Category Archives: Ephemera

Stallone is Back… Frank Stallone, That Is

Ephemera

Rocky Balboa — in which Rocky comes out
of retirement/obscurity to battle Mason “The Line” Dixon (Antonio Tarver) after
a videogame simulation favorably pits the latter day title holder against the
modern day champ — looks to be an awkward mash-up of past and present, word comes today
that, yes, Frank Stallone will have several songs included in the movie. In
fact, the younger Stallone’s “classic” street corner song “Take You Back” opens
the new Rocky film, and will be getting
a nationwide radio push beginning later this month. No word on whether his
music will make the cut for the sure-to-be-retitled Rambo IV: In the Serpent’s Eye.

Essential Art House Set to Bow

Ephemera


For those with more than a couple bills really burning a hole in their pocket, and/or a really beloved arthouse aficionado with a birthday forthcoming, time is running out on a special preorder offer for the deluxe, 50-disc (you read that right) box set Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films. Along with some of the greatest films by the greatest filmmakers of all time — from Bergman to Kurosawa to Hitchcock — Essential Art House
comes with a lavishly illustrated, 240-page hardcover book, which tells the story
of Janus Films through an essay by film historian Peter Cowie, a
tribute from Martin Scorsese and extensive notes on all 50 included movies. The set streets October 24, but pre-orders get a $200 discount on the $850 retail price tag, as well as two complimentary Criterion T-shirts or
hats, free shipping and an entry into a raffle to win 25 free
Criterion DVDs. For more information, visit the Janus Films web site.

Seeing (Red)

Ephemera

It’s not related to film, but U2 frontman Bono had a summit with the all-powerful Oprah Winfrey on Friday, and the subject was (RED), an organization created by Bono and Bobby Shriver to empower consumers to
shop and do good at the same time. A portion of profits from the sale
of (RED)-branded products goes to The Global Fund, to help women and
children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa, providing access to education,
nutrition, counseling, medical services and the nominal medication they
need each day to stay alive.

Penelope Cruz, Kanye West, Alicia Keys and Christy Turlington also appeared on the show to help model, pimp and prop products, which include lines by Gap, Converse and Emporio Armani, as well as special edition Apple iPod nanos and Motorola Motorazr (sic) V3m phones. American Express is in on the project as a founding member as well. Saving the world may not be your to-do calendar, but give it a whirl — much is possible with the power of collectivity. For more information, visit www.joinred.com, or even Oprah’s archival site.

Feeding the Machine

Ephemera

So, just as a heads up, we’re in the process of importing over all kinds of archived material here at “Shared Darkness.” That means you’ll see the database swell and new entries folded in accordingly as we move closer to our big re-launch. In the meantime, by all means, explore. There’s plenty of evergreen material, and a brief introduction lies here.

I’ll have more soon on all of these (well, OK, maybe two out of three), but hurrah for Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, wincing indifference for Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker and a thumbs down on Barry Levinson and Robin Williams’ Man of the Year. This is the exact right time for a big, broadside comedy — and maybe a searing drama too — about a massive national political shake-up, but this isn’t the film that satisfies that appetite, alas.

David Lynch Takes Matters Into His Own Hands

Ephemera

So Terry Gilliam is panhandling in winking fashion in New York City in an effort to promote his latest film, Tideland, and now comes word that adjective-spawning auteur David Lynch is distributing Inland Empire himself in the United States and Canada after a potential agreement with Magnolia  Pictures fell through. After its bow at the Venice Film Festival last month and Stateside premiere at the New York Film Festival, West Coasters will finally get a chance to check out the movie, starring Laura Dern, at the upcoming AFI FEST 2006, where the long-ago AFI grad’s typically abstruse mystery screens as a centerpiece gala. Now if only we could get Werner Herzog and Robert Altman on board with such shenanigans, we’d have a have a veritable Fantastic Four of cinematic maverick-dom set to unleash havoc on… well, arthouses across America. And yes, I suppose Paul Thomas Anderson could still lurk just over Altman’s shoulder if necessary.

Crystal Lake Memories

Ephemera

It’s rare, the lit department filings here at Shared Darkness, but devoted horror fans will surely want to check out Crystal Lake Memories, the superb new hardcover chronicling of the Friday the 13th series from Titan Books. Clocking in at 320 pages, and including a foreword by Sean S. Cunningham and interviews with over 200 franchise alumni, author Peter M. Bracke’s tome is as impressive an overview of a so-called lowbrow genre series as I’ve seen — the ultimate oral memoir of the most successful and lasting horror franchise of our time.

