Dan Dorman on Film

2008-06-23T05:03:00.002-05:00

George Carlin
1937-2008

"We like war, we´re a war-like people! We like war because we´re good at it! You know why we´re good at it? Because we get a lot of practice. This country´s only 200 years old and already we´ve had ten major wars. We average a major war every twenty years in this country, so we´re good at it! And it´s a good thing we are, we´re not very good at anything else anymore! Hah? Can´t make a decent car, can´t make a TV set or a VCR worth a fuck...got no steel industry left, can´t educate our young people...can´t get health care to our old people...but we can bomb the shit out of your country alright!"

essential Carlin:

Car Wash (76)
Americathon (79)
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (89)
The Prince of Tides (91)
George Carlin: Jammin' in New York (92)
Dogma (99)

Whether it was strictly his voice or a cameo, Carlin always brought something special to every film he appeared in. It wasn't always counter-culture roles that he excelled in; see his portrayal as a tender gay New York neighbor to Barbra Streisand in Prince of Tides to witness his extraordinary range as an actor. This is what he said about the role in 1992:

"The stage direction said 'flamboyant,' I think. At any rate, I knew he wasn't a Marine drill sergeant trying to hide his gayness. The challenge was how to be a gay man acting effeminate but not be a cartoon or a stereotype...I've always admired gay humor. It's bittersweet, bitchy, to-the-point and honest. So that was already in me somewhere."

just like Carlin: "bittersweet, bitchy, to-the-point and honest."

His passing marks the death of the world's last truly great stand-up comedian; in addition to one hell of an actor; author; social commentator; political commentator and philosopher. His name will forever be mentioned with Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a handful of TV shows in addition to his work in films. For me, this is a sad day. We lost another great comic genius a month ago, Harvey Korman. I fear all of the greats are sadly making their exits. If you think Carlin was just that "hippie guy" in all those movies you are tragically mistaken. He possessed a brilliant mind with a lightening sharp wit. If you weren't careful, he could have cut you down before you were even aware, but it was his capacity for bringing people together that made him more than just a great stand-up. George Carlin once said:

"We're so self-important. So self-important. Everybody's going to save something now. 'Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save those snails.' And the greatest arrogance of all: save the planet. What? Are these fucking people kidding me? Save the planet, we don't even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven't learned how to care for one another, we're gonna save the fucking planet? I'm getting tired of that shit. Tired of that shit. I'm tired of fucking Earth Day, I'm tired of these self-righteous environmentalists, these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren't enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world save for their Volvos. Besides, environmentalists don't give a shit about the planet. They don't care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don't. Not in the abstract they don't. You know what they're interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat. They're worried that some day in the future, they might be personally inconvenienced. Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn't impress me.

Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are fucked. Difference. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We've been here, what, a hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we've only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we're a threat? That somehow we're gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that's just a-floatin' around the sun?

The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles...hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages...And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet...the planet...the planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE!

We're going away. Pack your shit, folks. We're going away. And we won't leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little styrofoam. Maybe. A little styrofoam. The planet'll be here and we'll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet'll shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance.

You wanna know how the planet's doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, how the planet's doing. You wanna know if the planet's all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.

The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we're gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, 'cause that's what it does. It's a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it's true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new pardigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn't share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn't know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, 'Why are we here?' Plastic...asshole.

So, the plastic is here, our job is done, we can be phased out now. And I think that's begun. Don't you think that's already started? I think, to be fair, the planet sees us as a mild threat. Something to be dealt with. And the planet can defend itself in an organized, collective way, the way a beehive or an ant colony can. A collective defense mechanism. The planet will think of something. What would you do if you were the planet? How would you defend yourself against this troublesome, pesky species? Let's see... Viruses. Viruses might be good. They seem vulnerable to viruses. And, uh...viruses are tricky, always mutating and forming new strains whenever a vaccine is developed. Perhaps, this first virus could be one that compromises the immune system of these creatures. Perhaps a human immunodeficiency virus, making them vulnerable to all sorts of other diseases and infections that might come along. And maybe it could be spread sexually, making them a little reluctant to engage in the act of reproduction.

Well, that's a poetic note. And it's a start. And I can dream, can't I? See I don't worry about the little things: bees, trees, whales, snails. I think we're part of a greater wisdom than we will ever understand. A higher order. Call it what you want. Know what I call it? The Big Electron. The Big Electron...whoooa. Whoooa. Whoooa. It doesn't punish, it doesn't reward, it doesn't judge at all. It just is. And so are we. For a little while."

The world just became a lot less honest today.

"Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?"
- George Carlin

2008-06-22T05:14:00.002-05:00

"People who are afraid to go to horror movies are generally afraid their whole lives. People say to me, 'Do you have nightmares?' I never have nightmares! And I go to movies and see the most bizarre things in the world, and go... Wow that is really sick, how fun is that! And I don't have to carry it around. I think that's very healthy."

Stan Winston
1946-2008
4 time Academy Award winning American visual effects supervisor, make-up artist, and film director.

some of Stan's unforgettable work:

2008-06-21T08:06:00.000-05:00

"They can't censor the gleam in my eye."

Charles Laughton
1899-1962
Academy Award-winning stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and one-time director (The Night of the Hunter, 55)

2008-06-14T07:10:00.002-05:00

This may seem like a weird idea for a post, but I'm dedicating it to someone I know with an intense interest in animated films featuring mice. So there ya go.

Top 5 films featuring animated mice (or rats):

The Rescuers (77)

The Secret of NIMH (82)

The Great Mouse Detective (86)

Cinderella (50)

An American Tail (86)

honorable mentions:

Timothy, Dumbo's mouse friend in Dumbo (41)

Roquefort the Mouse, in The Aristocats (70)

Stuart Little in Stuart Little (99), Stuart Little 2 (02)

and yes, Ratatouille (07) is indeed absent from this list (as are a number of remakes that just didn't make the cut).

2008-06-10T15:42:00.002-05:00

This is a list of several films about the lives of famous artists; mainly painters or sculptors. I would have loved to expand it to include photographers (like the movie Fur [06] about Diane Arbus) but I realized that once I got going on this one it was primarily about masters of the brush. Either way, hope you enjoy.

