The first two hours of 24 were great. I sometimes have lunch at Philippe's downtown near Union Station but now I realize, SHIT! That's where all the terrorists are!!When a movie goes into prep usually the first thing done is to fire the writer who spent three years on the project and replace him with the director’s friend, or worse, the director himself. How apropos that the product name to eliminate waste before a colonoscopy is called MoviPrep. It’s what Hollywood really thinks of us scribes.
On the A&E cleaned up version of THE SOPRANOS, will Pussy be renamed Wonder Down Under?
Saw THE ILLUSIONIST. Excellent movie. It’s what THE PRESTIGE hoped to be. If I were one of those boot licker movie reviewers I’d say “Spellbinding! Doesn’t miss a trick! Magic for the whole family (except the kids). The only thing up its sleeve is Oscar! It’s the Houdini Who-done-it of the season! Levitates the entire genre. Even if they sawed it in a half it would be great!” But I’m not so just see the friggin’ movie.
And NOTES ON A SCANDAL is even better. This has to be the strongest year ever for the Best Actress Category. Judi Dench or Cate Blanchett could easily win for this one. But Helen Mirren (THE QUEEN) and Kate Winslet (LITTLE CHILDREN) also have a good shot. Alas, I think Shawnee Smith (SAW III) is going to get shut out this year. Maybe next year with SAW IV.
I’d actually see and review more movies if the producers/studios/PR firms sent me DVD’s (hint hint). I love blog swag!!
The LA TIMES Calendar had their annual Movie Sneaks issue on Sunday. That's always the scariest day of the year if you're writing a spec screenplay. You read through all the movies that will be released this year and just pray that none are too similar to the script you're been writing for the last seven months. "Oh shit! There's gonna be a SPIDERMAN 3?!"
Two more sitcoms arrived DOA. KNIGHTS OF PROSPERITY and CASE OF EMERGENCY. I wish if the networks were going to buy fewer sitcoms they’d buy BETTER ONES! And maybe not schedule them against AMERICAN IDOL (although any show starring Greg Germann deserves to be up against AMERICAN IDOL, GREY’S ANATOMY, CSI, and THE SUPERBOWL).
From the MASH MAILBAG: a reader wondered why the Hawkeye character was never developed in any spinoff. Simple. Alan Alda wanted to pursue other things. At the time his feature career was really taking off. Had Alan wanted to do AfterMASH I don’t think CBS would have said, sorry, we have Bill Christopher.
More MASH MAILBAG: The lawsuit that Alan had with 20th Century Fox over syndication. Alan receives a percentage of the profits, so when MASH is sold into syndication, the higher the price to stations obviously the higher the profit. And normally studios will try to get the highest price. But 20th also owns FX. If MASH plays there the studio gets less syndication money but more advertising money, along with great programming to boost their fledgling network. So they come out great but anyone who owns a piece of the show doesn’t. That’s what the lawsuit dealt with. No such legal dispute however, between Bill Christopher and 20th over AfterMASH profits.
What a better world this would be if Dr. Martin Luther King were still in it.
THE GOLDEN GLOBES – Hollywood’s biggest night since the installation of new traffic lights.
The O.C. was cancelled despite gratuitous girl-on-girl action. When THAT doesn’t work you know it’s time to pull the plug.
The only show on television that I wouldn’t want to see gratuitous girl-on-girl action is THE VIEW.
Lindsay Lohan had her appendix out. It’s available on eBay.
I admit it. I can’t wait for AMERICAN IDOL to return. Especially the early auditions. More than the X-FILES, this show conclusively proves there are aliens from outer space here on earth. Creatures from other planets apparently communicate with earthlings by singing “My Heart Will Go On”.
Please bury James Brown already. Please Please bury James Brown already.
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