“Oh, Yogi…”
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December 13, 2010
December 10, 2010
Weekend Shopping Guide 12/10/10: Bionic Bigfoot
The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)
They rebuilt him… Better… Stronger… Faster… And now, after an interminably long wait, The Six Million Dollar Man (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$239.95) has finally arrived on DVD. As if that weren’t enough, Time Life has delivered the complete 5-season run in one massive set, which includes all 3 pilot films, all 3 reunion films, the Bionic Woman crossover episodes, newly-recorded cast interviews, and alternate syndication edits of the pilots. All in all, it’s 40 discs worth of bionic fun… So plenty to keep you occupied during the long winter ahead.
As a child in the early 80’s I remember the magical joy of coloring pieces of thin plastic that, when cut out and put in the oven, would shrink and thicken into tiny little 2-D plastic figurines. Yes, I’m speaking of Shrinky Dinks ($4.99), and thanks to the fine folks at Thinkgeek, I’m able to introduce my nephews to the joy of heat-shrinky plastic.
In the mid-60’s, a trio of producers named Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider, and Steve Blauner stepped from the surging counterculture and into the mainstream conservative milieu of Hollywood and crafted a definitive TV property with the manufactured pop band/TV show The Monkees. Seeking to move into films, they developed a decidedly unorthodox film for The Monkees written by good friend and Corman regular Jack Nicholson. After it bombed miserably, they hit paydirt with an era-defining film – Easy Rider. High definition version of both those films – plus the rest of their output (Five Easy Pieces, Drive, He Said, A Safe Place, The Last Picture Show, & The King Of Marvin Gardens) – in the box set America Lost & Found: The BBS Story (Criterion, Not Rated/Rated R, Blu-Ray-$124.95 SRP). In addition to the remastered films themselves, the set includes audio commentaries, documentaries, screen tests, outtakes, interviews, TV/radio spots, trailers, and a collectible booklet.
For decades, Fritz Lang’s silent masterpiece – a visual and conceptual feast that his inspired scores of filmmakers – has been a fractured film, with whole chunks of footage and sequences that were in the debut cut deemed lost forever. Well, never say never, as recent discoveries have allowed the fine folks at Kino to assemble the complete Metropolis (Kino, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), which they are making available in high definition. The print quality on some of the formerly lost material doesn’t quite match the sparkling extant footage, but that in no way negates the wonder of watching the film as it was intended to be seen, particularly after all these years. Bonus materials include a recording of the original score, a 50-minute documentary, an interview with the curator of the Buenos Airen museum where the footage was found, and the 2010 re-release trailer.
Earlier this year, Kino also began releasing its extensive Buster Keaton collection in high definition, with the result being a trio of must-have releases for any aficionado of cinematic comedy – Steamboat Bill Jr., The General, and a double-feature of Sherlock Jr. & Three Ages (Kino, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.95 SRP each). All four feature multiple score choices, featurettes, intros, and more.
When HBO’s brilliantly dark western Deadwood began its first season, the time period within the series was only a few weeks following the massacre of Custer’s troops in 1876. Into the lawless South Dakotan town rode two men – one a bitter ex-lawman, and the other a man looking to start a new life – and both ran afoul of the local heavy who owns half the town. What followed was an epic drama of operatic heights, and one you can watch in its entirety in high definition with Deadwood: The Complete Series (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$209.98 SRP). The 13-disc set features all 36 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes, interviews, and an exclusive bonus disc with creator David Milch discussing the season’s conclusion, a historical featurette on the real Deadwood, a Q&A with the cast & creative team, the Al Swearengen audition reel, and a 360-degree tour of Deadwood.
Your perennial holiday viewing just got a high definition upgrade with the Blu-Ray release of The Original Christmas Classics box set (Classic Media, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$44.95 SRP), featuring the Rankin Bass specials Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman, and Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town. Yes, you know you’ll be getting this.
Killing time between now and when the globe-trotting Cars 2 comes out next summer? Well, you can dip into brand new adventures featuring everyone’s favorite hillbilly tow truck in Cars Toon: Mater’s Tall Tales (Walt Disney, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), which features 9 short subjects, plus intros, featurettes, and more.
The complete runs of both the classic Batman and Superman animated series have already made their debut as box sets, as well as Justice League, so the last to get the treatment arrives with Batman Beyond: The Complete Series (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$99.98 SRP). The 9-disc set contains all 52 episodes, plus commentaries, retrospectives, a collector’s booklet, and a bonus disc with the documentary Secret Origin: The Story Of DC Comics and a trio of new featurettes.
It’s not really a brilliant series, but Gerry Anderson’s Space: 1999 (A&E, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$99.95 SRP) is one of those canon sci-fi series that everyone should see at least once, even if you might walk away wondering what all of the fuss is about. It does look better than ever in high definition, as you can now watch via the complete 1st season set, containing 24 episodes plus loads of bonus material, including commentaries, featurettes, documentaries, interviews, and much more.
It’s certainly not as well-known or well-loved as shows like Space: 1999 or Thunderbirds, but completionists are sure to rejoice at the arrival of Gerry Anderson’s Space Precinct (Image, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP) on DVD, even if it plays like a low budget Alien Nation.
As the little Fockers will be making their way to the big screen shortly, it makes sense that Blu-Rays of Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers (Universal, Rated PG-13, Bly-Ray-$26.98 SRP each are making their way to shelves, both of which contain featurettes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, and outtakes.
We’re now into the second season, and I’ve pretty much written off Parks And Recreation (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) as an awkward, failed comedy that still hasn’t discovered what it wants to be, outside of another Office. Which is a shame, because the cast deserves so much better. The 4-disc set contains all 24 episodes, plus deleted scenes, featurettes, and bloopers.
Most people think of Romeo + Juliet or Moulin Rouge when they think of Baz Luhrmann and over look the dance-happy Strictly Ballroom (Miramax, Rated PG, DVD-$19.99 SRP), but it’s actually his most straightforward and watchable. Bonus materials on the new special edition include an audio commentary, featurettes, and a deleted scene.
It’s been a long string of single-disc releases leading up to the release of Spongebob Squarepants: Season 6 Part 2 (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP), whose 2 discs contain 23 episodes, featurettes, and shorts. So yes, your kids can be fully immersed in Spongebob this holiday season.
Beginning after his emigration to the Big Apple in 1971, Lennon NYC (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$24.95 SRP) looks at the new, post-Beatles life John Lennon forged for himself as a husband and a father, making music infrequently. Packed with rare footage and new interviews with Yoko, Elton John, David Geffen, and more, it’s a unique look at an artist in the city he came to love.
The Warner Archive has decided to celebrate the holidays be bringing together the holiday episodes of everything from The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father and Alice to Mama’s Family and Dr. Kildare in the Classic TV Christmas Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.95). The 4-disc set contains 10 episodes total.
The Warner Archive Collection continues to release titles no sane fan would ever think they’d eventually get their hands on, and I’d say the complete animated spin-off of The Dukes Of Hazzard – The Dukes (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.95). The 4-disc set contains all 20 episodes.
In an attempt to further turn themselves into Spike, the History Channel’s Human Weapon (History Channel, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.95 SRP) pairs a martial artist and an ex-football player on a journey to learn different forms of combat, from karate to stickfighting, while also journeying across the globe and manhandling relics. Oh, and there’s CGI! The set contains all 16 first season episodes.
I’ve become less and less interested in seeing Tom Cruise on screen in recent years, and was hoping that the True Lies-esque bit of a blast thrill ride Knight And Day (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) would win me back over, but instead I got an amiable enough actioner about a small toen girl (Cameron Diaz) who gets mixed up with a fugitive super-spy (guess who) that leaves practically no impression after it’s over. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
After Santa and his canine BFF travel to New York and the big man loses his memory, it’s up to the doggie to make sure Christmas is achieved in the saccharine sweet The Search For Santa Paws (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP). Well, I’m sure the kids will eat it up… Or at least be babysat by it. Bonus materials include a featurette, a music video, and a the standard DVD.
You know how long it’s been since Rush Hour (New Line, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP) – the action flick that made household names out of Jackie Chan & Chris Tucker – came out? Long enough that there’s a blurb from both Ebert and Siskel on the cover of this new high definition release. Doesn’t seem like it should be that long ago, does it? Well, here it is, sporting audio commentaries, featurettes, music videos, a trailer, and more.
For every surprisingly enjoyable bad idea like Pirates of the Caribbean comes a misfire dud like The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Walt Disney, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which takes How To Train Your Dragon’s Jay Baruchel and makes him the new apprentice to sorcerer Nicolas Cage, who’s channeling both Keanu Reeves’ Neo and a drunken drifter. I’m sure you’ll eventually catch this film on cable, entirely by accident, and when you do – you might want to change the channel. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, and more.
Real-life lovers Drew Barrymore and Justin Long have gone down the path of many actor couples by immortalizing their relationship as an onscreen duo, with their particular vehicle being Going The Distance (New Line, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), about a bicoastal pair of lovers who decide to make a go of their long distance relationship after a summer fling in New York City. Bonus materials include an audio commentary and behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Rob Reiner shoots straight down the middle with his amiable adaptation of young love novel Flipped (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), about a pair of 7th graders who are coming to realize that they love each other in a “destined to” kind of way – Well, actually, the girl knew since second grade, but through a twisty path, the boy comes to fall for her as well. Bonus materials include behind-the-scenes featurettes.
It’s no Ben 10, but Cartoon Network’s Generator Rex (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is certainly constructed to try and hit all of the same buttons with the kids, right down to a super-powered kid – in this case, a 15-year-old boy/weapon made of nanites – fighting the big bad world. The 2-disc set contains 9 episodes.
Part of me cringes to say this, but I’ve begun to think that YouTube sensation Fred Figglehorn is this young generation’s Pee Wee Herman, particularly after seeing the feature-length Fred: The Movie (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), which finds the gratingly-voiced teen attempting to find his former-neighbor-but-just-moved-to-a-new-house crush, Judy, while avoiding neighbor bully Kevin. It’s not nearly as funny or polished as Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, but it does play to the a lot of the same absurdist man-child qualities. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and more.
As always, it’s rather pointless to criticize the Twilight movies, as the rabid, massive audience care’s not what anyone has to say about their beloved pap-fest, and the same rule applies to Eclipse (Summit, Rated PG-13, DVD-$26.99 SRP), which features more shirtless wonder for teens and 40-somethings. The 2-disc set contains audio commentaries, a 6-part making-of documentary, deleted/extended scenes, music videos, and a photo gallery.
So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…
-Ken Plume
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Trailer Park: Greg Fitzsimmons
Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on TWITTER under the name: Stipp
GREG FITZSIMMONS – Interview
This is not hyperbole, just fact: This is the best interview you’ll read all year.
I never quite can tell what conversation will make the life of a freelance writer a little less depressing but conversing with comedian Greg Fitzsimmons about his book Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales of Redemption from an Irish Mailbox was certainly a conversation that made me believe Greg could possibly be the most honest man I’ve talked to all year. While he and I talked about what it meant to write a book that was so unflinchingly funny in a way that only those with caustic senses of humor can appreciate there was also the sense that here was a man who had yet to accomplish things in his career, who had regrets, and who was willing to talk about wondering whether he would realize his goal to get an hour long comedy special. It’s hard to think that the man who has a successful podcast, Fitzdog Radio, and plays to audiences who know who he is and want to be entertained by his brand of funny would have any reason to look inward. But he does and he couldn’t have been more frank about the nature of comedy today, what it means to be a comedian on the road and how you don’t carry yourself if you’re looking for help, and what it means to have finally exercised the demons of the mind onto paper.
I think it would be deceptive if I didn’t state that I’ve listened to the man’s podcast since its inception, that his style of speaking to other comedians or to himself if he’s all alone just letting his thoughts flow and collide out of his mouth, the male equivalent of Mrs. Dalloway, a Virginia Woolf of comedic consciousness, but what you see below made me realize that he’s one of the few out in the world of entertainment that will actually answer a question in a straightforward and direct manner. It’s a rarity to have the ear of someone like Greg who doesn’t stick to talking points, who is willing to share something genuine, and for that I am grateful. The book is an amazingly hilarious charting of one man’s course through life, especially considering that anyone with ADHD will be forever grateful for the many pictures and letters which breaks up any lengthy passages, and it made me laugh out loud. It must sound so trite to say, but in an age when what passes for comedy is Mike & Molly there is comfort to be had knowing Greg is out there ready to take down anyone or anything at a moment’s notice in the same breath recognizing his own frailties as a man, a husband, a father. The book is wholly satisfying and more than worth the time it will take to appreciate how hard that this man has scratched, bitten, and fought to get to the middle.
Buy the book. Visit the man’s site. Read the interview.
CHRISTOPHER STIPP: Greg?
FITZSIMMONS: Yes.
CS:Â Christopher Stipp.
FITZSIMMONS: Christopher, it’s a pleasure. Thanks for calling.
CS: Really, the pleasure is mine. I just finished the book over the weekend. Loved it.
FITZSIMMONS: I can’t tell you how nice that is to hear when I spent so long writing it and now to actually have people reading it just these last few weeks. Feels great. Thank you.
CS: You are welcome. I had just finished Adam Carolla’s book a week prior, finding that both made me laugh while reading it, but yours was more personal, profound in a way. I would like to start by asking if you really had that in mind ““ whether you wanted to make this a raw look into your life.
FITZSIMMONS: I’m Irish so I was raised on literature. I was an English major and I dreamed about being a writer since I was little. My comedy is drawn to, not only is it dark, it’s story telling that’s truthful and so when it came to writing a book I knew that there was two directions. We had four publishers bid on the book and they all had a different take on the letters. I wrote a proposal and they each had a solid different split on whether or not it would be funny to show the letters, write jokes about them and then another publisher wanted the letters out completely and just write the narrative so the great thing about Simon & Schuster is that they wanted both, which is the right way to go. It allowed me to ““ there’s a chapter, it’s a sad part where dad dies, one chapter where I really put all the dad drinking stuff in – it just allowed me to then go through high school years where antics were funnier. It let me do what I do in my stand-up, just try to draw people in with my truth and then relieve it with jokes.
CS: I keep thinking about what part of the book I wanted to touch upon and I keep coming back to the moment when you were talking about Uncle Jerry. You were at your uncle’s house and I forget exactly what the circumstances were but he snapped, he took one of your cousins, took him to a back room, made him stay there, the kid starts thumping his head against a wall and moaning while the rest of you guys then found it hilarious…
FITZSIMMONS: [Laughs] You must be Irish. Only Irish people think that’s funny. Other people think that’s horrible.
CS: I am Irish. And I found it hilarious. I look at a show like Rescue Me and I find that dry sense of humor to be satisfying, where it seems all you do is bust balls and take people down a peg or two once in a while. But in a healthy way if I’m in a relationship, you know?
FITZSIMMONS: Yes. The Irish are committed to taking down hubris wherever we see it. It’s a function of growing up. Historically we were made to feel like pieces of shit by the British so we police ourselves.
[Laughs]
CS: And that brings up a good point. You reference it in your book that being Irish it’s part of your DNA and I’m almost, reading it over and over again in your writing, I’m ready to believe that it’s true. That it is a nature, not a nurture, thing.
FITZSIMMONS: It is interesting because you always wonder how much of it is cultural and how much is innate. Speaking of the Irish – our livers process alcohol must faster which is just a physical fact that has led to a certain behavior. And I think the Irish are prone to depression and I think manic depression and I kind of feel like I have elements of that I keep myself from feeling too great because the fall-off is so painful.
I just of feel like if I clip the highs I won’t go as low and I think culturally it was a way of dealing with that swing we have. And I don’t know if it comes from the damp climate but I think there is just a sensibility to stay steady.
CS: And do you find that, as you referenced, that you kind of fight those impulses? You write you have never hit your kids. Do you find yourself fighting with demons from the past when it comes to trying to correct the path it looks like you were on as you grew up?
FITZSIMMONS: I look at this book ““ I’ve had my midlife crisis the last few years and the book was definitely a part of that and, at the same time, it made it profound. I can really look at the two acts of my life. The first one is now over. In the book I don’t have to look back anymore. I don’t plan on looking back anymore. I’ve got a beautiful wife who loves me and I’ve got two kids who are 7 and 10. I live in Venice Beach which is not exactly where I want to live. And I’m healthy and I just can’t waste anymore time worrying about how my parents raised me or whether or not I had too much conflict as a kid. I’ve got it all in the book. I can just lock it and move on. It’s a very liberating thing for me emotionally.
