http://rainn.posterous.com/thank-you-hollywood
Once upon a time, Denise DiNovi (met her once and thought she was a nice person--she's married to a man who was a cinematography fellow at American Film Institute during 1988-1989) was involved in the production of films such as HEATHERS and EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.
Now, she has another film coming out from her home studio Warner Brothers--it's a little Katherine Heigl/Josh Duhamel dramedy called LIFE AS WE KNOW IT. From the TV ads, it promises to be a sitcom filled with lots of baby poops/pees/barfs jokes.
Previously at WB, Denise was involved with producing an Amanda Bynes vehicle called WHAT A GIRL WANTS--where the original poster art of Bynes giving the peace sign was apparently thought too subversive (remembering that the film was released in the George Butch Jr. era) and airbrushed out in later versions.
It's just sad to see someone with talent having to make the best of what I'm guessing must be a less-than-ideal environment to get female-centered and/or intelligent mass-audience films greenlighted, made and released with full studio support.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
G. Murray Thomas interviews--and starts to mythologize--himself.
http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/gmthomas/2010/09/g-murray-thomas-the-tnb-self-interview/
Key passage from the self-interview:
Right now I’m working with Write Bloody Press to produce an anthology of the best writing from Next... It will provide a snapshot of a crucial period in the development of American poetry, 1994 - 1997 [if my interpretive memory is right, Murray was likely hoping for the magazine to receive the kind of attention that would have led to substantial circulation and beaucoups of advertising dollars]. Slams, the internet and poetry tours were all in the early stages of their growth. During that time they came together to essentially create the world of poetry that exists today. Next... provided a ground level view of that transition.
Write Bloody, by the way, is a top notch poetry press. Run by poet Derrick Brown, they’re publishing some of the most exciting voices in poetry right now, poets like Buddy Wakefield, Mindy Nettifee and Mike McGee.
If it weren't for NEXT.... (picked up my first copy in a used record store on Balboa Peninsula), I probably wouldn't have become involved with going public with my poetry. Sometimes, I wonder if it was the right thing to do. Other times, I'm glad I did--in spite of being confronted with Murray's conclusion that I'm an unexciting poetry voice.
Sort of reminds me of a line in a Bill Cosby routine:
"I brought you into the world.....AND I CAN TAKE YOU OUT!"
Key passage from the self-interview:
Right now I’m working with Write Bloody Press to produce an anthology of the best writing from Next... It will provide a snapshot of a crucial period in the development of American poetry, 1994 - 1997 [if my interpretive memory is right, Murray was likely hoping for the magazine to receive the kind of attention that would have led to substantial circulation and beaucoups of advertising dollars]. Slams, the internet and poetry tours were all in the early stages of their growth. During that time they came together to essentially create the world of poetry that exists today. Next... provided a ground level view of that transition.
Write Bloody, by the way, is a top notch poetry press. Run by poet Derrick Brown, they’re publishing some of the most exciting voices in poetry right now, poets like Buddy Wakefield, Mindy Nettifee and Mike McGee.
If it weren't for NEXT.... (picked up my first copy in a used record store on Balboa Peninsula), I probably wouldn't have become involved with going public with my poetry. Sometimes, I wonder if it was the right thing to do. Other times, I'm glad I did--in spite of being confronted with Murray's conclusion that I'm an unexciting poetry voice.
Sort of reminds me of a line in a Bill Cosby routine:
"I brought you into the world.....AND I CAN TAKE YOU OUT!"
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Kate Walsh, Lady Gaga and a distant memory.
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2010/09/17/kate-walshs-sushi-dress-homage-to-lady-gaga/
Although Kate Walsh's hauteur can be fun in small doses (I'll forget about her apparent support of the actor-producers in the last SAG/AMPTP contract negotiation for now), the "sushi dress" gag on THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO stirs up distant memories of the late Bert Convy making fun of Joe Cocker on a long-ago CBS game show (TATTLETALES, perhaps?) in the 70s.
In essence, mainstream showbiz choosing not to get real artistry.
