Wow, I have a rather bad headache, and I was planning on just going to sleep. Yet, after reading on Cinematical that The Muppet Movie was inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, I got so excited I couldn't resist. For those of you not in the know, the National Film Registry was set up by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, that allows the Library of Congress to select 25 films a year for preservation in honor of being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films". This year, heading up the list is Jim Henson's lovable felt creatures in their debut feature film, 1979's The Muppet Movie, directed by James Frawley. Other noteworthy additions this year is Michael Jackson's long form groundbreaking music video Thriller, directed by John Landis, Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon, Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, the 1959 romantic comedy Pillow Talk and the avant-garde 1949 short film The Lead Shoes.
I also cannot go to bed until I pass along something awesome that Geekologie posted, an amazing replica of the Back to the Future DeLorean time machine from eBay.
This is the last Short Film Sunday I'll be posting before Halloween, seeing that next Sunday I will be hoarding nerdy memorabilia from The Grand AdventureCon in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. So, with the aforementioned information, I figure I should do a bit of a Halloween extravaganza, and put together three decent shorts that embody the spirit of the Halloween season.
First up, is the original short that inspired the feature length version that we are all a little more familiar with, Saw. The short, which was directed by James Wan and was written by and starred Leigh Whannell, the team behind the big screen version that would come out a year later, was actually made as nothing more than a pitch from Wan and Whannell in an attempt to be picked up from a movie studio and acquire actors. Of course, this short and the original film are actually good entries into American horror, so don't let the overkill of Saw VI, due out this coming weekend, or the announcement of an upcoming 3-D Saw VII, or even the VH-1 reality series Scream Queens ruin this for you. The short can now be viewed by the uncut edition of the Saw DVD.
Second, we get a little more child friendly with a 1929 short directed by the one and only Walt Disney and animated by the brilliant Ub Iwerks, The Skeleton Dance. The short was actually made just a year after Mickey Mouse's debut screen appearance, via the short Plane Crazy. The little film, part of the Disney Silly Symphonies series of shorts, has became a Halloween staple over the years, being named among the 50 greatest cartoons of all time in a survey of a thousand animation professionals, compiled by historian Jerry Buck, and Carl W. Stalling's score pops up on Disney Halloween CD's all over the place. A nice little fact, just nineteen days ago was the eightieth anniversary for this short.
Finally, if there is one short that embodies Halloween more than any other, it has to be Michael Jackson's Thriller. Some people may consider it a music video more so than a short film, but Wikipedia and IMDb are among the sites that count this as a film, albeit a TV film according to the latter. The video was definitely the first time filmmaking and music video would merge, and possibly the only time it would on such a magnificent level. The short is directed by John Landis, just fresh off of doing An American Werewolf in London, and co-stars Ola Ray (who, incidently will be one of the guests at the aforementioned AdventureCon) and the voice of horror icon Vincent Price. The short, which tells the story to the tune of Jackson's eponymous track off of one of the greatest albums of all time, Thriller, of a couple that leaves the showing of a horror flick due to the young girl being frightened, only to end up in a nightmare of walking, dancing undead. Of course, the short/music video will be bigger this year than ever after the passing of Jackson a few months ago. Adding to the hysteria of Wacko Jacko's October legacy is the fact that Thrill the World is expecting its biggest turn-out ever, which will attempt to break the Guinness World Record of most people dancing in sync to Thriller simultaneously the world over. Also, This is It, the documentary on the finals days of Jackson's life is set to come out just a few days before Halloween. Enjoy.
Wow, I have a rather bad headache, and I was planning on just going to sleep. Yet, after reading on Cinematical that The Muppet Movie was inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, I got so excited I couldn't resist. For those of you not in the know, the National Film Registry was set up by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, that allows the Library of Congress to select 25 films a year for preservation in honor of being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films". This year, heading up the list is Jim Henson's lovable felt creatures in their debut feature film, 1979's The Muppet Movie, directed by James Frawley. Other noteworthy additions this year is Michael Jackson's long form groundbreaking music video Thriller, directed by John Landis, Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon, Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, the 1959 romantic comedy Pillow Talk and the avant-garde 1949 short film The Lead Shoes. 