CS: I see that in the text. Matter of fact, I just listened to your latest podcast where you broke down the Ten Commandments, which is an essential listen every week for anyone interested in solid humor, but you did it without anyone around you. You were just riffing by yourself. How do these ideas quickly materialize from thought to rant?
FITZSIMMONS: Well, on Friday, I forget which Commandment ““ but one of the Commandments got me curious like if we were to read the commandments ““ just curious to where we fall on them now. So I riffed on them Friday night and then Saturday in between the two shows I was doing, literally just sitting in the green room during that hour and a half, in between shows, I just turned on my recorder and started riffing. Then I hitched up with other comics and they were like, “Where’s the script?” I go, “There’s no script. Just go.” And it just somehow ““ I think doing stand-up for the last 20 years has enabled me to bullshit for an hour.
[Laughs]
CS: It’s a wicked skill. It obviously allows you to land you writing gigs and what have you. I know some people have asked you what do you prefer more ““ the writing or performing ““ but really though, what feeds the other? What part of the brain is getting satisfied when you are locked in a room writing versus being on a stage and performing?
FITZSIMMONS: I think it has a lot to do with lifestyle. In a perfect world I can be on stage in front of hundreds of people every night and trying new material and showing that insane outpouring of acceptance from the crowd and the danger of some nights not feeling that ““ that would be ideal. But, the reality is I have to leave my family to go do that so writing allows me to stay home for months at a time and I do enjoy it. I like collaborating with other people and I get very claustrophobic. You know, ADHD, I’m a loaner and I need to go after a while.
CS:Â I know you’ve touched upon it too in a podcast in that it’s a lonely existence ““ you’re off doing what you need to do to satisfy that sort of need to do something else and shake it up – but once you’re out there do you find yourself saying “I need to go home” or is more like you need to stay days away before that feeling goes away?
FITZSIMMONS: I think the grass looks greener on the other side of my yard. I don’t even need to look at the neighbor’s yard to long for the other part of my life instead of the part that I’m in and I think it’s gotten a little unhealthy. I feel unsatisfied in each one because I’m at the point now where I do a radio show, a podcast, I’ve got a TV deal with 20th Century Fox for a sitcom, I’ve got a game show deal with Nickelodeon, I’ve got the book that I’m still promoting and then the stand-up and after a while you go, you also have two kids and I’m so loaded I don’t see friends anymore because every spare moment I have I’m going to soccer practice and something’s got to give.
This book was a way for me to take all these energies and focus them on one thing; but no real plan, though, of where that would take me other than it would force me to have all of them work towards one thing and I think that that allowed me to make real progress and giving more clarity to what I want to do.
CS: Not to be facetious about it but is it to get that what they call “f.u. money” ““ essentially say “I can do things on my own time” instead of saying, “I need to fill a need because I need to keep my kids in school, I need to keep my wife from having a job of her own?” Or is it something more than just the money?
FITZSIMMONS: Well, for me, a lot of it is money at this point only because I worked as a kid ““ from the age of 12 on I was shoveling driveways, raking leaves, I was caddying by the time I was 14. I was just always working and then through the time I was in college I’ve been doing stand-up but really found myself at whether it was stand-up or writing just giving it everything. And, after 20 years of that you start to feel like ““ life starts to say f.u.. And you always have to work and I’ve always been pretty smart about buying real estate and for a long time I’ve benefited from not having to take just one job and it’s allowed me to make choices and in the long run even more beneficial to my career because I truly do what I want, what excites me. I think, and it’s the biggest cliché, but it really is true, that if you are doing what you love you don’t have to worry about the money. It just always seems to work out.
But what would work well for me if this book did well enough that I could get another book deal. I’m starting to get more and more advertisers to my podcast and I think that if my foundation was doing a podcast a few days a week it would make it real money and doing another book then I could continue to cut my stand-up down to just weekends or one night shows rather than 3 or 4 days at a time and not take any writing jobs, unless they were mine, not anyone else’s.
CS:Â The idea of just working on weekends for standup…I was just reminded when you talked to Brian Regan, an amazing interview as I never gave that guy a second thought but now I want to check the guy out based on what you two talked about…
FITZSIMMONS: Now here’s a guy if you ask comedians whether you are talking to the biggest alternative comic or biggest performer, he’s the one guy that I think bridges all worlds of comedy and is so respected. He’s clean, original, and makes you laugh. Period.
CS: He does and this is the funny thing ““ growing up as a kid I used to watch Mario Joyner’s Half-Hour Comedy Hour and John Mulrooney when he did Comic Strip Live. It was decades ago but Brian seems like he still has the same passion for performing.
FITZSIMMONS: It’s passion but also craftsmanship. He’s one of these guys who, you talk about Irish, I think he comes from a family of about 6 or 7 Irish boys and he has that work ethic and aesthetic for quality without having any ego about it. He always just puts on his tool belt and worked on his act and then underneath that is this silly, goofy, physical comedy and when you bring those two things together it’s magic.
CS: Not to switch too many gears, I’m curious to know ““ the Howard Stern effect. You reference him in the book and you reference how he’s able to goad things out of you that you normally wouldn’t have otherwise shared. What is it about Howard that he’s able to get people to really open up? Is it the power of how many people he’s broadcasting to? Is it a skill that he has? What’s under the hood that makes him such a good interviewer?
FITZSIMMONS: It’s definitely not about how many people are listening. That rarely crosses my mind. It’s if you’re a girl in high school, and the guy with the ’69 GTO and leather jacket, who smokes, and asks you to go out on a date. You are going to go further with him than you would the nice guy”¦than with Brian Regan.
[Laughs]
You accept this. You have a curiosity and something compels you to take the challenge to be around this person and all of a sudden you find yourself further than you would have gone and all of a sudden you’re blowing Howard Stern.
[Laughs]
CS: It’s amazing how many people he’s able to ““ amazing interviews ““ he’s almost the Playboy of radio where, sure, you have the naked women but you sure as hell would subscribe just to get the articles. I think he’s unique and I just don’t understand what he’s able to do and how he’s able to make all these people open up.
FITZSIMMONS: Well, you know what it is? You learn very quickly. Anybody that comes on the show is a fan of the show. It’s very rare that someone comes on because the publicist pitched a really hot project. I’ve seen Howard get pitched guests for his show and I’ve seen what interests him and what doesn’t. If there’s not a story he doesn’t really care about how big the project or how big they are. There has to be something that he knows he can tap a nerve with. The person is going through a transition, whether it’s divorce or getting off drugs or changing careers – something that he can stir up and get some real juice out of. I think that he then is able to make you realize you can’t deflect. He’ll call you on it. Just by being one hundred percent truthful ““ first of all about himself ““ everything he’s embarrassed about ““ then it’s, “OK, that’s how we play in this room.” And so if you try not to answer questions, that’s when he attacks he does that as a recourse for not playing by his rules in his sandbox.
CS: Do you try to do that? Now that you are on the other side and you’re talking to someone like a Brian Regan or talking to comics on the road, are you trying to take some of that or do you just go in there with your own intentions in mind?
FITZSIMMONS: I certainly do it differently than Howard because I come from a different world than he does. He had a lot to prove when he was starting out. He felt very changed by his mother and he wanted to be the outrageous guy and would ask tough questions of famous people. Where I come from it’s about – I think defiance about Catholicism, and I don’t want to be impolite necessarily – but at the same time from doing stand-up for so many years, I gauge my radio show the way I would assume a comedy crowd would be receiving the show. In other words, if I feel like it’s boring, I will attack my guest. I’ll cut them off. I’ll tell them they are being boring and say things like, “Can you say it any slower? Can you drag this out more?” I’m very direct but I never offend a guest and it’s just because I pay attention to them. I’m only being truthful. I have no tolerance for people that indulge themselves a story they’ve told a million times. I don’t want that kind of show. I don’t want your prepared jokes. I just want you to answer questions in an honest way. I learned that from Howard. I think the motives may be different.
CS:Â He choose you ““ I assume he had some hand in having you have your own show on Sirius.
FITZSIMMONS: Yes, he asked me on the air one day. He said, “Do you want to have your own show?” and I said, “Yeah.”
CS: That must have been wholly gratifying. Was it just that fast or was it…
FITZSIMMONS: It was that fast. It was literally just, “Hey, want your own show?” And at the time he threw a bunch of people on at first and of all the people ““ you got people that have full-time shows ““ Bubba and Ferrell ““ but of all the people he threw up there the few that remained are the guy who claims he was abducted by aliens and somebody who’s an alcoholic. I’m a 44 year-old guy with a receding hairline and two kids who doesn’t drink or do drugs and somehow I have a show that has traction on his network.
CS: That is pretty remarkable. It must have been completely flattering to think you could have a place on his network.
FITZSIMMONS: When I first got the show I knew it was a lark. This thing could go one, two, three episodes and then it could politely and, well, I knew it could go six months. By that time you kind of know if you’re dead in the water. And so I felt ““ my dad did radio his whole life. He was one of the most successful DJ’s in New York. I really dug in and certain opportunities in your life that you are very aware at the time could be very meaningful if you put the effort into it and if I don’t put the effort into it, it’s really going to show so I always respected the opportunity. I took a lot of good notes and was able to grow and learn the skills of broadcasting just by being on.
CS: Was it, I don’t want to say terrifying, but was it? Let’s say today is my first day and I’m on the radio interviewing you, I’d be out of my mind thinking how do I balance both trying to be funny but be informative but also be a good host and interview someone properly. Were you filled with anxiety by being a comedian and wanting to be funny or were you past anxiety at that point?
FITZSIMMONS: No, lots of anxiety every single time. The only thing that makes it work is I took a two year acting program at the Neighborhood Playhouse and learned the Meisner Technique where you really just put every thought out of your head except focusing your attention on your partner. Listening in the audition, looking at them, being connected to them. And I find with interviews, not worrying about my manners, and not worrying about my agenda, I can get out of the way of the interview. Then I can be really fast and I can be really clever and can be really gracious and the only thing you have to learn is jump breaking for commercial and try to put some bits in there, recurring bits in there and all that, but as me interviewing, even the monologue, it’s about just having the confidence to get out of your own way which I learned in stand-up.
You are not a good stand-up until you are not nervous and you don’t care.
You don’t let them judge you. It’s like you just do it and do it until you are in the zone longer and longer each time. So, it’s still terrifying to me because I don’t know how long to pause and I don’t know how much to ramp up. So the only thing that keeps it organic for me is like that thing backstage it kind of helps to be the comic for the green room because I see a smile and say, “OK, this is working.” And from there I think that there’s more meat on this bone and I’m going to keep going on this part.
CS: And I’m reminded about the riff from last night just going off, you were knocking the Commandments down, one after another. It was almost felt like, as we listen to you, you were thinking, “While I’m at it let’s just go through the rest of this and see what I can make out of it.”
FITZSIMMONS: I was on the Internet that day and I just had a number next to each one. It was like, one, no gods, then two, father and mother, and I had thoughts on each one and had done it on stage a couple of times so I felt it was starting to gel a little more. That’s the great thing about doing a podcast on the road. I’ve always got a page of bullet points or new ideas I want to talk about, like Sarah Palin is like a rodeo clown. She’s comic relief during a bad economy. Just one image and you go on stage with it and explore it. You just keep throwing stuff out and I record every set and then by the weekend it’s a little more gelled so the time I get a podcast usually like Saturday, I’ve already done two or three sets. So now I’m doing a podcast and it’s totally fresh and brand new but it’s also got a little bit of form.
CS:Â I’m reminded about last week, too, I was listening to Howard’s show and he was talking to Gilbert Gottfried and Gilbert had no interest in being a mentor to anybody.
FITZSIMMONSÂ Yeah, I loved that.
CS: And I’m reminded of you when you are talking to these comics and these people who I have never heard of but I hope they come into their own and become people that I do hear about, do you find that this is something you wanted to do in talking to these comedians that are relatively fresh on the scene? Is it your intention to be sort of an elder statesman, as it were?
FITZSIMMONS: No, not at all. There are a lot of comics I find on the show that are original and earnest and I feel like even if they don’t make it big, here’s somebody who I think I can help and want to help. It always comes down to would it make a difference if I gave this person advice. And when you are working with a guy who is drinking at every show, he doesn’t change a word of his act, he’s more concerned about after the show. I’m not going to waste a second of my energy on to try and say to that guy “You know you can transition this better” but when I see somebody who’s young, going over their notes, they are nervous, they care, then I feel like what’s the glaring thing about their act that I can point out ““ one given note, if taken, can save that person from having to figure it out on their own. But, only if you really listen to it, which is hard. I love coaching people in anything that I feel I might have some skill in. I don’t know why but I love kids. I love teaching them sports. I love working with anybody that is, like you said, is earnest, and if I am in a position to help them, I love that.
But I can’t stand the sense of entitlement that a lot of young comics have today. They see you, I go through my set and run out because there will be people that come up and say “You don’t remember me?” and I say “When did we meet?” and they say, “I don’t know, it was probably…” It’s like, “You motherfucker….’I don’t remember’…F.U….I don’t owe you anything.” Just because you have happened to see me, just because I may be above you on the ladder that doesn’t entitle you to be rude or have some expectation that I’m going to”¦..I don’t f’n know you. You want me to what? Call a club. Tell them I got somebody to open for me? And then if you bomb I look bad? Where’s the upside for me? I never once asked a comic to bring me on the road with him. I used to drive for hours to go to clubs and showcase and then get hired by the club. Now it seems everyone wants you to do them a favor. And you don’t even know them. I think the landscape has changed like that. When I’m on the road and can connect with somebody who is quality, I love it. But, the idea of being a mentor is really preposterous. I’m still trying to learn how to do stand-up myself.
CS: To that point, I think it actually comes down to the work ethic. I think myself I’ve been told you do good work and the work speaks for itself that you’ll eventually be recognized for it but some people now want to jump that line and think it’s more about style. And that if you have enough style you can move forward, and it certainly works in some areas, but where do you fall on that whether work for it’s own sake will get you noticed or is it about self-promotion, is it about putting something in front of somebody and saying, “Recognize me! Recognize what I do!” Is there a line there?
FITZSIMMONS: Yeah, that’s what I struggle with every day. Self-promotion today is such a pure drain of energy and time and if you go half-ass you might as well not do it at all. At the same time if you don’t do it at all, you’re screwed. People are bombarded with marketing and promotion and they think they can just go on the road and just kill and think that that’s going to build up a following ““ those days are over.
The guy who had a regular TV show, no matter how bad, those guys will outdraw everybody except, literally Brian Regan and maybe two other guys besides him that don’t have weekly TV exposure or guys that have movie exposure. I think clubs booked by talent and with a certain editorial in mind. So I try to find a way of marketing myself that is more natural. I like Twitter because I can send out one or two tweets a day and maybe one is a joke and one is about a book signing tonight and I always have a fear, a paranoia, that people are going to see me as just another pushy person who’s trying to get somewhere in a rush and more often than not, I don’t do enough.
I’m ashamed of marketing myself. I find it distasteful and I feel like I’m proud of the show I do and I’m proud of what I do. The thing about being a perfectionist is I don’t put out as much content as I should. I really do worry about that. I hired a webmaster. I have a publicist right now and I have a producer on my podcast which most people don’t have because I need to hand stuff off so I can focus on the creative side of things.
CS: It’s really fantastic. Nothing but quality. What’s more I respect that if you’re busy or if you can’t do it you allow yourself to miss a day. You’re not out to put out a half-assed product and that comes through.
FITZSIMMONS: Like Twitter, the podcast seemed like the way to put content out that wasn’t…that wasn’t promotion for the sake of promotion but it was content that worked as promotion.
CS: Do you find that people responding positively? I don’t know how many followers you are up to now but do you find it’s a positive thing for you to use?
FITZSIMMONS: I have like 17,000 people that follow me on Twitter. It’s not like in the days of the Myspace page when I had way more than that but I would say three quarters of them were probably spam addresses, whereas on Twitter these are people that are actually reading your shit. It’s crazy. I do a couple segments on my show like Overheard, where people sending things overheard, and I get a hundred of them a week and I get people coming out to my shows and it used to be way back when it was because I had a show on MTV and that went away, and then it was Best Week Ever and those people come out…but the podcast by far is the biggest draw because people are listening for the whole hour, every week, and it may not be the same numbers you get on Stern but they are really there to listen to it.
CS: And advertisers? Are they responding well to the fact that you are such a top rated download?
