Pajama Guy

Keep It Simple, But Not Too Simple

2012-01-31T00:13:00.000-08:00

Happy 75th, Philip Glass, everyone's favorite mininamlist.

So It Went

2012-01-31T00:04:00.000-08:00

Been reading a lot of authors' bios lately. For instance, just finished And So It Goes, Charles J. Shields' life of Kurt Vonnegut. (Shields had the cooperation of his subject, but Vonnegut died almost as soon as he started). Like Joseph Heller, Vonnegut's WWII book simmered for many years until it came out and made him famous. His generation served in the war, and many big novelists made their name soon after, but Vonnegut, who landed in Europe and was captured almost immediately, wasn't sure how to write about his experiences as a POW, especially his time in Dresden, before and after it was firebombed.

Born in 1922, he was the youngest child of a successful German-American family from Indiana. They were hit hard by the Depression, however--his mother would commit suicide. His older brother Bernard was a brilliant scientist and the family in general looked down on something so "ornamental" as writing.

He attended Cornell for a couple years, where he studied science--as his family demanded--but enjoyed his work in journalism more. (He wrote pro-isoliationist editorials). Then America joined the war, and he was about to flunk out anyway, so he enlisted. After the war, he attended the University of Chicago--without receiving a degree--and then, with help from his brother, got work in General Electric's PR department out in Schenectady.

He got married, had kids, and spent his free time writing. It took a while to break into the market, but he had talent, and with help from certain editors who liked him (including an old acquaintance from Cornell) was soon selling regularly to the slicks. He did well enough to quit GE and move to where he thought a writer should be--Cape Cod.

He wrote short stories for a market that would soon dry up due to television. Meanwhile, he published five novels, including Player Piano, The Sirens Of Titan and Cat's Cradle, but none made a splash. He was also involved in other ventures, such as owning a SAAB dealership and working in theatre. When his sister and brother-in-law died, their kids came to live in the already packed Vonnegut household.

In the mid-1960s, he accepted a teaching post at the Iowa University Writers' Workshop, but things weren't looking up. He was in his forties, barely known as an author, and didn't seem to have any prospects. But things soon changed. His works were re-released by a new publisher and his easy-to-read, satirical style went over big with the 60s generation. And then he finally wrote his WWII novel, Slaughterhouse Five, and hit the big time.

The trouble with the bio is at this point the drama is mostly over. You have a lot of depressing facts about Vonnegut's troubles with the women in his life, with his children, and with the world in general. His public reputation--he often came across as a sweet, funny, middle-aged hippie--didn't always comport with the sometimes callous and querelous man he could be. But as a writer, after Slaughterhouse Five, he puts out one bestseller after another, so his need to make it is gone. And since Shields spends little time on Vonnegut's literary output, the second half of the book isn't nearly as compelling as the first.

Vonnegut was aware in later years that his reputation was falling. It seemed to pain him. At present, it's hard to say what his place is in American letters. He wrote some funny, smart and charming books, but they're fairly glib, don't have particularly deep characters, and are often shot through with simplistic politics. Still, they're read, and I'd guess he's got as good a chance of living on as any of his contemporaries.

Saul And Leo

2012-01-30T00:12:00.000-08:00

It happens to be the birthday of Saul Alinsky. He's been dead 40 years but it's amazing how often his name pops up, usually as an accusation. He was a community organizer who wrote Rules For Radicals, laying out his strategies to help the underclass, based on a lifetime of experience.

Very few Americans have heard of him, much less read his book, but that doesn't stop Newt Gingrich and others on the right from claiming he's Obama's guru. My attitude is so what? I have no doubt Obama and Hillary Clinton and others on the left know about Alinsky, and maybe even learned a few things from him, but it's not as if Obama's hiding what he believes. Of course he's trying to make his programs and tactics sound as good as he can, that's what everyone does, but his campaign is not some sort of Alinsky-based conspiracy.

This reminds me of nothing so much as the left attacking neocons not too long ago, and whenever they could dropping in the dreaded name of political philosopher Leo Strauss. It's true, some neocons were inspired by Strauss's teachings, but leftists exaggerated his power and malevolence so much that they turned him into Emperor Palpatine. Even if Strauss were as bad as they claimed, once again, so what? The politicians who might have been inspired by him ran and/or served publicly, and whatever ideas they had the public could decide about openly.

It's really as silly as someone accusing another politician of having read Machiavelli, or Lao Tsu. But certain names end up having a talismanic quality for partisans. Another recent example is the left obsessed by the Koch Brothers, whom they assume are not only bankrolling every right-wing cause, while the right believes George Soros is behind everything.

Early Returns

2012-01-30T00:10:00.000-08:00

The Directors Guild named Michel Hazanavicius director of the year for The Artist. Not a great choice. Yes, a silent film may be striking, but it didn't seem to me the direction was that well done, and some of the staging was downright awkward. I suppose this makes him the favorite for the Oscars.

He beat Woody Allen, David Fincher, Alexander Payne and Martin Scorsese. I'm not sure what Allen's doing here--his film seemed pretty lazily shot. Fincher's work as a director was more notable, though I'm not sure what it all adds up to. Payne's work didn't seem especially inspired. Scorsese's nomination I understand--Hugo showed plenty of visual and narrative imagination. Of course, I thought Terrence Malick should have won, but he wasn't even nominated.

The SAG awards are an even better predictor of the Oscars, since most Academy voters are actors. The sadly predictable award for supporting actor went to Christopher Plummer for Beginners. Just as predictable (but maybe not quite so sad), supporting actress went to Octavia Spencer in The Help.

Following that momentum, The Help's Viola Davis won the award for best actress. She probably didn't deserve it, but the competition wasn't that great. For best actor we get maybe the biggest surprise. Beating out George Clooney and Brad Pitt is Jean Dujardin for his pleasant if bland performance in The Artist. When he wins his Oscar, I wonder if he'll give his acceptance speech in English. (Or maybe he'll just dance.)

For ensemble, The Help once again won. That makes sense. They did a good job and except maybe for Bridesmaids, none of the other titles were as centered on the ensemble (if you can be centered on a group). There is no comparable Oscar, but this suggests The Help, which didn't get a director nomination, may still be in the running for Best Picture.

Contributing Editor

2012-01-29T00:06:00.000-08:00

I recently heard something on NPR about the effect of Citizens United on the 2012 campaign. (I probably don't need to tell you it was one of those pieces where the media says "hey, we enjoy more freedom of speech than anyone, but it's still important that the government require everyone else to shut the hell up.")

Anyway, the host introduced the piece by declaring the Court had said in the case that contributions were equivalent to free speech. No it didn't. If you want to create a movie or a book or an article telling the public your views on Hillary Clinton, that sounds like freedom of speech to me. If, somehow, the government is allowed to prevent you from putting out your opinion, then it's denying you your freedom of speech. Is it that hard to understand? Money isn't speech, speech is speech.

What's So Funny?

2012-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

I just watched an episode of Inside Comedy, where David Steinberg sits down with various comedians. There have been a number of shows with this sort of format, though it's a bit different in that we cut back and forth between the two interviews.

Steinberg created the show, and I suppose he's a good producer in that plenty of funny people probably know him and are willing to talk to him. (And those younger probably see him as an inspirational figure.) But as an interviewer he leaves something to be desired. The show I saw featured to greats, Don Rickles and Jerry Seinfeld. There are two strategies Steinberg might emply. Being a stand-up himself, perhaps he could go the extra distance and ask questions, as the title implies, from the inside. Get past the familiar anecdotes and penetrate a little more deeply into what makes something funny. Or he could just sit back and be a good audience--most comedians are self-starters, so just ask a question and let them go.

Instead, Steinberg (at least in the show I saw) too often treats this as if he's sitting down with some friends, and not putting on a show. He keeps interrupting with lines like "Yes" or "That's right" or "I agree." I'm sure it's how he feels, but it only gets in the way.

Still, Rickles and Seinfeld get off enough good lines that it's worth seeing. Other guests will include Mel Brooks, Larry David, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman and Martin Short. I guess as long as he's not required to pull something out of his guests, I can put up with Steinberg's occasional outburts.

No More Danger

2012-01-28T00:02:00.000-08:00

Dick Tufeld died earlier this week. He was one of the greatest announcers of the 20th century. If you watched TV from the 50s through the 80s there was a good chance you'd heard him.

The first time I heard his name was when he did his famous "This is Dick Tufeld speaking" sign-off on Albert Brooks' album Comedy Minus One. But his voice I'd been hearing for years, on Disney, on commercials...

and above all, on Lost In Space.

You Better Shop Around

2012-01-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

I was reading this Michael Wood essay on one of my favorite films, The Shop Around The Corner, in the London Review Of Books when I came across this:

The plot turns almost ugly when [Jimmy] Stewart [who plays the clerk Alfred Kralik] learns [the] identity [of co-star Margaret Sullavan who plays co-worker Klara Novak] but doesn’t give his away. He shows up for the rendezvous the timid correspondents have finally managed to arrange – it’s in a café; he wears a carnation, she carries a copy of Anna Karenina – and asks a friend to peer through the window for him and tell him what he sees. [....] This piece of immortal dialogue ensues. ‘If you don’t like Miss Novak, I can tell you right now you won’t like that girl.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because that girl is Miss Novak.’

If it seems unfair that Stewart should now be allowed to go into the café and bait Sullavan, she certainly repays him by getting so cross that he should be standing in the way of the man she’s waiting for.

I've heard other people claim Stewart is a little too mean to Sullavan, and spends the rest of the film toying with her before he reveals his true identity. But I think this misses the point of the well-wrought screenplay.

Here's the opening dialogue as they meet in the cafe:

Stewart: Hello, Miss Novak.
Sullavan: Good evening, Mr. Kralik.
Stewart: It's quite a coincidence. I had an appointment here, too. You haven't seen Mr. Pirovitch by chance?
Sullavan: No, no, I haven't.
Stewart: All right. Well, I think I'll wait. Do you mind if I sit down?
Sullvand: Yes, I do. You know, I have an appointment, too, Mr. Kralik.
Stewart: Oh, yes, I remember. Yes. My, your friend seems to be a little late.
Sullavan: And I'll thank you not to be sarcastic. I know you've had a bad day, and you feel very bitter. Still, that's no reason...
Stewart: Bitter? Me? About leaving Matuschek and Company? When I got home and sat at the phone...in five minutes I had what amounts to two offers.
Sullavan: I congratulate you. I wish you good luck.
Stewart: I see you're reading Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.
Sullavan: Yes, do you mind?
Stewart: No, no, I just didn't expect to meet you in a café...with Tolstoy, that's all. It's quite a surprise. I didn't know you cared for high literature.
Sullavan: There are many things you don't know about me, Mr. Kralik.
Stewart: Have you read Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky?
Sullavan: No, I haven't.
Stewart: I have. There are many things you don't know about me, Miss Novak. As a matter of fact...there might be a lot we don't know about each other. People seldom go to the trouble of scratching the surface of things...to find the inner truth.
Sullavan: I really wouldn't care to scratch your surface, Mr. Kralik...because I know exactly what I'd find. Instead of a heart, a handbag. Instead of a soul, a suitcase. And instead of an intellect, a cigarette lighter which doesn't work.
Stewart: That's very nicely put. Yes. Comparing my intellect with a cigarette lighter that doesn't work. Yeah, that's a very interesting mixture of poetry and meanness.
Sullavan: Meanness? Let me...
Stewart: Don't misunderstand me. I'm only trying to pay you a compliment.
Sullavan: Mr. Kralik, please! I told you I was expecting somebody.

The point of this scene (which goes on with more insults) is Stewart has been shocked to discover the pesky girl from the shop is actually the one with whom he's been corresponding. This was to be their big night, where they'd finally meet, though it was broken up a bit by Stewart getting fired. So Stewart is a little dismayed--he almost walks away, but decides to come back to see if he can make something of this fiasco. Down deep, he realizes this is the girl for him, and he's got to ease into it to not lose her. If he just comes in and announces guess what, I'm the guy you've been dreaming of for months, yet I'm also the guy at the workplace you can't stand, and who just got fired, she might not be able to take it. Going off on the wrong foot could lose a relationship Stewart understands is worth saving.

So he takes an oblique approach. First there are a few social amenities, followed by his putting her mind at ease about his job (even though he's lying--this is so they can talk more about their feelings and not about his misery, but also because if she were cruel while thinking he's fired her character would be unredeemable). Then he looks for a conversational gambit to allow him to break to her who he really is. Relatively soon, he hits on it--he'll use the fact she reads great literature to bring up the concept that people aren't always what you expect. This will allow him to gently explain that he's not what he seems on the surface. In fact, he's been corresponding with a wonderful woman for some time now, and they're falling in love. And what he seems to be back at the shop doesn't truly represent him. He knows the she is a wonderful person and he hopes that she can forgive how he's sometimes appeared and they can get under the surface and understand each other.

But almost before he starts he fails. She is understandably nervous and annoyed at Kralik. She has enough to put up with him at the shop, and now he's bugging her here, on this biggest of all nights? Kralik is somewhat aware of this, but he's got to broach the subject somehow. However, as soon as he offers her an opening to talk about how people may fool you, her annoyance flares up and she starts insulting him. Very quickly they've reached the point of no return. She ends up calling him an "insignificant little clerk," and Kralik--who still believes he's fired--realizes now is not the time to reveal himself. He now adapts a long-term strategy, where he'll bide his time, write a few more letters, and finally destroy her illusions about her pen pal as he introduces himself back into her life.

Altogether, it's an exquisitely written roundelay, keeping the lovers apart yet allowing them to get back together. I don't think playing it another way would work.

PS Here's a nice article dealing with the above scene (comparing it to the same moment in You've Got Mail) and here's a pretty cool analysis of Jimmy Stewart in the movie overall.

Anne's Ayn

2012-01-27T00:21:00.000-08:00

I just read Anne Heller's Ayn Rand And The World She Made. It's probably the best book about Rand--but then, it's one of the few books written about her from the outside. (An objective book about the first Objectivist.) Heller appreciates her accomplishments, but isn't an acolyte, and didn't even read Rand's novels until she was in her forties. She also offers a good balance of biography and literary analysis.

So many not in sympathy with Rand treat her as an oddity, or a monster, but Heller gives Rand her due. Heller conjures up a women who must have been quite magnetic in person--not only did she gather a circle, she also charmed quite a few people who didn't agree with her politics. She had talent, insight, high intelligence and an astonishing work ethic. (Rand wrote about the importance of money, but it was never her central motivation.) Even if she wasn't a first-class writer, she created indelible characters, sturdy plots and fascinating set pieces that make her work live while so much that was highly regarded in her day is forgotten.

But Heller doesn't (couldn't) ignore the dark side. Rand had a temper and seemed incapable of blaming herself for anything--sooner or later, she'd fall out with almost everyone she cared about. And as she became more successful, she became more absolutist--a dangerous stance in any case, but especially when you espouse the value of selfishness. Rand also started taking credit for everything in her life, forgetting all the friends and influences that got her to where she was.

In a way it's a sad life. Yet, you can understand how whatever it is that drove Rand to be impossible also drove her to create the work for which she'll be remembered.

Ruled By Randomness

2012-01-27T00:11:00.000-08:00

Touch is the new Fox drama from Tim Kring, who created Heroes. Heroes started out fun before falling apart, but Touch isn't fun right from the start.

Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Martin Bohm, whose wife died in 9/11 and whose son Jacob is troubled--he doesn't talk, doesn't like to be touched, but is fascinated by numbers. He seems autistic, but according to Professor DeWitt, played by Danny Glover, Jacob is just the next evolutionary step who sees so far beyond us that he needn't waste him time with language. Maybe, but since everyone else is still talking, it'd sure be a lot easier if he'd tell his father what he wants, rather than scribble a lot of numbers that are supposed to mean something.

That's the sci-fi concept that I guess Kring sold the show on. The boy sees connection we can't. (Troubled people with amazing powers, especially in math, are pretty commonplace in movies and TV shows, actually.) But the pilot was ridiculous. The big number was 318, and it just kept showing up everywhere. We had enough with mystical number in Lost, but at least there Jacob was arguably behind it. But here, we've just got to trust that the universe offers all these connections that we're blind to, even though such numerical coincidences (318 is an address, a bus number, a time etc.), as far as I can tell, aren't meaningful in real life.

There are many more connections in the show. Sutherland was connected in a bunch of different ways to the fireman played by Titus Welliver (MIB in Lost)--Bohm runs into him early on (where the son and Titus both know the winning lottery number, which ties into some 9/11 numerology), as a fireman he was the guy who failed to save Bohm's wife and needs to call him now that he's won the lottery, and the two are meant to fight over a rare pay phone at 3:18. But that's just the beginning--before we're done, there are a bunch of lovely coincidences with characters in Iraq, Ireland and Japan. By the end of the pilot, even Gugu Mbatha-Raw as lovely social worker Clea Hopkins, who temporarily took the boy away until he gives out her mother's phone number using popcorn, recognizes how amazing the child is.

So that's what we have to look forward to each week? The boy will write some numbers down which Kiefer et al will have to interpret, and if they do it right a bunch of amazing coincidences will occur? Doesn't sound like fun to me. It's okay in a story if someone or something is ultimately revealed pulling all the strings, but drama still needs some room to breathe. A show where what would otherwise be random is actually nothing but a series of predictable and convenient coincidences takes all the fun (and free will) out of everything. And having it be a kid who knows everything, yet can only cryptically tell us information to make sure the world runs smoothly (not unlike the machine in Person Of Importance, but at least that's mostly offstage and allows the other characters to determine the action) is too dreary to contemplate.

Its Not Called Bathrobe Guy

2012-01-26T07:36:00.000-08:00

The great Pajama Debate (as opposed to that silly one in Florida with the shrieking ninnies) continues.

Farhad Manjoo comes down squarely on the side of wearing Pajamas out and about- or I think so- I actually find the Slate tech-writer's articles tiresome and didn't finish it-he tends to have have other annoying opinions e.g. don't complain about internet ads that slow down your browser since ads are somehow good for us, embrace internet transparency since privacy is an over-rated sham, and Facebook is actually not evil.

Actually, I have found that "pajamas" have actually become more like regular clothes - ie. just flannel pants and T shirts (without the metal snaps, duckie designs or ridiculously open fly's as in the youthful days of yore) so it has had the effect of encouraging them to be more all around wear. I generally don't wear them outside the house except to get the paper or take out the garbage but I think I would probably be comfortable cavorting about in them if I had to.

