I don't have anything against Karina Longworth or her podcast, You Must Remember This. I've listened to a few dozen hours of the show and apart from Longworth's delivery and over-ennunciation, I think it's a very well-researched and produced show. Am I jealous that Longworth has a staff to do the production and some of the research? Not really. Do I think she got anywhere due to her husband, Rian Johnson? Absolutely not. She's doing something right and I just wish I knew it was.
I spotlight Longworth because You Must Remember This consistently lands on lists of the best movie podcasts available. What prompted me to write this piece is that I recently read The Best New Podcasts of 2024 (so far) by Nicholas Quah from Vulture / New York magazine. Since 2015, Quah has consistently put You Must Remember This on "Best of" lists and that's his perogative. He apparently loves the show, writing about it at least 9 times over the last 9 years (potentially a lot more as not every plug is on Vulture nor is every piece on Vulture tagged "You Must Remember This"). This latest listicle stuck in my craw, however, as the episode Quah named to his "Best Podcast of 2024 (so far)" is "The Hard Hollywood Life of Kim Novak — 10th anniversary restoration" which was a "restoration" of the first episode of You Must Remember This. So, not exactly new.
The episode was (re-)published April 1, 2024. Quah's post was published on April 1, 2024. This seems very odd to me, unless this is some kind of elaborate April Fools joke.
Again, I'm not picking on Longworth or You Must Remember This. I'm not even picking on Quah. I'm complaining that there are a handful of podcasts that consistently fill these listicles which either cannibalize one another or are written by publicists in the employ of these podcasts. These shows are backed by the handful of companies control "big podcast", hosted by celebrities, or a combination of the two. Now, this may be a really bad look for me to complain about the repetition and redundancy of these lists as I've been trying to crack that secret formula of getting on one of them for 13 years. But, the "best new" label for a podcast that hadn't had an episode since October 2023 and whose first episode shows up on the day the listicle is published was just a bridge too far.
I've written a bit in the past about the trouble with so-called "fan boys" and women. When the piece about Lianne Spiderbaby came out, a lot of males didn't get angry about Ms. Spiderbaby's plagiarism as much as her being a woman "writer" in a typically male-dominated field (penning genre reviews). The acceptance of women as being fans of and participants in genre films, filmmaking, and fandom has only gotten worse rather than better with major flare-ups around events such as "Gamergate" and Sad Puppies.
This same anti-woman sentiment seems to be the undercurrent of the backlash against the 2016 remake of Ghost Busters which reverses gender roles of our five main characters (Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth). Rather than being forward with the idea that a female-lead Ghost Busters is anathema to "fan boy" culture, it's easier to disguise the hatred while holding up the mantle of fandom and originality. While film culture is beset by remakes, sequels, and prequels, too many male fans have used Ghost Busters as the rallying point to decry remakes as if it were simply a bridge too far.
Apparently it's no big deal to make horrible movies out of geeky TV shows like "Transformers" or "Jem & The Holograms" but Ghost Busters (1984) is a sacred text. Can I remind people that Ghostbusters 2 was absolute garbage and one of the two (!) "Ghostbuster" cartoons was also terrible. If anything, Ghostbusters 2016 seems to be cleverly paying homage to the good Ghostbusters cartoon -- "The Real Ghost Busters" -- via Kate McKinnon's wild Egon hair.
That said, I have been not-so-silently lambasting James Rolfe AKA Angry Video Game Nerd, as being something of the face of this issue. That's probably not fair as he's not overtly come out to say that he has a problem with the gender-reversal of Ghostbusters 2016 but he has been very vocal in his dismissal of the film prior to its release via a video he made for Cinemassacre titled "Ghostbusters 2016. No Review. I refuse."
Watching this video is painful as Mr. Rolfe comes off as a whiny little prick. It takes him five and a half minutes to state to his fans (the audience of the video) why he won't be reviewing Ghost Busters 2016. He does this without vitriol or even raising his voice from a languid librarian pitch. There's no "koala dropping" rant. No. Instead it's a very calm discussion of how there's no way that Ghostbusters 2016 can be good because:
It uses the same name as the original movie
It forgets about the old characters
It doesn't pay service to the fans
Apparently, all of those things can be judged by the trailer (which is one of the most disliked trailers in YouTube history). Mr. Rolfe goes on to talk about good examples of remakes/reboots/sequels like Star Wars VII and Star Trek XI which pass the torch from one generation to another. "A little fan service goes a long way," he says. How does Mr. Rolfe know that there won't be any "fan service" in the new Ghost Busters? I already mentioned Ms. McKinnon's hair, the trailer seems to show a few familiar characters like Slimer, and Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts, and Ernie Hudson make appearances in the new film. I suppose it's too little because Harold Ramis (RIP), Bill Murray*, and Rick Moranis won't be in the film. It seems to me that, if anything, Ghostbusters 2016 is going to have too much fan service but I can't be sure because I haven't seen the movie yet.
*Bill Murray may show up in an uncredited cameo as he did in at least one other film.
I think Brad Jones does a terrific job of recontextualizing Mr. Rolfe's video by taking the gender politics out of it and simply pointing out the absurdity of Mr. Rolfe's arguments against the remake/reboot/sequel protest:
Again, Mr. Rolfe does not say anything untoward against women or that the idea gender-swapping is a cheap gimmick. Instead, he seems to focus more on the idea that this new Ghost Busters will sully the memory of his love of the original series. As someone who suffered through The Phantom Menace, I would ask him to get a grip. He doesn't know what pain is.
Does Mr. Rolfe sound like a "whiny man baby" in his video? He doesn't whine but he comes across as whiny because he felt the need to even bother to spend the time to make the video. Some people feel that he had to address his fan base because they were demanding it. I don't buy it. Isn't it enough to say "That movie looks bad. I'm not going to see it."?