FITZSIMMONS: Yes, it makes a difference and also that and the demographic they are going after. I think that’s like Adam Carolla and Marc Maron and myself are the young male demographic that people watch. So I’m actually surprised that there aren’t more advertisers. I know it’s a podcast and I really think that they will. Like right now, there’s half a dozen that work with most of us and breaking through to that next level is what everyone is trying to do now. What’s hard is that if someone is not familiar with podcast it’s hard to turn them on to the process of it ““ people are techno-phobes and are just used to getting their content the way they get it. You really have to go after the tech-savvy and the people who have iPhones and really care about fresh content as opposed to listening to albums on their iPod. I guess the short answer I guess is I think that the business model isn’t there yet but I think that the audience is growing and seems like everything is in place for it to grow much faster and we’re not yet in the clutches of the studio system ““ still completely independent meaning we can keep all the money, which is nice.
CS: There is only so much ““ how many ProFlowers bouquets can I buy this week ““ how many downloads can I make from audible ““ and you are right it does seem like a very tiny ““ all these companies ““ feels like there should be a lot more because, demographically, like you’re speaking, there’s always these other people advertising. I’m amazed that it’s just these core half a dozen.
FITZSIMMONS: I just got a couple new sponsors. There are some that I won’t take. I’ve had offers ““ pornography ““ and then junk companies where they want you to write the ad and want you to work off commission on what you bring in. I’m not interested in that. There’s a recipe of every thousand downloads you get a certain dollar amount. That’s the only way it really makes sense.
CS: Is this thing growing on its own? Is it taking away from what you really want to be doing, and that’s your act, your comedy? Is it not even significant to even talk about because the technology is so in its infancy that it’s not really taking any of your time to deal with?
FITZSIMMONS: When I was coming up in New York and then LA, I always did a lot of alternative comedy because there’s always one room that I would try to work every week or every other week because it would force me to do 10 new minutes. You are standing in front of a crowd that was there every week so you couldn’t do something you’ve done before and it forced me to come up with new material every week. And, the podcast is the same way. I try not to look in the paper for what my monologue is going to be. I try to really look at either my life, which is pretty limited ““ two kids and on the road a lot there’s just so many airplane jokes and my kid threw up jokes ““ for me where my head is at is the existential midlife crisis type things.
Like the 10 Commandments ““ thinking about the big picture and trying to express my anger or confusion about things that are in my heart right now and I think that trying to do topical stuff is fine as long as it’s a springboard into something bigger. I was talking to a friend about how much of your identity is a collection of attributes, whether it’s fine wine seems to go along with classical music and good cigars and Brooks Brothers, no matter what walk of life you’re from you think you have much more taste in a universal, objective way and give yourself credit for having more choice in taste than you really have. It’s more that identification with a group and social climbing and that’s something that seems to touch a nerve. When I bring that up, people get incensed.
Even my own wife, who swears that, no, it takes a certain intelligence and worldliness to appreciate a single malt scotch that’s good or bad. Even she couldn’t really wrap her head around the fact that if she was from another world it would be much more about whether or not your wear a sarong that denotes a different cast system and you may not be attacked with sticks for it and that everyone has their agenda with their fashion choices or culinary choices or where they vacationed. Something like that is a show and whether or not the show goes that way that’s where I’m going to start it and 9 out of 10 times it goes in a completely different direction. I do the same thing with sand up. I’ll explore an idea and if there’s something to it, I’ll continue it on stage or vice versa.
FITZSIMMONS: If I had what Brian Regan has, which is that work ethic, I’m going to write it all down, I’m going to organize it and then like Louis CK is doing, what Chris Rock did, and what George Carlin did, which is every year do my one hour special ““ I lay it down and then start from scratch. I wish I could do that. I have ADHD and every set is like a drunken knife fight for me.
[Laughs]
I jump from thought to thought and talk about how the spotlight above me is humming and driving me crazy and I never quite get through a stream of consciousness that’s not interrupted.
CS:Â Do you think you have it in you, let’s say if HBO came up, or Comedy Central, said, “We want you to do an hour show.” Would it motivate you?
FITZSIMMONS: I’m dying to do a one hour show. I know I have that hour. I’ve actually done it on tape. I made a spreadsheet with all the bits and I just did an act a few weeks ago in Minneapolis and I recorded three shows and I have the hour. Every minute is something that I’m proud of, that I worked on, and that I know will stand up in a theater but I’ve been so caught up in this book that I haven’t even pursued it. But the one hour in the past, there wasn’t enough interest. It’s a lot of money and there aren’t a lot of buyers like there used to be. HBO is only interested in things like George Lopez, somebody who already has a show or big name. And then Comedy Central is a place that I would have more luck with but maybe they are pursing someone younger.
So, I’m kind of dying to do it the same way I’m dying to do this book. There’s nothing I want more now than to do the one hour special so that at the end of my life I can sit on my porch with 14 Emmys on the mantle and my book on the shelf, with my one hour special on top of the TV.
CS: I’m amazed that it hasn’t happened. It almost seems like the cliché from your own show that you like just being in the middle and but that’s where you’re currently caught.
FITZSIMMONS: Yeah, I was on the road for two years straight and that’s a lot of road work. And when you do that you lose all the momentum if you’re not out there ““ you’re not a comedian anymore because a lot of comedians get off the road as they start writing gig and you never seen them on the stage again. I would fly out on weekends…I never gave up on it but the perception was the same. It’s held me back a lot. It’s just the reality of it.
CS: Really? Even with all the road gigs you did? Hasn’t the tide turned?
FITZSIMMONS: No. I think I’m back in a place of having more visibility as a pure stand-up but the fact that, even writing a book, even having a TV deal, it all works against you in a weird way. I know it sounds contradictory saying guys like George Lopez, but he got to where he was with stand-up. I got jobs more because of my writing skills. And it just gets spread kind of thin. “Oh, he’s the guy with the podcast.” “He’s the guy on Stern.” But, not always, “He’s the guy who used to work stand up non-stop for 20 years.” I think my goal now is to do as much as I can and put my main energy into the podcast and stand-up because they seem to work really well together.
Do a one hour special and get to the point when you can go out one night or two nights as opposed to longer and it’s just a matter of believing it will happen and making it a priority, which I didn’t do before, and that’s one of the things I talked about when I did the book. I was focusing all these different energies because I know I put a more concerted effort in this book than I ever have in my life. It taught me about how much time I was wasting and things I gave up doing this book that I certainly didn’t miss. I don’t audition anymore.
I am not very good at auditioning.
I have a low batting average and a huge waste of time to drive up to the valley and rehearse and it makes me feel like a loser. There are certain things I had to give up while I was writing the book and I’m not bringing back into my life. Stand-up is the most truthful thing you can do in our society today. I think there is probably more freedom of speech with stand up than almost anything else. You can choose to do it the way you want to. You can do theaters, you can do clubs, you can just do it on the internet. You can do it on TV. Whatever your sensibility works best, you have the option to do it that way.
CS: Do you find people respond the same way? In terms of comedy, can you be, I guess Brian Regan would be the best example, that people respond to the same comedy he has been doing for decades, are you finding that you can be as free? Are audiences different than they were, 10, 15, 20 years ago?
FITZSIMMONS: I don’t know. I never really thought about that. I always just walk on stage and walk up to the mike and my goal is ““ I truly have no idea what I am going to say when I walk up to the microphone. I have no idea what’s going to happen in the middle. I have bullet points I want to get to but some nights I don’t get to any of it. I know I’ve grown in some ways and in other ways I think I have gotten, I don’t know if I’ve gotten weaker, but I was on Bob and Tom this morning and they pulled out some comedy clips to play them on the air from 15 years ago and it was jokes, just bam, bam, bam, good jokes.
I think back and I don’t write like that anymore and I do miss it.
It was really more of a varsity sport back then for me. It was like, “How can I type this up? How can I land a tagline to this?” As opposed to now it’s much more about, “How can I talk around an idea that I think is interesting to keep the audience with me through choppy waters “˜cause they might have been uncomfortable with the topic but we all came through it together?” But there’s a part of me that would like to do more of that.
CS: I am intensely curious to know ““ you bring her up in the book, you said that Erin wants to put the brakes on what you can say sometimes. Do you find that the deeper relationship you have with the wife and the kids, that the impulse is to drag them into the comedy in a way ““ is there an impulse to keep that at bay? Is there a back and forth of what you can and can’t talk about?
FITZSIMMONS: I think it helps me make more mature decisions about what I should be talking about. I am reading this book right now called The Razor’s Edge. Have you heard about that?
CS:Â No.
FITZSIMMONS: It’s kind of a classic and it’s about this guy who is born in the upper-class in Chicago, 19-teen’s and it’s a fast read. It explored what it was like to be a part of that whole scene of Paris of that time. His friends tell him, “What are you doing? You’re wasting your life. You’re not working. You’re not going to the country club. You’re not working on your golf game. You’re throwing your life away asking all these questions about God and evil. These questions have been asked forever and you think you’re going to solve them?” And he says, “Well, if they’ve been asked forever maybe because there’s no answer they are the only questions that are supposed to be asked.”
So, I don’t know if you could say embarrassing but maybe divulging more about my family than what would make people comfortable I can be forced to have to take on bigger questions and more important ideas than anger at my child misbehaving or frustrations about not having sex with my wife as much. That kind of stuff has been pretty well mined and I think, even for me, I kind of transcend those kinds of things. It’s my marriage, my kids, and thinking about how can I deepen my relationship with my wife. How can I be a more supportive non-judgmental parent to my kids and not feel frustration?
And I think with my stand up it’s the same thing.
How can I go deeper with my stand up? At the end of my career can I look back and be proud of the topics I was talking about on stage? I look back at some of the material and I absolutely cringe. I talked about those jokes before but I also did a lot of very ““ I don’t want to say offensive ““ but tacky topics ““ not topics ““ tacky premises. So, I think it’s good to cringe when you look back at your work because it means there must be some kind of growth going on and I just really do feel that after 20 years I have no idea the right way to do it ““ it’s a work in progress.
CS:Â And I think that’s a good a place to end it as it could be.
FITZSIMMONS: Hey, I can’t go any deeper than that!
Laughs.
Trailer Park: Digital Holiday Buying Guide
Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on TWITTER under the name: Stipp
LITTLE FOCKERS – Screening
Live in Phoenix or the nearby environs? Interested in seeing Little Fockers on December 16? Then, pal, I have just the ticket for you. In fact, I have a lot of tickets so by all means shoot me a line at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com and I’ll see about hooking you up with passes to see it.
Need to know more? Here’s some information:
This holiday season come LITTLE FOCKERS the third installment in this blockbuster series (Meet The Parents and Meet the Fockers.) The test of wills between Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) and Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) escalates to new heights as Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) and Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and the family all get together under the same roof. Laura Dern and Jessica Alba join the returning all-star cast for a new chapter of the worldwide hit franchise.
It has taken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam (Polo) and countless hurdles for Greg to finally get “in” with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack. After the cash-strapped dad takes a job moonlighting for a drug company, however, Jack’s suspicions about his favorite male nurse come roaring back.
When Greg and Pam’s entire clan — including Pam’s lovelorn ex, Kevin (Owen Wilson) — descends for the twins’ birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jack that he’s fully capable as the man of the house. But with all the misunderstandings, spying and covert missions, will Greg pass Jack’s final test and become the family’s next patriarch…or will the circle of trust be broken for good?
This laugh out loud comedy, LITTLE FOCKERS will be screening on December 16, and opens in theatres on December 22.
And now, on to the recommendations to make this a merry digital Christmas for that special someone, or something, or yourself, this year:
JEDI JUNKIES – DVD
What a pleasure this film was to watch.
If you’ve seen the documentary Trekkies and appreciated what that film did for fans of the Star Trek then you have to get this for any fan, even tangential ones, of the Star Wars franchise.
What I learned by watching Mark Edlitz’ expose on the fans who are, at times, downright obsessed with this film series is that these fans are just passionate about everything having to do with this property. You have people who have been tattooed, people who have devoted entire rooms of their homes in order to contain their habit, and some who are dedicated enough to teach a class on how to properly use a lightsaber. The overriding lesson that’s learned by watching this documentary is that these are people who are really into this thing that just happens to be Star Wars. What Edlitz gets right in a huge way is making these people normal. I know that doesn’t sound like much but, like in Trekkies, these people showcased aren’t made to look foolish or nerdy. They’re genuine fans of these films and through conversations with these individuals you get that we should see them as champions for something many of us have already written off after so many years of naked greed. It’s an exploration of the nature of fandom and I couldn’t have been more entertained by a well-made and expertly executed treatise on what it means to be a supporter of Star Wars.
You can order the film right here through their website and I couldn’t recommend seeking this out high enough. In fact, if you’re in the market for your own lightsaber, Jedi Junkies is looking to give one out in a contest. So, visit the site, check out the movie, enter the contest, be impressed.
Details on the contest to win your own custom, steel lightsaber:
JEDI JUNKIES
Announces release of DVD and a chance to win a CUSTOM LIGHTSABER!
Star Wars feature documentary, JEDI JUNKIES, is giving fans the chance to win their very own custom, steel lightsaber to celebrate the release of the DVD. To be entered to win, fans need only to LIKE the film’s Facebook fan page. A winner will be selected on Monday, December 21st.
The film teamed with Advanced Light Weaponry to offer this very special promotion. As an added bonus, the winner will be able to select which side of the force they are on by choosing the saber’s color (blue for Jedi, red for Sith).”¨”¨JEDI JUNKIES is a fun, affectionate documentary profiling some of the hardcore and passionate fans inspired by the multi-billion-dollar grossing deep space epic: from the creation of a full-size Millennium Falcon spacecraft in a fan’s backyard, to schools teaching light saber fighting techniques, to women who spend their spare time recreating Princess Leia in her slave bikini, this film tells the stories of Star Wars fans who will shock and delight you with how they redefine Star Wars fandom.
Also featuring the perspectives of celebrity insiders including Olivia Munn (Attack of the Show, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett), Phantom Menace actor Ray Park (Darth Maul), Celebrity Fit Club’s Dr. Linda Papodopolis and Blair Witch Project director Ed Sanchez, JEDI JUNKIES will change the way you look at fandom forever!”¨ “¨A film made by Star Wars fans, for Star Wars fans, can now be purchased on DVD, iTunes, Amazon VOD and Playstation 3. The film is also available for rental on iTunes, Amazon VOD and Playstation 3.
For information on JEDI JUNKIES, please visit their website: http://www.jedijunkies.com/
MAD MAX & ROBOCOP – Blu-ray
This one is a no brainier.
For those who are looking to expand their Blu-ray collection with titles that will really take advantage of your surround sound with the sweet sound of explosions and many pounds worth of violence you can’t do better than these two titles.
Recently released, Mad Max and Robocop are two titles that fit nicely within any manly man’s collection of films. One, a dystopian vision of a desolate landscape fraught with crazies and psychopaths while the other is a dystopian vision of a desolate urban landscape fraught with crazies and one guy named Clarence. Robocop, for my money, has spawned the most number of callbacks of any destructive action film in recent memory. It was ahead of its time but completely on point when it came to the larger issue that Paul Verhoeven was going for with regard to a film that was essentially about a cop who has come back from the dead to restore justice to a lawless city. While Mad Max, if you think about it, was a revolutionary film in that its success only grew after its release and outrage that followed. Without Max it would be doubtful there would have been a Saw franchise.
Both of these films are true classics and classics that make excellent gifts to those men, or ladies, in your life who can appreciate the larger themes that both of these movies explore.
About the Blu-rays:
The cyborg super-cop Robocop defends citizens of Old Detroit with three times as much action when the ROBOCOP TRILOGY arrives as a Blu-ray collector’s set October 5. Just in time for the holiday season, this three disc set from MGM Home Entertainment contains the original ROBOCOP on Blu-ray, as well as ROBOCOP 2 andROBOCOP 3 on Blu-ray for the first time.
Packed full of memorable moments and Robocop quotes, the ROBOCOP TRILOGY is a fan must-have. Viewers can experience their favorite “human” robot in all three classic films, now on Blu-ray. Directors Paul Verhoeven (Totall Recall, Basic Instinct) of ROBOCOP and ROBOCOP 2 and Fred Dekker (Monster Squad Forever, Nighs of the Creeps) of ROBOCOP 3bring the half robot, half police officer to life with the help of an intensely talented cast, including Peter Weller (The Order; 24), Robert Burke (Good Night, and Good Luck; Tombstone), Kurtwood Smith (Rambo III; That 70’s Show) and Nancy Allen (Law and Order, Carrie).
