Movies made out of children's books

The year 2009 certainly seems to be urging me to take a trip back to my childhood and the stories that I loved to read. Two classic children's tales, "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" will be released in theaters this year. "Wild Things" drops on Oct. 16, and is preceded by "Meatballs" which falls into theaters on Sept. 18.

To be honest, I do not think that I am overly familiar with "Where the Wild Things Are." The Maurice Sendak classic about a little boy's creation of a forest of fantastic creatures has been loved for decades. However, I do not recall loving it as much as some do. Although I'm sure I've read it at some point, I could not even say what it was about without having a synopsis. It certainly did not hold quite the power that "Meatballs" did for me.

"Meatballs" is a story that a grandfather told his grandchildren about a town called Chew and Swallow, in which people got their food supply from the sky. Yes, it rained things like hamburgers and hotdogs. One day, the weather took a turn for the worst, and the food storms were no longer friendly reminders of when it was time to eat. Soon, large pancakes crushed buildings, and the town was covered in a pea-soup fog. The town, of course, could not function after this bad weather, so the citizens up and moved to a place where they could obtain food the normal way. However, they did utilize the fallen food to build houses.

The story was my absolute favorite of childhood, and to say the least, I was delighted when I heard it was being made into a movie. The movie will be a cartoon (being released in some places in 3D), which I guess would be fitting. It would be too much CGI use for the food if the film was live-action. The film even has some recognizable names: Amy Poehler and Andy Samberg from "SNL" and even Mr. T.

However, when I went on IMDb to see what the trailer looked like, I was dismayed at the very obvious plot change that this film was trying to feed (no pun intended) viewers. Apparently, these meatballs will be the result of a scientist inventing a way to have food fall from the sky. The mayhem happens when his experiment goes awry. I am very disappointed by this because the whole scientist storyline will lose the magic that the other film had. If the discussion boards on IMDb are any indication, fans are not too happy about this either. Why a lot of kids movies have this mad and/or inept scientist angle?

Despite my disappointment, I will still see this film. I guess they had to change it because how could they take a 20 or so page kids book and turn it into a full-length feature. I can't speak for how much "Wild Things" is changed, but hopefully it did not have some dumb storyline like this one does. Note to filmmakers: don't ruin a classic.

Movie scores from pop artists

The Independent Film Channel website (ifc.com) has an interesting article on movie scores by popular artists. Jonny Greenwood, an instrumentalist for the band Radiohead put together the soundtrack for the movie "There Will be Blood." Greenwood was able to put togethered a frenzied pace for each of the song's tunes, which set the tone for the characters' search for oil. Greenwood was superbly able to set the mood for the plot that he should have been in the running for an Oscar for Best Original Score in 2008, but since one of his compositions had been composed earlier (and was not solely for the movie), he was ineligible.

Another well-known is composer is Mark Mothersbaugh who originated in the band Devo, you know, the artsy punk rockers with that infamous one hit wonder, "Whip It." Mothersbaugh is the composer I'm most familiar with, as he has composed songs for movies/television as far back as my childhood. I still remember his name in the credits of the Nickelodeon show "Rugrats." His most recent contributions were to the movie "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist."

The article also lists Stewart Copeland, former member of the Police, having composed music for over 70 films and television shows.

To read about more people who make music both in front of and behind the scenes, click here.

Local history as a movie?

This post may not be about films in the traditional sense as I have them on this blog (ie, the films that come from Hollywood). However, a speaker we had in class today got me thinking.

The speaker, Louis Hunsinger, Jr., is an author and historian of Williamsport baseball. He has published several articles on the fascinating history of Williamsport Baseball, including, but not limited to, the world-renowned Little League which has its headquarters in Williamsport. He is a member of SABR, the national baseball research association, and serves on the committee for women in baseball society. He currently writes for a Williamsport publication called Webb Weekly.

After Mr. Hunsinger spoke about his line of work, I wondered how many movies there had been made about Little League. Being in "Little League country" as it were, the sport is very well-known up here, and there have to be some interesting stories out of it. A search of the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) only yielded two results. Apparently a 1958 film called "Little Giants" and a 2004 filmed called Mickey (screenplay written by author John Grisham) have been the only two films given permission to use the Little League trademark.

In an interview here, Little League says it rarely gives its permission to use its name and trademarks, but that "Mickey" had a "positive moral message" that they liked. Though the film synopsis had no mention of it, "Mickey" seems to have taken a bit from the scandal of Danny Almonte. "Mickey" is about a boy and his father that are under an investigation and must change their identities. In the process, the boy's age becomes a year younger, which allows him to play Little League. When the falsity of his age is reported, his Little League team must forfeit their winnings. I don't know if this was on purpose, as the film was announced right around the time of the Almonte case, but it seems too coincidental.

Will Little League put lend their images to more films? It's hard to say, but it is an interesting subject for any good old-fashioned American baseball movie.

Best and Worst TV Comebacks

It's not very often that I post news about television on this blog; in fact, this may be the first time that the small screen is mentioned here. I certainly watch enough television to have warranted quite a few blogs, but I can admit that most of what I watch is considered trashy TV: reality shows, sleazy competitions, no talent.

I cannot deny, though, the connection between the movies that I usually post about and television: many well-known movie stars have gottent their start by people seeing them in their living rooms once a week. George Clooney started on "ER," Johnny Depp starred as a 20-something cop in "21 Jumpstreet." Many, like Clooney, have returned to their small screen roots while not compromising their A-list status. However, some stars are stuck in the dregs of the television doom.

