At The Movies Gone...For Now

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/11/so_long_for_awhile.html

The much-heralded return of intelligent movie criticism is on hold, for now, as of the end of December. In a post of refreshing candor, executive producer Roger Ebert has laid the cause bare: a lack of funding. It would be interesting to research the differences in funding models and distribution that have arisen since 1975, when the At The Movies concept first debuted on public television with Ebert and the late Gene Siskel. I am also sure that in today's economy, "Viewers Like You" isn't much of an option either. Here's hoping we see more of Christy Lemire and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky soon, as they were starting to get spot-on chemistry.

MTMG

Has it Really Been Ten Years?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UDTbQrOGa0

I will remember forever a bunch of us being in my uncle Pierre's basement on Boxing Day 2000 watching this trailer over and over again on his computer. It was full of promise, and for once, it (and the entire trilogy) delivered. The gift that kept on giving, for three Christmases straight.

As a total aside, I just finished reading Tina Fey's book Bossypants, in which she refers to December 26 in Canada as "Boring Day". Absolutely no hard feelings Tina, since I loved the book in general, and found it a laugh-filled account of your life, career, and process. But I have a feeling that if you spent December 26 with my extended family, you would most definitely not find it boring. All the best to you and yours this holiday season!

MTMG

Sour Grapes, Anyone?

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/flight-of-the-conchords-movie-could-happen?ns_campaign=news&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=totalfilm&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+totalfilm%2Fimdbnews+%28Total+Film+IMDb+aggregate%29

Can't believe these UK-based journalists are bitching about getting The Muppets in February. These are the same people who have been enjoying Tintin since October 26, while North America only gets it December 21. Paramount is likely hesitant about its chances here, hence the early rollout.

MTMG

Will Kiss Be Elder Statesmen?

http://www.elderthemovie.com/





You gotta admire this Seb Hunter's balls of brass. He hasn't ever written a screenplay or directed a film. Yet he wants to make a film inspired by the 1981 failed Kiss rock opera The Elder. The album so spectacularly failed that six months after releasing it, the band disowned it, saying that when they recorded their answer to Pink Floyd's The Wall, they were "delusional". I fear that Mr. Hunter suffers from the same affliction, for the following pair of reasons:

1) He is attempting to raise funds through the above website. Does he not realize that anyone who contributes financial aid, equipment, or acting talent is going to feel as though they have a stake in the film and "own" it? Will he take the time to make everyone sign thick legal agreements to cover himself?

2) Most importantly, no project even remotely involving Kiss gets done without the express permission of Kiss (or more specifically Kiss's business head and cofounder Gene Simmons). When Seb's lawyers are done with the cast-and-crew agreements, they will likely face the Grishamesque task of drafting one between Simmons and the production. And you can bet your ass that it will involve some kind of creative input, not to mention financial renumeration, final cut, and inclusion in a future season of Family Jewels.

I don't hold any of this against Gene Simmons, just to be clear. With the deaths of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, Simmons is now the last celebrity standing of whom it can be said, "It's Gene's world, and we just live in it". For all his well-earned public bravado, he appears, by a glance at the fan mail section of his website, to enjoy interaction with non-pushy fans not blatantly out to get something.

To get back on track, do I think that Seb Hunter's Elder movie is doomed from the start? No, because Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog, another back-door project, has been wildly successful. Mind you, that project was concieved and helmed by Joss Whedon, a creative genius who understands the industry better than it understands itself. So if Seb can overcome the odds, I'll be interested in watching what he comes up with.

MTMG

Stand By Me - Friends come in and out of your life.avi

Watch Richard Dreyfuss very closely in the final scene. Am I the only one who noticed that he forgets to save his life's work before he leaves the room?


MTMG

Could Spielberg and Lucas Be Just Like Us?

I find it stunning that Steven Spielberg would admit to his distaste for Indy 4's alien finale, only shooting it out of respect for George Lucas, his producer and best friend. Even though the two had heated pro-and-con arguments. But I have to give Spielberg credit for owning up to, and defending, his opening for that film, which involves Indiana Jones, nuclear perdition, and a flying refridgerator, which he now considers "silly".

I also wonder if his newfound candor would apply to some of his other films that didn't go so well.