In ROBOCOP (1987), a terminally wounded cop in crime-ridden Detroit returns to the force as a powerful cyborg with submerged memories haunting him. ROBOCOP 2 (1990) features a corrupt businesswoman seeking to disable Robocop in favor of her own model of cyborg. In ROBOCOP 3 (1993) Robocop saves the day once more. This time the half man/half robot takes on ruthless developers who want to evict some people on “their” land.
Now viewers can experience the thrilling dystopian action film with an all-new Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack. Special features include filmmaker commentary and the documentary “Mad Max: The Film Phenomenon,” featuring interviews with the original crew and film experts. The new release also features the very popular original Australian audio track in addition to the American dubbed track.
Considered one of the best films of 1979, MAD MAX garnered three Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards for editing, sound and musical score. The film was also nominated by the AFI for Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Hugh Keays-Byrne).
In the ravaged near future, a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets, the ruthless gang laughs in the face of a police force hell-bent on stopping them. But they underestimate one officer: Max Rockatansky (Gibson). And when the bikers brutalize Max’s best friend and family, they send him into a mad frenzy that leaves him seeking revenge, which is the only thing left in the world for Max to live for.
Special Features:
– Filmmaker Commentary by Jon Dowding, David Eggby, Chris Murray & Tim Ridge
– Documentary: “Mad Max: The Film Phenomenon”
– New-To-The-U.S. Original Australian Language Track
– Two theatrical trailers
– TV Spots
I KNEW IT WAS YOU – DVD
It’s simple why you should get this for any fan of film after watching this documentary.
A movie about John Cazale, someone who you really shouldn’t have heard about before seeing this, it charts the tragic story of an actor who acted in but five films but those films (The Deer Hunter, The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon) garnered 40 Academy Award nominations. You couldn’t have charted a more perfect career. That ended, though, when Cazale wrapped The Deer Hunter and died of bone cancer at the age of 42.
This documentary is one that I am not sure would have been made without the horrible circumstances surrounding Cazale’s untimely demise, obviously, but this is a film that goes beyond this man’s life. It is an exploration on the nature of acting and how one man could genuinely tap into that thing that make good actors better, average performers step up their game. The interviews are the real treat, with people like Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, and Meryl Streep providing a glowing context to what this man so special. It’s not something to be missed and should appeal to anyone looking to understand why some just were meant to act.
About the film:
KNEW IT WAS YOU, which explores the life of the exceptional but little-known actor John Cazale. The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO June 1, 2010. The film was produced by Brett Ratner and Stacey Reiss. O-Scope will release the DVD in the fall of 2010.
Cazale’s film career consisted of just five movies, but all of them were Academy Award nominees for Best Picture: THE GODFATHER, THE GODFATHER: PART II, THE CONVERSATION, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, and THE DEER HUNTER. He is remembered by his colleagues as one of the brightest talents of his day, but three decades after his promising career ended with his untimely death, Cazale is largely unknown the general public.
Featuring interviews with Hollywood legends such as Al Pacino, Gene Hackman, Robert De Niro, Richard Dreyfuss, Meryl Streep, and Sidney Lumet, as well as actors and filmmakers from a younger generation inspired by Cazale, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, and Brett Ratner, and including clips from Cazale’s movies and rarely seen photos and home video, I KNEW IT WAS YOU seeks to remedy the disparity of Cazale’s success with his relative anonymity.
Richard Shepard said, “It’s a thrill to have Oscilloscope release the DVD of I KNEW IT WAS YOU. Their passion and commitment to quality projects is evident in the care and creativity they put into each of their releases. This documentary was a labor of love for everyone involved, and it’s really nice that it continues with the DVD release. I’m very excited that movie fans everywhere will have a chance to learn about John Cazale, and his incredible craft of acting.”
Adam Yauch, head of Oscilloscope, said, “Oscilloscope is the Fredo of independent film, so it’s an honor to put this film out.”
VENGEANCE – DVD
If you’re looking to get something that is hard boiled, smart, taut, and pretty damn satisfying this is the movie to get this season.
In the grand tradition of great Hong Kong crime films where the classical themes of revenge are still mined for great subject matter this is a movie that moves quick and is wholly satisfying. It should be enough to say that this is a movie that deals with one man’s quest to deal with a bunch of professionals who were on a mission to take out his family for reasons that are all too clear and are all too blatantly easy to understand but who cares, right? This movie is all about the copious use of squibs and pistols and gunfire and, believe me, you get a lot of that here. In spades. Sometimes you just want a movie that doesn’t spend too much time navel gazing about the nature of man. Sometimes you just want a movie where a man needs to kill another man just because. And that’s what you get. Loved it.
About the film:
Legendary director Johnnie To (The Election Trilogy, Triangle PTU) the greatest master of Hong Kong action films since John Woo returns with an instant modern classic compared by Roger Ebert to Clint Eastwood s Unforgiven, VENGEANCE is a visually stunning and gripping gangster tale about honor among thieves and a father determined to avenge his daughter.
Pop legend Johnny Hallyday (often called the French Elvis) gives the performance of his life as Costello, a world-weary but dapper gourmet chef who clearly has violence in his past (and future) when he enlists the help of hired assassins to enact his bloody revenge on the Chinese gangsters who nearly killed his little girl. Two brilliantly staged shoot outs by To one in the moonlight, the other at an abandoned dump are merely the highlights of a movie that crosses Memento with a spaghetti western and comes up with this international smash hit.
THE WORLD AT WAR – Blu-ray
How many of you, like myself, are obsessed with the History Channel and cannot stop watching footage from Word War II?
I know I’m not the only one who feels that way and, I am willing to bet, you know someone in your life who can’t stop watching either. What’s remarkable about this collection of 26 hours of documentary footage that was originally broadcast over 35 years ago is that not only is it narrated by Sir Lawrence Oliver but that the content is still just as fascinating as it was when it originally aired. The dirtiness of war and all that it brought into the world so many decades ago still is a thrill to watch because of how resonant the themes are even today.
Especially today.
For some mini series that have found their way onto Blu-ray nothing compares to the high level of quality that you’ve come to expect from History in bringing a high-def experience to your living room. I know it’s schmaltzy to say that this process brings history to life but in my Blu-ray player, with my kid looking on, it’s hard not to feel willingly trapped in a classroom where, even now, you learn something new about what this war cost both sides.
For what you get, and it’s a megaton of additional features, this simply cannot be a better value for what you get and that, in addition to the 26 hours of the actual programming, you get an additional 10+ hours of extras.
About the DVD:
Unsurpassed as the definitive visual history of World War II, THE WORLD AT WAR is a powerful and devastating historical chronicle of battle, comprised of penetrating interviews with world and military leaders, and the ordinary men and women who endured the war from the home fronts, that give viewers a chilling, first-hand experience of the Second World War.
Narrated by Academy Award winner Laurence Olivier, THE WORLD AT WAR is epic history at its absolute best.
Special Features:
Secretary to Hitler (Traudl Junge), The Two Deaths of Adolph Hitler, Warrior (archival interviews about combat), Hitler’s Germany: The People’s Community 1933-1939, Hitler’s Germany: Total War 1939-1945, The Final Solution Part One, The Final Solution Part 2, From War to Peace. Plus new shows Making the Series and Experiences of War (unseen interviews from the archives of the Imperial War Museum). Bios, photo galleries.
VALHALLA RISING – DVD
I ought to only have to mention the Pusher Trilogy and Bronson. This thing should sell itself without me getting in the way.
One was a crime thriller that was gritter than beach sand in your shoe and Bronson gave the world Tom Hardy.
Filmmaker Nicholas Winding Refn has brought his unique vision of violence out of the streets and into the hills, and waiting arms, of the legendary Vikings. The movie’s plot is easy enough to understand: Mads Mikkelsen plays One Eye, a prisoner of some dirty Vikings who would like to use him for sport and leisure. What they weren’t counting on is this prisoner rising up and violently gaining his freedom where his quest enters a new phase when he incorporates himself into a band of soldiers looking to battle in the Crusades.
What’s especially fun and unique about this film is that it is, without question, dark. It’s dank, gray, wet, and depressing but it adds to the overall appeal of the film which is that this is a movie that really brings back a certain violence that is reflective of the time. Like Deadwood, this film tries to at least, in a general way, get the period right. Never mind the finer details, what Refn gets kudos for is how visceral the punishments are in this movie. People are picked off and battled with in the most gory ways but there’s a little bit of poetry in the way Refn shoots it.
Hopefully you pick this one up for someone itching for a satisfying gore-fest follow up to 300.
About the DVD:
Unsurpassed as the definitive visual history of World War II, THE WORLD AT WAR is a powerful and devastating historical chronicle of battle, comprised of penetrating interviews with world and military leaders, and the ordinary men and women who endured the war from the home fronts, that give viewers a chilling, first-hand experience of the Second World War.
Narrated by Academy Award winner Laurence Olivier, THE WORLD AT WAR is epic history at its absolute best.
Special Features:
Secretary to Hitler (Traudl Junge), The Two Deaths of Adolph Hitler, Warrior (archival interviews about combat), Hitler’s Germany: The People’s Community 1933-1939, Hitler’s Germany: Total War 1939-1945, The Final Solution Part One, The Final Solution Part 2, From War to Peace. Plus new shows Making the Series and Experiences of War (unseen interviews from the archives of the Imperial War Museum). Bios, photo galleries.
DOLLHOUSE: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON – Blu-ray
I didn’t know the first thing about this series before putting it into my player but man did I rush out and get season one as soon as I was halfway through this.
I can understand why this show did get canceled based on how unique and high concept the show was but it shouldn’t take away from the fact that it was a very smart show. If anyone needs any indication of where smart gets you on Fox you need only look at where Arrested Development went and have all your questions answered. Dollhouse is that unique property where brains meet ambition and you can see how lush this environment is when you see it as the flower of Joss Whedon’s imagination. The mix of sci-fi and quick action in this season make this a curious question mark about where else smart television needs to go if this is the result.
If this season was any indication of how well future seasons were going to go then it’s a shame I am reviewing this set as the final entry for it had great promise of being a program that could have had staying power if it just could have found the right people to support it.
If you’re going to get this season, and you should, do yourself a favor and throw in season one just to complete the series.
About the release:
From creative mastermind Joss Whedon comes the second and final season of the sexy, suspenseful thriller Dollhouse on Blu-ray and DVD October 12 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. The collectible set includes all 13 episodes of Dollhouse, a limited edition exclusive comic book, and bonus audio commentary by Joss Whedon and series writers Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen.
Joss Whedon’s take on the ultimate identity theft follows a cast of Actives, or Dolls, who serve as agents of Dollhouse, an illegal underground organization providing elite clientele with programmable human beings. Personality imprints allow Actives to temporarily become anyone or anything – the perfect burglar, lover, spy or assassin. When the mission is completed, memories are wiped clean. The all-star Dollhouse cast is led by Eliza Dushku as Echo (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Tru Calling, Angel) and Tahmoh Penikett as Paul Ballard (Battlestar Galactica).
Disc Features
The Dollhouse Season Two four-disc DVD or three-disc Blu-ray collection includes a retrospective with Joss Whedon and cast roundtable about the series. A gag reel and deleted scenes from top episodes are also included. Disc contents include episodes 1-13: “Vows,” “Instinct,” “Belle Chose,” “Belonging” and “The Public Eye,” “The Left Hand,” “Meet Jane Doe,” “A Love Supreme,” “Stop-Loss” and “The Attic,” “Getting Closer,” The Hollow Men,” and “Epitaph 2: The Return.”
The complete 13 episodes of the final season are presented in wide screen format with English, 5.1 DTS sound and English, Spanish, French and Portuguese subtitles.
Dollhouse Comic Book
Each Blu-ray and DVD comes with a 28 page exclusive limited edition comic book by Dark Horse Comics. Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, joined by longtimeBuffy the Vampire Slayer artist Cliff Richards, take us on an intricate trip through the precise moment when the Active technology went global, and how the protagonists from Epitaph One and Two narrowly avoided death, and worse. Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen wrote the Epitaph episodes of Dollhouse Seasons One and Two, and currently write for the Starz series Spartacus. This is their first work in comics. Artist Cliff Richards has drawn more Joss Whedon-related comics than any other artist, including issues of Buffy Season Eight.”
SKELETONS – DVD
This movie is a riot so go forth and buy a copy of this. Literally, the answer to any anglophile in your life who thinks they know it all when it comes to the most brilliant comedy to come out this year.
Something of a mix between a flat out comedy by way of dry humor and a science fiction yarn, Skeletons is a movie that you never knew you wanted to see until it was right in front of your eyes. If you were to ask for a modern day Laurel and Hardy and give them British accents, this would be the result.
Ed Gaughan and Andrew Buckley are our mismatched pair and who have the kind of chemistry usually reserved for lusty actresses and their handsome beaus. These two are neither yet this story about a couple of schmoes who go into people’s homes in order to literally exercise the skeletons in their closet. They do so with the kind of aplomb usually reserved for those getting their oil changed but I found myself laughing consistently at this Ricky Gervais/Carl Pilkington match-up between the guy who thinks he knows it all and the guy who can’t wait to mess things up.
The plot, at its essence, is basically that these two fellows are great at finding these skeletons and revealing the information of what was found to the people who have let them in their homes but there is one case where things don’t go well and proves to be a challenge to these guys. Now, that’s very reductive, I know, but please watch this short video which gives you a 50,000 view of the plot. I don’t want to spoil anything about a movie I am sure will be someone else’s discovered treasure. I don’t want to give anything else anyway.
So, if you’re looking for something else besides the buddy films of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, this could be the one you haven’t been looking for.
About the release:
SKELETONS, Edinburgh International Film Festival’s Best British Film of 2010, and written and directed by Derbyshire based Nick Whitfield and shot entirely on location in the county,
tells the story of Davis and Bennett, a mismatched pair of travelling salesman in the business of cleaning skeletons from closets. Together they travel across Britain, wandering in and out of other people’s lives, performing the “˜Procedure’ whereby hidden secrets and lies are exposed. They literally bring the skeletons out of the closet.
In June SKELETONS was awarded the Edinburgh International Film Festival’s prestigious Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film. The Edinburgh International Film Festival’s jury, headed by veteran actor Sir Patrick Stewart, was unanimous in its decision, commenting: “Nick Whitfield’s debut feature SKELETONS best exemplifies the spirit of Michael Powell in its original vision and dark humour”
KISSES – DVD
You simply could not do better when it comes to finding a movie about two kids who find each other.
What is so brilliant about filmmaker Lance Daly’s take on a tale about two kids who run away with one another is how the film feels more like a love letter to the city of Dublin, that it shows how perilous it can be while also showcasing its dazzling attractiveness. These two kids who find themselves caught in a world after dark, far away from the soft comforts of home, are a real charm as well. One wants to be hardcore while the other is looking for someone to lean on but what ends up happening is that they both find something in each other that they need: comfort.
It’s by no means a movie without some tough love but what you have here is simply a mesmerizing portrayal of what happens when you just can’t face what life hands you anymore and you don’t have anything else to hang onto. There is someone waiting to help but it never is quite as easy as asking, as Daly shows us.
I could not recommend this movie enough to buy for someone needing a reason to believe in the power of hope.
About the film:
On the fringes of Dublin two kids, Kylie and Dylan, live in a suburban housing estate devoid of life, colour and the prospect of escape. Kylie lives with five other siblings and her overworked mother. Next door, Dylan lives in the shadow of an alcoholic father and the memory of an elder brother who ran away from home two years earlier.
After a violent altercation with his father, Dylan runs away from home and Kylie decides to run away with him. Together they make their way to the magical night time lights of inner city Dublin, to search for Dylan’s brother, and in the hope of finding, through him, the possibility of a new life.
Lance Daly’s vision of Dublin, as seen through the innocent eyes of our protagonists, is a kaleidoscope of magic, wonder and mystery. But as the night wears on, and Dublin takes on a darker character, the two kids have to rely on the kindness of strangers, the advice of Bob Dylan and their trust in each other to survive the night.
AVATAR: EXTENDED COLLECTORS EDITION – DVD
James Cameron is, if nothing else, thorough.
What I learned while going through this re-release on DVD was how wide he cast the net for what was, by all accounts, one of the biggest films ever made. While I can’t say that watching it for a third time did anything for me I was remarkably impressed by how much back story he put into this film. One thing you cannot knock the guy for is his endless passion to get it right and when I delved into all the special features of this DVD set it was clear that his vision was executed the exact way he wanted. You cannot be anything but amazed at the efforts he took to not only technically get it right but in thinking about the small things that surrounded the creation of this story.