Lust For Life (56)
Vincent Van Gogh
Paul Gauguin

The Agony and the Ecstasy (65)
Michelangelo

Camille Claudel (88)
Camille Claudel
Auguste Rodin

I Shot Andy Warhol (96)
Andy Warhol

Basquiat (96)
Jean Michel Basquiat
Andy Warhol

Surviving Picasso (96)
Pablo Picasso
Henri Matisse

Frida (02)
Frida Kahlo
Diego Rivera

Vincent & Theo (90)
Vincent Van Gogh

Van Gogh (91)
Vincent Van Gogh

Pollock (00)
Jackson Pollock
Willem DeKooning

Artemisia (97)
Artemisia Gentileschi

Andrei Rublev (69)
Andrei Rublyov

Bride of the Wind (01)
Oskar Kokoschka

Girl With a Pearl Earring (03)
Jan Vermeer

Goya in Bordeaux (99)
Goya

Klimt (06)
Gustav Klimt

Modigliani (04)
Amedeo Modigliani
Pablo Picasso
Diego Rivera

Moulin Rouge (52)
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Rembrandt (36)
Rembrandt van Rijn

Caravaggio (86)
Caravaggio

Love is the Devil (98)
Francis Bacon

Chihwaseon (02)
Jang Seung-up

Edvard Munch (74)
Edvard Munch

2008-06-08T17:15:00.007-05:00

I love movies about famous authors and writers. What are some of your favorites?
updated 6/10/08

Finding Neverland (04)
Sir James Matthew Barrie

Shadowlands (93)
C. S. Lewis
Joy Gresham

Henry & June (90)
Henry Miller
Anaïs Nin

Impromptu (91)
George Sand

Julia (77)
Lillian Hellman
Dashiell Hammett

Reds (81)
John Reed
Eugene O'Neill
Emma Goldman

The Naked Civil Servant (75)
Quentin Crisp

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (85)
Yukio Mishima

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (98)
Raoul Duke/Hunter S. Thompson

Capote (05)
Truman Capote
Harper Lee

Running with Scissors (06)
Augusten Burroughs

The Whole Wide World (96)
Robert E. Howard

Gothic (86)
Lord Byron
Mary Shelley
Percy Shelly

The Hours (02)
Virginia Woolf

Iris (01)
Iris Murdoch

Carrington (95)
Lytton Strachey

Prick Up Your Ears (87)
Joe Orton

Cradle Will Rock (99)
Marc Blitzstein
Orson Welles

The Adventures of Mark Twain (44)
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain)

The Life of Emile Zola (37)
Emile Zola

All the President's Men (76)
Bob Woodward
Carl Bernstein

American Splendor (03)
Harvey Pekar
Robert Crumb

Hoax (06)
Clifford Irving

The Basketball Diaries (95)
Jim Carroll

This Boy's Life (93)
Tobias Wolff

Adaptation. (02)
Charlie Kaufman

Sylvia (03)
Sylvia Plath

Tom & Viv (94)
T.S. Eliot

Miss Potter (06)
Beatrix Potter

Nora (00)
James Joyce

Wilde (97)
Oscar Wilde

Quills (00)
The Marquis de Sade

Total Eclipse (95)
Arthur Rimbaud
Paul Verlaine

Shakespeare in Love (98)
William Shakespeare
Christopher Marlowe

Before Night Falls (00)
Reinaldo Arenas

2008-05-04T07:38:00.004-05:00

I may not know a lot about the Marvel comics character Iron Man, but I do know how these movies usually work. We are introduced to a character (who usually possesses some brilliant talent) who is set in their ways before they undergo a tremendous transformation of some kind enabling them to see things in a different light and use their abilities for good. Iron Man (for the most part) is a by-the-books comic book adaptation and origin story. It may be one of the best I have seen lately, but that does not make it great. What works so refreshingly well in the film is it's humor. That and it's leading man, Robert Downey Jr. Let's get something straight, Iron Man is not top shelf comic material (let the insults begin here). He is not Superman, Batman, Spider-Man or even the X-Men (movies that have all featured the origin story to varying degrees of creative success). Iron Man the character is more along the lines of the Incredible Hulk, or the Fantastic Four in terms of iconic status. He's second tier. Jon Favreau (the director of Iron Man and that other epic fantasy origin story, Elf) gives us a very entertaining and ultimately uninspiring take on the formula. It's almost as if the filmmakers were trying to not make Iron Man conventional Hollywood summer blockbuster fare but they fell back on those very same trappings every time there was no place for a witty verbal exchange. What makes this film work and soar along is the presence of Downey in the title role (although there's a fire-extinguisher robot in the film that gives him a run for his money). If you want the truth, this is a film for Downey fans. Not superhero movie fans. You have all of the trademark Downey business in this film: Downey says quick one-liners; Downey talks dirty and beds hot chicks; Downey gives teary-eyed monologues; Downey gets knocked hard into walls; etc (not sure about that last one). It's as if the film was tailor-made for his unique gifts as an actor. But what about the character? Maybe this film should have been called "Iron Downey Jr."?

Tony Stark (Iron Man's true name) is a world-famous drunk. I may not know much about the comic book series but even I knew that about his character. Where was this in the movie? A companion of mine said not to worry, that would all be in the second movie. The second movie? It kinda makes my stomach turn when I sit down to watch a film and I have to start thinking about how many sequels they're foreshadowing or developing before the first one has even started. Shouldn't a movie just be a movie? The answer is: not if it's a superhero movie. Don't get me wrong, Iron Man is not a bad film. Spider-Man 3 is a BAD film. Superman Returns was a BAD film. Iron Man is what these other movies should have been: enjoyable. I like the movie, but I'm not going to be disillusioned about it. After watching such crap as Superman Returns, Spider-Man 3, Hulk, Daredevil, The Punisher, Elektra, Catwoman or the Fantastic Four movies, Iron Man seems like Lawrence of Arabia. But it ain't. Iron Man is just another franchise. It may be one of the most genuine first efforts in a potential series, but that still does not make it any more than an amusing (if a tad bit stretched) two hours of Downey just being Downey. Yeah, the suit is cool and the rest of the main cast is tops (come on, who would have ever made Jeff Bridges the bad guy?) including Paul Bettany (in voice only) and Terrence Howard who was lovable even as a pimp (in 2005's Hustle & Flow). Even Gwyneth Paltrow makes an impressive comeback as Tony Stark's secretary and love interest. It's like I said, the cast is what keeps things going. That's Iron Man. In an iron-clad nutshell. I'll be getting the blu-ray when it's inevitably released later this year. But that's mainly because I loved Downey in this film. Oh, and if you stay till the very end of the credits you will be treated to a star cameo who appears to herald in the obligatory sequel. I wouldn't dare spoil it for you, but I will say if you're anything like me, you'll be running to the nearest trash can in the lobby to ralph-up your bucket of popcorn and large cherry coke. Does this last 30 seconds of ridiculous nonsense ruin the whole movie? I'm personally not sure yet, but it does prove once and for all that Hollywood has lost whatever fuckin' mind it ever had. But then there are those people who thought Samuel L. Jackson was perfectly cast in the Star Wars prequels (oh, did I just give something away?). You be the judge.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Incidentally, Jon Favreau describes his film as: "a kind of independent film-espionage thriller crossbreed; a Robert Altman-directed Superman (78), with shades of Tom Clancy novels, James Bond films, RoboCop (87), and Batman Begins (05)."

