Month: September 2008

At 8:23 am this morning I posted a story about Ed Harris‘s Appaloosa not (at the time) having any scheduled critics screening in Portland and Arizona, according to info from area critics. I updated it a few hours later after hearing from the Arizona Daily Star‘s Phil Villarreal that a press screening in his area had been suddenly set up today.
And then at 4:33 pm this afternoon, an e-mail was sent to Portland-area critics by Kim Pasion of Terry Hines & Associates, the local rep for Warner Bros.
“Hi All!,” it began. “Please forgive me for the short notice. I misunderstood my directives and just realized that I need to press screen Appaloosa for you all! Uh, I know…I suck! I have set a screening next Thursday at noon. Please let me know if you can attend. Thanks!”

I’ve been trying to understand the root of my animal dislike of MSNBC’s David Gregory. The man makes me twitch with rage. It’s partly his seeming determination to make points and ask questions in his interviews that cast doubt or uncertainty upon Barack Obama, and give whatever credit he can to the John McCain side. But it’s not just that, I’ve told myself. Some indication of essence is suggested in his features. Those beady black eyes, that goofy smile, creepy mop of gray hair, monkey mouth and monkey nose.

MSNBC commentator/host David Gregory; Maurice Evans’ Dr. Zaius

Then it hit me…of course! Being a movie guy through and through, I’ve realized that all along Gregory has been strongly reminding me of Maurice Evans‘ Dr. Zaius, the orangutan defender of the faith, in Planet of the Apes. It’s not just their similar facial features, but their obstinacy. Gregory’s constant insistence on giving an open and fair hearing to the shameless mud and lies of the McCain campaign is like Zaius’s refusal to consider that Charlton Heston‘s “Bright Eyes” might be intelligent and literate.

A YouTube message from William Shatner to Star Trek director JJ Abrams, posted yesterday. Shatner is good at feigning mild-mannered, but the reason he is loved is because (a) he’s a metaphor for old-guy vitality and re-invention, and (b) because we’ve all come to believe that deep down he is a true barking loon. And in all sincerity, I worship him for that. “Namby-pamby! Now you’re negotiating!”

Uli Edel‘s Baader Meinhof Complex, the official German entry for the Best Foreign Feature Oscar that I wrote about a few days ago, will screen a week from today at Santa Monica’s Aero theatre. It’ll be presented as part of New German Film Series (9.24 through 9.28) through the sponsorship of Goethe House.

What is that razor-blade thing with the mustard-colored base sitting against Jamie Stuart’s (or some other guy’s) cheek in this NY Film Festival video? I don’t get it. I’m looking for help. Really. The slogan — “You’ve never done this before…have you?” — alludes to the nominal uniqueness of the 46th incarnation of the NYFF. (Right?) I waited all day to post this because I couldn’t figure what to say.

The Defamer guys shared my reaction to the announcement about the Zurich Film Festival giving Sylvester Stallone a Life Achievement Award. They posted a day later, but that was because they were assembling five stunning Stallone clips that are hard to argue with, much less forget.

Journalist Bill Desowitz, a specialist in film restoration and digital home video, has written the following: “For what it’s worth, I can see a significant difference viewing The Godfather Blu-rays (Parts I and II) on my 9-year-old, 40-inch rear-projection monitor (at 1080i). By the way, these were full-digital restorations — there was nothing photo-chemical about them. Here’s a link to my longer article on the Harris-supervised restorations. My favorite Robert Harris quote about Gordon Willis and grain that I didn’t use: “Touch my grain and you’ll be singing with the castrati.”

Early this morning HE reader Frank Booth, commenting about the Francis Coppola/Robert Harris restoration of the Godfather films, made a good point about an irritant in the original 1972 film — one that’s been bothering me for decades and which could have been fixed, if Coppola had been so inclined.

He was speaking, of course, about the second-act beating scene in which James Caan‘s Sonny laughably air-punches Gianni Russo‘s Carlo. [See YouTube clip.] There’s no missing the mistake because the shot is perfectly positioned to catch it — a nice clean side-angle. And it’s so distinct that it takes you right out of the film. When Booth saw a theatrical screening “it took a minute or so of the Sicilian wedding for the audience to stop giggling,” he says. “Very unfortunate.”
And yet despite all the digital re-dos and remasterings, not to mention that massive re-edit of Parts I and II that resulted in The Godfather Saga in the mid ’70s, Coppola has left that mistake in — minor, yes, but one that slightly interferes with the enjoyment of this film each and every time. All he would have to is cut away from the Sonny-Carlo beating for a a second or two and show…whatever, one of the hoods standing nearby, one of the little kids watching the fight, a master shot from a different angle. There must be extra footage lying around. All Coppola would need is 24 to 36 frames.
If you had directed The Godfather, would you want that mistake to remain in the definitive print for centuries to come? I wouldn’t. If George Lucas can make Greedo shoot first, Francis Coppola can fix Sonny’s air punch. And then Paramount Home Video can put out a whole new Godfather on Blu-ray and DVD. Honestly? I would buy it. I really would.

During a 9.16 promotional visit to a Manhattan Best Buy store, Steven Seagal spoke to MTVs Josh Horowitz and revealed the state of his political awareness. Many people go through life tuning stuff out, but Seagal’s admission is amazing.

The Times Online‘s Douglas Rankine has written a fanboy piece about a recent tour of George Lucas‘s ILM facility at San Francisco’s Presidio. The idea of a presumably seasoned journalist in 2008 still being caught up in the lore of Lucasfilm/Star Wars — feeling that tingle of excitement as he stands in front of a Yoda fountain or sips coffee in the Javva Hutt — is close to pathetic. The Lucas brand is totally devalued outside of the under-10 crowd, and this guy is still going “Ooh, wow…pant, pant.”