Post your comments if you have any insights into this marriage of Hollywood and Footie!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Becks on Cruise Control
Can anyone tell me why Becks (David Beckham to the non-Brits amongst us) hangs out with the couch jumping, 'much love' proclaiming and soon to be star of what looks like a pretty cool flick (Valkyrie)?
Weekend Box Office
November 28, 2008 - November 30, 2008
1 Four Christmases - $31,680,000
2 Bolt - $26,596,000
3 Twilight - $26,370,000
4 Quantum Of Solace - $19,500,000
5 Australia -$14,815,000
6 Madagascar Escape 2 Africa - $14,500,000
7 Transporter 3 -$12,330,000
8 Role Models - $5,284,463
9 Boy In The Striped Pajamas, The - $1,690,000
10 Milk - $1,381,484
Your Favorite Romantic Scene in a Movie
I am not your average romantic movie nut and like most guys tend to avoid flicks like Sex in the City and 28 Dresses. Then a movie comes along with an actor you like and contains one of the most romantic scenes committed to celluloid and for me the film was The Family Man with Nicolas Cage. The whole film is a feelgood fiesta with a few laughs an lighthearted lessons on life but there is one scene when Nicholas Cage playing Jack Campbell realizes just what he has in his suburban New Jersey life with his family and wife, beautifully played by Tea Leoni.
Sure there are more famous romantic scenes and you might suggest Amelie when Audrey Tautou rides on the back of Mathieu Kassovitz's bike, the first meeting of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton at the Tennis Club in Annie Hall, the parting whisper between Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation and of course the Bogie and Bergman will '... always have Paris' in Casablanca.
But even with those in mind the scene below is my personal favorite. What's yours?
Saturday, November 29, 2008
He's Just Not That Into You
I just heard about this movie and while the title may suggest a vacuous flirt flick the cast suggests otherwise. This is an extraordinary ensemble case featuring some of my favorite up and coming actors alongside some serious Hollywood A-Listers.
So let's cherry pick a few and do a quick 'cast and comment' session!
Ginnifer Goodwin plays Gigi - Great to see one of my favorite actors from HBO's Big Love break onto the Big Screen.
Scarlett Johansson plays Anna - Her performance in Lost in Translation made sure I will watch most anything with her in it (I have forgiven her for Scoop!).
Drew Barrymore plays Mary - another always watchable actor
Ben Affleck plays Neil - I am not a huge Affleck fan but love the guys politics!
Justin Long plays Alex - Love this guy from Galaxyquest and Zack & Miri Make a Porno
Kevin Connolly plays Connor - Like Ginnifer Goodwin another HBO alumni (Entourage) breaking onto the Big Screen.
Other notable cast members: Jennifer Anniston, Jennifer Connolly, Kris Kristofferson & Morgan Lily (great performance by this child actor in Henry Poole is Here)
Check out the trailer ....
Friday, November 28, 2008
Mamma Mia DVD Breaks Records
I enjoyed the musical version of Mamma Mia when I saw it in London some years back but this years movie adaptation was verging on painful. Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Meryl Streep are fine actors but I think they should stick to non-musical scripts in the future! That said it seems my fellow Brits across the pond think I couldn't be more wrong as the DVD sold 1.7 million copies in the UK on Monday, its first day on release. This breaks the previous record held by Titanic which sold 1.1 million units when it came out on DVD back in 1998.
Abba were always a hit in the UK and have been one of the few acts of the 70s to have remained constantly popular through the decades. Therefore it was no surprise that the musical had its worldwide premiere in London in 1999. The show has become something of a theatrical franchise with the phenomenon spreading across the world:
1999 London West End
2000 Toronto
2000 Boston and D.C.
2001 Broadway
2001 Australasian Tour
2002 U.S. Tour
2003 Las Vegas
2003 Utrecht
2004 Madrid
2005 Stockholm
2006 Antwerp
2006 Moscow
2007 Manchester
2007 Barcelona
2008 Istanbul
2009 Oslo
2009 México
No doubt the DVD will end up under quite a few Christmas trees this December but fingers crossed mine won't be one of them ... Humbug!
Get Dexterized
Now this is what I call a great promotional idea from Showtime to promote one of my favorite shows and the recently voted Number One show on cable by AOL voters ... Dexter!
You can 'Dexterize' someone's website or Blog, click here to find out more!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
One of my favorite Woody Allen movies is Hannah and Her Sisters in which there is a Thanksgiving scene central to the movies structure. It appears to be a typical Upper West Side Thanksgiving Dinner with some drinking a little too much and family secrets revealing themselves. If you are on the couch this afternoon after too much turkey it is well worth taking another look at this terrific movie.
Happy Thanksgiving to all Big & Small Screen readers.
