SELECTED SHORTS 

101 Dalmatians. (Disney; 79 minutes; G; 1961). Comic villainess Cruella De Vil still looms large over this popular Walt Disney cartoon, a London-based frolic that concerns one demented woman’s quest for a spotted fur coat—and her attempts to kidnap 101 Dalmatian pups to create the garment. Voiced by Betty Lou Gerson and modeled after character actress Mary Wickes, Cruella—with her pink cigarettes emitting yellow-green toxic smoke—is the lasting achievement of animator Marc Davis, who is saluted along with the other cartoonists in Walt Disney Home Entertainment’s double-disc “platinum edition” of this family favorite.

Ocean Oasis. (Summerhays Films; 40 minutes; unrated; large format; 2000). It’s time again for another IMAX immersion into the wild world around us, as naturalists, ecologists, scientists and intrepid camera crews examine the wonders of the 800-mile Baja California peninsula. Producer-director Soames Summerhays maps out a vast canvas, from undersea journeys of deep azure blue to harsh desert terrain, and while from an informational viewpoint it’s all a bit much too chew on in just 40 minutes, the eye candy sure tastes sweet.

Cable’s Turner Classic Movies has started thinking outside the box with its occasional specials devoted to Hollywood auteurs and stars. For a recent sit-down with TCM host Robert Osborne and director Norman Jewison, the usual questions, answers and clips were presented in front of an appreciative audience.

Baker Street boys: Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce play Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in 1939’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, second in the long-running sleuth series and still the classiest, as they tangle with arch-enemy Moriarty (George Zucco). Syracuse Cinephile Society screens the film on Monday, April 14, 7:30 p.m., at the Spaghetti Warehouse, 690 N. Clinton St. Admission is $3; call 475-1807 for information.

Married Life takes an acerbic view of adulterous actions

By Bill DeLapp

Rome’s Capitol Theatre, 220 W. Dominick St., continues its yearlong 80th anniversary festivities with two 35mm showings of the 1939 four-hour blockbuster Gone With the Wind, on Saturday, April 5, 1:30 and 7 p.m.

 

Making the Scenes  

Cinefest 28 threads up another celluloid cavalcade of hard-to-find Tinseltown treasures

By Bill DeLapp

SELECTED SHORTS 

 

The Jazz Singer. (Warner Bros.; 89 minutes; unrated; 1927).

 

Git-R-Dunce Larry the Cable Guy goes low for laughs in Witless Protection By Bill DeLapp

 

 

It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to title a movie chuckler Witless Protection (Lionsgate; 97 minutes; PG-13; 2008); after all, it might live up to its name. Non-fans of Larry the Cable Guy, the flick’s star, won’t be lining up in the first place. But who needs those snobby city slickers? The big-screen Larry outings tend to perform better at rural multiplexes, the apparent bastions of Blue Collar Tour buffs, where Larry, Bill Engvall and Jeff Foxworthy are the stand-up kings of country comics.