Even though this was a DVD release that I saw the visuals are really something to behold and take in. I can only imagine what it looks like in Blu-ray in how he captured lights and darks and colors of all kinds. I recommend this one solely for those who not only liked the film but those who want hours of additional footage showing you why he is indeed king of the world.
About the re-release:
Director James Cameron is unlocking the secrets of Pandora and taking fans on a guided tour of his vision with the highly anticipated release of AVATAR Extended Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray and DVD releasing November 16th in North America and rolling out internationally from November 15th. These exclusive Extended Collector’s Editions come with iconic, collectible packaging to get fans to experience Pandora like never before. With three versions of the film, AVATAR fans will get an all-new extended cut of the film and hours of never-before seen material including over 45 minutes of amazing deleted scenes!
“I told our team — let’s do the ultimate box set of Avatar, with everything in it the fans could possibly want. There’s an extended length cut that’s sixteen minutes longer, plus documentaries, behind the scenes featurettes, artwork and over 45 minutes of deleted scenes. Everything worth putting into a special edition is in this set,” said James Cameron.
The three-disc AVATAR Extended Collector’s Edition Blu-ray and Theatrical Special Edition Re-Release DVD will both feature the original theatrical release, a special edition re-release, family audio track with all objectionable language removed and new collector’s extended cut with sixteen more minutes including an exclusive alternate opening Earth scene. Viewers will journey to the depths of Pandora with filmmakers during “Capturing Avatar” an in-depth feature length documentary covering the 16 year filmmaker journey including all new interviews with James Cameron, Jon Landau and cast and crew exploring James Cameron’s unique vision for the film seen by more than 310 million people worldwide. The Oscar and Golden Globe winning epic is the highest grossing film of all time, taking in over $2.7 billion in worldwide box office. It is also the top-selling Blu-ray disc of all time.
The AVATAR Extended Collector’s Edition Blu-ray will also have even more bonus material and interactive viewing. Through the unparalleled, interactive technology of Blu-ray, fans can dive further into the world of the Na’vi and experience the #1 international sensation from behind the scenes, with a “master class” on the production of the film. Leveraging the interactivity of Blu-ray, viewers can experience the full film in three stages of production: Performance Capture, Template (1990’s video game version) and Final as well as a composite of all stages in “Pandora’s Box”. This will be supported with interviews by Jim Cameron and the filmmakers and serve as a “master class” on the making of AVATAR.
Contents:
Disc One
Original Theatrical Version
Special Edition Re-Release
Collector’s Extended Cut
16 more minutes and exclusive alternate opening
Family Audio Track (All Objectionable Language Removed)
Original Theatrical Release
Special Edition Re-release
Disc Two
“Capturing Avatar” An in-depth feature length documentary with James Cameron, Jon Landau and cast and crew
Deleted Scenes ““ including over 45 minutes of new never-before-seen deleted scenes
Production Materials
Disc Three
Open “Pandora’s Box” and go deeper into the filmmaker process
Interactive Scene Deconstruction: Explore the various stages of production through 3 different viewing modes
Production Shorts: 17 featurettes covering performance capture, scoring the film, 3D fusion camera, stunts and much more
Avatar Archives including original scriptment, 300 page screenplay and the extensive Pandorapedia
BD-live Portal with additional bonus materials
AVATAR Collector’s Edition: 3-Disc Special Edition DVD:
Disc One
Original Theatrical Version
Special Edition Re-release
Collector’s Extended Cut
16 more minutes and exclusive alternate opening
Disc Two
Original Theatrical Version
Special Edition Re-release
Collector’s Extended Cut
Disc Three
“Capturing Avatar” An in-depth feature length documentary with James Cameron, Jon Landau and cast and crew
Deleted Scenes ““ including over 45 minutes of new never-before-seen deleted scenes
LENNONYC – DVD
I’m not a big Beatles fan but I appreciated this film.
Understanding why Lennon called New York City home is an interesting angle to take as we unceremoniously celebrate the 30th year of this man’s brutal death by a deranged fan. While I’m an even bigger non fan of Double Fantasy this is nonetheless a gripping expose on the life of a guy who wanted to make his home in the middle of a place where raising a family wasn’t the most healthy of endeavors. Still crawling with the more seedier elements Lennon was nonetheless a polarizing figure in the fight against an unjust war, his vocal opposition most likely the reason Nixon wanted him deported, and his notion that there was still great beauty in this world makes this not so much a portrait of a Beatle who was starting a new life in America but of a man who was looking to make his life in America, a place he held so dearly. Moving and poignant, the documentary is a true examination of what it meant to be an artist in New York.
About the film:
This fall, as the world remembers John Lennon on what would have been his 70th birthday, and the 30th anniversary of his death, LENNONYC takes an intimate look at the time Lennon, Yoko Ono and their son, Sean, spent living in New York City during the 1970s.
“New York became a part of who John and I were,” said Ms. Ono. “We couldn’t have existed the same way anywhere else. We had a very special relationship with the city, which is why I continue to make this my home, and I think this film captures what that time was like for us very movingly.”
“The period that Lennon lived with his family in New York is perhaps the most tender and affecting phase of his life as a public figure,” said Susan Lacy, series creator and executive producer of American Masters as well as a producer of the Lennon film. “Just as the generation that had grown up with the Beatles was getting a little older and approaching a transitional time in their lives as they started families, they saw this reflected in Lennon as he grew from being a rock star icon into a real flesh and blood person.”
“I have long been moved by the honesty and directness of John’s music,” said Michael Epstein, LENNONYC director, producer and writer. “And, by using never-before heard studio talkback of John from this period, I think I was able to give the viewer a window into John Lennon that had not been put to film before.”
Following the breakup of the Beatles, Lennon and Ono moved to New York City in 1971, where Lennon sought to escape the mayhem of the Beatles era and focus on his family and private life. At the same time, he created some of the most acclaimed songs and albums of his career, most of them written at his apartment at The Dakota on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, including Mind Games, Whatever Gets You Thru the Night, I’m Losing You, and Woman. He also remained highly active in the anti-war movement as well as numerous other progressive political causes.
As much as New York made an impact on Lennon and Ono by offering them an oasis of personal and creative freedom, so too did they shape the city. At a time when New York faced record high crime, economic fallout and seemed to be on the verge of collapse, Lennon and Ono became a beloved fixture in neighborhood restaurants, at Central Park, at sports events and at political demonstrations.
Lennon and Ono also bonded with millions of their fellow New Yorkers in their experience as immigrants. The film traces their struggle to remain in the U.S. when the Nixon administration sought to deport them, supposedly based on a narcotics violation, but which Lennon insisted was in response to his anti-war activities.
LENNONYC features never-before heard studio recordings from the Double Fantasy sessions and never-before-seen outtakes from Lennon in concert and home movies that have only recently been transferred to video. It also features exclusive interviews with Ms. Ono, who cooperated extensively with the production and offers an unprecedented level of access, as well as with artists who worked closely with Lennon during this period, including Elton John and photographer Bob Gruen (who took the iconic photograph of Lennon in front of the skyline wearing a “New York City” t-shirt).
SPACE 1999 – Blu-ray
This was one amazing television series.
I’m not recommending this to anyone who doesn’t already appreciate the finer qualities of mid seventies conceptions of what space was as it was seen through the eyes of television producers. Now, apart from the models that look extremely suspect, background equipment that seems like it was crafted with a bunch of bright light bulbs and decoupage, and outfits that border on laughable this was nonetheless a brilliant watch. The examination of the nature of man and the oddities that these space explorers encounter on their quest to explore the universe is the real attraction here. This television show was ahead of its time as episodes take a more frank and serious approach to space exploration that doesn’t once involve hi-jinks of any kind. A must for any fan of the series, knows of the series, or has an affection for a television show that supposes that if there really were space explorers they would probably be just as serious as these individuals were.
About the Blu-ray:
In the year 1999, a spectacular explosion at a lunar nuclear waste dump sends the moon out of Earth’s orbit. In this seminal sci-fi series from producer Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, UFO), the men and women of Moonbase Alpha are suddenly propelled on a treacherous journey across the universe in search of extraordinary new worlds. Left with no way home, the Earthling citizens are forced to embark upon the greatest adventure of their lives, encountering bizarre life forms and strange phenomena as they struggle to survive among the awe-inspiring wonders of outer space.
All 24 first season episodes of this acclaimed space adventure have been restored in stunning high definition and presented with newly-created 5.1 surround soundtracks, and hours of brand-new bonus features.
With its progressive plotlines, an outstanding cast, and astonishing special effects from Oscar® winner Brian Johnson (Alien, The Empire Strikes Back), SPACE: 1999 has secured its place as one of the most thought-provoking series of the 20th century – and beyond.
DISC 1: Breakaway / Matter of Life and Death / Black Sun / Ring Around the Moon / Earthbound
DISC 2: Another Time, Another Place / Missing Link / Guardian of Piri / Force of Life / Alpha Child
DISC 3: The Last Sunset / Voyager’s Return / Collision Course / Death’s Other Dominion / The Full Circle
DISC 4: End Of Eternity / War Games / The Last Enemy / The Troubled Spirit / Space Brain
DISC 5: The Infernal Machine / Mission Of The Darians / Dragon’s Domain / Testament Of Arkadia
DISC 6: Bonus Features
5.1 surround sound audio for each episode, along with the original mono
Audio commentaries
Music-only tracks
Behind-the-scenes featurettes
Episodic image galleries for all episodes
Trailers
Textless titles
Barry Gray’s theme music demo
Alternate opening/closing titles
Martin Landau and Barbara Bain US premier intro and outro
SFX plates and deleted SFX scenes with music track
Amazon.com
When it was first broadcast in 1975, there had never been a more lavishly produced science fiction TV series than Thunderbirds creators Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Space: 1999, a British production whose budget for the first of its two seasons ran an astounding 3.25 million pounds. What keeps us fans enthralled after all these years has only partly to due with the first-rate production values, the plausibly constructed spaceship models, and expert special effects. The tone of the show is one of scientific dispassion, setting it apart from its TV sci-fi predecessors such as Star Trek, whose mood was more convivial. Our heroes here are in dire circumstances that require cool heads as a survival trait. Those circumstances: the 311 crew members of Moonbase Alpha–including Commander John Koenig (Martin Landau), Chief Medical Officer Dr. Helena Russell (Landau’s Mission: Impossible costar and then-wife Barbara Bain), and Professor Victor Bergman (Barry Morse, who relentlessly pursued David Janssen on The Fugitive)–experience a cataclysm that causes the moon to break away from Earth’s orbit and travel endlessly through space, turning our heroes into unintentional explorers. No TV series has created a more palpable feel of hard science fiction than this.
Of course the show is not without its detractors; it has been soundly lambasted for its many scientific errors. No less august a figure than Isaac Asimov criticized the show for its premise in the opening episode, “Breakaway,” which had nuclear explosions on the “dark side of the moon” somehow propelling it out of Earth’s orbit and flying through space without regard to any physical laws. In “Earthbound,” aliens traveling to Earth state it will take them 75 years to reach their destination, making one wonder why it didn’t take the moon that long to encounter the aliens. While these are serious complaints, fans tend to remember the scientific seriousness of the series and the sense of awe created by the many strange creatures and phenomena that the crew members encounter on their journey through the galaxy. –Jim Gay
Billy The Exterminator: Season 1 and 2 – DVD
I won’t explain myself any further than to say I dig this show when it’s on my DVR and managed to get me through many a sleepless night with my newborn. Sometimes a reality show doesn’t have to be angry or controversial, sometimes all it needs to do is be entertaining and Billy The Exterminator certainly is.
Yes, the series formula is basically Billy going out and saving someone from any number of creature invasions. That’s it. But I dug it and I dug watching these DVDs. I probably should be embarrassed but at 2 in the morning there isn’t anything I’m embarrassed of.
About the DVD:
Follow the fearless and funny Billy Bretherton as he attempts to balance life at home with the drama of running one of the busiest pest removal companies in Louisiana.
In the pest management industry for over 15 years, Billy runs Vexcon the only pest removal team in the state that handles all types of animal removal with support from his wacky but lovable family: kid brother, Ricky; tough-as-nails father, Bill Sr.; sassy office manager and mom Donnie; and beloved wife, Mary. Whether it s a giant 8-foot alligator walking down an affluent street, baby raccoons inside the wall of an office, 70,000 bats who call a stadium home, or a wild pet-eating bobcat, Billy and his family get the job done with enough skill, energy and wit to keep even the most squeamish viewers wanting more. A former U.S. Air Force Sergeant, Billy has taken a militaristic approach to pest control and is emerging a winner.
BILLY THE EXTERMINATOR: SEASON ONE contains all 13 episodes from the debut season on 2 DVDs.
DISC 1 (7 episodes): Goth Bees & Killer Coons / Snake in the Closet / There’s A Gator in My Boat / Kitty Corpse Cleanup / Gator Park Swarm / Possums in the Wall / Llama-Eating Gators
DISC 2 (6 episodes): Psycho Raccoon/Killer Spiders / Raccoon Haunting / Tattoo Rattlesnake / Bobcat Invasion / Extreme Roaches/Busy Beaver / Skunks and Mice and Snakes Oh My / Bonus
BONUS FEATURES: Featurettes: About Billy, Billy s Words of Wisdom, Billy the Storyteller, Meet the Family, Donnie
Season 2 of BILLY THE EXTERMINATOR reunites viewers with the one and only Billy Bretherton as he tackles some of Louisiana’s creepiest, craziest pest problems.
BILLY THE EXTERMINATOR: SEASON TWO contains all 21 episodes from the second season on 3 DVDs.
DISC 1 (8 episodes): Funeral Home Snake / Attack of the Trash Can Raccoon / Snake Invader / Backyard Gator / Nursery Room Raccoon / Extreme Gator / Snakes in the Swamp / Bee Relocation
DISC 2 (8 episodes): Raccoon Rescue / Bobcat & Yellow Jacket / Spider Invasion / Attack of the 15 Foot Snake / Squirrels in the Attic / Rattlesnake Combat / Bat Attack / Deadly Snake on the Loose
DISC 3 (5 episodes): 9 Foot Gator! / When Squirrels Attack! / Sprayed by a Skunk! / Python on the Prowl / Billy Goes to the Gulf (one-hour) / Bonus
BONUS FEATURES: Featurettes: About Billy, Billy’s Tips; Behind-the-Scenes
RoboGeisha – DVD
Have a friend who won’t shut up about the superiority of Asian cinema or that special someone in your life who just doesn’t get what is up with those wacky kids in the Far East? This film will please both of these people while making them wonder what in the world is wrong with you for buying such a thing.
I can’t really put into words how awesome this movie is when you consider that all you need to know about what exactly makes this movie great is that it’s an exploitation film of an exploitation film. It’s about an army of Geisha assassins and school girls and projectiles that hurl out of the backsides of young women and it’s really wonky special effects with it all coalescing into a narrative that defies logic and propriety.
I loved it.
It defies gravity at times, it absolutely defies logic, but it’s a movie where if you’re into sword play, ass play, sexually suggestive violence then this is for you. Here is the trailer
About the DVD:
Yoshie, the younger and ill-treated sister of a renowned Geisha, is discovered to have natural strength and fighting ability. She’s recruited into an army of Geisha assassins by the rich and powerful owner of a steel-works, Kageno. During training large (and interesting) parts of their bodies are altered into weaponry directly linked to their brains. Yoshie soon realizes that Kagenos real plan is to have his robotic castle throw a new and very powerful nuclear bomb into the centre of Fuji-san, effectively destroying Japan entirely. With the help of other ‘Kageno defectors’, she sets out to stop him and his Tengu warriors.
December 9, 2010
Ken P. D. Snydecast #163: Holiday Shebangery
Adult Swim’s Dana Snyder and FRED’s Ken Plume set out to have a literate conversation between two pals, but inevitably devolve into a verbal, and funny, free-for-all full of bickering, infighting, and the special kind of male bonding that comes from conflict expressed through the podcast medium.
Actor/comedian/raconteur Dana Snyder, you’re certainly aware, is Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s Master Shake, Squidbillies‘ Granny, Minoriteam’s Dr. Wang, and The Venture Bros.‘ Alchemist. Available for weddings and bar mitzvahs (bat availability pending), you can keep tabs on him via his website, www.eyeofthesnyder.com.
Ken Plume is the editor-in-chief here at FRED. He is a friend of Dana’s, as well as his arch-nemesis.
VISIT THE SNYDECAST EXPERIENCE
KEN P.D. SNYDECAST #163: Holiday Shebangery – Ken & Dana return with holiday tidings… But then, wouldn’t you know it, the two bickersons even argue about something as simple as that.
