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Winslow Leach
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I agree that Popeye (1980) is a very underrated film. Although it contains director Robert Altman's trademarks (such as overlapping dialogue and an ensemble cast), the film was a box office failure that broke Altman's nearly ten-year cycle of critically-acclaimed films, including M*A*S*H, his modern-day adaptation of Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye (my favorite Altman film) and Nashville. It wasn't until The Player, in 1992, that Altman really regained his footing, after directing some interesting work for television in the 1980s.
I admire Popeye because cartoonist Jules Feiffer, who wrote the screenplay, stuck very close to Popeye creator Elzie Segar's universe and characters from Thimble Theater. Thus, characters such as Olive's brother Castor Oyl, and her boyfriend Ham Gravy (played by the great mime Bill Irwin) make appearances. The songs are by the wonderful Harry Nilsson, who, by this time, had virtually stopped releasing albums. Interestingly, the actors sang "live" on the set (as opposed to dubbing a pre-recorded track), to give the film a more authentic feel.
The film was shot in Malta, where the fictional town of Sweethaven was built. In fact, the set still stands to this day, and is now a family amusement park, known as "Popeye Village." The village includes a museum, rides, actual props from the film and characters from the Popeye universe.
Dustin Hoffman was originally approached to play Popeye, while Gilda Radner and Lily Tomlin were candidates for Olive Oyl. Hoffman left the film, and Robin Williams was cast; Altman rejected both Radner and Tomlin, in favor of Shelley Duvall, who had appeared in six previous films for the director.
Anyway...to get to the topic...
It IS too bad that TV Land is now getting more modern shows, just like Nick at Night. Nick at Night had the cream of the classic TV crop for years, before many of these shows ended up on TV Land. Mr. Ed, Car 54 Where Are You? The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Donna Reed Show, Green Acres, The Patty Duke Show, I Love Lucy, The Monkees, All In the Family, Three's Company and Taxi. The live-action Dennis the Menace sitcom was also a staple of Nick, but was shown in the daytime.
For the longest time, we didn't have TV Land in my area, so when a Nick at Night show would depart for TV Land, we were left with more "modern" stuff, like Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Roseanne and Murphy Brown. Now that TV Land is available to us, we're still losing the classics from the 1950s to the 1970s, in favor of either "newer" sitcoms, specials made exclusively for the network, or movies.
For the longest time, my Fox affiliate showed I Love Lucy every weekday morning, from 9 to 10. Those days are long gone, replaced with talk shows or People's Court.
I admire Popeye because cartoonist Jules Feiffer, who wrote the screenplay, stuck very close to Popeye creator Elzie Segar's universe and characters from Thimble Theater. Thus, characters such as Olive's brother Castor Oyl, and her boyfriend Ham Gravy (played by the great mime Bill Irwin) make appearances. The songs are by the wonderful Harry Nilsson, who, by this time, had virtually stopped releasing albums. Interestingly, the actors sang "live" on the set (as opposed to dubbing a pre-recorded track), to give the film a more authentic feel.
The film was shot in Malta, where the fictional town of Sweethaven was built. In fact, the set still stands to this day, and is now a family amusement park, known as "Popeye Village." The village includes a museum, rides, actual props from the film and characters from the Popeye universe.
Dustin Hoffman was originally approached to play Popeye, while Gilda Radner and Lily Tomlin were candidates for Olive Oyl. Hoffman left the film, and Robin Williams was cast; Altman rejected both Radner and Tomlin, in favor of Shelley Duvall, who had appeared in six previous films for the director.
Anyway...to get to the topic...
It IS too bad that TV Land is now getting more modern shows, just like Nick at Night. Nick at Night had the cream of the classic TV crop for years, before many of these shows ended up on TV Land. Mr. Ed, Car 54 Where Are You? The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Donna Reed Show, Green Acres, The Patty Duke Show, I Love Lucy, The Monkees, All In the Family, Three's Company and Taxi. The live-action Dennis the Menace sitcom was also a staple of Nick, but was shown in the daytime.
For the longest time, we didn't have TV Land in my area, so when a Nick at Night show would depart for TV Land, we were left with more "modern" stuff, like Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Roseanne and Murphy Brown. Now that TV Land is available to us, we're still losing the classics from the 1950s to the 1970s, in favor of either "newer" sitcoms, specials made exclusively for the network, or movies.
For the longest time, my Fox affiliate showed I Love Lucy every weekday morning, from 9 to 10. Those days are long gone, replaced with talk shows or People's Court.
<---angry Piggy
The real-life Scrooges of the world could stand to learn a thing or two about respect, humility, and TLC (tender, loving care) and so, what can we do to get their Grinch-like hearts that are several sizes too small to grow enough to help out all?