By Christopher Stipp
The Archives, Right Here
I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.
So, I met Simon Pegg last Friday.
Let me preface this by saying not a lot of people of varying celebrity comes here to the desert in Arizona. When you’re here long enough and you literally head out of town, no more than a hour’s drive from any one point in the Valley, you realize Phoenix and its Podunk suburban satellites are the modern day Las Vegas just without pretty lights or pretty ladies. The West is indeed the new South and if the meth labs are any indication, I am hip deep in a hillbilly haven.
So imagine my surprise last week when I was asked to see his new film, HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE, with the opportunity to get up close with the man most celebrated for SPACED, SHAWN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ. I was ecstatic with pleasure and, thankfully the film, which starts Kirsten Dunst, isn’t that bad. It’s pretty damn good and if you had to choose a film where there was something for the ladies and for you dudes this will be the one you will want to see come October 3rd.
However, it was the process of meeting the man that was at both odd and wonderful. Even though I’ll explain further when I run the interview as we get closer to October 3rd I was intrigued by Devin Faraci’s, of CHUD fame, column on the whole SPACED phenomenon as it relates to where they are now should they go back to the well. I was, and am, of the mind that just like the British version of THE OFFICE which was brilliantly done and, much like SPACED, obscenely too short as a series. They both had a lot of say and it’s only our sense of nostalgia and wanting more (it’s the American way!) we want to just to perpetuate what was incredibly wonderful. But, what’s a person to do when the fans want another season or another movie? Pester the shit out of those involved and tell them that they HAVE to do it because YOU want it?
I asked Simon about this very phenomena, tossing the idea that I wasn’t looking for him to tell me if he planned on taking another crack at these characters but just wanting to know if he had plans to go back and collaborate with these same folks. He was rather excited to say that, even regarding SPACED, he did say that there were things he wish he could have tied up better. Further, the story, if he was to go back to it, would be entirely different because it simply would not start up from the last episode (the whole show was about a reality of their shared experiences) but it would be a reflection of the reality of their shared experiences at their current age. What would that SPACED look like? If I had my druthers, and I sure as hell don’t because it’s not my call, they wouldn’t even touch it. Simon did mention that he absolutely wants to go back and collaborate with everyone but to keep this from heading into Oh Don Piano territory I just left it at that. Even if he was absolutely, positively doing something I can 100% guarantee he wouldn’t share the details with some Podunk Arizonan journalist dickhead who was just pleased as punch to meet the man behind one of the greatest shows made for my generation.
2. My Own Picture Of The Weak:
3. Phil Yeh needs some attention and I’m here to pass along some awareness.
As a father of a girl who has now entered kindergarten, as a schmoe who graduated with an English degree and a master’s in Education and as a complete hater of those who are in much higher positions than me, wanting to use our language as an opportunity to disseminate their misspelled ramblings, making me work like a Navajo code talker to figure out what in the world they’re even saying, I want to erase illiteracy in our society.
It’s a given fact that we have over 20-25 million Americans who are functionally illiterate in this country and even though I am a bad ambassador for perfect grammar usage I am a fan of anything that helps kids, exposes them to art and of anyone who wants to make our youth a little smarter. Now, many of you don’t live in Arizona but Phil Yeh, the brilliant creator of DINOSAURS ACROSS AMERICA, a book that exposes children to not only geography but to the graphic novel format, will be in Glendale on September 21st and 22nd to come paint a mural with one of the Simpson’s own principal artists, Phil Ortiz. The man has had a 23 year history of traveling across this land to promote the arts and literacy and here he is to explain what’s behind this. I normally never run these things but, like I said, this is near and dear to my own values as a human being so I thought I would share:
Dear Christopher:
My name is Phil Yeh, the president of a group of cartoonists who have been traveling the planet since 1985 promoting reading and other issues. Our group, Cartoonists Across America and the World has worked with some of the best artists on the globe and are coming back to Arizona next month. You can see some of our murals and award winning books at www.wingedtiger.com
I was wondering if we could mail you a packet of material about our upcoming mural event at Kidsfaire on Sept 20-21 in Glendale. Our murals promote literacy, creativity and the arts and special guest artists joining us in painting this mural will be the painter Spill from Phoenix and Phil Ortiz, one of the principal artists behind the Simpsons.