And hey, it’s great merely as eye candy, too — full of storyboards, original script pages, rare archival documents and production materials, and over 600 never-before-seen photos. If you’ve still got that Jason hockey mask stowed in your closet from Halloween, and/or you just want a good, hard, long look at all the sort of feuding, controversy and rights bickering that feeds into the development process (and sustenance of such an iconic character), this book is right in your wheelhouse, in time for both Halloween (its proper release) and this fall’s later gift-giving season.

Billy Bob Thornton Takes a Dig at Angelina?

Ephemera

A throwaway line of dialogue from School for Scoundrels is attracting attention for its perceived tabloid deliciousness, as detailed in this item from FilmStew. The line, uttered by Billy Bob Thornton’s character to Jon Heder’s character after the latter recounts in dewy, positive-minded fashion the manner in which things are proceeding between he and a girl (Jacinda Barrett) on whom he has a crush.

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re days away from adopting a Chinese kid together…” says Thornton, who of course was once married to (among others) Angelina Jolie, who in 2002 adopted her son Maddox from Cambodia, and later daughter Zahara from Ethiopia. Thornton is strongly denying any dig at Jolie, but one has to wonder if the subtext of the joke really flew completely over his head, as he’s claiming. It certainly didn’t for the audience with which I viewed the film.

On James Dean and Joe E. Brown

Ephemera, Screenings

One
only made three movies, but left an undeniable mark on American acting,
the other got his start on the circus and vaudeville circuit — extinct
toiling ground for a performer today — and went on to crank out
lighthearted fare largely forgotten today.

I’m talking first, of course, about James Dean, who channeled his own personal demons and estranged relationships into instinctive and raw work of surprising vulnerability in East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause. His death at 24 years of age in an auto accident sealed in the public’s mind his impetuous, headstrong image, and though the films are available on DVD, if one prefers the big screen, they’re both screening through Tuesday night, August 29, at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles,
located at 7165 Beverly Blvd., one block west of La Brea. The double
feature costs $7 for general admission, $6 for students with ID and $4
for seniors and children.

Alas, Joe E. Brown, on the other hand, captured no
such lasting appeal; he’s perhaps best known to mainstream audiences as
millionaire Osgood Fielding III in Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot.
For classic film fans, a new two-disc DVD set attempts to right that
wrong, offering up a look at some of the movies of an actor who
seamlessly pulled off a variety of physical comedy and in his later
years won hearts by bucking up the spirits of American G.I.s abroad.
Most of Brown’s best — movies like Top Speed, Elmer the Great and Alibi Ike — aren’t included here, but one can certainly do much worse than the value this set affords.

The first disc features 1938’s Wide Open Faces and The Gladiator,
the latter of which is probably the best film herein. In it, Brown
plays Hugo Kipp, a gangly college student who is injected by a mad
scientist with a serum that imbues him with extraordinary athletic
prowess. This allows Kipp to capture the attention of pretty coed Iris
Bennett (June Travis), among many other benefits. The second disc
includes Flirting with Fate, in which Brown is cast as the
desperate manager of a vaudevillian act. Stranded in South America, he
schemes to take out a life insurance policy and then attempt to get
himself “killed” by bandit chieftain Sancho (Leo Carrillo). Mayhem
ensues. The final film is the awfully titled Earthworm Tractors,
which finds Brown amusingly exercising his gift for gab as a
fast-talking salesman, an archetype of the era. While actor biographies
and trailers are a welcome addition on the set, even more history on
Brown and some interview footage with film historians and/or critics
would be a welcome addition. Still, four classic, heretofore
commercially unavailable movies for under $20 isn’t a bad deal for
discerning cinephiles.

On Scrubs’ Gayness

Amusements, Ephemera, Musings

Michael Ricci has an interesting piece up on AfterElton.com about the gay innuendo on Scrubs, and its extremely close relationship between its lead male characters, best friends J.D. (Zach Braff) and Turk (Donald Faison). It’s a pretty interesting read for socio-cultural shoegazers like myself, and included in the bit are plenty of quotes from interviews with show creator Bill Lawrence and Robert Maschio, who plays hornball surgeon “The Todd.” The gist of the piece is that Scrubs is one of the gayest shows on television, despite not having a regular or recurring gay homosexual character.

Injecting Humor Into Dramatic Writing Workshop

Ephemera

The
diagnosis: you have no sense of humor, or even an accurate gauge of
what’s funny or not — members of the opposite sex and even your own
mother have told you this for years. It’s a problem for which there is
precious little professional help. But fret not — you needn’t hang your
head and resign yourself to a life of misguided awe in Jim Belushi.

