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Ishtar
(May, 1987)
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (OOP)
(Ross, 1976)
The Devils
(Russell, 1974)
The Pirates of Penzance
(Papp/Leach, 1983)
The Fortune
(Nichols, 1975)
-30-
(Webb, 1959)
Betrayal
(Jones, 1983)
Play It As It Lays
(Perry, 1972)
The Outfit
(Flynn, 1973)
Alex in Wonderland
(Mazursky, 1969)
The Legend of Lylah Clare
(Aldrich, 1968)
In The Cool of the Day
(Stevens, 1963)
That Cold Day in the Park
(Altman, 1969)
Thumb Trippin'
(Masters, 1972)
Midas Run
(Kjellin, 1969)
At Long Last Love
(Bogdanovich, 1973)
Brewster McCloud
(Altman, 1972)
Outcast of the Islands
(Reed, 1951)

Reader Submissions
1930's-1950's
The Moon's Our Home
(Seiter, 1936)
Sh! The Octopus
(McGann, 1937)
The Mating Season
(Leisen, 1951)
Bad for Each Other
(Rapper, 1953)
The Phenix City Story
(Karlson, 1955)
Run of the Arrow
(Fuller, 1956)
House of Secrets
(Green, 1956)
Saint Joan
(Preminger, 1957)
Macabre
(Castle, 1958)
The Fiend Who Walked the West
(G. Douglas, 1958
Five Gates to Hell
(Clavell, 1959)
1960's
Key Witness
(Karlson, 1960)
Summer and Smoke
(Glenville, 1961)
The Chapman Report
(Cukor,1962)
Bachelor Flat
(Tashlin, 1962) [on Hulu]
The L Shaped Room
(Forbes, 1963)
The Chalk Garden
(Neame, 1964)
A Thousand Clowns
(Coe, 1965)
You're a Big Boy Now
(Coppola, 1966)
The Whisperers
(Forbes, 1967)
Dark of the Sun
(Cardiff, 1968)
Skidoo
(Preminger, 1968)
Last Summer
(Perry, 1969)
The Comic
(C. Reiner, 1969)
1970-1974
The Revolutionary
(Williams, 1970)
The Landlord
(Ashby, 1970)
Diary of a Mad Housewife
(Perry, 1970)
Tropic of Cancer
(Strick, 1970)
I Never Sang for My Father
(Cates, 1970)
Sometimes a Great Notion
(Newman, 1971)
Marriage of a Young Stockbroker
(Turman, 1971)
The Music Lovers
(Russell, 1971)
Drive, He Said
(Nicholson, 1971)
The Steagle
(Sylbert, 1971)
The Last Movie
(Hopper, 1971)
Made For Each Other
(Bean, 1971)
The Day the Clown Cried
(Lewis, 1972)
Hickey & Boggs (OOP)
(Culp, 1972)
The Carey Treatment
(Edwards, 1972)
Pete 'n' Tillie
(Ritt, 1972)
Slither
(Zieff, 1973)
Man on a Swing
(Perry, 1974)
Open Season
(Collinson, 1974)
The Tamarind Seed
(Edwards, 1974)
Law and Disorder
(Passer, 1974)
Homebodies
(Yust, 1974)
Stardust
(Apted, 1974)
Celine and Julie Go Boating
(Rivette, 1974)
1975-1979
Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins
(Richards, 1975
At Long Last Love
(Bogdanovich, 1975)
Hearts of the West
(Zieff, 1975)
Welcome to L.A.
(Rudolph, 1976)
W.C. Fields and Me
(Hiller, 1976)
Citizens Band
(Demme, 1977)
Twilight's Last Gleaming
(Aldrich, 1977)
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
(Brooks, 1977)
Girlfriends
(Weill, 1978)
Movie Movie
(Donen, 1978)
The Medusa Touch
(Gold, 1978)
American Hot Wax
(Mutrux, 1978)
Hot Stuff
(DeLuise, 1979)
Scavenger Hunt
(Schultz , 1979)
Players
(Harvey, 1979)
Rich Kids
(Young, 1979)
Nightwing
(Hiller, 1979)
Screams of a Winter's Night
(Wilson, 1979
When You Comin' Back Red Ryder?
(Katselas, 1979
1980's
Resurrection
(Petrie, 1980)
The Awakening
(Newell, 1980)
Simon
(Brickman, 1980)
God's Angry Man
(Herzog, 1980)
Fast-Walking
(Harris, 1982)
Twice Upon a Time
(Korty & Swenson, 1983)
Trouble in Mind
(Rudolph, 1985)
When the Wind Blows
(Murikami, 1986)
Housekeeping
(Forsyth, 1987)
The Glass Menagerie
(Newman, 1987)
Patty Hearst
(Schrader, 1988)
Drowning by Numbers
(Greenaway, 1988)
Haunted Summer
(Passer, 1988)
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
(Spheeris, 1988)
1990's
Old Times
(Curtis, 1991)
Prospero's Books
(Greenaway, 1991)
City of Hope
(Sayles, 1991)
The Baby of Macon
(Greenaway, 1993)
King of the Hill
(Soderbergh, 1993)
Dadetown
(Hexter, 1995)
SubUrbia
(Linklater, 1997)