Thanks for your time.
Phil
And an excerpt from the press release:
The artists [will] head for Kidsfaire in the University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday and Sunday, September 20 and 21. Special guest artist Spill will join the two Phil’s and hundreds of kids who will help create another work of art. The mural in Arizona is sponsored by Kidsfaire and by the Renaissance Glendale Hotel and Spa and will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House or the Phoenix Children’s Hospital after the event. Yeh, who founded Cartoonists Across America & The World in 1985, is now in the 23rd year of his 25 year long world tour promoting literacy and the arts with humor and cartoons. Since the band was founded, they have painted more than 1800 murals in 49 states and over a dozen countries with hundreds of artists and thousands of kids of all ages. Yeh’s partner on the new “Two Phils Tour” is five time Emmy award-winning cartoonist Phil Ortiz.
So, any desert dwellers who might be around, and who might have some ankle biters at home might do well to patronize this event. I will.
4. Don LaFontaine – R.I.P.
As many of you who frequent this column know that I have always been an advocate or a detractor of Voiceover Guy. This invariably means that I am either pro or con to the creation of a trailer that has a narrative audio track over the action of the piece.
Don, if any of you keep up with this kind of thing, was THE man when it came to the “In a world…” goofiness that has been inexorably linked to some of the most obnoxious trailers ever put into theaters. He made trailers something more than just music videos to sell records, he made them entirely his own. In fact, I attended The Hollywood Reporter’s Key Art Awards ceremony, something to celebrate the best in movie marketing and an absolute blast to attend, where Don was awarded for all the work he’s done in the medium. He made large amounts of money, was THE go-to guy for a lot of these trailers and was revered for being a consummate professional. He absolutely will be missed by me, I know if I didn’t do this job I would never have been so attuned to his influence, and I’ve included a link here to FIVE MEN IN A LIMO which explains everything in a way I can’t begin to describe.
5. Jennifer Goldberg of the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix
This woman deserves a round of applause for a few reasons and one of them being that not only did I forget to bring a camera to the press round table, more like a press round the couch with cookies on the table, for Simon Pegg’s HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE but after the poor girl was trounced in the ensuing scrum to ask Simon and director Robert Weide as many questions as possible in our alloted 20 minute time (it was truly vicious and I am partly to blame for said trouncing) she took a picture of Simon and I with her camera AND sent me the copy of the picture the same afternoon. I don’t, and have never, taken a picture with any of the people I’ve interviewed with the exception of Josh Holloway from LOST and Missy Peregrym of HEROES/REAPER. Simon was someone I at least wanted to get a moment of posterity captured with as long as he was crazy enough to visit Phoenix. The girl had every right to slice me out of the frame and after the fracas was done I wanted to let everyone know she was an excellent person to have in the round table (there are some out there I wish I never have to spend time with again) and if you have a moment visit her work over at Jewish News. What can I say, it’s the Catholic guilt…
Now, on with the show…
WHAT JUST HAPPENED? (2008)
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, John Turturro, Robin Wright Penn, Stanley Tucci, Catherine Keener
Release: October 3, 2008
Synopsis: What Just Happened? is a winningly sharp comedy about two nail-biting, back-stabbing, roller-coaster weeks in the world of a middle-aged Hollywood producer — as he tries to juggle an actual life with an outrageous series of crises in his day job. Academy Award® winning director Barry Levinson reunites with Academy Award® winning actor Robert De Niro and leading producer Art Linson, who wrote the screenplay based on his bestselling memoir. They all join with an all-star cast in this rollicking, shrewd tale of a man besieged by people who want him all to be sorts of things — a money maker, an ego buster, a bad news breaker, an artistic champion, a loyal husband, an all-knowing father, not to mention sexy, youthful and tuned-in ““ everything except for the one thing he and all the preposterously behaved people he’s surrounded by really are: bumbling human beings just trying to survive by any means necessary.
View Trailer:
* Large (QuickTime)
Prognosis: Positive. I love films like this.