Mr. Rolfe has his very odd reasons for not watching Ghostbusters 2016 and he felt the necessity to get on his YouTube soap box for five and a half minutes to talk about it.
Unfortunately, Mr. Rolfe has become something of a poster child for paranoiac fan boys who feel they're being persecuted by feminists.
Seeing the responses to the responses to Mr. Rolfe's video (here and here) really make me sad. Are people really persecuting fan boys for not enjoying the trailer for Ghostbusters 2016? Are they being burned in effigy? Has anyone been killed because of it? Or is this all conjecture based on self-delusion and some internet comments/tweets?
You can hate the new Ghostbusters without being a misogynist and I'm not saying you are a misogynist if you do. I'm not saying you can't pre-judge a movie based on its preview. Full Disclosure: I have only watched one of the trailers for Ghostbusters 2016 as I don't like to watch a lot of trailers because they can misrepresent the movie (Hugo), give away plot twists (Shutter Island) or simply show all of the plot points of a movie. The one preview didn't look very good but I'll still be seeing the movie as I'm curious to see it.
If you dislike Ghostbusters 2016 because it's a remake of a film you hold sacred then get a grip. If you dislike the movie because it's bad, that's fine. If you don't see the movie because you don't want to spend money on it, that's fine.
I'm just saying that with the gender-reversal of the film that it's very easy for people who misogynist or at least gynophobic to decry a movie they've never seen based on the idea of strong female characters and masquerade as simple "movie fans speaking their opinion."
But, please, don't try to pretend that you're anything other than a sexist pig if the real problem here is that you can't stand the idea of women playing in your safe space.
If you want to see a video version of what I said here, Comic Book Girl 19 does a good job of summing it up:
Not "listicles" per se, the phenomenon of top ten videos by hackneyed outlets such as ScreenRant, WatchMojo, along with the Everything Wrong With and CinemaSins groups are really a scourge to anything related to valid journalism or criticism. Even when being satirical, they fail miserably.
Let's take a look at a recent ScreenRant video. First, the title of the video is "10 Amazing Hidden Easter Eggs in Superhero Movies". We'll soon be asking if ScreenRant knows what an Easter Egg is. For the record: An Easter Egg is an unexpected or undocumented feature in a piece of computer software or on a DVD, included as a joke or a bonus. The term has since been bastardized to now include simple references or inside jokes.
Back to the title. The video says "10 Amazing Hidden Easter Eggs in Superhero Movies" but the title on YouTube is aimed more at being Clickbait by being more inflammatory: "10 Hidden Superhero Movie Easter Eggs You Never Noticed". By saying "You Never Noticed" ScreenRant presents a challenge to the viewer.
Looking at the list, most of these things are items that are little jokes or inside references, nothing "hidden" and no "Easter Eggs".
A reference to Doctor Strange in Spiderman. Yup. Caught that years ago. Thanks. Not hidden. Not an Easter Egg.
Reference to Cat Woman in Batman Begins. Caught that. Thanks. Not hidden. Not an Easter Egg.
Reference to Magneto being Quicksilver's dad in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Caught that. Thanks. Not Hidden. Not an Easter Egg.
Reference to The Black Panther in Iron Man 2. Well, it could be a reference. So maybe that's an Eater Egg? Maybe not.
Reference to the Iron Man cartoon theme in Iron Man. Yup. Caught it. Not sure if that would be considered either hidden or an Easter Egg.
Reference to Sapphire in the Green Lantern movie. Okay, this one might be an Easter Egg.
Reference to issue 121 (the death of Gwen Stacey) in Amazing Spider Man 2. Hey! I would consider that a valid thing!
Reference to Willy Lumpkin in Fantastic Four. Not really an Easter Egg. Just a character that not a lot of people may know.
Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill cameo in Superman. I've known this one for years, I'm not sure if everyone did. But, major points deducted for showing a picture of George Reeves and Phyllis Coates in the video to demonstrate Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill. Even more points deducted because George Reeves had been dead for quite a while before Superman cam out in 1978. I guess the people behind the video forgot about Hollywoodland.
What's worse is the the site Sploid (one of the Gawker family of websites) then teased the "article" with this GIF:
This might have worked better:
Steve Rogers punches Hitler in Captain America: The First Avenger as a reference to the comic book cover. Nice if you know it but not really an Easter Egg.
This bloated list of pedestrian references is nothing compared to just how terrible CinemaSins and Everything Wrong With can be. Here's a wonderful video that explains everything wrong with a typical CinemaSins video:
Last year while at the Motor City Comic Con, my friend Mitch and I were flipping through some old X-Men comics and one of us remarked with faux sincerity, "What? Phoenix died? What? She came back?" This prompted a nearby nerd to start pontificating about just how few times Jean Grey had died/returned as the Phoenix. This has stuck in my craw for a while. That said, I created the following cover montage that shows just a few Phoenix stories...
So, yeah, Michigan-based Borders is closing 30% of its stores. This makes me a little sad as there's nothing I like more than going over to my local Borders, picking up a couple books, and reading while I drink some coffee. If anything, I wish that Barnes & Noble was shutting their doors. Their selection usually sucks and they have much worse coffee.
Despite the best efforts of these "big box" stores, a few independent sellers remain in the U.S. If there ever was a time to visit these places and support them, now is it! Here's a great list of independent alternatives to the closing Borders stores.