Upcoming

January 8

Bitch Slap

Waiting for Armageddon

Wonderful World

Youth in Revolt

January 15

January 22

Drool

Extraordinary Measures

The Girl on the Train

Things Change

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I've never liked that Universal globe that appears at the beginning of their films. Not the one that was around in the late '80s to mid '90s (with the Universal logo orbiting the earth and coming to rest in front of the camera), but the luminous funny-looking one that's been around for...what, eight or nine years?

The oddly intense colors on the continents look like a manifestation of some disease, like electric rashes or earth lesions. The real earth is such a beautiful thing; the colors and textures so soft and yet strong with all those browns and blues and gentle greens. The Universal gang should really think about dropping what they have and devising something new. Anything but the present version.

Ethnic Whiskers<< previous | next >>Missing

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 19, 2008 at 5:51 PM

comment #1

drturing says ...

completely fully agree with this. to this day it looks ugly and ridiculous.

Posted by drturing at June 19, 2008 6:13 PM

comment #2

WallySparks says ...

ive always thought it was the music behind the logo that actually brought the logo to life... the logo plus the music had always made me feel like i was about to watch somthing epic..weather it be fast and the furious(which is not by any means a film id recomend) to jurrasic park, which i think made the universal music and logo what it is today

Posted by WallySparks at June 19, 2008 6:19 PM

comment #3

WallySparks says ...

Posted by WallySparks at June 19, 2008 6:19 PM

comment #4

Movie fan09 says ...

WallySparks [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

ive always thought it was the music behind the logo that actually brought the logo to life... the logo plus the music had always made me feel like i was about to watch something epic..weather it be fast and the furious(which is not by any means a film id recommend) to Jurassic Park, which i think made the universal music and logo what it is today.

I completely agree.
yea, the colors are tacky.
but the music makes us remember why we love movies in the first place.
even though they haven't made a good action movie in a while.

Posted by Movie fan09 at June 19, 2008 6:45 PM

comment #5

Movie fan09 says ...

this is my favorite:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IqaSwEpcZto

and columbia's is great too:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=n-Vw9lvMY9s

Posted by Movie fan09 at June 19, 2008 7:42 PM

comment #6

Jeremy Smith says ...

I prefer this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0HQ_m-idH8k

Posted by Jeremy Smith at June 19, 2008 7:59 PM

comment #7

LexG says ...

Oh, yeah? I prefer this:

(Maximum OWNAGE to follow...)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iuqXftKtV7k

Posted by LexG at June 19, 2008 8:14 PM

comment #8

Jeremy Smith says ...

Well, yeah. But do you own the t-shirt, Lex?

Posted by Jeremy Smith at June 19, 2008 8:26 PM

comment #9

Jeremy Smith says ...

I hate myself for not all-capping OWN.

Posted by Jeremy Smith at June 19, 2008 8:26 PM

comment #10

Redmond says ...

Lex, I think I just PEED a little.

Posted by Redmond at June 19, 2008 8:36 PM

comment #11

DarthCorleone says ...

I always dug this TriStar logo from the 80s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymllHbf_dPo

and this United Artists logo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JefnIawRt0&feature=related

for the same reason:

awesome musical build. They always made me think I was about to see something special.

Back in my childhood days, I would daydream in the theater that if my life were ever a movie, the TriStar logo would begin it.

As for the Universal logo, I agree it looks tacky. The one time I thought the Universal opening was especially cool was when they did that special variation for Waterworld with the oceans gradually covering the land. Granted, that was probably the pinnacle of the movie, but it was still cool.

Posted by DarthCorleone at June 19, 2008 8:39 PM

comment #12

Teacher's Pets says ...

The music is good on these, but I always liked the effect of the absence of it when they'd run them silently for dramatic effect, or with some foreboding music a la the first Matrix.

Posted by Teacher's Pets at June 19, 2008 8:51 PM

comment #13

Ross says ...

I always liked the old Universal logo with the plane, they should update that somehow:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_hs25nGKrq4

20th Century Fox's has probably always been my favorite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-3j0e5zjJo

Not necessarily the best visually, but the fanfare still gives me chills, when the conditions are right.

Posted by Ross at June 19, 2008 9:25 PM

comment #14

btwnproductions says ...