Just imagine...

"Those damn comedians ruined my vision for 1941!"

Or...

"I knew Always was going down in flames as I shot it, but I was in a romantic mood so I thought, 'what the hell'. And Dreyfuss said that at least the shoot was going faster than the one for Close Encounters!"

Just a thought.

MTMG

The J. Edgar Flap

http://ca.eonline.com/news/the_awful_truth/why_fbi_after_clint_eastwood/268292?utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=imdb_topstories

As regular readers of this blog know, I am no homophobe when it comes to gay issues. And I have read and enjoyed Mr. Casablanca's work since his days as a columnist at the late, lamented Premiere magazine.

But I feel I must point out that J. Edgar Hoover is known for his (for better or worse) revolutionary methods of law enforcement and information-gathering, and for the weighty psychic toll that he endured when his machinations spiralled out of control over a period of fifty years.It is this aspect that director Clint Eastwood and writer Dustin Lance Black have chosen to focus on, not the rumored cross-dressing or the rumored relationship with right-hand man Clyde Tolson. And as for the GQ quote that Clint does not give a crap about whether Hoover was gay or not that Mr. Casablanca treats as his smoking gun, I do not believe that Eastwood has anything against gays in general. In a GQ article a few years ago, he even went so far as to state that the government should leave everyone alone when it comes to sexual orientation.

I know this for sure: If official records, not innuendo from highly-paid sources, are ever
dug up detailing any extracurricular activities between Hoover and Tolson, then an eighty-two-year-old straight and macho director probably is not the best choice to bring that material to life.

But, coming off of Milk, I think Gus Van Sant would be. And I would see that movie. I have no problem with Hoover being gay, if that was true and not the result of a 50-year-old smear campaign.

For now though, I am looking forward to seeing Leonardo DiCaprio go deeper into character as J. Edgar than he likely has before, after only being able to scratch the surface of Howard Hughes. Hopefully, he earns some time on the Oscar podium...with Clint by his side.

MTMG

The Genius of Steve Jobs

http://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/technology/2011/oct/06/steve-jobs-pancreas-cancer?fb_ref=U-BatHi0G_gukC4bx2IHd86d-CFCONX01FRS-32djvXXX&fb_source=home_multiline&fb_action_types=news.reads&code=AQCzeApbDkgFwBjMdkuue6NVHfdWLdLb1uPy1b3rolrv1y-IPS6KRbsnOFTIrMRohTQ_Q9IsvdhgQea7nm6audrIlW4UIrFMsLZR9QLLiIIEvq76RQxoLh-JafujHxgx2WywO4EyWYpt4PkWgOmvnQc-SioQEaRo7j60jI_b0NrhVCWAB-vPch6dmArs3Hl7yg4#_=_





I was going to write a few thoughts on the passing of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs at the age of 56. But I will instead shut up and let him speak epically for himself, and for us too, come to think of it,

Have a great night!

MTMG

Holy Pile Of Remakes Batman!

1) Since Johnny Depp has been sidelined by the Disney shutdown of the Lone Ranger remake he was going to make with Gore Verbinski, he has now agreed to star in a remake of the '30s staple The Thin Man, played over a series of films by William Powell and Myrna Loy, not to mention their cute and talented dog Asta. Those films drip with sophistication and crisp, staccato dialogue. The only two relatively modern films I can think of that use similar rhythms, 1992's Capraesque Hero and 1994's Hudsucker Proxy, both tanked at the box office. So look for Depp and his latest Pirates helmer Rob Marshall to cast either Angelina Jolie or Penelope Cruz and call this The Tourist 2.

2) The Footloose remake, out October 14, has the feel of a lab experiment, similar to the 1998 Gus Van Sant Psycho. Everything looks and feels the same, down to newcomers Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough as Ren and Ariel, and Dennis Quaid as Reverend Moore. Director Craig Brewer of Hustle and Flow fame has apparently given things a rougher, hip-hoppy edge. I suppose I don't mind a little Step Up chaser with my Footloose, as long as writer-director Brewer and original co-writer Dean Pitchford jettison the 1984 film's one stupid scene: Ariel destroying her loutish boyfriend's truck AFTER riling him up previously, just so Ren can have his heroically mushy moment that gets the story moving.