I think somebody (Mr. Favreau) needs to go straight to the top of the calm-down list. I'll go along with "RoboCop" but "Robert Altman"? Is he high?

2008-03-02T08:25:00.012-05:00

"Stranger stop and wish me well,
Just say a prayer for my soul in hell.
I was a good fellow, most people said,
Betrayed by a woman dressed all in red"

It was an "orange dress" to be exact but the lights of the Biograph theater on the North side of Chicago in the neighborhood of Lincoln Park made the dress appear red in color. That's where American bank robber and celebrity John Herbert Dillinger was killed by law enforcement agents one hot July night in 1934 while exiting the movie theater. The last film he saw was Manhattan Melodrama with Clark Gable and William Powell. The poem above was later anonymously scribbled on the wall in the alley where Dillinger fell and met his death. I have always had an attraction to John Dillinger going back to my own small-town childhood in the suburbs of Baltimore. I didn't hear any stories of his exploits from my elders, in fact, I can't remember the first time I became aware of the man. I think it might have been a book on Dillinger that I picked up from my school library. I saw the famous image of Dillinger with his squinty eyes and devilish grin on the cover and I believe I was hooked ever since. Johnny Depp will be portraying Dillinger in a film shooting now in Chicago, Indiana and Wisconsin called Public Enemies. It's being directed by veteran movie maverick Michael Mann (Manhunter, Heat, The Insider) and I believe it will mostly be based on Bryan Burrough's nonfiction bestseller of the same name.

There was already a movie made about Dillinger in the seventies by another maverick film director, writer and producer named John Milius (The Wind and the Lion, Conan the Barbarian, Red Dawn) who is more famous for writing or contributing to such classic films as Dirty Harry, Jaws, Apocalypse Now and was most recently the creator of the HBO series Rome. Milius' film on Dillinger (called simply: Dillinger) is a mixed bag. On the one hand it stars the late, great Warren Oates as the popular gangster. Oates not only looked like John Dillinger but he lends a certain grace, viciousness and authenticity to the character that will be hard to imitate. It also helped that he looked entirely too much like Dillinger for his own good. Strangely enough, Dillinger is not one of my favorite Oates performances. You would think that one of my favorite actors portraying one of my favorite historical figures should be a no-brainer but Milius' film has many problems. Even using the information on Dillinger and his cohorts known at the time the film strays too wildly into the mythic. It's portrayal of G-Man and Dillinger's final nemesis Melvin Purvis (here played by Academy Award winner Ben Johnson) is just too off-the-wall. Milius makes Purvis out to look like John Wayne (a feat not too difficult for Johnson, the often co-star of John Wayne) on crack and he even lets Purvis get the kill shot on Dillinger in the end -- which historically and factually is a plain lie.

Johhny Depp

Michael Mann

Christian Bale

The "real" Melvin Purvis

In actuality, Melvin Purvis (being played by Christian Bale in the upcoming Depp/Mann movie) was as far from Ben Johnson and John Wayne as you could get. Purvis was there when Dillinger was killed in front of the Biograph theater, in fact, he clumsily orchestrated the whole hit. He waited out front for the crowd to come out after the movie had ended. He became nervous as suddenly there were dozens of people (women and children included) now pouring onto the street while he waited for Dillinger and his two female companions to emerge. Didn't Purvis expect there to be this many bystanders and potential victims in a place as public as a movie theater? Not to mention the fact that Purvis had already exhausted every chance he had to catch the wily crook and this was his last resort -- a planned turkey shoot. That's right. The FBI led by Purvis were not there to apprehend John Dillinger that night, they were there to shoot him dead. A feat they luckily managed to finally get right. Purvis stood there sweating, knees shaking, waiting for the signal. The now infamous "woman in red" was on one arm of Dillinger while Polly Hamilton (a girlfriend) was on the other.

The "woman in red" was actually an illegal immigrant from Romania with a criminal record named Ana Cumpanas who was facing deportation charges for running a brothel. Purvis offered her a deal: give them Dillinger or face deportation. After what seemed like forever but was actually more like seconds, they emerged. Dillinger seemed completely unaware that he was walking into a trap. Purvis held a shaking cigar between his quivering lips as he raised a match to light it. This was to signal the hired guns waiting on the street and in the alley that the target was in place. But something unexpected happened. Purvis scanned the scene for his men and found some of them arguing with local policemen who had been called by a theater worker who thought the Federal Agents hanging around outside looked like crooks. Purvis drew another match in hopes of alerting someone that the fish was almost in the fryer. It appeared to him at first that no one was paying attention. He panicked even more. It was reported that he even muttered under his breath: "Come on" as he waited for Dillinger to be completely out on the street. Then, there he was, just a few feet in front of him. For just a split second the two men's eyes met. Purvis must have thought that the gig was up. In actuality, Dillinger had no idea what Purvis looked like in person. And the criminal kept moving toward an alley at the end of the block. By that time, Purvis had no need to worry. His agents in the alleyway were already alert and another man was already on the street and walking directly behind Dillinger. He was so close he could have touched him on the shoulder.

No one is sure at what point Dillinger became aware but he did glance behind him for a moment and used his peripheral vision to see that he was being followed. As he reached the alley it all happened so fast. A total of six shots were fired at Dillinger before he could even draw a gun. Witnesses claim it sounded like only one shot because they were all fired in such close proximity. What is known to be mostly true is Dillinger may have tried to make a dash for the alley but he was slowed down by a few things. First, there were the women at his sides who were abruptly pushed away as Dillinger crouched down in order to make a run for it. Then there was another woman who was passing by on the street who in some accounts Dillinger bumped into before he was shot and in others he bumps into her after he is shot. Either way, he didn't get very far after crouching as the bullets rang out and sliced through him at several angles. The worst being the shot from behind that entered through his neck (severing his spinal cord) passed through his brain and exited through his right eye. This was the fatal gunshot. Witnesses say that Dillinger was hit so many times that he actually spun around like a top before crashing dead to the ground face-first on the street at the entrance to the alley. A moment later, two women cried out that they had been shot.