However I draw the line at housecoats (do these exist anymore?) or bathrobes (sorry LA Guy).

Not So Easy

2012-01-26T00:11:00.000-08:00

I sometimes shop at the local Fresh & Easy grocery in Hollywood. They used to have this big station where they offered samples of their goods. Recently, they shut it down and now only fitfully give out free stuff. I never thought that's why I shopped there, but I have to admit, it's a bit out of the way and I now feel less likely to go.

I've often wondered how retailers figure out these things--are free samples worth the loss of product and employee time for the good will they gain? Instead, now F&E has got these "Friends" cards which earn you ponts if you shop there. This is the kind of promotion I hate, but is all too common. Special clubs that anyone can join, the intention of which is to make you more faithful to their brand.

Trader Joe's still has free samples and regular low prices that all can enjoy. Maybe I'll go there today.

Mighty Ochs

2012-01-26T00:10:00.000-08:00

I watched the American Masters documentary on Phil Ochs. The format was interesting in that there was no narration, just soundbites from those they interviewed to tell his story.

He was one of the better known protest singers in the folk movement of the early 60s. Dylan became the best known, but recognized it was a dead end and moved on. Ochs never really did. He moved beyond just a guitar and voice, but never dropped his politics, or his need to sing about them.

I wouldn't call him a great songwriter, or singer, but there's no question he had some talent, and even more commitment. It's interesting to hear a song like "Love Me, I'm A Liberal" today, when most politicians fear the term for sounding too left, while back then the New Left hated liberals for being so wishy-washy.

He spent his life fighting for causes. This may be noble (or does that depend on the cause?), but artistically you can only sing so many fingerpointing songs until it becomes tiresome. Who are you to judge everyone else all the time? And aren't you just preaching to the converted, the self-satisfied crowd who attend your concerts to hear their favorite targets attacked? Maybe liberal Tom Lehrer had a point:

The Boss Of Bossa Nova

2012-01-25T00:12:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Antonio Carlos Jobim. A lot of people who haven't heard of him have probably heard his music. Get ready to feel mellow.

The Big Day

2012-01-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

There was an important event that had Americans glued to their sets yesterday. I'm talking about the Oscar nominations, of course. Let's go over the big ones:

BEST PICTURE
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
"The Help"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"Moneyball"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Only nine. They could have had ten. Some are suggesting the last Harry Potter might have fit. What's with Extremely Loud? The critics hated it and it's not a hit. Most of the others were not unexpected, though at present I'd say there's no clear frontrunner. I guess it's most likely between The Artist, The Descendants and The Help, even though Hugo got the most nominations overall, which is generally the best single predictor.

LEAD ACTOR
Demián Bichir, "A Better Life"
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy "
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

A couple major surpriseds here. No one saw the Bichir film, and Oldman, not doing much in an incomprehensible film, is a shock. Experts were expecting names like Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling or Leonardo DiCaprio. Could be an interesting three-way battle between old friends Clooney and Pitt and newcomer (to the Oscars) Dujardin.

LEAD ACTRESS
Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Rooney Mara, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

Some surprises here, though maybe it's due to lack of competition. I avoided Nobbs because the reviews were bad, but Oscar favorite Close still got the nod. Then there's Streep, doing a decent job in an uninspired movie, getting her annual nomination. I didn't think Mara was that good, but I guess it was memorable. (Apparently more memorable that Tilda Swinton this year.) Viola Davis was expected (she's a new Academy favorite), even if her role could arguably be called supporting. I think Michelle Williams (another new Academy favorite) has the best shot.

BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"

Good to see Malick here. Tree is certainly a director's film, though with no acting or writing nods, I don't see him taking it. Hollywood hater Allen gets another notch in his belt--is this the Academy's battered wife syndrome? Scorsese did a lively job with Hugo, though I suspect the battle is between Hazanavicius and Payne (both with overrated movies).

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh, "My Week with Marilyn"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Max von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Generally the best category, this year features a highly unimpressive group. The only one that really rises above would be Jonah Hill (in his "before" days). Too bad Christopher Plummer will probably win. Some were surprised there's no Albert Brooks, but not me. The Academy wanted nothing to do with Drive. A few people expected Patton Oswalt to sneak in here, but there was no love anywhere for Young Adult.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Bérénice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

This is the category of the year. It's great to see Chastain, even though her best work was in Tree Of Life. Bejo didn't do much (and wasn't she the lead?), but they love The Artist. McCarthy almost stole the film in the kind of role that defines this category. McTeer apparently stole Nobbs from Close (playing another woman as a man--maybe she's more convincing). I expect the winner will be Octavia Spencer since her role was the most memorable in The Help. The question is will Chastain siphon off votes. I think the most disappointed person in Hollywood yesterday was Shailene Woodley of The Descendants.

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
"The Descendants," Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
"Hugo," John Logan
"The Ides of March," George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
"Moneyball," Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

Usually adapted screenplay is the better screenplay category, but what a motley collection. From lame (Ides Of March) to dull (Descendants) to impossible to understand (Tinker Tailor) to not so much a story as a visual feast (Hugo).

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
"The Artist," Michel Hazanavicius
"Bridesmaids," Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
"Margin Call," J.C. Chandor
"Midnight in Paris," Woody Allen
"A Separation," Asghar Farhadi

I'm sure Chandor, Farhadi, Mumolo and Wiig are all surprised and pleased. And interesting to see a screenplay with no dialogue get in. Then there's the tiresome choice of Woody Allen.

PS Here's Hitler's reaction:

Short Note

2012-01-24T00:02:00.000-08:00

Jesse Walker has no top ten for 1921 because he hasn't seen enough films from that year. Fair enough, but if he were into comedy shorts (and Chaplin) it might not have been that hard.

Jesse mentions The High Sign, which is fine Keaton (though he put it on the shelf because he didn't think it was good enough to be his first release), but in 1921 Keaton released a short every two months, and they're all great: Hard Luck (Keaton's personal favorite, and thought lost for decades), The Haunted House, The Goat (my personal favorite), The Playhouse (famous for multiple Keatons) and The Boat (sometimes called his greatest short).

Harold Lloyd, who'd recovered from losing a few fingers, was making his last shorts in 1921. There's Now Or Never, Among Those Present, I Do and what I think is his best short, Never Weaken. He also made A Sailor-Made Man, which started as a short but was working so well they didn't want to cut it so became his first feature.

Then there's Chaplin, who made a short and a feature: The Idle Class and his classic The Kid.

Then there are other big names from the era. 1921 was the year Rudolph Valentino became a star with The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse and The Sheik. Mary Pickford made a few films, including Little Lord Fauntleroy. Douglas Fairbanks made a couple including his classic Three Musketeers. Griffith made Orphans Of The Storm while DeMille made The Affairs Of Anatol. There's also Tol'able David and Brewster's Millions. I admit these features aren't as commonly shown as Chaplin, Keaton or Lloyd, but they're out there.

Who's Bad?

2012-01-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

In the comments to a recent post about Newt Gingrich, there's been a discussion of how much character should matter in voting for candidates. I say very little.

First, I don't believe personal character tells you much about how someone will serve. There are plenty of people who personally connive, sometimes even going over the line, but who otherwise are very effective leaders. In any case, someone who has personal failings but supports programs I do is far preferable to someone simon pure who supports horrendous programs. I don't vote people into office as a reward for their morality--in rewarding them, I'm punishing myself.

Is it possible for someone's private morality to fall so short that the candidate would lose my vote? I suppose, but it'd have to be pretty bad--say, murder or child molesting. (Or rape, you say? Some believe we already had a rapist as president.) Lesser infractions, especially if they're safely in the past, don't bother me nearly so much. Other failings--drug use or affairs--probably wouldn't change my vote. (If anyone who ever had an affair or illegally used drugs couldn't run for office, a lot of ballots would be empty.)

Then there's public morality--has a politician abused the public trust in the past. Once again, this doesn't bother me too much. Blago was a rotten governor because of how he ran things, not because, like so many Illinois politicians in the past, thought he could use his power to get a little something extra. In fact, legal bribery is what politics (unfortunately) is all about--"give me money and vote for me and when I'm in office I'll use my power to return it all back to you and more." And then when they leave office, they make millions legally selling their influence. In light of this, I can't get too excited about minor corruption from a politician who does a good job otherwise.

Second, we don't really know the character of candidates. When it comes to issues, we can easily see their differences, since we have their political records, and direct statements on where they stand. But when it comes to character, they're all trying to convince us they're good people (and no doubt believe it). The one who wins the character contest may then be the one who hides his past and his personal life the best.

Third, character is really a partisan issue. It's always the other guy who lacks character, and the other side that's involved in so many scandals. Our side is the good guys--we're unfairly attacked and misunderstood.

Finally, the character issue is a waste of time. It's a smokescreen that prevents actual discussion of issues, which, after all, is what will matter once the winner takes office.

Character can matter in a roundabout way, in that you don't necessarily want to nominate a candidate with character questions since other voters may be turned off. So perhaps Republican voters can't ignore Newt Gingrich's personal life, as it will come up in a general election. But that doesn't mean it'll make him a worse (or better) President.

Just Jazz?

2012-01-23T00:11:00.000-08:00

Django Reinhardt was born 102 years ago today. When he was 18, a fire destroyed his ability to use his left hand's ring finger and pinky, but that didn't stop him from being the greatest guitarist in the world of jazz.

Depressing

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

Jesse Walker is near or at the end of his movie lists, since he's now doing 1931. By this year, Hollywood had firmly made the transition to sound and we're starting to establish new stars, but what's fun is they haven't figured out all the cliches yet, so you get some weird stuff too. (Profits were also dropping considerably due to the Depression.) Meanwhile, there was some interesting work going on in Europe.

Right off the bat I figured he wouldn't list Cimarron. It won the Oscar then, but not too many people think time has treated it well. So what did he pick?

1. Bimbo's Initiation
2. Monkey Business
3. M
4. Le Million
5. La Chienne
6. Frankenstein
7. À Nous la Liberté
8. The Smiling Lieutenant
9. The Threepenny Opera
10. Night Nurse

I have two quibbles. First, and Jesse knows this already, I don't see the point in putting shorts on these lists. As much as I love Fleischer's Bimbo cartoons, they're just not the same thing as a feature. Second, once you add shorts, you open up the floodgates. In addition to Fleischer, you've got Disney putting out a new short every two weeks, most of which are pretty cool, not to mention a new Laurel & Hardy almost every month (including Beau Hunks--practically a feature--not to mention Pardon Us, an actual feature).

My other quibble, which I'll get into later, is what's missing. As for the films, I like them all.

Monkey Business. What can I say? The Marx Brothers made five films in five years for Paramount, and all of them are among the greatest comedies ever.

M may be Lang's greatest. Some find Clair a little precious, but at his best, such as in Le Million and A Nous La Liberte, he's quite charmikng. La Chienne shows Renoir, even in the early days of sound, is something special. (On Purge Bebe is also fascinating to see him making a purely commercial work.)

There's nothing quite like the early Universal horror titles, such as Frankenstein, and James Whale was their greatest stylist. There's also nothing like the early Lubitsch musicals, such as The Smiling Lieutenant (though I often wish they had better tunes). Speaking of musicals, there's also The Threepenny Opera, which may not be up to Pabst's best silent films, but still hold sup.

And Night Nurse is one of those pre-Code Warner Brothers films that's so delirious that sometimes your can't believe your eyes.

Unfortunately (and oddly, seems to me), Jesse doesn't have a full list for honorable mentions, but notes Platinum Blonde and another Flescher cartoon. He also hasn't seen The Criminal Code, which I'm definitely a fan of.

But there are plenty of features he might consider. He doesn't have to like every one, but what about:

Blonde Crazy

Caught Plastered

Cracked Nuts

Dishonored

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dracula (English and Spanish version)

Flying High

The Front Page

Little Caesar

The Maltese Falcon (dry run for the 1941 version)

The Public Enemy

On top of all these choices, there are two that should definitely make the list.

There's Tabu, the last film Murnau made before dying in a car crash.

Then there's one of the greatest films ever, the one that should probably top the list. Jesse knows what I'm about to write, and I know why he didn't put it up there. It's Chaplin's City Lights. He was still making silent films in 1931, and it's as great as anything he ever did. Yes, it's got sentimental scenes, but they're handled well, and, more important, most of it is hilarious. For some reason, Jesse is one of those people who doesn't quite cotton to Chaplin. I realize these people exist, but I don't get it.

Other films of note: An American Tragedy, Arrowsmith, The Champ, Connecticut Yankee, Delicious, Dirigible, Dreyfus, Five Star Final, A Free Soul, The Guardsman, Marius, Mata Hari, The Miracle Woman, Parlor, Bedroom and Bath, Private Lives, Sidewalks of New York, The Sin of Madelon Claudet, Skippy, Strictly Dishonorable, Susan Lenox, Svengali, Trader Horn

Double Triple

2012-01-22T00:28:00.000-08:00

There's a scrabble site I check out regularly, where they draw letters and have visitors send in the biggest point play possible (which is sometimes incredibly stupid--they'll throw way an S for an extra point) on the ever-changing board. They update twice a day, at 9 am and 9 pm PST.

Right now the rack holds DOTCMEE (though it may be gone before you read this). Nothing too special. Certainy can't get a bingo. But on the board, we've got a lonely P on the top row sitting on the double letter score. So what this amounts to is:

Triple Word Score, space, space, P, space, space, space, Triple Word Score.

Is everyone thinking what I'm thinking? Yep, that's right, COMPETED fits right in there. C is three points, O one point, M three points, P three points (too bad we can't use the double letter score), E one point, T one point, E one point, D two points. That adds up to fifteen points. Multiply by a triple word score then by another triple word score and you get 135 point. Plust 50 for the bingo and you end up with 185 points! An amazing score by any measure, and actually the highest this site has seen in all its years.

Yeah, I know it's a nerdy thing to care about, but little things like this can make your day.

Oh Lord

2012-01-22T00:14:00.000-08:00

Some songwriters claim the songs are already out there, they're just channeling them. A bit too mystical for me, but I've always been fascinated by how poets can fashion words in such a way that they can't be forgotten, as if they were always meant to be in that order.

It's Lord Byron's birthday, so let's use a famous example of his:

Ray Of Light

2012-01-22T00:10:00.000-08:00

I just read Patrick McGilligan's biography Nicholas Ray: The Glorious Failure Of An American Director. It's sort of a sad life, filled with doomed marriages and affairs, drug and alcohol binges, and what amounts to a failed film career.

Ray, born in Wisconsin in 1911, was mentored by people like Thornton Wilder, Frank Lloyd Wright, Elia Kazan and John Houseman before he found his calling as a film director in the late 40s. He was considered an "arty" director, and didn't always get along with the studio brass. That along with personal problems amounted to a Hollywood career that lasted about fifteen years.

During that time, he made a fair amount of memorable films, even though he sometimes had to fight his lead actors, and didn't always have full control: They Live By Night, In A Lonely Place, Flying Leathernecks, Johnny Guitar, Rebel Without A Cause (his only major hit), Bigger Than Life. I'm not sure if I'd call any of them great, but there's no question Ray had a style (that often goes too far). He was somewhat appreciated in his day--the French went wild for him--but when he left Hollywood I don't think too many felt it was a big loss.

He kicked around his last couple decades, sometimes teaching. He spent some time with SUNY students working on an "arty," definitely non-commercial film entitled We Can't Go Home Again. Ray died in 1979. Many of his films have become cult favorites, and Rebel still represents a moment in time like few others For a guy who never really fit in, he could have done a lot worse.

Nutty

2012-01-21T00:15:00.000-08:00

Is it Squirrel Appreciation Day already?

South Carolina: Second Comeback

2012-01-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

Fascinating. After having been written off a second time, Newt Gingrich is making another comeback. According to the most recent polls, he seems to be the favorite to win in South Carolina. His recent rise isn't that mysterious. There's still a lot of anti-Romney feeling among conservatives and the main question is which candidate will it coalesce behind. You'd probably think Santoru--especially now that Perry is out of the race--but Gingrich hit it out of the park in the last two debates. Conservatives hate the media, and Gingrich attacked the media. Conservatives are tired of being called racist, and Gingrich defended them. And he did it with some panache.

Let's assume Gingrich wins and Santorum drops out. Would that be enough to give him a decent chance of taking down Romney? I'd guess not. Romney is still better organized and funded, and there are enough Republicans who want to win in November and figure Newt's general unpopularity would prevent that. For that matter, the kind of stuff that plays well in debates now will probably hurt him against Obama (by making him look angry, petty and perhaps hypocritical while Obama seems farsighted and above it all).

But if he does win, at least it'll make the campaign more fun.

Sez You

2012-01-20T00:16:00.000-08:00

I just read Gary Wills Rome And Rhetoric, his looks at Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar--how Shakespeare creates the characters and their rhetoric, versus what he know about them from Plutarch.

It's an erudite book (actually taken from the Anthony Hecht lectures at Bard that has some different takes on the play. For instance, though it's called Julius Caesar, the big parts are Brutus, Cassius and Antony. Yet in the original production, Burbage played the title role. Wills suggests two things--that Burbage had huge roles in the other plays that season, so he needed to take it easy, but also that Caesar (played by an actor who also probably took on Cicero--they doubled parts then, which also explains why certain characters don't appear at the same time), as opposed to how he's often interpreted today, must maintain a certain dignity and power, so his ghost will haunt the rest of the action after his death.

Wills looks at Brutus's big speech, which is generally considered a decent piece of rhetoric that's completely overshone by Antony's. Wills claims that Brutus overrelies on certain rhetorical devices--devices that ancient speakers warned against overusing--and worse, was unresponsive to the audience, relying (in a way that shows his character's flaw) on the crowd not doubting his honor as his justification. No wonder the wilier Antony easiliy turned things against him.

Shakespeare was hardly the only playwright of his time to write about the ancient world, but his humanity makes these portraits live above others. Ben Jonson's Catiline is a more learned work, and probably more historically accurate. But Shakespeare knew how to create living, breating characters, so his work is not only the one we remember, but the one that helps us conjure up, fairly or not, what ancient Rome may have been like.

David's World

2012-01-20T00:11:00.000-08:00

David Lynch turns 66 today. He's a great director, but considering how unconventional his approach is, it's amazing he's had a career at all.

I noticed him with his first feature, Eraserhead. The original funders thought he was making a short, but his visual style played longer onscreen than on the page. It took years to complete and introduced a lot of themes and stylistic quirks he'd revisit throughout his career. It's a film of no known genre. In many ways, he's never topped it.