First off, I want to thank everyone who participated in my earlier survey about movies that aren't available on DVD but should be (see here). In all, over 300 titles were suggested. It's nice that even in the last few months that have been announced as coming to DVD in the next few weeks (Killer Party and Carnival Magic). Saying that the titles spanned a wide range of genres, years, and countries is an understatement. That probably stems from the diverse group of people who answered (Jonathan Rosenbaum, Steve Puchalski, Greg Goodsell, Rich Osmond, etc).
Why did I ask about movies not on DVD? Simply, I wanted company on my soap box. Coming back from Toronto last month, I had a mission. I wanted to help director John Paizs get his Crime Wave out on DVD. That film, and too many others, are in dire need of their proper due. I don't know what I can do for a lot of these films except kvetch and hope that the right people can secure the rights and release. But, these days...
More than anything, the complete list will serve as a treasure trove of movies that I'm going to now have to look up and watch. Luckily, though most of the films haven't been released on DVD in the U.S., a lot of them have come out on DVD in other countries or there are TV or VHS-rips available on various bootleg/torrent/rapidshare-type sites. There are very few "lost" movies on the list and, frankly, one of the things I was hoping for was that people would vote for movies they love that really need more respect. I mean, it'd be great for The Day the Clown Cried to get a deluxe release but that's really for kitschy reasons. No one believes that it's really going to be a masterpiece, do they? Meanwhile, great films like Get Crazy, Hellzapoppin', and Chickenhawk languish in obscurity.
Of all the titles, only 20 had two or more votes. Here they are (in alphabetical order):
A few of the above titles are available as video-on-demand releases (via Amazon, Netflix, OnDemand, etc), some have been shown on TV (thank you, TCM Underground!), several on non-Region 1 (outside the US) releases, and others have only ever existed as bootlegs.
As an aside, not all of the movies that I want to see available on DVD in the U.S. made the final list. Since this is my barbecue, here's my full list of picks:
The state of the media business is not good. Rampant bootlegging, the skirmishes between formats (can't really call it a war), streaming, mail-order rentals; all of these factors have got the DVD market on the ropes (like everything else in our swell economy). This goes double for the boutique DVD companies where the above titles would best make a home.
Why aren't the these movies out on DVD in the U.S.? Some of the common reasons include murky rights, missing source materials, and--sadly--lack of interest.
I won't say that the above flicks are the most important, earth-shattering films ever were. However, I will vouch for a few of them as being wonderful, entertaining films. My point is, these films need release on the latest format(s).
Maybe lists like this help get the word out about movies that should be seen. I know I'm on the prowl for a few of them (though I once drove 30+ miles to rent a copy of Unholy Rollers to copy for Rich Osmond, I've never actually seen it). But, wouldn't it be nice if I could just walk into my local indie media store and pick up a legitimate DVD release where, hopefully, the people that made and starred in the movie would get their residuals?
What can you do about it? For me, I'm working hard at getting at least one of the above titles released on video. I've been pitching it around to different video companies (Facets, CultEpics, First Run Features, Fantoma, VCI, Zeitgeist, etc) to see if anyone would be interested in fighting for the rights.
Are you up to doing the same for your favorite Not on DVD movie?
My resolution for 2011 is to avoid using two words: literally and actually. Even when people use the term "literally" correctly, I find that it's being overused. Perhaps we deal with hyperbole and sarcasm too much as people have been peppering their sentences with literally and actually to stress that they're being serious. I actually don't need to literally hear these words every twenty minutes to actually know that they're literally a plague (incorrect usage noted).
Consider this a one person protest against these two words.
Rather than having this posted on WikiLeaks, I decided to post this graphic which represents the sales of Impossibly Funky for the last month or so. Not really stellar. Twelve copies in a few spots (each blue blob represents a sale). Here's hoping I can cross over the Mississippi some day.
An interviewer asked me this question and it took me by surprise. But, like all good questions, it made me think.
Just last week I was delving into the musty shelves of a rather substantial used book store, the kind where you should request a map at the door and have to walk sideways down the aisles. At one point I was looking for Wanderer by Sterling Hayden in the few hundred actor/director/singer/entertainer biographies. These were far removed from the film books. I discovered the film books on the next floor, secreted away in a back corner. There were maybe three solid shelves of them, consisting of genre studies, review compilations, and hardcore criticism.
Thousands of books but only a few dozen on film. This strikes me very odd when so many conversations I have during the week -- or conversations I eavesdrop on -- are about movies. They seem to be something we love to watch and discuss. But, read about?
Not so much.
This seems a shame to me.
The local chain bookstore has narrowed its film section significantly of late, taking it down to picture-laden books about the latest movie at the cineplex along with more Maltin and Ebert books than I thought possible.
Film theory and film criticism have been cast out of the book stores, leaving just big name film review and the novelty books about genres or genre stars and doorstop tomes about Jean-Luc Godard (which are undoubtedly just flying off the shelves).
Film books are still being written, of course, they're just not finding their way onto bookshelves the way they used to. It's the exceptional book store that will carry anything that goes beyond film tie-in books of the latest multiplex massacre.
I use Amazon.com for my book shopping -- or, at least, for finding out about things that I want to read. It's all about their algorithms. I'll look up a book that I love and look at the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought", "Customers Also Bought Items By", "What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?", "Listmania!", or "So You'd Like To..." lists to see what other products are listed. Then it's a trip down the rabbit hole; bouncing from one product to another, quickly finding things that I never knew existed.
That's how I found some other film books that have been recently released that sound up my alley:
Make no mistake that that's not a comprehensive list, nor have I read everything on it. These are books that look like they're up my alley that won't be showing up at your local commercial bookstore.
Does the world need more film books? Yes. But I want to add that the world needs more places to buy or read film books. In this world of blog entries and twitters, the seventh art needs more of a presence in print.
