Downey not down with Pips impersonation
My colleague Som Jordan just gave me a copy of the August issue of Rolling Stone magazine, the one with Robert Downey Jr. on the front. In the Downey interview, the “Iron Man” star refers to the “American Idol” appearance that he and “Tropic Thunder” costars Ben Stiller and Jack Black made.
If you missed the skit, which involves Downey, Stiller and Black impersonating the Pips behind Gladys Knight (it’s supposed to be an audition), click on the YouTube link below.
By the way, Downey in the interview refers to the musical number as “dreadful, awful, depressing, and disquieting to my dignity.” Think of that as you watch.
Eight movies opening: Go and see one!
Friday is set to be a big movie day in Spokane. Counting “The Rocker,” which opens Wednesday, eight new movies will be playing on the day heading into the weekend.
Besides the mainstream offerings – “The Rocker,” “Death Race,” “The House Bunny” and “The Longshots” – four films play to more exclusive audiences.
“Hamlet 2” is an edgy comedy that stars Steve Coogan as a wannabe actor who, having taken a job teaching drama at an Arizona high school, responds to the school principal’s threats to cancel the program by writing and directing a stage production that features a time machine and pairs Hamlet with – uh, Jesus.
The other three films are AMC Select choices. “American Teen” is a documentary focusing on teens attending an Indiana high school. “Henry Poole Is Here” stars Luke Wilson as an alcoholic man whose life changes when a stain on the side of his house takes on the appearance of … Jesus?
Does anyone detect a theme here?
The final film, “Bottle Shock,” isn’t a documentary, but it is based on real events involving the 1976 wine tasting that brought international fame to the California wine industry. The film’s editor, Dan O’Brien, is a 1988 graduate of Coeur d’Alene High School.
So … lots to see. My suggestion: Go and see something.
Below: Alan Rickman, shown here at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival with Sigourney Weaver, stars in the film “Bottle Shock.”
Photo by Associated Press
Cows aren't particularly poignant
My colleague Tom Bowers read my previous post about Calvin and Hobbes and said he knew of a comic strip that might rival what Bill Watterson put on the page.
His nominee: The Far Side.
My immediate reaction: no way.
I love The Far Side. Gary Larson’s strip was funny and twisted and edgy in all the good ways. But Calvin and Hobbes was all those things and poignant besides.
Larson was many things, but poignant was seldom – if ever – one of them.
Below: Gary Larson's comic strip The Far Side ranks, in one critic's opinion, second only to Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes.
Photo by Associated Press
Bill Watterson for president
Just in case you ever wondered why Calvin and Hobbes was considered the best comic strip even created … click here.
'Twilight' will shine sooner than expected
Hollywood taketh away, sure, but Hollywood also giveth.
Especially to fantasy fans.
Right on the heels of news that Warner Bros. decided to move the release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” from Nov. 21 to July 17 – of 2009! – Summit Entertainment announced that it will fill the void.
The company is switching the vampire-fantasy “Twilight,” which is based on the Stephanie Meyer series of novels, from its scheduled Dec. 12 release back to Nov. 21.
Spell-seekers to blood-suckers. Seems like a fair trade.
Below: Robert Pattinson and director Catherine Hardwicke, shown here on the set of the film “Twilight,” will be in theaters sooner than fans had hoped.
Photo by Associated Press
Former Our Generation critic still writing
Those of you who still remember Nathan Weinbender, the former Spokane high school student who wrote about film so intelligently for the Our Generation section, might be interested to know that he’s continuing his craft.
Besides making the occasional guest appearance on “Movie 101,” Nathan writes movie criticism online. His new movie blog can be found by clicking here.
The Internet is for everyone
For those of you who believe in the free market, check this out.
What goes around ...
I was just watching the Olympics this morning and, besides being glad that I wasn’t being subjected to beach volleyball – how the hell did that ever get to be an Olympic event anyway? – I was happy to see some soccer action.
Watching the recent Euro Cup tournament in bars and cafes in, respectively, Florence and Ferrara, Italy, and then Madrid and Barcelona, Spain, was a great experience.
This morning’s soccer match also taught me a little about philosophy. The lesson occurred in the second half of the Italy-Belgium match (won, eventually, by Belgium 3-2) when the Belgian goalkeeper, within feet of the goalmouth, mugged one of the Italians.
But instead of a deserved penalty kick, the referee gave the Italian player a yellow card for what the TV commentator said was “flopping.”
It wasn’t the right decision. A replay clearly showed the goalkeeper grabbing the Italian’s leg.
But considering how the Italians typically play – dropping at the slightest bump as if they’ve been hit by a truck, then rolling and grimacing as if suffering from amputation – it was karmic justice.