the Biograph Theater as it stands today

the Biograph with the alley where Dillinger was murdered in view

the infamous death photo of Dillinger with the "arm" looking suspiciously like a "sexual organ" (that was later removed from all photos in circulation)

Ana Cumpanas (aka: Anna Sage, aka: The Woman in Red)

J Edgar Hoover (a photo most likely from the 'Dillinger era')

little seen photograph of Federal Agent Charles Winstead, the man who killed John Dillinger

One was the woman that Dillinger bumped into who may or may not have been struck by one of the actual bullets that passed though Dillinger himself. Another could have been struck by a fragment of bullet or brick from the nearby wall. It's surprising to me that more people weren't injured that hot July night in Chicago. The rest of the story goes that Dillinger hit the ground so hard that the brim of his straw hat broke as he smashed into the pavement. One of the agents (Charles Winstead who was finally credited with the Dillinger kill-shot) rushed up to the body and crouched down to hear Dillinger mutter his final words, but they were only gibberish. My guess is they weren't words at all but blood gargling through his mouth as he lay dying. A moment after that, Purvis approached the body and leaned over to take the gun from Dillinger's dead hand. Here's where I have my problems. Purvis removed the gun from Dillinger that he most likely was trying to pull out from his front pants pocket when he crouched down just before he was shot multiple times. The gun that no one claimed they saw him actually pull out on the street. How did it get in his hand when Purvis arrived at the death scene? I doubt Dillinger even had a gun on him -- crazy as that sounds he being a fugitive and all. I think Purvis used the story that he pulled the gun off Dillinger's dead body in an attempt to justify his hasty actions that fateful night -- just like he did in several news reports claiming that he called out to Dillinger to halt in the name of the law. Then again, the whole thing about the gun could be entirely true. What is not debated is the pool of Dillinger's blood that formed around his body that people in the crowd were dipping handkerchiefs and garments into as a momento of the tragic occasion. Ana Cumpanas, the woman in red was soon deported despite her deal with Purvis. She died in Romania in 1947 from liver problems. Purvis eventually shot himself to death in 1960 at the age of 56. Some say he was even murdered on orders from J. Edgar Hoover (the subject of many controversies), his own boss during the Dillinger days and Director of the FBI. The two men apparently had an unsettled rivalry. Hoover was obsessed with Dillinger and was said to have talked about him almost every day of his life. Hoover died in 1972.

There are several good books written about Dillinger if you want to draw your own conclusions. The first is Public Enemies by Burrough and another good one (albeit problematic) is John Dillinger: The Life and Death of America's First Celebrity Criminal by Dary Matera (Dillinger was certainly not the "First Celebrity Criminal" America ever knew, if you count Jesse James and Al Capone). I like Burrough's book because it incorporates the entire season of crime that took place in the Midwest between the years of 1933 and 1934 and the formation of the FBI as a direct result. If you want to know strictly more about Dillinger then Matera's book might be for you (with his hipster prose style and all). I'm looking forward to Mann's film which is set to be released sometime next year in 2009. I find it even more awesome that we are just as much enamored with John Dillinger in the 21st century as we have ever been. I suppose it's true what actress Helen Hayes once said: "Legends die hard. They survive as truth rarely does." Right on.

John Herbert Dillinger
June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934

2008-02-23T21:45:00.008-05:00

Well, it's Oscar time again. It just wouldn't be right without the obligatory 'who I think is going to win' list. It's anybody's game this year and Oscar is always fickle. So, without further ado, here goes:

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

George Clooney for Michael Clayton
Clooney is probably the biggest contender this year just under Day-Lewis. Why? I have no idea. Clooney just keeps on playing variations of the "George Clooney" character that he's created over the years and Hollywood just keeps on loving him for it. How else can anyone explain the Ocean's movies? I guess you could liken this to Robert Redford in the seventies and eighties (also a better director than he is actor). Out of all of them, I prefer "Fat Clooney" who won Supporting honors for Syriana. Still, he's no fuckin' De Niro.

Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood
Who else is sick of the "milkshake" references already? Oohh, Me! Me! Fuck it. If you wanna eat up the scenery and spit it out with the best of 'em (re: Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino) you can find no better actor than Mr. Day-Lewis. I have enormous respect for him but he has done better work than this (The Boxer, The Age of Innocence) without awards or nominations. And he will continue to do so. But, it's his year. Let's just see how many times he mentions Heath Ledger in his acceptance speech.

Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
THE GREATEST LIVING ACTOR OF OUR GENERATION. What's that? Didn't get it the first time? I'll repeat it for you: THE GREATEST LIVING ACTOR OF OUR GENERATION. Period. No awards necessary. Still, he should have got one for this. He was simply mind-blowing as Tim Burton's demon barber. And he didn't even need to bring up his milkshake either.

Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah
What a heartrending performance. Tommy Lee never ceases to amaze me. He just keeps getting better with age too. I was glad to see him nominated (as I always am) but Hollywood loves it's Sam Gerard's (The Fugitive), not it's grieving fathers.

Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises
Viggo. He should just get the award for coolest name. His was the dark horse nominee this year. This last spot could have just as easily gone to Ryan Gosling for Lars and the Real Girl or to James McAvoy for Atonement or to Emile Hirsch for Into the Wild or to Denzel Washington for American Gangster or to Mathieu Amalric for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly...the list goes on. Viggo got it though. Good for him. Anyone nominated in this category is a winner (it's like Best in Show for acting). I haven't seen Mr. Cronenberg's film but I heard it's better than his last one (also with Viggo) A History of Violence. Then again, I've seen some Ernest movies better than A History of Violence.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Casey was incredible in this underrated film from the director of the underrated Chopper with Eric Bana a few years back. If a man by the name of Javier Bardem wasn't born and hadn't gave the performance of his lifetime I would say Casey deserves to win. Either way, see The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It was breathtaking. Even Brad Pitt didn't suck. And while you're at it, watch Casey in big brother Ben's directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone. He will knock your socks off in that one too.

Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men
When an actor gives the best performance of his career it's hard not to sit back and just be in awe. This was one of those times. Javier is a leading man in a supporting turn here, but he re-defined evil in this film and earned a place amongst the cinema's most honored villains and psychos. Hannibal Lecter eat your heart out. Friend-o.

Philip Seymour Hoffman for Charlie Wilson's War
I'm still kinda pissed he won for Capote. But whatever. I always said Heath Ledger should have won that year (for Brokeback Mountain). I think Hoffman is a journeyman actor in the making -- but he just ain't there yet. I love it -- they'll nominate this guy for this but they won't give a guy like Paul Giamatti a nomination for American Splendor or Sideways. Bullshit.