A zap2it.com article on the subject of TV comebacks name Clooney being back in the ER and bad girl Shannen Doherty's character Brenda Walsh on the spinoff show "90210" as being much anticipated comebacks, others in TV history have not fared so well.

Not so great comebacks were Tracey Gold in the series "Growing Pains" final episode. Gold, who'd had long struggles with her weight had checked herself into treatment for an eating disorder midway through the final season. When she came back for the final episode, she was a little worse for wear. Patrick Duffy, star of "Dallas" had walked out of his contract midway through the last season, leaving writers to scramble to fill in the holes where his character was. He returned for the final episode, making the whole season a dream, and fans were left disappointed.

Standing in the middle was David Duchovny as Fox Mulder on "The X Files." Duchovny had left the show due to his rising film career and Mulder was said to have been in hiding. He did return as a fugitive in the big-screen adaptation for the series, though. The making of this adaptation and possibly others proves that while Duchovny leaving the show was a disappointment for fans, his return opens up more possibilities for the series.

To see even more good and bad TV comebacks, click here.

Films stuck in development

Dozens of films get released every year, some of which can be added as significant contributions to film history, others are ones that audiences and critics alike wish have never been made. The website totalfilm.com lists seven films that have been stuck in "development hell" for quite some time. The most prominent of these films seems to be "The Brazilian Job," the sequel to the 2003 film "The Italian Job," starring Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, and Mark Wahlberg, and is about a gang of robbers who create the largest traffic jam ever in Los Angeles in order to pull off a gold heist. In "Brazilian," the same group of theives will travel to Rio de Janiero to try to pull off another heist. The film has a purported release date in 2011, but no definitive date has been set yet. Apparently, the movie is stuck because of trying to get the stars' schedules to coincide with one another. They all want to do the sequel, but are involved with other projects.

Other films on the list of seven from totalfilm.com include movie adaptations of books like Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." The director of the film "The Green Mile," Frank Darabont, has been attached to this project, as at one point, did his star, Tom Hanks, to play the main character.

Others still are futuristic like another book-to-movie adaptation, "Rendezvous with Rama" (about a space vessel arriving in the solar system and whose exploration makes revelations about man's destiny),which actor Morgan Freeman has been trying to get on the screen for six years. The list also includes comedies like "A Confederacy of Dunces," which Will Ferrell could star in, and fantasies like "The Sandman" from "Coraline" author Neil Gaiman.

No matter what genre they are, or what reason they still have for being still "in-development," I wish Hollywood could get whatever is needed and make these films happen. Even though many are adaptations (although, there are few films that haven't been adapted from something), they seem more original than the tired ideas that are out there now. I suggest they stop writing scripts about singing princesses or creating big budgets with car chases and explosions and focus on these more creative ideas.

For the entire list of the seven films, including their current status, a synopsis, and Total Film's ideas to get them off the ground (as well as the revelation that "Ghostbusters 3" has apparently been floating around movie studios for some time as well), click here.

Unusual stage musicals adapted from movies

Movies and stage plays have gone hand in hand for decades. Some movies have come straight from plays, and some have started from movies, taken a turn on the stage, and then have been re-created on the silver screen (think of "The Producers" and "Hairspray"). Now, these movies seem to be ripe for the stage musicals--they have lightly comical plots and unique, if not sometimes eccentric characters. Something about them just clicks, whether we feel for the overweight teenager who wants to be comfortable in her own body, or laugh at two bumbling producers who are positive that they will get rich quick if they put on the world's worst show.

Now, this shouldn't mean that every quirky movie should have its moment in the bright lights of Broadway, but apparently some producers think otherwise. According to a virginmedia.com article, ten popular films will be adapted into stage plays/musicals, but they are ones that are very unconventional when the word "Broadway" comes to mind.

Take for example the 1990 film "Ghost." Patrick Swayze stars as a man who has been murdered, but his ghost remains on earth to try to warn his girlfriend (played by Demi Moore) that she may be in for the same fate. Whoopi Goldberg starred as the medium between the spirits and the living. Apparently, the stage musical is set to appear in London's West End in 2010.

Another adaptation for consideration is "Spiderman." Sure, the films are adventurous, but how is all that wire work going to work on a stage? We'll have to see what purported stars Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood (who showed their singing prowess in "Across the Universe") can do.

There are eight other unusual adaptations on the list, ranging from manly films like "Fight Club" and "Gladiator" to horror films like "The Evil Dead" and romantic comedies such as "Sleepless in Seattle" (though this one is probably not as much as a stretch as the other ones). Hey, if a green ogre with a penchant for potty humor can make it on The Great White Way ("Shrek"), I guess anything goes in New York, New York.

For the full list, click here.

And the winners are...

This past Sunday was the 81st annual Academy Awards. As per usual, the night was all about glitz and glamour. The host of the night was Australian actor Hugh Jackman, who was an unusual choice, because in years past, the Oscars host has been a comedian. However, Jackman did not fail to provide lavish entertainment for the night. Having acted on Broadway before in a musical called "The Boy from Oz," Jackman took his knowledge of song and dance to the stage with an opening number of all of the Best Picture award nominees, and even tangoed with Best Actress nominee Anne Hathaway for the "Frost/Nixon" portion of the medley.

The host was not the only new element to awards night. Awards presentations were done very differently than in the formulaic ways of years past. Before, the acting awards had been presented by the previous year's winner, usually of the opposite sex (e.g., the Best Actress award was presented by the previous year's winner for Best Actor). However, this year, in all four acting awards, five winners from the entire history of Academy Awards winners were on stage and each gave an introduction to one particular nominee. The previous year's winner, if present, was the one that opened the envelope. It was an interesting way to display generations of great award-winning actors.

