First, here's the always-provocative Nikki Finke's article on this morning's Academy Award nominations: http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/nominations-for-81st-academy-awards-this-am/
My take on two of the most notable omissions from the list:
1. The Academy rightly judged Clint Eastwood's GRAN TORINO as just-average formula filmmaking that marked an end to Clint's run of quality pix from MYSTIC RIVER to (some will argue with me on this) CHANGELING. If Clint had truly wanted a plausible shot at a Best Actor nomination/win, he wouldn't have turned down the lead in Paul Haggis' IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH (Tommy Lee Jones gave a fine performance in the role).
2. I'm a bit annoyed at the Academy's music branch for only giving three nominees for Best Song--one of them a semi-forgettable end-credits Peter Gabriel number from WALL-E and two from SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. Nothing against SLUMDOG (which now looks like a lock for a Best Picture win), but Bruce Springsteen's low-key end-credits song for THE WRESTLER (which can be heard on his soon-t0-be-released album WORKING ON A DREAM) was too good to ignore. It appears that the Academy wants only upbeat, ennobling fare which can make for big production numbers--unfortunately.
And congratulations to the documentary branch for nominating Werner Herzog's criminally underseen Antarctica documentary feature ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Highly recommended as a DVD rental--get the Blu-Ray version if you can.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Must-see film if you want to understand poetry and poets: ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL.
Rather than launch a lengthy, convoluted explanation, I urge readers of this blog to rent (or better yet, buy) Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes' great satirical comedy ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL for optimal understanding of the quirky process of what gets branded as "art."
And the film certainly can be interpreted as an explanation of poets, poetry and the development of the artistic ego.
And the film certainly can be interpreted as an explanation of poets, poetry and the development of the artistic ego.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
How far we've progressed as a nation since the 1961 Inauguration.
As can be expected, there's some retro gushing over the "style" of JFK and Jackie and looking back at the 1961 Inauguration which began the reign of Camelot: http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-firstladies18-2009jan18,0,1567286.story
It doesn't hurt to remember what happened to Sammy Davis, Jr. that year. From the NEW YORK TIMES 1990 obit for Sammy: The 1989 book [WHY ME?, written by Sammy with Burt and Jane Boyar] said that John F. Kennedy had asked Mr. Davis and Miss [May] Britt not to participate in the 1961 Presidential inauguration, lest the sight of an interracial couple anger Southerners. Mr. Davis also recounted the racism that haunted his life, from bloody fights in the Army to being turned away from New York nightclubs.
Something to think about in 2009, as we embark on a new and hopefully better era where we as a nation continue to move towards fulfilling the dream Martin Luther King, Jr. articulated in 1963.
It doesn't hurt to remember what happened to Sammy Davis, Jr. that year. From the NEW YORK TIMES 1990 obit for Sammy: The 1989 book [WHY ME?, written by Sammy with Burt and Jane Boyar] said that John F. Kennedy had asked Mr. Davis and Miss [May] Britt not to participate in the 1961 Presidential inauguration, lest the sight of an interracial couple anger Southerners. Mr. Davis also recounted the racism that haunted his life, from bloody fights in the Army to being turned away from New York nightclubs.
Something to think about in 2009, as we embark on a new and hopefully better era where we as a nation continue to move towards fulfilling the dream Martin Luther King, Jr. articulated in 1963.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Diablo Cody's latest: THE THREE FACES OF EVE meets LARS AND THE REAL GIRL.
I confess to still liking JUNO, but after sitting through one episode of Diablo Cody's Showtime comedy/drama series THE UNITED STATES OF TARA, I'm thinking that the mediocrity-and-waste-of-talent (including Toni Collette and Rosemarie DeWitt) on display will put a lot of pressure on Cody and her colleagues on the film JENNIFER'S BODY (a horror comedy with current It Girl Megan Fox) to deliver JUNO-esque box office numbers to at least commercially re-establish Cody's finger-on-the-zeigeist-pulse-plus-ornately-wacky-dialogue rep.
Here are a couple of takes on TARA; the first is SLATE.com's Troy Patterson's middling view:
http://www.slate.com/id/2208767/
And this is NEW YORKER television columnist Nancy Franklin's more upbeat take:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/television/2009/01/19/090119crte_television_franklin
My issue with the series is that Collette is bascially being asked to impersonate Tracey Ullman in her too-broadly-played-and-defined multiple personalities. Not to forget Cody's swiping the motif of mental disorder as a form of lovable eccentricity uniformly tolerated by a whole town from LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (where Kelli Garner, as the lovelorn officemate of Ryan Gosling, handily outacted Gosling's overpraised SNL-sketch-level performance).
Starting this Sunday, viewers can judge for themselves as to whether or not TARA will be the new quirky cable comedy hit.
I'm giving it one season, possibly two. But no more than that.