It was not well-reviewed in the trades, but became big in midnight showings. It also caught the attention of Mel Brooks, who helped Lynch get a big job directing The Elephant Man. (Word is Stanley Kubrick got his own copy of Eraserhead and screened it regularly)

The Elephant Man did decent business and Lynch was nominated for an Oscar. He also got a shot at something really big--Dune. The result is generally considered a disaster, and Lynch himself swore he'd never work again without complete control. But producer Dino De Laurentis also funded Blue Velvet, which received rapturous reviews and still packs a wallop. (I could show you a scene, but I'd rather show Roger Ebert getting angry about it.)

Lynch moved into TV, producing Twin Peaks, which was the coolest show on the air for a short period before it fell apart, both in popularity and plot. He continued making films, some winning awards, some even making their money back (eventually)--not only the bizarre Twin Peaks movie, but Wild At Heart (Palme d'Or at Cannes), Lost Highway and The Straight Story (as the title suggests, his most straighforward, "normal" movie).

Then he worked on a TV pilot that didn't sell. He got some money to turn it into a feature, and the transformation was astounding. When I was waiting in line to see Mulholland Dr. someone drove by and shouted "that's the worst film I ever saw." I thought it was the best film of the year. Lynch does that to poeple.

PE Exercise

2012-01-19T00:20:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Phil Everly. He was the younger half of one of the best rock duos ever.

All That Traz

2012-01-19T00:02:00.000-08:00

I watched the first two hours of Alcatraz, the new series on Fox. The premise is when Alcatraz closed in 1963, the official story was a cover-up. What actually happened was the criminals there simply disappeared. Since then, there's been a task force run by former Alcatraz guard Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill) researching the situation and awaiting their return.

In the present, indefatigable detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) gets assigned to the murder of an old deputy warden at Alcatraz--turns out he was taken down by one of the old prisoners who has reappeared and is as young as he was in 1963. Madsen has another connection in that her grandfather was a guard at the prison (though she later finds out he was actually one of the more mysterious inmates). In doing research, she gets Alcatraz expert and comic book writer Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia) to help out. Eventually, she stumbles across the secret group Hauser is running and by the end she and Garcia join (though clearly Hauser and lovely co-worker Lucy Banerjee know a lot more than they're telling).

Madsen captures the guy and Hauser locks him up in a special new prison where all the old criminals are to be housed. And in the next hour, a new prisoner from '63 appears, causes mayhem, and is captured. But the big question remains--who is behind all this weirdness, and what do they want? (Probably Madsen's grandpa has something to do with it.)

The show has a lot of Lost people behind it, and you can tell from the structure. Not only is it a mix of action and the supernatural, but it has the flashback structure--with each new criminal, we get to see what they were like back in the Alcatraz days.

It's an odd premise and I'm not sure how far they can go with it. Each week they can capture another old/young imate, but just how different is this from any other cop show?--it's mostly criminal of the week, with some headway presumably made on the main mystery. It's also not clear just what Hauser's place is--he's mysterious and sometimes doesn't even seem to be the good guy. (Another Lost trope.)

Outside of Neill, none of the characters register strongly yet, except for Garcia. It's always nice to see Jorge, and here he stands in for the audience. He's the regular guy who keeps asking everyone why aren't you more amazed by this mindblowing situation. Unfortunately, while the situation might be bizarre, it's not yet gripping. I may check it out again, but I'm not sure how much more the show has to offer.

No Love for Blog in Caddo

2012-01-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

I feel we have a special obligation to object to this particular proposed nanny state law.

To the Parish Commissioner's slippery slope argument- "Is underwear next?" I can only hope so.

That Him, All Right

2012-01-18T00:18:00.000-08:00

Bobby Goldsboro was a big soft pop artist in the 60s and 70s, scoring a bunch of top 40 hits, hitting #1 with the lachrymose "Honey" in 1968. His first top ten song was "See The Funny Little Clown" in 1964, but how many remember the song that went to #74 later that year, the Bacharach/David composition "Me Japanese Boy, I Love You"? Anyway, happy birthday, Bobby.

The Year With THE Film

2012-01-18T00:11:00.001-08:00

Jesse Walker now presents his film list from 1941. I see it as the last year of the early talkie period. Yes, things had changed since the late 20s, but it was a time when all the studios were operating at their peak, just before the U.S. entered the war and everything changed. (Everything had already changed in Europe, of course.)

It's also the year when the title that wins every poll for the greatest film ever came out, Citizen Kane. Will Jesse put it up high?

To end the suspense, yes, it's number one. On the other hand, Jesse ignores the Oscar winner for the year, How Green Was My Valley. (I agree, though there are plenty of auteurists who wouldn't like that.)

Here's the list:

1. Citizen Kane
2. The Maltese Falcon
3. Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
4. The Sea Wolf
5. Meet John Doe
6. Hellzapoppin'
7. Lambeth Walk—Nazi Style
8. The Wolf Man
9. Ball of Fire
10. The Lady Eve

Pretty solid list, and just about all Hollywood.

It's hard to think of Citizen Kane as a regular film anymore, it's become so deified, but it should be somewhere in the top ten.

The Maltese Falcon I've always considered overrated, but it made Bogie a big star and is certainly a decent version of the novel after two weaker attempts. (I try to imagine how it would have come out if George Raft hadn't turned down the lead.)

The Fields film is great, and certainly surreal. It's the kind of thing that makes you wish the Marx Brothers had gone to Universal instead of MGM.

The Sea Wolf is a bit high here, but it certainly manages a menacing mood.

Meet John Doe is a troubled classic from Frank Capra. He didn't know how to end it and it shows. The Capra formula is straining a bit here, but it can still stand near his best.

Hellzapoppin' is an oddity among oddities. I only wish the whole film could be as bizarre as its first ten minutes. Of course, Hollywood would never allow that, as they must have known when the bought the property.

The Lambeth Walk is fun but as always I don't think shorts fit in these lists (except maybe the great comedy shorts in the silent days that competed with features for attention).

The Wolf Man is also a classic of its type, but not as special as the previous great titles in horror.

Ball Of Fire and Lady Eve had to be in the top ten. In fact, they should both be in the top five. Maybe the top two.

Here are his honorable mentions:

11. Sullivan's Travels
12. Suspicion
13. Tortoise Beats Hare
14. Dumbo
15. The Devil and Daniel Webster
16. Among the Living
17. Hold Back the Dawn
18. Ladies in Retirement
19. The Iron Crown
20. The Devil and Miss Jones

Sullivan's Travels plays as an unusual film today as much as it did seventy years ago (which is why it was not a hit), but Sturges pulled of something special, with dramatic peaks as well as comic.

Suspicion is often considered a compromised film, but it's one of my favorite Hitchcock's with one of my favorite Cary Grant performances (even though his co-star won the Oscar).

#13 is another short. Dumbo should be top ten--there's nothing like the early Disney animated features. Just the "Pink Elephants" number alone shows how Disney can outdo the surrealists at their own game, (1941 turned out to be a high point for Hollywood surrealism.)

The Devil And Daniel Webster is okay but not great. The Devil And Miss Jones, however, is an underappreciated gem (and a rare chance in early Hollywood to hear the Bill Of Rights defended). Hold Back The Dawn is Brackett and Wilder showing yet again (they also wrote Ball Of Fire) that they were the best screenwriting team around, in comedy or drama. The rest I haven't seen.

Other films that were highly regarded that year:

Sergeant York (the year's biggest hit and actually pretty good, but hasn't dated as well as other Hawks)

They Died With Their Boots On

A Yank In The RAF

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Babes On Broadway

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

High Sierra

The Little Foxes

Penny Serenade

That Hamilton Woman

Major Barbara

They Died With Their Boots On

Here are some films that might have made my list:

Man Hunt (worth it just to see Lang imagining Hitler being shot at)

Road To Zanzibar (not their best Road picture, but still pretty good)

You'll Never Get Rich (any decent Astaire musical tends to make my list, and this is his first with his favorite partner)

Other films of interest.

All Through the Night, Andy Hardy's Private Secretary, The Big Store (a sad example of what MGM was doing to the Marx Brothers, but it's still the Marx Brothers), The Black Cat, The Bride Came C.O.D., Buck Privates (here's the hot new team that would rule the 40s), Charley's Aunt, The Farmer's Wife, The Flame of New Orleans, Flying Blind, French Without Tears, Hold That Ghost, In the Navy, Kipps, Life Begins for Andy Hardy, Manpower (the story behind the film is better), Million Dollar Baby, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Mr. Bug Goes To Town (a fascinating glimpse at feature animation without Disney), Mysterious Island, Penny Serenade (one of two Cary Grant performances to be Oscar-nominated), Playmates, Shadow of the Thin Man (the first Thin Man to drop greatly in quality), The Strawberry Blonde, Sun Valley Serenade, That Hamilton Woman, That Uncertain Feeling (an odd Lubitsch in between his two greatest films), Tobacco Road, Tom, Dick and Harry, Two-Faced Woman (the film that made Garbo give up), Western Union (Lang in color), When Ladies Meet ,You're in the Army Now, Ziegfeld Girl

Film Year In Review--2011

2012-01-17T00:03:00.000-08:00

Time for my annual film wrap-up. Maybe I was just in a bad mood, but I thought 2011 was a weak year--even the stuff I liked I didn't like that much. Which is why I was so surprised when a lot of critics called it a great year. I don't see all the films they see, but I saw enough of the top-ranked titles to realize we have a difference of opinion.

For instance, I thought one film that won a lot of awards, The Descendants, was on the dull side. An even more crtically-esteemed movie, The Artist, I found as generic as its title. (It's so beloved that I'm afraid to attack it right up front, since people might stop reading.)

Still, there were some decent movies here and there--enough to make a top ten, anyway. But before we get to that, let me quickly go over how this works. I only discuss feature films released in theatres (or first made widely available in theatres) in 2011. No TV, no shorts. I'll give some awards, note some trends, categorize the films I saw and then list my top ten. But don't rush to the bottom, plenty of good stuff on the way.

And whether or not you agree with me--in fact, especially if you don't--feel free to leave a comment.

AWARDS:

Actor Of The Year: 2011 was unusual in that a lot of stars did decent work in more than one film. For example, George Clooney (The Descendants, Ides Of March), Ryan Gosling (Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, Ides Of March), Emma Stone (Crazy Stupid Love, The Help), Brad Pitt (The Tree Of Life, Moneyball) and Michael Fassbender (Jane Eyre, X-Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method). But for actor of the year it wasn't even close: Jessica Chastain. From her amazing work in The Tree Of Life--where she manages to be ethereal and earthy at the same time—to her more comic turn in The Help, to other accents, styles and genres in Take Shelter and The Debt, she showed amazing depth and range last year. I look forward to catching her in three film from 2011 I missed, Coriolanus, Wild Salome and Texas Killing Fields.

Most Pointless Remake: Arthur. The original worked because of the jokes and, to some extent, the cast, two things that can't be recaptured. It certainly didn't work because of its hoary plot, which is the one thing they kept.

Worst Title: Martha Marcy May Marlene. It's long, impossible to remember and means nothing.

Most Generic Title: The Dilemma. As has been noted, this could be the title to any film.

Most Descriptive Title: We Bought A Zoo. No doubt about it, they did.

Most Optimistic Title: Atlas Shrugged: Part 1

Most Ominous Title: Atlas Shrugged: Part 1

Most Impressive Shot: In The Green Hornet two people meet and then the frame turns into a split screen. They go their separate ways and we follow both in a continuous shot, and they continue to meet more people and split the screen more. I have no idea how it's done, except it has something to do with computers. Runner-up: Jake Gyllenhaal jumping from a moving train in Source Code–sure looked real. Second runner-up: A lengthy action sequence involving numerous characters and settings done in one shot in The Adventures Of Tintin which would be impossible in a live action film.

Worst Sequel: The Iron Lady. Nothing like Iron Man.

Best Ending: Tie: Red State, nice anticlimax. Martha Marcy May Marlene, nicely understated (though I wish the rest of the film were a bit more lively).

Worst Ending: The epilogue to Harry Potter—so after a whole bunch of books and movies leading up to a huge showdown, essentially nothing's changed. It was all a big waste of time. Runner-up: Tree Of Life, where Malick tries to pull it all together cosmically, but it doesn't work.

Most Politically Correct: In Captain America, the Cap works with a multi-ethnic team to fight Hitler. I can almost buy an African-American in the group, but I think there might have been a Japanese guy in there, too.

Best End Credits: Super 8—the film the kids shot is more entertaining than the film they're in.

Best Final Shot: Melancholia, which shows what it would look like if Earth smashed into another planet. Quite beautiful, actually. (And not a plot spoiler since the ending is revealed in the prologue.)

You Me And Dupree Award For A Film That While Nominally A Hollywood Comedy Is Actually A Surrealist Masterpiece, Where Plot Points Are Introduced And Dropped For No Reason, Where Dialogue Is Unrelated To The Action, And Where Characters Do Things That Bear No Resemblance To How Humans Act: Larry Crowne

Best Old-fashioned Crowd-pleaser: The Help

Best Movie With A Dinosaur In It: The Tree Of Life

Most Pointlessly Convoluted Plot: Sucker Punch. It's about a young woman put into a mental institution who's about to get an ugly procedure (because this worked so well in Return To Oz). She imagines a brothel with the same characters as the asylum, and from which she plans an escape. But that's only the beginning. When she performs her brothel dance routines for the customers, she hears the music and imagines complex action scenarios that symbolically stand for what's going on in the dance at the brothel, which already symbolically stands for what's happening in the asylum. A long way to go for very little result.

Creepiest: The Skin I Live In, though Martha Marcy May Marlene is almost as creepy without going gothic.

Contempt For The Audience Award: Hangover 2, a beat-by-beat remake with nothing new to offer except less humor. And characters who were once sweet guys stuck in a tough situation become hateful jerks.

Film That Goes On The Longest After It's Over Award: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Runner-up: Source Code. It has an obvous endpoint but it wasn't happy enough so they kept on going.

Best Musical Number: "Star Spangled Man" from Captain America, a patriotic rouser presented with more than a little modern-day cynicism.

Worst Set Award: Thor's town that pops up out of nowhere in the middle of the desert, and only exists to be destroyed.

Top Anachronism: Nothing takes you out of a film faster than a modern expression in a period piece. Sherlock Holmes was a treasure trove, but the winner comes from X-Men: First Class, set in 1962. Villain Kevin Bacon sees a large ship coming to capture him and shouts “Now it's a party!”

Least Deserving Performance Guaranteed To Win An Oscar: Christopher Plummer in Beginners.

Most Painfully Predictable Plot Point: The Descendants. George Clooney has a choice: sell some beautiful Hawaiian coastal property to developers so his overprivileged relatives can continue to be layabouts, or nobly turn down the money to keep Hawaii pristine. Hmm. What will he do?

Clint Eastwood Award For Most Boring Movie goes to...Clint Eastwood for J. Edgar (aka “Johnny and Clyde").

Comeback Of The Year (Though He's Never Been Away): Amazingly, Woody Allen had his biggest-grossing film ever with Midnight In Paris. It's charming, but still shows what a shoddy filmmaker he's become. The scenes set in the present often seems to be going through the motions so we can get to the scenes in the past. And even those scenes, while entertaining, are often slack (and cover territory Allen's done years before in his writing and stand-up).

TRENDS AND OBSERVATIONS:

Don't quit your night job (prime time TV beauties with less than impressive performances on the big screen): Dianna Agron (I Am Number Four), Olivia Wilde (Cowboys & Aliens, The Change-Up, In Time), January Jones (Unknown, X-Men: First Class)

Decent premise that falls apart: Cowboys & Aliens, Super 8, Hanna, Limitless, In Time

Counting On The Movies: I Am Number Four, Fast Five, Super 8, 13 Assassins, 30 Minutes Or Less, 50/50

Colorful Language: The Green Hornet, Green Lantern, Red Riding Hood, Red State

The Name Game: Paul, Hanna, Terri, Arthur, Hugo, Buck, Jack And Jill

Impressionists: J. Edgar, The Iron Lady, My Week With Marilyn, Midnight In Paris

Trend of the year: R-rated comedies are strong, with Hangover 2, Bridesmaids, Horrible Bosses and Bad Teacher all grossing over 100 million.

No Animation Celebration: Almost every year at least one animated feature makes my top ten list, but nothing came close in 2011. All the major titles were fair to bad: Rango, Rio, Kung Fu Panda 2, even Pixar's entry Cars 2.

Nothing is funnier than a woman with uncontrollable defecation: Bridesmaids, Jack And Jill, Hall Pass

Which is worse?: In Green Hornet, there's a very uncomfortable scene where Seth Rogen talks about how old Cameron Diaz is. In Bad Teacher, everyone ignores how old Cameron Diaz is.

People from the Midwest are simple folk: Cedar Rapids, Young Adult, 30 Minutes Or Less

Gentiles make the best-looking Jews: Sam Worthington and Jessica Chastain in The Debt, Vigo Mortensen and Keira Knightley in A Dangerous Method, Rosamund Pike in Barney's Version

Don't stand in the middle of the road now that they've perfected CGI: The Hedgehog, The Debt

Watching people die of a wasting disease is your best entertainment: Contagion, 50/50, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

You never know when an old white guy will break out into a rap: The Muppets, Jack And Jill

Jason Statham should read scripts first, not just watch the original: The Mechanic, Killer Elite

It's Like, Cosmic, Man: Tree Of Life, Melancholia, Another Earth, Take Shelter

The End Of The World As We Know It or Apocalypse Now: Melancholia, Take Shelter, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Them Cults Is Dangerous: Red State, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Them Religious People Is Crazy: The Ledge, Red State

Rich People Suck: Tower Heist, Margin Call, In Time, The Descendants

Rich People Are Wonderful: Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 (very rare we even get one in this category)

I Liked This Movie Better When They Called It Kick-Ass: Super

Movies About Movies: Hugo, The Artist, Super 8, My Week With Marilyn

Unexpectedly Violent: Drive, Super

Double Trouble: Adam Sandler usually only bothers us with one film a year, but this time around he gives us two dogs, Just Go With It and Jack And Jill. Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds strikes out big with two poorly-received films, Green Lantern and The Change-Up.

Bryce Dallas Howard—What a bitch!: The actress plays two meanies, very convincingly, in The Help and 50/50. She better watch out or she might get typecast.