Hal Holbrook for Into the Wild
Who the hell is Hal Holbrook? Just kidding, just kidding! He's one of the greatest stage, television and screen actors of all-time. He's still performing as Mark Twain on stage and he probably will until he drops dead on the boards. We should all be so lucky to devote our lives to a craft that we love. He's not just the 'old fart' in the race this year. He's earned his chops over the years and they just could easily be giving him a lifetime achievement award along with this nomination. Which, in essence, I think they are.

Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton
Tom Wilkinson annoys me. He gets on my nerves. I don't know what it is. I think it might be his dreadful American accents that make Michael Caine sound like he was born in Brooklyn. I don't know. He's not a bad actor. He was quite moving in In the Bedroom. I loved him in The Full Monty. I just think this nomination stinks too heavily of a Peter Finch in Network award. Of course, Finch had to suddenly die in real life to receive the damn thing but at least he fuckin' deserved it. I don't know.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

It's either Julie Christie for Away From Her or Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose. Of course they could just give it to the underdog, Ellen Page for Juno, but I doubt it. I'm going to go with Christie on this one. She's a classy lady. And a Brit. Then again, they gave the award in this category to a classy lady Brit last year didn't they (Helen Mirren)? I just don't know. Oh, what the fuck, I'm gonna say Ellen Page will win. Either that or the French girl. Or Julie Christie. Wait, who exactly did I say will win?

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

I thought Amy Ryan deserved to win for Gone Baby Gone. But that was actually before I saw the movie. Ryan is quite weak and unbelievable as Boston white trash in the film. You can see her acting her way through it in all of her three scenes in the film. She tackles the part the same way she would Portia in The Merchant of Venice or Desdemona in Othello on stage. The only difference is, those are probably roles within her depth. Gone Baby Gone's despicable dead-beat mom should have been played by someone more naturally. And someone you really should have hated more. That leaves Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in I'm Not There and Ruby Dee for American Gangster. Blanchett is just ridiculous as Dylan and Ruby Dee has like two lines of dialogue in Gangster. I'm going to say none of them deserve to win and Amy Ryan will probably get it.

DIRECTING

It should go to Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly so that means it will probably go to the Coens for No Country for Old Men or to Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood. Either way, whoever is taking home the award for director this year will not be sharing it with Best Picture. It's just a hunch I have. They fucked over Sean Penn for Into the Wild and Tim Burton for Sweeney Todd by nominating Jason Reitman (Juno) and Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) so I really don't care who wins in this category this year. My guess is it will be Joel Coen and Ethan Coen but being as how they will probably win Apated Screenplay I will say it's going to go to Anderson. There I said it.

BEST PICTURE

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Can't help thinking it's been kind of a shitty year for movies, huh? Not that all of these movies were bad. Just some of them a little, well, slight you might say. I'm guessing it's either going to be Atonement (why even fucking nominate it, right?) or No Country. It's been a while since an old fashioned Hollywood epic won Best Picture. No Country is a bit of a horror western. Do "horror westerns" win Oscars? I don't know, but Fargo was nominated in this category once upon a time. That movie wasn't a horror film or a western but it sure as hell changed how the category was judged ever since. Maybe it's time a little indie dramedy won (Juno) or a smart and slick thriller that's not quite the morality tale it thinks it is (Michael Clayton). There Will Be Blood is strictly a Terrence Malick movie in disguise. So...who is going to win? I kinda think the Coens should win Picture and Director but that would be too appropriate. No Country has made just about everyone forget their last few fuck ups (Intolerable Cruelty, The Ladykillers) and rightly so. I predict No Country will become an American classic. As time tested as The Graduate or Singin' in the Rain. Well, maybe a little more like Silence of the Lambs. Being as how I've changed my mind a hundred different times during this post -- I'm gonna say No Country for Old Men. If you hadn't already guessed.

Whew. That wasn't too long of a post, was it?

2008-02-10T22:54:00.000-05:00

Roy Scheider
1932 - 2008

I grew up watching Roy Scheider movies. In a lot of ways, he was my favorite actor growing up. He was an enormous character actor as well as a leading man. His most triumphant role will always be the Academy Award nominated All That Jazz, but most people will remember him for his Chief Brody in Jaws. Of course there was Blue Thunder and Tiger Town (both from 1983) when I was a kid but my favorite of all his films to this day is still 2010: The Year We Make Contact. I will always remember him as a combination of Dr. Heywood Floyd (in that vastly under-rated film) and Brody. His talent for drawing an audience into his likable screen persona was effortless. On screen he could play a man you would follow into battle or maybe just someone you'd like to have a beer with after work. He was that kind of 'everyman' that in a way I always aspired to be. People always talk about how Tom Hanks and Kevin Costner are the James Stewarts and Gary Coopers of our generation, but who will be our new Roy Scheider?

The films I really loved him in were:

Klute (1971)
The French Connection (1971)
The Seven-Ups (1973)
Jaws (1975)
Marathon Man (1976)
Sorcerer (1977)
All That Jazz (1979)
2010 (1984)
52 Pick-Up (1986)
The Russia House (1990)

he will be missed.

2008-02-10T18:32:00.001-05:00

2008-02-03T08:41:00.003-05:00

MUST SEE

Several years ago I happened across a little movie that instantly became one of my perennial favorites. It was a documentary from 1997 called Trekkies. That film was about the Star Trek phenomenon and it's rabid group of followers who devote their time, money and entire life force to their favorite television show. In short, it was terrifying and entertaining all at the same time. They even made a sequel several years later that didn't quite have the charm or originality of the first one but was still watchable. I'll say it now. I love Star Trek. I am partial to the original series mainly but I grew up watching the first 4 feature films over and over until every line of dialogue was stored somewhere in my subconscious. It's a part of my psyche. However, I do not consider my love of those shows and original cast movies to be anywhere near as rabid or intense as the folks on display in the Trekkies films. They belong to a large, yet select group of people that is open to just about anyone who has the time or the love for that stuff. I watched a new film the other night that instantly just replaced Trekkies as my "favorite little movie" of all-time. And it's about an even smaller, MORE select group of obsessed, intense people that to my knowledge have never before been infiltrated to this degree. They call themselves classic gamers. They play original arcade video games mainly from the 1980's. Things like: Pacman, Centipede, Space Invaders and the pièce de résistance, Donkey Kong.