Here are a couple of takes on TARA; the first is SLATE.com's Troy Patterson's middling view:
http://www.slate.com/id/2208767/
And this is NEW YORKER television columnist Nancy Franklin's more upbeat take:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/television/2009/01/19/090119crte_television_franklin
My issue with the series is that Collette is bascially being asked to impersonate Tracey Ullman in her too-broadly-played-and-defined multiple personalities. Not to forget Cody's swiping the motif of mental disorder as a form of lovable eccentricity uniformly tolerated by a whole town from LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (where Kelli Garner, as the lovelorn officemate of Ryan Gosling, handily outacted Gosling's overpraised SNL-sketch-level performance).
Starting this Sunday, viewers can judge for themselves as to whether or not TARA will be the new quirky cable comedy hit.
I'm giving it one season, possibly two. But no more than that.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
More changes in the world of listening to/distribution of music.
The alternastation Indie 103.1, which received praise from ROLLING STONE and lasted longer than usual in the L.A. market, has now been taken off the airwaves and--as is the custom in most station-closings here--replaced by a Spanish-language music format. Here's the blog FRANKLIN AVENUE with a post-mortem: http://franklinavenue.blogspot.com/2009/01/rip-indie-1031.html
Indie's spin (which can be found on LA OBSERVED's website) is that the station (under recent pressure to homogenize its format by playing more conventional music and dumping the majority of its host-driven programs) will return to its roots as an online-only venue.
[Yesterday, the station essentially recited its press release--with some dumb posturing about "Britney" and "Diddy"--in an endless loop followed either by X's "The New World" or Sid Vicious' cover of "My Way."]
In other news, Virgin Megastore is closing its Times Square outlet in NYC--apparently because more money could be made by letting the Forever 21 clothing chain have the property.
And, worst of all, mega-egocentric himbo musician John Mayer will have a variety series on CBS--now enabling him to share network prime time with former lover Jennifer Love Hewitt's GHOST WHISPERER.
Mayer allegedly wrote "Your Body Is A Wonderland" about Ms. Hewitt. One can only wonder if they'll do a duet on his series.
And, in a final update as of 12: 23 p.m. PST on Friday the 16th--Circuit City is going out of business.
Which leaves Best Buy holding a monopoly-of-sorts in the electronics-plus-CDs-sold-as-loss-leaders category.
Here are details as to the Circuit City breakdown: http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/circuit-city-to-go-out-of-business/309313
Indie's spin (which can be found on LA OBSERVED's website) is that the station (under recent pressure to homogenize its format by playing more conventional music and dumping the majority of its host-driven programs) will return to its roots as an online-only venue.
[Yesterday, the station essentially recited its press release--with some dumb posturing about "Britney" and "Diddy"--in an endless loop followed either by X's "The New World" or Sid Vicious' cover of "My Way."]
In other news, Virgin Megastore is closing its Times Square outlet in NYC--apparently because more money could be made by letting the Forever 21 clothing chain have the property.
And, worst of all, mega-egocentric himbo musician John Mayer will have a variety series on CBS--now enabling him to share network prime time with former lover Jennifer Love Hewitt's GHOST WHISPERER.
Mayer allegedly wrote "Your Body Is A Wonderland" about Ms. Hewitt. One can only wonder if they'll do a duet on his series.
And, in a final update as of 12: 23 p.m. PST on Friday the 16th--Circuit City is going out of business.
Which leaves Best Buy holding a monopoly-of-sorts in the electronics-plus-CDs-sold-as-loss-leaders category.
Here are details as to the Circuit City breakdown: http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/circuit-city-to-go-out-of-business/309313
Some opinions as to why LA alternapapers are pitiful shadows of their former selves.
First up: former LA WEEKLY left-to-center columnist Marc Cooper's lengthy-but-fascinating take on how the paper wound up in the hands of NEW TIMES troglodyte Mike Lacey: http://marccooper.com/la-weekly-the-autopsy-report/
Don't forget to read the voluminous section of comments, if only to see Rick "The Finger" Barrs from the old NEW TIMES LOS ANGELES (now editing Lacey's Phoenix paper) rear his contentious head. Suffice to say that Rick's still freakin' incredible.
Also, Dennis Romero covers CITY BEAT LOS ANGELES' difficulties, with some mentions of the sins of the Rebecca Schoenkopf-as-editor period:http://www.danceblogga.com/2009/01/dance-music-news-media-notes.html
And both papers have engaged in film-critic firing lately; Andy Klein (who I've enjoyed overall since his tenure at the late LA READER) has been let go by CITY BEAT and Ella Taylor has been dropped from the LA WEEKLY by NEW TIMES management.
Don't forget to read the voluminous section of comments, if only to see Rick "The Finger" Barrs from the old NEW TIMES LOS ANGELES (now editing Lacey's Phoenix paper) rear his contentious head. Suffice to say that Rick's still freakin' incredible.
