Earlier this evening I attended a party for the legendary producer and senior studio exec David Picker and his just released tell-all, “Musts, Maybes and Nevers.” We’re scheduled to chat tomorrow around noon. The stories in Picker’s book are flavorful and well-shaped, and the prose is smooth as silk. Picker began at United Artists when Eisenhower was president. He brought the James Bond franchise into the fold with Dr. No in ’62; later A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Midnight Cowboy and Last Tango in Paris. In the early ’70s he produced Juggernaut, Lenny and Smile. As Paramount Pictures honcho from ’76 to ’70 he presided over Saturday Night Fever, Grease and Ordinary People. He then produced three Steve Martin films — The Jerk (’79) Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (’82) and The Man With Two Brains i(’83). As Lorimar Prods. chief in the early ’80s he oversaw S.O.B., Being There and Escape to Victory. And then at Columbia Pictures Picker greenlit Hope and Glory, School Daze, Vice Versa, Punchline and True Believer. He produced The Crucible for Twentieth Century Fox in 1996. Picker stands tall, looks great, seems undiminished.

(l.) producer Larry Mark; (r.) “Musts, Maybes and Nevers” author David Picker.

My new 60-inch Samsung plasma (PN60-F5300A) arrived today. I hooked it up and figured out all the complex (and occasionally frustrating) stuff myself. Okay, I called Samsung about a couple of things. Every Bluray I’ve popped in over the last couple of hours looks much, much better than before. A definite uptick from the 50-inch Vizio, which is now in the garage. And no gray windowbox bars — they default to black.

You’ll notice that these highly educated hinterland types are all saying “no” to Obamacare because of the word that precedes “care.” On top of which Affordable Care sounds more…well, affordable.

“Even ardent fans of Hollywood’s polymath pin-up James Franco may be surprised to learn that shoestring-budgeted Sal is actually the Rise of the Planet of the Apes star’s fifth feature-length movie as a director,” Hollywood Reporter critic Neil Young wrote on 9.3. “But while this heartfelt, rough-edged tribute to now largely-forgotten Hollywood actor Sal Mineo isn’t without interest, it’s too small-scale and sketchy for wide theatrical distribution.

“That isn’t in any way to knock the impressive front-and-center performance from curly-maned Val Lauren as Mineo, the diminutive New Yorker who became a 1950s teen idol thanks to movies like Nicholas Ray’s James Dean vehicle Rebel Without A Cause – the film which earned Mineo the first of two Oscar nominations. But as the ‘Switchblade Kid’ aged, his star gradually waned and by 1971 he was barely recognizable under simian make-up in Escape From the Planet of the Apes — foreshadowing Franco’s own involvement with the same revitalized franchise decades later.

“By concentrating on theater and TV, Mineo slowly edged his way back to prominence. When he was stabbed to death in a robbery-motivated murder in February 1976, he was returning home after rehearsals for another L.A. play. His short, eventful life in which Mineo was increasingly open about his homosexuality was chronicled in a 2010 biography by Michael Gregg Michaud, the source material for Stacey Miller’s screenplay. But Miller and Franco focus only on the period immediately leading up to Mineo’s demise. Only occasional dialogue references to his friend ‘Jimmy’ Dean (whom Franco himself played in a successful 2001 TV-movie) hints at his illustrious past.”

The Los Angeles premiere of Paul Greengrass‘s Captain Phillips (Sony, 10.11) happened last night at the Academy. The film played the same for me — workmanlike verisimiltude, scrupulous realism, Greengrass + Barry Aykroyd dazzle-cam — but it was different with a large crowd than with six or seven critics in Manhattan’s Sony screening room a few weeks ago. This time when the big climactic moment happened the audience cheered — drop those Somali bastards! (It’s so rare in life when tense situations are resolved with such bracing finality. Wouldn’t it be great if the Republican wackos who’ve shut down the government…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.) The true-life story could be subtitled “The Little Hijacking That Never Had A Chance” or “Four Fleas on the High Seas” but the expert chops speak for themselves. Ditto Hanks’ cathartic meltdown at the end — easily his best performance since Cast Away. The real-life Richard Phillips (the titular character played by Tom Hanks) appeared on the big-screen via Skype before the film began as Greengrass, Hanks and costars Barkhad Abdi, Mahat Ali and Faysal Ahmed took bows.

(l to. r.) Captain Phillips costars Mahat Ali, Barkhad Abdi, Faysal Ahmed and Tom Hanks.

The real-deal Richard Phillips as he appeared last night at the Academy theatre screen prior to the showing of Captain Phillips.

I’m down with the Minnesota-residing Barkhad Abdi, who plays the top-dog Somali pirate Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse in Captain Phillips, becoming a Best Supporting Actor Oscar contender. At the very least to round out the field.

Hanks, Greengrass, Abdi.