I'm not going to begin to describe the inner workings of these small bands of gamers nor the history of the games and gaming (I'll leave that for this enormously entertaining and engrossing film) but I will tell you that the people on display in this documentary are 100% real, just as dedicated and probably more rabid than those who proudly wear the moniker of "Trekkie". You couldn't have made these people up if you wanted. Some of it is so goddamn funny and twisted it almost seems scripted. But it's not. In a way, it's too real. I know, I'm getting ahead of myself. You probably don't even know what this film is about. Or what it is called. The title is The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters and as I hinted at before, it mainly centers on the select few gamers in the world (mostly middle-aged white males) who devote their lives to playing Donkey Kong. To be honest, the film is about two of these men. The two greatest men who have ever played the game. One, Billy Mitchell, was a skinny 17 year old who set the Donkey Kong record back in the early 80's and held it for nearly 25 years. He went on to become a hot sauce entrepreneur who still looks and dresses like he never left 1982. He acts like a rock star diva and is shown as the true Machiavellian villain of the film. His opponent couldn't be more opposite. Steve Wiebe (pronounced: Wee-bee) was a down-on-his-luck family man who discovered he had an uncanny knack for the game after he was laid-off for several months from a previous job. He went on to topple Mitchell's unbeatable score but that's where the controversy starts. It's almost like something out of an Oliver Stone movie. Wiebe sent in the video tape of him beating the game (something that up until recently was an acceptable form of proof) and the next thing his wife knew was there were strange men showing up at his house uninvited wanting to see his Donkey Kong machine. They were there to uncover whether it was rigged or not. And that's just the beginning. Steve Wiebe ends up being the real-life Rocky Balboa of the film and an instant rivalry is formed between the two champs that continues on and even off the film.

If this is starting to sound like something you've never seen or heard of before -- that's because it probably is. Trust me, by the end of this film, I was sitting up in front of the TV yelling at some of the people in the film while rooting for my favorite player to come through. It was an unbelievable experience. I don't remember the last movie that made me feel or act this way. It simply must be seen to be believed. This is more than a cult film. It's a real-life Revenge of the Nerds meets Rocky with more heart than any film I have seen in the past several years. And don't forget: it's all REAL. Once you watch Mitchell and his countless minions spying on Wiebe and scheming to shut him down (he even manipulates an old woman) you will never want to eat hot sauce ever again. At least the brand made by Mitchell. And once a man known as "Mr. Awesome" (Roy Shildt) shows up, you wont know whether to laugh out loud or run screaming. Ultimately, this was probably the second best film from last year that I have seen. Zodiac is still my favorite. Sweeney Todd is also on the short list. Don't pass up King of Kong. I'm tellin' ya, it's an instant classic that's sure to become one of your all-time favorites. Of any genre.

5 stars

2008-01-28T05:58:00.000-05:00

stand-up guy

I didn't want to keep making posts on this subject but some things deserve our attention more than others. Heath Ledger is dead and Daniel Day-Lewis is going to win the Oscar for Best Actor for There Will Be Blood. I know that. In my heart of hearts I wanted Johnny Depp to win Best Actor for Sweeney Todd but the simple truth is, it's just not his year (yet again). The award belongs to Mr. Day-Lewis. So what does any of this Oscar nonsense have to do with the tragic loss of Heath Ledger? Daniel Day-Lewis just won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor. He dedicated the award to Heath Ledger. Not only that, he had to stand up for the young actor when across the street from the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles, religious protesters had assembled carrying signs that read: "Heath's In Hell" referring to his performance as a homosexual cowboy in Brokeback Mountain. This really made me mad when I read this. And it also made me respect Mr. Day-Lewis for being more than one of our greatest living actors. He was also recently on Oprah to talk about his current Oscar nominated role but instead of kissing Oprah's butt like anyone else or talking about himself he focused on how wrecked he was upon hearing the news of Heath Ledger's death. And the 50 year old Best Actor winner for My Left Foot never even knew Ledger personally. Is Day-Lewis playing some kind of Hollywood political card in going on about Ledger's death in the midst of the award show season? Absolutely not. Day-Lewis does not need the publicity or the awards. In fact, he could care less. He's simply stating in public something that many of us are feeling inside. It is possible to mourn the death of an actor whose performances have moved and entertained us and to be confused about the shock of such an abrupt end to such a bright young light. No, Mr Day-Lewis is speaking from his heart. Something that most people in Hollywood can't do these days without an agenda. As for the "religious protesters" carrying the signs, I have no words. I thought when I set out to write this blog this morning that I would end up ripping them some new assholes -- but in the end, that's all they really are. Assholes. I guess if I had to come up with some words, I would say to them: anybody that takes you seriously is an asshole too. If I were President of the United States I would make an example out of you and your pathetic behavior. But I'm not. And I don't suspect that the one we have now even knows who Heath Ledger is. All I can really say to you is, we'll see what kind of "Hell" you are in come November when there's either a Woman or a Black Man running the country. Or both. Man, is it gonna suck to be you or what?

2008-01-26T10:16:00.001-05:00

For those of you who don't know, Heath Ledger was in the middle of working on a movie for director Terry Gilliam when he was found dead in his NYC apartment earlier this week. The Australian born Ledger was only 28 years old but he leaves behind one Academy Award nominated performance and a legacy of some of the most dramatic and daring work to be put on screen by anyone in a long, long time. Terry Gilliam is no stranger to unexpected tragedies during the making (or in some cases: un-making) of his movies. Watch the exceptional documentary film Lost in La Mancha about the disasters that befell him and his crew while trying to bring his story of Don Quixote to the screen. That movie would have starred Johnny Depp in his second pairing with Gilliam. The first being the epic Hunter S. Thompson trip-movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The new movie Gilliam and Ledger were working on was to be called The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and it had something to do with multiple worlds (a favorite subject of Gilliam) and time travel (another recurring theme in his work). I was reading how they had shot everything with Ledger up to a certain point in the film when his character enters a so-called fantasy world. They were about to begin shooting green-screen effects with the other-worldly talented Ledger when it was reported that he had died. Aside from the obvious feelings of grief and remorse for Heath and his family, Terry must have felt like he had been here before.