Movie Review - The X Files: I Want To Believe
Mulder and Scully are back and that's, well, that's OK. I wasn't beside myself when I heard there was a second X Files movie being released earlier this year but it's a pretty steady Sci-Fi franchise which generally delivers just what you expect without veering too far away from what made the 90s show so successful. This second Big Screen outing for our favorite FBI chums has them on familiar turf with Mulder being drafted back into the fold with a case that will allow him to spar with Scullys scepticism and prove to his suited bosses at the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building that he is not a UFO spotting quack.The movie centers around a convicted ex-Priest and child predator, played by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, who has visions (including optical stigmata!) surrounding a missing FBI agent. The links between the Catholic Church and child molestation are played out a little clumsily but it allows director Chris Carter to examine Scully's own lapsed beliefs. This is also an X Files flick and not something deeper so we can't expect to subtle a treatment of such a delicate subject. The movie plays out in the dead of winter, full of frozen lakes, freezing winds and heavy snow creating an atmosphere of claustrophobia that works well to increase the tension and mood of 'clock ticking' despair as the hunt continues for the killers and kidnappers from the visions.
There is a side plot running parallel through the movie concerning Scully's inability to find a cure for a sick child which also allows us to see her religious beliefs in a way we may not have done before. While I see that she is too one dimensional as the sceptic half of the duo I am not sure this was particularly convincing in trying to make her character a more rounded person dealing with the challenges of having to give up their (Mulder and Scully's) son for adoption. It was interesting though to see how empty these peoples lives were as if their jobs and what they had been through had made them want to withdraw from society. In the opening scenes of the movie we see Mulder living a cabin fever/hermit like existence in rural Virginia, in the home he has made with Scully, surrounding himself with 'proof' that there is more out there than we realize.
Carter does a nice job of taking including the audience on the journey that is the definition of Mulder and Scully's relationship. Allowing us to understand the frustration she has with his obsession with the X Files and how this ultimately doesn't let them lead normal fulfilled lives. We are engaged in this personal discovery and the central plot most of the way through the movie until Scully uncovers who is behind the kidnapping and why ...it is at this point we have entered the realm of the bonkers. The climax of the plot leaves you stunned that all this tension lead to this. I will let you find out for yourself when you watch the flick but I wasn't impressed and would have preferred a slightly more sophisticated ending for a franchise that is surely targeting a thinking audience. The movie left me with the question as to whether Mulder and Scully should have ever made the leap from Small to Big Screen as while I enjoyed the movie I felt I would prefer to have watched a new 45 minute TV episode where the entertainment expectations were real and achievable.
So I would say this is certainly worth it for a Friday night DVD rental if for nothing else than to watch the very competent acting of Duchovny and Anderson and the debut of Xzibit on the Big Screen (yes I had to do a double take to make sure it was him!). Oh and watch a few minutes into the end credits there is a very funny and decidedly non-X Files moment between the two leads!
Rating: ***
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Nicole Kidman at the United Nations
Fresh from the New York Premiere of Australia Nicole Kidman hightailed it over to the UN on Tuesday (where she is a Goodwill Ambassador) to promote the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Kidman was there supporting the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) a group she has been associated with since 2007.
Baz Lurhmann's 165 minute epic Australia is released today and is expected to show a very healthy box office return to recoup some of the $130M spent making the movie.
Sean Penn is Harvey Milk
This movie looks just sensational and another in the long line of great choices made by one of the best actors of our time. Directed by Gus Van Sant, Penn takes on the role of San Francisco activist Harvey Milk:
Born: May 22, 1930
Woodmere, New York
Died: November 27, 1978
San Francisco, California
American politician and civil rights activist
San Francisco city politician Harvey Milk helped open the door for gays and lesbians in the United States by championing civil rights for homosexuals (those sexually attracted to members of the same sex). Since Milk's murder in 1978, he has remained a symbol of activism. However, Milk was not a one-issue politician. For him, gay issues were merely one part of an overall human rights vision. During his tragically short political career, Milk battled for a wide range of social changes in such areas as education, public transportation, child care, and low-income housing. Notablebiograhies.com
The film is being promoted by a Focus Features site that is well worth checking out and is on select release around the country now - check out showtimes with moviefone.
Steven Seagal gets Reality Show
Mr B movie himself has just inked a deal with A&E (one assumes this is the Entertainment side and not the Art side of the network!) to star in his own reality show entitled Lawman. Seagal has been a fully fledged Deputy at Louisiana's Jefferson Parish Police Station for the last 20 years and it's now his chance to show what he does in real life (presumably as people are no longer interested in what he does on screen).Asked about his reasons for doing the show Seagal replied 'I decided to work with A&E on this series now because I believe it's important to show the nation all the positive work being accomplished here in Louisiana.'
Believe me I am no TV snob, after all I have watched every season of Big Brother, but this is really dumb dumbed down TV. Wasn't it enough we had to watch the long haired character from called Dog The Bounty Hunter galavanting around Hawaii in Kevlar vests and hair beads:
Buy this costume here (no really, you can!)
So now we get an 'actor' who was previously Hard to Kill, Half Past Dead and also Out for a Kill patrolling the streets of New Orleans. To say this is all New Orleans needs seems redundant but good old A&E have decided to greenlight what was clearly too tasteful for Spike TV ... ahem!
Still if this fails he always has his music career.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Shield Series Finale - Tonight
One of my favorite shows The Shield ends tonight in what will surely be a blisteringly amoral finale full of unresolved questions and just a small amount of violence!