As for the winners, almost all who won were heavily favored to, anyway. As predicted, "Slumdog Millionaire" was the big winner of the night with 8 Oscars, taking home such awards as Best Director (Danny Boyle) and Best Picture. It also took home awards for Best Song, Best Score, and other more technical awards (like cinematography and editing). Kate Winslet took home the gold for Best Actress for "The Reader;" a long overdue accolade for Ms. Winslet, who had been nominated six times previously.

The audience became tearful when the late Heath Ledger received a posthumous Best Supporting Actor award for his portrayal of the manaical Joker in "The Dark Knight." The award sealed Ledger's dedication to the character, and all were wishing that he was around to receive the award for his stunning performance. The award was accepted by his parents and two sisters.

Perhaps the only surprise of the night was the winner for Best Actor. Mickey Rourke had been long-favorited to win for his portrayal of Randy "the Ram" Robinson in "The Wrestler," but he was beat out by Sean Penn for his portrayal of openly gay politician Harvey Milk in "Milk."

The 81st annual Academy Awards were, as usual, a spectacle of glitz and glamour and all of the biggest stars gathered in one theater. Can't wait to see which movies of 2009 make the list for next year's show.

(picture from jamd.com)

Overused Movie Cliches

With an increase in the amount of movies that are either inspired from another source (such as a book or a remake from an earlier film), there are very few movies as of late that are completely original.

And with unoriginal concepts, there are also a slew of overused characters. The website bighollywood.com recently released a list of top 10 overused movie clichés. Chances are, we have all seen one of these characters in the movies one or more times.

The list ranges from the character of the crazed war veteran/soldier--the ones who suffer severe post-traumatic stress disorder and can lash out at any minute. The article's author, James Hudnall, explains that this cliché is so annoying because people from all walks of life can join the military, and many are unlikely to experience heavy combat.

Also on the list are the "professional bitch" (think Meryl Streep's character in "The Devil Wears Prada"), the "evil Christian" and the "stupid dad/male" who can't do anything right without a woman to keep him on the straight and narrow.

Unfortunately, these clichés do not seem to have any end in sight. In fact, corrupted priests, no. six on the list, was recently the subject of the recently Oscar-nominated film, “Doubt.” Maybe Hollywood should take a hint from this article and begin writing more original characters, dialogue, and focus on a wider arrange of issues. Face it, their repetition is getting too obvious, and audiences deserve better.

To read the entire list, as well as the comments section in which people suggest even more overused movie clichés, click here.

The cost of a Best Picture nomination

The Academy Awards will be held in a matter of weeks, and rightfully so, they are all anyone in the film industry can talk about. Every year the Academy lists five films that hold a chance of becoming the best picture of the year. Everyone would think that the winner will be chosen based on superb acting, directing, editing, and the like, but a Jan. 23, 2009, newsweek.com article suggests that advertising dollars spent by the films' production companies may have something to do with the way Academy voters are swayed.

The Newsweek article by Chadwick Matlin and Chris Wilson focuses on one particular Best Picture Nominee, director Ron Howard's "Frost/Nixon." The studio behind the film, Universal has spent the most money on ads in trade papers such as Variety, where there were five full-page ads for the film. The ads cost an astonishing $72,000 each, making a grand total for the five ads $350,000.

While the cost of these ads is no doubt exorbitant, especially in a time of national recession, Universal Studios was not the only company that spent lavishly on ads speccifically to gain a Best Picture nomination; the other four nominees ("Slumdog Millionaire," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Milk," "The Reader") did also, as did other films that did not even receive a nomination.

Why is advertising so important to films, especially those that are award-nominated? Firstly, it keeps the film in the public consciousness. These types of films are usually released a few months before nominations are announced, and are usually able to extend their stay in theaters if they receive enough buzz. According to the "Newsweek" article, this worked for "Million Dollar Baby" in 2005, where it was able to add over 1000 theaters to its distribution after it was nominated for (and eventually won) Best Picture.

The main reason for this advertising is box-office stamina that is generated by the buzz from these ads. A film needs to remain tops at the boxs office for a certain amount of weeks before it moves to DVD sales. "Newsweek" concluded that $6,663,508 is the magic dollar amount that the average Best Picture nominated film receives when it is able to extend their box office stay, so this advertising is crucial for film companies especially in the wake of the economy which is hurting the film industry.

To read the whole article, as well as how "Newsweek" calculated the dollar amounts that are important to Best Picture nominees and the importance of their advertising, click here.

Movie Titles Reflect Economy

No matter where you turn these days, it seems everyone is talking about the dismal economy. Times are tough, and everyone worries how much money they are spending and how to make the most out of their purchases. These purchases include movie tickets. While inflation rates for 2008 were the lowest in 50 years with a rise of only one-tenth of one percent, the price of movie tickets rose four percent in 2008.

I found an interesting article by Bob Mondello, film critic for National Public Radio (NPR), in which he did a search to find all of the movie titles that had words pertaining to money in their titles. He was curious to see how the years that the movies were released in reflected the economy of that period in time.

The Jan. 16 article entitled, “Title Inflation: How Hollywood Watches our Wallets,” revealed that money movie titles first came about after the panic of 1893 when nickelodeons showed a short film called “Scrambling for Pennies.” The crash of 1929 brought “Dollar Dizzy.”

Mondello’s said that his research found about 100 movie titles containing the words “Million Dollar” (the most recent one being 2005’s “Million Dollar Baby” starring Hillary Swank).

