April Fools (1969)

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I think my new obsession is watching movies where Jack Lemmon is flummoxed by modern love. Here, he’s Howard Brubaker, a man married to Phyllis (Sally Kellerman), who cares more about money, real estate and status than love. The person he falls for is Catherine (Catherine Deneuve) whose uncaring and philandering mate is Howard’s boss, Ted Gunther (Peter Lawford). When they meet Grace and Andre Greenlaw (Myrna Loy and Charles Boyer), they start to believe that maybe they could be happily married, just like the Greenlaws, if they can only run away and start again.

Deneuve’s part was originally intended for Shirley MacLaine, which would have reunited the stars of The Apartment. Knowing that makes me realize that that casting would have truly improved this, as with as stunning as Deneuve is, it makes it seem as if the affair is simply over attraction and not the idea that the two could be life partners, not just attracted to each other — no insult to MacLaine, who is also quite fetching. I hope you understand my point.

Maybe after The Apartment I just see Lemmon and MacLaine as the perfect couple.

Director Stuart Rosenberg also made Cool Hand Luke and The Amityville Horror, while writer Hal Dresener wrote Sssssss, The Eiger Sanction and Zorro: The Gay Blade. Dionne Warwick sang the title song, while one of her biggest hits, “I Say a Little Prayer,” is sung at a party in the film by Susan Barrett. The b-side of that single? “Theme from Valley of the Dolls.”

APRIL MOVIE THON DAY 1: The Jerk (1979)

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I think I quote The Jerk and say lines from it more than any other movie, nearly having absorbed it into the ways that I think and do and act and live since I first saw it in my single digit years. It’s absolutely my junk food warm blanket movie, a reminder of a time when the only responsibility I had was to watch movies over and over again, unlike now, when I face a mountain of multiple responsibilities but you know, still watch movies over and over again.

Imagine, Steve Martin was probably the biggest deal in comedy in 1979, selling out arenas, having best selling albums, being a cultural force with his appearances on Saturday Night Live and now, he’s about to step into another media and take a chance at failure and somehow takes a movie about failure and becomes a success.

Instead of me telling you the whole story of how Navin R. Johnson was born a poor black child, found his special purpose and found his fortune and lost it through the invention of the  Optigrab, I will just tell you I love when I discover that the beliefs I have about this movie were true. In his book Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life, Martin said that the set was joyous, with cast and crew eating together every day and you can feel the joy he had when they filmed the scene where he and Bernadette Peters sing “Tonight You Belong to Me” together.

I remember watching this at the age of eight and finally understanding why people did crazy things for love. If everyone was as wonderful and perfect and magical as Bernadette Peters, it had to make sense.

As I’ve learned and grown and loved and lost, The Jerk remains there for me, a movie I’ve watched hundreds of times and can turn down the volume and word for word recite the dialogue. I always find something new to laugh at, like the moment where Navin sees his name in print for the first time or the disco in his house that everyone leaves behind after it all falls apart.

If life is treating you like life treats you, I invite you to watch this movie. Allow it to wash over you. I think you’ll smile at least once and that’s better than staring into the void and screaming.

“Oh, this is the best pizza in a cup ever. This guy is unbelievable. He ran the old Cup ‘o Pizza guy out of business. People come from all over to eat this.”

APRIL MOVIE THON DAY 1

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For the first day of the B&S About Movies April Movie Thon, we’re looking for foolishness.

April 1: Go ahead, fool us — Whether this movie has a literal fool in it or a funny person known for acting ridiculous, start the month off with something silly.

All April long, we’ll have thirty themes as writing prompts. If you’d like to be part of it, you can just send us an article for that day to bandsaboutmovies@gmail.com or post it on your site and share it out with the hashtag #BSAprilMovieThon.

Here are some past films that we can recommend to watch today:

April Fools Day (1986): College students decide to spend spring break at the secluded island estate of Muffy St. John, but their fun pranks soon turn murderous.

Harlequin (1980): A politician’s son meets a clown who makes him smile and also has faith healing abilities, but his powerful father feels threatened and soon turns murderous.

Mondo Balordo (1964): Released as A Fool’s World in Italy, this mondo has everything and by that I mean a dwarf singer, bodybuilders, bedouin pimps, Japanese models for rent, Indian exorcists, people who can’t stop smoking, Jehovah’s Witnesses, lottery players, a clone of Valentino, cults, nightclubs, Luna Park, London after hours and so much more.

So what movie are you watching today?