I have the last 5 episodes backed up on my Tivo and so will be ready for a marathon this weekend topped off by the final episode. I have talked in previous posts about how this show upped the ante for cop shows on network TV and it will be hard to write a grittier character than the always watchable Vic Mackey.
Here's a somewhat lightweight interview with TV Guide but still worth a look as it's with Walton Goggins who plays one of my favorite characters on The Shield, Shane Vendrell.
Favorite Promo Posters #7 - The Shining
This is not the poster we all associate with The Shining but I actually think it is creepier than the classic image of Jack Nicholson's character axing his way through a door. This film really is a classic and still stands up today as a superior supernatural chiller. The performance by Nicholson is superb and along with the Hotel itself is enough to earn the film its tag line A Masterpiece of Modern Horror.
I recently visited the Timberline Lodge at the foot of Mount Hood in Oregon on a cold blustery day and it is certainly an imposing building. Seeing this classic movie location in the winter was really exciting for a fan of cinema but as with all exterior shots of buildings the interior is usually vastly different (thank goodness!). As I looked down the corridors in the hotel I wondered if I was about to come face to face with the spookiest twins in movie history! It is remarkable that two actresses so young with so little screen time have been seared into the consciousness of so many. Click here is a 'then and now' shot of Lisa and Louise Burns who played the Grady Twins in the movie.
Monday, November 24, 2008
And We're Back ...
After a few days of technical interruption we are back in business at The Big & Small Screen! My thanks have to go to the Blog Doctor for helping out with my design glitch as I continue to learn more about the Blogosphere and all that can go wrong in just a few clicks!So now we are back let's catch up with the overdue Weekend Box Office results:
November 21, 2008 - November 23, 2008
1 Twilight - $69,637,740
2 Quantum Of Solace - $26,707,945
3 Bolt - $26,223,128
4 Madagascar Escape 2 Africa - $15,661,936
5 Role Models - $7,324,445
6 Changeling - $2,695,450
7 High School Musical 3: Senior Year - $2,049,144
8 Boy In The Striped Pajamas, The - $1,647,514
9 Zack and Miri Make a Porno - $1,605,579
10 Secret Life Of Bees, The - $1,264,991
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Survival of the Fittest on TV
ABC have delivered a fatal blow mid season to three shows including one of my favorites.
Eli Stone
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Victor Garber, Natasha Henstridge, Loretta Devine
Status: Cancelled
Personally: Never watched it so I won't miss it!
Dirty Sexy Money
Starring: Peter Krause, Donald Sutherland, William Baldwin, Jill Clayburgh
Status - Cancelled
Personally - I watched the Pilot and it was so atrocious I bailed on the rest of Season One. A shame as I was excited to see the the next big show starring Six Feet Under's Peter Krause.
Pushing Daisies
Starring: Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Field Cate
Status - Cancelled
Personally - This one is a shame as it was a show I liked and honored it with a Tivo Season Pass! It was visually unique on TV and while some of the writing was a little light it was a breath of fresh air on network TV. It's legacy will be the US introduction of British actress Anna Friel who I am sure we we see more of in other shows.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sanddance
The more humorous film goers of the world refer to the Maui Film Festival as 'Sanddance' which if you can get the considerable airfare and hotel together (hotel occupancy runs at 100% during the Festival) takes place June 17-21 2009. It is renowned as one of the more luxurious Festivals around the world with its headquarters sandwiched between The Four Seasons Resort Wailea and the Grand Resort Hotel & Spa!
The Festival shows movies on both the beach and on well manicured golf courses in an effort to make it as unique a movie going experience as possible. In 2008 Peirce Brosnan, Virginia Madsen, Felicity Huffman and Dennis Quaid all showed up what might be one of the most beautiful settings to hold a Film Festival.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Talking of the Matrix
One of my favorite discoveries in recent years was the anti-industrial meat farming site known as 'The Meatrix' created by Sustainable Table. This was a fantastically original way of turning movie characters into a protest against 'the man', the man this time being the companies that produce carbon monoxide meat, rbgh dairy products and do little to protect against the spread of mad cow disease.The concept centers around Moopheus who hilariously spoofs Morpheus from The Matrix Trilogy taking Leo (not Neo!) the pig on a journey of understanding about factory farming.
What they're saying about The Meatrix:
CNN Headline News
"Fighting back in a way you might not expect…You don't want to miss it"
Adbusters
"The little film that did…The revolution will not be televised. It will be emailed”
Seattle Post Intelligencer
"The Meatrix achieves something we didn't think possible- a pretty funny expose on the evils of factory farming"
Watch this award winner now (15 million others have!) - click here.
Movie Review - Speed Racer
I was in two minds on this one. To be honest I hadn't read alot about the flick before during and after it's release in May of this year. I am really not a big race car fan, Nascar doesn't do it for me, Days of Thunder didn't get me all hot under the hood and so when a movie called Speed Racer opens with the poster you see here I was well, 'meh'.So then why did I end up watching this movie on DVD? Good question. I have United Airlines to thank for this one because for a couple of weeks this seemed to be playing on every flight I was on. I chose not to watch it in the air as I could tell it was a pretty special movie from a visual perspective and so wanted to enjoy the quality of a DVD to appreciate it fully. From digitalcontentproducer.com:
'Visual Effects Supervisor John Gaeta calls the style pioneered on Speed Racer many things. Among them: “virtual cinematography,” “photo-anime,” and “2 1/2 D” layering. When he and Dan Glass first started working on the project, it was a liberating experience to force themselves to let go of the need for any kind of photorealistic element. This quality is something ingrained into any visual-effects artist worth his salt from the get go. Letting go of that instinct is like asking a cat to ignore a mouse.'