Any kind of satirical look at the entertainment industry’s preoccupation with childish behind-the-scenes antics could keep me entertained for hours on end. What the problem with this is, though, is that 95% of the rest of Middle America could give a shit. As long as everyone involved in the making of this picture knows that a film like this is going be middling at the box office, and that’s best-case scenario, then we’ve got a winner. However, I think this film will take on a meta quality when the same elements that befall Robert De Niro will also befall some real idiot as this film tracks closer to release.
It’s not that people don’t want to know the snarkyness, pettiness and every other ““ness you want to toss in there, they do, but unless you’re the talent and you’re being featured on Access Hollywood you aren’t really of much concern to people, And that’s what concerns me about this movie and, subsequently, its trailer.
Many people levied the attack against TROPIC THUNDER that it stopped short. That it had so many other opportunities to really skewer the system it was trying to dress down. I would assert that it didn’t need to insofar that the kind of box office returns it is experiencing is due to its storytelling. Any further, you see, and you risk alienating those who “wouldn’t get it.” You cannot make a movie too insider and TROPIC THUNDER should be applauded for knowing how thin that satirical line really is. This flick, though, knows it but obviously doesn’t care.
I love Robert in the opening. Even though having someone in their bed, having your character start off in their bed is about the laziest device you can employ, Bobby makes it work as he begins his day lying. I completely get it right from the start and it’s nice to see how sharp things get from here.
From the detached father who can’t seem to do anything right but fuck his own life up at the expense of moving pictures. His blow out in a therapist’s office is enough to know that we’re not getting FOCKERS De Niro but a De Niro that seems genuine.
I equally adore Catherine Keener’s quip to the tortured director who has his own vision for what his film should be only to have her threaten to take the movie back and cut it herself if he doesn’t capitulate to the studio’s demands. It’s downright thrilling to see it dramatized like it is.
There’s something to be said, as well, for bringing real actors into the mix. When we hear a phone call to Robert about Bruce Willis, a star of a production that he’s bird-dogging, being fat and donning facial hair, all of which could constitute a lawsuit against Bobby for misrepresentation you can’t believe this would be the thing that people get litigious about.
Add into the mix the kind of personal backstabbing and infidelity that you would expect out of your high school buddies, not those running and developing multi million dollar projects, and you have something volatile but so attractive. As you have Bruce Willis talking about the base and depraved maniacs who are responsible for running the asylum that is Hollywood there are certain feelings of unease that you should start feeling. This is a rough place that is only understood by taking the approach that this is indeed high school and there is nothing that seems sacred to any of these desperate people.
How this will play to those who live in Kansas, however, is something I can already foresee as an issue that Magnolia Pictures will have to overcome if they expect anyone besides me to pay for a ticket.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (2008)
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Elias Koteas, Jason Flemyng, Julia Ormond
Release: December 19, 2008
Synopsis: “I was born under unusual circumstances.” And so begins “Benjamin Button,” adapted from the classic 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards. A man, like any of us, unable to stop time. We follow his story set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the twenty-first century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Tilda Swinton, Taraji P. Henson, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, “Benjamin Button,” is a time traveler’s tale of the people and places he bumps into along the way, the loves he loses and finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.
View Trailer:
* Take Your Pick (QuickTime)
Prognosis: Positive. I won’t even bother to find out anything more about this movie until an English trailer comes out.
One of the benefits of being a dude like me is that I’m woefully inept at keeping up with whatever project this guy or that guy is doing. Sure, I have my regulars who I keep tabs on, Aronofsky, the Coens, Nolan but Fincher is someone who I try not to read too much about for the simple reason that he’s best left to do what he does. ZODIAC was a surprise to a lot of people, and if you think it wasn’t you’re a liar and a thief, myself included, but I’ve always loved to see what else he comes up with next.
One of the problems with filmmakers like Bay or Shyamalan is that they’re completely niche guys who will never really move out of their wheelhouse; they’re comfortable in it, and no one really should be that disappointed with where they’ve decided their strengths are, but there’s nothing to them that would ever get me excited because it’s going to be a take on a very similar theme with these dudes.