I spent over ten hours in my car over the weekend, driving back and forth to Chicago, where I caught up on a number of podcasts. I probably could have listened to twice as many as I did had the owners of the podcasts taken the time to do a final polish of the material before broadcasting it.
I'm talking about editing. As a rule, podcasting far too often resembles blogging -- just a dump of immediate feelings/thoughts. It's the exception (like Out of the Past) where a discussion gets recorded and then edited before the world gets to hear it. Gone are the "ums" and "uhs", uncomfortable silences, excited stammering, and irrelevant asides. This doesn't mean that the soul has been taken away, merely the chaff.
Along with Out of the Past, I like what the guys from Outside the Cinema do: having a live broadcast where they discuss the happenings of their lives and a separate download of movie reviews. This allows for listeners to get either the personal or professional. This plays far better for me than those movie review/cinema discussion podcasts where the topic for discussion doesn't get addressed until an hour into the proceedings (I'm looking at you, Movie Meltdown).
Audio editing is a powerful tool. Take a listen to this story from NPR's On The Media, "Pulling Back the Curtain" about how effectively editing can strengthen a story:
Here are some more podcasts that I listen to regularly. Some of them could use some editing... some could use some hacking... but some are just right:
Thoughts? Are you more of a verite purist or do you have a podcast you can recommend or that is in desperate need of editing? Feel free to leave a comment.
I don't consider myself an artist. I don't even consider myself a writer. I will cede, though, that I feel a certain camaraderie with right-brained people. I definitely hang out with a lot of creative people and, in that community, I often find a sense of support where people will really go out of their way to champion projects of those around them.
Example(s):
A friend will come out with a new CD so I'll buy a copy (even if it's not necessarily my cup of tea). An acquaintance will have an art show so I'll attend it or (if unable to make it), post the details of it on my blog, facebook, whatever. I may not do enough but I do try to make an effort.
Thus, it's just bizarre for me to be around a group that just doesn't make an effort at all.
Example(s):
I've had a stack of books sitting next to me at work for over a month now. Despite how much I despise when other people do it, I went ahead and sent out a note to my office saying that I had books for sale with information about the project. After that I got two guys from another department who picked up copies (and seem to be genuinely enjoying them). I also guilted my boss into picking up another. But how about the guys I go out to lunch with every Friday? The ones that I've bullshitted with for a few thousand hours over the last five years? Have they even come over to flip through a copy and give me a Kevin Costner "neat" appraisal before gingerly putting it down and keeping the $20 in their pockets? Nope. It's like the elephant in the room.
I don't mean to kvetch... but I will. It just disconcerts me to run in such widely disparate circles.
That isn't to say that I don't feel like folks have been supporting my efforts. Quite the contrary. I've gotten a wonderful response from a lot of people including a number that I never expected. But, that's a delightful surprise. The other folks are a disappointment.
What I'd love (other than major book sales) is for folks to spread the word. "It don't cost nuthin'." A tweet, a facebook post, a blog post, a phone call, printing up and posting a flier, a "hey, you know what looks great?", a billboard campaign, ya know... nothing big.
Want to give me a hand? Spread the word? Here are some links that would be great to spread around:
Link to Book Info
http://bit.ly/bIt33l
Link to Amazon
http://amzn.to/d8wAIX
Link to Indiebound
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781593935474
Link to Tour Dates
http://bit.ly/avzXaP
Link to Reviews
http://bit.ly/ah9134
Tweet 'em, post the pages to facebook, stumble upon them, digg them, whatever. The idea is to get the word out, far and wide. Your help would be appreciated. Thanks!
I've written about television from time-to-time on the blog, usually about Last Comic Standing. After last night I feel incensed enough that I need to jot down some thoughts/feelings about the finale of Project Runway.
I've been a fan of Project Runway since about mid-point in the first season when I sat through a ubiquitous Bravo marathon of the show, catching up and learning to love Jay McCarroll. Since then I've been hooked, even during the disastrous first Lifetime network season.
Have I disagreed with the judges' decisions before? Sure. I thought that Chris March shouldn't have been eliminated from the finale and that his use of hair in his designs was cutting edge, not kitsch. And there were a few other blunders here and there but nothing that has incensed me as much as the finale of Season 8 (10/28/2010).
Starting off strong and winning a few challenges, Gretchen Jones seemed the designer to beat on Project Runway this year until the fifth challenge ("There IS an 'I' in Team") when she showed a significant lack of taste but also an incredible streak of animosity toward fellow designer Michael Costello. Gretchen hung a target on Michael C and didn't let up on him, incessantly bullying him and badmouthing him (at least that's what the viewer saw). The more she picked on him, the worse her designs appeared to get.
More than even the clothes she designed, Gretchen showed questionable taste when it came to her own outfits and styling. She would don drab earth tones and do her hair up like a fairy princess as if making herself look dowdy would make her outfits more exiting.
Gretchen eventually turned from outright hatred of Michael Costello to a fake, simpering "friendship" where she would try to touch and hug him whenever they were on screen together. This may have been worse than the abject loathing and backstabbing she'd been practicing. It could have been that Michael C was Gretchen's biggest competition early on in the show but spent the last few challenges in the bottom of the pack. Or, it could have been that Gretchen was getting tired. In the final group challenge ("We're in a New York State of Mind") she whined about being tired of challenges. This was the NYC challenge where Gretchen turned in a completely drab look that had been allegedly inspired by Manhattan's Lower East Side. If it wasn't for contestant April Johnston completely repeating herself then it might have been Gretchen going home at that point. Rather, she stuck around for the finale.
