When I woke up this morning, KABC-TV in Los Angeles seemingly couldn't mention any Tony Curtis starring/co-starring films except for SOME LIKE IT HOT (likely to be remembered forever because of Marilyn Monroe). But Curtis had plenty of memorable films on his resume (mentioning the ones I've seen): THE VIKINGS, OPERATION PETTICOAT, THE DEFIANT ONES, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, SPARTACUS, THE GREAT RACE, THE BOSTON STRANGLER, THE LAST TYCOON.
And post-superstardom, Curtis was a regular on TV series including THE PERSUADER (teamed with a post-SAINT, pre-Bond Roger Moore), McCOY and VEGAS.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
RIP film and stage director Arthur Penn.
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2010/09/penns_end.php
I remember seeing Arthur Penn once around 1989 at the Telluride Film Festival; Penn and Penn & Teller were there to promote the film PENN AND TELLER GET KILLED. All three were, if memory is correct, on an outdoor panel where Arthur Penn was on the end of a brief tongue-lashing from a local Telluride woman (decidedly not a festival-goer) intent on using him as a punching bag for her disdain for Hollywood and its filmed product, which she apparently found values-deficient.
Certainly, THE MIRACLE WORKER, BONNIE AND CLYDE, THE LEFT HANDED GUN, THE CHASE, ALICE'S RESTAURANT (haven't seen it, but should ), LITTLE BIG MAN and NIGHT MOVES form the cornerstone of Penn's reputation as a film director. MICKEY ONE (Penn's first collaboration with Warren Beatty) and THE MISSOURI BREAKS (Penn's second time working with Marlon Brando--who, from his performance, had a different film in mind) are watchable, idiosyncratic misfires.
And, as Mr. Wells mentions in his HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE post, Penn was out of cinematic fashion by 1981. Two of his later films (TARGET and DEAD OF WINTER) were genre thriller stuff that could have been made by just about anyone.
But Penn had a good run from THE LEFT HANDED GUN through MISSOURI BREAKS and deserves posthumous attention from younger generations of film enthusiasts.
I remember seeing Arthur Penn once around 1989 at the Telluride Film Festival; Penn and Penn & Teller were there to promote the film PENN AND TELLER GET KILLED. All three were, if memory is correct, on an outdoor panel where Arthur Penn was on the end of a brief tongue-lashing from a local Telluride woman (decidedly not a festival-goer) intent on using him as a punching bag for her disdain for Hollywood and its filmed product, which she apparently found values-deficient.
Certainly, THE MIRACLE WORKER, BONNIE AND CLYDE, THE LEFT HANDED GUN, THE CHASE, ALICE'S RESTAURANT (haven't seen it, but should ), LITTLE BIG MAN and NIGHT MOVES form the cornerstone of Penn's reputation as a film director. MICKEY ONE (Penn's first collaboration with Warren Beatty) and THE MISSOURI BREAKS (Penn's second time working with Marlon Brando--who, from his performance, had a different film in mind) are watchable, idiosyncratic misfires.
And, as Mr. Wells mentions in his HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE post, Penn was out of cinematic fashion by 1981. Two of his later films (TARGET and DEAD OF WINTER) were genre thriller stuff that could have been made by just about anyone.
But Penn had a good run from THE LEFT HANDED GUN through MISSOURI BREAKS and deserves posthumous attention from younger generations of film enthusiasts.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Contestant Seth Caro of TOP CHEF: JUST DESSERTS--more reality TV theater of cruelty.
http://realitytvmagazine.sheknows.com/blog/2010/09/24/top-chef-just-desserts-who-is-seth-caro/
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2010/09/top-chef-just-desserts-raising-the-bar-for-pasty-chefs.html#comments
I'll let the LOS ANGELES TIMES commenters (names deleted) speak for themselves (with highlighting by me):
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2010/09/top-chef-just-desserts-raising-the-bar-for-pasty-chefs.html#comments
I'll let the LOS ANGELES TIMES commenters (names deleted) speak for themselves (with highlighting by me):
I feel that Seth emotional state is so fragile that he should have been sent home. I hope they are not keeping him on the show just to boost ratings. He need professional help
I think that Seth's talented but after last night, he's got to get it together and at least be nicer to his fellow contestants. His mother's health problems are serious but if he really wants to win, he needs to step up to the plate and change his attitude. I thought he should have been sent home, both because of his horrible behavior and bad dessert. God help us if he keeps acting this way.
First, I want to point out that the crybaby is not one of the gay men on the show, and that last week, the other "heterosexual man" Morgan acted like a five-year old during the judging. Seth, unfortunately, is way beyond the categories we have usually put Top Chef contestants in. His problems are in Real Housewife territory -- Kelly Bensimon crazy, for instance. At this point, I don't think Seth is there for his "talent" but for his meltdown potential, and I haven't decided whether this is a good thing for the show or an immense distraction for the usual plot arc.