Although Kate Walsh's hauteur can be fun in small doses (I'll forget about her apparent support of the actor-producers in the last SAG/AMPTP contract negotiation for now), the "sushi dress" gag on THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO stirs up distant memories of the late Bert Convy making fun of Joe Cocker on a long-ago CBS game show (TATTLETALES, perhaps?) in the 70s.
In essence, mainstream showbiz choosing not to get real artistry.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Why it's hard for me to be a member of the Errol Morris Fan Club.
I'm not tremendously well-versed on documentarian Errol Morris' work; I've been lucky to see the more-or-less serious films (THE FOG OF WAR--which deservedly won its Best Documentary Academy Award, STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE, THE THIN BLUE LINE) and I've missed out on what seems to be the "look at these strange/quirky/stupid people" offerings like VERNON, FLORIDA, GATES OF HEAVEN, MR. DEATH, etc.
http://www.wpr.org/news/errol%20morris%20iv.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Blue_Line_(documentary)
Key passage from the Wikipedia article:
After [Randall] Adams' release from prison, he ended up in a legal battle with Morris concerning the rights to his story. The matter was settled out of court after Adams was granted sole use of anything written or made on the subject of his life.[15] Adams himself said of the matter: "Mr. Morris felt he had the exclusive rights to my life story. ... I did not sue Errol Morris for any money or any percentages of The Thin Blue Line, though the media portrayed it that way."[16]
Morris, for his part, remembers: "When he got out, he became very angry at the fact that he had signed a release giving me rights to his life story. And he felt as though I had stolen something from him. Maybe I had, maybe I just don't understand what it's like to be in prison for that long, for a crime you hadn't committed. In a certain sense, the whole crazy deal with the release was fueled by my relationship with his attorney. And it's a long, complicated story, but I guess when people are involved, there's always a mess somewhere
True story: I was at the Telluride Film Festival in the late 1980s when Morris, speaking as part of a panel of filmmakers/pundits (sort of remember Annette Insdorf being there), was rather snotty about Adams and the I-want-my-life-rights-back lawsuit--in essence, referring to Adams as a sort of ingrate.
Remembering that incident, Karina Longworth's review of Morris' new film TABLOID (unveiled at the Toronto Film Festival) doesn't come as much of a surprise to me:
http://www.voicefilm.com/2010/09/inside_job_tabloid_documentary_stars_and_subjectiv.php
http://www.wpr.org/news/errol%20morris%20iv.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Blue_Line_(documentary)
Key passage from the Wikipedia article:
After [Randall] Adams' release from prison, he ended up in a legal battle with Morris concerning the rights to his story. The matter was settled out of court after Adams was granted sole use of anything written or made on the subject of his life.[15] Adams himself said of the matter: "Mr. Morris felt he had the exclusive rights to my life story. ... I did not sue Errol Morris for any money or any percentages of The Thin Blue Line, though the media portrayed it that way."[16]
Morris, for his part, remembers: "When he got out, he became very angry at the fact that he had signed a release giving me rights to his life story. And he felt as though I had stolen something from him. Maybe I had, maybe I just don't understand what it's like to be in prison for that long, for a crime you hadn't committed. In a certain sense, the whole crazy deal with the release was fueled by my relationship with his attorney. And it's a long, complicated story, but I guess when people are involved, there's always a mess somewhere
True story: I was at the Telluride Film Festival in the late 1980s when Morris, speaking as part of a panel of filmmakers/pundits (sort of remember Annette Insdorf being there), was rather snotty about Adams and the I-want-my-life-rights-back lawsuit--in essence, referring to Adams as a sort of ingrate.
Remembering that incident, Karina Longworth's review of Morris' new film TABLOID (unveiled at the Toronto Film Festival) doesn't come as much of a surprise to me:
http://www.voicefilm.com/2010/09/inside_job_tabloid_documentary_stars_and_subjectiv.php
Sunday, September 12, 2010
American Cinematheque screening of 2001 at Egyptian Theater in Hollywood--the interactive experience.