The obvious question was: What happens now with the movie? Do they re-shoot? Do they re-cast? Do they scrap it altogether? The film began shooting back in December and was virtually at a half-way point in terms of one of the two worlds depicted in the film having already been completed. Ledger's character was to now enter some sort of portal and emerge in a totally different world. What to do? Enter Johnny Depp. Perhaps it was Gilliam who contacted Johnny and asked him if he would be interested in stepping-in and filming the fantasy scenes that Ledger would have completed had he lived. Perhaps he felt that Johnny might still owe him a role after his infamous Don Quixote debacle. Johnny is after all in between projects at the moment (he is set to star in Michael Mann's new John Dillinger gangster project filming later this year) and it would not take long (in relative movie terms) to film the remaining scenes in Gilliam's film. This would mean that Heath and Johnny would essentially be playing the same part. One character -- two actors. Heath in the "reality world" and Johnny in the "fantasy world". It's some heavy, high-concept stuff. But if anyone could pull a stunt like this off it would be Terry Gilliam. When I first heard this news, I thought it would be a fitting tribute to Heath Ledger to have his final work on film be completed and not tucked away into an editor's scrap drawer for who knows how long. Maybe forever. And I think it would just be a thrill to see Gilliam pull this off -- especially after Quixote and the not-so-private battles he waged (and lost) with Miramax executives over the final cut of The Brothers Grimm movie (also starring Heath). Frankly, I'm rooting for Mr. Gilliam. His last film, Tideland, was a true return to form for him. And nobody seemed to care about it. One thing I can promise you now is, if Gilliam can pull this next trick off, everyone will be watching. And maybe, just maybe, he will finally get his dues. The fate of Doctor Parnassus is still up in the air as it has yet to be announced whether or not Mr. Depp has officially signed on. I hope that he does. It would be a fitting tribute to the legacy of a young actor who died way too young, and way before his time.

In a truly strange endnote to all this, I read in the paper the other day how Jack Nicholson had recently commented on Heath's death. Heath's last completed film to be released this year is The Dark Knight (the second Chris Nolan Batman film). Heath of course is following in Jack's footsteps as the Caped-Crusader's arch-nemesis The Joker. It has been released that Heath was having a lot of problems sleeping following his stint as the psychotically evil Clown Prince of Crime in Nolan's dark film. He was taking sleeping pills and possibly other drugs to help with his extreme fatigue and insomnia. It's no secret that these drugs may have directly caused his untimely death. Does Jack offer his sympathies along with the rest of a stunned industry of colleagues and admirers? No. This is all that he says: "I warned him."

Strange indeed.

2008-01-22T16:57:00.000-05:00

Heath Ledger is dead. What the fuck?

2008-01-21T21:13:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this is like the coolest thing ever. A friend of mine and local songwriting legend, Barry Louis Polisar, had one of his original recordings chosen to be the opening song in the movie Juno. Isn't that just fucking cool? It's the song that plays over the opening credits in the movie and it is also the first song on the soundtrack. Barry told me that he wrote the song a very long time ago (like back in the seventies long time ago) and I swear it sounds as if it were something written and recorded today. In short, it's a classic -- and so is he.

Aside from being an accomplished and award winning singer/songwriter and performer, Barry has also written children's books and poems and has been featured on cable and regular television over the years. If you go to his website you can check out all of his attributes and even download some of his songs. Now before you do, be aware that many of Barry's songs are often labeled as "children's music" but I say (and as the movie Juno proves once and for all) they are for just about everyone. In short, Barry is just a cool guy. An enormously talented and awesome guy to be around.

One of my favorite things about Barry is his appreciation of film. Once you start talking with Barry about movies, you will understand right away that his passion extends far beyond the realm of music and writing. Barry and I share an intense passion for all things Peckinpah and Kurosawa and I have truly cherished some of the conversations we have had about the likes of: John Ford, John Wayne, Howard Hawks, Henry Fonda, Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Warren Oates, Lee Marvin, Toshiro Mifune and I know I'm leaving out like a dozen others. Barry truly knows what he is talking about because he loves the medium so much. That is why he is a great teacher as well.

Barry has had some of his songs covered before but he has to be getting a kick out of so many people on youtube playing the song from Juno. You know what they say, Barry: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! So if you don't know by now, check him out already. And listen to this awesome song:

2008-01-21T21:08:00.000-05:00

she will be missed.

Maila Nurmi
aka: Vampira
December 21, 1921 - January 10, 2008

2008-01-13T22:43:00.000-05:00

Congratulations!
Sweeney Todd wins at the 65th Annual Golden Globes

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

2008-01-13T13:17:00.000-05:00

Read this today. Thought it was funny:

"Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity"

2008-01-12T11:34:00.001-05:00

"I'm the most horrible!"

One of my favorite movie scenes (at least the first half anyway)
Margaret O'Brien as 'Tootie' Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis (44)

2008-01-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

Indiana Jones is back...literally and he's on the cover of the current issue of Vanity Fair. I must admit, I got a chill as I walked past it at the news stand. I grabbed it off the shelf like a goth girl clawing at a new Tim Burton t-shirt and I ran home to read the article on the new Indy movie dubbed: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Yes, horrible title. So we all know this movie is going to be sci-fi (if you didn't know that before than you know now) but what exactly does that mean? I know the basic deal behind the skulls and all that nonsense but is anyone really watching for that? We're told we can expect the same formula we've come to know and love from these movies and from a purely cinematic standpoint, this movie is going to be a great ride down memory lane. The question I know I'm going to have to keep asking myself is: why was any of it necessary? Of course, as soon as I hear that familiar John Williams fanfare any doubts or illusions that I might have will more than likely disappear until after the 2+ hours are long over. I honestly can't wait -- but I would be a liar if I said this thing didn't smell like a shit sandwich. I was surprised to read in the Vanity Fair article how uncertain Indy producer & creator George Lucas was with the 2nd and 3rd movies and how he down-grades the best installment (The Last Crusade) to a "father/son movie" on account of Lucas not thinking the Holy Grail was a good enough plot point to carry the whole film (wtf?) not to mention the fact that isn't the new movie also supposed to be a "father/son movie" as well? I guess we'll all find out in a few months if this latest entry was worth the effort...or the wait.

2008-01-02T05:27:00.000-05:00

not just your average nice guy

I finally caught the new John Landis documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (2007) last night on HBO and what a way to ring in the New Year. Not only was it a great concert film of Rickles in action (still going strong at age 81!) but it was finally a tribute to the man who in the words of comedian Richard Lewis is as great and important as "Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor". I believe it was Chris Rock who says in the film that you can get away with a lot of stuff if you're funny. Rickles has done more than get away with a lot of stuff over the years, he's put a smile on everyone's face by cutting us all down to the same level -- gender, age, race, religion, etc. As a "documentary" the film is a little loose to be considered a perfect endeavor, but as an endearing testament to the often neglected career of this legendary funnyman and entertainer, it is spot-on in more ways than one. I suppose it plays more like a rundown of Rickle's best moments from stage, television and film with interviews from nearly everyone who has worked professionally with the man or admired him from afar. You have all of the requisite admirers on display here: Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Sarah Silverman, Steve Lawrence, Regis Philbin, Penn Jillette, Jay Leno, Carl Reiner, Joan Rivers, Debbie Reynolds, Tom and Dick Smothers, Bob Saget (who can still steal a show faster than anyone I've ever seen with just one line), Mario Cantone, Ed McMahon, Christopher Guest, Dave Attell, George Wallace just to name a few with no less than three world-class filmmakers: Martin Scorsese, Roger Corman and Clint Eastwood and even Sidney Poitier all paying their respects to the man.