'Jewel of Medina' novelist called naive
I received an e-mail concerning a story that I wrote for today’s editions. It was sent by Spokane reader Andrew Rolwes:
I was astonished to find out that Sherry Jones is a local author.
I have spent two years of my life in the Middle East as an Army officer involved in operations in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. I know a few things about the culture and religion of that part of the world and can say without reservation that if Ms. Jones seriously believes that she is not at risk (even if the book is never published, which appears unlikely) she is terribly naive.
Since Salman Rushdie has spoken on behalf of her work, she should contact him and ask him to recount his experiences with his novel “The Satanic Verses.” She will learn that in addition to the Ayatollah's fatwa and the consequent years he had to spend in hiding, actual bloodshed did occur. His Japanese translator was murdered, and I believe the book’s publishing company for one or more of the Scandinavian countries was threatened so often that they shut down for several week or longer. The nature of those threats being anonymous phone calls where the caller says "I know where your children go to school."
The bottom line is that the story of Aisha is, along with the story of “The Satanic Verses” (both of which are recounted in the Hadiths), a source of embarrassment to Muslims attempting to advance their ideology in the west. That Ms. Jones has chosen to break this historical episode wide open in a way that is as accessible as a work of popular historical fiction is, in my estimate, highly courageous and also very risky. Theo Van Gogh's documentary could be considered to have been much less offensive and yet he was murdered. It's unfortunate that their intimidation has been so effective that it can check a portrayal of an historical event in the establishment of that religion.
Andrew Rolwes
Interesting point of view. Any rebuttals?
Hey 'Potter' fans: Snitch this!
If you’re waiting breathlessly for the next Harry Potter movie, go ahead and breathe. The wait just got a little longer.
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” the sixth installment in the series based on the novels of J.K. Rowling, has been moved from its scheduled Nov. 21 opening to July 17, 2009.
Warner Bros. claims that the move was made “to take advantage of an open weekend in Hollywood’s busy summer season” and that the delay doesn’t signal any problems.
“I’ve seen the movie,” Alan Horn, Warner Bros. president and chief operating office, told The Associated Press. “It is fabulous. We would have been perfectly able to have it out in November.”
But, hey, an opportunity to make a few extra bucks is too good to pass up.
Below: This photo from “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is as close as Potter fans are going to get to Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson until next July.
Photo by Associated Press
'Out of print' means little in the year 2008
I just received a voicemail from someone complaining about our choice for The Spokesman-Review Book Club read for August. Actually, the complaint was that I never mentioned that the book, Kathleen Dean Moore’s book “Riverwalking: Reflections on Moving Water,” is out of print.
Let me explain: When I go to www.Amazon.com and see the note, “64 copies from $0.01,” I kind of figure that even if a book is technically “out of print” there’s no problem in scheduling it for the book club when many, many copies are so obviously available.
Prepare yourself for 'Sexy Jesus'
I had two conversations about “Tropic Thunder” this morning, the movie that is causing so much controversy among the “advocates for people with developmental disabilities.”
Those quote marks came from the story that my colleague Alison Boggs wrote.
The first conversation was about satire. Anyone who takes the effort to look at “Tropic Thunder” will see that it’s attempting, perhaps a bit clumsily, to achieve that level of discourse. Like Jonathan Swift suggesting that Ireland could solve its overpopulation/economic problems by selling Irish babies as food to the rich …
The only question: Why so similar?
The YouTube link I’ve posted below offers a curious comparison between the trailers for Tim Burton’s “Batman” and Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight.” Hmmmmmmm.
Of course, there's always the chance that one or the other has been, uh, tampered with.
'Tropic Thunder' is offensive? Please
OK, I just got out of a screening of “Tropic Thunder,” and here’s what I think: Anyone who is offended by the film is either being overly sensitive or picks and chooses what to be offended by.
The film offends so many kinds of people, from gays to Asians to midgets, that it’s hard to get upset by any specific offense. It’s silly, in fact.
On a National Public Radio report broadcast yesterday, Timothy Shriver – chairman of the Special Olympics – called for a ban of the film because of its supposed insensitivity to those with mental disabilities. Shriver admitted that he hadn’t seen the complete film, and likely wouldn’t, but had seen scenes in which the word “retard” was used something like 17 times.
And that was enough for him to call for a boycott.
Here, though, is how that scene plays out:
Here's a question for Paul Theroux
On the very first page of Paul Theroux’s newest travel book, “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar,” the author says this about his craft:
“Most writing about travel takes the form of jumping to conclusions, and so must travel books are superfluous, the thinnest, most transparent monologuing. Little better than a license to bore, travel writing is the lowest form of literary self-indulgence: dishonest complaining, creative mendacity, pointless heroics, and chronic posturing, most of it distorted with Munchausen syndrome.”
So the question is both inevitable and obvious: Why read any further?
Ever wonder what George Carlin would say?