Part of the solution: join Brad Schreiber, author of What Are You Laughing At?,
this Saturday, August 26, at 3:00 pm for a discussion on using humor
for character development, transitions and to create a brief tonal
change from otherwise serious prose and/or screenwriting. Intended for
both writers of humor and those with no sense of humor at all but who
desperately need one (for their work, of course), this event will also
include a Q&A and book signing of Schreiber’s aforementioned tome.

Space is limited in this intimate discussion of the craft, so please
RSVP to ensure your seat by calling (800) 272-8927 or visiting The
Writers Store at 2040 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles, where said seminar
will be held. And if more needed information is the name of your game,
well, by all means, contact Dana Hahn via email at dhahn@writersstore.com.

A Fish Called Wanda Finds a Date

Ephemera

20th Century Fox’s recent attainment of many of MGM’s
home video properties — which had bounced over to Sony in some
convoluted back catalogue purchase more rooted in contingency than cash
— means a finally re-scheduled release date for the long-awaited
special edition DVD release of A Fish Called Wanda. The title will bow on October 10. In further Fox-related news, a decked-out version of this summer’s The Omen will release on October 17 with deleted scenes and the like, alongside
a box set of all the previous films in the franchise.

Also, not to go
all Word-a-Day calendar on you, but who out there ever heard of the
word schwarmerei (pronounced shvair-muh-RYE), a noun meaning “excessive
or unwholesome sentiment?”

Ratings Updates Help Kids Track Nudity… or Sad Lack Thereof

Amusements, Ephemera

In random but recent ratings news, the Motion Picture Association of
America’s Classification and Ratings Administration bestowed a PG upon Rocky Balboa,
the who’re-ya-foolin’-with-that-title sixth film in Sylvester
Stallone’s pugilistic franchise, for “boxing violence and some
language.” Rated PG-13 were this fall’s All the King’s Men (“for an intense sequence of violence, sexual content and partial nudity”) and DOA: Dead or Alive (“for pervasive martial arts and action violence, some sexuality and nudity”) and next winter’s Ghost Rider (“for horror violence and disturbing images, including flaming heads”).

OK, I made that last part up, but has anyone else noticed that the
print poster explanations for movie ratings are often hilarious in
their completely earnest, poker-faced straightforwardness? If I were a kid today, I’d be scouring those for help finding big screen nudity. It was also
confirmed that  Martin Scorsese’s remake of Infernal Affairs for Warner Bros., The Departed,
will be rated R for “strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some
strong sexual content and drug material.” Yep, that sounds about right
for a Scorsese crime picture.

Bill Lawrence Scrubs in for Fletch Won Duty

Ephemera

In what might signal the eventual realization of Zach Braff’s rumored starring attachment to the prequel reboot of the Fletch series, the Weinstein Company announced yesterday that Bill Lawrence — creator and show runner of the Emmy-nominated Scrubs — has signed on to adapt and direct Fletch Won, based on the book of the same name from the successful 1980s franchise of mystery/comedy novels written by Gregory McDonald.

Fletch Won predates the first seven books in the series — two
of which, of course, were turned into movies starring Chevy Chase — and
follows the early days of the oblivious title character’s journalism
career as a junior reporter in his 20s. Fletch Won will be the
first feature film Lawrence (above) will direct, and is expected to
shoot in April 2007, following his work on the final season of Scrubs. No cast is yet attached; David List will serve as producer.

Even though production is a ways off, Lawrence is already looking forward to the challenge. “The coolest thing about the Fletch Won book is that it’s an origin story,” he says. “Like Batman Begins, I think people will enjoy seeing how Irwin Fletcher became Fletch. And not only can I recite the original Fletch
line for line, I actually read all the Greg McDonald books as a kid, so
consider me obsessed. I’m going to try as hard as I can not to screw
this up.” I can see this working, and a re-teaming with Braff might
well serve both of their burgeoning film careers. Stay tuned.

Saw III Trailer Set, Tobin Bell Speaks Out

Ephemera, Interviews

For those that care about such things, the trailer for Saw III,
which opens October 27, debuted at Comic-Con in San Diego today,
showing an unfortunate gentleman chained up and pierced through his
hands, feet and mouth, most likely not to celebrate his birthday. The clip will drop in theaters on August 4, in front of Lions Gate’s spelunking horror flick The Descent, and not a moment too soon according to the film’s star.