But it is his closest friend and fellow stand-up/acting legend Bob Newhart who supplies some of the best comments and stories. Landis asks all of the right questions from these comedy gurus and ends up painting a beautiful portrait of not only an under-appreciated artist but a man who has left an endearing legacy on the lives of those he's touched. It's his work with Johnny Carson that really stood out for me. The scene when Rickle's accidentally breaks Johnny's favorite cigarette box on The Tonight Show and the subsequent mayhem that ensues had me in real stitches (one of the few times Rickles was ever caught off-guard by anyone). If anything, this film proves that Rickles is more than his swearing, more than his talent for heckling an audience (though nobody can tear apart an audience like Don Rickles -- his whole act was tearing apart the audience!), he is a genuine artist who has inspired countless comics and kept us all smiling by his energy alone. I remember Don Rickles first from movies such as Kelly's Heroes (1970) and Casino (1995) but it was hearing my parents and grandparents laugh at his numerous appearances on television growing up that cemented his status for me. Jimmy Kimmel says it best when he talks about being a kid growing up in Las Vegas and sneaking in to see Rickles perform at one of the casinos. He sums it up by saying in those days, "if Sinatra was Mickey Mouse, Rickles was Donald Duck." Yeah, that about sums it up.

you actually get to see the footage of Rickles breaking the cigarette box the night before in Landis' film which is absolutely priceless

2007-12-31T12:30:00.000-05:00

you don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows

I'm pretty sure that Ron Howard is controlling the weather in Maryland. Let me explain. First, I have been off all week from work so I have had a lot of time on my hands to spend just chilling or running around here or there. The weather where I live has always been known to be pretty erratic. There's an old saying in these parts about Maryland/DC weather: if you don't like the weather here, stick around a little while. I suppose that can be said about a lot of places. In any case, the weather this week has literally been nice one day, crappy the next; gorgeous and sunny one day, rainy and cold the next...and so on and so on for almost the entire week. It's a little weird to be that on the money. You could make bets about it being pretty out one day and gloomy out the next -- without the aid of a local forecast. Occasionally there are two days in a row of nice conditions but they are always followed by exactly two days of crappy (always) before the cycle starts to repeat itself. Now, about this "Ron Howard" thing. And let me begin by saying that I am a HUGE Ron Howard fan -- just for the record. The reason I am comparing the weather in my hometown to that of the directing career of Ron Howard, is because Ron Howard's films are usually just like the weather I have been describing. I'm pretty sure I've done a post about this in the past, but just for old time's sake, here we go again (you may notice the pattern):

Night Shift (1982) - sunny
Littleshots (1983) - shitty
Splash (1984) - sunny
Cocoon (1985) - shitty
Gung Ho (1986) - sunny
Willow (1988) - shitty
[two in a row pattern begins]
Parenthood (1989) - sunny
Backdraft (1991) - sunny
Far and Away (1992) - shitty
The Paper (1994) - shitty
Apollo 13 (1995) - sunny
Ransom (1996) - sunny
Edtv (1999) - shitty
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) - shitty
[regular pattern resumes]
A Beautiful Mind (2001) - sunny
The Missing (2003) - shitty
Cinderella Man (2005) - sunny
The Da Vinci Code (2006) - shitty

and it appears as if the two current projects that he has in development may just continue this trend:

Frost/Nixon (2008) - sunny
Angels & Demons (2008) - shitty

in fact, I would bet money that they do.

So, there ya have it. I am fairly certain that in some bizarre, unexplainable way, Ron Howard is controlling my local weather. I suppose weirder things than that could happen. Like, Moe Howard controlling the weather:

Or, maybe not.

2007-12-29T19:02:00.000-05:00

"I'll polish him off..."

As I briefly mentioned below, I saw Tim Burton's latest film last Sunday. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. My friend and partner-in-crime recently sent me some very interesting remarks about the film from the journal of none other than Neil Gaiman. This is what he sent me:

I took the family to see Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd last night, which I absolutely loved (even down to a couple of grace notes, the St Dunstan's market and the Bell Court street sign -- in the earliest versions of the Penny Dreadful, Sweeney's shop was part of St Dunstan's Church and Mrs Lovett's was around the corner, in Bell Yard). I even loved Johnny Depp's early-Bowie-when-he-was-still-doing-Anthony-Newley singing style. (At least until, on the way out, I found myself trying to imagine a blood-spattered Sweeney Todd singing "The Laughing Gnome" as he waited for customers, and was unable to explain to anyone else why this was funny.) I think it just edged out Ed Wood as my favourite Tim Burton movie.

I couldn't have said it better myself. In fact, I did say it myself in the post below. This is Tim Burton's masterwork. As far as personal preferences go, I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Gaiman that Sweeney Todd may have just become my new favorite Tim Burton film, "superior to" even Ed Wood.

Lastly, without resorting to anything resembling a traditional review of the film (just go see the damn thing) I was talking to a friend and fellow musical-lover today over the phone and was trying to describe to her just how amazing I thought the film was in terms of "musical films" or films adapted from well-known musicals. The closest I could come was comparing it to Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise's immortal film adaptation of West Side Story (1961). What Burton did was he elevated the medium with his approach to the story, his adaptation of the music (some of the BEST music and lyrics ever composed for the stage) and his unique artistry and vision of how the whole piece should come together. This isn't just another Tim Burton visual Gothic fantasy -- it was like seeing something that had never been fully accomplished before (or at least not in over forty years) which was taking something that worked quite well in one medium (musical theater) and completely reinventing and somehow improving it for another (film). I'll admit, I may be biased just a little. I love Tim Burton and I love the character and story of Sweeney Todd. I also love musicals and musical films and in the wake of such recent trash and folly as Hairspray (2007), The Producers (2005), High School Musical (2006), High School Musical 2 (2007) etc., Sweeney Todd is more than an invigorating breath of fresh air -- it's like the warm smell of Mrs. Lovett's meat pies rising up into the night...something that you will never be able to fully get out of your senses.