Stories are moving all over the Web about the supposed political incorrectness of Ben Stiller’s new film, “Tropic Thunder.”
Much of the controversy involves, apparently, the way that director/co-screenwriter/star Stiller chose to write his own character – as a frustrated action star who portrays his character, an American soldier serving in Vietnam, as having … well, a mental disability.
“It dehumanizes people with special needs and hurts their opportunities to lead productive lives as full members of society,” said one spokeswoman.
More than 20 groups are supposedly calling for fans to boycott the movie.
OK, I haven’t seen the film, so I can’t comment about “Tropic Thunder.” But I have seen other Stiller films. And so I’m wondering what people would have expected.
After all, in “Dodgeball” Still plays a character who is a former fat person who switches, temporarily, his obsession for food to dodgeball. In “Zoolander,” his character is a childlike moron (who could be seen as having a mental disability). Same story, basically, for his “Starsky & Hutch” character.
All of these comedies could, and probably did, arouse protest. But comedy is comedy. It knows no bounds save for anything that just isn’t funny. I wonder what the late George Carlin, no slouch at pushing the edge of comedy, would say about this controversy.
In that vein, let me share a few of Carlin’s better lines. I’m sure one or three of them are bound to rouse someone to some sort of protest:
“I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood.”
“Once you leave the womb, conservatives don’t care about you until you reach military age. Then you’re just what they’re looking for. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers.”
“The only good thing ever to come out of religion was the music.”
“Capitalism tries for a delicate balance: It attempts to work things out so that everyone gets just enough stuff to keep them from getting violent and trying to take other people’s stuff.”
“There’s nothing funny about rape … unless you’re raping a clown.”
And finally, in celebration of “Tropic Thunder”:
“I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.”
Below: George Carlin, who died in June, received a free speech award at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in 2002.
Photo by Associated Press
More than mere Adam Sandler this week
Spokane fans of alternative cinema will get a bit of good news this week. Turns out that “Brideshead Revisited” will play for at least a second week, something that’s rare for those AMC Select offerings.
Plus, two other non-mainstream films, Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and the stoner romantic comedy “The Wackness,” both open Friday at AMC’s River Park Square Theatres.
As long as AMC keeps bringing in such movie fare, we may never miss the Magic Lantern.
Below: One reason to go see “The Wackness”: Olivia Thirlby, shown here in a publicity photo from “Juno.” She's the one between the pregnant girl (Ellen Page) and the girl's stepmother (Allison Janney).
Photo by Associated Press
Nothing 'Perfect' about this release date
Any fan of baseball movies might be interested in the news regarding “The Perfect Game.” This based-on-real-events story, which tells the tale of the baseball team from Monterey, Mexico, that competed in the 1957 Little League World Series, was supposed to open on July 31.
But the date came and the movie didn’t.
Turns out the studio, Lionsgate, pulled the film. No one seems to know why, but this story hints at a reason: Studio execs think the film will play better during October, when major league baseball is engaged in the playoffs.
Not sure that’s true. But it’s probably better than bringing it out in the dregs of the summer season where it’s likely to get swamped by the vestiges of “The Dark Knight” crowd.
Below: The YouTube video below offers up newsreel footage of the real 1957 Little League World Series, which is a bit of a spoiler for the film "The Perfect Game."
Dude, 'Pineapple Express' is only semifunny
As someone who once laughed so hard at a Cheech and Chong concert that he almost threw up, I feel uniquely qualified to comment on a stoner film such as “Pineapple Express.”
Here’s what I liked: James Franco (who, in channeling Brad Pitt’s character in “True Romance,” is so willing to lampoon his image as a sexy boy), Seth Rogen and the overall sense of ridiculousness of 20-something guys spending much of every day stoned.
Here’s what I didn’t like: the fact that Rogen and his fellow screenwriters (which included Evan Goldberg, who cowrote “Superbad”) thought we would be laughing so hard at the film that we wouldn’t notice just how silly and pointless the overall story line is.
The movie feels like one long comedy sketch, played out by likeable characters – not unlike a Cheech and Chong exercise – that never goes anywhere.
Of course, if you’re under the influence of something resembling a real-life version of pineapple express, then you’re not likely to notice. Nor care.
Which maybe is the point.
'Step Brothers' is only half funny
My friend Leslie Kelly told me she was thinking of going to see “Step Brothers,” and so she asked me what I thought.
OK, it’s not a question of humor. Yes, both Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly have made movies that ended up being better concepts that fully realized comic films. See “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” See “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.”
But at their best, especially in short sequences, both of these guys are really funny. And they’re funny together. “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” – what is with these extended titles? – proves that.
The problem with “Step Brothers” is the same that has plagued a lot of films made by former “Saturday Night Live” cast members. It’s half-baked.