So off to google I went and it turns out this movie was directed, produced and written by the Matrix brothers themselves Larry and Andy Wachowski. Well that was reason enough to add it to the Netflix list! Naturally I am only referring to the 1st Matrix movie and not parts 2 & 3 which were such bloated affairs that they almost ruined the memory and impact the original had when it came out ... oh Neo, how we miss you ... 'Woah'!
So back to Speed Racer. Well frankly the visuals were the only thing I liked about this movie and believe me they were stunning. Brothers Wachowski created a hyper real world that was part Pushing Daisies and part Fifth Element. You could sit and watch this movie with the sound off and just marvel at the artistic vision at work but at 135 minutes that alot of arty appreciation! I think it's fair to say 41 year olds (moi) were not the target market the filmmakers were after when this was released and perhaps it went down a storm with the 10-15 year old male demographic. In fact according to IMDBpro the movie has grossed over $95m worldwide so there are clearly alot of race fans out there gagging for an avant garde take on their beloved sport!
There was no shortage of talent onscreen with John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Christina Ricci and Emile Hirsch taking the lead but great actors cannot overcome the weak plot & dialogue that sank this movie for me. Shame really this is a great example of a movie I was ready to love and ended up well, 'meh'.
Rating: **
Online Television
It's official, TV is moving out of the living room.Free TV and Video viewing site Hulu doubled their number of unique visitors to their free viewing site from May 2008 to September 2008.
A good amount of their success comes from offering ad-free streaming content from the likes of NBC and particularly FOX who offer Family Guy on the site. This was a show that dominated youtube a year or so ago until the FOX police cracked down and took all the content away from Google's mega popular video service.
Hulu also offers a higher quality video experience than youtube for TV content with some of their shows even available in HD.
Check out the Hulu experience here.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
From Harry Potter to Twilight
Well it seems Robert Pattinson can't stay away from Teen Fantasy flicks as Harry Potter's Cedric Diggory becomes Twilight's Edward Cullen. Quite the transformation of looks as you can see below.
You might have already guessed I will not be watching Twilight at the movies, far too many swooning teenagers for me!
Congratulations Richie Cunningham
Happy Days star and now film auteur Ron Howard is to be honored at this years Palm Springs Film Festival with a Director's Lifetime Achievement Award. The Festival which is now in it's 20th year runs January 6 through 19 and Howard's latest cinematic effort, Frost/Nixon will be shown during the festivities. The Festival is run by the Palm Springs International Film Society and has been attended by many stars throughout it's 20 year history from Jimmy Stewart to Sly Stallone making appearances. It is hardly surprising the festival enjoys such publicity with so many of Hollywood's elite having a second home in this desert town.Ron Howard himself has certainly been effective and productive since moving from acting to directing with an impressive resume of features. In this decade alone he has helmed:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas - 2000
A Beautiful Mind - 2001
The Missing - 2003
Cinderella Man - 2005
The Da Vinci Code - 2006
Frost/Nixon - 2008
Angels & Demons (post production) - 2009
His work in the 90s is no less impressive so congratulations really are in order for this filmmaker who seems so young (born 1954) to be receiving such an award.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Weekend Box Office
November 14, 2008 - November 16, 2008 (*millions)
1 Quantum Of Solace - $70,400,000
2 Madagascar Escape 2 Africa - $36,130,000
3 Role Models - $11,709,630
4 High School Musical 3: Senior Year - $5,879,000
5 Changeling - $4,247,040
6 Zack and Miri Make a Porno - $3,200,000
7 Soul Men - $2,428,000
8 Secret Life Of Bees, The - $2,400,000
9 Saw V - $1,790,000
10 Haunting of Molly Hartley, The - $1,648,893
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Lohan in French Fur Flour Frenzy
This weekend found actress Lindsay Lohan in Paris with her pal Samantha Ronson glamming it up at the VIP Room club. Her not so clever decision to wear a fur stole was judged to be in such poor taste (ethically and fashion!) that Animal Rights protesters showered her with flour on her way into the club. The club owner had to help Lohan dust off the flour from her dress before she posed on the Red Carpet for pictures like the one here.PETA commented that Lohan's hair and face were turned white in the incident and explained the actress was targeted because she had worn at least two different fur coats in public appearences, despite the organization's repeated pleas that she find something else to wear.
There is little point in a long comment on the poor decisions made by Hollywood airheads but it does make me laugh when people think France is so fashionable that fur is acceptable to wear. Fingers crossed someone caught it on video.
New Star Trek Trailer
I saw this while at the flicks for Quantum of Solace and so did the camera guy who filmed the new trailer and posted it on youtube ... Paramount really needs to wake up and get this content online at the same time it hits theaters instead of giving us a countdown to view the trailer on their own site.