Everyone knows by now that Spike Jonze‘s Her (Warner Bros., 12.18), which will have its big debut at the New York Film Festival on Saturday, 10.12, is about a lonely dweeby guy (Joaquin Phoenix) falling in love with a non-human voice called “Samantha” (Scarlett Johansson). And I’m kind of wondering why Jonze cast Johansson, whose appeal has always been primarily visual but who is never seen in Her (or so I understand). Her voice…I shouldn’t say anything before seeing the film but I’ve never found it to be (no offense) wildly captivating or mesmerizing. Particularly if you compare it to female voices that are renowned for a certain breathy or sultry quality…that slight insinuation of purring eroticism. Or just a soothing soulful vibe. Or just a brisk, snappy quality. Like those of (take your pick) Charlotte Rampling, Jacqueline Bisset, Cate Blanchett or young Faye Dunaway. Or Kim Novak‘s in Bell, Book and Candle. Or Mia Farrow‘s or the young Julie Christie‘s. If we’re talking voice attraction alone why not cast an actress whose voice really has something?

I’m attending a screening of Jimi Hemdrix — Hear My Train A Comin’ on Wednesday night. I’m still suspicious of anything that’s been made with the cooperation of the notorious Hendrix estate, but I’m willing to watch it without prejudice. The doc airs on Tuesday, 11.5 at 9 p.m. on PBS.

I was never that interested in Breaking Bad because I felt (and still feel) that the inevitable violent consequences of dealing methamphetamine in New Mexico and particularly having to grapple with a demimonde of Latino low-lifes is…well, uninteresting. Scummy criminal-class types hold no fascination for the simple fact that they’re born to lose. I respect the poetry of Walt Whitman as much as the next guy, but I never cared very much for poor, cancer-afflicted Walter White (Bryan Cranston) because I couldn’t identify with or root for a guy who was toast from the get-go, and because I’ve always felt repelled by Cranston’s slit eyes and heavily lined, stressed-out features — I don’t see myself in him and I’d rather not see him in me. And I was always irked by Aaron Paul‘s tennis-ball haircut and almost-midget-like stature. I’m not “right” or “wrong” to feel this way, but you’d never know that to go by HE commenters. I was dismissed, pitied, defamed, spat upon and written off by more people than I care to remember. Arrogant as this may sound, I feel I’m entitled to my prejudices about any drama portraying the ups and downs of the Albuquerque meth trade, even one as respected and praised and enjoyed as much as Breaking Bad was.

“Early Sunday morning, all 231 House Republicans decided that crippling health care reform was more important than keeping the government’s doors open. It was one of the most irresponsible votes since the last shutdown in 1996. [Republicans] know that their proposal to put the health reform law on hold for a year and repeal a tax on medical devices stands no chance in the Senate…the real goal is not to delay but to destroy health reform by making it appear unworkable, in hopes that the public will not see the affordable premiums that will be available on the new health insurance exchanges where people can shop for plans starting Tuesday. It may be impossible to prevent a shutdown at this point if the House continues to prefer dueling to governing, but at least the public will clearly see the source of the nation’s wounds.” — Excerpt from 9.29 N.Y. Times editorial, “House Rushes to Shutdown.”

I’ve been slacking on Oscar Poker podcasts so long they look like up to me. This morning Awards Daily‘s Sasha Stone and I discussed the leading Best Picture contenders and all the attendant issues. Principal topics: 12 Years A Slave (including the “Steve McQueen problem” and the coming pushback), American Hustle, Saving Mr. Banks, the probable (if not yet confirmed) postponement of Martin Scorsese‘s Wolf of Wall Street, Nebraska, Captain Phillips (which is having its big L.A. premiere tonight), Spike Jonze‘s Her, Ben Stiller‘s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the possibility that George Clooney may be punking everyone with current Monuments Men assessments, and ongoing concerns about Bruce Dern possibly not making it as a Best Actor nominee for Nebraska. We’re pulling for you, Bruce! Again, here’s the mp3.

“Amid a night of so many peaks, though, one raucous moment stood out: Elvis Costello, who was serving as Justin Timberlake‘s understudy, did a rendition of one of the highlights of Inside Llewyn Davis. Called ‘Please Mr. Kennedy’, the song is performed in the movie by Timberlake, Oscar Isaac and actor Adam Driver, and is a quick-tempo time capsule to 1962 that features lines about rocket ships. Onstage, Costello pleaded with the new president in song while Driver, best known for his role as Lena Dunham‘s off-and-on boyfriend in Girls, offered wickedly funny harmonies: rocket sounds, lip-blubbers, meteoric accents.” — from Randall Roberts‘ review of last night’s “Another Day, Another Time”/ Inside Llewyn Davis tribute concert at Manhattan’s Town Hall.

Inside Llewyn Davis costar Carey Mulligan during last night’s Town Hall concert.

Showtime will air the concert on Friday, 12.13 at 9 pm. Great — over two months from now.

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