“Money Talks” is another popular film title, and there was one released in 1997 starring Chris Tucker. But Mondello said that movies called “Money Talks” were present as early as the 1920s, and nearly every consecutive decade after until the 1970s, when the United States was experiencing higher interest rates and increased inflation.

Movie titles pertaining to money don’t show any signs of cessation. This year’s top contender for the Oscars is “Slumdog Millionaire” and Nicole Kidman has just bought the rights to “How to Marry a Millionaire,” a re-make of the 1953 film starring Marilyn Monroe.

To listen to Mondello’s full story and to read a complete list of movies with money in the title, click here.

Why the Oscars Love Biopics

Since the film industry is in the middle of the awards season, "Oscar buzz" has been ubiquitous since about the middle of November/early December. Not only are the Golden Globes winners such as "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Revolutionary Road" in contention for Oscar gold, but biopics such as "Milk," starring Sean Penn are also in the running. Penn plays Harvey Milk, San Francisco's first openly gay politian, who was active in the late 1970s.

It seems that no matter who the subject, movies about famous people always turn out to be incredibly successful for their potrayers. In the last few years, the Best Actor/Actress Oscar has been awarded to someone who plays a famous person. At the 2008 Oscars, Marion Cotillard won for her portrayal of French singer Edith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose." Playing June Carter Cash earned Reese Witherspoon an Oscar in 2006, as did Jamie Foxx's turn as Ray Charles in "Ray" in 2005. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Forest Whittaker, Helen Mirren and Salma Hayek have also won for their portrayals of public figures author Truman Capote, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, England's Queen Elizabeth, and Spanish painter Frida Kahlo respectively, in various biographical films released in the past ten years.

In a 2006 blog entry from the Chicago Sun-Times, reporter Christy LeMire quoted director Michael Apted, who made the 1980 biopic "Coal Miner's Daughter," which starred Sissy Spacek as country singer Loretta Lynn. Apted said that "when biopics work, they work like gangbusters."

There are typically two types of biopics, noted LeMire. One type, such as "Ray," encompasses the subject's life from childhood and the beginnings of their fame to the advent of their legendary status. Another type focuses on an important part of the subject's career, such as the film "Capote" did in chronicling Truman Capote's writing of his famous novel, "In Cold Blood."

Producer Christine Vachon, whose company has produced another Capote biopic, 2006's "Infamous," among others in the genre, said that biopics win Oscars because "there's something to compare the performance to....The discussion of the performance often becomes how compellingly the actor recreates the essence of the person they were playing."

Portraying a famous figure can be a daunting task. Helen Mirren said of her turn as Queen Elizabeth in "The Queen" that "you can't imagine how intimidating and scary it is. I haven’t often played living people. I’ve avoided it, because I think you’re a bit in a no-win situation — you’ll never be half as good as the real person. All you can do really is fail.’’

By the sheer number of wins (and Mirren's is definitely on this list), many actors seem up for the challenge.

(read the blog at http://blogs.suntimes.com/awards/2006/11/want_an_oscar_make_a_biopic.html)

Movie Forecast: 2009

Welcome to 2009, movie lovers! We're just in time for the movie awards season. The Golden Globes were held this past Sunday and the big winner of the night was Slumdog Millionaire, with four globes, including best motion picture, best director (Danny Boyle), best motion picture screenplay, and best original score. The film is set in Mumbai, India, and centers around an impoverished teen named Jamal Malik (played by Dev Patel), who becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire."

Kate Winslet also won in both the lead and supporting actress categories for her roles in "The Reader" and "Revolutionary Road," a movie directed by her husband, Sam Mendes, and one which reunited her with her "Titanic" co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio.


Many more award shows are coming up:
Screen Actor's Guild Awards: Jan. 25
BAFTAs: Feb. 8
Oscars: Feb. 22

For the complete list of Golden Globe winners, click here.





(picture: mlive.com)

Top Movie Presidents

Voting is a very important civic duty for Americans, so I encourage all who are of age to register and vote. I cast my absentee ballot about a week ago. However, politics and movies have never mixed well with me, so I can not say I have seen a lot of movies that feature presidents. I scarcely remember watching "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" in my high school Civics class. In honor of election day to day, though, I wanted to see which movies had the best presidents. I found this listing from MSN Movies at msn.com.

Hail to the Commanders in Chief: the best movie presidents
by John Moe, special to MSN Movies

10. President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho (Terry Crews) - Idiocracy (2006) Perhaps no president, real or cinematic, brings as diverse a resume to the office as President Camacho from the cult classic "Idiocracy." In a nightmare future where only the stupid have propagated, the nation is led by this former pro wrestler and porn star played with clueless exuberance by Terry Crews. Sure, President Camacho isn't very smart and, yes, most plant life is dead because people have been using energy drinks instead of water for irrigation. But Camacho does drive a chopper and is awfully muscular, so he gets to hold the highest office in the land.

9. President Tom Beck (Morgan Freeman) - Deep Impact (1998) Freeman has always had an air of easygoing wisdom in the roles he plays, but it gets put to the test here. After all, managing an apparently doomed Earth is way trickier than putting up with persnickety Miss Daisy. After covering up the existence of a killer comet, President Beck announces that, yes, it's there, but everything will be OK because he's sending astronauts to blow it up. The plan fails and it then falls to the president to oversee the selection of survivors to hide in underground caves. Although most of the Eastern seaboard gets wiped out, the world is mostly saved thanks to Robert Duvall's astronomical self-sacrifice. At film's end, President Beck is still in charge of what remains of the United States.