Check it out now, not sure how long it will last on youtube.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
New Watchmen Trailer
Another glimpse at the must see movie of 2009. This second trailer from Warner Bros doesn't have the same impact as the 1st which combined stunning visuals with a killer soundtrack from the Smashing Pumpkins but it does flesh out our feel for how director Zack Synder has tackled the enormous task of bringing such a classic graphic novel to the Big Screen.
Monk Gets One Last Season
I have never watched this show but it is always cleaning up at the various awards shows with nominations and wins all over the place. So today I read that Monk has been given an 8th and final season by the USA network (surely their most successful show to date). The sixteen new episodes will air summer of 2009 and until then I think I will check out the last 7 seasons on Netflix to see what all the fuss is about (that's some serious couch time!). I noticed on Friday flying home to Phoenix from San Francisco on TED that Monk has also entered the NBC on United inflight entertainment rotation which is cool but I hope they keep showing The Office re-runs ... Michael Scott and company are the perfect way to forget you are flying in coach!
Movie Review - Quantum of Solace
The release of any new Bond movie is always such an occasion, full of expectation from loyal and casual fans alike and it has been this way since the British secrets agent's first appearance on screen in 1962 with Dr No.So I trotted off to the local cinema on opening day for a 1pm showing (no way was I going battle the hordes on a Friday night!) to see if Daniel Craig could repeat the magic created with his debut Bond appearance in 2006's Casino Royale.
The flick follows on from Casino Royale with Bond tracking down the killers of his lover from that movie who are part of a bigger shadowy global organization of bad guys. I won't go into too much detail about the plot, to be honest it is fairly standard Bond fare, but it is very well executed. The acting is excellent and a strong cast keeps the franchise in good health with particularly memorable performances by Mathieu Amalric as lead bad guy Dominic Greene and more screen time for the always fantastic Dame Judi Dench as 'M'.
In great Bond tradition (which was honored so well by the Bourne franchise) we get to travel around the world as bad guys are dispatched, cars are chased, planes are crashed and boats are flipped in Haiti, Italy, London, Russia and Bolivia. Of course being a movie made in the 00's and not the 60's there is a crazy amount of product placement, from mobile phones, SUVs, small cars and a certain British airline! I can understand the classic inclusion of the Aston Martin DBS V12 (I want one!) zooming around Lake Garda as a Bond movie wouldn't be the same with out one but the 'three movie' deal the producers did with a major US motor company doesn't lend a lot of extra class to proceedings.
So this was a good steady movie for the franchise, not quite packing the punch that we so enjoyed in Casino Royale but a decent contribution and Daniel Craig again shows that choosing him to replace Pierce Brosnan was verging on a stroke of genius.
Rating: ***
Friday, November 14, 2008
NBC Cancels Two Shows
The wise folks at the Peacock network have decided to say goodbye to a couple of shows, My Own Worst Enemy and Lipstick Jungle. I watched the pilot of My Own Worst Enemy and while I am usually a fan of Christian Slater his first foray into TV really didn't do it for me. The premise for the show was certainly unique, a secret agent that has split personality fights to manage both radically different lives but perhaps it was a little too different. It seems that of people want secret agents these days they expect them to be on the big screen not small ... Quantum of Solace releases today (hoorah!), more on that later.
The other cancellation comes with a few less tears on my part. From the moment I heard about Lipstick Jungle I wondered if the creators of Sex in the City were going to sue for copyright infringement just based on the name of the show. Then I found out the original novel of the same name was written by Sex in the City creator herself Candace Bushnell ... ah, no court case then! Well as you might have guessed I haven't seen one episode of this show I so can't really say if NBC were justified in axing it but when the network banished it to a Friday night slot recently you know people are not watching in the numbers they expected.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Sex and the City Sequel
Appearing on The Paul O'Grady Show in the UK Kim Cattrall confirmed what many had speculated was inevitable that there was indeed going to be a Sex and the City sequel.New Line Cinema then confirmed that negotiations were indeed underway and frankly it's hard to imagine a scenario where this movie won't get made. When the movie opened earlier this year it blew away box office expectations of a $40m opening weekend coming in closer to $65-$70m. It's no secret that Hollywood studios milk franchises until they are dry and then reinvent them ... hello Batman!
If you have read my blog for any amount of time you may have guessed I am not a fan of the HBO show and hence didn't watch the flick on the big screen but there is certainly a huge audience out there for a sequel and even more from the girls of New York.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Favorite Promo Posters #6 - Amelie
Back in August I blogged about how much I enjoy the work of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and I think Amelie is his best yet. This posters sums up the flick perfectly for me with the impish face of Audrey Tautou looking out over the cafe where she works, the Cafe des deux Moulins. I visited the cafe in Paris a couple of years ago and while the interior is a little different to the movie (only a little as the movie spruced the place up a bit) the exterior is just the same. It is located on Rue Lepic in the beautiful and atmospheric 18th arronsidment just down the hill from Montmartre.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Presidential Laughs on The Daily Show
In an interview recently on The Huffington Post Daily Show writer J.R.Havlan was asked about the loss of Bush to comedians and how they will find comedy in Obama. It is an interesting question to pose for as dreadful as Bush and his cronies have been for America and the world Bush JR has produced some moments of true comedy (my personal favorite can be seen below).Q. Are the results of Tuesday's election a mixed blessing for the "Daily Show" writing staff?
