Saving the Community Center One Movie at a Time
I believe in the beat!
I am a sucker for any movie which uses the Save the Community Center trope*. Particularly, if it involves putting on a show, getting the gang back together or the redemption of some previously fiendish scoundrel. I will throw down on a bunch of impassioned folks singing, dancing, Shakespearing themselves in front of the bulldozers – real or metaphorical – of oppression. Read more…
New Shows For Fall: Fox
The Paley Center for Media gave sneak peeks at several of the programs that will debut this season. (Keep in mind, the networks themselves selected the programs they wanted to showcase).
Fox presented their selected shows: The drama “Lone Star” and two new comedies: “Running Wilde” and “Raising Hope.” Read more…
Music Movie Mondays: Cadillac Records
Today’s entry was supposed to be my last offering for the Music Movie Monday series. Unfortunately, I mixed up my Netflix queue and I received Darnell Martin’s Cadillac Records. I intended to go out on Susan Seidelman’s 1985 classic Desperately Seeking Susan, a movie I love that I hoped to book-end with my first entry on 24-Hour Party People. However, it came in the mail over the weekend while I was out of town. So I watched the period film about Chess Records, a Chicago-based independent label founded in 1950 that became home to pioneers like Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon, Etta James, Little Walter, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf. Hopefully, the staff will oblige me and I can conclude the series as intended next week. Read more…
Profile in Villainy #1: Gordon Gekko
Cinematic villainy is a subject I don’t devote nearly enough bandwidth to. Well I’m going to remedy this with a new weekly column called, “Profile in Villainy”. And who better to start with (Besides Hans Gruber) than Mr. “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good” himself – Gordon Gekko. Read more…
Happy Birthday, Roald Dahl!
Roald Dahl (which I found out a few years ago is pronounced “Roo-ul” rather than “Row-ald”…my bad) was born on September 13, 1916. He’s one of my favorite authors, and one of the “children’s” authors whose books I think are fantastic for adults to read. While they’re problematic (usually if someone is obese, they’re somehow villainous or stupid, if not both) they’re quite a bit of fun, because he doesn’t write down to children.
From the Vault: The Lives of Others
At the 2007 Oscars, much was being made of “the three amigos”, aka film directors Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, and Alejandro González Iñárritu who all had successful films that year that were nominated. I had loved both Children of Men and Pan’s Labyrinth that year, so I was particularly bummed when the former lost for cinematography (that scene in the car is seamless and amazing!) and the latter lost in the best foreign film category to the German film, The Lives of Others.
don't mind me, just examining where on your back I'll stab you later!
So I went into this film with a chip on my shoulder, but I’m still relatively forgiving and open to having my heart changed when it comes to movies, plus a lot of people whose opinion I respect dug this movie. I gave it a chance, but in the end, I was more mad than when I began.
From the Vault: 2001: A Space Odyssey
I have had occasion to converse with people—friends and acquaintances alike—about film directors, and in nearly every one of those conversations, they’ve asked me to name my favorite director. The exchange gets a little predictable from here:
Me: Stanley Kubrick.
Them: Oh come on, really?
Me: Really. There’s not a Kubrick movie out there I don’t think is great.
And then each of them throws out the single film they are sure will derail what is ostensibly an opinion about my cinematic taste level, something they’re sure will reveal the limitations of my position. One time, the film chosen for this honor was Barry Lyndon, which at least garnered some originality points for the chooser, but each and every other time I’ve had this conversation I’ve had space monkeys thrown in my face via 2001: A Space Odyssey. Read more…
New Shows For Fall: CBS
The Paley Center for Media gave sneak peeks at several of the programs that will debut this season. (Keep in mind, the networks themselves selected the programs they wanted to showcase).
CBS is next and they selected to show their new courtroom drama “The Defenders” and two new sitcoms: “Mike & Molly” and “$#*! My Dad Says.” Read more…
From The Vault: The Stand
Remember back in the day when the major networks had miniseries? There was a time in the 90s that it seemed like most of them were based on Stephen King novels, including a remake of The Shining.
My favorite was The Stand, which I found incredibly boring when I was a wee lass. Then I read the book and decided to rewatch the movie, and found it quite enjoyable. Not great, but fun to watch on a Sunday afternoon when I’ve got 6 hours to spare. Read more…
Who is that actor: Miguel Ferrer
Heartthrob George Clooney has a cousin named Miguel Ferrer, who’s a fantastic character actor! (his parents are the great Rosemary Clooney and actor/academy award-winner José Ferrer). With all this pedigree you’d think he’d be a household name, instead of the dude everyone mistakes for this guy.
Read more…
New Shows For Fall: NBC
The Paley Center for Media gave sneak peeks at several of the programs that will debut this season. (Keep in mind, the networks themselves selected the programs they wanted to showcase).