8. President Arnold Schwarzenegger (Harry Shearer) - The Simpsons Movie (2007) In the parallel universe of "The Simpsons," all things are possible, including a change in the constitution allowing the Austrian-born action hero and California governor to ascend to the Oval Office. Once ensconced at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., President Schwarzenegger is not so big on deliberation. Faced with reports of dangerous pollution levels in Springfield, he is told there are five unthinkable options, each of which will cause untold misery. Schwarzenegger instantly picks No. 3, never bothering to learn what's actually involved in that or any other option.

7. President Joseph Staton (Dennis Quaid) - American Dreamz (2006) Like that of President Schwarzenegger, President Staton's life had been pretty easy during his first term. He assiduously avoided reading newspapers lest any new information pollute his simple and manageable worldview. But after his re-election, Staton gives news a chance, soon starts doubting all his beliefs, and suffers a nervous breakdown. To rehabilitate the president's image, his chief of staff lands him a gig judging an "American Idol"-like TV contest. Though "American Dreamz" tanked at the box office, Quaid's clueless and not-so-subtle Dubya-esque performance is hilarious.

6. President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) - The American President (1995) President Shepherd, a widower with a precocious daughter, is immensely popular, carrying a 63 percent approval rating that may be too high for modern political observers to imagine. But it takes the love of a good woman, lobbyist Sydney Wade (Annette Bening), to transform Shepherd from a deal-maker into a truly principled leader. President Shepherd forgoes a politically expedient compromise in favor of keeping his word to the woman he loves. Shepherd's redemption is aided by the fact that his opponent in an upcoming re-election battle is Senator Bob Rumson, played in caricature by Richard Dreyfuss as a sort of combination of Jesse Helms and a badger.
5. President James Dale (Jack Nicholson) - Mars Attacks! (1996) It is said that only in a crisis can one judge a leader. Well, it's hard to imagine a greater crisis than flying saucers full of Martians invading Earth. President Dale does the best he can but ultimately comes up somewhat short. Dale is persuaded by softhearted advisors to attempt friendly diplomatic relations with the bug-eyed, huge-brained aliens. When this plan fails and the aliens begin gleefully vaporizing every human and national landmark they can find, the president switches to Plan B: Blow them up with nuclear weapons. This plan proves as doomed as the president himself, although strategic playing of a Slim Whitman tune finally does the Martians in.

4. "President" Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) - Dave (1993) Kevin Kline pulls double duty in 1993's "Dave." Kline plays both President Bill Mitchell, knocked out of commission during an extramarital tryst, and Dave Kovic, an occasional presidential impersonator secretly brought in to act the part on a long-term basis. While Mitchell had been foundering in office, Dave turns out to be a natural, soon reaching beyond the restraints placed on him by the real president's scheming advisors. He's able to balance the budget and find additional funds to fight homelessness after just one marathon session with an accountant friend. And he's able to do it all with manic comic pacing while wooing and confusing Sigourney Weaver.

3. President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) - Air Force One (1997) Possibly the butt-kickingest human being to ever hold the office, President Marshall manages to thwart a gang of murderous terrorists while returning from a trip to the former Soviet Union aboard the presidential aircraft. Sure, we never learn much about President Marshall's health plan, stance on environmental issues, or energy policies, but when it comes to punching out baddies, you always know where he stands. Being called upon to engage in hand-to-hand combat is highly unlikely for a president, but then again Gary Oldman's Russian accent is pretty unlikely, too, and it still needs to be dealt with.

2. President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) - Independence Day (1996) As awesome as President Marshall is in "Air Force One," what with defeating terrorists with his fists and all, President Whitmore might actually do him one better. Whitmore actually flies planes -- fighter jets! -- and helps defeat space aliens. Prior to leading that aerial assault, Whitmore faces challenges not often faced by presidents: He must order the evacuation of major American cities to escape the evil aliens and coordinate (ultimately unsuccessful) nuclear strikes on spaceships. Abe Lincoln, great as he was, never had to deal with that. In the end, Earth wins and Whitmore stays in office, presumably with impressive approval ratings.

1. President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) - Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) The name alone indicates that with Merkin Muffley in office one should expect neither macho swagger nor magnetic charisma. This president, played as many "Dr. Strangelove" characters were by Peter Sellers, was reportedly patterned after the king of the mild-mannered politicians: 1950s presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson. Sellers' performance of an exasperated middle manager in way over his head and dealing with forces way beyond his control is an understated comic masterpiece.

To read if these presidents were effective commanders and if they could be elected in 2008, read the full article here.

(Pictures: blogs.indiewire.com {top}, readingeagle.com {middle}, videowatch.wordpress.com){bottom}

Chills and Thrills: the Scariest Movie Moments

You may have remembered my reference of the Bravo channel’s countdown of the "100 Scariest Movie Moments" in my Suspiria post. Since I am much too old to go trick-or-treating, watching this 2004 countdown has become my new favorite Halloween tradition. Sure enough, it’s the thirty-first, and I am writing this as I watch the show, or rather its 2006 sequel of "30 Even Scarier Movie Moments." The shows have inspired me to watch many horror and thriller films that I would have never heard of otherwise. Among them are "Suspiria" (#24), "Don't Look Now" (#22), and "Wait Until Dark" (#10). While the show gives its due to horror masters like Wes Craven and Stephen King and the genres best villains, Freddy Krueger ("Nightmare on Elm Street"), Jason Voorhies ("Friday the 13th") and Michael Myers ("Halloween"), movies like the three above give equal parts psychological thrill and and some gore, which I prefer to slasher blood fests any day.

Here is the breakdown of what Bravo considers the top ten scariest movie moments of all time (according to the 100 countdown). Some I have seen, and others are waiting to terrify me.