A. It's probably no secret where our politics lie; we are in show business, after all. We're not unhappy with the results of last night [Tuesday]. We haven't sat around thinking, "What are we going to do, comedically, if Obama wins?" There's going to be plenty going on around him. Plus, Ted Stevens may have won in Alaska. Proposition 8 passed in California. We don't need a semiconscious president to put on a decent show.
Q. And how do you do that?
A. We look for stuff, but we don't create it. Something has to happen for us to make fun of. Unlike the actual news, what we say is based in fact. It's going to be fun watching Fox News rapidly lose their balance. We may have a thing or 200 to say about that. We did a bit on the show about "So many people are happy about what happened, but we're forgetting about old racists, who thought they would be able to die without seeing this day." That bit comes from a genuine place.
Q. Have comedy writers figured out a way to make fun of Barack Obama yet?
A. Well, his name is Barack Obama. It's kind of inherently comical. We can work around a personality, but we don't really know so much yet what his quirks are going to be. He's good at speaking, so he's less likely to say something stupid. But he'll have plenty of people around him to take care of that. I mean, it's going to be a Democratic administration with a Democratically controlled Congress. If anything, we might have to start doing two shows a day.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
King of The Hill Gets Axed
Dang it! I love this show and have enjoyed it since its debut back in 1997 when Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge first introduced us to the Hill family and residents of Arlen, Texas. It has since become the longest running show for the FOX network behind The Simpsons and deals with the everyday trials and tribulations of the Hill family, Hank, Peggy and son Bobby. The show's success was based on it's ability to allow us to recognize ourselves in these ordinary people and it comes as no surprise that Judge himself is a former resident of the Dallas, Texas suburb of Garland (sound like Arlen to you!?).
The humor was often accurately observational and the characters well written including the hilarious supporting cast of Bill, Boomhauer, Dale and others. The show was also well known having many famous stars doing voices of guest characters and the list is substantial:
Lisa Kudrow, Trace Adkins, Pamela Anderson, Jennifer Aniston, Will Arnett, Tom Arnold, Diedrich Bader, Big Boi, Clint Black, Lisa Hartman Black, Brooks & Dunn, Dennis Burkley, Gary Busey, Drew Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Mo Collins, David Cross, Johnny Depp, Laura Dern, Ani DiFranco, Dale Earnhardt, Shannon Elizabeth, Will Ferrell, Sally Field, Nathan Fillion, John Force, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Paul Giamatti, Vince Gill, Jeff Goldblum, John Goodman, Topher Grace, Green Day, Kirk Hammett, Ed Harris, Phil Hendrie, Dennis Hopper, Michael Keaton, Jamie Kennedy, Kid Rock, Johnny Knoxville, Laura Linney, Lucy Liu, Heather Locklear, Lindsay Lohan, Bernie Mac, Danny Masterson, Rue McClanahan, Matthew McConaughey, Mary Tyler Moore, Mitchel Musso, Willie Nelson, No Doubt, Brad Pitt, Laura Prepon, Brad Renfro, Alan Rickman, John Ritter, Chris Rock, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Dax Shepard, Cybill Shepherd, Gene Simmons, Lane Smith, Robert Smith, Snoop Dogg, Ben Stiller, George Strait, Meryl Streep, Sum 41, Mikey Teutul, Paul Teutul Jr., Paul Teutul Sr., Billy Bob Thornton, Tone Lōc, Randy Travis, Danny Trejo, Jane Wiedlin, Fred Willard, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Amy Hill, Dwight Yoakam, Renee Zellweger and ZZ Top.
But all good things come to an end eventually and on Halloween this year FOX announced that the next and 13th season will be the last. Naturally this won't be the last we see of the Hills and their friends as they are already in ultra-heavy syndicated rotation on a TV near you now. So now is the time to start really appreciating this show if you haven't before and if you want to check out full episodes from the current season click here.
Oh and if you want gauge just how this show has seeped into our consciousness in the Real Time with Bill Maher episode aired on October 24, 2008, Maher compares Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin with Hank's wife ... Perfect!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
HBO Snap Up Obama Doc'
HBO have just spent some significant $$$ for the rights to release the story of the Illinois Senators Presidential run. The documentary will be produced by Edward Norton's Class 5 Films who are looking at a theatrical distribution for the film.Norton got permission to get the cameras rolling on Obama's run back in 2006 and has been shooting footage ever since and will continue to do so up until his January inauguration.
When asked about his reasons for making the documentary Norton responded, "We believe this film will capture a tipping point in American history, when a new generation of leadership emerged and old prejudices were finally vaulted over".