NBC is first, and featured the pilot episode of a new comedy titled “Outsourced” and three new dramas: “Chase,” “The Event” and “Undercovers.” Read more…
Your Friday Five: Mopeybastardmix
Admit
That i was misinformed
To-Whit, I’m lost and all forlorn
I’m tattered and torn
To tired to see how sick you’ve grown
- Orange Juice – “Poor Old Soul (pt.1)”
Oh the grand tradition of the sad, sad pop song: Read more…
Leverage: The Top Five List Job
Leverage ended its current season last Sunday with a thrilling, funny episode entitled “The Morning After Job”. There are three long months before the series returns for another round of fun, smart heists. In the meantime here are my top five favorite “Jobs”.
Read more…
An Alternative Universe for Top Chef and Project Runway
I’ve been pondering what happened on Project Runway two weeks ago, wanting to write about it here but getting too hot under the collar each time and walking away from the keyboard instead. In the fifth episode, “There Is An I in Team,” the dozen contestants were split into two teams of 6, charged with making a collection of outfits using a mix-n-match approach to specifying what kind of clothes they’d be presenting. Picking from two categories of influence, one team selected camel and menswear—which sounded ho hum to me, and very 1993 Macy’s. The other team, comprised of the “underdogs,” chose military and lace, with the upside being a nice potential avante garde design, and the downside being throw-up-in-my-mouth-a-little awful. With all of the self-assured wannabes on one side, and fully 15 percent of the world’s insecurity on the other, who would come out on top at the end of the episode? Read more…
Duet to Me One More Time…
Being raised on Adult Contemporary – or soft rock, I find the charms of a sweeping duet irresistible. Even when they don’t involve the queen of sweeping duets: Jennifer Warnes.
Read more…
Grey’s Anatomy: With You I’m Born Again
EW posted promo posters for season 7 of Grey’s Anatomy and Grey’s facebook fan page asked fans to pick the best one. I picked my favorite. Read more…
TNT Goes Ahead with Dallas Pilot!
Coming Soon is reporting that cable channel TNT is firing up the creative machine for three new pilots. Two sound like standard TNT procedural fare, but one caught my attention: Read more…
Summer Box Office Winners and Losers
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg in the surprisingly hilarious film - The Other Guys
The summer movie season ended as it began – with lackluster offerings. Labor Day signaled the end to a summer box office season, which boasted impressive numbers ($4.35 billion), though largely due to inflated ticket prices for 3D offerings rather than big crowds.
Read more…
RIP: Glenn Shadix
Shadix in his most famous role as Otho the decorator in Beetlejuice
Actor Glenn Shadix best known for his work in Tim Burton films – most notably Beetlejuice – died today at his home in Alabama. Shadix had retired from acting several years ago to be closer to his family.
Who is that actor: Michael Paul Chan
When asked by a Washington Post reporter what traits he had in common with his alter ego Lt. Mike Tao, actor Michael Paul Chan quipped, “We both shave our heads.”
Read more…
TV Flashback Tuesdays: The Big Three Networks in 1990
Welcome to the next installment in my (mostly) weekly feature, in which I look back at some of TV’s most memorable promos, and what they communicate about a network during a certain point in its history.
Since the day after Labor Day usually marks the beginning of the new fall season, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the primetime lineups unveiled by the “Big Three” networks twenty years ago, via their promos.
And what a snapshot of history they turned out to be! The network spots neatly, and oh so embarrassingly, encapsulate how they aimed to sell themselves to viewers (who unfortunately, didn’t have a whole lot of options at the time).
Music Movie Mondays: Hounddog
Deborah Kampmeier’s 2007 feature Hounddog was dogged with controversy before its release. News quickly circulated that the movie featured a graphic scene wherein protagonist Lewellen (Dakota Fanning) is raped. This led to many stupid claims and a few smart ruminations from folks like Kate Harding, who read it alongside the Polanski case in terms of how society views gender, age, sexual agency, and rape. Read more…
When Remakes Attack!
Well I just don't feel buying anymore networks. There's never anything good on...
When I stumbled onto news of the remake of Vision Quest starring Taylor Lautner it made me a little uneasy. While the original is hardly a cinematic masterpiece there’s something to be said for leaving well enough alone. Unfortunately, it’s not a message Hollywood enjoys hearing. Read more…
Your Friday Five: Netflix Instant View you should, uh… view
Playing strip-poker with an exhibitionist somehow takes the challenge away.
The Last Picture Show. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Read more…
Valley of the Oz – The Mashup You Didn’t Notice!
1939 was a major year for American Cinema. The sweeping Civil War epic “Gone with the Wind” held audiences captive. Jimmy Stewart brought his “aw, shucks” attitude to the Capitol in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Henry Fonda portrayed “Young Mr. Lincoln.” And Lawrence Olivier climbed to “Wuthering Heights.” There was a small matter of John Wayne not getting an Oscar for his performance in “Stagecoach,” and a whole host of notable names, from Alexander Graham Bell to the Hunchback of Notre Dame, from the Three Musketeers to The Marx Brothers all appearing on screen.
But one of the most enduring motion pictures of that year was the MGM classic musical, “The Wizard of Oz,” which is likely the most well known of all of the films from that year, thanks to its endless plays on television as a holiday classic and its star, the young, good hearted and fresh faced Judy Garland, who inadvertently got into a whirlwind of a new kind of world where strange stuff happened and strange people pulled her through those brick-lined paths to find the way to her destiny! Read more…
