Max, Mike; Movies

Halloyouall! Hier is de ende auf “Hat Nicht Gewonen. Hat Nicht Gewonen. Hat Nicht Gewonen” und der Max und der Mike ist vatchen das moviefilmen von Herr Charles Chaplin “Der Zehr Biggen Leadermensch”. Das ist ein moviefilmen vot nicht winnen das Oskar fur “Müst Gooden Movenpicturspassemachen” und das ist zehr unhappimachen. Or ist das? Maybeezo ist güt? Ist notzogüt? Komm, giben sie ein listeneare...

Um, ok, this is a bit embarrassing but while we were hoping to discuss “Singin’ in the Rain” as this week’s entry in our “Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win” series, we, well I’ll just say it, we couldn’t afford the licensing fees (it’s very complicated; it would take an economist to explain it) BUT don’t despair, because we’ve got something even better: the 1954 Soviet Union. . . homage to this g...

Ok, this week’s entry in the “Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win” series is a bit troubling. I mean, it’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” right? Well, I don’t know about you but I remember 2001; I remember getting over the Y2K panic; I remember George W. Bush being president. You know what I DON’T remember? Finding a mysterious black monolith on the moon! Know what else I DON’T remember? A manned flight...

Please check out this week’s episode of “Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win.” Please do. Please baby, please, baby baby baby please! From that ham-handed reference, you can guess that we’re taking on a Spike Lee movie, specifically “Do The Right Thing”, a movie that didn’t win Best Picture, wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture, but a LOT of people thought was the Best Picture of 1989. Heck, give...

Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that this week’s entry in “Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win” was NOT a thrilling docu-drama about the founding and development about the capital of Alaska. I mean, what a missed opportunity! I was hoping to see the on-screen portrayals of the prospectors Richard Harris and Joe Juneau as they struggle to the death to see who gets to name the city (ok, t...

Welcome to Max Foster Levine and No One Else; Movies. I, and I alone, have come up with our new series “Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win.” and don’t you forget it! Yes, yes, I may have had some partner or other at some point but I sent him packing when he showed his vast lack of vision at my brilliant choice of “Citizen Kane” as an example of the Worst Movie Ever. Seriously, what a stinker. You...

Somewheeeerre, off in the podcast Movies play And my buddy and me chat About them throughout the day. Somewhere, off in the podcast, We’ll talk flicks. And we’ll just keep on talking ’cause we’re a pair of . . . Um, ok, that’s enough singing for now! Yes, believe it or not, the classic “The Wizard of Oz” was nominated for but did not win Best Picture for 1939! Jiminy...

We’ve got us a brand-new series! How often does that happen? Well, pretty often, but that’s part of the magic! This week, we’re kicking off our series “Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win. Didn’t Win” where we discuss movies that seemed like a lock for the Best Picture Oscar but instead were cruelly and viciously stomped upon by some other film that took their statue, stole their lunch money, and made fun of t...

We’re closing out “Because Patton Said So” with one last entry from Patton Oswalt’s choices from the Criterion Collection. And as we mosey into the sunset, on our cayuse (which I think is a small Yugoslavian car, don’t quote me on that), we’re taking a gander at a Sam Fuller Western, 1957’s “Forty Guns.” The central premise of this movie is: do you really need forty guns? I mean, wouldn’t thirty-f...

Heeewack, campers! We’ve got another choice selection from the list of Filmaster Oswalt! He’s brought us obscure, powerful noir films, languid, elegant Japanese films, so what tasteful, understated lyrical selection has he made for us . . . oh. Oh. OHHH!!!! OH GOD MY EYES MY EYES WHAT’S HAPPENING WHAT THE HELL IS THIS OHGODOHGODOHGODOHGOD . . . Umm . . . I mean . . . well, this John Water’s . . ....

Once again, we are pleased to bring you a film selection suggested by one Mr. Patton Oswalt (and there is only one of him, at least until I perfect my cloning-and-memory-imprint-transfer device, which should be any day now; I just need to find one more set of old skee-ball machine gears . . .): Yasujirō Ozu’s 1952  work “The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice.” And just what is the flavor of green...

Welcome to a brand-spanking-new series (a spanking! A spanking!), inspired by someone Mike and I both admire and enjoy: Patton! That’s right, when you put your hand in a pile of goo that five minutes ago was a movie’s guts . . . wait, hang on, wrong Patton . . . No, indeed, this series is inspired and shaped not by the legendary general and tank-commander but by legendary standup-comedian, actor,...

Today, the laughter has died. Yes, we’ve come to the end of our “What’s So Funny?” series; we’re all sorry to see it end, as it means nothing will ever be funny again but we urge you all to stiffen that upper lip, square those shoulders, and do your best to carry on. We’re closing this out with another listener suggestion, the recent “Barbie” movie! This movie was immensely popular but as we’ve se...