10—Wait Until Dark:I saw this movie because Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorite classic movie actresses. She had been well known in the 1950s and early 1960s for being a romantic leading lady with such credits as "Roman Holiday" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's." I wanted to see what she could do in this thriller; a vastly different genre for her. In this, she plays a blind woman named Suzy Hendrix who is terrorized by three thugs who search for a heroin-stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment. The leader of the thugs is Roat (Alan Arkin). The scary moment, according to the countdown, is when Roat is looking for the doll and lunges at Suzy's ankle as she attempts to escape. It is a shocking, shadow out of the darkness moment that makes for a good moment in a movie that is sadly overacted by the usually sparkling Ms. Hepburn.

9—Night of the Living Dead: A 1968 classic from writer/ director George A. Romero and his "...of the Dead" series about zombies (see: "Dawn of the Dead," "Land of the Dead," etc.). I have never seen any of Romero's work, but any zombie movie is a quick scare. Romero also claims in the segment that the zombies are his way of expressing his deeper, more political views, and that they represent a sort of revolution. The scary moment is shown as Karen (Kyra Schon) attacking her mother with a gardening trowel after she eats her father. Mmmm...that's good horror.

8-- Carrie: A movie I'm surprised I've kept missing, although I've seen so many of the classic moments from the film that I'm sure I'm not missing what's in between. Adapted by a book from the prolific horror writer Stephen King, Carrie (Sissy Spacek) is a meek teenage girl with a fanatic and abusive mother, as well as telekenetic powers that make her seem like a freak to her teenage peers. She is terrorized by the girls in her class who go to far on prom night when Carrie is named prom queen and a vat of pig's blood is dumped on top of her while she is on stage. A once innocent girl, Carrie becomes full of unstoppable rage and seeks vengeance for what the awful girls did to her. Though Carrie dies in the end, one of her classmates dreams of laying flowers on her grave and Carrie's arm reaches through the grave and grabs her.

7—Silence of the Lambs : The Hannibal Lecter series are some of the few horror films I am hesitant to watch because they seem so unbelievably creepy. Brilliant psycopath Dr. Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) holds the clues to a serial killer's actions. But he is a violent cannibal (who enjoys his body parts with some fava beans and a nice chianti) who tries to escape from his cell, and with a Mike Tyson-like voracity chomps off the faces of the security guards.

6--The Shining : Probably my favorite scary movie (after all, who could not find sharply eyebrowed Jack Nicholson a little freaky even in real life?) from the often brilliant story weaver Stephen King. Jack Torrance (Nicholson), a writer, is asked to look over the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado for the winter. But being stuck there for so long, the hotel starts to get inside Torrance's brain and makes him just a "little" crazy. Filled with classic moments like "redrum," the "come play with us" twins, and the pain and suffering of Torrance's wife, Wendy (Shelly Duvall). Who would ever forget Nicholson's face after he bashed in the bathroom? "Heeere's Johnny!"

5-- Texas Chainsaw Massacre : The 1973 film that was the creator of another legendary serial killer Leatherface. Also, one of the many films inspired by one of the first well publicized real-life serial killers, Ed Gein.

4--Psycho : Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 classic about a deranged mama's boy, Norman Bates. The film surprised all with the infamous shower murder scene that kills off the would-be heroine of the story played by popular movie actress Janet Leigh only part way into the film.

3--Exorcist : Another classic that put the character Reagan Burns (Linda Blair) through the ringer, and showed us what a trooper young Blair was as she was thrashed about while portraying the infestation of a devil inside her body. Pea soup out of a rotating head, anyone?

2--Alien : Another movie I haven't seen, but am not super anxious to as it seems like another alien encounter movie (though not as endearing as "Close Encounters of the Third Kind") where the aliens terrorize a group of space troopers that discover them. The featured moment is of an alien birth scene by the character Kane (John Hurt). All of a sudden, he starts coughing and spasming and his chest explodes, blood everywhere and a baby alien emerges from his chest. Aww, the beauty of birth.

1--Jaws : Not really sure why this film has the scariest movie moment out of 99 classic others, but its impact was legendary. A great white shark attacks unsuspecting beachcombers, and the waves are never the same again. Save for the first attack in the opening of the movie where a young woman is skinnydipping alone in the middle of the ocean at night and is without warning pulled underwater and thrashed about by the shark (the scary moment), the thrill of "Jaws" does not seem to be extraordinary. But because a shark attack could happen at anytime, and for me at least, the possibility is in the back of my mind every time I'm at the beach, people were rightfully frightened. The legend of the original "Jaws" (there were three more terrible sequels) has also formed the old comparison which goes "(Blank) movie has done for (blank) what "Jaws" did for swimming."

For the complete list of Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie moments, visit http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Scariest_Movie_Moments/index.shtml.

(pictures: Movie Moments {bravotv.com}, Wait Until Dark {retrocrush.buzznet.com}, Psycho {hitchcock.tv}, Jaws {tomsgames.com}).

All that Jazz: the real merry murderesses of 'Chicago'

The play “Chicago” has seen many forms: it started out as a 1926 play, was produced into a Bob Fosse-choreographed Broadway musical in 1975 and was made into a 2002 feature film with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger. But its real point of interest is that it was based on a real-life 1924 scandal.

Starring the characters Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, “Chicago” tells of the debauchery of the 1920s jazz age. The decade was marked by a rebellion that made it vastly different from the Victorian period, which had ended not long before. Women especially were letting loose. They became flappers—girls who love jazz, wore long skirts and had bob haircuts. They began to drink, smoke, and wear makeup.