[CONTENT WARNING]: This podcast may contain some foul language and horribly off-color jokes. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
Episode #163 (MP3 format)
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/snydecast/ken_p_d_snyde_cast-163.mp3]
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes
Got something to say? E-mail Dana & Ken at the Snydecast mailbag.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SNYDECAST ARCHIVES
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Contest Round-Up: 2010-12-09
Welcome to our weekly round-up of featured giveaways here at FRED. Every week, we’ll present a new clutch of DVDs, books, and other cool stuff you can take a shot at winning. All you have to do is click on the graphics below to be taken to their respective contest pages. And good luck!
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of SPACE: 1999: THE COMPLETE SEASON ONE on Blu-Ray.
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of HOARDERS: SEASON 2, PART 1 on DVD.
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of PRAYERS FOR BOBBY on DVD.
In conjunction with HBO Home Video, we’re giving away five (5) copies of ROBERT KLEIN: UNFAIR & UNBALANCED on DVD.
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of HUMAN WEAPON: SEASON 1 on DVD.
In conjunction with Shout Factory, we’re giving away three (3) copies of IRON MAN: EXTREMIS on DVD.
In conjunction with Walt Disney Home Video, we’re giving away two (2) copies of DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL on Blu-Ray/DVD.
In conjunction with Walt Disney Home Video, we’re giving away two (2) copies of ALICE IN WONDERLAND on DVD.
In conjunction with Walt Disney Home Video, we’re giving away two (2) copies each of DISNEYNATURE: OCEANS and DISNEYNATURE: CRIMSON WING on Blu-Ray/DVD.
In conjunction with Sideshow Collectibles, we’re giving away three (3) INDIANA JONES: 12″ YOUNG INDY figures.
Win an INDIANA JONES: 12″ YOUNG INDY Figure from Sideshow Collectibles!
In conjunction with Sideshow Collectibles, we’re giving away three (3) INDIANA JONES: 12″ YOUNG INDY figures.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win DISNEYNATURE: OCEANS & CRIMSON WING on Blu-Ray/DVD!
In conjunction with Walt Disney Home Video, we’re giving away two (2) copies of each of DISNEYNATURE: OCEANS and DISNEYNATURE: CRIMSON WING on Blu-Ray/DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win ALICE IN WONDERLAND on DVD!
In conjunction with Walt Disney Home Video, we’re giving away two (2) copies of ALICE IN WONDERLAND on DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL on Blu-Ray/DVD!
In conjunction with Walt Disney Home Video, we’re giving away two (2) copies of DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL on Blu-Ray/DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win IRON MAN: EXTREMIS on DVD!
In conjunction with Shout Factory, we’re giving away three (3) copies of IRON MAN: EXTREMIS on DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win HUMAN WEAPON: SEASON 1 on Blu-Ray!
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of HUMAN WEAPON: SEASON 1 on DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win ROBERT KLEIN: UNFAIR & UNBALANCED on DVD!
In conjunction with HBO Home Video, we’re giving away five (5) copies of ROBERT KLEIN: UNFAIR & UNBALANCED on DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win PRAYERS FOR BOBBY on DVD!
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of PRAYERS FOR BOBBY on DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win HOARDERS: SEASON 2, PART 1 on DVD!
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of HOARDERS: SEASON 2, PART 1 on DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win SPACE: 1999: THE COMPLETE SEASON ONE on Blu-Ray!
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of SPACE: 1999: THE COMPLETE SEASON ONE on Blu-Ray.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 29th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
December 8, 2010
December 3, 2010
Holiday Havoc: An Evening With John Hodgman & Ken Plume III
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
Continuing my annual tradition, I’ve got an in-depth conversation between minor television celebrity, PC, and literary trivialist John Hodgman and FRED’s own me, Ken Plume. I present this audio feast for the ears, as one titan of culture and one Ken Plume touch on social networking, A GAME OF THRONES, fan expectations, Jeff Goldblum, the strut of dreams, & more.
Be sure to pick up a copy of Mr. Hodgman’s most recent book, More Information Than You Require, also available in Audiobook Form…
Download “An Evening With John Hodgman & Ken Plume III“:
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/bitofachat/bit_of_a_chat-john_hodgman_2.mp3]
Check out the rest of this year’s Holiday Havoc – and past Havoc – HERE
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes
Drop Ken a line HERE.
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You can also find more of my interviews by clicking HERE.
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Party Favors: Gravy On Top
OAKLAND — Just in time for the holiday season, the Gravy has arrived.
Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie opens up in various theaters across America at the start of December. Wavy Gravy is an icon with an ever changing career. He’s gone from the legendary Merry Pranksters to the head of security at the original Woodstock to running a respected charity and finally achieving international greatness as a flavor of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. The many facets of his life are covered in the documentary directed by Michelle Esrick.
We had a chance to sit down for an extensive interview with Wavy Gravy and Michelle Esrick when the movie premiered at 2009’s Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.
This first part has him discuss getting drunk with Jack Kerouac (On the Road) and dropping acid at the Electric Acid Kool-Aid Tests. Ahhh good times.
Now we get the inside scoop on what happened to Ben and Jerry’s Wavy Gravy ice cream. He also issues a challenge to Stephen Colbert for when his next Wavy Gravy frozen treat is released.
Finally we wrap up with Woodstock memories. Wavy gets a bit upset when talking about what Fred Durst did to the festival’s good name. Remember Fred Durst? Think he needs two forms of ID to buy a red baseball cap with a debit card? Also the inside scoop on whether Meatloaf hangs with Wavy Gravy.
For readers living in the San Francisco Bay area, Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie will be playing at Red Vic Movie House and Landmark Shattuck Cinemas from Dec. 3 to 9. There’s a special one night screening at the Smith Rafael Film Center on Dec. 5. New Yorkers can catch the documentary at the IFC Center from Dec. 8 – 14. Wavy returns to Woodstock at the Upstate Films Woodstock on Dec. 11. Wavy Gravy and the filmmakers will be appearing at various screenings so call over if you want to meet the man and glimpse his life. He might be giving out red clown noses.
HOUSE PARTY
Damn you, Daryl Hall!
Darryl Hall falls in the elite group of artists that I so badly want to hate, but I can’t spite.
The images of him and John Oates in those dopey ’80s videos haunt me in my sleep. Too many days have Hall & Oates’ “Maneater” been stuck in my head during work? He was such an easy target to mock with his big blond hair and Oates’ mustache. But Hall wasn’t a complete painful sellout schlockmeister. He wasn’t merely a creation of a record executive using market research to create a Johnny Bravo. He did weird stuff that made him not merely a product. He picked Robert Fripp to produce his first solo album. His blue eyed soul had depth. His peers complain about how MTV has abandoned them in their pursuit of making superstars out of pregnant 16 year old girls. Hall created his perfect idea of Music Television on the internet.
Live At Daryl’s House is the greatest music show on TV. Except you have to watch it on the web (http://www.livefromdarylshouse.com), The premise is so simple: Daryl invites people over to his massive country house to jam with his band and enjoy good food. There’s also plenty of trips to his wine cellar. It’s a good time for all. The music shines. This is the next step above David Sanbourn’s old music show that aired on NBC.
But let’s not type too much about the show. Here’s an utterly gleaming moment with Todd Rundgren (producer of an early Hall & Oates record).
You’re not going to feel that much emotion from those brats on American Idol. These are professionals pushing their songs into new spaces. This isn’t just Daryl jamming with old pals. He invites all sorts of folks over to the house. Here’s electrofunk Chromeo twisting the knobs around “Family Man.”
Go on the site and watch them do “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do).” It will get stuck in your head for the rest of the day and lead you to dancing around the kitchen. This led to Hall and Chromeo reteaming at last year’s Bonnaroo. Although some stupid programmer stuck them against the Flaming Lips on the main stage. Who does that?
The show’s breakout star was Hall & Oates’ sideman T-Bone Wolk. We finally saw how much he contributed to the duo’s sound. Even though he played the bassist in the ’80s videos, his guitar playing shined on the internet. Sadly T-Bone passed away earlier this year.
Daryl’s continuing the show with recent episodes featuring Neon Trees and Sharon Jones with some Dap-Kings. This is the best guest gig for any musician who doesn’t mind reworking “Maneater.” Not that you have to select songs from the Hall & Oates songbook. But it’s more fun. My suggestions for upcoming guests to the house would be Robert Fripp, Bob Mould, Martha Wash, They Might Be Giants, Feist and Gary Numan. This might be the way to bring Evan Dando back to the land of the living.
There is joy in these informal jam sessions that reminds us that music can do special things on video. This isn’t a crummy autotune or lipsync performance overridden with back up dancers and pyro for an Award Show. It’s about the joy of music. Watching so many of these shows, the immediate instinct is that Daryl and his guests need to go on the road. Why isn’t Todd and Darryl coming to your town? But watching them on the internet is probably more fun than dealing with a drunk yelling, “Do Maneater!” for two hours.
Ultimately this is the perfect format for Daryl instead of letting this show appear on VH1Classic or A&E where some idiot producer will demand nonsense edits and fake drama. It’s almost like getting to hang out at the house with Daryl and his guests. We sit at the table gathering snippets of the lunch conversation. We appreciate the music. The only thing that Daryl can’t share through the internet is a case of wine so you can truly be one with the action. I don’t think they’re drinking Charles Shaw.
CORMAN CORNER
Shout! Factory’s continues the award-winning Roger Corman’s Cult Classics with a duo of double features that let good ladies go bad with guns. Thrill to the strangeness of seeing the TV stars of Police Woman, Phyllis and The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries go outlaw on the big screen.
Big Bad Mama / Big Bad Mama II puts Angie Dickinson (Police Woman) on the wrong side of the law in Prohibition days. She’s a simple wife of a bootlegger when a misfortune forces her to take over her husband’s business. She learns that illegal booze isn’t so profitable. In order to make money fast, she gets into the bank robbing business. It’s cash and carry. She’s a quick study from hold up artist Tom Skerritt (Alien). With her two daughters, they make a legendary team. Things get even more exciting when William Shatner (Star Trek) beams down. She and Captain Kirk get frisky. They’ve got a grand plan to make even more than cash than knocking off the First National Bank of Podunk. They’re going to kidnap rich kids. Angie doesn’t merely pick up a gun for the role, but loses her dress in a couple scenes. This film earned it’s R-rating. Forget what you see at the end of Big Bad Mama since it doesn’t really matter in Big Band Mama II. This time she’s got a vendetta for evil fatcat Bruce Glover (Diamonds Are Forever) that’s screwing the working class. Her daughters are hotter this time with Danielle Brisebois (All in the Family) and Julie McCullough (Miss Feb. 1986 in Playboy and Growing Pains). Robert Culp (I Spy) is a journalist who tags along for the thrill ride of his life. The sequel was made nearly a dozen years after the first, but Angie’s still America’s Most Wanted MILF. This double feature is the proper way to appreciate the talents of Angie Dickinson. All the bonus features from previous DVD releases have been brought over including an audio commentary with Big Bad Mama II director Jim Wynorski. He was recently interviewed in the Party Favors for his work on Not of This Earth with Traci Lords.
Crazy Mama / The Lady in Red gives us a taste of the early work of Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) and John Sayles (Brother From Another Planet). Instead of doing a direct sequel to Big Bad Mama (since Angie Dickinson was doing Police Woman), Corman’s studio decided to bring on the insanity with Cloris Leachman (Phyllis on The Mary Tyler Moore Show) as Crazy Mama. She’s a frustrated widow with a failing business in the ’50s. When things go bad, she hooks up with Stuart Whitman for a cross country crime spree. Joining in on the fun is Ann Sothern (The Lucy Show) and Donny Most (Happy Days). It’s Ralph Malph gone wild! Jim Backus (Mr. Howell from Gilligan’s Island) gets caught up in the weirdness. Demme directs this film with a joyful eye that pokes fun at the time with a happening soundtrack. The bonus features include a videotaped chat with Corman and Demme along with their audio commentary. So you’re not scared; there are no nude scenes involving Cloris or Donny Most.
There’s plenty of flesh for former TV sweetheart Pamela Sue Martin in The Lady In Red. She had just bolted from playing Nancy Drew when she completely changed her good girl image in 93 minutes. She’s the woman who finked out John Dillinger to the feds. Her life starts innocent, but turns tawdry as she gets involved with prostitution, female prison guards, gangsters and rich folks. John Sayles’ script has her going through a lot of changes from her life on the farm. She knows how to attract trouble with Christopher Lloyd (Taxi and Back to the Future) and Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) learning about her talents. Later she hooks up with Dillinger (Wild Wild West‘s Robert Conrad). Martin isn’t close to her snoopy clean teen role. I can’t embed the original trailer since it’s extremely not workplace safe, but you can take a peek via the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7elNfBSYo4
Audio commentaries include Forster and Sayles. These are another two solid double features from the vaults of Roger Corman’s glory days. They are four twisted views of Americana when mom and sweet daughters weren’t all about making apple pies, but pumping lead.
BLU-RAY HEAVEN
Hard Boiled is John Woo’s last great movie. It was his final flick before he left Hong Kong to work on a series of barely forgettable films including a failed TV remake of Lost In Space. We used to joke that after wrapping up post-production of Hard Boiled, John died of an infection from a papercut and his brother Don Woo flew to America recycle his brother’s highlight moments from his earlier films. Even after nearly two decades, Hard Boiled is still an exciting ballistic ballet. Chow Yun-Fat is a super cop out to bust a gangster’s gun smuggling operation. His only hope is getting a deep cover agent (Tony Leung) to reveal the hidden storage base. The bullets fly fast and furious during numerous shoot outs. The Blu-ray image looks better than the transfer used on the various Criterion Collection editions. Things pop in the frame even when they aren’t shot. Hard Boiled remains the peak of Hong Kong action in the ’90s. The trailer is more exciting than the flicks being chummed in your local cineplex. This is worth the upgrade to shatter your HDTV glass.
The Matador is Pierce Brosnan’s best James Bond film. While he doesn’t play 007 properly, it’s hard to think otherwise of the Julian Noble character as anyone else. This is his gutty, gritty take on a man with a license to kill. He’s not quite as flashy as the traditional Bond. He bumps into Greg Kinnear (Auto Focus) while in Mexico. Greg proves to be a great patsy. But when his career hits a bump, Pierce must rely on Greg for the most vital hit of his career. After a decreasing satisfaction with his Bond output, The Matador is a revelation that it wasn’t Pierce’s fault that his time in the tuxedo turned mediocre. He understood how to put an edge on the icon. For anyone who is eagerly awaiting the final batch of 007 films to hit Blu-ray, I highly recommend snagging this Blu-ray. The 1080p action brings out the Mexico City locations. Bonus features include a commentary track with Greg and Pierce, plenty of snipped scenes and a behind the scenes documentary.
Sondheim! The Birthday Concert pays tribute to one of the musical masters of Broadway. Dozens of the theater’s biggest names gathered together for the celebration. Bernadette Peters (The Jerk), Mandy Patinkin (Princess Bride), Joanna Gleason and David Hyde Pierce (Fraizer) lend their voices to remind us of Sondheim’s great moments from In the Woods, Sweeny Todd, West Side Story and Sunday in the Park with George. I prefer the Sweeny Todd tunes. While normally the point of getting a Blu-ray is the picture, this presentation is all about listening to the music on DTS-HD Master Audio. Find a perfect place between the speakers to park your ears. This is a great holiday gift for the musical theater buff on your list.
DVD SHELF
Hannah Montana Forever: Who Is Hannah Montana? reminds us that Miley Cyrus has turned 18 and can no longer hide behind her disguise as a secret pop star. This DVD collection contains eight episodes that deal with the times Miley had to expose her secret to a friend and ultimately the world. “I’ll Always Remember You” has Miley tempted to reveal her identity on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The humor in this situation is the average Jay Leno viewer already asleep after the monologue so nobody is actually watching the show. She should have gone on the Colbert Report. The other six episodes include the pilot, “De-Do-Do-Do, Da-Don’t-Don’t-Don’t Tell My Secret!” and “Miley Get Your Gum.” There’s a tribute to her daddy’s big hit with “Achy Jakey Heart.” Strange to think that after all these years, Hannah Montana is finally hanging up her wig as Miley attempts to become an adult singer. What is Billy Ray Cyrus going to do with all his free time? The big bonus is a sneak peek at Ashley Tisdale’s Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure! Why does that sound like a new Bravo series? Hannah Montana Forever: Who Is Hannah Montana should make a fine distraction video when relative’s little kids drop by the house this holiday season.