Ironically, Michael Costello's collection for Fashion Week spoke to Gretchen's work. Michael employed a monochromatic palette that the judges lambasted. Yet, Gretchen utilized the same single color theory for her drab collection. Judges Nina Garcia and Michael Kors lauded Gretchen's work for being a ready-to-wear collection, something available to go from a runway to a woman's closet, completely missing the point that her fellow designers' clothes here far more fun and engaging than her muddy, matronly wear.
Instead of praising her taste, the judges should have been questioning it. Gretchen came to the final runway discussion wearing something that looked like it was out of a 1980s Frederick's of Hollywood catalog. More than liking Gretchen's work, it seemed that Nina and Michael were mad that superior designer Mondo Guerra hadn't listened to their advice and made adjustments to his stunning polka dot dress. By bringing this dress to the final discussion I'm sure that they felt Mondo was being rebellious when he was continuing to be adventurous. It seemed that Nina and Michael had forgotten the need for fashion to be fun and backed Gretchen due to her apparent commercial appeal. If Gretchen's clothes represent where fashion is headed then now is the time to panic. The world needs clothes like those of Mondo Guerra, not Gretchen Jones.
I really like the website io9.com. It gives me my daily geek quotient without going overboard with smarmy attitude or bland reports that aren't news to anyone. It's well written and pays homage to classic science fiction. I've gotten a lot of great book recommendations from the site, and even a few good movies, too.
Okay, now that I got that out of the way, there's one thing I really want to kvetch about. It's the article from Jan 6, 2010, "The 20 SF Movies We're Most Excited To See In 2010." Here's the list:
The Book of Eli
The Lovely Bones
Legion
The Wolfman
The Crazies
Hot Tub Time Machine
Repo Men
Kick-Ass
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Iron Man 2
Jonah Hex
Toy Story 3
The Last Airbender
Despicable Me
Predators
Inception
Priest
Red Dawn
Tron: Legacy
Green Hornet
This list really stuck in my craw. I suppose it's that I just didn't share the excitement about many of the films on the list. Heck, I don't even agree that some of them qualify as "Sci-Fi." Now, the definition of a genre these days can be a slippery slope but Toy Story 3... Really?
The list bothers me in part because it shows just how shallow the pool of sci-fi films coming out of Hollywood truly is. I mean...
Sequel
Iron Man 2
Predators
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
Remake
The Crazies
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Red Dawn
The Wolfman
Based on TV
Green Hornet
The Last Airbender
Comic Book Adaptation
Kick-Ass
Jonah Hex
Priest
Book Adaptation
The Lovely Bones
Repo Men
Original Idea?
Legion
The Book of Eli
Hot Tub Time Machine
Despicable Me Inception
Let it be noted that Green Hornet and Priest have been pushed back to 2011 while I have yet to really see a firm release date for Red Dawn. But, really, 17, 18, or 20 movies... I gotta ask... is this the best you've got?
It's September 6 and I've seen everything on the list that's come out so far and, really, I'm just not impressed. In fact, some of them were bloody terrible. I'm not even talking about movies that were lambasted such as The Last Airbender and Jonah Hex. I've got A Nightmare on Elm Street, Legion, The Lovely Bones, The Book of Eli, and Iron Man 2 in mind.
Now, I can't blame the list's author, Charlie Jane Anders, for choosing some duds. I've been fooled by previews, casts, and past director performance before. Though, I question some of the choices as being wise (The Crazies?) or even science fiction (A Nightmare on Elm Street? The Green Hornet?). But, more than anything, I'm sad about how slapdash this list is.
The list seems to have been culled from a year-long look at the fare from the major distributors. Didn't the last few years teach us anything? Some of the best sci-fi fare doesn't come from the majors but the independents. District 9? Moon?Time Crimes? Mock Up on Mu? Do any of these ring a bell?
With a little more research this list might have forgone the horror, fantasy or action movies and replaced them with actual science fiction.
Some of these I've seen... most I haven't... but I'd much rather take a chance on them than the kind of crap that's been junking up the multiplex all year:
A name from the past has come back to haunt me this week, Antonio Gragnaniello. I wrote a warning/diatribe about Antonio over on my site a few years back (read it here) and have gotten quite a few emails this week from fellow traders that have gotten burned by Antonio just in recent months. Yes, he continues to lull traders with tales of grandeur told in broken English.
Allegedly, he and a few other guys (Massimo Lavagnini, Mattia Mariotti, David Oakes, Saad Khan, Javier Castellanos, "plus hundreds of collaborators from all over the world") have a book, Fantastic Cinema, in the works. Allegedly? Yes, some feel that maybe the book is as empty as Antonio's promises but, not to worry, Antonio assures the world that "I could take you hundreds of testimonies to prove of the existence of the book, bur for what? You don?t deserve such an effort. Why do you think we have written all those reviews till today, involving thousands of people, for fun? Why do you think we took months, years to find watch and review Albanian, Mongol, Egyptian, Afghan, Cingalese, Nepali, Estonian, Fijian, Armenian, Turkmen, Srilankan, Cambodian, Bolivian, Honduras, Lybian, Lebanese, Pakistani, Icelandic, Syrian?????? films without even understand the languages: because they are masterpieces or because they are pieces of collection wanted by all?" (sic)
I have to laugh about the idea of Antonio writing a book of movie reviews as I'm sure that the majority of them will be of movies he will insist are not available anywhere (his "protected list"). I also weep for poor David Oakes as I'm sure his job is to clean up Antonio's famously funny broken English. There's nothing funnier in the world to be bitched out by Antonio.
Keep your eyes peeled for Fantastic Cinema. Here's hoping it's real, well-written, and that it's not just a book of reviews for movies you'll never be able to see.