It has the potential to be a fascinating inside look into one of the most effective and ultimately successful Presidential campaigns in modern history.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Daily Show Flashback
The Daily Show website has a unique feature which allows you to view clips from past shows and this one from September 20th 2001 was particularly interesting taking you back to the dark days that followed 9/11.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
The Election TV Rating Results
Well as usual it seemed I was watching one channel (MSNBC) and the rest of the country were watching another one on election night. I had been following CNN for most of the political campaign and then switched allegiance during the last few weeks. CNN's claim of having the 'best political team on TV' was a bit much and the same claim was obviously echoed on all their competitor networks. That said they do a great job and manage to keep Lou Dobbs largely out of the picture when 'real' news comes in!Here's how the numbers looked on the evening of November 4th:
Viewers watching between 8-10 PM ET
ABC - 13.14 million
CNN - 12.29 million
NBC - 12.02 million
Fox News Channel - 9.03 million
CBS - 7.83 million
MSNBC - 5.89 million
Fox - 5.14 million
Univision - 4.08 million
ABC surprised me as I think NBC has a much better network team but maybe Charlie Gibson was rocking the glasses on the nose look again!
In Memorium - Michael Crichton
The author of Jurassic Park and creator of the TV show ER died unexpectedly yesterday after battling cancer aged 66. Crichton wrote books and directed movies with his first foray into directing coming in 1973 with one of my favorite Yul Brenner movies, Westworld. It is less well known that Crichton was also a doctor as well as a TV and film producer.His creative worlds collided when his books were made into movies most famously with Jurassic Park but Sphere, Congo, Disclosure and Timeline also made the move from paper to celluloid.
Crichton is survived by his wife Sherri and daughter Taylor.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Joaquin Phoenix Retires from Acting
This is probably old news to many of you but there maybe a few that haven't heard the recent announcement from Joaquin Phoenix that he has given up acting to concentrate on a career in music. He has begun a collaboration with UK band The Charlatans lead singer, Tim Burgess, and is recording an album (no release date set). Fans of his film work will remember he can actually sing as proved in Walk The Line where he actually won a Grammy for his work on the soundtrack for that movie.
Personally speaking it's a shame. There aren't that many actors that have the on-screen presence that Phoenix has but I also can't say that I 100% believe he has given up movies for good. If we look back at some of his best work including the great performance as the Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's epic Gladiator and Walk the Line in 2006 you have to think a man that posseses that kind of talent will use it again. He hasn't been short of fans either with Walk the Line giving him the most recognition when he took home the Golden Globe for Best Actor and an Academy Award Nomination in the same Category.
So we shall see if he stays true to his promise of saying goodbye to the movie set which I imagine will depend largely on the success or otherwise of his music career. But for now he seems certain, showing up on Saturday for the LA premiere of his latest movie Two Lovers with 'Good' and 'Bye' written on his knuckles.
Jim Carey - Return to Form?
After a series of misfires Jim Carey's ability to pick good movies appears to be back on track with Yes Man which opens December 19th in the US and January in Australia. Returning to the kind of flick that brought him his fame (Liar Liar, The Truman Show, Dumb and Dumber ... I loved all three) and allowed him to then experiment successfully with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and less so with The Number 23 (what a turkey that one was) Yes Man looks like a great Holiday Season romp. It doesn't hurt that it features my favorite actress du jour, Zooey Deschanel, whom I gushed over when I reviewed The Happening back in September.It really is another Liar Liar only this time instead of having to tell the truth the whole time Carey challenges himself to say Yes to everything ... Yes is the new No! This is perfect for the comic acting he is such a master of combining the physical with the affable and winning the audience every time.
Take a look, if the family are coming to town for the Holidays this might be a much needed escape!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Yes We Can and Yes We Did
Obama Owes Padame a Thank You
It looks like Obama's night, maybe the calls from Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman's Star Wars character) to undecided fanboys helped!
Blogging on Election Night
Well here we are at 7.30pm EST and polls are closing and the speculation is beginning. I went for MSNBC tonight enjoying the coverage with anchors Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson and David Gregory.
During a break i flicked over to CNN and saw Wolf Blitzer talking to a hologram! Come on CNN, don't give me Jessica Yellin, give me Princess Leia ... and Cheney as Vader of course!
Where to Tune In on Election Night
It is Superbowl night for cable news and the networks too with a full days preamble ready for the first results when the punditry and gadgetry goes into overload and each network tries to outdo each other.I have always been a CNN viewer in the US as it always seemed the network closest to the one I grew up with which was the BBC. Fox Noise is just hilarious and frankly there is no way you can call it news, it's entertainment for new Republicans, non-thinking theocrats and something akin to Chinese water torture for everyone else. Unfortunately it is all a ratings game and even CNN seems to have dumbed down it's coverage and entered into the tabloid opinion game with the barely watchable Lou Dobbs. Still they do have a few redeeming features including the excellent weekend shows Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz and Fareed Zakaria's GPS.
As the election has drawn closer I have changed my allegiance in the evening hours to MSNBC with Keith Obermann's Countdown and the new show from Rachel Maddow. Naturally this is easy TV for me which I know isn't always what's good for the brain but sometimes it is nice to realize you are not alone in this country in thinking the last 8 years have been a political nightmare. I have even mellowed to Chris Matthews whom I lost a lot of respect for after seeing him 'palling around' (thanks Sarah!) with the quite awful Tom Delay. NBC also seems to have my favorite network team with Chuck Todd, David Gregory and Tom Brokaw (in the always excellent Meet The Press).