Rankings:

Good: Source Code, Blank City, Jane Eyre, Cameraman: The Life And Work Of Jack Cardiff, Everything Must Go, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Help, Littlerock, Contagion, Hugo, My Week With Marilyn, Corman's World: Exploits Of A Hollywood Rebel, Buck, X-Men: First Class, Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, Attack The Block, The Skin I Live In

Bad: Season Of The Witch, The Green Hornet, The Dilemma, The Mechanic, Super, Tron Legacy, Atlas Shrugged: Part 1, Fast Five, Water For Elephants, Hop, The Hangover 2, Beginners, Super 8, Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Rio, Cars 2, Larry Crowne, Page One: Inside The New York Times, Kung Fu Panda 2, Cowboys & Aliens, Puncture, The Ides Of March, Toast, The Women On The Sixth Floor, Tower Heist, Killer Elite, In Time, Real Steel, The Artist, Young Adult, Barney's Version, Jumping The Broom, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Rite, The Ledge, Puss In Boots, A Dangerous Method, War Horse, Pariah, Red Riding Hood, The Eagle, Sucker Punch, The Iron Lady, Arthur

Ugly: Just Go With It, Rango, Green Lantern, The Change-Up, J. Edgar, Jack And Jill

Half And Half: Melancholia (brilliance mixed with boredom)

Disappointments (films I had reason to expect I'd like much more than I did): Cedar Rapids, Hall Pass, Bridesmaids, The People Vs. George Lucas, 13 Assassins, Terri, Take Shelter, Le Havre, The Muppets

Okay: Unknown, Adjustment Bureau, Take Me Home Tonight, Limitless, I Am Number Four, The Lincoln Lawyer, Paul, Battle: Los Angeles, Hanna, Thor, The Robber, Midnight In Paris, The Trip, Bad Teacher, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 2, Horrible Bosses, 30 Minutes Or Less, Red State, Sholem Aleichem: Laughing In The Darkness, The Hedgehog, The Debt, The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, Drive, Moneyball, 50/50, Margin Call, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, The Descendants, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Gnomeo And Juliet, The Sitter, Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect And The Painter, The Adventures of Tintin, Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, We Bought A Zoo

TOP TEN (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER):

Bill Cunningham New York

Nothing beats an interesting character. There was another documentary in 2011 about The New York Times, but it tried to do too much and was a mess. This one tells you about someone you may not know much about, but is worth knowing.

Crazy, Stupid, Love

Decent farce is hard to find. This one was sweet and funny and even a little edgy.

The Guard

A comedy-action film that breathes some life into the police genre, with a major assist from Brendan Gleeson.

Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol

We had to wait till December for the best action film of the year.

Sarah's Key

At first I thought not another film about Jews during WWII, but it turned out to be something quite different.

A Separation

Domestic squabbles in Iran. What's fascinating is both how similar it is to and how different it is from America.

Submarine

The British show that the coming of age genre is not dead.

Tabloid

I had no interest in a rehashing of some trashy scandal from the 70s, but this turned out to be a fascinating character study of a very strange woman with a very peculiar story (though it does trail off a bit at the end). It's also fun to see Errol Morris let his hair down a little.

The Tree Of Life

Certainly no film like it this year, or maybe any year. At its best--which it is for most of the time--it's an impressionistic tale of growing up in the suburbs of Texas in the 1950s, but it captures something a lot bigger. I also sort of liked the cosmic detour (placing the story in a much wider context). Unfortunately, all the Sean Penn stuff in the present doesn't play, but even with that, it's an amazing work.

Win Win

Another winner from Thomas McCarthy, who makes films about average people in tricky but realistic situations. I like that they hired a real wrestler to play the kid.

Joey, Joey, Joey

2012-01-16T00:14:00.000-08:00

Last night Matt LeBlanc won the Golden Globe for best actor in a TV comedy for his work in Episodes. Fine. He does a good job, and no one takes these awards seriously anyway. Discussing the role, where he plays a version of himself, he said:

My initial reaction to doing the role was that I wasn’t terribly comfortable with it. But I finally decided that I don’t mind being the brunt of the joke as long as it’s a good joke. And it is.

You hear this a lot, so let me repeat the rule (before it changes). You bear the brunt of a joke, you are the butt of a joke. People aren't brunts, they're butts.

She's The Top

2012-01-16T00:06:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Irene Bordoni. She's all but forgotten now, but in her day she was a major Broadway star. One of her best known roles was the lead in Paris (1928), Cole Porter's first successful Broadway show.

She introduced Porter's classic "Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)." That song had actually replaced another Porter number which gained fame on its own--"Let's Misbehave"--presumably helped by Bordoni's recording. (I did Anything Goes in high school, a version based on the 1962 revival, and got to sing this song.)

Cole Porter was so taken with his star that he memorialized her in "You're The top":

"You're a prize
You're a night at Coney
You're the eyes
Of Irene Bordoni"

No Time

2012-01-15T00:18:00.000-08:00

William Saroyan's play The Time Of Your Life (1939) is about a gentle eccentric named Joe who hangs out at a bar and encourages a bunch of other gentle eccentrics. (O'Neill did a much darker version of this in The Iceman Cometh.) Not much happens--though there is some violence--but it was intriguing enough in its day to win the Pulitzer.

Jimmy Cagney, looking for prestige projects rather than gangster roles, starred in the 1948 film version, produced by his brother. It's fairly faithful, mostly set in the bar. You can see why Hollywood shied away from the project, which has little narrative drive. Few things date so badly as last year's whimsy.

Cagney soon went back to his specialty, playing tough guy Cody Jarrett in the classic White Heat (1949). There's nothing wrong with stars trying to stretch, but there's a reason they became famous in the first place.

The Power Of The Green Light

2012-01-15T00:12:00.000-08:00

I just read Mike Medavoy's memoir You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot. I think that title is longer than any movie he made.

For decades Medavoy has been one of the top executives in Hollywood, and one often associated with "class" projects. He started as an agent and, in the 70s, became a "suit." We're so used to hearing from the people who work on the set that it's interesting to see what the other side has to say, the people who have to balance the artistic with the commercial.

He was there in the final days of the Arthur Krim-led United Artists, an organization that made deals with top producers, directors and actors and gave them a lot of freedom. This led to a bunch of great movies, including, under Medavoy, Rocky, Annie Hall and Apocalypse Now.

The UA people were forced out by new management and formed another creative group, Orion Pictures. They also released a lot of films they were proud of--Platoon, Amadeus, Robocop, Terminator, Dances With Wolves and many others. (This is another thing about a memoir from an executive. A star or director can only work on so many films, but Medavoy had his hand in hundreds.) But with the industry changing it was frustrating to be working with less money and executives who were watching every dime, so Medavoy decided to move to a major studio.

Medavoy ran TriStar pictures, working under Columbia head Peter Guber. Now there was money to do huge projects, but Medavoy still felt stifled. If there's any villain in the book, it's Guber, whose passive-aggressive management style undermined Medavoy, even as he was setting up Terminator 2, Philadelphia and Sleepless In Seattle. So he left (or was forced to leave) and founded Phoenix Pictures, where he worked on films like The People Vs. Larry Flynt and The Thin Red Line.

The book was published in 2002 and thus misses his more recent work as a producer on films such as Black Swan and Shutter Island. Medavoy is clearly a man who loves movies and cares about their quality. There are a lot of good anecdotes and a clear view of what it means to be in charge of a slate of films--including what turned a profit and what didn't. The book is also a chance to settle some scores and clear up some points--for instance, Medavoy wanted Schwazenegger in Terminator, he never insisted on O.J. Simpson, and no one tried to force Sylvester Stallone off Rocky. If the book has a flaw, it's that, as an executive, he's worked on so many titles that he rarely spends more than a few pages on any single project.

Quarter Mill

2012-01-14T00:29:00.000-08:00

I don't announce these milestones much any more, but let me note that Pajama Guy has just gotten our 250,000th hit (since we started counting). Okay, maybe we don't get the same amount of views that the biggest blogs do, but we like to think that, like Spinal Tap, our appeal is more selective. We get a smart reader who won't go to just any blog.

Actually, we've got a fair number of regular readers, and I'd like to thank you all for your visits. Please feel free to leave a comment, and also feel free to spread the word to others about what's going on here.

Films On The Edge

2012-01-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

Jesse Walker's top ten movie lists have hit 1951. Hollywood came rip-roaring out of the War, but soon was faced with the threat of TV. By 1951, they were starting to offer up big, dumb spectacles to compete, but still specialized in smaller, tougher (and sometimes smarter) black and white films. Meanwhile, Europe was starting to explore again.

Anyway, that's the background. Let's see what Jesse's favorites are. Turns out it's not Oscar winner An American In Paris.

1. Ace in the Hole
2. Strangers on a Train
3. The Thing from Another World
4. A Streetcar Named Desire
5. The Tales of Hoffman
6. The Lavender Hill Mob
7. Miracle in Milan
8. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
9. The Man in the White Suit
10. Bellissima

Note the first four are black and white Hollywood films.

Ace In The Hole is Billy Wilder's great flop. Every now and then he'd get so popular he'd allow his bilious side to come out and turn off the audience. After this, he retreated to Broadway adaptations for a while. If it has a problem, it doesn't know quite where to go in the end, but it's definitely one of his best.

Strangers On A Train is one of Hitchcock's best. The Thing (which I consider a Hawks film) started a whole new genre and still holds up, though I'm sure kids today would laugh the effects, if that's what you want to call them, off the screen--but who cares, it's got all those great Hawksian scenes where people just stand around and talk a lot.

I don't know if Streetcar is a great movie per se so much as one of the best adaptations of a major Broadway play, with much of the cast intact. (Not that Kazan, who directed on stage and on film, didn't turn it into a real movie.) Certainly belongs on a list somewhere, though I might not put it in the top ten. And we should be happy someone preserved Brando's breakthrough performance.

I have an ambivalent attitude toward much of Powell and Pressburger. Even if they didn't always succeed, at least it wasn't the same old thing. Still, Tales Of Hoffman isn't my kind of film. Speaking of cinematography, there's Pandora And The Flying Dutchman. It's okay, but I can't say I love it.

Just by chance, the two best Ealing comedies came out this year, The Lavender Hill Mob and The Man In The White Suit. Not sure which one I prefer.

I like Miracle In Milan but haven't seen Bellissima.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. People Will Talk
12. The African Queen
13. Four Ways Out
14. Diary of a Country Priest
15. He Ran All the Way
16. Susana
17. Rabbit Fire
18. The Man from Planet X
19. The Tall Target
20. Rooty Toot Toot

In 1951, Joseph L. Mankiewicz was on a streak, having won the Oscar for Screenplay and Director two years running. People Will Talk effectively ended this streak. Yet it's not without interest (which is true of just about any Cary Grant film). But there's an awful lot of huffing and puffing over very little. The film is a good example of how hard it was for Hollywood films of the time to deal with "adult" subjects.

I've never quite understood the enthusiasm for The African Queen. Haven't seen Four Ways Out. I'm not a big fan of Bresson but I think Country Priest is his best film and should be in the top ten. He Ran All The Way is a decent noir. Susana is mid-range Bunuel, which makes it better than most other films. As with so much Ulmer, the cheapness of The Man From Planet X gives it a certain appeal. Don't really care much for The Tall Target.

I love many of the cartoon shorts of the era, like Rabbit Fire and Rooty Toot Toot, but I don't think they should be included on these lists.

Here are some other highly regarded films of 1951:

David And Bathsheba

The Day The Earth Stood Still

A Place In The Sun

Quo Vadis

Show Boat

Here are some films that probably would have made my list:

Detective Story (lively adaptation from Wyler, more tough guy stuff from Kirk Douglas)

The River (a Renoir classic I'm surprised didn't make Jesse's list)

Royal Wedding (not a great plot, even for a Fred Astaire film, but some great numbers)

The Steel Helmet (Fuller showing his stuff)

Other films of interest:

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Alice in Wonderland, Angels in the Outfield, Atoll K, Bedtime for Bonzo, The Big Night, Bride of the Gorilla, The Browning Version, Call Me Mister, Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N., Cry, the Beloved Country, Dear Brat, Death of a Salesman, Double Dynamite, Father's Little Dividend, Flight to Mars, Flying Leathernecks, Ghost Chasers, The Great Caruso, The Harlem Globetrotters, Here Comes the Groom, I Can Get It for You Wholesale, I Was a Communist for the FBI, I'll See You in My Dreams, Jim Thorpe – All-American, The Lemon Drop Kid, Let's Go Navy!, Lost Planet Airmen, The Magic Box, The Mating Season, Murder Inc., My Favorite Spy, No Highway in the Sky, On Moonlight Bay, Peking Express, The Red Badge of Courage, Scrooge, Sirocco, Superman and the Mole Men, That's My Boy, Three Arabian Nuts, Two Tickets to Broadway, Westward the Women, When Worlds Collide

Double Time

2012-01-13T00:17:00.000-08:00

Once Upon A Time has so many flaws it's hard to believe I still watch it. The acting, with a few exceptions, is weak. The restructured fairy tales don't really hold my interest (especially compared to their model--the Lost flashbacks). And the part of the story that does intrigue--the action in Storybrooke--is told with simplistic characters and barely functional plotting.

I guess I like the central mystery--how will Emma bring the village around, and when will they discover the curse? But as week after week grinds on, I find myself less interested. My guess: rather than get stuck in this rut, they'll have a big season one finale where some adult (probably Emma) finally catches on that something is happening, and so next season the show will be at a different level, being more directly about waking people up. If not that, perhaps they'll have some cliffhanger, but really, even if someone's life is hanging in the balance, or if Mr. Gold is going to take on the Mayor, who really cares?

If This Is Anyone Other Than Steve Allen, You're Stealing My Bit.

2012-01-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

I just read Inventing Late Night: Steve Allen And The Original Tonight Show. The book isn't especially well written, and it has a bit of a chip on its shoulder about Allen's importance, but is still worth checking out.

We often hear about the succession of Tonight Show hosts--Jack Paar to Johnny Carson to Jay Leno, with other names, like Letterman, Conan O'Brien and Dick Cavett, playing their part in opposition. But the name often left out is the one who started it all.

Steve Allen was a multi-talented guy guy with a quick wit who brought his slightly twisted humor to radio and then TV. So when Pat Weaver at NBC decided to create a Tonight show Allen stepped in, fully formed, essentially bringing to the nation a format he'd already created in smaller venues. And that format exists to this day.

Sure, it changed along the way, with Paar, for example, emphasizing the talk show aspect, whereas Allen's was closer to a variety show. But many things we see to this day--a desk and chairs, recurring comedy routines, going into the audience or on the street, looking at the news, silly stunts, etc.--come from Allen (as many gracious talk show hosts, like David Letterman and Jay Leno, are happy to admit).

Tonight debuted in 1954 and Allen stayed until 1957 before moving on to other projects, occasionally returning to the talk show format, though not for NBC. He'd often have guests not generally seen on TV, such as highbrow authors, politicians, jazz artists and newer comics. (He also got a prime time Sunday night show where he introduced certain rock and rollers, though he didn't like the music). Unfortunately, most of these shows (along with most of Paar and early Carson) were destroyed to save shelf space.

Tonight asked a lot of Allen--he had to be an actor, interviewer, pianists, writer, monologist, etc. Perhaps he wasn't great at all these roles, but he was at least proficient, and the sum was greater than the parts. If he excelled at one thing, it was extemporaneous humor. Interviewing people on the street, or in the audience, he came up with great lines and reactions that grew naturally out of the situation. I don't think anyone who's come after him has been better.

50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

2012-01-12T00:16:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to Tex Ritter, one of the great singing cowboys (and father to John). Kay Kyser had the hit with "Jingle Jangle Jingle," but I like Tex's take better.

As long as we're listening, here's a version from someone else that has interesting visuals:

Old Shat

2012-01-12T00:12:00.000-08:00

William Shatner wrote a book on his memories of the Star Trek series, another on the Star Trek movies, another on his life as Captain Kirk, and not too long ago came out with a full-blown autobiography. So of course it's time for a new book, Shatner Rules.

He looks over his years and discovers what we can all learn from them. It's a catch-all, with chapters on hitchhiking across America, appearing on Broadway, doing Star Trek (among other TV), being roasted, getting an honorary degree, throwing parties, making albums, doing comedy and whatever else he can dredge up that hasn't been covered before.

Maybe there's not quite enough here for a full-length book, but I enjoyed it. Some time ago Shatner saw a lot of people were laughing at him and he decided to join them, and it's nice that he's in on the joke. But, as this book demonstrates, it's not that simple.

He's been a working actor for longer than most people have been alive, and he's always taken that work seriously. And though mocking the somewhat overdone heroics of Star Trek can be fun, it's important to note when he had the original job (and didn't know it would be iconic) he played it for all it was worth, without any winking. He was trying to deliver the best performance he could under difficult circumstances. In the most telling chapter of the book, he talks about meeting Patrick Stewart, a Shakespearean actor proud of his work as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. It made Shatner realize it was time to reclaim Kirk. He no longer distances himself from the performance (not that he ever fully did), but proudly owns it. And that's a good thing.

Sure, you can make fun of his acting style, but he has done good work, before, during and after Star Trek. In fact, he got past the typecasting to create another classic TV character, Denny Crane, on The Practice and Boston Legal, who won him a couple of Emmies. The Star Trek series has too many flaws not to have a little fun with it, but there's still something there, and it probably couldn't have succeeded without William Shatner giving it his best.

Heave Hoberman

2012-01-11T00:15:00.000-08:00

J. Hoberman has been fired from The Village Voice. He's been at the perch for decades, and is one of the best known film critics around. I guess, with print's declining fortune, the emaciated Voice figures it's best to fire the senior editors who get so much pay for something newbies will do for next to nothing.

I've read him for many years, even as I've often disagreed with his take (especially when he forces in his own politics). But he was a lively writer with more insight than most. He also co-wrote one of my favorite film books, Midnight Movies. A shame to see him go.

New House

2012-01-11T00:10:00.000-08:00

I watched the pilot to Showtime's new comedy House Of Lies, starring Don Cheadle as the head of a consulting team. They fly across the country trying to convince various firms they need Cheadle and company's help. The show has a fairly cynical take on the corporate world, which is essentially painted as a scam where rich people extract money from the rest of us The only reason we root for Cheadle, aside from his charm, is at least he's more up front about it.

This being on Showtime, there's plenty of sex and nudity. In this first half-hour alone, Cheadle is with three hot women and chases after a fourth (regular Kristen Bell). To humanize him, he's also given a family--his retired psychiatrist father and a young son who's exploring his sexuality. His ex is a white, "psychopathic" woman who's also his main competititon in the consulting world. Kind of incestuous.