If the judges have any sense, he'll be gone next week.
Friday, September 24, 2010
I became a poet for the wrong reasons.
Let's start with this true story:
I was a stand-in on a movie filming during the year of 1993.
One night, we were filming at an apartment building on Fountain and El Centro. In the first hour of work (while the apartment interior was being readied), the cinematographer came up to me and said:
"I had a dream about you. You were on the Santa Monica Pier wearing clown shoes."
He said it loud enough for other crew members to hear.
I couldn't do anything about what he said: I was scared of being fired on the spot. And I was making a decent enough amount of money as a SAG stand-in for the length of the shoot--so I kept very very quiet.
The other crew people said nothing; they kept doing their work so the first shot of the night could be filmed.
When the film shoot ended, I told myself that I didn't want to experience anything like that again. I didn't like being bullied and powerless and resolved to not take abuse from others without at least attempting to fight back.
Cut to five years later: I became involved in poetry because I liked the scene, a lot of the people and the opportunity for recognition if I was found to be "good enough" to be a featured poet at a venue (likely a coffeehouse or independent bookstore in those days).
But I didn't like egotism or bullying. And when other poets chose to regard me as "someone to f--- with", then I didn't hesitate to stand my ground and/or risk angering people by fighting back.
Needless to say, various spoken and unspoken varieties of punishment, ostracism, "it's your problem, don't bother me with it" and "we don't want you associating with us" resulted.
As far as poetry was concerned, I wrote the kind of (mostly narrative) verse I felt comfortable with. I didn't anticipate the death of most of the "most anyone can play" coffeehouse/independent bookstore scene (though I could see a decline beginning as early as 2002-03). And, like a lumbering triceratops, I haven't made the transition to academia-friendly, strongly form-and-image-conscious "there's no mistaking this for anything but a REAL poem" work.
Some people like the poetry I write--others (influential tastemakers included) don't. And I'm still a creature of 1998 who has essentially stopped going to certain readings where the spotlights shine on:
1. MFA/private-study/retreat-friendly high-minded verse
2. "Look at us, we're more hip and special than you are!" backscratching.
Obviously, I'm a wretched specimen who partially wanted the kind of star status I didn't receive in my lower-level work in the film/TV industry.
And maybe someday, I can adjust to merely being a bit player blessed with witnessing several really talented people--some still on the scene, some deceased--at their artistic peaks.
I was a stand-in on a movie filming during the year of 1993.
One night, we were filming at an apartment building on Fountain and El Centro. In the first hour of work (while the apartment interior was being readied), the cinematographer came up to me and said:
"I had a dream about you. You were on the Santa Monica Pier wearing clown shoes."
He said it loud enough for other crew members to hear.
I couldn't do anything about what he said: I was scared of being fired on the spot. And I was making a decent enough amount of money as a SAG stand-in for the length of the shoot--so I kept very very quiet.
The other crew people said nothing; they kept doing their work so the first shot of the night could be filmed.
When the film shoot ended, I told myself that I didn't want to experience anything like that again. I didn't like being bullied and powerless and resolved to not take abuse from others without at least attempting to fight back.
Cut to five years later: I became involved in poetry because I liked the scene, a lot of the people and the opportunity for recognition if I was found to be "good enough" to be a featured poet at a venue (likely a coffeehouse or independent bookstore in those days).
But I didn't like egotism or bullying. And when other poets chose to regard me as "someone to f--- with", then I didn't hesitate to stand my ground and/or risk angering people by fighting back.
Needless to say, various spoken and unspoken varieties of punishment, ostracism, "it's your problem, don't bother me with it" and "we don't want you associating with us" resulted.
As far as poetry was concerned, I wrote the kind of (mostly narrative) verse I felt comfortable with. I didn't anticipate the death of most of the "most anyone can play" coffeehouse/independent bookstore scene (though I could see a decline beginning as early as 2002-03). And, like a lumbering triceratops, I haven't made the transition to academia-friendly, strongly form-and-image-conscious "there's no mistaking this for anything but a REAL poem" work.
Some people like the poetry I write--others (influential tastemakers included) don't. And I'm still a creature of 1998 who has essentially stopped going to certain readings where the spotlights shine on:
1. MFA/private-study/retreat-friendly high-minded verse
2. "Look at us, we're more hip and special than you are!" backscratching.
Obviously, I'm a wretched specimen who partially wanted the kind of star status I didn't receive in my lower-level work in the film/TV industry.
And maybe someday, I can adjust to merely being a bit player blessed with witnessing several really talented people--some still on the scene, some deceased--at their artistic peaks.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Shedding tears for Denise DiNovi's current producing career.
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.
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.
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.
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