3) But I suppose I would rather have something overly familiar, rather than enduring the wholesale changes of the Dirty Dancing remake in 2013, which will feature Johnny Castle (Julianne Hough's brother Derek channelling his inner Patrick) recieving a visit from a girl claiming to be his daughter. I can watch that on Maury Povich at least three times a week for free! But if they give Mr. Hough a dancer-actress that can keep up with him, and beef up his role so he doesn't have to play a professional dancer who just dances kind of OK (which Patrick Swayze claimed was his major issue with the original, as per his autobiography Time of My Life), maybe director Kenny Ortega, who choreographed the original, can make it come out all right. And then it would be nice if he were able to write and direct something entirely original.

MTMG

Huey Lewis And The News - Heart And Soul

25 years ago tonight I was rocking out to these guys at Edmonton's then Northlands Coliseum. You can't go back, but you can sure have fun remembering!

MTMG

Manly Leo

http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/why-does-leo-dicaprio-in-j-edgar-look-like-a-vampire

I just can't believe these guys. Leonardo DiCaprio's finally getting a chance to play a real-life, deeply conflicted individual, and they're comparing him to a vampire? Sorry folks, I don't buy it.
This is what a cocktail of sleepless nights, determination, and a truly tormented soul should look like. Leo started down this road seven years ago in The Aviator, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what kind of performance he is able to achieve under Clint Eastwood's freeing yet firmly gentle direction. I will be there at the November 9 opening. And let's let Taylor Lautner deal with baby fat and teenybopper vampire roles till he is 50!

MTMG

Bert and Ernie:Let's Get Real

Those who read my review of The Kids Are All Right know my feelings concerning alternative lifestyles (basic recap: It takes all kinds to run the world, and I would not want to miss out on a great conversation because of someone's sexual orientation).

And I will stand by that till the day I die.

But that does not mean that I am embracing the movement to have Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie get married.

And here is why:

1) They are puppets.
2) They are not the Teletubbies.
3) Sesame Street is a show with a 42-year track record for teaching preschoolers their ABCs, 123s, and concepts like near and far.

4) The Children's Television Workshop, which produces Sesame Street, has so far resisted all calls to send Bert and Ernie down the aisle, with good reason. They were created, paraphasing a CTW statement, to show kids that people with different personalities and backgrounds could still be friends.

5) In the late 90s or early 2000s, Sesame Street wrote and (if memory serves) partially shot an episode dealing with divorce, but decided not to air it after kids were confused at early test screenings. Divorce can be confusing enough for kids. CTW made the right choice then (and with Katy Perry's cleavage recently), and are making the right one now. Likely they decided that kids would be traumatized by images of their beloved pals Bert and Ernie embracing, kissing, or walking down an aisle.

And hey, when the preschoolers have learned their ABCs and 123s, and have grown into teenagers and young adults who want to discuss alternative lifesyle issues with someone they trust, I'm all for it.

But for now, let's let kids be kids.

MTMG

Elvis Presley Last Song Performed On Stage 6/26/77

The last song Elvis ever performed at Indianapolis's Market Square Arena on June 26, 1977. A true professional as he sings traditional show closer "Can't Help Falling in Love, he has my respect forever.

MTMG

Elvis - It's A Dog's Life

A prime example of how Elvis's movie career - and career in general - had literally gone to the dogs by 1966, two years before the '68 Comeback Special on NBC.

MTMG

O Canada

Kool & the Gang - Celebration

Hey Mr. Camping....

WE'RE STILL HERE!!!


MTMG

Hello Again

Just mucking around folks...should be back soon...as long as you guys don't care about fancy formatting.

MTMG

My Apologies

I sincerely apologize for the huge gap in posting, but virus problems for both computer and writer kept me away. So the next several posts will cover pop culture events from the past month or so, as well as reviews of several movies I have seen. I look forward to bringing it all to you.

Have a great night!

MTMG

I Might Go To See Charlie Sheen, Under These Conditions

1) If the ticket prices weren't astronomical...this is a money grab, after all.

2) If the main thread of the show wasn't to diss Chuck Lorre for two hours, but instead have Sheen draw on experiences from his entire Hollywood career. There must be stories in a career trajectory which spans Platoon, Wall Street, Courage Mountain, The Rookie, and The Chase. There just has to be.