The pilot wasn't that funny, but at least it was lively. Outside of Cheadle, the characters don't seem differentiated yet. In general, it hasn't found its footing. But I'll give it another chance before I give up.

Two Seasons And A Movie

2012-01-10T00:11:00.000-08:00

Stop the presses. It looks like a Party Down film is going to happen.

Megan Mullally [...] confirmed today that the long-rumored Party Down movie, inspired by the Starz series, is now a go and she will be part of it.

Of course, even a confirmation like this doesn't prove anything. I won't feel comfortable until it's in production.

Commercially speaking, it's a dumb idea. Beyond the cult audience (which has to be smaller than most for Party Down), who wants to see big screen versions of flop series? Serenity didn't make its money back, and the Mr. Show follow-up couldn't even be released. There's also a talk of an Arrested Development movie, but even now that the original cast means something in motion pictures, I wouldn't invest in it.

But who cares? Even if I'm the only one in the theatre, I'll be happy. The question is will it keep the basic format--a plot built around one catered event--or will it try to broaden the story now that they have more time and money--will we see the homelife of the characters, for instance? I hope they stick to the original concept, and make it one of the most brilliant farces ever on film.

Stand Up That Stands Up or Newhart New Art

2012-01-10T00:08:00.000-08:00

In the 1950s a new type of stand-up comedian appeared. One who didn't do one-liners or Borscht Belt shtick. They'd do their own routines, giving their take on the world, routines following their own ideas to see where they'd go. The pioneers included Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce, but by the early 60s they was a large group of new names who'd taken over comedy, such as Shelley Berman, Nichols and May, Jonathan Winters and Dick Gregory. But for a period (let's say until Bill Cosby hit the scene), the biggest of them all was Bob Newhart.

His first album, The Button-Down Mind Of Bob Newhart, was #1 for 14 weeks. His second album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!, released later that year, also went to #1 and suddenly this newcomer had the top two albums on the charts. Just as amazing, when he recorded his first album in front of a live audience he had little stand-up experience--most of his routines he'd originally created on tape.

I just listened to the Newhart collection, Something Like This..., which has many of his biggest routines, and I think his work still stands up. He was famous for bits where he did one-side of a conversation, sometimes with a famous figure, or sometimes dealing with an everyday situation. The trick was he'd mix the sublime with the ridiculous--an ad man helping Abe Lincoln with the Gettsyburg Address, a night watchmen trying to deal with King Kong climbing his building, an Englishman dumbfounded by Sir Walter Raleigh sending over 80 tons of tobacco leaves, a barely competent bureaucrat trying to help an employee over the phone defuse a bomb.

Newhart was an interesting mixture himself. Sort of square, sort of hip. He mocked the conventions of the day, and how modern people talked, but he himself was a straight-looking ex-accountant. He also knew how to work the one-sided conversation--half the fun was him reacting to the bizarre things the other person said--and allowing us to laugh at what we're missing. (To be fair, Shelley Berman was also famous for phone call routines, and his first couple of bestselling albums were put out in 1959).

If anything in the routine is dated, it's the pace. The laughs come regularly, but Newhart is willing to take his time, particularly with set-ups--he'll take a minute to explain the premise of a bit. Another thing that might weaken the routines are their familiarity--not only are they famous, but the type of thing he's doing has so seeped into the culture that we don't recognize how new it must have sounded when he first hit the scene.

Bob And Friends

2012-01-09T00:14:00.000-08:00

I just read Sean Wilentz's Bob Dylan In America. Wilentz, a decent writer who sometimes lets his enthusiasms get the better of him, has come up with a quirky book. Those looking for a survey of the singer's life or music, go elsewhere. This work is more about moments in Dylan's long career that Wilentz strongly relates to. (With its lacunae it's somewhat reminiscent of Dylan's own Chronicles: Volume One.)

In fact, the book is only partly about Dylan--much of it deals with the "In America" concept. Wilentz, an historian, sets up Dylan's career with a chapter on the Popular Front and another on the Beat Generation (and there are only eleven chapters). Later sections often look back to his influences. While some of this history is colorful, Wilentz is at his best when dealing directly with his subject.

The highlight of the book comes fairly early, in chapter three, when Dylan is making his transition from folkie hero to rock star. Wilentz goes into Dylan's Halloween '64 performance at Phiharmonic Hall, which he personally witnessed. It's riveting. Wilentz's dad ran a bookstore in Greenwich Village at the time and was hooked into the world that welcomed Dylan to New York. Wilentz was a kid then, but it's fascinating to hear the older man looking back to those days.

I know Dylan's early days have been written about extensively, but its too bad Wilentz didn't set his whole book then. "Bob Dylan In New York"--that's the title I'd like to see.

Married To It

2012-01-09T00:11:00.001-08:00

The news has been playing up Rick Santorum discussing gay marriage with some New England students.

He's said these things before, but no one paid much attention until he became a leading candidate. His argument is pretty common--if you allow same-sex marriage, the floodgates will open and anything, including bigamy, will become legal.

As a slippery slop argument, it's not great. A good slippery slope argument is "even though you like this application of law A, you won't like other applications of law A." A weaker one is "even though you like law A, it may lead to law B which you won't like at all."

But worse, this tack tacitly gives up on his central argument, which is that same sex marriage is wrong and should be illegal without regard to anything else. According to the argument Santorum uses with the students, if you could come up with a constitutional amendment making same sex marriage legal but banning (as it is already banned) bigamy, that would be fine.

The trouble is, Santorum's main arguments, which he really believes (that his morality and religion tell him gay marriage is wrong; that a homosexual marriage is much worse for kids and for the country than a heterosexual one) are not going to fly with the ever-growing supporters of gay marriage, so this subject is probably a loser for him.

Of course, President Obama officially opposes gay marriage. But most people probably don't believe he'll fight for that view.

Oh That Bob

2012-01-08T00:11:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Bob Eubanks. I never cared for The Newlywed Game, but he did get to take part in one of TV's most memorable moments.

Now In His Golden Years

2012-01-08T00:10:00.000-08:00

David Bowie (born David Jones) turns 65 today! His best work may have been over a generation ago, but I'd hope his name still conjures up the cutting edge, constantly changing character he was.

Cool Women And Mad Men

2012-01-07T00:19:00.000-08:00

Jesse Walker's movie lists are now at 1961. Back then, while the rest of the world was doing interesting things, Hollywood was stuck in the doldrums. What will Jesse think? As it turns out, he's got no room for one of Oscar's top films of all time West Side Story (which is fine by me).

Here's the top ten:

1. Yojimbo
2. Lola
3. Yanco
4. The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
5. The Hustler
6. The Innocents
7. The Exiles
8. The Ladies Man
9. Eugene
10. Blast of Silence

Pretty good list. Can't go wrong with Yojimbo. And we have to have something from the nouvelle vague so Lola will certainly do.

Haven't seen Yanco.

Munchhausen is fun and The Hustler is one of the most quotable films ever to come out of Hollywood (where it definitely wasn't shot).

The Innocents isn't bad, but I don't really love it. The Exiles is fascinating in an anthropological sort of way.

I'm not sure if Jesse usually picks Jerry Lewis films, so it's interesting to see The Ladies Man on the list. This was around the time when Jerry, especially if he directed, was doing fascinating stuff, and Jesse's right--if you didn't know better, you'd think this was some experimental, foreign film. (Though it's not as funny as other films of his.)

As Jesse knows, I don't believe in putting TV shows on movie lists, even if they're as brilliant as Eugene.

Never seen Blast Of Silence.

Honorable mentions:

11. Viridiana
12. Il Posto
13. Underworld U.S.A.
14. Accattone
15. A Woman is a Woman
16. One-Eyed Jacks

17. Last Year in Marienbad
18. Zoo
19. Substitute
20. Nowy Janko Muzykant

Half of these I haven't seen, but as I predicted, not an awful lot of Hollywood material.

Of those I have seen, Viridiana might be my #1 for the year. Underworld U.S.A. I like though I don't consider it one of Fuller's greatest.

I'm not on the Godard bandwagon. I admit he made memorable works in the 60s, but I can't say I love any of them, including the very Godardian A Woman Is A Woman. I do like Last Year At Marienbad, though.

And One-Eyed Jacks is one of my favorite Westerns of this period.

Here are some other films of that year that were highly regarded:

Breakfast At Tiffany's

The Guns Of Navarone

Judgment At Nuremberg

The Misfits

La Notte

A Raisin In The Sun

Splendor In The Grass

Here are some film that might have made my list:

Divorce Italian Style

The Errand Boy (not as mind-blowing as Ladies Man, but I think funnier)

One, Two, Three (maybe not quite the content of Wilder's other great films around this time, but it's still got an amazing rhythm)

Paris Blues (ah to be a jazz artist in Paris in the early 60s)

A Taste Of Honey (the angry young woman)

Through A Glass Darkly (not as famous as some of his other titles, but this begihns the trilogy that's the essence of Bergman)

Other films of interest:

The Absent-Minded Professor, Bachelor in Paradise, Blue Hawaii, Carry On Regardless, The Children's Hour, The Comancheros, The Connection, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, Don't Bother to Knock, El Cid, Fanny, Flower Drum Song, King of Kings, The Last Time I Saw Archie, Lover Come Back (the best of Hudson-Day, for what it's worth), The Marriage-Go-Round, Mothra (maybe should be on my top ten), Mr. Sardonicus, Mysterious Island, The Parent Trap, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Pleasure of His Company (if you want to see Fred Astaire not dance), Pocketful of Miracles, The Rebel, Reptilicus, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, Romanoff and Juliet, Snow White and the Three Stooges, Something Wild (great New York location shooting), Summer and Smoke, Town Without Pity, Two Loves, Two Rode Together, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Wild in the Country, The Young Doctors, The Young Ones, The Young Savages

Wright And Wrong

2012-01-07T00:06:00.000-08:00

Over at the Atlantic, Richard Wright discusses "The Greatness Of Ron Paul." Needless to say, it's not about Paul's attacks on huge social programs.

...Paul is making one contribution to the foreign policy debate that could have enduring value.

It doesn't lie in the substance of his foreign policy views (which I'm largely but not wholly in sympathy with) but in the way he explains them. Paul routinely performs a simple thought experiment: He tries to imagine how the world looks to people other than Americans.

[...] After observing that Israel and America and China have nukes, he asks about Iranians, "Why wouldn't it be natural that they'd want a weapon? Internationally they'd be given more respect."

Can somebody explain to me why this is such a crazy conjecture about Iranian motivation?

[...] A favorite Paul pedagogical device is to analogize foreign situations to American ones. A campaign ad promoted by a Paul-supporting super PAC begins by asking us to imagine Russian or Chinese troops in Texas. The point is that this is how our occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan look to locals.

I've long thought that the biggest single problem in the world is the failure of "moral imagination"--the inability or unwillingness of people to see things from the perspective of people in circumstances different from their own.

[...] Paul's hawkish detractors may succeed in using him to taint a non-interventionist foreign policy. Even so, if in the meanwhile Paul gets enough people exercising their moral imaginations, maybe doves will get the last laugh.

What a basic misunderstanding. People already get this. They know that others act not because they're simply evil, but because they believe they're justified. Foreign policy strategists have this built in. But it's just a starting point. Alas, apparently to some people--Paul and Wright, I guess--this is such a revelation that they never move beyond it.

Constructively, others' motivations help in understanding the situation, but hardly point to the solution. Yes, of course the KKK believed that rights for African-Americans were threatening them. Of course Nazis blamed Jews for their problems. So what? It doesn't get you very far to shrug and say "anyone in their situation would think the same thing."

In fact, Wright and Paul have a surprisingly blinkered view of motivations. Their empathy seems to be one-way--our opponents are to be understood but they don't cut the US the same slack. Wright and Paul are willing to make (generally foolish and simplistic) points about Iran or Iraq''s motivations, but they'd never say "of course America would attack Iraq--you can't blame us, and it's the fault of Iraq and other countries for putting the U.S. in the position it was in."

Instead, they use their arguments all too often for a convenient blame America first stance. To further the illogic, they claim understanding others' motivations leads to being a dove. Now that shows a startling lack of moral imagination.

Always In Bridesmaids, Never A Sequel

2012-01-06T00:18:00.000-08:00

Kristen Wiig doesn't want to do the sequel to Bridesmaids. Universal had a poor year, and the surprise blockbuster was one of its few bright spots, so a sequel is a certainty. But without its star?

Wiig could name her price, but maybe she realizes it's unlikely they'd catch the same magic. I admire her for that. Or maybe it's just a negotiating stance.

As it is, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal and Wiig aren't entirely getting along:

One factor may be that something went awry between Wiig and Universal. Sources say that some of the six principal cast members (Wiig, McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) were underwhelmed with the $100,000 bonus each received -- the sum struck some as low given the film's outsized success. Asked by THR whether she was offended by the dollar figure, Wiig declined comment.

A few comments of my own.

1) So you want more when the movie succeeds? Are you willing to give back your paychecks when it fails?

2) $100,000 sounds like a pretty nice bonus to most people.

3) Some of the actresses--particularly Wiig and Melissa McCarthy--were more important than others in the success of the film. It would be neat if Universal gave those two bigger bonuses and then started a new shoot.

4) None of the cast were names before the film. Now Wiig and McCarthy are having tons of scripts thrown at them while the others will be up for many more roles and potential film careers. That's your bonus.

5) Let me get this straight: Wiig is angry her supporting cast didn't get a big enough bonus so she'll stand in the way of a huge payday for them?

Catchy

2012-01-06T00:17:00.000-08:00

I just read Tracy Daugherty biography of Joseph Heller, Just One Catch. For a famous novelist, Heller had an odd-shaped career. The book that made him, Catch-22--his first and still most famous--wasn't published until he was almost 40, and his second didn't come out until he was in his 50s. So the first half of his bio is more about his life, while the second half deals quite a bit more with his literary output, not to mention his years as a celebrity.

Heller was born in 1923 and grew up in Coney Island. He lost his father when he was young and lived in poverty, but like so many Jewish kids from that place and era, he was destined for greater things. He was a bombardier in WWII, as you might guess from Catch-22. In fact, what surprised me is how so much from the novel was based on real characters and incidents. He really did fly dozens of missions and keep seeing the number required rise; he really did know a guy named Joe who claimed to be a photographer from Life to meet women; he really did have to tend to the wounds of another in his aircraft, someone who kept saying he was cold; he really did have relations with certain types of prostitutes in Rome and elsewhere; he really did have a roommate who'd been shot down more than once and who'd painstakingly build things in their tent, and another who died so quickly he didn't have time to unpack his stuff; he really knew a character everyone called "Yo-yo"; he really did know a Colonel who used a cigarette holder and a major whose last name was Major. Of course, he'd start with the basic facts and push them into absurdism, weaving them into a complex narrative.

After WWII, he sold some short stories to periodicals, but wasn't quick to get into the novel-writing game. Before too long contemporaries Norman Mailer and James Jones had their major novels out about the war, but Heller was still in first gear. He spent some time in California and did a teaching stint at Penn State before returning to his homeground, where he became a successful ad man. Meanwhile, he started working on his war novel, and gathered around people who believed in him.

The creation of his first novel, which took almost a decade, along with its editing, promotion and success, is the centerpiece of the biography, and its highlight. Of course, Catch-22 is also the highlight of his literary work (though some critics have tried to say his second novel is better--but then, that's what critics do, isn't it?). I've read it many time in the past, and now want to read it again. It's an amazing book, in that it manages to be dark and powerful but also howlingly funny the whole way through.

Not unlike his contemporary Kurt Vonnegut (who also has a new bio out), Heller became in the 60s, against all odds, a middle-aged guru, taken up by the counterculture of the era. He also wrote a Broadway play during this time, We Bombed In New Haven, which has some power, but is really a weaker stage version of Catch-22. In any case, his metier was the novel, and that was the form he returned to for the rest of his life.

Unfortunately, once Heller becomes part of the zeitgeist, Daugherty too often stops the action to give us a sense of the times--usually in a shallow way (not to mention he can be off, such as his mention of the "1967 Yom Kippur War"). The book would be considerably better, and faster, with most of this material gone.

Heller's second novel, Something Happened, was very different from his first. Despite the title, almost nothing happens. It's a dark, pessimistic work. I read it once and I'm not sure if I'm willing to go back (though after reading this bio I'm considering it). It's about middle-aged misery and malaise. And once again, Heller takes his life and spins it into literature--which must have been somewhat disturbing for his family, seeing themselves as characters in such an unhappy book. It sold well (I'm sure anything would have after Catch-22) and maintains a reputation.

He didn't spend all his time writing novels. He went to Hollywood for a while to make easy money as a screenwriter. Back in New York, he was a central member of The Gourmet Club--a group of friends, including Mel Brooks and Mario Puzo, who'd go to non-touristy Chinese restaurants and eat tremendous amounts. He also had a well-known bout in the 80s with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and became temporarily paralyzed, unable to move his limbs or swallow. He wrote about this with friend Speed Vogel in the surprisingly diverting No Laughing Matter. (He also divorced his wife around this time and later married his nurse.)

Heller's third novel, Good As Gold, was the first of his to deal directly with Jewish life, and was also a parody of Washington. The Jewish stuff isn't bad, and some of the Washington stuff is funny, but as satire, it lacks focus and the attacks on Henry Kissinger and Norman Podhoretz, seem bizarre and ill-tempered (and probably, today, dated). In truth, while Heller wasn't quite written out, each novel would be weaker than the last. I admit after reading his fifth, Picture This, I'd had enough. Next was a sequel to Catch-22 entitled Closing Time, which takes up the story of Yossarian decades later, and I don't have the heart to read it--not only because the critics have warned me, but because I don't want to memory of the original tarnished.

Heller died in 1999. For years his reputation has been waning, but Catch-22 has remained popular for over 50 years. It's hard to believe it won't be around for another 50, and then some.

Abbey Code

2012-01-05T00:15:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching the first season of the popular and critical succcess Downton Abbey. The British miniseries is set at an entailed English country estate where there's much ado about who will run things when the present-day Earl is gone. The story starts in 1912 when the Titanic sinks (killing some potential heirs) and ends with WWI about to start. I understand the second series covers the war, and a third series will soon be filmed.

