Film and Television

The Candyman Can

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Won1We Fc4ab593just got back from taking my daughter to CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY…
I much prefer the Gene Wilder version. Does that make me a stodgy old coot?

Update 7-23-05: Screenwriter Paul Dini shares my view. He blogs:

…Wilder’s Wonka seemed like an adult who had never lost a child’s
perspective of adults, and therefore knew how to skillfully parody them
while walking among them. He dressed in the clothes a child might
choose to give himself an air of wealth and worldiness among grown-ups,
and even spoke to them on a semi-intellectual level until it dawned on
the mystified adults that what they heard was an earful of nonsense and
veiled insults. Yet Wilder also made Wonka an obsessive workaholic who
saw human relationships as an impediment to his creative genius. It
wasn’t that Wilder’s Wonka disliked children (though he clearly didn’t
care for the four out of five he invited in) but he had simply created
a world where he had no time to have any kids of his own.

 

Homage or Rip-off?

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For_your_eyes_only Posterwire notes the similarity between the posters for THE Transporter_2TRANSPORTER  2 and FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. It’s sad commentary on movies today that the poster for a cutting-edge, French action movie is actually tamer than a 20-year-poster for a geriatric Roger Moore 007 film…

I used to have the original pre-release FOR YOUR EYES ONLY poster, in which Bond is facing the woman and shooting at her, but it was destroyed in the Northridge earthquake, ripped by the broken glass from the shattered frame.

Dumb Career Moves

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Sharona I’ve been absorbed in all things MONK today… writing book #2, reading scripts for season #4, watching last night’s season #4 premiere, and catching up on some of the supplementary materials in the DVD boxed set of season 3.

And I’ve come to this c0nclusion. Bitty Schram leaving MONK is going to go Toma0down in history as one of the great dumb career moves, right up there with Tony Musante leaving TOMA, McLean Stevenson leaving MASH, Shelly Long leaving CHEERS, Valerie Harper leaving VALERIE, Wil Wheaton leaving STAR TREK, David Caruso leaving NYPD BLUE, Erica Eleniak leaving BAYWATCH, Herve Villachaize leaving FANTASY ISLAND, Redd Foxx leaving SANFORD AND SON, and George Lazenby walking away from James Bond, to name a few.

War of the Credits

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I saw WAR OF THE WORLDS and enjoyed it (just don’t give it much thought or it disintegates even faster than the people do…only without leaving pairs of pants behind). The biggest surprise of the movie isn’t big effects. Or the spider-like aliens. Or the fact that Tom Cruise can actually act…

It’s the screenwriting credit.

In all the interviews and publicity surrounding the movie, screenwriter David Koepp is treated as the only writer involved. No mention is ever made of another screenwriter. The posters don’t show any name but Koepp’s either. And in the two interviews I’ve read with Koepp, he certainly didn’t say he was the second writer on-board. But, lo and behold, in the actual movie, the credit reads:

Written By Josh Friedman and David Koepp

So why hasn’t Friedman’s involvement been noted, even in passing, in all these months of incessant WAR OF THE WORLDS hype? Obviously, his contribution to the story and characters was significant enough in the eyes of the Writers Guild of America to merit fifty percent of the credit…so why has he been denied even 1% of the publicity? Why don’t Spielberg, Cruise, or Koepp do him the courtesy of even acknowleding his existence?

Friedman may be denied the credit he deserves in the media, and from his colleagues on the film, but at least he he’ll be getting a nice, fat check…

Obscure TV on DVD

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There’s no logic behind the TV shows that are turning up on DVD. Is the world really clamoring for the complete "The Joey Bishop Show," "Dusty’s Trail," "The Doris Day Show," "Highlander: The Raven," "Baa Baa Black Sheep," "Beastmaster," "Doc," "That’s My Mama," "Guns of Will Sonnet,"  "What’s Happening?" and "Earth 2?"

And yet, where are the shows I’ve done? Where are those lost classics  "She-Wolf of London," "Murphy’s Law," "Likely Suspects," "Deadly Games," "Cosby Mysteries," "SeaQuest," "The Highwayman," "Cobra," "Diagnosis Murder," and, of course,  the complete "New Adventures of Flipper" starring the teenage Jessica Alba?