I was looking around for movie blogs that might be interested in doing a "blog tour" of my book. Of the last six blogs I looked at, only one of them didn't feature one (or more!) review(s) of Christopher Nolan's Inception. I shan't be writing about that movie here--at least not now.
The search for movie blogs that would be more appropriate for my book continues...
Do It Yourself. Yes, I usually do. But sometimes I get burned out and that's how I'm feeling right now. I'm in the home stretch. I've got a release date for the book (Impossibly Funky: A Cashiers du Cinemart Collectin) and just about have the final files to the publisher but it's that last little bit that's dragging me down.
What I want:
a person to produce audiobook
a person to plan book release party
a person to set up a book tour
a person to send books for review
a person to buy ads
a team to promote the book
I love that people are trying to help me out with recording an audio version of the book but I realized that this is yet another thing where I'm going to have to chase people down, verify quality, and nit picky until there are no more nits to pick. Where's the person to take this off my hands?
When it comes to a release party, I'd love to have one down at the Burton Theater where anyone could come, buy a book, and watch a favorite film that ties into the book like Phantom of the Paradise, Black Shampoo, or Lone Wolf & Cub 2. Hoping that the Burton will get back to me soon.
I'm fine mailing stuff and emailing stuff - it's just a matter of collecting all the data of who reviews books where, how much ads are and the specs for all of those.
And, as far as a book tour goes, I know I'd love to go to Quimby's in Chicago and Atomic Books in Baltimore but I don't know where else I should go or who else would have me. Heck, I'm not even sure if Quimby's will have me yet. Still need to ask them.
Why a team? I get a little tired of going out and hitting everywhere and saying, "Dude, check out my stuff, it's rad." It'd be much better coming from someone else saying, "Dude, check out this guy's stuff, it's rad." Or maybe using some of that hip new lingo the kids are using like, "This be da bomb, yo."
After the continuous pummeling to my balls that was Heroes Season 2, I went back for more punishment with Season 3 after the folks behind Heroes 'fessed up and admitted that maybe Season 2 was a big steaming pile. They promised Season 3 would be better... they lied.
There were so many sudden shifts in direction during Season 3 that viewers were in danger of whiplash. The tone and narrative thrust didn't shift over the course of a story arc but, instead, each episode felt like a failed attempt at a "reboot" -- the kind you have to do after your computer bombs out.
Let's look back at some of the FAILS of the season:
Prison Camps - The season began with our faithful protagonists being easily captured, detained, and sent up in an airplane to a prison camp courtesy of Nathan Patrelli, resident dick. This may have been a good idea save for that the plane never arrived at its destination. No, it didn't break up over a remote disappearing island. Instead, it crash landed and all of the familiar characters escaped (unharmed). Was this the first transport to the camp? Does this camp still exist? Was the purpose of this plane ride just to get all of these superpowered people in one place at one time, a kind of X-Men/Con Air scenario? I can't figure out why Hiro was flown from Japan to join this plane ride -- why couldn't he have been flown straight there? And why is Hiro the only "Hero" from outside of the United States?
Fugitives - They've escaped! They're on the run! Not so fast! Rather than living up to the "Fugitive" chapter title of this season, the Heroes were on the lam for a few episodes before they would only occasionally be troubled by the ubiquitous forces of this season's baddie, Danko ("The Hunter"). For being fugitives, the Heroes seem pretty relaxed and move around with ease, running into the black-clad agents only when a sudden burst of danger is needed (or we take one of those aforementioned left turns). Going back to what I said about Hiro being the only non-U.S. Hero. If Danko is working under the impetus of some U.S. directed decree... maybe head up to Canada or go over to Europe?
Plot Holes Galore - You're chasing a kid whose power is to breathe underwater. You end your search at a pool... without looking in the water! WTF? This is one of the gazillion plot holes this season.
Danko - Of all the great villains... he's not one of them.
Sylar - He's good! He's bad! He's seeking redemption! He's looking for his Daddy! He's got a protege! He's missing for a few episodes! He can shape shift! He's a traitor to the Heroes! He's changing into his own mother! His clothes can shapeshift too! He wants to kill the President! The writers don't know what to do with him! Yup. Between he and Danko, it's fairly obvious that there are no good villains in this world of Heroes.
Matt Parkman - Matt's one of the most troublesome characters as he's the easiest to relate to. Normal guy finds out he's got powers, ruins his marriage, falls for some hot piece of tail after he goes on a spirit journey and suddenly can start seeing the future.... huh? We were with you at the beginning, Matt, trying to do your job with your new powers but once you left the force, found your Dad, and went to Africa, we lost you. Matt only did the Isaac Mendez thing a few times during Season 3 but they were a few times too many. His relationship with Daphne, the Speedster, was a rocky and doomed one. Apparently Matt thought that a wound to Daphne's shoulder was fatal as he didn't realize she was still alive until a few episodes after she got shot and then mysteriously died (apparently she wanted off this equally-doomed show). Matt has forgotten all of the tricks that his Daddy taught him (locking people in "mental prisons"), has a boner to screw up Danko's life, and now has a kid -- with super-powers of course. His jagged path exemplifies everything wrong with the show.
Save the Wig, Save the World! - What is up with Hayden Panettiere's awful wig this season? If she's wearing a different hairstyle for another project, use it. Perhaps she might alter her appearance if she's in "hiding"?
Save the President, Save the World! - All the politics of Season 3, especially making the President a target of Sylar's takes Heroes out of the fantasy world and into an alternate reality that just doesn't fly (pun intended).