It's one of those upstairs/downstairs stories, with the action split between the aristocrats' troubles and the servants' troubles. Not surprising considering it was created by Julian Fellowes, who wrote Gosford Park. There are about 20 regular characters, all with their own little dramas: Lady Mary, the Earl's oldest daughter who, being a female, cannot inherit the estate; Bates, the valet with the mysterious past; Gwen, the housemaid who'd like to leave service and do something newfangled like becoming a typist; and so on. (Watching it soon after Game Of Thrones, where people heads are lopped of with regularity, the stakes sometimes felt pretty low.)

It's soap opera, I suppose, but high-class soap opera done well enough that you don't need to be embarrassed. It's intriguing how the PBS and the art house crowd find stories set in great British houses so fascinating. Maybe part of it is that it's such an obvious cross-section of society that it's a convenient method of telling stories. But perhaps more important in out egalitarian society is we're intrigued (or even long for) the type of order that barely exists any more--a world where everyone knew their place Where servants were proud of their station, and knew how to defer to their betters, and where the upper class, freed from regular work (even looking down on it), had a sense of responsibility and dignity. This is, of course, an idealized version of the world that probably never quite existed. But the sense of order is attractive to a lot of people. Though I have to wonder if they identify with the indolent peerage or to hardworking servants.

Leftover Vanity Plates Of The Month

2012-01-05T00:11:00.000-08:00

EUSEFUL. Some sort of computer promotion?

UBU ROI. Pretty cool. Almost too hip for the room.

HINDER1. Yet the car didn't get in my way.

TWNS OMA. I have no idea. He likes the town of Omaha? A mother had twins?

NKONTRL. In control and incapable of spelling correctly.

SPANUTR. Can't figure it out, though perhaps he has no strong feelings about spas.

[heart symbol]MYDICE. Then why don't you marry them?

They Got Game

2012-01-04T00:10:00.000-08:00

I justy rewatched the first season of Game Of Thrones and it's even better than I remembered. Of course, it maye have helped that I was able to view the entire season in less than a week so the plot really moved. But it's an impressive show.

The scope is impressive, of course--the large cast, the sets, the scenery, the costumes. But I've been bored by epic fantasy before. I usually am. It's the character who make it work. What they do and, just as much, what they say. It's tricky to write dialogue for olden times, since it can seem too arch and literary on one end, or slangy and modern on another. The people here speak a slightly heightened speech, but witty and smart without sounding archaic.

Watching the show while knowing where it's going clarified a lot, and revealed a solid guiding intelligence. Character is destiny. Everyone has their reasons for acting as they do. Even if it leads them to disaster you can see why they did what they did. They're not stupid--they're often working at the top of their intellect. But that's not always enough.

Even though this is the fantasy genre, my least favorite parts are still the more fantastic elements. I prefer the strategizing and the intrigue, the reality of which is weakened by zombies, dragons, etc. Still, it's a well-done series overall and I'm certainly looking forward to season 2. (But I won't read the books. It's still not my kind of thing on the page.)

Hollow, But I'll Take It

2012-01-04T00:07:00.000-08:00

Michigan faced Virginia Tech for the first time ever in last night's Sugar Bowl. The Wolverines won 23-20, but Virginia Tech is the one that deserves to go up in the rankings.

In the first half, VT outplayed Michigan the entire time, but only managed two field goals--from Justin Myer, the third-stringer who'd never made a field goal before. Michigan, meanwhile, got lucky at the end, and a lob that could have been picked off turned into a touchdown, soon after followed by a field goal made possible by a fumbled kickoff.

VT dominated in the second half, but through luck and stupidity, the game was tied 20-20 at the end of regulation. VT kept getting into third and long situations and always making it, and also got two more field goals from Myer. Meanwhile, Michigan ran straight up the middle for almost no gain to start each series. But they did manage a lucky touchdown that almost could have been another interception. (Their passing game was weak, but still better than their running game.)

There were also some incredibly dumb plays and penalties that saved Michigan. At one point, Michigan had blown it and was ready to punt, giving VT a chance to put it away. Instead, the Hokies got callled for roughing the kicker, giving Michigan what it needed to go ahead. Another time, VT was at midfield and it was fourth and one. They called a timeout. For some reason, they decided to fake a punt, which went gloriously wrong and gave Michigan the ball.

In overtime, a Hokie touchdown pass was called back after review (a correct decision). So VT had to try a field goal and for the first time, Myer missed. I felt bad for the guy. Before that, he was the unquestionable hero of the game. Then Michigan played it safe and ended up making the field goal and somehow Michigan's kicker Gibbons became the hero.

It was one of the emptiest Michigan victories ever. Their offense was regularly stymied while their defense was rarely impressive. VT beat them in every statistic except the one that counts. So the Wolverines end up an 11-game winning team that might have lost to some former Michigan teams that won only 9. But I'm not complaining, especially after the last few years.

Asimov's Life-Line

2012-01-03T00:11:00.001-08:00

Isaac Asimov was born on January 2, 1920. He died twenty years ago from AIDS which he got due to a blood transfusion--though this wasn't revealed until ten years ago. I've recently been looking at his memoir I, Asimov, published in 1994.

It's actually closer to 166 short essays on various topics that take us through his life, rather than an autobiography. In fact, he'd already written a two-volume autobiography that took us up to 1978 (the guy wrote hundreds of books). His second wife, Janet, thought he should write a third volume, this time giving us less chronology and more of his personal thoughts. Asimov, who couldn't help but write, decided to go over his life once more, this time with feelings.

It is an interesting look into his mind, though sometimes his honestly reveals things I'd almost rather not know. Which brings me to chapter 24--about three pages long--on Robert Heinlein. So there they are, the two top sf writers of my youth. Should be good.

Though Heinlein was older, they both started publishing in 1939. They got to know each other during WWII when they worked together at the Naval Air Experimental Station. They were friends, and Asimov had great respect for Heinlein's writing, but felt he was rather imperious, bullying people into agreeing with his views. Their relationship was always rocky, much of that due to political differences.

Asimov was a liberal and felt Heinlein became a 'far-right conservative" after the war when he divorced his wife at the time, "liberal" Leslyn, and married the "far-right conservative" Virginia.

Ronald Reagan did the same when he switched wives from the liberal Jane Wyman to the ultraconservative Nancy, but Ronald Reagan I have always viewed as a brainless fellow who echoes the opinion of anyone who gets close to him. I can't explain Heinlein in that way at all, for I cannot believe he would follow his wives' opinion blindly [....] I would never marry anyone who did not generally agree with my political, social, and philosophical view of life."

A lot of ugliness in those sentences. First, note, to Asimov, liberals are just liberals, while conservatives are "far-right" or "ultraconservative." Actually, I'm not sure you can make a case for Heinlein even being a conservative--yes, he hated communism, but he believed people should live how they choose. His 1961 novel Stranger In A Strange Land became sacred text to the flower children. Asimov must know this, but it doesn't matter--if you don't vote with him, you must be far right.

Then there's the stupid shot at Reagan. Blissful in his ignorance, Asimov figures the guy must be a dolt (presumably because he believed all those stupid conservative ideas and besides, all Asimov's friends agree with him). Actually, Reagan was very much his own man, and always interested in politics--in fact, it tired his wife out and was one of the factors that led to their split. By the way, Jane Wyman was a Republican.

I don't know why Heinlein changed his politics (maybe I'll find out more when volume two of the Patterson biography comes out), but even if he followed his second wife's lead, must it be "blindly?" Is it not possible to share Virginia Heinlein's politics without being brainwashed?

Then there's Asimov's need to marry someone who agrees with his view of life. Hmm, maybe Heinlein wasn't the one who insisted that people had to agree with him.

Still, an enjoyable book. I'd put it in his top 100.

No More Rules

2012-01-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

1971 was an interesting time in American film. Content restrictions had recently been removed and a new generation of filmmakers, inspired by world cinema, were trying new things as never before. This led, by the early 70s, to what were essentially experimental films coming out of studios, alongside the more conventional fare. Alas, this didn't lead to big grosses. But it led to a lot of quirky films, some amazing, all too many overrated.

Jesse Walker picks his top ten from 1971:

1. The Last Picture Show
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. Mon Oncle Antoine
4. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
5. Bananas
6. They Might Be Giants
7. Walkabout
8. Trafic
9. The Hospital
10. Dirty Harry

An interesting mix of the great and the overrated. (That was pretty much unavoidable, since I believe so many big titles of the era have inflated reputations). For instance, I've always found The Last Picture Show rather dull. I want to like it more, but it just sits there.

Then there's A Clockwork Orange. A striking film, but good? Not really. It's hard to feel much of anything about the movie since none of the characters are human. (Though to give Kubrick credit, his films, good or bad, are almost always memorable, which may be more important.)

The Hospital suffers from Chayefskyitis--the pain that comes from being hit over the head repeatedly. And Dirty Harry may represent a new era of toughness, and struck a nerve at the time, but as a thriller or detective film it's not great (though better than the sequels).

On the other hand, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, a moody work that was a major flop, is one of Altman's best, and unlike anything else made that decade. Bananas announced (for a second time) we've got one of the top comic minds working in film since the 30s.

I also like Mon Oncle Antoine and Walkabout and They Might Be Giants (three very different films). It's hard to justify Trafic, however. Over the previous two decades or so Tati had made four features, every one of which would probably make my top ten for the year, but everyone admits Trafic--his last true film, an attempt at a comeback after the financially disastrous Playtime--is a significant dropping off.

Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. The Hired Hand
12. Duck, You Sucker
13. W.R.—Mysteries of the Organism
14. Two-Lane Blacktop
15. Klute
16. A New Leaf
17. Jabberwocky
18. Basic Training
19. Play Misty for Me
20. 10 Rillington Place

Haven't seent 11, 18 or 20. Duck, You Sucker is kind of fun, but far from great. W.R. is one of those weird artifiacts of the time that's worth looking at. Two-Lane Blacktop is one of the weird artifacts of the time that should be avoided. Klute was never much. A New Leaf is an underrated comedy classic (even if Elaine May walked off the project, unhappy with the re-editing). Jabberwocky (a short) is good, and Play Misty For Me is one of Clint Eastwood's better films of the era, though I don't like it that much.

Here are some films thought highly of at the time that didn't make Jesse's top twenty:

Carnal Knowledge, The Emigrants, Fiddler On The Roof, The French Connection, Nicholas and Alexandra, Summer of '42.

Here are a couple of titles that would have made my list:

And Now For Something Completely Different (Monty Python trying and failing to capitalize on their TV show by filming their best sketches--even though these versions are inferior to the originals, it's still fun), Murmur Of The Heart

Other films of interest (some of which would probably have made my top twenty):

$, 200 Motels, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, The Anderson Tapes, The Andromeda Strain, The Barefoot Executive, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Billy Jack, Bless the Beasts and Children, Blue Movie, The Boy Friend, Cold Turkey, The Crunch Bird (speaking of shorts), Dad's Army, Death In Venice, The Decameron, The Devils, Diamonds Are Forever, Drive, He Said, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Evel Knievel, The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, Gas-s-s-s, Get Carter, Happy Birthday, Wanda June, Harold and Maude, The Hellstrom Chronicle, The Hunting Party, (Jesse mentions one speech), Johnny Got His Gun, Kotch, The Last Movie, Two English Girls, Little Murders, Macbeth, Made for Each Other, Man and Boy, Le Mans, The Mephisto Waltz, The Million Dollar Duck, Minnie and Moskowitz, The Omega Man, The Panic in Needle Park, Plaza Suite, Rape, Shaft, Star Spangled Girl, Straw Dogs, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Support Your Local Gunfighter, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Taking Off, THX 1138, The Trojan Women, Up Pompeii, Vanishing Point, Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?, Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?, Willard, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman

Gross Anatomy

2012-01-02T00:11:00.002-08:00

The year is over and we can compare how much money various films made.. These numbers are domestic, and a few titles (like the latest Mission: Impossible) have a fair amount more to come, but the list gives a pretty good idea of what sells. Here are the top ten:

1. Harry Pottter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2
2. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
4. The Hangover: Part II
5. Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
6. Fast Five
7. Cars 2
8. Thor
9. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
10. Captain America: The First Avenger

The first seven are sequels. The last three are attempts to create franchises.

So the next time you hear someone complain that Hollywood just keeps repeating itself, remind them the public demands it.

Prediction For 2012

2012-01-02T00:11:00.001-08:00

We just looked at last year's predictions. Before we get too far into the new year, let's make some new ones. (Readers are invited to make whatever predictions they like in the comments.)

American Politics:

President Obama (and Vice President Biden) will be reelected in a hard-fought race against Mitt Romney.

Marco Rubio will not be on the Republican ticket.

The Republicans will take the Senate, but just barely. The Republicans will hold the House.

The Occupy Wall Street movement will not have a great effect on voters (though I'm not sure how you measure this).

No new Supreme Court Justice will be put on the Court.

The Supreme Court will not find any part of Obamacare unconstitutional.

There will be no successful major terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

International Politics:

There'll be plenty of trouble in Europe, and the Euro will fail.

Assad will fall.

Castro and Chavez won't both survive the year.

The Economy:

By the end of the year, unemployment will be around 7%.

The Dow will be over 12500.

Sports:

LSU will handily beat Alabama in the BCS National Championshp Game.

Green Bay will take the Super Bowl but it won't be a blowout.

Michigan football will lose no more than three games.

Popular Culture:

American Idol will still have enough power to be the #1 show on TV.

The crystal ball has never been cloudier for the Oscars in recent times, but here goes. Best Picture: The Artist is too different, Tree Of Life is too arty, The Help is too old, so by default the winner is The Descendants. Best Actor: George Clooney (who's already won one) will just beat his friend Brad Pitt and new name Jean Dujardin. Best Actress: Michelle Williams. Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer. Supporting Actress: The Help's Jessica Chastain will take away enough votes from costar Octavia Spencer to allow Melissa McCarthy to take the award in the most highly competitive category of the night. Best Director: Malik scares them enough to let Alexander Payne win. Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants. Original Screenplay: Could it be time for another Woody--Midnight In Paris.

Burn Hollywood Burn

2012-01-01T00:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, an arsonist set a bunch of cars on fire in and around the Hollywood area. Because of this, I was awoken at 5 am by a phone call from the police asking me if I'd seen any suspicious activity. No, I didn't see anything suspicious under my eyelids.

From now on, if someone is lighting up the place in the wee hours, before you call me, let it burn.

Predictions from 2011

2012-01-01T00:12:00.000-08:00

I guess it's time to respond to my predictions for 2011. (There are also some predictions in the comment section from Denver Guy and Anonymous--they can discuss if they wish. Vermont Guy also had predictions.)

The predictions are in italics, my comments aren't.

American Politics:

Obama will not compromise on his values and major legislation will be difficult. There will be intense differences over environmental regulation. No major new initiatives in general will be passed (though everyday financial deals will be struck). Obama, and Harry Reid, will blame any problems on Republican obstructionism.

The compromise part I'm not sure about. I think there were some fights over environmental regulations, such as the keystone pipeline and light bulbs. New major initiatives? Hard to say, but nothing comes to mind. And yes, the Dems, who run the White House and the Senate, do blame the Republican House majority for certain things not happening.

Republicans will not successfully cut the budget except in the most cosmetic ways.

I realize these are gimmes, but hey, it's still true.

Obama will not get a chance to nominate a Supreme Court Justice in 2011. (If he does, the Republicans will attempt to block the nominee through filibuster.)

Got it.

And the end of the year, Obama's popularity will be around 50%. The Congress's popularity will rise as well, but not go that high.

For most of the year it was in the low to mid 40s, but lately, for whatever reason, it's gone up a bit to the upper half of the 40s, if not quite 50%. Considering our continuing economic problems he should be happy it's not ten ponts lower. Congress, on the other, is getting even more unpopular, if that's possible.

The Congress will not have much luck chipping away at Obamacare. I realize this won't happen this year, but the Supreme Court will not find any part of the law unconstitutional.

There has arguably been some chipping away, but not from Congress, as the Senate wouldn't even consider any such bills from the House.

As for the Supreme Court, the prediction is ongoing.

There will be no successful major terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

I think this is correct, though it may depend on how you define "major" and "terrorist."

The Tea Party will continue to strongly affect Republican politics.

They certainly still have a major effect, though it may be waning.

Sarah Palin will not choose to run for President. (Neither will Hillary Clinton. And Joe Biden will not leave.)

Yes on all three in 2011, and I expect in 2012 as well.

International Politics:

The Euro will be ailing, but will survive.

It's still around.

There will be at least one major terrorist attack in Europe.

I'd say I got this wrong.

There will be no progress in Israeli/Palestinian talks.

Might have even gotten worse.

The Economy:

By the end of the year, unemployment will drop below 9%, and possibly below 8%.

Called it, even if some say it's slight of hand.

Housing prices will not rise this year. Gas prices will.

Houses not rising much if at all. Gas has gone up and down but I believe ended the year up.

Right now the Dow is around 11500. Will it end the year below 11000, above 12000, or in between? I predict it'll be above 12000.

Another roller coaster ride, though it ended over 12000, as predicted.

Sports:

Oregon will beat Auburn in the BCS.

Auburn beat Oregon in a close game.

The Patriots will win the Super Bowl.

Green Bay beat the Steelers.

2011 will be a better year for Michigan than the last three. Coach Rod will lose his job. (I wrote this before the Gator Bowl.)

Rod lost his job and it was a much, much better year.

Popular Culture:

American Idol will not be the #1 show on TV.

It's been losing viewers, but still held on to #1 for an unprecedented eighth consecutive year.

Very hard to read the tea leaves for this year's Oscars. Best Picture: The Social Network. Best Director: David Fincher will beat Darren Aronofsky, Danny Boyle and the Coens. Best Actor: Colin Firth will beat James Franco. Best Actress: Annette Bening will beat Natalie Portman. Best Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush wil beat Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo. Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld. Best Adapted Screenplay The Social Network. Best Original Screenplay The King's Speech.

I was mostly wrong, if in the ballpark in that I got the nominees right. Best picture, The King's Speech. Best director, Tom Hooper for King's Speech. Best actor, Firth. Best Actress, Portman. Supporting Actors both from The Fighter--Bale and Leo. Got the screenplay awards right.

Truth

2012-01-01T00:11:00.000-08:00

Let's celebrate the new year with the song that hit its peak on January 1, 1966. It only went to #20, but hey, it was the only hit the Knickerbockers ever had. It was probably helped by its similarity to The Beatles' sound.

Vanity Plates Of The Month

2012-01-01T00:10:00.000-08:00

On an Alfa Romeo: CARNIV4. At first I thought it was something about a carnival, but now I'm pretty sure it's about the guy being carnivorous.