Iron Man – Extremis is another motion comic from Marvel Knights. They’ve animated that various panels from the original comic that was written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Adi Granov. The story is about Tony Stark learning the hideous secret of Super-Soldier Serum that uses nanotechnology. The new research can turn any man into a superman. Tony learns the hard way when a guinea pig tears the crap out of him. His only chance at living is to take the formula. This creates an all never version of Iron Man. I liked this much better than the non-Mickey Rourke parts of Iron Man 2. They’ve come up with a great way to upgrade lip movement on the characters using a CGI version of Clutch Cargo mouths. This is a superior comicbook series for Iron Man since it also establishes how Tony Star became a super hero so folks new to him aren’t completely left wondering how this all started. It’s a great way to “read” a comic book without having your nerd pal geek out that you’re smudging the pages.
Have Gun – Will Travel: The Fifth Season, Volume One reminds us that if you have to party with one figure of the Wild West, let it be Paladin (Richard Boone). He was one suave guy. He stayed at a swanky hotel in San Francisco, enjoyed the finer things in life and didn’t mind killing Charles Bronson (Death Wish). Actually in the 19 episodes here, Bronson plays a pushover and a badass. “A Proof of Love” has Bronson hire Paladin to teach him how to shoot. Turns out his mail-order bride was forwarded to George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke). He’s determined to use a gun to get Kennedy to cough up his woman or pay him back his investment. Paladin needs to clean this up. Bronson’s next visit is all shooting as ” Ben Jalisco.” He’s escaped from prison and is gunning for his ex-wife who tipped off Paladin years ago. Paladin wants to protect the wife. Bronson has killed over 30 men as a bounty hunter who doesn’t care for the “or alive” clause on wanted posters. He won’t mind being a self-made widower. This is an intense episode. “Lazarus” should be a delight for fans of Sam Peckinpah films. Strother Martin gets told he’s only a day to live. So he decides to take out the town bully. What’s he got to lose? Plenty when he discovers he’s not going to die and L.Q. Jones wants revenge for his brother. Paladin has to clean up the ugliness for a price.
The Lucy Show: The Official Third Season brings to an end the regular adventures of Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance. The comedy duo had been together for over a decade starting with I Love Lucy. While Viv guested on the later three seasons and Here’s Lucy, it’s kinda sad to think they were no longer TV neighbors. They have this final season for each other and before all their TV kids get the boot. The show would focus on a single Lucy and Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon). “Lucy and the Plumber” packs in the star power when Jack Benny and Bob Hope arrive to tweak her pipes. “Lucy and the Bank Robbery” has them renting a room to what they think are Wold’s Fair tourists. “Lucy Meets Danny Kaye” has her begging the entertainer for tickets to his show. Turns out they have to work as extras to get into the taping. Can Lucy merely be a dress extra? “Lucy Goes to Vegas” has her and Viv fake being high rollers in order to get casino comp action. The charade falls apart when they have to put the money down on the felt table. “Lucy and the Monsters” has her come face to face with future scary actor Sid Haig (Devil’s Rejects). He gets wrapped up as mummy to frighten her. Bob Burns (The Ghost Busters) plays the Werewolf instead of his normal gorilla role. Towards the end of the season we’re treated to a visit from Countess Framboise (Ann Sothern). She’s kind of a royal Viv. “Lucy the Disc Jockey” has her wreck a radio station run by Pa Harrington Jr. (One Day at a Time). This would be the final regular Viv episode. Along with cast commercials, a major bonus feature involves Lucy at the World’s Fair. Without Viv, Lucy had no real compatriot in the insanity.
Bonanza: The Official Second Season, Volume 1 gives 18 more episodes about the Cartwright Family that lived next to Lake Tahoe. This is still the time of Ben (Lorne Greene) and his sons by different wives: Hoss (Dan Blocker), Adam (Pernell Roberts) and Little Joe (Michael Landon). They were a tight and scrapping family. “Showdown” has the family hiring a member of a bank robbing gang for the Ponderosa ranch. This was before you could do a background check on the internet. “The Mission” introduces an old army scout ready to dry himself off the booze to get a good job. Turns out he became a drunk after he led his old unit into a massacre. What he doesn’t know about the new job is that an old scout plans on ambushing them. That’s enough to get me drinking. “Badge Without Honor” brings back the legendary James Hong (Kung Fu Panda) as Hop Sing’s cousin. “The Mill” brings back everyone’s favorite heavy Claude Akins (Sheriff Lobo) being a manipulating ranch hand who wants his dumb boss’ money and wife. You’ll wake up the wife and kids for “Denver McKee” to thrill at Bob Barker (The Price Is Right being a thespian. Sexy returns with Ricardo Montalban (Fantasy Island) as an Indian. The sinister Neville Brand (The Untouchables) arrives with his Commancheros to take Little Joe hostage. He doesn’t realize they’re kin. “The Ape” reminds us of Leonard Nimoy’s life before the pointy ears. Lee Van Cleef (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly) arrives as a gunmen hired to take out the Cartwrights in “The Bloodline.” “The Bride” gets conned by Adam West (Batman) into thinking she’s married Ben. Who knew he could be so wicked? Bonus features include a vintage interview with Dan Blocker, old TV promos and audio commentaries including one with Stella Stevens. Each episode gets background information and production photos. This is a good way to keep your dad busy on the sofa one a weekend afternoon.
VEGA$: The Second Season, Volume 1 continues the fun on my favorite cheesy private eye show of all time. This is the perfect blend of ’70s kitsch with Dan Tanna (Robert Urich) cruising around the Vegas Strip in his Thunderbird talking on a primitive car phone. There’s tons of great guest stars who sneak off their casino gigs for a little face time. Tanna has a thrilling support crew with Phyllis Davis, Bart Braverman and Greg Morris (Mission: Impossible) along with visits from Tony Curtis. Takes a lot of work to solve a crime in Sin City. “Redhanded” reveals a sad fate for Melanie Griffith (Something Wild) and a cameo from Lola Falana. “The Usurper” presents the superstars of Minnesota Fats, Dean Martin and Scatman Crothers. “Mixed Blessings” is touched by Tracy Walter (Repo Man). Hef’s old squeeze Barbi Benton acts against Eve Arden in “Design for Death.” Swimsuit models are being terrorized around the hotel. Tanna must stop the creep. Shelley Winters and Fred Bilennikoff score on “Macho Murders.” What a sexy homicide title. “The Day Gambling Stopped” displays The Price Is Right Barker’s Beauty Dian Parkinson in her prime. It’s not really a Vegas show until Wayne Newton shows up. And here’s their for “Classic Connection.” Finally “Night of a Thousand Eyes” gives us Gary Collins. Thankfully they keep him away from mobile homes. All and all, this another joyful batch of VEGA$ episodes that brings out the best in the tacky times along the Strip. This ought to be your Christmas treat.
Trailer Park: Andrew Jarecki of ALL GOOD THINGS
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Andrew Jarecki – Interview
You need to see this movie.
I know, the din from all the Oscar bait is much too loud to ignore but, I implore you, do what you can to see an emotionally evocative film that takes the “ripped from the headlines” to a whole new level. At the center of a very real murder mystery is Ryan Gosling who plays David Marks, a man who may or may not have killed his wife. Whether he did or not is where this film departs from so many procedurals where the outcome is the one thing that’s needed by an audience who has to know, unequivocally, whether the accused did it or not. You will not get that satisfaction here as the real pleasure comes in the form of Gosling who is downright riveting in an Oscar worthy performance portraying a man who is beset on all sides by ambition, by love, by raw passion.
The brilliance comes in, you understand, by Jarecki who never once wants to make this man seem like a monster who is obviously capable of murder, capable of making his wife vanish. Jarecki, who directed one of the greatest documentaries of the 21st century, Capturing the Friedmans, brings that same sensibility here as we focus on what is in front of us and not what we can infer. It’s the attention to detail, of making this period piece actually feel like the time in which we’re experiencing these events, that elevates this from a simple drama to a dynamic entry into an already congested list of films that need to be looked at when it comes time to handing out little gold statues. From Frank Langella, Kirsten Dunst, even Kristen Wiig the performances are uniformly spectacular.
Jarecki spoke with me recently about the film and its production. All Good Things is out today.
CHRISTOPHER STIPP: Thank you for talking with me. I just got a chance to see the movie over the weekend and loved it. It was a great film and one that, just reading the synopsis it seems like I’ve seen this movie a dozen times before but this one really felt fresh.
JARECKI: It’s hard to come up with a one liner to describe this movie, I have to say.
(Laughs)
CS:Â What made you think that there was a movie to be made out of this story?
JARECKI: I’ve always been fascinated by monster stories.
Often because when you see someone who has been described in awful ways and in the past has been painted as a one dimensional figure, when you get more deeply into it you find that that person is much more complex and human than you originally thought. That was certainly the case here and as I started to research the original story, the story about Robert Durst, I found so much depth to it that it was clear to me that this was something that had never been told ““ even though there’s been thousands of pages of newsprint written about the story and there had been hours and hours of tabloid television shows about it over the last 30 years – nobody had a picture of what might have happened, particularly early on in this relationship. In the early stages this was a couple that was in love and who had great hopes and plans for the future and nobody ever sets out to have this path in their lives but it happens that they go on different journeys than what they had expected.
CS: I know we spend a lot of time following Ryan Gosling through this. He actually provided some depth to this man but you position it to where we actually like him on some level, to listen to what he is saying. Was it tough for you to break that shell and to make him more of a ““ you might not feel great sympathy towards him – sympathetic character?
JARECKI: Yes, I think you have to feel his sense of humanity. And I also think that, in terms of characters in film or drama or literature that are not instantly appealing to us, there is always that feeling that even if we don’t actually love this person as long as somebody that we love loves that person. So once you know that Kirsten Dunst’s character is in love with this man, which she clearly is, we have stakes in that relationship ““ that we care what happens.
CS: Did you have any influence with Marcus Hinche and Marc Smerling who helped co-write the story? Were they the ones who crafted this script by themselves and came to you with it or did you help shepherd it in any way?
JARECKI: We all started the movie together and then we all went out ““ the very first step was that we all went out researching the story and getting into the relationships and discussions with people who had known the families and done business with the family and were friendly with the couple and had been part of the investigation. We really met over 100 people who had something to do with the story, the case and the couple. In the course of that we began to develop an idea of what the movie would be, which we worked on together. So we started developing a script together. The director, certainly in this case because I had initiated the contact with my partner Marc, and then we put Marcus into it, it was pretty democratic and free flowing process.
CS: I didn’t realize that your last full length film, Capturing the Friedmans, had come out over a half decade ago. Were you just waiting for a movie like this to come along?
JARECKI: It’s probably taken me a long time to observe the story and try to get a take on it because this is a story that had never been made into a movie and, in fact, even when it’s been explained in one way or another on television they always take a piece of the story because it’s very hard to convey 30 years of history and these three presumed murders over 30 years of this very large block of someone’s life. It’s just a difficult thing to do and a lot of the time is compressing the history. You can say, well it Andrew it took you 5 years to make this movie, which it really did. It took about 2 years to write the screenplay and then it took about 3 years to get the movie made. Aren’t you glad I didn’t make you sit through the whole 30 years?
(Laughs)
For me, I’m not in a hurry that’s for sure. I know it would be fun to work on a movie very quickly. I think I might have that in me but historically I’ve wanted to do all this homework first. So as a kid, maybe it was ingrained into me by my father who has a lot in common with Sanford Marks.
CS: It’s funny that you bring that point up. I am reminded of a great film I saw this year which was The Red Riding Trilogy. It spans years and years and years but it’s broken up into 3 films. Was it ever a thing to you that if it wasn’t a movie this maybe a mini-series for HBO? They might like something like that, or did it ever come to a point where you thought that maybe this could be longer than just 90 minutes?
JARECKI: I remember when we made Capturing the Friedmans. We had a 5 ½ hour version of the movie. And I have to say it was extremely logical. I was living in Rome at the time and we showed it to groups of people and people never said I’m done after 2 hours. They said, can I get a glass of water and sit back down. So, I think there is always a much fuller version of the story that you can tell but at the same time I think the challenge here was to try, in a relatively short period of time, convey a lot of emotional history and so it felt to me that we could ultimately get it to the length of a feature film and that was probably the right way to do it.
CS: Obviously, it worked. Talking to Frank, Kirsten, and Ryan, did you convey that to them or did you lean on them as actors, let them read the material and act the way they saw fit?
JARECKI: I direct a lot of theater and I’m a big believer that the actors bring a huge amount of the work we put into the character and it’s very much a collaborative process and if you cast the actors right you are lucky to be working with actors who have the capabilities like Ryan and Kirsten and Frank and some of the other people. We took some big risks in this movie like we cast the part of Deborah Lehrman who is in her 20’s when we meet and her and then later is in her 50’s. We cast this 25 year old girl, Lily Rabe, because we thought she could do it ““ play the character and play the same character 30 years later and I think she did. She transformed herself. Physically, her body becomes decrepit. She’s fundamentally different. She has a bad hip and she walks funny and a lot of these things happen in a way that I think is true to the way people age and how people evolve. So we were really lucky to have this group and I think lucky that they all took their jobs very seriously. Then we also did something unusual. Somebody said “I guess you’ll be wanting some rehearsal time” and I said, “Yes, about 2 months.”
Everybody really laughed at that and they said, “This is not a play. These actors are very busy and they have other jobs that they’re doing and it’s going to be crazy and to even consider the possibility that you would have them in New York for 2 months before you start shooting a movie.” So I said, “Alright.” Then I called Ryan and I called Kirsten and they said “When do you want us there?” and I said, “How about a few weeks ““ that would give us 2 months to rehearse?” They said OK. So I realize that was fortunate because they were in a position to do it ““ they could have been in the middle of some other movie but they weren’t. They were excited about that idea ““ about giving the movie the rehearsal period that it needed.
CS: How did production on the film translate? I know documentary filmmaking obviously would lend something as to how you shot this film. Did you find it was a smooth transition?
JARECKI: For me I was comfortable working with the actors. I like actors a lot. I knew what they would bring. I thought a lot visually about how we wanted the film to look. We joined forces with the cinematographer that had lots of experience because if I had an idea for how I wanted to say something I wanted someone that had the chops to say that’s not going to work or I have an even better idea.
Michael Seresin shot Angela’s Ashes, Midnight Express, a Harry Potter movie, he is an extraordinary talent and someone that helped us visualize the story so that everything was speaking the same direction so that the style of the movie was visually was properly married to the subject.
CS: Yes, it’s gorgeous. It literally is like walking into another decade.
JARECKI: Yes, thanks. The period was so important ““ just getting the period right without getting hokey. Michael Clancy who is the costume designer ““ not only did he go way beyond the regular costume ““ he had a huge collection of his own vintage 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, were original pieces ““ he said the problem of early 70’s is that things can get pretty clownish. People tend to overdue 70’s. The 70’s was a clownish period ““ like what John Travolta wore. So that period that was properly done but was reserved enough without looking ridiculous.
CS: It was very subtle. That comes across.
JARECKI: And in Kirsten’s case ““ the early 70’s ““ she’s very knowledgeable herself and she knows that it’s a big part of the character that here’s a girl that comes from this modest background in Long Island and comes to New York City and meets this incredibly wealthy, young man from this huge real estate family and when we first meet her she is in this very simple sundress and clearly nothing appropriate to wear to dinner at Gracie Mansion and within a few years she has become much more sophisticated and see her style evolve as she gets more confidence in herself. And that was an important part of the evolution. Even Ryan’s character. He rebels in some way but at the same time he becomes more strapped into the jacket and tie that his father wants him to wear. In the beginning we see him as a much more free spirit.
Trailer Park: THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: THE COMPLETE SERIES Review/Giveaway & THE STUNT MAN
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The Six Million Dollar Man – DVD Review and Contest
The thing about having a newborn which many people don’t appreciate, is the ample amount of time that you have late at night to watch something like this. Regular DVDs are mere appetizers compared to the hearty stew that was this atomic collection of the best action television of the 1970’s. I mean, there is no question that this is a series is a MUST BUY for any fan of nostalgia television and who remembers this series for what it was: fun television.
Forget about the shows that had people boarding boats and falling in love or little men pointing at aircraft and announcing their arrival, what The Six Million Dollar Man was a show that had a real super hero at its core. It was a comic book super hero series without it ever being labeled as such. What you had in Lee Majors who plays Steve Austin, an astronaut who is rebuilt from the ground up after a bad accident. Everyone knows the story because it’s reiterated during the show’s opening every week and it’s really the primary reason why this series lasted as long as it did.
