100 Years of Vincent

Andreas here. Today marks the centenary of horror icon Vincent Price, whose prolific seven-decade career also included forays into comedy, film noir, and historical drama. Price holds a special place in many a film fan's heart, whether for his spine-chilling voice— put to excellent legendary use by Quincy Jones for Michael Jackson's Thriller— or the aristocratic aura he brought to countless cheap William Castle and Roger Corman horror movies. Price could even elevate a project as inherently undignified as Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine with his camp greatness.

He could capably play science-minded everymen, as he did in The Tingler and The Last Man on Earth (taking on the mantle later carried by Will Smith in I Am Legend), but the really fun Price parts are his hammy madmen. He sought gruesome vengeance in the 3-D House of Wax, twice in the '70s as the scarred Dr. Phibes, and most delightfully as a pissed-off thespian in Theatre of Blood.

There, he systematically murders all the theater critics in London by reenacting Shakespeare, and occasionally altering the texts to suit his own whims. (In his version of Titus Andronicus, for example, Queen Tamora is Robert Morley, getting fed his own poodles.) While filming Theatre of Blood, Price also met his second wife, Coral Browne. In the film itself, he electrocutes her while pretending to be a hairstylist wearing a giant afro wig.

Price never really slowed down: he was in his seventies when he voiced one of the greatest Disney villains of all time, The Great Mouse Detective's Ratigan. In 1982, he was the subject of Tim Burton's Vincent, a stop-motion animated tribute to his cinematic legacy. "For a boy his age, he's considerate and nice," says the short film's voiceover, read by Price himself, "but he wants to be just like Vincent Price." Truth be told, who doesn't?

What's your favorite Vincent Price memory?

Team Experience: "Maleficent" and More

I'm always curious about your film experiences out there in the dark. That curiousity extends to the contributors here at TFE, not all of whom I know in real life given that they're spread across the globe. You know them, virtually speaking. Hopefully you love them. But I thought we'd ask them a couple of questions each week. Feel free to answer yourself in the comments and join the conversation.

WHAT'S THE BEST THING YOU SAW THIS WEEK?

JA: A tie between every single second of Emmanuel Lubeszki's photography for The Tree of Life (it's a gorgeous film that left me cold), and that probably photoshopped image of Jake Gyllenhaal doing the Grace Jones pose in his underpants. I see beautiful things!

Andreas: John Carpenter's The Thing -- after several viewings, it retains all of its original power.

Robert: Ramin Bahrani's short film Plastic Bag. I stumbled upon it while attempting to keep my Herzog high going after being enthralled by Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Bahrani's film follows and anthropomorphized plastic bag (shades of American Beauty are minimal) and finds itself spiraling into themes of life, death, and meaning and best of all, it's narrated by Werner Herzog himself... as the plastic bag of course!

Michael (Unsung Heroes). The best thing I saw this week was, without question, the montage of drunk cast members from the latest episode of Parks and Recreation. I want an episode length edit of all the improv that went into that scene.

Jose: Since theaters here are only playing four movies (Rio, Fast and Furious 5, Thor and Priest) I re-watched Gone With the Wind in HD. Mind blowing!  Sure gives any new movie a run for its money. It also felt much shorter than Thor.

WHAT'S THE WORST?

Michael : the worst thing I saw, or rather didn't see, was screen time for Rene Russo in Thor. It's been forever since Russo had a high-profile gig and she gets 30 measly seconds of screen time? You can't tease me like that Thor.

Andreas: The first 10 minutes of I Know Who Killed Me. (Nonetheless, I may revisit it later; I'm a glutton for punishment.)

JA: The worst thing I saw was the original ending to Alexander Payne's Election. Truly, stupefyingly awful.

TIM BURTON HAS OFFICIALLY LEFT DISNEY'S "MALEFICENT".

Robert: The marriage between Tim Burton and Disney makes me so sad. They're like two people who were really sexy back in high school, still trying to fit into their cheerleading and football uniforms, telling each other how great they still look, and wondering how that dorky kid Quentin got so popular (this metaphor has gotten away from me). But I still want to like them very much. So I guess what I'm saying is I wish they'd split and find new partners who could convince them to hit the gym... cinematically speaking.

JA: Never much loved Sleeping Beauty as a kid - I was all up in Alice in Wonderland and Fantasia - so I was never attached, beyond really liking the way the word "Maleficent" rolls off the tongue. Maaaalefahcint! I don't understand why people didn't take it up as a name for their children. Little Maleficent would rule pre-school with an iron fist.

Jose:  Maleficent would serve itself better from a director with an eye for actual Gothic, I say call Jane Campion or Catherine Breillat!

YOUR TURN...

• Who do you think should direct MALEFICENT with Burton gone? 
• What's the best & worst anything you saw this week? I've been enjoying True Blood and Ishtar (more on the later in a bit.)