PEEKBOO. You're only allowed seven spaces, and I thought about taking any other letter from peekaboo--pekaboo, peekabo, eekaboo--and none of them seemed to work.

C1BROKR. I would think a broker would try to advertise that he's A-1.

SO KITTY. So like a cat lover.

BRBR 1. Barber? Barbara? Berber? Barbarian?

THE MVP. Cocky.

YRU NRVS. A rather impertinent question.

4 SUNY. So is it for a son or a college?

2011 Awards

2011-12-31T00:16:00.000-08:00

Story Of The Year: Navy Seals take down Osama Bin Laden. A lightning strike, but the culmination of years, and the end of an era.

Non-story Of The Year: The "new civility" everyone was talking about for a while. Of course, this was all about shutting up people you disagree with while you get to say whatever you want. No one bought it, needless to say.

To Be Continued Story: The Arab Spring. Needs more seasoning.

Trend Of The Year: The death of bad guys--Bin Laden, Awlaki, Gaddafi, Kim Jong Il, to name the big ones. Runner-up: Rioting.

Master Of Logic Award: (Not that it matters, but Biden's number are wrong.)

Biggest Future Flashpoint: The European Union (beating Iran, Syria and North Korea).

Most Overhyped Story: Occupy Wall Street. It's a real story, but the attention it got--including the hopes and dreams so many writers invested in it--was out of proportion.

Story That Generated The Best Headlines: Anything with Anthony Weiner.

Biggest Disaster:

Can't Make Up Their Mind Award: To the Iowa caucus voters, who at various times have loved Donald Trump, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Get a grip, guys.

Winner Of The Year: Gabrielle Giffords. It was a horrible year, but she still ended up a winner.

Loser Of The Year: Joe Paterno. What a way to go. (Yes, I know what the real tragedy was.)

Crowd Control Award:

Apocalypse Now Award: Harold Camping, president of Family Radio, predicted the Rapture on May 21. When nothing happened, he claimed there'd been a judgment that day but the actual Rapture would be on October 21. Still waiting.

Sunniest Story: Solyndra

Only Two People Know For Sure Award: The Dominique Strauss-Kahn story

Biggest Unforced Error:

Least Impressive Debut: After years of waiting, the numbers for Simon Cowell's X Factor can't compare to American Idol.

Biggest Celebrity Meltdown: With his Tiger Blood and Adonis DNA, is there any queston Charlie Sheen is Winning this award? He even took his meltdown on the road. Not even Lindsay Lohan could compete.

Wedding Of The Year: Kate and William.

Divorce of The Year: Demi Moore and Bruce Willis made sense, but Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher? So a six-year marriage beat the odds. I don't know why they're splitting up, but maybe Ashton figured out in 2012 she becomes a Demi-century.

Song Of The Year: What cracks me up was how harshly this song was attacked as if it were somehow significantly worse than so many others on the charts.

No Replacement

2011-12-31T00:10:00.000-08:00

Paul Westerberg was born on the last day of the 1950s. He's written plenty of good music, though I still like his days with The Replacements best.

End Of Year Music

2011-12-31T00:01:00.000-08:00

This final day of the year happens to be the birthday of Jule Styne. A top Broadway tunesmith, I've heard he was sort of a Damon Runyon character in real life. Stephen Sondheim, who worked with him on Gypsy, said he was an exuberantly confident font of melody.

Thirty Years Ago Today

2011-12-30T00:23:00.000-08:00

Jesse Walker is up (or down) to 1981 in his top ten film lists:

1. Coup de Torchon
2. The Decline...of Western Civilization
3. Blow Out
4. Lola
5. Mephisto
6. Gallipoli
7. Time Bandits
8. Polyester

9. Modern Romance
10. Ms.45

A fine list. They might not all be in my top ten, but I like them all except for Blow Out. I'm aware that many find this one of De Palma's best, but aside from the fact he's copying Antonioni in addition to Hitchcock, I'm not sure what this film has going for it.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. Vernon, Florida
12. America is Waiting
13. Pixote
14. Das Boot
15. Pennies from Heaven
16. Tango
17. Junkopia
18. Crac

19. Gregory's Girl
20. Smothering Dreams

Haven't seen 16, 17, 18 and 20, but I like the rest, except for Pennies From Heaven, which I consider a pretentious disaster (and it's not a disaster because it's pretentious, it's bad in general).

Jesse ignores a lot of highly regarded films from that year, including Chariots Of Fire, On Golden Pond and The French Lieutenant's Woman, and I have to agree with these omissions. (That reminds me--when I saw it, they stopped COF in the middle so police could check to see if an escaped criminal was in the theatre--that was actually pretty exciting.) On the other hand, I thought Reds was pretty good, and it would probably make an honorable mention for me.

There were also some mainstreem successes that would make my list:

An American Werewolf in London

Arthur

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Stripes

I mght also throw in Taxi Zum Klo. I haven't seen it in a long time, but it certainly made an impression.

Other films of interest:

Absence of Malice, All Night Long, ...All the Marbles, The Amateur, American Pop, Body Heat,,The Cannonball Run, Cattle Annie and Little Britches, Clash of the Titans, Continental Divide, Cutter's Way, Diva, Dragonslayer, Escape From New York, The Evil Dead, Excalibur, Eye of the Needle, Fort Apache, The Bronx, The Four Seasons, Ghost Story, The Great Muppet Caper, Heartbeeps, Heavy Metal, History of the World, Part I, The Hit, Honky Tonk Freeway, The Howling, The Incredible Shrinking Woman,

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, Lili Marleen, Mad Max 2, Mommie Dearest, My Bloody Valentine, My Dinner with Andre, Neighbors, Nice Dreams, Outland, Prince of the City, Private Lessons, Puberty Blues, Quest for Fire, Ragtime, Rich and Famous, S.O.B., Scanners, Sharky's Machine, Shock Treatment, Southern Comfort, They All Laughed, Thief, This Is Elvis, Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man, Wolfen, Zorro, The Gay Blade

Big Production

2011-12-30T00:17:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Jeff Lynne. He was the main creative force behind ELO. The band started as a fusion of rock and classical, but they moved beyond that into a pop-rock band with less pretension but heavy production from Lynne.

Lynne had been influenced by the Beatles, and in 1987 he helped put George Harrison back on top by producing his #1 hit "Got My Mind Set On You":

This led to the Traveling Wilburys, with Lynne, Harrison and Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. Too often supergroups are less than the sum of their part, but this one really rocked. A lot of the credit goes to Lynne, whose production helped put it over the top.

Not Ready To Retire

2011-12-30T00:15:00.000-08:00

Happy 65th, Patti Smith.

Dig That Organ Solo

2011-12-30T00:11:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to Michigan boy Del Shannon. He had his greatest success in the first half of the 60s. He enjoyed comeback moments in the 70s and 80s, but, suffering from depression, shot himself in 1990.

He was bigger in Britain than America, with a string of top ten hits. Over here, he didn't have a lot of hits, but he had one big one--"Hats Off To Larry." I'm kidding (and making a reference to a Richard Lewis joke no one knows), even though "Larry" did go to #5. But his big hit, which sounds as great today as it did then, was "Runaway."

Mair

2011-12-29T00:16:00.000-08:00

My favorite sitcom star, Mary Tyler Moore, turns 75 today. She was the perfect wife on The Dick Van Dyke Show and the perfect co-worker on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

I could pick so many great moments from MTM I hardly know where to start. In fact, here's my planned tribute.

The New Mary Tyler Moore?

2011-12-29T00:15:00.000-08:00

Alison Brie turns 29 today. Like Mary Tyler Moore, she seems older in the 1960s. (Unfortunately, for some reason I can't embed Mad Men scenes).

Anyway, our little Annie from Community is growing up.

It's Official

2011-12-29T00:12:00.000-08:00

The National Film Registry has just selected 25 more titles. You know what that means--the book I bought last year with essays on each NFR film is now dated.

Anyway, here's the list, with old and new, familiar names and experimental works.

Allures (1961)

Bambi (1942)

The Big Heat (1953)

A Computer Animated Hand (1972)

Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963)

The Cry of Children (1912)

A Cure for Pokeritis (1912)

El Mariachi (1992)

Faces (1968)

Fruit Cake Factory (1985) .

Forrest Gump (1994)

Growing Up Female (1971)

Hester Street (1975)

I, an Actress (1977)

The Iron Horse (1924)

The Kid (1921)

The Lost Weekend (1945)

The Negro Soldier (1944)

Nicholas Brothers Family Home Movies (1930s-1940s)

Norma Rae (1979)

Porgy and Bess (1959)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Stand and Deliver (1988)

Twentieth Century (1934)

War of the Worlds (1953)

I wouldn't criticize the selections, since it's regarding our film heritage and the titles can be as much about historical significance as artistry or entertainment value.

Looking over it, I see there's one from Chaplin, one from Hawks, one from Disney, one from Wilder. Good. Always room for more of their films. There's also Lang's Big Heat--surprised it hasn't made it already.

Some of the more modern titles--Norma Rae, The Silence Of The Lambs, Forrest Gump--aren't my favorites, but were and are well regarded enough (and big enough hits) that I understand them making the list. For that matter, I find Faces--like a lot of Cassavetes--hard to sit through. But I recognize he was in the forefront, doing something different (even if it wasn't always worth doing).

Tough Girls

2011-12-28T00:11:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Mary Weiss. She was the lead singer of The Shangri-Las. They charted a handful of times from 1964 to 1966 (all while Mary and the others were teenagers), and are best known for "Leader Of The Pack" and "Remember (Walking In The Sand)."

But maybe my favorite numbers of theirs is a B-side, a classic in the masochistic world of girl groups, "Easier To Cry." Even the cruddy production adds to the drama.

Re-Generation

2011-12-28T00:03:00.000-08:00

Jesse Walker has chosen his top films from 20 years ago. Here's the top ten with my comments below.

1. The Rapture

2. Hearts of Darkness

3. Homicide

4. Raise the Red Lantern

5. Prime Suspect

6. Blooper Bunny

7. Tribulation 99

8. JFK

9. Slacker

10. Point Break

A mixed bag. I'll give The Rapture points for being odd, and for taking its chosen culture seriously, but I wouldn't even say it's a good film, and I think the ending is silly.

Hearts Of Darkness is a fine documentary (and I met the directors on separate occasions).

I consider David Mamet's career as a film director almost entirely a washout, and, like many of his films, Homicide starts well but gets worse as it goes along.

Raise The Red Lantern is a fine film--one of Yimou's best.

Prime Suspect is a TV show, not a movie. Blooper Bunny is a short, and far from Bug's best. Never saw Tribulation 99.

JFK is probably Oliver Stone's best film, though I consider it a comedy.

Slacker is fun, but, like the title, not all it could be.

I have friends who consider Point Break a classic. I considered it a disjointed film with some great sequences.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. Delicatessen

12. Blood in the Face
13. The Double Life of Veronique
14. Little Man Tate
15. Dogfight
16. Like Water for Chocolate
17. Thanksgiving Prayer
18. The Silence of the Lambs
19. Flirting
20. Highway Patrolman

Delicatessen was a cool film. Didn't see Blood In The Face. I like but don't love The Double Life Of Veronique. Don't think that much of Little Man Tate or Dogfight. Like Like Water For Chocolate. Thanksgiving Prayer is a short. The Silence Of The Lambs--only the third film to win the top five Oscars--strikes me as a passable murder mystery, and when Anthony Hopkins isn't on screen, maybe not even that. Flirting I liked. Highway Patrolman is another example of the disappointing career of Alex Cox.

There were a lot of films though highly of in 1991 that Jesse didn't select. Among them:

Barton Fink, Beauty And The Beast, Boyz N The Hood (1991 was the year of the black filmmaker, and this was the debut that made the biggest splash), Bugsy, The Fisher King, Thelma & Louise

Then there were a lot of films I thought highly of in 1991 that didn't make Jesse's top twenty. Here are some that probably would have made my list.

Armour of God II: Operation Condor -- One of Jackie Chan's best

City of Hope -- One of John Sayles' best

Defending Your Life -- I was disappointed at first because it wasn't as good as Albert Brooks' last, Lost In America, but what is? Has held up well

Europa (aka Zentropa)

Life Is Sweet --I know Jesse doesn't go for Mike Leigh, but this would be a good place to start for a reconsideration

Once Upon a Time in China -- Lots of good films coming out of HK around this time, often in series, and this is the first of one of the best series.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day -- Cameron is one of the best action directors ever

Other films of interest:

The Addams Family (funny and looks beautiful), At Play in the Fields of the Lord, La Belle Noiseuse (okay, too long), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (not quite as good as the first), Black Robe, Cape Fear, Career Opportunities, A Chinese Ghost Story III, Chuck Amuck: The Movie, City Slickers, The Commitments, Dead Again, The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia (it's a short, but Jesse picks shorts), Doc Hollywood, The Doctor, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, The Doors (Stone had two films out this year, and this almost matches JFK as a fever dream), Fried Green Tomatoes, The Gambling Ghost, Hot Shots!, The Hours and Times, Hudson Hawk (better than everyone says, though it would have to be), The Indian Runner, Jungle Fever (like so much Spike Lee, a jumble, but the good parts--especially Samuel L. Jackson--are quite something), Kafka, L.A. Story, The Last Boy Scout, Let Him Have It, Madonna: Truth or Dare, Mediterraneo, Meet the Applegates, My Own Private Idaho (Jesse picks Van Sant's short and ignores his feature), Mystery Date, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, Naked Lunch, New Jack City, Night on Earth, Nothing but Trouble, The Object of Beauty, Only the Lonely, Oscar, Pizza Man, The Quarrel, A Rage in Harlem, The Rocketeer, Salmonberries, The Sandman, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, Shadows and Fog, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Toto the Hero, Tous les Matins du Monde, Truly, Madly, Deeply, Until the End of the World, Waiting, What About Bob?, Year of the Gun

PS Jesse has seen this post, realized Zentropa was released in 1991, and added it to his list at #14.

An Amazing Left Hand, And The Right's Not Bad Either

2011-12-27T00:19:00.000-08:00

It's the birthday of Earl "Fatha" Hines. He was a major force in early jazz, playing piano for Louis Armstrong, and continued on for many years, becoming a bandleader on his own.

Couch Collection

2011-12-27T00:12:00.000-08:00

Top movies of 2011 lists are appearing all over the place. Some time next month, when I'm caught up with the December releases, I'll post my annual film year wrap-up. Critics are also posting the best television of 2011, but I won't because even though I watch a fair amount of TV (too much), I'm not a paid TV critic who has to sample everything. And TV, unlike movies, often requires more than one viewing to appreciate something.

Still, I figured I'd put up the TV list over at the AV Club, coming from the combined votes of all their critics, and comment on it. Here's their top 30 in reverse order:

30. Sons Of Anarchy

Don't watch it. It sounds like one of those shows, such as The Shield, that is decent but I'm never gonna check out unless someone buys me the DVD set.

29. Raising Hope

I liked My Name Is Earl and this seems like a redo. One friend told me it's the show Earl wishes it was, but the few times I've checked it out I didn't get into it.

27 (tie) The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

What he does he does well, but I only like it for comedy's sake (and then only occasionally)--it's scary that anyone would watch this to be better informed.

27. (tie) Men Of A Certain Age

Another show I couldn't get into and now that it's gone I never will.

26. Parenthood

Haven't watched it.

25. Childrens Hospital

Seen a few episodes. Frenetic and never quite as funny as I'd like, but not bad. (Not as good as Robot Chicken, if you have to pick a 15-minute comedy.) It was fun to see the Party Down reunion.

24. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

I've seen a few episode and find the characters more annoying than humorous. Maybe I should give it another chance.

23. 30 Rock

Poor 30 Rock. It displaced The Office as the critics' darling, but now Modern Family gets all the awards. Still worth checking out, but seems to be on its downward arc.

22. The Vampire Diaries

I don't really want to watch a series about vampires. (I prefer zombies and don't even watch the zombie show.)

21. Cougar Town

Watched it a bit in the first season, didn't go for it. It supposedly has gotten better, but when I checked I couldn't tell. A charming cast, but not great material. I like it best as a reference on Community.

20. Boardwalk Empire

One of the more overpraised show. Looks great, but the drama isn't that compelling, and once you get to know the characters most of them aren't that interesting. Still, I often check it out so there must be something beyond my need to justify the cable bill.

19. Curb Your Enthusiasm

Can still be very funny, though this season was spotty.

18. Misfits

Don't watch it.

17. Treme

I've given this chance after chance, but it's unwatchable. I like the music, but I don't watch a show for its soundtrack. Critics give it way too much credit--just because David Simon created The Wire doesn't mean everything he does is great.

16. Fringe

Watched it a bit during the first season, but didn't get into it. My sf friends say give it a second chance, but maybe it's too late.

15. Bob's Burgers

Really? Got a shot in the Sunday night animation line-up, and it seemed to be a minor, not especially good, comedy. Family Guy and The Simpsons have been around so long they no longer make these lists, but I still prefer them. I even prefer Allen Gregory, which may be weak but is at least supremely bizarre.

14. Happy Endings

This has been getting some critical attention lately, and I'm flabbergasted. It represents what's most wrong with sitcoms today--young hipsters ironically commenting on their lives as they go by.

13. Downton Abbey

Didn't watch it, but it's being repeated now and with all those Emmys I'll give it a shot.

12. Mildred Pierce

Impressive design, and did stick more closely to the novel than the melodramatic movie, but sort of a snooze.

11. Archer

Didn't watch it.

10. Enlightened

Didn't like the pilot and haven't been back. Critics seem to say it's something, and it'd be easy to check out, but I'm still doubtful. (Still better than The Big C, at least.)

9. The Good Wife

Another highly-praised show I missed out on. Maybe I'll buy the first season for myself as a Hannukah gift and see what all the talk is about.

8. Friday Night Lights

From the way the critics talked you'd think this was another Sopranos or something. I watched it a few times and didn't come back.

7. Homeland

Best new show of the season.

6. Game Of Thrones

Second best new show, though there seems to be a lot of time spent with various parties maneuvering. Okay, you've maneuvered, now do something.

5. Justified

Friends and critics rave. Guess I'll have to get this DVD too. (These days I prefer to watch hour-longs from the start.)

4. Community

My favorite sitcom. Please give them one more year to graduate.

3. Breaking Bad

Made the top of a lot of lists, so surprised to see it only third. I thought the fourth season wasn't quite as good as the previous seasons, but was still easily better than any other drama out there. (No Mad Men this year, I see.)