Since there was no television, people were entertained by extensive trials, often murders. Lawyers and their clients became celebrities with extensive coverage from the newspapers and tabloids. The lady jazz killers were the most popular “celebrities,” who often got off scot-free by all-male courtroom juries.

Maurine Dallas Watkins, a reporter for the “Chicago Tribune,” covered many such trials. Watkins was a student playwright at Yale, but wanted to take time off to get some real-life experience. It was from her legendary reporting that she came up with the original concept for “Chicago” from the trials of two murderesses named Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner.

Beulah Annan was the inspiration for Roxie Hart. A Chicago flapper, Annan was married to a man named Albert. However, but she was unfaithful with a man named Harry Kalstedt. On the night of April 3, 1924, Annan shot Kalstedt in the back. Annan’s story changed many times. It was evident that she was drunk when the police arrived. She told police that she had shot Kalstedt in self-defense because he was trying to rape her. Other stories she gave included that they had a fight when she told him she was pregnant, and they both reached for the gun.

Roxie Hart’s portrayal in the movie was similar. Hart shot her lover, Fred Casely, and presented similar stories in court. After she told a crowded courtroom that she was pregnant (though she wasn’t, really), the judge wanted to delay her trial, but her lawyer, Billy Flynn (based off of real-life lawyer W.W. O’Brien), wanted to keep her in court, thinking that the jury would take pity on Hart’s pregnant state. The claim that “they both reached for the gun” was the inspiration for the musical number of the same name.

In the play, Roxie Hart was portrayed as a woman who wanted fame on the cabaret stage, but could not get past the chorus. In real life, Beulah Annan’s trial was a media circus, and she was frequently sent flowers and gifts while she was in Cook County prison. She even posed for photographs with fellow murderess Gaertner.

Gaertner, the inspiration for Velma Kelly, was a cabaret singer who in March of 1924 killed her married lover, Walter Law. (Velma Kelly killed her sister and her husband in the play.) Gaertner too was drunk when the police arrived, but was too intoxicated to remember what happened, even though she was found with blood stained clothes. Though the fact that Law had confessed to his co-worker before his death that Gaertner was an abusive alcoholic who had threatened him with a knife when he tried to leave her, and that he was ten years Gaertner’s junior, Gaertner was acquitted of murder in June of 1924. Her defense team (though it didn’t consist of W.W. O’Brien) convinced the jury that Gaertner was too drunk to remember what happened.

Annan died of tuberculosis in 1928 and Gaertner died of natural causes in 1965. The women’s trials were not the only jazz murder trials of the day, but they will always be legend, thanks to the career-making move by Watkins to capture their stories and put them on stage.

Sources:

Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner on Wikipedia

Chicago: The Origin from ladyjazzkilla.com

(pictures: top--cleavlandleader.com; middle and bottom--hubpages.com)

Moviegoing: All in the Family

We all know how much I enjoy movies, but I have probably gotten my cinematic appreciation from my family, especially my grandmother. I sat down with both my grandmother and mother and discussed their favorite films.

Asking my grandmother what her favorite movie is can be difficult because she is an avid movie lover and has seen countless films over her seventy-five year life. However, the one piece of cinema that has proved to be an everlasting favorite, she says, is "Gone with the Wind." Based on a novel by Margaret Mitchell, "Gone with the Wind" is an epic love story that in the nearly seventy years since the film’s release has proven to be a favorite of audiences; it has the prestige of being watched more than any other film in history. My grandmother can agree with its enduring popularity. She counts the film’s epic span through the Civil War (including the romantic plot between Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara) as why she enjoys it so much. Having read the novel first, she and some of her high school friends saw the film at the theater and discussed it afterwards. She liked the fact that the film was innovative for its time period: it was presented in Technicolor, it used a curse word for the first time on screen (in Rhett Butler’s infamous line, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”), but more importantly that it featured characters of color (Mammy, played by Hattie McDaniel, who went on to be the first African American to be nominated for and win an Oscar; the Best Supporting Actress for her performance). She has seen the film only once in theaters, but watches it nearly every time it is on television. She is even so attached to the film that she nearly named my mother Melanie after one of the characters (Melanie Hamilton, played by Olivia de Havilland).

Like my grandmother, my mother enjoys good films. Her most vivid childhood memory is sitting in the theater with my grandmother and seeing "The Sound of Music" when it was first released. She was only six years old at the time. She too loves films that have an evolution of characters (she liked how Julie Andrews’s character, Maria, evolved from trying to become a nun to being the nanny for the vonTrapp family). She also counts the beautiful Austrian Alps setting and catchy songs sung by the talented Julie Andrews as her favorite elements of the film. She also liked the whole story of how the vonTrapps escaped the Nazis and found comfort in music while experiencing struggles. She even frequently read up on the lives of the real vonTrapp family because of the movie.

Both my mother and my grandmother agree that they like old classic movies such as those much better than many of the films released today. They both always comment that those films were great because they relied on the story, and not special effects, language or other shock values as the cinematic aesthetic. They say that their favorite movies are their favorites because the films have a story, actors, and music that mesh well together.

(Pictures: Gone with the Wind--bennettauctions.com; Sound of Music--movieposter.com)

Stars talk about classic movies and money woes

By Michael Cidoni of the Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - It was movie stars celebrating movies, as Sean Connery, Keanu Reeves, Jim Carrey, Jodie Foster, Dustin Hoffman and a host of others gathered in Hollywood for the American Film Institute's annual night at the movies.

It was also movie stars voicing concerns for an ailing nation following the Senate's approval Wednesday of the $700 billion economic bailout plan.