“I’m
looking forward to fans seeing this one, and learning more about Jigsaw
and his role as a mentor,” says Tobin Bell (left), who anchors  the Saw franchise as cancer-riddled, murderous mastermind John Kramer, better known as
Jigsaw. “He’s a civil engineer, a mechanical and architectural
engineer, and he comes from a scientific background,” says Bell of his
character. “He’s a philosopher. He’s interested in Gerte Hofstede, he’s
interested in Gandhi, he’s interested in Jesus, he’s interested in Shakespeare and the poets, and Hermann Hesse. He has a multiplicity of interests
and they dovetail into whatever his project is.” Great! So Saw III is a ruminative disquisition into the nature of reality and the study of the arts, then, right? Well, not quite…

“We’re talking about a scary movie here,”
notes Bell, “so it doesn’t have to be a philosophical tome. But I do
think it’s worthwhile to understand what things motivate and drive
Jigsaw.” Helping on that end is original writer Leigh Whannell, also
back for his third tour of duty with the franchise. “There’s no
question his continued presence” is a help, notes Bell. “Leigh has a
very consistent voice when it comes to the mechanics of how the Saw films work, and that’s a very reassuring thing to have because people like
when things connect and recur. They want to be surprised but they
always like it when there’s some continuity too.”

Landmark Re-Ups the Westside

Ephemera

Landmark Theatres
— the nation’s largest theater chain devoted exclusively to art and
independent film, with 57 theaters in 23 markets — are collaborating to
create the largest independent film center in the country, aiming to
boost the Westside’s fading trendiness factor and help reestablish it
on the map as a destination for the film industry.

Ted Mundorff, Landmark Theatres senior vice president of film and
advertising, is touting the atmosphere and convenience of the
admittedly impressive sounding, renovated three-story venue, which will
be accessible both from the street and via a bridge that connects it to
Nordstrom and the Westside Pavilion shopping mall when it reopens with
the center in early summer 2007. The first floor will include several
new high-quality restaurants, while second and third floors of the
facility will feature 12 screens projecting independent films using the
latest in film and digital technology, as well as a lounge and wine
bar.

Mundorff also says that the new Landmark Film Center at Westside
Pavilion will partner with the Los Angeles film industry and area film
schools to “promote the education and training of those pursuing
careers in the film industry, and to provide a venue for screening the
works of up-and-coming filmmakers.” I seem to remember a lot of similar
noise being made about a planned national chain of Sundance-minted
theaters, so let’s hope the Landmark Film Center keeps their end of
that bargain, and experiences enough success that other companies start
taking a look at their business model. If interesting stories and
independent film are going to continue to be theatrically viable deep
into the 21st century, their funders and financiers need better
alliances with exhibitors and theater owners. Not to go soapbox on all
of you, but there’s absolutely no reason in the Internet age that true
film fans should have to drive two hours or more across the state — to,
say, Austin, Chapel Hill or Chicago — to see the best of independent
film.

On The Limbo Room

Ephemera, Screenings

For those in Los Angeles, meanwhile, the estimable Ray Greene mentioned
to me that the American Cinematheque’s sneak preview, “Alternative
Screen” presentation of The Limbo Room on Thursday, July 20
features a striking new voice in American independent film in the form
of actress-turned-director Debra Eisenstadt. Both David Mamet fans and
disgruntled college professors, of course, will remember Eisenstadt —
who made her debut as a writer-director with 2001’s Daydream Believer
— from the 1994 film version of Mamet’s incendiary two-hander Oleanna, in which
she played the female lead opposite William H. Macy. Both that
experience and the text of Oleanna itself inform this feature, which Greene calls “an intriguing blend of Michael Haneke and All About Eve,”
about the blurring of reality and fiction in the lives of a group of
New York stage actors working on a play involving an onstage rape. The
film played at Slamdance earlier this year, and is currently seeking
North American distribution. More to soon follow…

On Tenacious D’s Test Screening

Ephemera, Musings

Eagerly awaited, much discussed and long delayed for a variety of reasons (depending on whom you believe), Liam Lynch’s Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny
enjoyed a test screening last night in Pasadena, and I had an
acquaintance in attendance. Due to release in mid-November from New
Line, the film had the accumulating stench of a good idea whose time
had perhaps passed due to co-star Jack Black’s rapidly rising star.
There were rumors of re-shoots and heaps of scrapped musical sequences.
While those may or may not be true, at least one person thought it
delivered. “It restores my faith in Jack Black again after Nacho Libre,”
my source said. “It’s really funny, even though you can tell they’re
going to have to tighten it up a little.” Most heartening for studio
execs and number-crunchers, he said, “It works too as a sort of
self-contained origin story for those who haven’t ever heard of the
band.” Yes, that’s right, the film centers on naïve Midwesterner Black
and his pal Kyle Gass, who team up in Venice Beach to quite
self-consciously form the greatest rock ’n’ roll band in the world. The
title refers to a magical guitar pick that they set out to purloin to
aid them in their quest.