2. Parks And Recreation

Okay, it started weak and has become fairly reliable, but let's not overstate how good it is.

1. Louie

One of the more intriguing comedies. Louis C. K. attempts things no one else will, and even if it doesn't always work, you never know if you might see something brilliant. Maybe rated a bit high, but should be up there.

There are a lot of omissions here, but the most surprising is Modern Family, which keeps winning Best Comedy Emmys. It's also a damn fine show. Is it now cool for hip critics to overlook it?

Say Your Prayers

2011-12-26T00:19:00.001-08:00

As we celebrate the afterglow of Christmas, let's not forget about the dark side, as exemplified by today's birthday boy, Lars Ulrich of Metallica.

It's A Phil Spector World

2011-12-26T00:19:00.000-08:00

It's Phil Spector's birthday (according to some). Okay, the creator of the Wall Of Sound is inside four walls these days. But I hope, right now, lying on his bunk, he can look out the barred windows and remember the great Christmas music he made.

Yule Enjoy This

2011-12-25T00:14:00.000-08:00

Snuggle up near the monitor and enjoy this lovely Yule log. It generates as much heat as the light bulbs you'll be required to buy soon.

Merry Melodies

2011-12-25T00:11:00.000-08:00

Nothing is better than Christmas music (around Christmas time--by January, time to move on).

First, we need a little Mitzi:

As long as we're in the mood, let's have some more skating music.

If you can't skate, there are others ways to get around:

Let's slow it down and say goodbye.

Fallowble

2011-12-24T00:11:00.001-08:00

Here's a blog post from James Fallows. It's entitled "A Brilliant Doonesbury Today" and reproduces that Doonesbury and then notes he, Fallows, agrees. This is pretty big news--someone is still reading Doonesbury.

The "brilliant" strip is yet another piece where Gary Trudeau reminds us he opposes the Iraq War. It's three panels of a professor lecturing his students (actually us) on what Trudeau believes and ends with his patented anticlimax gag.

The joke is based on two odd premises. First, that Iraq was "the biggest foreign policy disaster in U.S. history." I can see how people might still argue if the war was a good idea or not, but it's just childish to claim that nothing worse has ever happened in our history. I suppose, though, within the Trudeau/Fallows axis, that's a matter of faith (or Feith).

Second, it's stated no one has taken responsibility for it--Trudeau even provides names, so we won't forget. This, apparently, is the part that Fallows thinks is brilliant, since he quotes Trudeau on the point and simply adds "correct." (Glad he did, or I would have thought the whole post was a burn on Trudeau.)

I honestly don't understand what Trudeau is saying. The names he mentions--Cheney, Rumsfeld, Feith and others--have all written books where they discuss the war and their part in it. So has Trudeau not heard about these books, or is he miffed that they refuse to claim it's the disaster he thinks it is and take full responsibility?

I'm not sure what's more bizarre--the Trudeau comic or that Fallows thought he needed to reproduce it just to say he agrees. But posts like this do help explain why he won't allow comments.

PS In the list of "architects of Bush's War," Trudeau doesn't bother to mention the man most responsible--Bush himself. I guess the President merely being a puppet is another one of those beliefs that Trudeau and Fallows share.

Get Your Ya Yas Out

2011-12-24T00:11:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Lee Dorsey. He only had two top ten hits, but they're both a lot of fun:

Can You See Jose?

2011-12-23T00:14:00.000-08:00

It's Jose Greco's birthday. I'd call him the most famous flamenco dancer since he's the only one I can think of.

Whenever I watch flamenco I'm always reminded of Lenny Bruce's line about how it's an art form wherein a dancer applauds his own ass.

List-o-mania

2011-12-23T00:11:00.002-08:00

It's that time of year. My friend Jesse Walker is making a list of the top ten films...of every year that ends with a 1, except 2011, since it's too early.

His first entry is 2001.

1. Mulholland Drive
2. Spirited Away
3. Y Tu Mamá También
4. Sex and Lucia
5. The Man Who Wasn't There
6. Donnie Darko
7. The Office
8. Waking Life
9. Lantana
10. The Pledge

Mulholland Drive may be the best film of the decade, so it deserves the top spot. Spirited Away is as good as anything Miyazaki has done, so in most years it would deserve to be #1.

I like Y Tu Mama Tambien a lot as well. Didn't get around to seeing Sex And Lucia.

I've talked with Jesse about The Man Who Wasn't There, which has some great stuff--everything with Tony Shalhoub--but is otherwise a weak effort by the Coens. And I'm not in the Donnie Darko camp, either.

It's odd (as Jesse notes) to put a TV series on a movie list, even if it's a great miniseries with an arc, so I'm not sure what The Office is doing here.

Waking Life I find a bit too precious. Might work better as something much shorter. Lantana I liked. The Pledge I've never seen all the way through.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. Storytelling
12. Claire
13. Amélie
14. Gosford Park
15. The Others
16. Time Out
17. Ghost World
18. What Time Is It There?
19. Ocean's Eleven
20. Hyakugojyuuichu!!

Storytelling isn't as good as Welcome To The Dollhouse or Happiness, but it's still got some power. Didn't see Claire. Amelie was fun (so much fun, in fact, there was a backlash). The Others was a pretty good horror film. Robert Altman doing Masterpiece Theatre wasn't my cup of tea. Time Out was pretty good, too. Ghost World easily deserves to be in the top ten. Haven't seen #18 or #20. Ocean's Eleven was almost too slick for its own good, but is still one of Hollywood's more entertaining caper films (unlike its sequels, or, for that matter, the original).

Ocean's Eleven turns out to be the only top ten hit on the list. Jesse apparently doesn't much go for the first Harry Potter film, or the second Lord Of The Rings. We also don't see Monsters, Inc. or Shrek, both of which are entertaining.

The big award-winning film that year was A Beautiful Mind. I agree it's not top twenty material. Nor are other highly regarded films, such as Monster's Ball, The Royal Tenenbaums or In The Bedroom.

But what films should maybe have made the list?

How about....

Hedwig And The Angry Inch

Lovely And Amazing

Monsoon Wedding

Winged Migration

Other films of interest (if not necessarily good):

The Anniversary Party

Avalon

CQ

Freddy Got Fingered

Haiku Tunnel

Human Nature

In Praise Of Love

Invincible

Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back

Joe Somebody

Lagaan

Legally Blonde

The Mexican

One Night At McCool's

Pootie Tang

Rat Race

Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure

Shallow Hal

The Shipping News

Spy Kids

Va Savoir

Wet Hot American Summer

Zoolander

Charlene's On Lightning

2011-12-22T00:19:00.000-08:00

In the battle for punk rock dominance, the Clash always finished a poor third for me behind the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. I liked them quite a bit. I just didn't think they mattered as much as they claimed.

Their lead singer, Joe Strummer, died nine years ago today, only 50 years old. Perhaps it's hard for punkers to age gracefully, but they'd still probably rather rust than burn out.

My favorite song of theirs was their biggest mainstream success--a sign to some fans that they'd sold out. Punk rockers could be pretty silly.

Three Out Of Four

2011-12-22T00:08:00.001-08:00

With the exception of Curb Your Enthusiasm, there's not much to say about original half-hour programming at HBO. I've sampled stuff like Bored To Death, How To Make It In America, Hung and Enlightened. If they're comedies, they're not funny enough. If they're dramas, they're not dramatic enough.

So it's just as well the channel has canceled the first three. They'd run their course--not good enough and unlikely to get better. This sort of housecleaning should allow some new shows to come in and maybe there'll be something worthwhile.

Still not sure why they kept Enlightened, which doesn't even get good ratings. I guess someone there likes it. (Someone there must also like Treme, which is pretty dull and also gets weak numbers. Or maybe David Simon has something on these people.) I wouldn't minde if they ended Eastbound & Down too, though at least that gets viewers.

Festival Of Lights

2011-12-21T00:12:00.000-08:00

Here's to a happy Hanukkah. Have a merry menorah and a shimmering shames.

Mad Pursuit

2011-12-21T00:08:00.000-08:00

I caught the documentary on Encore, Jerry Lewis: Method To The Madness. It was straight tribute, with nary a critical word, but it did capture that Lewis is really the last of the great movie clowns.

He may not be in the same league as Chaplin or Keaton, but he's playing the same game. And more than a guy who was at the top of his industry for decades, he was an all-around artist, who wrote, produced, directed and starred in his own films. Also, in addition to being a comedian, he was an innovator, creating visually imaginative work that looks like nothing else beind done around the time, and--as the special noted--creating the video assist.

The story was told chronologically, with occasional cuts to his present-day live show. To be honest, I could have used a lot less of hearing Jerry telling old jokes (he's never really been a stand-up comedian anyway), and seen more excerpts from his lengthy career.

That was another problem. As simple and dopey as a lot of people find his comedy, it doesn't always work well if someone describes some routine and then you see a snippet. You often need to watch what preceded to get into the rhythm.

But for an overall view of a lengthy career, it was well done. And it's good to see his descendants, like Eddie Murphy, Jerry Seinfeld, Billy Crystal and Chevy Chase, give him his due.

Rhymes With The Band

2011-12-20T00:11:00.000-08:00

I didn't love Kiss much the first time I heard them, but they've grown on me. So happy birthday, Peter Criss.

Second Home

2011-12-20T00:06:00.000-08:00

Showtime's Homeland has been the best new show of the season, and its finale was powerful yet, ultimately--and intentionally--unsatisfying. (Spoilers ahead, of course.)

By almost any standard, except how it made us feel when it was over, "Marine One" was excellent. The whole season came together as the terrorist plot was about to be sprung. The tension, mixed with dread, was palpable--almost like Breaking Bad. (But I do have to question the piss-poor security. They know there's a sniper loose, so aren't they checking every window within shooting distance? It's already ridiculous enough Walker could be hiding so long now that everyone knows he's out and about.)

On the scene, after the shooting, Carrie finally figures out the scheme, but no one will listen to a crazy lady, not even Saul. So the main part of the plan is set up, with Brody in a small room with bunch of powerful people. First attempt, the bomb won't go off. Second attempt, Brody is talked out of it unwittingly by his daughter--who is only talking to him because of Carrie. Carrie herself is taken away by the police and Brody won't press charges when she promises to stay away from his family. She agrees to go through electroconvulsive therapy to deal with her mental problems

Meanwhile, Saul, following Carrie's insight, is nibbling away at what made Nazir go quiet, and uncovers one of those tiresome conspiracies that powerful men are always getting involved in in movies and TV. Saul finds this out by blackmailing the Vice President (what is this, The Event?) but can't talk because it would endanger agents. Also, Brody's failure has led to a new mission from Nazir, which first involves killing Walker. Since we have nothing invested in Walker--he only felt like a character for about two lines before he was shot--this scene, filmed in one of those sewers that looks like a set, barely registered. (And why would Nazir give up a top guy in the field--how many does he have that he can afford to waste them? How was Walker going to be trouble? Didn't he do what he was told?)

But even as the episode was well done, it left us hanging. Starting it with Carrie at a low point and the terrorists on the edge of triumph is good drama, but ending it that way is simply frustrating.

In fact, at every turn we were frustrated. There was no explosion that not only would have taken care of a major character, but more important, proved Carrie right. Fine, but can't they give us a crumb, so someone understands what's happening? Nope. Saul is impressed that Carrie led him to the conspiracy, but he believes she was wrong on Brody. (Shouldn't she at least have mentioned that Brody's become a Muslim--wouldn't that be of some interest?). Certainly everyone else in the government thinks of her as crazy. And Carrie herself? She's not given the satisfaction of knowing her gambit with Brody's family worked. And then just as she makes the connection with Issa and Brody, she gets the ECT.

So everyone's off the scent. And instead of a specific terrorist plot next season, it seems we're promised a much less interesting open-ended story with a highly placed spy who has the ear of the President.

I understand why the show did this. They didn't want to kill off any stars and they wanted to continue the cat and mouse game, not just kill the lead terrorist and bring in a new one next season. But would it have been so hard to give Carrie (and us) some satisfaction that she or Saul or someone secretly knows that she's right, but they're prevented from acting?

There are a few other loose threads, like who gave away inside information and why did Saul fail his first polygraph. But those are minor compared to have to start at the bottom again.

Two Leaders, Two Stories

2011-12-19T00:19:00.000-08:00

It's odd that Vaclav Havel and Kim Jong Il died on the same day, because if you had asked me on Saturday to name the greatest leader still alive, and the worst, it would be those two.

I don't believe philosopher-kings work in the real world, but Havel was the closest we ever had. It's rare enough an artist has intelligent politics, much less the bravery and ability to act on them, but Havel was a talented writer who was both courageous enough to take on totalitarians at a time when it seemed like they would always be in charge, and smart enough to run his country when the times demanded it. (My friend Matt Welch, who I believe lived in Prague for a while, has written well about Havel. Here's an example.)

On the other hand, it's hard to say anything harsh enough about Kim Jong Il, who ran his country like a prison. The entire nation was built around praising him, and any slight amount of freedom the people enjoyed was sought out by the authorities and targeted for destruction. I can only hope some major change will come about with his death, but that is probably wishful thinking. (A reader commented a couple days ago that it's too bad Henry Kissinger outlived Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens wrote movingly about the disaster that is North Korea, and I'm sorry that he didn't hold on for another week to see this villain go.)

Still Living

2011-12-19T00:11:00.000-08:00

With Christmas near, maybe most regular names were busy, so SNL got Jimmy Fallon to come back and host. I didn't love Fallon when he was on the show, but this turned out to be one of the best episodes in years.

It helped that they had some star power. SNL has created more names than any other show, and a bunch of old friends (most, like Fallon, presently working on other TV shows) dropped in to help out: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Tracy Morgan, Chris Kattan, Rachel Dratch and Horatio Sanz. Jude Law also stopped by to plug his Sherlock Holmes film.

They reprised some bits, such as the Christmas song with Fallon, Sanz, Kattan and Morgan, and had a joke-off on "Weekend Update" as former anchors Fey, Poehler and Fallon joined Seth Meyers. These were fine, but the overall level of new sketches was surprisingly good--maybe no classics, but generally imaginative and almost no duds.

There were two separate bits mocking the theatre, and both scored. One, featuring Fred Armisen, was an ad for an off-Broadway one-man show where we go on a journey through this nobody's life. The sketch properly showed how there's nothing worse than these self-indulgent, amateurish, interminable theatrical experiences. The other was an odd but enjoyable bit about a cheap production of War Horse that went in all sorts of unusual directions.

Other nice bits: Fallon as Beethoven the conductor introducing his band like a modern performer would (it reminded me vaguely of the old Bonzo Dog Band's "The Intro And The Outro"); Jesus Christ visiting Tim Tebow et al in the locker room; Michael Buble (who was the musical guest) doing an album of Christmas duets with Sting, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and other impressions the cast could do; the recurring Hoda Kotb/Kathie Lee Gifford Today Show where Kathie Lee is a drunk who insults Hoda, with Fallon coming on as Regis.

Sometimes I wonder what's the point of watching SNL--it's just a tired shell. But then they pull themselves together and make it worthwhile.

Keef

2011-12-18T00:11:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Keith Richards. A lot of people are surprised you made it this far.

Everyone knows he's the coolest of the Stones.

Post Haste

2011-12-18T00:04:00.000-08:00

My old post office was shuttered so my new post office is about a half mile farther up the street, in the heart of Hollywood. I don't go to the post office as much as I used to (most don't, which is why they're shutting down), but I recently had cause to go there.

The first thing I noticed was a terribly long line. The second thing I noticed was the employees I'd seen at my old place, behind the windowed stations. The third thing I noticed was they weren't serving the public. Not at the windows, anyway. They were walking around, looking busy, but as for helping all of us in line--nothing. There were twelve windows, and only two were active. Then one of those workers left ("we've got two active--shut one down immediately!").

I stood in the line 45 minutes. The line kept getting longer so for all I know I was lucky. I wish someone had a camera and took a walk up and down the line, then past the empty windows. Would have made a good YouTube video. Though it's probably illegal to shoot video inside a post office. And now you know why.

What Are You, Deaf?

2011-12-17T00:18:00.001-08:00

Guess who was baptised (and maybe born--I'm not clear) on this date? The man himself, Beethoven.

They've Seen The Light

2011-12-17T00:18:00.000-08:00

Two cheers for Congress. In their omnibus spending bill, they slipped in a provision that no money will be given to enforce the 100-watt incandesecent light bulb ban that takes effect in 2012. But it's only for one year, and the ban is still in effect, anyway. (Mickey Kaus notes the Democrats are more than happy to have this issue go away until after the elections.) Next year, they should go whole hog and just get rid of the ban.

I have a CFL bulb in my place that I turn on when I enter (and whenever I'm carrying something heavy I curse as I wait for it to turn on). I've got nothing against freely chosen CFLs, but it is scary to own a product that you don't know how to dispose of*.

I actually don't have many 100-watt bulbs at my place--I use mostly 75-watt. They're set to be phased out by 2013, so I've still got plenty of time to stock up.

*I just checked and here's what you do:

What do I do with a CFL when it burns out? What is the proper disposal of a CFL bulb?

Follow these guidelines to dispose your CFL properly:

•Like paint, batteries, thermostats, and other hazardous household items, CFLs should be disposed of properly. Do not throw CFLs away in your household garbage if better disposal options exist. To find out what to do first check www.earth911.org (where you can find disposal options by using your zip code) or call 1-800-CLEAN-UP for local disposal options. Another option is to check directly with your local waste management agency for recycling options and disposal guidelines in your community. Additional information is available at www.lamprecycle.org. Finally, IKEA stores take back used CFLs, and other retailers are currently exploring take back programs.

•If your local waste management agency offers no other disposal options except your household garbage, place the CFL in a plastic bag and seal it before putting it in the trash. If your waste agency incinerates its garbage, you should search a wider geographic area for proper disposal options. Never send a CFL or other mercury containing product to an incinerator.

What should I do if a CFL breaks?

Because there is such a small amount of mercury in CFLs, your greatest risk if a bulb breaks is getting cut from glass shards. Research indicates that there is no immediate health risk to you or your family should a bulb break and it's cleaned up properly. You can minimize any risks by following these proper clean-up and disposal guidelines:

•Sweep up—don't vacuum—all of the glass fragments and fine particles.

•Place broken pieces in a sealed plastic bag and wipe the area with a damp paper towel to pick up any stray shards of glass or fine particles. Put the used towel in the plastic bag as well.

•If weather permits, open windows to allow the room to ventilate.

Well, that clears it up.