B&S ABOUT MOVIES APRIL MOVIE THON ANNOUNCEMENT!

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We love getting new people on board here at B&S About Movies and have come up with a really simple way for you to be part of our site.

All April long, we’ll have thirty themes as writing prompts. If you’d like to be part of it, you can just send us an article for that day to bandsaboutmovies@gmail.com or post it on your site and share it out with the hashtag #BSAprilMovieThon.

Just think — you have several months to get ready to share your thoughts with us and be part of our film community. We can’t wait to see what you write.

Here are the themes!

April 1: Go ahead, fool us — Whether this movie has a literal fool in it or a funny person known for acting ridiculous, start the month off with something silly.

April 2: Teen comedies for adults — Remember the days of frats, gratuitious nudity and horrifying revenge framed as harmless pranks? Tell us about that movie!

April 3: Failure at launch — A big movie debut ruined by the reality that no one wants to see that actor, actress or director.

April 4: Ripoff — A shameless remake, remix or ripoff of a much better known movie. Allow your writing to travel the world (we recommend Italy or Turkey).

April 5: Roger Corman’s birthday — You have a few movies to choose from, whether Corman produced, director or was involved in them.

April 6: Jackie Chan — Whether it’s a police story, a drunken fighter or even one of his more recent films, we want to celebrate Jackie all day.

April 7: Think of the children — Pick a movie that was controversial for how potentially damaging that it would be to the children who are our future.

April 8: Day of silence — The Day of Silence is a campaign that seeks to shed light on what many LGBTQ youth experience daily. Share a film that explores those themes.

April 9: National Unicorn Day — Yeah, there’s a day for everything. Share a movie that stars a unicorn.

April 10: Seagal vs. Von Sydow — One is a laughable martial artist. The other is a beloved acting legend. You choose whose movie you watch, it’s both of their birthdays.

April 11: Mr. Crowley — The number eleven symbolizes the union of the Microcosmos and the Macrocosmos, as the sum of the 5 and the 6, being the 5 related to the Pentagram and the 6 related to the Hexagram. So, 11 joins the meanings of both the correlations and means the All*. Even if you don’t believe in love under law and all that, just write about an Aleister Crowley-related movie.

April 12: 412 Day — A movie about Pittsburgh (if you’re not from here that’s our area code). Or maybe one made here. Heck, just write about Striking Distance if you want.

April 13: (Evil) Plant Appreciation Day — It ain’t easy being green. Pay tribute to all the plants with a movie starring one of them.

April 14: Viva Italian Horror — Pick an Italian horror movie and dig into the pasta sauce and gore.

April 15: Good Friday — You don’t have to go to church but you do have to watch a religious-themed movie.

April 16: Ladies First — Write about a movie with a strong female lead.

April 17: TV to Movies — Let’s decry the lack of originality in Hollywood. But first, let’s write about a movie that started as a TV show.

April 18: Drop A Bomb — Please share your favorite critical and financial flop with us!

April 19: Pre-1950 — Let’s go back in time and discuss a movie made a long, long time ago.

April 20: Screw the Medveds — Here’s a list of the movies that the Medveds had in their Golden Turkey Awards books. What do they know? Defend one of the movies they needlessly bashed.

April 21: Lugosi Love — What’s your favorite Bela Lugosi movie?

April 22: Earth Day Ends Here — Instead of celebrating a holiday created by a murderer, share an end of the world disaster movie with us. But seriously, treat the planet right!

April 23: Embarrassment — What movies do actors or directors not put on their list of credits? Let’s dish.

April 24: Reincarnated (and it feels so good) — Hey it’s Shirley McClaine’s birthday, so let’s write about movies that have a reincarnation theme.

April 25: Fads — Lambada. Disco. Garbage Pail Kids. What’s your favorite fad-related movie?

April 26: Oh Giorgio! — Pick a movie with a Giorgio Moroder score. Here’s a list to get you started.

April 27: Lost Comic Book Movies — Forget the MCU. Let’s talk about superhero movies that no one is talking about.

April 28: Alan Smithee — IMDB has 115 movies credited to the Alan Smithee pseudonym, which was created by the Directors Guild of America for use when a director doesn’t want their name on a movie.

April 29: Movies with Friday in the Title — TGIF. So pick a Friday movie and share it with everyone.

April 30: Drugs, Drugs, Drugs — Close us out by getting us super high and sharing your supply.

We can’t wait to see what movies you choose!

*Thanks, Thelemapedia.