With Fincher, though, he’s willing to experiment with different things, although I would kill to see a comedy directed by that guy, and this film just has me hooked from the very first moment I saw it. I’m not one to enjoy period pieces, Lord knows how much energy it takes for me to give up my sense of disbelief when I know everything on the screen was manufactured to look the way it does but this film just has a different taste to it.
It’s that music in the beginning that is at once haunting and alluring.
It’s the twinkle twinkle of the keys, reminiscent of something you would hear out of the Nutcracker suite, and the close up of the clock, its hands moving back one notch, which is quite effective.
Now, the backward motion of the video, where once there was forward movement I almost took exception toward but it’s the baby being left on some steps that had me wondering what was going on. The baby itself seemed to provoke something visceral in the people who it was left with but I got it. I understood that this trailer wants me to start thinking in terms that aren’t necessarily straightforward but it absolutely rewards you for looking at this thing with a little but of openness.
I’m not certain about a lot it but there is a moment where there is a boat at sea, a bucket of feathers fills the air and it seems like it’s a fairly innocuous moment but it’s drenched in some heavy cinematographic spookiness that you hardly believe this wasn’t helmed by Tim Burton. Further, Fincher surprises with a “battle at sea” moment that honestly. for the few seconds we’re treated to it, seems like something genuinely thrilling.
Again, I’m usually all over a trailer if it wants to be too arty in its presentation but I don’t think that’s what afoot here. Fincher, perhaps, knows that to get people to buy into, one, a period piece would be difficult, two, try to explain a story that was at once a novel in a trailer would be damn near impossible without befuddling Ma and Pa Kettle and, three, having Pitt shown in the most un-sexual sort of way, his obvious transition into younger manhood would take a while to get to. Hence, what we get here is a lovely mix of opaque confusion about the story but getting a dollop of excitement to swallow it all down with.
In so many ways I am willing to spend whatever it takes to see this film. Fincher has thankfully not followed the ways of so many of his equals in churning out movies that have that sheen of their watermark; he is constantly trying to stretch his abilities and experiments with the process of film making. Hopefully he’s got the right combination of both aptitude and execution.
Oh no! Just when you thought it was safe to hang out at the Quick Stop…
If you only know songwriter Randy Newman as the man who does gleeful tunes for Pixar flicks, or from parodies of him on the Family Guy and Mad TV, you’d do yourself well to pick up the new CD, Harps and Angels. The current collection of Newman’s personal work (his first in nine years) proves he’s lost none of the acerbic wit that made him a wicked response to the sunny bellbottomed singer songwriters of the ’70s. With albums like 12 Songs, Sail Away, and Rednecks, Newman crafted perfect three-minute character studies that delved into the twisted lives of bigots, barflies, and blowhards, while later works like Little Criminals and Trouble in Paradise produced one huge hit, “Short People,” and a maddeningly catchy piece of anthem rock, “I Love L.A” (an early MTV favorite).
Here we are at the fourth season of 
If you attended the quiz show that we did at DragonCon, you saw the raucous fun our contestants – including Doc Hammer, Dana Snyder, Paul & Storm, and Robert Llewellyn – had while racing the 
It seems like it’s taken forever to bring it to a close – and we’re not quite there yet – but at least we now have the penultimate 10th season of 
Fully remastered and ready to be viewed numerous times in the next month, the new edition of 
Although a comprehensive box set has long been available, the new 
Regardless of the fact that we’ve featured their production blog, I’d still recommend Brian LaBelle and Tom Whelan’s stunningly beautiful tale of a young man’s journey through South America’s deadly Darien Gap (and his romantic hook-up), 
It truly is a golden age for Doctor Who on home video, as the classic releases are coming fast and furious – now with the Tom Baker adventures 
Elvis fans – and music fans, for that matter – will want to snap out the comprehensive 
It took a little while (while that whole high-def war was sorted out), but fans can now snag the 2-disc Blu-Ray edition of Michael Bay’s 
Recorded live at the KCET Studios in Los Angeles in 1971, 
Harry Potter‘s own Hermione Granger, Emma Watson, makes her first major post-Potter movie with the adaptation of Noel Streatfield’s 
I’d like to dedicate the release of 
Just when I was ready to count it out, 
It still plays like a poor man’s Whedon, but who’da thunk that 
Speaking of box sets from classic Nickelodeon shows, how about the complete first season of 
My mother adores 
At the very least, 
Fast-forward four years as the students from Tree Hill High return to their North Carolina hometown in the fifth season of 
Jonathan Coulton on Jonathan Coulton: “In 2005 I left my day job writing software to pursue music full time. To keep myself busy I released a new song on this website every week for a year in a project called Thing a Week. A few of those songs became big internet hits (my folky cover of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”, a funny video called “Flickr”, a song called “Code Monkey”), and I am now fortunate enough to make my living as a musician.