3) Audience participation is key, if only to keep Charlie humble. He should feel grateful that people are parting with hard-earned cash in this economy. Apparently he's into the shower-the-people vibe. At the first Toronto show, a woman got up and said that Two And a Half Men helped her get out of bed after her husband's death. A touched Sheen invited her up on stage, where they drank a toast to hubby's ashes. Weird, but at least it shows that the star's heart is in the right place.

MTMG

Elizabeth Taylor: End of an Era

With the passing of Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor Wednesday at age 79, we not only lost an outstanding actress, as her work in National Velvet, Giant, A Place In The Sun, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? attests. But more importantly, we lost someone who was among the first wave of child stars, along with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. All three were extremely grateful for their opportunities, appreciated their fans' support, and kept focused on the work. Yes, if they were photographed in social situations, it was usually studio-orchestrated, but at least we didn't see them emerging from clubs drunk, braless, and with no underwear. They completed their assigned films, whatever their misgivings. It's worth noting that Woolf brought Taylor her second Oscar. The first was for Butterfield 8 in 1960, a talky soap opera in which she played Gloria Wandrous, a call girl involved with Laurence Harvey's stuffy married businessman Ligget. Taylor hated Butterfield 8 and branded it junk. But she does her very best, dealing with the material with as much professionalism as possible. A lesson that Ms. Lohan and Taylor (Gimme an F!) Momsen could surely learn from. MTMG

Local Boy Fillion Made Good

http://www.nerdist.com/2011/02/nerdist-podcast-65-nathan-fillion/

This is the best podcast to listen to if you want to know what makes Castle star and Edmonton native Nathan Fillion tick.

MTMG

Why The 83rd Oscars Went So Wrong

1. The opening movie montage - Only Billy Crystal should be doing those, as deft comic timing is required. The whole segment, aside from the Alec Baldwin punchline, felt like one of those filmed promotional interviews from the sixties, where a local anchor would be inserted into the right half of the screen.

2. As rudderless as the S.S. Minnow - No discernible theme to hang the proceedings on, except maybe "We're Young And We're Here, Suckers!". For some reason I kept having visions of the painted elephant being washed in the pool at the climax of 1968's The Party.

3. Franco the juggler - James Franco is famously a student at both NYU and Yale. Mr. Franco, if you had papers and assignments due this week and couldn't handle the stress, there would have been considerably less stress in a last-minute bail than the mountains of angst you caused yourself on air, which translated itself to the television audience.

4. Franco the smug ass - Mr. Franco, when you accepted this Academy Award hosting gig, you needed to take a step back and realize why you love acting in, and even watching, movies in the first place. Because that's what it's all about, sir. And you'd do well to remember that without the technical-achievement people you called nerds, you would not have a job. Or if you did, all your movies would look as if they cost $1.98.

5. But hey, it wasn't all Franco's fault - I place the lion's share of the blame on telecast head writer Bruce Vilanch, a comedy veteran with almost four decades of experience writing for stars like Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, and Bette Midler. And when Crystal and Martin host the Oscars, there's no one better at putting words in their mouths, so to speak. But Vilanch is at the point now where he thinks he can turn anyone into an Oscar host. And he has. I didn't think that Hugh Jackman would be able to pull it off, but he did, thanks to his Broadway experience and charisma. Unfortunately any charisma James Franco posesses is worked up in short bursts for the movie camera, not in a live standup situation, which is essentially what the Oscars is.

6. Yet there is Hope - Both in the filmed presence of Bob Hope, and in the presence of Billy Crystal, who hosted a mini-tribute to Hope at the halfway point. A few weeks later, Billy said that he might come back, if the show was completely redesigned.

MTMG

The Gaga Version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl0N7JM3wZk

The genuine article, from the Grammys. No wonder little Maria's version hit the Lady so hard. She found the soul of it, as opposed to the flash. But I'm willing to bet that it began life on Gaga's piano in roughly the same way. Congratulations ladies!