I have also refused offers of election parties tonight as I love to sit and watch the night unfold with the huge electronic wall maps steadily displaying states as they turn red or blue. Let's be clear this is US TVs biggest night as they are reporting on the election of the most powerful man in the world. The stakes are sky high for TV ratings in the US and countries around the globe as millions of Americans cast their votes and to some extent shape the future of global politics for the next four years.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Movie Review - Zack and Miri Make a Porno
In the interests of full disclosure I am a big Kevin Smith fan as previous posts have explained so it was pretty hard for me to be too objective about this flick. So it was with much anticipation that the missus and I headed over to the local multiplex on another hot Phoenix afternoon to soak up some free AC and pay homage to one of my comedy heroes.Having Seth Rogen in a movie these days is pretty much as close as you can get to guaranteeing a healthy box office return and he was cast because Smith had written the film with Rogen in mind for the character of Zack. In the past Smith's movies, despite often featuring heavyweights like Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson and Alan Rickman, usually play to a fiercely loyal but not huge audience. As you see from the weekend box office numbers below Zack and Miri came second on weekend takings with a very respectable $10.6m and will surely surpass Smith's previous highest gross of $30m with 1999's Dogma.
I digress, back to Z&M! Well I am pleased to say this was a very and i really do mean very funny movie. Yes the humor is based on a long string of sex jokes but the characters are real and so well portrayed by the two leads. We all know Rogen from Knocked Up & Pineapple Express but Elizabeth Banks who plays Miriam 'Stinky' Linky was something of an unknown quantity to me. Smith is well known for writing good roles and dialogue for women and Banks herself has said this was part of the pleasure she got from playing the character of Miri. It seems her star is shining brighter these days as you can currently see Banks playing Laura Bush in Oliver Stone's W and she is also a lead in the upcoming frightener The Uninvited (saw the trailer at Z&M ... looks well scary!!!).
The plot is exactly what you have heard it is, two roommates hit rock bottom and decide the only way out is to make a (very) low budget porn movie. Typically in Smith's films the leads are supported by an excellent cast and this movie is no exception with standout performances by The Office's Craig Robinson and Jason Mewes. Credibility was assured when actual porn stars were cast and make a contribution to the movie with surprisingly good turns being offered by veteran Traci Lords and HBO favorite Katie Morgan. The movie zips along at a good pace, often raising eyebrows and occasionally making you stop and say ... hey, that's the guy from the Mac ads (yes it was Justin Long) and the guy from Superman Returns (yes it was Brandon Routh) playing gay porn stars Bobby Long and 'Brandon' ... some nice name swapping fun there! There were also some truly laugh out loud moments which are so great in a movie theater, to be surrounded by people giggling uncontrollably and unselfconsciously is rare these days and such fun!
Ultimately Smith succeeds with this movie because it really isn't about a porno but about a feel good love story that is genuinely heartwarming. In these troubled and uncertain times Smith has given us a 100 minute escape filled with laughter and feeling and I loved it.
Oh and stay for the bonus scene after the intial credits role and the end of the flick, you'll thank me!
Rating: *****
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Weekend Box Office
October 31, 2008 - November 2, 2008 (*millions)
1 High School Musical 3: Senior Year - $15,035,000
2 Zack and Miri Make a Porno - $10,682,000
3 Saw V - $10,110,000
4 Changeling - $9,407,250
5 Haunting of Molly Hartley, The - $6,009,432
6 Beverly Hills Chihuahua - $4,747,000
7 Secret Life Of Bees, The - $4,000,000
8 Max Payne - $3,700,000
9 Eagle Eye - $3,400,000
10 Pride and Glory - $3,260,000
Sarah Jessica Parker Volunteers for Obama
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Jumping The Shark
When a TV show 'Jumps The Shark' it means that it has essentially veered off course, story lines aren't working anymore or it has lost what attracted viewers in the first place. Often when a show Jumps The Shark it is more often than not heading for cancellation.The origin of what is a very strange expression comes from an episode of Happy Days where The Fonz (Henry Winkler) was water skiing in swimming trunks and his signature leather jacket and jumped over a shark in the lake. This scene was aired in 1977 and plenty more episodes were made after that but it was commonly viewed as a betrayal of what made Happy Days unique as it was seen to be pandering to 1970s fads of Jaws and Evel Knievel.
Yahoo recently applied the terms to some of today's shows that may well have Jumped The Shark including America's Next Top Model, Heroes, Prison Break, Project Runway and Hell's Kitchen . I have to say I couldn't agree more with ANTM and HK as these were two shows I was loyal to but in recent seasons have given up on. Tyra Banks seems to have gone totally bonkers with her out of control ego on ANTM and HK just ended up as a shout-fest for Gordon Ramsay without the charm that moments of Kitchen Nightmares occasionally comes up with.
Of course it's all personal and many of our favorite shows have a bad season or two in their history but if the actors are good enough and the premise still original we will often see a show return after a bad season stronger than ever.
Last Chance Harvey
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