Whereas you had some series have to build up a mythos and construct its fiction every week with this opening we were treated to a series that needed none of that. Storylines were begun and ended every week with no need to carry over from one week to the next. There is something to be said for television writing that knew what people wanted and it did week after week in a format that has been eschewed in recent years. There ought to have been nothing wrong with having nearly zero carryover from week to week but watching dozens of episodes in a row, which I don’t recommend because these little gems should be savored and not pounded through like a delicious collection of shots that are lined up for your consumption. I was punchy by the end of my viewing, only being able to get through a couple of the “reunion” shows that showcased the Bionic Woman and other weaker entries into a series that would not go down quietly.
What’s more about this series is that, like I mentioned above, the writing was something that was indicative of the time period. You had episodes where you had a villainous character only to have Steve get involved with kicking some butt and taking care of things. Repeat dozens of times, and mix in some manufactured scenarios where guest stars of 70’s were wedged within plot lines and you’ve got yourself a great excuse to indulge in the sugary goodness of a character that would go on to be plastered on all sorts of products. It’s ironic that Majors’ face was everywhere but within the series you can tell where they were limited by budget with the kinds of effects that were used. It didn’t take away from the series at all, seeing where the show’s producers cut corners, but it’s just amusing that the benefit of time helps to illuminate these kinds of things.
The series comprehensiveness is only topped by the extras that help couch the series’ importance as a piece of televised pop culture. Yes, it was light on depth and emotional resonance of any kind but the reason why the 6MDM has endured for as long as it has, Lee Majors popping in movies like Scrooged as his stronger alter ego, the synthetic bionic noise so indicative of his power used every now and then in multitudes of programs, is because it tapped into something. It tapped into the idea that one man could be strong enough to overcome any obstacle, helped by the burgeoning field of science and technology. It’s a product of the late 60’s zeitgeist but that’s of no concern here. This series is about fun and excitement and there’s nothing that the passage of time can do to erase that.
IN CELEBRATION OF THE RELEASE OF THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION ON DVD I’M GIVING AWAY A COPY. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SEND ME AN E-MAIL TO CHRISTOPHER_STIPP@YAHOO.COM AND NAME ME ONE GUEST STAR WHO SHOWED UP DURING THE SHOW’S RUN. GOOD LUCK!
About the DVD:
Time Life ““ the home of such classic TV as GET SMART, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E and THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR ““ will debut a DVD collector’s set of one of the most eagerly-anticipated, previously unreleased TV classics with THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION. Beginning September 14, this definitive set from one of the iconic pop culture smashes of the “˜70s will be available for pre-order exclusively online at 6MDM.com and will feature all five action-packed seasons never before available in the U.S. on any format, as well as a stunning collection of all-new extras certain to thrill fans both old and new.
The muscular set — the 4th most requested unreleased show at TVShowsonDVD.com ““ will be housed in ultra-collectible packaging sporting an audio chip and eye-popping 3-D lenticular artwork. Across 40 DVDs, the complete series will feature all 100 digitally-preserved hour-long episodes ““ including three presented in their original 2-hour broadcast versions — all of which have been remastered from the original, uncut broadcast versions. The set also contains more than 17 hours of all-new bonus material specially created just for this collection, highlighted by new, in-depth interviews with Lee Majors (Col. Steve Austin) and Richard Anderson (Oscar Goldman) among others. Also included will be the three pilot TV movies (“The Six Million Dollar Man”, “Wine, Women and War”, “Solid Gold Kidnapping”), the three reunion TV movies (“The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman”, “Bionic Showdown” (featuring Sandra Bullock) and “Bionic Ever After?”) and the never-before-released cross-over episodes of The Bionic Woman, all of which have also been digitally restored from the original source material.[i] Additionally, for the true completist, the set also contains the alternative syndicated edits of the pilot and reunion TV movies, which, when added together, makes for more than 30 unbelievable hours of bonus programming.
As OSI did with astronaut Steve Austin, Time Life has the technology and capability to make the world’s most singular Six Million Dollar Man completist’s set ““ better”¦stronger…faster. Enhancing the series long-awaited release are countless hours of bonus features including intimate interviews with the cast and crew (including Lindsay Wagner (Jaime Sommers), executive producer Harve Bennett, and writer Kenneth Johnson). Also featured are a staggering seventeen original featurettes on everything from “Real Bionics: How Science Fiction Is Becoming Science Fact” and “The Bionic Sound Effects” to “The Search for Bigfoot” and “The Six Million Dollar Man’s Best Villains, Best Fights”; the two-part featurette “TV Goes Bionic: The Untold Story of The Six Million Dollar Man” which goes behind the scenes to explore the series like never before; and, several featurettes celebrating the series V.I.P. guest stars such as Lee’s then-wife, Farrah Fawcett-Majors (who made four guest appearances), Andre the Giant, Kim Basinger, Sonny Bono, Lou Gossett, Erik Estrada, Stefanie Powers, John Saxon, Cathy Rigby, William Shatner, Suzanne Somers and many more. Additionally, there’s audio commentary on six episodes by writer Kenneth Johnson and director Cliff Bole, and an interactive bonus entitled “Bionic Breakdown” that will allow fans the ability to click on Steve Austin’s eye, arm or legs to learn more about each one of his bionic enhancements; from night-vision to cauterizing veins to running speeds that exceed 65 miles per hour, “Colonel Austin’s” skills and abilities are catalogued here with episode clips as visual reference.
One of the pop culture smashes of the “˜70s, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN starred Lee Majors as Colonel Steve Austin, a top NASA pilot critically injured when his experimental spaceplane crashed. Oscar Goldman (Anderson), head of OSI, used Austin as a test subject for an experimental procedure, rebuilding his body using cybernetic technology, making him the world’s first bionic man. Now, Austin works for Goldman and the OSI, protecting the nation from myriad threats. Based on the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN launched with several made-for-TV movies in 1973, which then spun off into a hit for ABC, running from January 1974 to March 1978. During its run, the program made Majors a pop culture icon, spawned three reunion shows, another series (The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner) and thousands of licensed products, making THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN one of the defining TV shows of the “Me” decade.
Worth Reviving: THE STUNT MAN – Ray Schillaci
Two iconic films would lose to one forgettable tearjerker in the Oscar race of 1980 and the Academy would, once again, end up being the losers on the film history end. This decision would only continue to verify that the Best Picture race was more about appealing to the masses, than announcing true genius at work. The films in question; Martin Scorsese’s revered classic, “Raging Bull,” one of the most revered cult movies of all time, Richard Rush’s “The Stunt Man” and Robert Redford’s weepy, “Ordinary People”.
Rush’s “The Stunt Man” was a tour de force in bravado filmmaking, placing Hollywood under a microscope and exposing it for all it’s worth. It also gave us one of the most memorable performances since “Lawrence of Arabia” delivered by “Lawrence” himself, the great Peter O’Toole. And, the Academy in all their wisdom could not dismiss the talented Richard Rush having to give him a nomination nod as Best Director, but refused to give his picture the same courtesy.
Rush’s poison pen letter to Hollyweird and all its pundits seen through the eyes of a Vietnam veteran and fugitive is an amazing piece of storytelling. There are far too many subtleties in this movie to simplify it with a normal and brief synopsis. I will stick to the basics and have you be surprised at every turn skillfully driven by director Rush, his cast and crew.
Cameron, a veteran and fugitive on the run, accidently stumbles upon a movie shoot and sets the wheels in motion to become their next stunt man due to an unforeseen event. His sudden initiation with the fantasy of Hollywood and reality nearly merge into an adult version of “Alice in Wonderland” as Cameron, wide-eyed and innocent, plunges down the rabbit hole of the wonders of filmmaking and all its evil dalliances. The Mad Hatter is the megalomaniacal director, Eli Cross, played to the illustrious hilt by Peter O’Toole. He is part P.T. Barnum, the Devil and God all rolled into one.
Cross is Cameron’s guide through the labyrinth. The director has no shame and is enamored with his own power over life and death. All who serve under him are his minions, puppets doing his bidding to bring the picture to fruition, budget and lives be damned. In the mix; a messed up actress, played scrumptiously by Barbra Hershey, a forlorn writer wonderfully portrayed by Allan Garfield and a no-nonsense police chief, the always wonderful Alex Rocco (most recognized as Moe Greene from “The Godfather”) who attempts to break through the several facades developed by Peter O’Toole’s, Eli Cross.
There are so many great supporting parts that add so much depth to the story; it would be a shame to spoil it all for you. Steve Railsback (Helter Skelter ““ yes, Charles Manson) plays Cameron with a fine mix of unhinged angst and innocence. This is probably the performance of his career. He plays off everyone so well and you can’t help but side with him even though there may be a dangerous alter ego lurking somewhere deep inside.
The film itself is a beautifully orchestrated fantastical tale that adeptly incorporates comedy, satire, a love story and action/adventure. It braves unfolding its tale in a twisted manner that some may find hard to keep up with, but that makes it all the more fun and worth the repeated viewings. Aside from the great directing, editing and cinematography, the film is anointed with one of the most fitting scores to a film I’ve heard in years. Dominic Frontiere, known primarily for his work in television, supplied a score that is as multi-faceted and complex as Rush’s directing and the film’s story. Leaping from love story to circus entertainer and then to sweeping adventure, Frontiere’s score nails the tone of the picture. Such a beautiful job on this, one has to wonder why he did not go onto other film scores.
Of course, the same question can be asked of Richard Rush. With “The Stunt Man” being such a brilliant piece of work, why has the man not been given another chance? It was fourteen years later before he did another film, the Bruce Willis clunker, “Color of Night”. He only appeared to be a hired gun on that one. It makes one wonder if he did not burn some bridges when he basically made his swan song with “The Stunt Man”.
I cannot recommend this film enough. It can be found at the usual rental houses, but what a joy if somebody had the guts to give it a revival on the big screen where it belongs with all its majesty. I guess the next best thing is to start a campaign to get it on Blu-Ray through Criterion. In the meantime, I suggest seeing the double disc version that includes the fascinating “The Sinister Saga of Making “The Stunt Man”.
When looking back in film history and seeing the precious gems afforded us like “Raging Bull” and “The Stunt Man,” one cannot help but wonder where the Academy’s head was when they anointed Redford’s “Ordinary People” as Best Picture of 1980. It’s a touching film with Redford delivering a deft craftsmanship-like touch, but the material is close to being TV movie fodder in today’s time. It does not hold up well compared to either film. Check out all three films for yourself and see which of the two would be your desert island flick. I’d stay clear of the morose one and vacillate between the heavyweight (okay, Raging Bull was about a middleweight) and the fun, loopy ride provided by Richard Rush and company.
Trailer Park: Yony Leyser of William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
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Yony Leyser – Interview
Watching a documentary on William S. Burroughs is kind of like opening your mind up like a flower waiting for a bumblebee to come and pollenate it. You know that in order to carry on, you need to have someone assist you in continuing down the path of evolving as a species. Burroughs was that bee. He was slight, unassuming, but wielded such a power as to be completely and totally dangerous.
I hadn’t ever come into contact with his work until having this documentary, crafted together by director Yony Leyser, put in front of me to see exactly what kind man he was. Forget about what the media has built up around the perceived mystique of the man, what you think you know about him, as this documentary is informative as it is, at times, nonlinear. Burroughs’ sensibility lives in this documentary but it’s completely accessible. Through the wonderful lens of archival footage, interviews and excerpts from the man’s work this film is a loving testament to the enduring power of Burroughs’ strengths as a writer, a poet, and as someone acutely aware of what was happening in the world around him. I had a chance to talk to filmmaker Yony Leyser about the making of this movie and why John Waters is so delightful.
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within is now playing.
CHRISTOPHER STIPP: Yony, it’s so nice to talk to you. I saw the movie over the weekend and was mesmerized by it.
YONY LEYSER: Great. Thank you so much.
CS: You are so welcome. Unfortunately, I’m not a hipster and can’t say I knew of his work and never interacted other than seeing Naked Lunch. How did you come upon the idea that this would be a documentary that you would want to do?
LEYSER: I read his work in high school. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and Naked Lunch was the first thing I picked up. It blew my mind. It opened a whole new world to me.
CS: I had no idea that the notion of the beats was manufactured, that it was something the media crafted and ran with. You sort of explore that a little bit. Did you feel that Burroughs ever felt comfortable with being labeled being part of that scene?
LEYSER:Â I don’t think he was, no.
CS:Â As you look on it and his work was it hard getting this film off the ground?
LEYSER: Oh yes, absolutely. I started to film in the spring and had no idea what I was undertaking.
I worked on this film for many years. I actually started in Lawrence, Kansas and then moved to New York.
CS: I was very taken by the amount of footage that you were able to get from various sources. When you were doing the project, were people giving you these things or were you finding these things on your own?
LEYSER: Yeah, a lot of it was just in people’s basements or junk drawers.
CS: Really? They thought there was just no need for it, put it in a collection somewhere?
LEYSER: Yeah, it was like, “What am I going to do with it?”
CS: I would imagine that there would be some sort of writing museum that would love to have it or some school that would love to own it. With regard to the process of making this film — did you go to film school or did you just have a camera and say, “I want to interview some people about Burroughs?”
LEYSER: Yes, I got a camera and started shooting and had no idea it would turn into what it turned into. It was really all his friends that pushed it forward.
CS: Was this an ongoing process? Did you have another job?
LEYSER: Yes, I had jobs and enrolled in school so I got my diploma while I was making the film.
CS:Â So on weekends, were you going places to get this done?
LEYSER: Yeah.
CS: And I have to say this and I think he gets a bad rap but I’m a John Waters fan. When he’s talking, the mind of that man is brilliant in the way he sees things is very matter of fact, no superfluousness.
LEYSER: He’s brilliant”¦”¦Â He nailed everything as soon as I asked.
CS: He makes it so people like me who are not familiar with his work become familiar, like I get it. I understand. The other people you got to interview for this, Laurie Anderson, Patti Smith, were they just as receptive as John was?
LEYSER: I think John was unusually receptive.
CS:Â Did you find the narrative for the film difficult in terms of knowing where you wanted to start?
LEYSER: Yes, I knew I didn’t want linear form but Ilko Davidov, our editor, helped with that a lot.
CS:Â When you started the editing process when you were like, “OK, I got what I needed, I have what I have.” How much footage did you have by the end of this?
LEYSER: I had about 100 hours and cut it down to an hour and a half.
CS: Where do you start on a process like that? Did you find you had to come up with the narrative yourself?
LEYSER: I let his friends tell the story. There wasn’t much time for me to edit but having a big time editor was very helpful.
CS:Â Were you sick of Burroughs at the end of this?
LEYSER: He was such a complex, multifaceted, person. Not only him but the influencers that he influenced.
CS: I noticed that the project started or at least had some part of this movie began on Kickstarter, which I have become very familiar with this year. It seems to be a new way for filmmakers to get financial support without having to go to a man in a suit and tie. Did you find that was a real positive way to help get your film financed?
LEYSER: Yes, it was awesome.
CS: Were you looking for a lot? 5K? 10K?
LEYSER: We weren’t looking for much but raised 150%.
CS:Â Was it knocking around any film festivals beforehand or did this go straight from finished product to getting it into their hands?
LEYSER: It was a part of the film festival circuit extensively.
CS:Â I’m curious to know from this standpoint, now that you have this finished film, are you looking ahead to do another 5 year project?
LEYSER: I have two films in the works but can’t talk about them yet. One is a major documentary and one I hope doesn’t take me 5 years.
CS: And the technical aspects of filmmaking”¦was it sort of a learn as you go, get the best camera you can find?
LEYSER: I worked on a film set and I had a bunch of sound equipment.
CS: And the technical aspects, like framing, it’s quite wonderful to look at. I would never has assumed that this would be anyone’s first film. It’s a high compliment to you.
LEYSER: Thank you much.
CS:Â Do you feel like you have lots to learn or found out that filmmaking really isn’t that difficult?
LEYSER: I just went head first and learned so much like a doctorate degree.
CS: Any sort of ideas of lessons you took away from this film? Did you think you knew everything you knew and this bolstered what you thought of the man or did you come away with thoughts of, “I didn’t really know what I thought?”
LEYSER: I learned every day.
CS: Why do you think the man’s work still endures to this day? It’s amazing that the man is still alive in pop culture to this day.
LEYSER: I know. He was the first to do it and anyone who is the first is going to be remembered.
December 2, 2010
FREDagator: 2010-12-02
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