"Well, it's great," said Annette Bening, who arrived at ArcLight Hollywood with husband Warren Beatty. "I think we all need to be educated more about why it's important to pass the bailout. And from everything that I understand, it's a way of us moving forward. I'm glad that the Senate did that, and I hope that the House follows."

Bening was at "Target Presents AFI Night at the Movies," which screened 12 classic American films in a single night, to introduce "American Beauty," the Academy Award winner in which she starred with Kevin Spacey.

Jim Carrey, there to introduce "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," walked the media gauntlet with girlfriend Jenny McCarthy, who commented, "People are going to be relieved a little bit that there is going to be some help. But then there is the other side that thinks the rich are only going to get richer."

Added Carrey, "They will figure out a way to consume it. ... I think it's a good thing, temporarily. I don't know in the long run. Who knows? It's kind of a strange thing to take taxpayers' money and be doing that kind of thing with. I don't trust anybody."

Carrey's fellow Canadian, "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" actor Mike Myers, was somewhat reluctant when asked to do some bailout banter. "I have made some comedies and that's how you know me, so . . . I don't know what the etiquette is about one's political beliefs. I am very concerned for people that the economy turn around. ... The strength of democracy is not how well we agree but how well we disagree. The strength of a society is how well we take care of our most disenfranchised."

The high-profile gathering reunited actors with some of their famous films: Cameron Diaz introduced "There's Something About Mary"; Shirley MacLaine, "The Apartment"; Steve Martin, "The Jerk"; Denzel Washington, "Glory"; Rita Moreno, "West Side Story."
Connery introduced "The Man Who Would be King"; Reeves, "The Matrix"; Hoffman, "Tootsie"; and Foster, "The Silence of the Lambs" — a rare thriller that went on to both commercial and artistic triumphs.

"It was an absolutely beautiful novel and was beautiful in the details, the tapestry of the details, as it was in this just really primal, unconscious thing," Foster said. "It caught us intellectually, but it also caught us in this really primal place that none of us really understand, and hit both things."

Bening said "American Beauty" was "made for the right reasons."

"People just were following their heart," she said. "When I first saw it, I have to say, I was just blown away, because I thought, 'This really came together as we hoped it would.' ... I've made some movies that I really loved that nobody saw. ... So, the fact that this was a success, on top of being something that I was really proud of, it's like a dream come truly."

Bening was also asked about Thursday night's impending debate between vice-presidential candidates Joseph Biden and Sarah Palin.

"I just want to be educated. I am a student of politics and these are our experts and we deserve to hear everything — especially from Governor Palin because we don't know that much about her," Bening said.

"I am feeling really good about this Sarah Palin," Carrey said, "because I used to live in Canada and you could to see Alaska from there. So I know everything there is to know about her."

Article via Yahoo! Movie News

(picture: The Associated Press)

A Family of Broadway Lovers

On Wednesday, I wrote about my first Broadway experience and how much I liked the show "Wicked." I went on that trip to New York with my mom, aunt and grandmother. I had known that my mom had also gone to New York a few times when she was also in college. Here is what she had to say about her experiences with theater. (I wrote this as an article for my newsgathering and reporting class.)

NEW YORK CITY--The tall buildings and flashy advertisements of Times Square were the first time Jean Smithson had seen New York City in almost 25 years, but upon settling into her seat in Gershwin Theatre for a matinee performance of “Wicked,” she knew the quality of Broadway performances had not changed a bit.

A lifelong theater lover, Smithson, 49, of New Cumberland, Pa., has also been on stage as well as being a spectator. A native of Windber, Pa., she won Best Actress for her senior class play, “Flowers for Algernon” at Windber Area High School.

Smithson says that she joined high school theater because it was a fun extracurricular activity to do, and many of her friends were also involved in plays. “I guess I’ve always been a bit dramatic anyway,” she says.

It was not until she was a student at Shippensburg State College in Shippensburg, Pa., that Smithson began to see the big time shows on Broadway. “I had a friend, Deb Hanak, who loved theater and road trips as much as I did and, luckily for me, she didn’t mind braving the city traffic, so we would drive up in her car. This was around 1978-1980.”

The first Broadway production she saw was “A Chorus Line,” a musical about what it is like to try out for the chorus line of a Broadway play. Next was “Evita,” the tale of Evita Peron, wife of Argentian political leader Juan Peron, and based on a biography by Mary Main. “Wicked” is a new twist on L. Frank Baum’s classic children’s tale, “The Wizard of Oz,” but this time from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Her favorite play is “A Chorus Line” because it was the first Broadway play she had seen and, “I was so excited to be in New York.” She also enjoyed “Wicked” because it was totally different from “A Chorus Line” and a brand new take on an old classic. “The two lead female singers (Kendra Kassebaum, who played Glinda, and Kerry Ellis, who played Elphaba) had outstanding voices, which made the show. The design of the set and costumes was fabulous. I enjoyed sharing the experience with my family members.” Smithson attended the play with her mother, sister, and daughter, and was excited for her daughter to experience her first time in New York City. “Evita” would be her third favorite play.

Smithson says that “Wicked” was much more technologically advanced than the other two plays she had seen two decades ago. There were more special effects and props, and “I think the (other plays) dwelled more on character development rather than the set design. The sets were simple in order to blend into the background.”

No matter how high-tech the plays have become, Smithson enjoys every one she gets the opportunity to see.

“I love the stories and hearing the music in the musicals. The professionals sing so well and the sets and costumes are always great.”

(Pictures: showclix.com {A Chorus Line}; brooklyncenter.com {Evita})