Paul and Storm are a comedy music duo, and they have been performing as a duo since 2004. Before that, they were one half of a cappella band Da Vinci’s Notebook for about 12 years. A Paul and Storm show is part music concert and part standup/improv comedy”“just enough of both to fit neatly in neither category. They like to engage the audience, and are known to award snack cakes and/or other prizes for good (and sometimes bad) behavior. Their show would be PERFECT as a cable special, and would make lots of money for whichever brave channel decides to air them first.
You know ’em as the RiffTrax trio, but here at Song Fu they are the mighty RiffTones…
The Deal: After 20+ years making music as a hobby, I recently wrote and recorded a song for my daughter. I got a little taste of mild success (hey, my mom liked it). So now I’m taking my music out of the closet, dusting it off, and seeing how it does in the sunshine. Who knew there was so much work in just attempting to do music for a living. I feel like I am opening a Subway franchise (Only opening a Subway franchise seems more fulfilling in a creative way).
Run At The Dog are high energy, rock/pop, category-sluts with multi-gendered vocals and intricate arrangements. They are like Abba meets Faith No More meets Mos Def meets the Mormon Tabernacle Choir meets Steely Dan. The songs of this Minneapolis 5-piece are always written right away, with no respect for the calculating mind. Audience members are unsure whether to dance, laugh, or panic.
I suppose I am what you could call a “Multi-Instrumentalist”. That is a nice way of saying “Jack-of-all-trades, Master-of-none”. I began playing drums as a teenager and spent a great deal of energy during my 20’s trying to “make it” in the music biz. As a drummer, I have had the opportunity to play with some pretty incredible musicians, garnering literally DOZENS of fans over the years. In 2004 I joined the band Celestial Static, and spent several years melting some face with good friends Jeremy and Julie Elzerman. Once that ran its course, I decided to spend more time locked away in my studio, writing my own songs and learning to play guitar, bass and sing. It doesn’t pay the bills, but I have a good time doing it.
“BucketHat” Bobby Matheson is an awkward teenage accordionist and multi-instrumentalist who specializes in superhero-themed and “Comedy” music, and who works for minimum wage in the fast food industry. With his style varying from polka to folk, punk to pop, and then again from rock to bluegrass, we’re left unsure what to expect. One thing for certain is that Bobby doesn’t like talking about himself in the third person, and therefore will stop this silliness right now.
Steve Chatterton is an independent musician living in the suburbs of Toronto. Known primarily for his jingle work on local television and his electronic project 11t1, he’s now putting all of his musical efforts into the ever-elusive self-titled singer-songwriter recording project he’s been wanting to get around to since he was 10-years-old and had just discovered The Beatles. Steve is an honors graduate of the jazz guitar program at Mohawk College, and has since performed in a wide array of bands that nobody has ever heard of. After retiring from performing to concentrate on raising his kids, he’s recently put together his own basement studio and has set a personal goal of producing at least one song a month.
Fun, Zesty, Acoustic, Energetic, Crunchy. Some of these words describe the Baritone-Ukulele-wielding N8 Shivers (the others describe Taco Bell’s newest food-like invention). He began writing songs at the age of two, and taught himself to play the uke a mere 17 years later. N8’s Family members claim he’s the best uke-playing song writer they’re related to. He enjoys Stand-up Comedy, Coen Brothers movies, Chilly sandwiches, and Canadian sitcoms. His Turn-offs include Banana Flavored Things, Republicans, and Mountain Dew. N8 is currently employed as a Wizard in southern Ohio.