Also, Dennis Romero covers CITY BEAT LOS ANGELES' difficulties, with some mentions of the sins of the Rebecca Schoenkopf-as-editor period:http://www.danceblogga.com/2009/01/dance-music-news-media-notes.html
And both papers have engaged in film-critic firing lately; Andy Klein (who I've enjoyed overall since his tenure at the late LA READER) has been let go by CITY BEAT and Ella Taylor has been dropped from the LA WEEKLY by NEW TIMES management.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
60s TV icon Patrick McGoohan and 70s TV icon Ricardo Montalban: RIP.
Here's an obit from AOL: http://www.popeater.com/television/article/prisoner-star-patrick-mcgoohan-dies/306288
Some additions to the above:
DANGER MAN was known in the U.S. as SECRET AGENT--inspiring the Johnny Rivers hit "Secret Agent Man."
THE PRISONER is being remade as a cable series with Jim Caviezel (in McGoohan's role) and Sir Ian McKellan.
And here's a preliminary obit for Ricardo Montalban, known as an MGM contract player in the 1950s and a key supporting actor in episodes of the STAR TREK/PLANET OF THE APES/SPY KIDS theatrical film series: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-mew-montalban15-2009jan15,0,7457363.story. Montalban is probably best known for playing Mr. Roarke on the long-running ABC series FANTASY ISLAND.
Also, Montalban played a key role in the advancement of Latino theatre in Los Angeles.
Some additions to the above:
DANGER MAN was known in the U.S. as SECRET AGENT--inspiring the Johnny Rivers hit "Secret Agent Man."
THE PRISONER is being remade as a cable series with Jim Caviezel (in McGoohan's role) and Sir Ian McKellan.
And here's a preliminary obit for Ricardo Montalban, known as an MGM contract player in the 1950s and a key supporting actor in episodes of the STAR TREK/PLANET OF THE APES/SPY KIDS theatrical film series: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-mew-montalban15-2009jan15,0,7457363.story. Montalban is probably best known for playing Mr. Roarke on the long-running ABC series FANTASY ISLAND.
Also, Montalban played a key role in the advancement of Latino theatre in Los Angeles.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Obama: will "change" happen re Bush antiterror policies?
From THE NEW YORK TIMES:
President-elect Barack Obama signaled in an interview broadcast Sunday that he was unlikely to authorize a broad inquiry into Bush administration programs like domestic eavesdropping or the treatment of terrorism suspects.
But Mr. Obama also said prosecutions would proceed if the Justice Department found evidence that laws had been broken.
From Glenn Greenwald in SALON:
As TALK LEFT's Jeralyn Merritt documents, Obama today [yesterday's interview on ABC's THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS] rather clearly stated that he will not close Guantanamo in the first 100 days of his presidency. He recited the standard Jack Goldsmith/Brookings Institution condescending excuse that closing Guantanamo is "more difficult than people realize." Specifically, Obama argued, we cannot release detainees whom we're unable to convict in a court of law because the evidence against them is "tainted" as a result of our having tortured them, and therefore need some new system -- most likely a so-called new "national security court" -- that "relaxes" due process safeguards so that we can continue to imprison people indefinitely even though we're unable to obtain an actual conviction in an actual court of law. [This was later amended: Obama will now "close" Gitmo, but it will take up to a year.]
Here's an update from Greenwald since Obama's change-of-mind on Gitmo: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/13/obama/
From Harry Shearer, as interviewed by Paul Krassner in THE LOS ANGELES TIMES on December 24th:
"I think there's going to be something sadly funny about the collision/intersection between the sky-high hopes and expectations of his supporters with the sky-high mountain of crap left on his desk by his predecessors."
President-elect Barack Obama signaled in an interview broadcast Sunday that he was unlikely to authorize a broad inquiry into Bush administration programs like domestic eavesdropping or the treatment of terrorism suspects.
But Mr. Obama also said prosecutions would proceed if the Justice Department found evidence that laws had been broken.
From Glenn Greenwald in SALON:
As TALK LEFT's Jeralyn Merritt documents, Obama today [yesterday's interview on ABC's THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS] rather clearly stated that he will not close Guantanamo in the first 100 days of his presidency. He recited the standard Jack Goldsmith/Brookings Institution condescending excuse that closing Guantanamo is "more difficult than people realize." Specifically, Obama argued, we cannot release detainees whom we're unable to convict in a court of law because the evidence against them is "tainted" as a result of our having tortured them, and therefore need some new system -- most likely a so-called new "national security court" -- that "relaxes" due process safeguards so that we can continue to imprison people indefinitely even though we're unable to obtain an actual conviction in an actual court of law. [This was later amended: Obama will now "close" Gitmo, but it will take up to a year.]
Here's an update from Greenwald since Obama's change-of-mind on Gitmo: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/13/obama/
From Harry Shearer, as interviewed by Paul Krassner in THE LOS ANGELES TIMES on December 24th:
"I think there's going to be something sadly funny about the collision/intersection between the sky-high hopes and expectations of his supporters with the sky-high mountain of crap left on his desk by his predecessors."
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