Isaac Mendez's Eternal Loft - Who's paying rent on this sweet Manhattan space? After Mendez died it became Mohinder's not-so-secret lair and is still the clubhouse for various Heroes to meet. It's even got a new apocalyptic floor-painting of the Capital being destroyed. Not to worry, it only took about a half hour for this subplot to be introduced and diffused. Just as Mendez's loft keeps getting used, so do the "we must prevent this future!" plots -- even without Hiro having time-travel powers. This is more annoying (but not by much) than Ali Larter showing up as different characters.
Rebel - It's the kid, Micah. I was hoping we'd never see him again. Rebel only showed up to move the plot along when it was getting tedious (and that is often) before disappearing for episodes at a time.
Remembrance of Season One - How dare you give us an episode that takes us back into the past via Angela Petrelli that explains a few things from Season One! That was such a good season! Why must you throw that in our faces?
That's just the tip of the ice berg. Charting out the various plots and subplots -- and which managed to undo another -- would look like a schizophrenic's EEG. Like Freddy Kruger, Heroes feels like it's the son of a hundred mad men that all raped the good idea that was the first season of the show. Each episode is its own twisted spawn. Related by blood but independent of thought.
Rather than calling this the "13 Worst Movies of 2008," I had to put in the "I Saw" caveat. There were a lot of films I avoided like the plague and since I'm not in the pocket of any major (or minor) studios, I wasn't about to plunk down my hard-earned cash on a lot of crap like The Happening, 88-Minutes, or any insipid romantic comedies. That said, here are my personal picks for the worst films I suffered through in 2008:
13. The Day the Earth Stood Still - Casting Keanu Reeves as a charmless alien was a stroke of genius. It's the role he was born to play. Otherwise, there's little other intelligent life to be found in this ill-conceived remake of the classic sci-fi film. Even worse than the lack of resolution to the lame "you'd better start recycling or the world will end" plot was the presence of Jaden Smith. Playing the bratty stepson of scientist Jennifer Connelly; I wanted to strangle this kid.
11. Seven Pounds - Melodramatic tripe made simply to garner tears and awards.
10. Diary of the Dead - Though I managed to see this one in 2007 at the Toronto International Film Festival, it didn't come out domestically until 2008. Bad timing brought it on the heels of Cloverfield, a superior shaky-cam film with some real thrills. Diary of the Dead looked like the kind of crappy zombie flick that would be lucky to merit a blurb in Fangoria. Alas, this flick was helmed by the maestro of the undead, George Romero. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. That this movie could make me suddenly find Land of the Dead a relatively innocuous film by comparison speaks volumes.
9. Alien Versus Predator: Requiem - This came out at the tail end of 2007, meaning that it missed out on topping a lot of "worst lists" of that year. Allow me to say that this flick managed to be horrible enough to hold over for both years. Pitting the two titular creatures in Small Town, USA should have been a rip-roaring good time but was slowed down to a crawl by the lukewarm script that never gained momentum. With enough life to fill a thimble, this blight on both the Alien and Predator franchises was a death dirge to fun sci-fi mayhem.
8. X-Files: I Want To Believe - Rather than continuing the mythology of the series, this tepid thriller was a two hour "filler episode" that was a disappointment to fans and casual observers alike. The overwrought Christian claptrap was only slightly less jaw-dropping than Dana Scully googling the medical procedure she performed. Pray that she's never your doctor.
7. Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Continuing to piss on the formerly good name of the Star Wars franchise, George Lucas greenlit this lame kiddie flick to kick off the floundering animated television series. I could only shake my head at the inanity of the rudimentary story and the depths to which George Lucas will go to make a buck.
6. Plastic City - Beating out The Mummy 3 as the worst Anthony Wong film of the year, Plastic City is a Brazilian crime drama with Wong as a crime lord. Sounds promising, right? Unfortunately, this flick is over-directed by Nelson Yu Lik-wai. He turns the proceedings into a long-winded art film that boggles the mind and numbs the posterior.
5. Burning Plain - A self-indulgent family drama from Guillermo Arriaga (writer of Babel), this flick has yet to get a U.S. release date. While some would contend that Hancock was the worst thing Charleze Theron was in during 2008, I contend that this was worse. The only thing going for this melodrama was the fractured time structure which only helps to muddy the waters of Burning Plain, making it appear deeper than it truly is.
3. Speed Racer - This film might have appealed to me if I were an 8-year old boy with ADHD. As it was, I felt like my eyeballs had been raped after I shuffled out of the theater.
2. The Films of Friedberg and Seltzer - We have a tie! It's impossible to say which flick is worse; Meet the Spartans or Disaster Movie since they're essentially the same film. These two movies by schlckmeisters Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer continue to follow their patented "every pop culture and movie reference plus the kitchen sink" formula of unfunny comedy. They've almost reached a level where they've managed to deconstruct comedy into its basic elements in order to remove all traces of funny.
1. The Love Guru - I didn't expect anything good when I stumbled upon this Mike Myers back alley abortion. I had heard how terrible this film was -- it even became something of an endurance test for the people around my office: "How far did you make it into The Love Guru?" was a test of manliness. As a point of pride, I made it to the end even if my stomach had wished I hadn't. Like watching a spoiled manchild undergoing self-therapy by parodying Deepak Chopra, this flick managed to be worse than The Cat in the Hat.
As for films that I liked in 2008, those were few and far between. The boffo box office blockbusters didn't do much for me. I enjoyed a number of films but my qualification for being the "best" meant that it was something I'd readily see a second time.
Of those, there are four: Iron Man, My Winnipeg, JCVD and My Name is Bruce.
2008 was a year filled with travel and new adventures.
January
Early in the year, Andrea and I were invited to Cancun to spend Christmas with her family. This prompted us to sit down with a calendar and go over all known and desired trips for the year. We sketched out quite a few long weekends for us and film festival trips for me. We didn't hit everything that we ended up doing but we were close. Rather than doing one long Mexican vacation in December we chose small trips throughout the year.