Welcome to our penultimate “What’s So Funny?” episode; this week we’ve got a Neil Simon-penned (or more likely typewritered) little number, the spiritual sequel, sort of, to a movie both Mike and I really enjoy, “Murder By Death,” another Neil Simon creation. This one focuses more on one genre: the hard-boiled detective movie, more specifically, the hard-boiled Humphrey Bogart detective movie. I m...

Well now, homefellows. I must suggest that you “step off”, lest you find yourself labeled a “jive turkey.” I am not funning with you, my siblings. I would deeply appreciate it if you would each and every one of you pick up what we are “laying down,” as it were; Max and Mike are our names and discussing movies is indeed what you might in fact refer to as “our game.” As you can no doubt deduce, Mike...

YEE HAW! Howdy, pardners! I’m Big Max and that there is Big Mike and we’re “Big Max and Big Mike’s Big House O’ Psychopaths”! And we’ve got so much inventory this month that we’ve gone PLUM CRAZY! Come on down and see what we’ve got! We’ve got masked vigilantes tossing playing cards! We’ve got bald Vietnamese guys dressed as Catholic priests! We’ve got dog nappers! We’ve got gangsters! Heck, we’ve...

Welcome back to our “What’s So Funny?” series. And you know what’s funny? The blood-sucking undead. Oh, my sides! Yes, the 70’s brought a resurgence of Dracula movies (not that he ever really went away) and 1979 brought us one! Two! Three! Four! Five! Five Dracula movies! Ah ah ah! {sound of thunder}. And of all of them, “Love at First Bite” was certainly one of them. A rare attempt (if not the fi...

Our entry in our series “What’s So Funny?” this week is the third in the famous (or infamous) Cornetto Trilogy from Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright. Sadly, we’ve skipped right over “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” (for now) but we’re focusing on this rather odd, surprisingly emotionally complex comedy. This film starts as a High-School-Friends-Reunited-in-Bittersweet-Circumstances story...

Guten jour, me old mates-comrades! Welcome to our wonderful country of Europe! Yag shamash! Here in Europe, we Europeans so much like to see Americans come here to enjoy our foodthings, purchase our geegaws, and desecrate our many famous monuments and landmarks! Do we mind? Nyet! As long as it is for funny Tik Tokking or Instafacing, we of Europe are oh so much good sports! Come to our capitol, Eu...

The movie’s one hundred fifty-one minutes long. We’ve got a full box of Bumpy Pux, half a quart of YooHoo, it’s broad daylight and we’re wearing rainbow-sequined lederhosen. Let’s roll. Welcome to another in our series “What’s So Funny?” The movie that tries to answer that question this week is John Landis’ “The Blues Brothers,” which may have one of Max’s favorite soundtracks of any movie ever, n...

Heeeyyy! Wakka wakka wakka! We’re DONE being hard-boiled and detective-y, so now we’re going to lighten up with a new series we’re calling “What’s So Funny?” Howaya, howaya, howaya? Saying things three times is funny! Hey, Mike! Bring that tray of priceless crystal goblets over here but watch out for that banana peel . . . OH GOD, MIKE! No! Are you . . . no, no, don’t try to move! Oh god, there’s...

As we come to the close of our “Walk the Dark Street” series, let us consider hunting. One can hunt for many things: gold, Red October, wascally wabbits . . . but what sort of man does it take to hunt for two adorable children and their cash-filled doll? I’ll tell you what kind: Robert Mitchum’s Preacher in “Night of the Hunter” and here’s hoping there aren’t a lot of his kind of man out there. Br...

Great googly-moogly, we’re at the penultimate “Walk the Dark Street” episode and what do we have? A muurrrrrrrderrrr. Murder most foul! Missing persons! Terrible deaths! Conniving relatives! What can possibly solve this confounding conundrum? The one thing that always helps: booze! Yes, booze, and lots of it! Booze makes you charming and enhances your deductive faculties! Booze makes everyone in N...

Ah, oui . . . the way of le Samourai. Surely there is nothing more French than le code of le Bushido, non? For was it not Jean-Paul Sartre who said “Existence precedes and rules essence, and so I must cut my belly open.” How often have we thrilled to the exploits of that master of le dai-sho, Marcel Marceau, who slaughtered his enemies with his merciless blades while never speaking a word. Also wh...

Kon’nichiwa, minasan, Makkusu, Maiku, eiga, soshite watashitachi no sirīzu `u~ōku za dāku sutorīto’ e yōkoso. Ok, that was supposed to say “Hello, folks, welcome to Max, Mike, Movies and our series, Walk the Dark Street.” However, apparently what it actually says is: “Hello, everyone. Welcome to Max, Mike, the film, and this series, Walking on Dark Paths.” At least, that’s how I hope i...