On the other hand, some real gems are coming out… I was thrilled to learn from the folks at TVSquad that all 26 episodes of the classic sitcom "Buffalo Bill" are coming to DVD in September.

Now if they’d only put out "Harry O," "Spenser For Hire," "The Night Stalker,""Search,"  "The Rockford Files," and "Maverick"…

R.I.P PAX

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The Milwaukee Journal reports that PAX is dead.

Starting Friday, the little-watched PAX Network will begin shedding its
current identity to become something called "i."

That little "i" is supposed to stand for "independent," and Paxson
Communications, which owns Milwaukee’s WPXE-TV (Channel 55 over the air and
Channel 15 on Time Warner Cable), says it will become an outlet for independent
and syndicated programming.

It’s not clear what this will eventually mean.

Yes, it is. I is for Informercials…

Why Bother Going to the Movies?

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My wife always wants to see something "light" on our date night. So she dragged me to both THE HONEYMOONERS and BEWITCHED. After enduring these two inane, laughless "reimaginings" of TV classics, I think both films should be formally classified as crimes against humanity and the film-makers brought in chains to The Hague. I also think Congress should pass a law making it a crime, from this point forward, to remake a TV series as a feature film ( a law which should have been enacted after the feature versions of THE AVENGERS or SGT. BILKO). It’s too late, I’m afraid, to save us from DUKES OF HAZZARD.

Lately, there’s been a lot of head-scratching in the trades about why boxoffice revenues are taking a steep dive. There’s a simple answer. Because movies these days suck. I don’t just mean these TV revivals, but movies in general. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw a good Hollywood  movie and, sicko that I am, I see just about everything (Yeah, I saw STAR WARS…and found myself rooting for the bad guys and wondering when George Lucas lost his writing talent. And yeah, I saw BATMAN BEGINS, and I couldn’t wait for BATMAN ENDS. It was boring  and cliche-ridden). 

Overall, there’s much better stuff on TV these days than there are in the theatres… so why would anybody want to pay a babysitter, endure the traffic, pay exorbinant ticket prices, get gouged for popcorn and soda (it’s cheaper to eat at Ruth’s Chris than my local Regal Cinema)  put up with a noisy crowd and sit on sticky seats?

And the studios wonder why people are staying home?

(PS – I just thought of the last good movie I saw: it was either MILLION DOLLAR BABY or THE INCREDIBLES. How long ago was that??)

The Eyes of a Ranger Are Upon You

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Walker is back. Chuck Norris is returning to Dallas next month Clintto shoot "Walker Texas Ranger: Ring of Fire," a two-hour movie for CBS that producer/director Aaron Norris hopes will relaunch the franchise, which was cancelled in 2001. Norris tells Variety:

"Reunions are more about one-offs," he said. "I would like to do more of
these."

To that end, action in "Ring of Fire" will pretty much pick up "as if we’ve
been doing the show the whole time," with Walker simply doing what he’s always
done: collar criminals and kick bad-guy butt (and not necessarily in the that
order).

Plot of "Ring of Fire" has Walker investigating whether one of his Ranger
buddies is a serial killer — or just being framed. He’ll also try to track down
a teen on the run from a crime syndicate.

The big question is, will Chuck still sing the theme song?

Guilty Pleasure

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1629Today at Costco I found a heck of a deal… a $16.00  DVD boxed set of three of Frank Sinatra’s  crime dramas: TONY ROME, LADY IN CEMENT and THE DETECTIVE.  As I’ve mentioned here before, these three films are among my guilty pleasures, especially the two TONY ROME movies. The TONY ROME movies are based on the novels by Marvin Albert, who wrote screenplays, original novels under a variety of pseudonyms (Nick Quarry, Tony Rome, Albert Conroy, Ian McCallister, Mike Barone), and movie tie-ins (including a novel based on Woody Allen’s screenplay WHAT’S NEW PUSSYCAT!)

Run out to Costco and get yourself this boxed set…you can’t beat the bang for the buck.