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2010/09/2001_talking_po.php
The above screening--which I did not attend (my wife Valarie and I were seeing THE AMERICAN at the Pacific theater in Northridge)--reminds me of a live-music incident from a few years back.
Valarie and I were at the Roxy Theater to see singer/songwriter Nellie McKay (last name pronounced mckie with a long "i") when a drunken audience member began talking to Ms. McKay in a rather infatuated manner. Nellie was wearing a powder-blue prom dress and the inebriated man apparently found her a vision of dream woman loveliness. About the same outcome as the Egyptian Theatre incident occurred (it took several minutes for the Roxy staff to get their act together and eject the audience member), but without any violence and audience members playing at being vigilante security.
A similarity in reactions to the two incidents: people either sat in frozen discomfort (commonplace in L.A.--where folks with abundant money don't want to risk alteration of their safe lives by encounters with random craziness) or actively hooted and yelled for the person to be thrown out NOW!!!
All one can do is to be thankful that the Egyptian attendee didn't brandish a weapon like the man who killed the former manager of the Silent Movie Theatre (at a screening of SUNRISE more than a decade ago) and then ran through the audience before exiting the building (the murderer was later apprehended by authorities).
The above screening--which I did not attend (my wife Valarie and I were seeing THE AMERICAN at the Pacific theater in Northridge)--reminds me of a live-music incident from a few years back.
Valarie and I were at the Roxy Theater to see singer/songwriter Nellie McKay (last name pronounced mckie with a long "i") when a drunken audience member began talking to Ms. McKay in a rather infatuated manner. Nellie was wearing a powder-blue prom dress and the inebriated man apparently found her a vision of dream woman loveliness. About the same outcome as the Egyptian Theatre incident occurred (it took several minutes for the Roxy staff to get their act together and eject the audience member), but without any violence and audience members playing at being vigilante security.
A similarity in reactions to the two incidents: people either sat in frozen discomfort (commonplace in L.A.--where folks with abundant money don't want to risk alteration of their safe lives by encounters with random craziness) or actively hooted and yelled for the person to be thrown out NOW!!!
All one can do is to be thankful that the Egyptian attendee didn't brandish a weapon like the man who killed the former manager of the Silent Movie Theatre (at a screening of SUNRISE more than a decade ago) and then ran through the audience before exiting the building (the murderer was later apprehended by authorities).
Friday, September 10, 2010
Roger and Chaz Ebert revive AT THE MOVIES with new hosts.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/pages-for-twitter/roger-ebert-presents-at-the-moe.html
It's good to read that Roger Ebert has resurrected AT THE MOVIES--to air on PBS in January. As for the on-air talent: Christy Lemire of the Associated Press is less glib than Richard Roeper, but still mainstream-movie-friendly. Elvis Mitchell (known both for his print career and NPR hosting) is a welcome idiosyncratic choice to fill the other chair.
At the very least, it will be a vast improvement on the Ben Lyons/Ben Mankiewicz version of AT THE MOVIES. Hoping there will also be room for A.O. (Tony) Scott and Michael Phillips to revive their recently-canceled-by-Disney double act.
It's good to read that Roger Ebert has resurrected AT THE MOVIES--to air on PBS in January. As for the on-air talent: Christy Lemire of the Associated Press is less glib than Richard Roeper, but still mainstream-movie-friendly. Elvis Mitchell (known both for his print career and NPR hosting) is a welcome idiosyncratic choice to fill the other chair.
At the very least, it will be a vast improvement on the Ben Lyons/Ben Mankiewicz version of AT THE MOVIES. Hoping there will also be room for A.O. (Tony) Scott and Michael Phillips to revive their recently-canceled-by-Disney double act.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Scenes from a literary marriage: James Ellroy, Helen Knode and THE HILLIKER CURSE.
I haven't read enough of the work of crime novelist auteur James Ellroy. But I speedread through part of Ellroy's latest venture into autobiographic memoir THE HILLIKER CURSE. Unfortunately, it reminded me of a GQ/ESQUIRE article bloated into book form so Ellroy could make quick-and-easy cash waving around his "this is it, hepcats" public persona one more time.