LAFF: Family Day

Ephemera

For those in the area, the Los Angeles Film Festival’s third annual
Family Day, sponsored by Target and the Disney Channel, will take place tomorrow, on Saturday, July 1, in Westwood Village.

“Free fun for
the whole family” is the theme, as activities kick off at noon on
Broxton Avenue — also known as “Popcorn Alley” during the festival —
with a great line-up of things for the whole family to enjoy. Attendees
can spend the afternoon with favorite characters from Disney Channel’s
popular Playhouse Disney TV series, Disney’s Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
while enjoying themed activities, music and a special photo booth.
Target, a premiere sponsor of the LA Film Festival, will offer
complimentary photos with costumed characters from its larger-than-life
Big Red Chair, which measures almost five feet wide and serves as the
symbol of the Target “Ready. Sit. Read!” program.

Beginning at 10 a.m., Family Day also includes a line-up of free films. Pixar’s 20th anniversary series features clips from A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, Monster’s Inc., Toy Story,
its sequel and a showcase of shorts spanning 1984–2005. Children under
12 will be admitted to the Pixar Series for free, while adult admission
is $5.

Other activities — jointly celebrating Paramount/Dreamworks Animation new films Flushed Away, Barnyard and the live-action Charlotte’s Web
— include hilarious electric toilet racing, live pig races, cow milking
demonstrations (you read that right) and a baby pig-petting area. There
will also be special giveaways from Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and
Jamba Juice, while free popcorn will be handed out compliments of Pop
Secret.

Family Day will be brought to a memorable close with a free outdoor screening of The Incredibles at 8:30 p.m. on Broxton Ave. Everyone is invited to bring a blanket and
stretch out under the stars for Pixar’s 2004 animated tale of a
superhero family who, when duty calls, ditch their suburban anonymity
and return to crime-fighting ways. Having just enjoyed Sony’s impending
late July release Monster House in similar fashion under the stars at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre,
I can tell you this is a great way to see a great movie.

LAFF: Gretchen and Deliver Us From Evil

Ephemera, Film Reviews

While
the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival rolls on, Film Independent announced
the winners of the Target Filmmaker Awards at the Spirit of
Independence evening on Wednesday, June 28, at the tony W Hotel in
Westwood Village. Virginia Madsen and Jimmy Smits presented the awards,
which went to Gretchen writer-director Steve Collins for Best Narrative Feature and Amy Berg, the director of Deliver Us From Evil, for Best Documentary Feature. Both award winners will receive $50,000 each, presumably not in Target gift cards.

The 17-year-old title character in Gretchen
(Courtney Davis) is of the pathologically awkward and shy high
school wallflower variety. When her obsession with bad boy Rick (John
Merriman) gets out of hand, her mother sends her to an “emotional
treatment center” to recover. A perfect balance of deadpan tone and
acute detail, the film is based on two shorts — including, chiefly, Gretchen and the Night Danger,
which won Best Short Film at the 2004 SXSW Film Festival — and augurs
in Collins the arrival of a genuine new cinematic voice.

The documentary Deliver Us From Evil,
meanwhile, chronicles the story of Father Oliver O’Grady, a
pedophile harbored by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church for more
than two decades, moving from one parish to another in northern
California throughout the 1970s. Juxtaposing the tragic stories of some
of his victims with an unsettling, extended interview with the man
himself, Berg brings into sharp relief a story with which we’ve
unfortunately become all too familiar in recent years.

For those that think with star power comes great line-cutting privilege, Islander costar Amy Jo Johnson waited in cue for the restroom just like everyone
else after the packed Sunday evening bow of her film at the Mann
Festival… Film Independent also presented its second annual Spirit of
Independence Award last night, this time to Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron, in recognition of her commitment to artistic independence in film…
Additional honors for the Los Angeles Film Festival, including the
Audience Awards, will be announced at the closing night ceremony on
Sunday, July 2, following the gala screening of Little Miss Sunshine… Also, overheard in line at one screening: “No, I mean, I’ll drink a little
bit before the features, but I only smoke up before the shorts
programs…” For more information on the films above and others in the
festival, visit