February
We started off February with a trip to Las Vegas and a stay at the Planet Hollywood Casino. We really lucked out on this. As (free) members of the Flamingo's "casino club" program, we were sent a postcard for two free nights at the newly-opened Planet Hollywood. "What's the catch?" I asked the customer service representative. She promised that there wasn't any and, wouldn't you know, she was right.
Two nights at the casino, a $50 credit for one of their restaurants, and a free show (their proprietary version of Stomp). We just had to get the flight out and I used miles for it, making this one of the cheapest trips we could do. I spent a lot of the trip reading The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre by Stephen D. Youngkin. It just about broke my arms (it's a weighty tome) but it definitely aided my appreciation of one of my favorite character actors.
March
It was in March when I made the fateful decision to finally give up the ghost and let Cashiers du Cinemart die a dignified death. I pulled the plug on my ailing publication and dedicated much more of my mental faculties to writing for pay. I had been losing money with my writing since 1994 and only made my first penny from a word of prose in late 2007. This felt pretty good and I wanted to keep getting checks (however paltry) for what I had been giving away (at a significant loss) for so many years in the pages of my zine.
By April I was still writing for Detour-Mag.com and added Detroit's Metro Times to my regular repertoire of places to contribute. I approached a few other publications but was thwarted at every turn, usually because my whacked-out sensibilities of cinema just don't play too nice with others.
April
My trip to Philadelphia for the first annual Noircon gathering was rather fateful. I was on a discussion panel for David Goodis's "The Professional Man" with the ever-eloquent Howard A. Rodman and met a number of folks who would appear later in starring roles in 2008 including Noircast.net podcasters Shannon Klute and Richard Edwards. I also finally met Megan Abbott. She's writing novels now, but I remember reading her stuff in the Michigan Daily back when I was in college. And, I also had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Melanie G. Dante who's since invited me to be a part of a book project for 2009.
Speaking of books... Cashiers du Cinemart wasn't even cold yet when I decided to start picking flesh from its bones; cannibalizing my past and putting together a "Best of" collection in book form. This started the ball rolling on a project that would fill many hours for the rest of the year.
I also stopped by the Toronto branch of my employer where I hung out for a couple days and spent the evenings with friends. Rita Su and I checked out Evil Dead: The Musical and had a blast.
May
The month started off with a bang as I headed down to Baltimore to partake in the Maryland Film Festival where I moderated a panel on the state of film criticism in this cyber age as well as watched a lot of movies and hung out with some dear friends. It's always a treat to be in Charm City.
I ended the month with an equal bang, heading back to New York City after many years. Andrea and I did the "tourist thing"; taking a tour of the city via double-decker bus. It was a hoot. We also caught Avenue Q and even managed to have dinner with my old friend Leon Chase. I still regret that I missed the performance of his new band, Sister Anne.
June
Andrea and I took one of those mini-trips in June over to Niagara Falls. It was a blast. We did all the touristy things you can do without going broke; Maid of the Mist, Journey Under the Falls, the Butterfly House, et cetera. We stayed away from the tourist trap center of town until the last day when we did the overly expensive Ripley Museum. Fun, but pricey! Again, we got to hang out with a good friend. Dion Conflict drove down from Toronto and we all went to the Flying Saucer restaurant. Excellent.
July
Shannon and Richard from Noircast.net asked myself and Howard A. Rodman to participate in their show. Together we did an episode on Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob le Flambeur. It was a hoot.
I continued to work on proofreading/cleaning up of old articles and gathering them for inclusion in the Cashiers du Cinemart book.
August
The month started with a whirlwind trip to San Francisco/Berkeley where I introduced Shoot the Piano Player as part of the Streets of No Return film series - films all based on the works of David Goodis. This tied in nicely to the feature I did on Goodis in the last issue of CdC.
This year I gave up another thing I had been doing for years - I stopped running SuperHappyFun.com, a bootleg DVD site.
September
I would say, "As usual, I went up to Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival," except that this year may be my last TIFF. I was so disappointed in their lineup and they way that the festival was run; I'm looking into other, better fests that will fit my schedule and tastes more. I've got a short list going but, so far, none are as convenient as TIFF.
I did have fun at the B-Movie Celebration in Franklin, Indiana in September, too, and that's definitely on the short list. It was there/then that I finally got to meet fave director Greydon Clark.
October
With the fall, I began my annual hibernation. The Cashiers du Cinemart book manuscript was in the hands of Lori Higgins all month as she continued to finesse and polish the prose from me and my fellow contributors. I finally got down to work on the piece I'm contributing to a journal in 2009. I'm still not giving too many details about it, in case it falls through. Suffice to say, I spent every weekend watching Fetish/BDSM-related films to expand upon an article I had done earlier in 2008 for the Metro Times. I actually started to get burned out on watching people flog one another. LOL.
November
Research on my articles continued. Weekends were spent taking care of family stuff with my Grandmother passing away the second week of the month.
I got the foreword to the book and was absolutely floored. News on that should be coming in early 2009, I hope. Lori wrapped up her layout and handed the project back to me at the end of the month.
December
I'm back to going over the manuscript for the Cashiers du Cinemart book. One final polish, I hope. There should be some more announcements about this project soon. It sounds like the journal I'm writing for will be out around the same time as the book which will be nice. I'm wondering if I should hold off on taking much more than my January vacation(s - to Las Vegas and Cleveland) and seeing about doing some kind of "book tour" later in 2009.
Did you get his with a balled up piece of paper during a P/I screening? That's my subtle hint to TURN OFF YOUR DAMN BLACKBERRY / PDA / iPHONE and quit shining it in my face.