TriStar's "three-legged unicorn" was widely derided back in the day.

Posted by btwnproductions at June 19, 2008 9:48 PM

comment #15

Jay T. says ...

I've always like their intro... of course, that's more so when they show it along with music or dialogue from the film. Kinda like the beginning of Out of Sight does.

Posted by Jay T. at June 19, 2008 10:17 PM

comment #16

MickTravis says ...

I think they should always use the Universal logo that ran in front of one of the Spike Lee movies -- "Jungle Fever" ? -- where Flavor Flav spells "universal" as the logo orbits in, then he cracks himself up and gives a shout out to himself.

Barring that, this is my favor fave:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=s9kCGzuTMI0&feature=related

Posted by MickTravis at June 19, 2008 10:27 PM

comment #17

Craptastic says ...

Here's my Cliff Clavin moment: That logo appeared for the first time on Jurassic Park.

Why I remember that.... I have no idea.

Posted by Craptastic at June 19, 2008 11:36 PM

comment #18

ROTC says ...

This one made quite an impression on me when I saw it years ago in summer camp:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bNVZAWxFNXo

Posted by ROTC at June 19, 2008 11:38 PM

comment #19

bmcintire says ...

The Universal doesn't bother me so much. It's a little too Rand-McNally in color, but it's a far cry better than the flat, dull blue (with the weird Saturn-like rings of light) that prevailed through the 70's:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWBqGwudMok

My favorite treatments are both of Fox's. SUNSHINE'S Fox Searchlight logo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZLeIWDY4qU
And DIE HARD IV's 20th Century Fox logo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7Lla72qA8k

Posted by bmcintire at June 20, 2008 12:41 AM

comment #20

The Winchester says ...

Craptastic, I hate to be that guy, but I'm fairly certain it was Lost World, not Jurassic Park, that the new one first premiered on.

Agreed with how it was treated best in Out of Sight, when the music was replaced with Isley brothers, always a welcome change.

And I like how in Doom, the Universal logo circles Mars.

Since I've been drinking and rambling, I'd also like to throw in my vote for the beginning of GO, when the Columbia logog segues perfectly into the house music and the movie gets started.

And for what it's worth, I can never hear the 20th Century Fox fanfare without thinking that Star Wars will be shortly following it.

I'm finished.

Posted by The Winchester at June 20, 2008 12:50 AM

comment #21

UnChien says ...

Jeremy Smith: The music used for the 1940's Universal logo sounds a bit like the theme from Superman no?

Posted by UnChien at June 20, 2008 2:04 AM

comment #22

Midwest Doug says ...

I've always wondered why the UNIVERSAL logo orbits... the Earth. What are we, Ptolemists?

Posted by Midwest Doug at June 20, 2008 6:44 AM

comment #23

hcat says ...

Hate to be that guy as well Winchester but I swear it was liar liar a few months previous that premiered the current Universial Logo.

Love this conversation

My least favorite would have to be Miramax's followed by Vantage, even SPC's quiet white against blue is more exciting.

Love Fox's logo, just promises greatness (and sometimes is the best part of the movie). But the Focus logo is my favorite, just makes you settle in for what follows.

I always think you can tell the real movie fans in the audience by who is humming along with the logos.

Posted by hcat at June 20, 2008 7:04 AM

comment #24

Rich S. says ...

My favorite commentary on the Universal logo came from MST3K. They were doing a Universal B-movie from the 50s, when the logo said "Universal International." One of the robots commented, "Wait, if it's Universal, isn't it automatically international?"

Posted by Rich S. at June 20, 2008 7:47 AM

comment #25

/3rtfu11 says ...

Best Studio Logo is a tie between Paramount and Fox
Warner comes next ... then the rest

Posted by /3rtfu11 at June 20, 2008 8:33 AM

comment #26

Mr. Peel says ...

I'm gonna have to agree that the current Universal logo appeared for the first time on THE LOST WORLD. The one I like is the slightly different Universal logo from the 70s & 80s that would appear on the Scope films where the approach to Earth seems slower and more mysterious. It always makes me think I'm about to see JAWS.

Posted by Mr. Peel at June 20, 2008 9:22 AM

comment #27

anti-sardine says ...

I think Gruver is right about the Universal opening. Maybe something more along the lines of the opening of the BBC Planet Earth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnouxC6DdPA
slightly chopped up at the end, but you get the picture.

Posted by anti-sardine at June 20, 2008 9:29 AM

comment #28

Jay T. says ...

It's funny how certain company's intros give different viewer's vibes... basd on movies you specifically remember the intro appearing before. Whenever I see Working Title or New Regency, I get a good feeling, for example.

Posted by Jay T. at June 20, 2008 10:45 AM

comment #29