Month: August 2007
SEA CHANGE
I caught up with last May’s JESSE STONE: SEA CHANGE, the Tom Selleck TV movie that was loosely based on Robert B. Parker’s novel. It was definitely the weakest of the four Stone movies…then again, it was also one of the weakest of the Stone novels. The plot of the movie was actually better than the plot of the book, but that’s not saying much. The mystery was no mystery and Stone was largely ineffectual and passive throughout. But I enjoyed the movie nonetheless, largely because of Selleck’s performance and the general mood of the piece, which is greatly helped by Robert Harmon’s directing and Jeff Beal’s score. Selleck is perfect in the role and I hope he decides to keep doing the movies long after he runs out of books to base them on, especially since the last Stone novel, HIGH PROFILE, was lousy (there is still one good Stone novel, TROUBLE IN PARADISE, that hasn’t been filmed). I wonder why CBS and Selleck haven’t turned JESSE STONE into a weekly series…though now that he’s busy on NBC’s LAS VEGAS, I suppose it’s a moot point for the time being.
News on the Fast Track
Now that FAST TRACK is finished, we are deep into post…working on the score, etc. I’ll be flying to Montreal later this month to record actor Andrew Walker’s ADR (to replace poor tracks and to record new dialogue) and to meet with potential Canadian broadcasters for the show. And then, in early September, it’s back to Berlin to record the ADR with our European cast. We’re also actively trying to find a U.S. broadcaster for the show…but more on that later. In the mean time, here are some publicity stills from the movie, taken by photographers extraordinaire Gordon Muehl and Stefan Hoederath.
A Jewcy Assignment
While I was away, my brother Tod actually got paid to read Harry Potter fanfiction…and he lived to write about it for Jewcy.com.
I haven’t read much fan fiction over the years; saddled as I’ve been with student writing, I figure reading stories about Kirk and Spock gang-banging a Romulan cum slut or Scooby and Scrappy taking it to a whole new level with "Scooby snacks" probably won’t enrich my life much. But it’s summer, and I’ve got some time.
What he found is absolutely hilarious…
Catching up
I finally saw LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD and BOURNE ULTIMATUM. DIE HARD was over-the-top, by-the-numbers, and dull. BOURNE ULTIMATUM was fresh, invigorating, and exciting…I loved it. I wish more movies were as smart and exciting as the BOURNE trilogy. The geek in my can’t wait to get ULTIMATUM on DVD so I can watch all three movies back-the-back in one sitting (as if I will ever have the time for that).
I also caught up with the last five episodes of THE SOPRANOS. They were definitely a big improvement over last season’s episode, a real return to form dramatically and comedicly for the series. But like everyone else, I don’t really get the point of the abrupt ending that felt more like a technical/broadcasting error than a scripted, dramatic moment.
Next on my Tivo… JESSE STONE: SEA CHANGE and the last five episodes of the season of HEROES and LAW AND ORDER: SVU.
Get the Measles
My friend Ian Ogilvy — best known for playing Simon Templar in THE RETURN OF THE SAINT — has several new websites devoted to his wonderful and hugely successful MEASLE series of children’s books. You can learn more about them here:
Some Velvet Morning
I was saddened to learn today that Lee Hazlewood, one of my favorite singer-songwriters (and guilty pleasures), has passed away. He was famous for his work with Nancy Sinatra ("These Boots Are Made for Walking," "Summer Wine," etc.), but for me, his best stuff was the obscure albums he recorded after Nancy and during his years in Sweden. Even his bad songs were strangely interesting. I’m going to miss him.
Monk gives Ed a Bookgasm
Ed Gorman gives MR. MONK AND THE TWO ASSISTANTS a rave over at Bookgasm. He writes, in part:
Lee Goldberg wrote one of my favorite novels of the past few years, THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE, and he brings that same kind of skill to focus on the novels he writes about the TV detective Monk, which also happens to be my favorite TV show. MR. MONK AND THE TWO ASSISTANTS is the best Monk novel yet.
The New York Times Publishes Morons
Craig Mazin beat me to the punch and perfectly skewers Brooks Barnes’ inane editorial about TV & movie residuals in The New York Times. Barnes starts off by saying:
Jasper Johns isn’t paid based on the number of years his flag paintings remain popular attractions at museums. Rem Koolhaas doesn’t cash a check every time an architecture fan takes a trip to Seattle to see his space-age public library. So why should the writers, directors and actors responsible for box-office bombs like “Gigli” be able to pocket some cash every time somebody buys the DVD?
That just gives you a hint of the stupidity to come. Barnes doesn’t seem to grasp the difference between looking and selling. If someone wants to reproduce Johns’ painting in prints or t-shirts, Johns gets a royalty.
Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of Barnes’ idiotic rant which Craig does a wonderful job skewering, point by point. I just hope Craig sent his post the the NY Times as well.
LiveJournal Pounces on Potter “Slash”
CNet reports that LiveJournal has created an uproar by deleting blogs that feature sexually explicit drawings of Harry Potter doing the nasty with other men.
The users’ journal entries contained "drawings depicting minors in explicit sexual situations," which represented a violation of LiveJournal’s policies, according to copies of the letters posted by their recipients.
In ponderosa121’s case, the offending image depicted an unclothed Harry Potter of ambiguous age receiving oral sex from sometimes-villain Severus Snape.
[…]the latest episode has fanfic devotees once again encouraging livid LiveJournal users to switch to "clone" sites in protest and to register their discontent through feedback emails.
Predictably, and laughably, the irate fanficcers are trying to equate Harry Potter porn with larger social issues in an effort to gain mainstream support. Good luck. The blog Darkside Rainbow says:
now users are wondering: who’s next? Will a mother be suspended for posting pictures of her baby’s first bath? Will a gay male be suspended for posting a photograph or even a drawing of himself and his boyfriend kissing? Will a closeted lesbian be suspended for using LiveJournal as a safe haven to discuss her erotic thoughts about other women? Will artists and writers be censored in their creativity because LiveJournal believes that writing or drawing about an act – be it sex, violence, etc. – construes endorsing and promoting it?
I don’t know what’s scarier…that these idiots can’t see the difference between Potter Porn and a picture of a mother bathing her child…or that the so-called "artists" of the Potter Porn are considered "respected members of the fanfic community."