The whole movie is based on the idea that these guys are post-adolescent idiots. They aren’t necessarily 40-year-old virgins (though with Reilly’s character, Dale, you never know), but they are 7-year-olds in 40-year-old bodies. And, more often than not, the clash is hilarious.
As a whole, however, the movie doesn’t go anywhere. After showing just how stupid these guys are, and mining that for laughs, the screenplay builds its tension around the notion that they need to grow up. Then just as they do, it switches and tries to tries to say that it’s OK for them to be who they naturally are. Which is idiots.
It doesn’t work. I would have preferred that Dale and Ferrell’s character, Brennan, never change at all. Or become even more idiotic. Trying to force them into a standard kind of Hollywood melodrama is patently ridiculous. But not in a funny way.
And funny, I think, should be the whole point.
Magic Lantern wants to hear from you
Everywhere I go, people ask me the same question: What do you hear about the Magic Lantern?
Here is what I hear: The theater’s volunteer board of directors is going to hold a “fun evening of community planning” on Aug. 19 at the Glover Mansion. The intent, according to a press release, is “to create a new vision for this local treasure.”
The meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30, though “focus groups” aren’t supposed to start until 7. Refreshments will be served.
Interested in attending? Call Jan Gemberling at (509) 838-1781 or e-mail her by clicking here.
I’ve already had one reaction to the news.
“The Glover Mansion?” wrote one local movie fan who has a talent for intentional irony. “Really? Seems like an odd place to drum up support for your cash-strapped organization. If only they had access to a big room with a stage-type area and a lot of seats that they could use for free…”
Let them eat cake ... or not
I may already have linked to this intriguing Web site. But in case I haven’t, my friend Gary Singer brought it to my attention. And so I pass it on to you.
We are an imaginative species, aren’t we?
Lucas says movie houses will never die
In doing some research for the Aug. 15 release of the animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” I came across a 2006 interview that Time magazine film critic Richard Corliss did with George Lucas.
And in that interview, Lucas – no dumb guy – made the best argument I ever heard for why movie theaters will continue to attract film fans even beyond the time that movies will play in theaters and at home on the same day and date.
“So why will people go to theaters?” Corliss asked.
“Because it’s a social experience,” Lucas replied. “Sure, you can see a movie at home, the way you can read a book. You can do it at home on your little laptop. But a lot of people go because it’s a social experience. It’s like watching a football game. Who in the world would go out in 20-below weather, and sit there and watch a football game where you can barely see the players? Football games are on TV, and it doesn’t effect stadium attendance at all. It’s the same with movies. People who really love movies and like to go out on a Saturday night will go to the movie theater. If you haven’t built a fan-base or you’re not selling something that people want, then the attendance is going to drop. But if you have a good product that you’re putting into the theater, then they’re going to always go there.”
Below: George Lucas, who appeared at the 40th anniversary of the American Film Institute, sees a great future for movie theaters.
Photo by Associated Press
Love is hard: 10 more must-see films
Welcome to another chapter in the ongoing cinematic saga that I call “100 Movies That You Need to See Before You Die.”
This is not a list of the Best 100 movies ever made, though clearly many of the selections do belong on such a list. I would, however, recommend any of them to a beginning film-appreciation class. Today’s film students may not necessarily embrace, say, “Irreversible” or “Oldboy” – two films that rank among my first 30 choices – but I’m firmly convinced they would learn something worthwhile from the experience.
I’ve tried to avoid all the standard kinds of classifications. Instead, I work with themes. For my first 10, the theme was “Movies That Make You Think.” The second 10 films fell under the heading “Just When You Thought You’d Seen Everything.” And the third 10 involved films that live up to the theme of “The Lonely Hero.”
For movies 31 through 40, my theme is “Love Will Find a Way – Or Not.”
“City Lights” (1931) – Charlie Chaplin plays his trademark Tramp character, a good man who ends up finding the money needed for a blind woman’s eye operation. Through a misunderstanding, he is sent to jail. When he emerges, the woman, by accident, discovers that he is her benefactor. The film’s heartwarming yet open-ended finale would drive a Marine drill sergeant to tears.
Bukowski's advice to writers and other strangers
If I wanted to, I could have just linked to an online copy of this Charles Bukowski poem – titled “Now, if You Were Teaching Creative Writing,” from the late poet’s 1977 collection “Love Is a Dog From Hell.” But I didn’t want to.
Nothing like a Bukowski poem, transcribed in full, to class up an otherwise boring blog.
So here it is:
now, if you were teaching creative
writing, he asked, what would you
tell them?
I'd tell them to have an unhappy love
affair, hemorrhoids, bad teeth
and to drink cheap wine,
to keep switching the head of their
bed from wall to wall
and then I'd tell them to have
another unhappy love affair
and never to use a silk typewriter
ribbon,