The portion of HILLIKER (premise/hook: Ellroy's mother's mysterious violent death colors Ellroy's relations with women thereafter) I read covered the marriage of Ellroy to the LA WEEKLY film reviewer/liberal provocateur Helen Knode. Knode, in her own way, has.had the same kind of grandstanding persona as Ellroy; her film reviews often positioned her as the scourge of mainstream Hollywood sexism, while occasional WEEKLY here's-my-life columns rhapsodized on subjects such as the young Helen enjoying carnal delights in bathtubs with Frenchmen.
So, Ellroy and Knode met, made love and married. Knode found herself putting much of her writing career (one novel called THE TICKET OUT excepted) on hold while Ellroy zoomed to megafame with the film adaptation of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL plus the writing of AMERICAN TABLOID and THE COLD SIX THOUSAND (not to mention his original memoir re the death of his mother, the still-worth-reading MY DARK PLACES). And the marriage which started out as a hipster-meets-Reaganite variation of Scott-and-Zelda ended up dissolving in an ANNIE HALL manner (with Ellroy closing himself off mentally--and ultimately physically--from Knode; HILLIKER exemplifies this distance by recounting Ellroy's in-the-mind infatuation with opera star Anne Sofie Von Otter).
There could have been a great DOUBLE FANTASY-esque book with alternating chapters written by both Ellroy and Knode examining a loving but competitive-and-ultimately-doomed marriage between two literary stars of varying wattage.
And it's regrettable, to put it mildly, that Ellroy couldn't have given Helen Knode a chance to tell her side of their story (and participate in the royalties as well).
The portion of HILLIKER (premise/hook: Ellroy's mother's mysterious violent death colors Ellroy's relations with women thereafter) I read covered the marriage of Ellroy to the LA WEEKLY film reviewer/liberal provocateur Helen Knode. Knode, in her own way, has.had the same kind of grandstanding persona as Ellroy; her film reviews often positioned her as the scourge of mainstream Hollywood sexism, while occasional WEEKLY here's-my-life columns rhapsodized on subjects such as the young Helen enjoying carnal delights in bathtubs with Frenchmen.
So, Ellroy and Knode met, made love and married. Knode found herself putting much of her writing career (one novel called THE TICKET OUT excepted) on hold while Ellroy zoomed to megafame with the film adaptation of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL plus the writing of AMERICAN TABLOID and THE COLD SIX THOUSAND (not to mention his original memoir re the death of his mother, the still-worth-reading MY DARK PLACES). And the marriage which started out as a hipster-meets-Reaganite variation of Scott-and-Zelda ended up dissolving in an ANNIE HALL manner (with Ellroy closing himself off mentally--and ultimately physically--from Knode; HILLIKER exemplifies this distance by recounting Ellroy's in-the-mind infatuation with opera star Anne Sofie Von Otter).
There could have been a great DOUBLE FANTASY-esque book with alternating chapters written by both Ellroy and Knode examining a loving but competitive-and-ultimately-doomed marriage between two literary stars of varying wattage.
And it's regrettable, to put it mildly, that Ellroy couldn't have given Helen Knode a chance to tell her side of their story (and participate in the royalties as well).
Re Chinese comic being silenced by Chinese government.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-comedian-20100909,0,2359397.story
Key passage (with highlighting by me): "He says things nobody else would dare to say, especially in the entertainment industry," said Pu Zhiqiang, a lawyer who has criticized Guo's treatment on Twitter. "The government was looking for an excuse to teach him a lesson, to say, 'You should be flattering the government instead of criticizing.'"
Sounds to me like certain portions of the SoCal poetry community.
Key passage (with highlighting by me): "He says things nobody else would dare to say, especially in the entertainment industry," said Pu Zhiqiang, a lawyer who has criticized Guo's treatment on Twitter. "The government was looking for an excuse to teach him a lesson, to say, 'You should be flattering the government instead of criticizing.'"
Sounds to me like certain portions of the SoCal poetry community.
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