MTMG

This Is Inspirational

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/02/17/mb-lady-gaga-girl-song-winnipeg.html

I wasn't even familiar with Lady Gaga's version of Born This Way, but 11-year-old Maria Aragon has officially melted my heart, and is destined for bigger things, if she so chooses. As is Ms. Gaga, if she continues writing in this vein.

MTMG

New Years Miracle

It came out Monday that Michael Douglas is now cancer-free, pending monthly checkups and some medical housekeeping.

A few years ago, I might have said, "Great! Now he can go back to making tons of movies!".

But now, I just hope he works on whatever's in the pipeline (including a Liberace biopic), and spends lots of time golfing with friends and family.

MTMG

Point Taken

You didn't believe what I said about Elvis Mitchell? Here's the video evidence...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k0VzogmVTc

MTMG

Bye Bye, Elvis Mitchell!!!

So Elvis Mitchell is out as the new At The Movies co-host. He will be replaced by 24-year old Russian Chicago Reader contributor Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, who also writes for the movie website Mubi.

I sense that like Dick Clark before him, Ebert is in a baton-passing mood. And if he's thinking of the forseeable future of his brand, he's going to want to leave it to someone who has the fire and passion for movies that his late partner Gene Siskel had. For in all its incarnations, the At The Movies franchise was about two professional colleagues who engaged in lively discussion aimed at people who only wanted to know what movies to spend their hard-earned money on.

I know that Mr. Mitchell is also a professional, as evidenced by his TCM show Under The Influence and a KCRW podcast The Treatment. He has written for The New York Times, and has authored several books. But I have a strong feeling that his idea of a good time is to get together with a bunch of pipe-smoking academics and discuss subtext, mise-en-scene, and artistic influences. Not the stuff At The Movies is made of, I'm afraid.

I also seem to remember that on the one time I saw Mitchell during Ebert's Year of Rotating Cohosts prior to the selection of Richard Roeper, Elvis and Roger not only didn't have unanimous thumbs for anything, but Mitchell's only defenses were in the esoteric terms described above.

And call me crazy, but Elvis, whose home base these days is in sunny Los Angeles, didn't look all that thrilled to be in windy, snowy Chicago, where Ebert has written and broadcast from his entire 43-year career. It would be at least a four-day-six-movie-a-week commute for Elvis. And I don't think he'd be up to it.

Best of luck to Ignatiy and Christy on January 21 (Check PBS listings for times). And do check out Elvis Mitchell's shows. They are good if you like movers and shakers, influences, and occasional anecdotes.

Have a great night!

MTMG

Elvis Movie Musings: What Might Have Been

I have a feeling that The King would have made a outstanding actor, given that two people he admired, Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum, wouldn't have put up with the post-Blue Hawaii shit the Colonel saddled Elvis with. Can you imagine him as Mitchum's brother in Thunder Road? Or how about the Kris Kristofferson part in the 1976 Streisand version of A Star is Born?

Both almost happened.

But Mitchum couldn't believe that Elvis had to actually ask the Colonel permission, and the ol' lizard got into a tizzy because Barbra would get billing over Elvis, thereby robbing his client of his one chance to save his career...and maybe his life.

Check out King Creole if you doubt me.

I'm just saying.

On a happier note, happy belated 76th birthday Elvis!

MTMG

One of the greats. They just don`t make em like George anymore, and this actually charted for him in 1980. Thanks for the memories sir!

MTMG

Happy New Year!!!

I didn`t go anywhere or do anything that special, because I was paying (and still am) for overindulging on Christmas. But I did take the opportunity for some PVR catchup. Here are some short takes:

Napoleon Dynamite - God! White boys with afros! Vote for Pedro aside, it`s a drunken SNL sketch. Yes, I know it made $44 million, and I applaud Jon Heder for his scruples and clean living, but I still really miss John Hughes.

Road House - Fun formulaic fluff from the 80s starring Patrick Swayze as Dalton, a seen-it-all bouncer who takes out the trash and romances lady doctor Kelly Preston. The thing about Swayze was that, no matter how anemic the script, the man never phoned in a role. He always brought his charisma and lifeforce to it, if sometimes only by force of will. And even if you think he peaked with `Nobody puts Baby in a corner`, you can always view it as an extended tribute to the late great Jeff Healey.

More tomorrow. Have a great night!

MTMG